When she woke up, it was to a feeling of electricity crackling in the air.
Already before she had even opened her eyes, every last sense was already hyperaware of what was happening, her mind one loud yell that there were threats and commands for her to get up, get ready, protect, and run.
Pushing against the tree behind her, it took everything tough in Zelda not to let out a pained gasp as she put weight back onto her legs again, forced herself to stand up, a motion that made it seem almost like gravity had increased during the night with how heavy her body felt. Then she opened her eyes, and in a heartbeat, every last bit of exhaustion was gone, instead replaced with pure adrenaline and the feeling that she should have done something during those first few moments of being aware of the threat.
They were back. The unknown group that had interrupted their fight with the Yiga Clan, a member of which had chased her out of the city itself, making her jump into the lake to escape from them, were back. Keeping herself from attacking for a second to try to size up the enemy, Zelda noticed that, where they had had enough force in numbers to put up a fight against the Yiga Clan, there were only three blue and white clad figures in front of her, but with how quickly they had appeared in the museum, there was no doubt in Zelda's mind that there might very well be more members of the second group hidden somewhere in the area around them, ready to overpower them.
For they were going to lose, should it come to an all-out fight. It was not a question of whether or not it would happen, but rather when. Even with the hostile group having seemingly decided to try to lull them into a false sense of security by only having three of its members out in the open, they still outnumbered them when it came to people who would have even the slightest chance of being able to put up a fight for more than a second when faced with their frightening speed and knives that moved through the air so quickly that it felt like they bled in an out of the reality around them, emitting a blue light. With Ganondorf still on the ground, not having done anything to indicate that he was even awake much less aware enough of his surroundings to have noticed the presence of the same group that had been the reason for their little group being separated less than a day before, it would be up to Zelda and Link to defend them all. Zelda had no delusions about how that would turn out, a seventeen-year-old girl who could still barely stand without swaying from side to side and a boy who had been up all night, one of them completely unarmed and the other one armed with a sword he not only could not use but was also the reason for why they were in this mess in the first place. They were going to die if it came to a battle of strength, skill, and stamina, that much was clear.
A second passed, slow and agonising, as Zelda waited for one of the strangers to give the order for the others to attack.
And then another, and another.
Feeling a drop of sweat roll down her back, Zelda looked directly at the person standing closest to her, trying her best to decide what they were hoping to achieve by making them wait. Was it to make sure that by the time they would attack, their opponents would already have been worn down by worrying about what was to come? If so, it was certainly working, for Zelda could almost hear how Link alternatively clenched and unclenched his jaw as they stood there, Zelda keeping her fists closed as she brought her hands up in front of her face, lowering her centre of gravity as if that would be enough to counteract the fact that she was still swaying from side to side, Link holding up the sword, the angle he held it in looking awkward even to Zelda. No matter what, fact was that as Zelda counted how the sound of her heartbeat marked the passing of time, the force she would have been able to put into an attack gradually dwindled as that first rush of adrenaline left her with little more than exhaustion to take its place.
Hoping that it would be enough to keep her own lack of faith from showing, Zelda looked towards the people who had sneaked up towards them, trying her best to determine any tactic that would be less likely to end with their deaths than any of the other hopeless plans that were already forming in her head. Three people, that much was simple enough, a conclusion she could probably have reached even if she had not got the opportunity to sleep a little beforehand. But from there, even though Zelda could at least see the upper half of their attackers' faces, the cloth pulled up to cover everything from their nose and down not being enough to hide their eyes or where they were looking towards from her, she was not sure what else she would be able to utilise to buy the rest of the team more time to flee, if there even was a chance that they would be able to do that again, something Zelda doubted. Even the day before, they had barely made it, Ganondorf first being wounded, and then her being thrown around by the waves, and now, she would have to make an attempt again, to try to figure out a way to draw the strangers' attention away from Ganondorf and Link again, all to hope that the cycle would not simply repeat the next day.
