WARNING

Major spoilers for the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ahead! Please reconsider reading this story if you are yet to finish the game. You have been warned!

A/N: GUYS I CAN EXPLAIN

I'M SORRY LMAO

I DISCOVERED SOMETHING IN ME TODAY AND THAT IS THE FACT THAT I DON'T EVEN HAVE THE TIME TO DO TWO CONSECUTIVE UPDATES THAT ARE ON TIME

I HEAR YOU RANDOM GUEST THAT REVIEWED SHOUTING FOR ME TO UPDATE

I HEAR YOU AND I WANT TO SLAP MYSELF TOO

I KNOW THIS IS SIX DAYS LATE I'M SO SORRY

I WISH WORK WAS A MONSTER SO THAT I COULD KILL IT EASILY

ANYWAY HERE

I'M SORRY HAHAHAHHA

(Hey hey I feel like my writing improved whaddya say)

~ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ

Link felt his ears pick up at the bright sounds of a bird chirping. Squeak, squeak, squeak, it repeated the same word over and over again before falling into complete silence, letting the nature fall into its own pace again as he felt the road underneath his feet change as he walked on. The air was fresh, though a little salty nonetheless, for the Lanayru Promengade was only so far away.

The air was grim, and the silence was thicker than snow. Link could hear Zelda's heavy footsteps as she walked in front of him, her shoulders stiff and eyes tight, her gaze fixed upon the grounds before her and her fists tightened at her sides. Link's heart ached almost painfully for him to do something - a feeling perhaps too familiar to the young knight. Sunlight was a lovely fit with the princess, but at this moment, nothing seemed to be able to bring her happiness back out anymore. She was like a nerve exposed, ripped out raw and fresh and painfully enlightened in the spotlight.

Their quiet footsteps echoed in his ears