To say that she could feel the hope fade away would have been an understatement, but Zelda still knew better than to let her enemies see her fear, so even though it felt like it would grant her a bigger chance of survival to surrender immediately, she kept on standing as the one who appeared to be the leader stepped forwards, the two other attackers flanking them as they did so.
"Listen," they said, their voice low and even, "we are not here to fight. We just want to—"
Link lunged at them. Moving with such speed and momentum behind every last movement that Zelda could only stand there, watching with wide eyes and an open mouth as the awkward angle he had held his sword at just a moment ago suddenly changed to become balanced, Link reaching the leader of the group in a moment, already halfway through the stroke by the time they had even begun to react. For they did react, weapons appearing from out of thin air, the blue blade casting an eerie light on their faces as they cut through the night, barely meeting Link's blade in time to deflect the blow. Through the chaos of the fight and the sound of metal against what she was no longer so sure was really metal, Zelda could hear the attackers barking orders at each other, the leader yelling something to Link, words Zelda could not even make out and that she doubted Link would have any better luck with reaching her as he swivelled around, gaining momentum to put into the attack once again.
He had misjudged. Zelda saw it the moment it happened, how the attacker who had been the one to flank the leader's right side had managed to duck under his arm, shoving him to the side, the sudden push being just enough to make Link lose his balance.
He stumbled. It wasn't much, just a slight step to the side, his eyes widening, letting Zelda know that he had not meant to do that, but it was enough, the third person rushing forwards to grab his arm, twisting it around.
Link screamed as the sword fell to the ground, his legs buckling beneath him to send him crashing to the ground, the only thing keeping him from fully falling over in the mud being the fact that the enemy who had grabbed him was still holding onto him, the way they looked up towards the leader letting Zelda know that she had been right to pinpoint them as the one in charge.
It had all happened in a matter of seconds, and still, Zelda felt almost like she had aged a century as her mind caught up with what was happening, her legs carrying her forward without her thinking about it. Before she knew it, she had crossed the few metres that separated her from Link and the three hostile strangers, stepped in front of Link to block the leader from being able to advance towards him, and thrown up her hand and yell out a single word.
"Stop!"
Miraculously, they did stop. It was more than she could have hoped for, for the sheer surprise at seeing her do something as stupid as believing that she would be anything more than a brief obstacle for them on their way towards the actual threat to make them pause, but as she stood there, Zelda could almost believe that she saw honest worry in the leader's eyes. Behind her, she could hear Link whisper something to her, no doubt telling her to take Ganondorf and run away while he would try to distract them with some desperate last attempt at freeing himself from the hold of the other attacker, but she had already allowed him to tell her to go back to sleep when she knew that he would not extend the same compassion to himself, so Zelda remained, looking directly into the eyes of the leader as she heard her voice break twice before she was able to force out the words. "Don't—please, don't! I—we weren't trying to create trouble! All we want is to be left alone, not for you to have any reason to hate us! Please, just let us leave, and then we will leave this area immediately."
Something other than worry bloomed in the leader's eyes, something almost akin to horror, but before they would have got a chance to say anything, a grunt followed by a the sound of mud being pushed aside made them both spin around to see how Link had somehow been able to push his captor aside, already standing up again as he rubbed the shoulder that had been twisted mere moments before. Still, for as much as Zelda feared for his wellbeing and health, that was not what truly scared her as she looked at him. That was the look in his eyes.
It looked like fire was burning right behind his pupils, waiting to be let loose so that it would be able to devour everything around them. As he leapt forwards, armed with nothing but his bare hands, Zelda could only stand there, frozen in place as Link reached her and pushed her aside to instead reach out and grab the leader.
Raising them up into the air, there was little of the tiredness and fear that Zelda had seen mere moments before to be found in his behaviour, Link holding their full weight above him, his arms not shaking, and nothing about his expression betraying any kind of fear or exhaustion. Instead, there was only anger, rage, and something Zelda decided she would rather never see again, a need for revenge.
"I—" Link's voice trembled the way his arms should have done, but there was no doubt about the fact that it had nothing to do with fear or pain, but rather everything to do with the fire in his eyes, "I am telling you and the rest of your little clan right now not to follow us! We haven't done anything to harm or offend you, but if it doesn't change, then—"
"We…" the leader, clutched onto Link's arms, having seemingly already given up on any possibility of being able to loosen his grip on their arms even a bit already, now merely seeming to try their best to minimise the risk of making everything worse as they gestured wildly in the direction of Ganondorf, "your friend—he is hurt! We can help you! That wound, it is in urgent need of qualified medical attention if you don't want to see it become infected! We can help you with that!"
"And why should we trust you? We have seen you attack us twice now!" Link growled the words, but Zelda still noted how his expression softened just enough for it to be noticeable for her, the way he lowered the leader closer towards the ground, and how he could not hide casting a glance towards Ganondorf as he spoke.
Something flew through the air, all three of them, both Zelda, Link, and the leader of the hostile group, barely able to step aside before a knife came cutting through the very space they had just inhabited, a blue glow following after it. It continued through the air, sailing directly past Zelda, before being stopped by a tree, the force with which it had been thrown burying it in the wood, the hilt being all that stuck out.
There was nothing she could say or do as she stood there, the realisation that, had she not noticed the sound of something cutting through air, she would not have had time to step aside washing in over her, nothing any of them could say, and perhaps that was for the better, as it allowed the leader to regain the ability to speak before Link got the chance to turn towards them again after having been attacked by their group for the third time.
"Olkin! Stand down! They are not your enemies! You too, Steen, let go of him." the leader barked the order, and immediately, Zelda saw how the person who had held Link, the one who had grabbed onto his arm and disarmed him in moments, let go of him to instead stand up straight, not moving and not saying anything, but simply looking towards the leader.
There was nothing about the look of his face that allowed Zelda to say anything about his reasons for instantly obeying, no brief glance towards Link that would have indicated a fear that the next attempt on their lives would be the one to make him snap, nothing at all. Instead, he looked towards them almost like he only truly saw them in that moment, Zelda noticing the way his eyes lit up as he turned to whisper something to the third member of the group.
They did not consider themselves their enemies. The piece of information should perhaps have been a comfort, but as Zelda took in the sight of the knife that still stuck out of the tree, the sword that was still lying in the mud where Link had dropped it, and the fact that she was still tired and sore after having had to throw herself into the river and hope for the best, all to get away from the group in front of her, the only thing she could think about was that if that was how they treated those they did not consider enemies, then she would truly not wish it upon anyone to become their enemy.
Perhaps Link had reached the same conclusion, for slowly, ever so slowly and constantly with that wild look in his eyes that made him look like he was simply waiting for a sign that he had been wrong to extend what little trust they had left to a group that had attacked them multiple times already, he lowered the leader down until he was standing on the ground again.
"Thank you." as the leader looked between her and Link, Zelda was almost not sure whom he was talking to, nor did it matter. A thankyou and a copy of what would perhaps have been considered good manners in the past was not enough to take away the fact that they were still standing there, seconds away from attacking each other again. Zelda did not have to ask to know that, if it came to that, Link would be able to reach the sword in a heartbeat, back on his feet and ready to fight just as quickly as he had been moments before. It appeared like the leader realised the same, for, clearing their throat, they nodded towards Ganondorf. "I understand that you don't trust us right now, but I promise you, if you would only listen to me, then I swear that you will see that we are merely trying to help."
"We have no reason to trust you," Link said, the sound of his voice becoming slightly shriller as he gritted his teeth, still staring towards the leader like he would somehow be able to bring the entire group to fall through sheer power of will.
Perhaps he really would be able to do that. After all, just a day ago, Zelda would never have thought that anything like the attack that had just occurred would ever have been a possibility, much less have expected the way Link had suddenly rushed forward, holding the sword like he had been born to do nothing else.
A moment of total silence passed between them before the leader nodded towards Link, their gaze falling towards where his hand was still clenched at his side. "I see." then, turning towards their group members, they yelled out the last order Zelda had expected to hear. "Olkin, please leave us. You too, Steen. This is a moment where it will be better if we work alone."
Following the leader's line of sight, Zelda saw how both of their men opened their mouths, no doubt to protest, only to close them again, turn around, and begin to walk away. Zelda followed their path away from them with her eyes, saw how they moved towards the river next to them and waited for the moment where she would hear the sound of water meeting something solid that had moved into its path. It never came. The two, Olkin and Steen, seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
Turning back towards Link, Zelda could see the same panic as the one that was already clouding her senses begin to show on his face as the fire in his eyes slowly receded, first becoming little more than a spark and then dying completely, letting his expression return to one she was finally able to recognise as Link's. Though Zelda knew that they now outnumbered the only visible enemy near them, the fact that the two others had been able to leave so suddenly and without a trace, making it seem like they had simply snapped their fingers and disappeared in some grand show of magic, raised the question of just how many people might be waiting in the darkness around them, prepared to do the exact same thing to appear next to them, armed with the same kind of razor-sharp weapons as the one currently lodged in the tree.
"There aren't anyone out there." the leader pronounced every syllable slowly and clearly, Zelda feeling a shiver run down her back as they so accurately addressed her exact thoughts. "I meant it when I told them to leave. I just want to talk with you—for me to have any plans of trying to attack you would be absurd."
"And if we try to attack you?" from the way he moved, shifting his weight forwards, it was clear that Link was trying to appear threatening, but it was no use. There was none of the fiery intensity in his eyes anymore as he looked at the leader, only the same kind of fear that Zelda could already feel constricting her ability to breathe, Link swaying back and forth slightly.
Maybe the leader of the group noticed it, saw the signs that, for as quick as Link had been to attack, for as quickly as he had been able to almost bring an end to the goal that had brought them there, it had all been the result of adrenaline. No matter what, they seemed oddly calm as they tilted their head to the side, looking at Link like he was something they found interesting, something to study. "If that were to happen, I am able to leave this area before you would get the chance to do something you would regret later. However, I can assure you that if you will just listen to me for a moment, then you will see that you really have no reason to wish to attack me at all."
They said it with so much certainty in their voice, that, despite the fear making it difficult to breathe, Zelda found herself stepping forwards. "You attacked us back at the museum," she said, hearing her voice shake, "you appeared from out of nowhere, and when we tried to flee, one of your men kept on chasing me, only stopping after I had to jump into the river to get a chance of escaping."
"We…" the leader bowed their head, "I apologise for giving you that impression, but we truly were not there to harm you, not at all."
"Then why were you there?" Link stepped forwards, standing directly at Zelda's side as they both stared into the eyes of the stranger.
"Because we were trying to protect the three of you." the leader said the words, and, despite searching for even the slightest hint of a lie in their eyes, Zelda only saw candour in their expression as they continued. "We have been trying to find you for days now, but I fear that the Yiga Clan was able to track you down far faster than we were. How they were able to do that, however, is beyond me; nothing in the past has ever indicated that they were able to do it so quickly, not before you had—before you had met them first, at least."
The connection was simple to make, something she had already realised before, and yet, Zelda heard herself gasp as it was confirmed once again. "The sword!" fully aware that Link was looking at her like he was not quite sure whether to worry most for her sanity or for the risk of the stranger attacking them, Zelda looked directly into the eyes of the leader of the other group. "It was the sword, wasn't it, the one they referred to as the Master Sword? Link drew a sword and then the Yiga Clan attacked. It was the sword that was what made them identify us as—" she tried to gesture, lacking the words to properly articulate just what they might have thought, "as their enemies, right?"
It was. Though the leader did not respond at first, the way their gaze flickered as they looked from Zelda to Link and then finally over at the sword revealed that it was true. Zelda did not know what to do with that piece of information. It should have been a relief to at least know the reason for why they had had to run for their lives, but as she copied the stranger's movements, looking towards the sword as well, all that was left in her mind were the confusion and the doubts whirling around in a puddle of unanswered question.
"Yes," the leader finally said, confirming what she already knew to be true with a nod, "yes, it was indeed the Master Sword that… that marked you as the chosen ones to the Yiga Clan."
Letting out a frustrated noise, Link moved closer towards them. "What do you mean? Chosen ones? We were just there because we were passing through to get to Lurelin Village. We had no idea that there would be a cult there, so just why are you talking like they would know that we were going to arrive in Clock Town? Why were they acting like they had seen us before? And, if we are to believe that you and the rest of your group really arrived to save us, then what were your reasons for doing any of that? Why would you risk your life and safety for three strangers, only to then chase one of them into the river and almost let her drown?" his voice broke on the last word, but he brushed Zelda aside as she stepped forwards to try to place a hand on his arm, the line of his shoulders as tense as ever when he fell silent to instead stare at the person in front of them.
"Listen," the leader sighed, "I can't tell you everything, not yet at least, nor do I have all the answers you seek. But I swear to you that we were there to protect you. The Yiga Clan—it is not a cult, not in the way you expect a cult to be, at least. They are a group of people who have… whose hate for those they think of as being chosen has led them to push aside all thoughts for their own safety as well as the lives of everyone else in their attempt at triggering the apocalypse." the word sent a shiver down Zelda's back, something she knew that the stranger was sure to have noticed, their eyes fastening on her face as they continued. "We… the Yiga Clan believe that the sword you," they nodded at Link, "drew is the one that points them in the direction of this group of chosen ones. That was why they attacked you back then. My group and I had spent weeks tracking them down, but it was not until we reached the museum that we realised that they had found you already—"
"Found us already?" Zelda echoed. "So you are saying that you too believed that it was inevitable that we would run into them?"
The cloth that covered the lower half of the leader's face moved a little, a slight crease forming. Though Zelda could not be sure, there was something about it that, when combined with the appearance of soft wrinkles around their eyes, told her that they were smiling at her as they nodded. "I should have known that you would notice that. Yes, we also believed that you would one day meet the Yiga Clan from the moment we heard about the theft of the Master Sword. We had simply deluded ourselves into believing that we might be able to reach you first so that we would be able to help you get it back from them. I apologise for us being too late and for the fact that your friend paid the price for it—he is all right!" raising their voice, the leader spoke over Link's gasp, drowning out the beginning of a sentence Zelda could feel echoing in her own mind. "The wound needs medical attention, but it will be all right as long as we get him to Kakariko Village in time."
She was playing directly into his plans by asking. Zelda knew that, but even that was not enough to keep her from tilting her head to the side, inspecting the leader's face for any sign of a direct lie as she asked the only question that could ever be a response to such a statement. "Kakariko Village? The village from the myths? Are you really trying to tell us that it is real?"
The leader met her gaze without flinching. "I was as confused as you are now when I first heard about it, but, yes, it is real. Let me take you there, and then I promise you that your friend will receive the care he needs just as you will have everything explained to you."
It was such an obvious trap, going with a stranger to a village everyone knew belonged in children's bedtime stories, that Zelda could not bring herself to decline the offer of help outright. Instead, she looked over at Link, and in the glance he sent her way, Zelda could see the same considerations that went through her mind in the moments that followed.
They outnumbered the stranger two to one. It was not much, and with the bright blue light of their weapons suggesting that it might be made of some kind of otherworldly material along with the sudden disappearance of the two helpers leaving her unable to rule out the possibility of there being other people waiting for the moment where they would attack, Zelda was unable to say whether they would truly have any kind of advantage in a possible fight. But more than anything, the thing that made her pause before she could have told the stranger to go away and leave them alone unless they wanted for them to have a reason to try to get revenge for everything that had happened was the groan that escaped Ganondorf, the blotch of blood on his bandage lurid even in the darkness of the night as Zelda looked over at him. It could very well turn out to be a trap, but after everything that had happened, could she really ignore even the slightest chance that the leader of the group was telling the truth when they said that they had a way to help him?
The answer was no, so even though Zelda could practically feel the tension in the air between them, she turned back towards the stranger. "I am telling you right now that if you are lying, if you do anything to make it worse for him, then we will make you regret it." seeing how Link moved closer towards her, the two of standing shoulder to shoulder, blocking the leader's view of Ganondorf, Zelda could almost feel how her voice grew firmer and less weak as she fixed the leader with a glare. "I can still remember being chased into the river by your group. If you give us any indication that I had a reason to do that, we won't hesitate to attack."
It was not the strongest threat she could have thought of, especially not when she still had yet to get a chance to talk with Link in private to ask him what had happened when he had picked up the sword, but at least the leader nodded, even if they did not seem to find the promise as intimidating as Zelda had hoped. "I must admit that I had expected for you to tell me that. I am Dorian, by the way, one of the men chosen to try to halt the Yiga Clan's plan, and I apologise for the fact that we weren't able to find you sooner—along with making you fear us enough to throw yourself into the river." His lips quirked a little, just enough for the crease to once again form in the fabric covering the lower half of his face. "That really was not our intention."
He held out his hand.
The sound of her heartbeat felt like a drum beating right next to her ear as Zelda waited for what was to come. Only a second later did she realise that the leader—Dorian—was waiting for her to return the gesture, to step forwards and shake his hand. Next to her, she could almost feel how Link was on the verge of opening his mouth to let Dorian know just how naïve he must consider them to honestly think that they could ever do that, only to fall silent as Zelda stepped forwards, grabbing Doran's hand.
"I expect to receive a full explanation for what has happened when we reach whoever you believe has the full knowledge of what is going on," Zelda said, tightening her hold on Doran's hand as she looked directly into his eyes.
To his credit, Dorian did not look worried as he spoke. "I will make sure to arrange for you to receive an explanation the moment we have got the chance to make sure that your friend will be all right." there was nothing about the way he reached up to put his free hand on top of hers, still maintaining eye contact, that would suggest a lie, and yet, Zelda could not ignore the feeling in her stomach of her having somehow missed something, something important as Dorian turned from her, whistling loudly.
The night appeared to part in front of them, Zelda only realising that what she had at first thought to be a ghost, a faint blue light surrounding it as it approached them, was really closer to being a motorcycle. It drove towards them, seemingly without needing any input from anyone, or at least it stopped right next to Dorian, Zelda seeing how the blue light she had thought to be a sign of something supernatural was really just the faint glow of a core. It must have been installed close to the wheels, the light illuminating the motorcycle from below, but as much as she tried to place it somewhere in her mind next to all other pieces of Sheikah technology, Zelda could not recall having ever seen something like it, much less now. Eyeing the size of the motorcycle with what she already knew was a wary expression on her face, she tried to gauge just how often it must have been necessary to take the energy from a core of a car to be able to power the motorcycle, just how many times Dorian must have risked electrocution to be able to drive the thing, if he was even driving it at all. Glancing back and forth between the motorcycle and Dorian, Zelda searched for even the slightest him of being confused by the way the bike had seemingly moved of its own accord.
If that was the case, Dorian his it well, looking at Zelda like he could not understand why she had paused at all. Gesturing towards Ganondorf, he cocked his head. "We should probably get going. Though I am sure that we would be able to handle that as well, I think it would be far more pleasant for your friend if we are able to begin treating his wound before it gets the chance to become infected."
He had been able to pinpoint their weakness with a frightening accuracy. That was what Zelda realised as both she and Link exchanged another look before obeying the implicit order, turning around to head over to where Ganondorf was still asleep. As she wrapped an arm around him, pulling his left arm over her shoulder, Link doing the same on the other side, Zelda could only wonder how long he had been aware of it, if the fight had been nothing more than a farce to him and his group, a way to let them believe that they would ever have been able to put up a fight without being aware that he had known from the very start that all it would have taken to bring an end to it was to remind them of the threat to Ganondorf's wellbeing or bring up the fact that Zelda could feel the sticky warmth of the blood that had seeped through the bandage as she accidentally let her hand brush against it, feeling how it came away with blood on it. She did not know the answer to the question, nor was she sure she wanted to as she and Link slowly began to lead Ganondorf towards the motorcycle, carrying him more than anything, Ganondorf's head tilting forwards, his chin hitting his chest as they tried to keep him as steady as possible while making their way through the mud.
Dorian watched them try to figure out how to get Ganondorf onto the motorbike without uttering a word, but Zelda knew that he was watching them from the moment the sound of fingers snapping broke through her and Link's whispered discussion about how to best make sure that he would not fall off the seat during the drive to Kakariko Village, the cycle itself moving and twisting, the metal breaking apart to form a sidecar attached to the rest of the motorcycle.
For a moment, all Zelda could do was to stare at it, to look at how the appearance of the sidecar had just gone against everything she had ever thought to be possible, but the sound of Ganondorf's shallow breathing brought her back to the situation at hand within seconds. Leaning forwards to look over at Link, she could see the same silent doubts written across his face as he looked from the sidecar and over at her. He was waiting for her to make a decision. The idea felt laughable as she stood there, unable to figure out what to do as everything she had been taught about physics and technology fell apart in front of her, but, nevertheless, Zelda knew that it was true as Link turned back to look at the sidecar once again, Ganondorf hanging limply between them.
The decision should have been difficult to make, and somewhere, Zelda supposed that it really was, but, pushing all thoughts about what the way the motorcycle had transformed itself in a matter of seconds meant for them aside, she did not allow herself to dwell on that, instead nodding towards it. "If we sit on either side of him in there, there should be just enough space for all three of us. Then we can hold onto him and make sure that he won't move while we drive." her voice was firm, calm even, but as Link moved to help her lift up Ganondorf enough to let them swing his legs over the side of the sidecar, the fact that he was what felt like half a metre taller than them as they stood there not making the task any easier, Zelda felt neither of those things. Her arms were shaking, she had no idea about how to explain what had just happened, one of her friends was hurt, and now it seemed that their only chance of getting him any help was to trust someone who, despite claiming that they had been trying to save them, had been part of a group that had chased them out of a city less than a day ago. She did not feel brave or like a leader. Rather, as Zelda climbed into the sidecar after Ganondorf, soon finding herself squeezed in between Ganondorf and the metal of the motorcycle she could no longer trust to be as solid as it should have been, Link holding onto the Master Sword as he pulled himself over the side, his knuckles turning white, she felt lost.
She was almost grateful for the fact that she would at least not have to drive the motorcycle. For as much as they still could not trust Dorian, the fact that he would be the one responsible for getting them to Kakariko Village, a village that should not exist, at least meant that Zelda did not have to figure out where to go, leaving her to look up at Dorian as he climbed onto the motorbike, turning in the seat to look down at them for a moment.
There was something in his eyes that Zelda did not know how to read, a look that felt almost familiar to her. It was gone in a matter of seconds, but as Dorian reached up to pull down the cloth covering his face, revealing a little smile, Zelda could almost convince herself that she could still see a reflection of it in his expression as he looked down at them, opening his mouth a couple of times before nodding towards where Epona was still grazing, the tense minutes of battle having seemingly failed to be enough for her to notice it. "I will send someone to bring your horse to the village. For now, try to relax. I promise you that you will find that we are really just trying to help you."
She should have opened her mouth to refute the idea of ever being able to relax while sitting in the sidecar of a motorcycle that could seemingly change its shape, placing her life directly in the hands of a stranger. If nothing else, the fact that she had been able to forget about Epona should have made her pause. But even as Zelda tried to open her mouth to say something, she could not fend off the exhaustion any longer, the blue glow illuminating the air around her as they began to move looking like the glow of her Sheikah Slate from all the times she had continued to read into the night. Now, however, it was what she saw as she blinked, the periods of darkness growing longer and longer until she could not bring herself to open her eyes again.
Zelda was not sure exactly when she fell asleep. All she knew was that they were moving through the landscape, Dorian staying on the roads, the motorcycle feeling almost like it tried to stay as still as possibly as she rested her head against the side of it for a moment, only to give in to the exhaustion and fall asleep again.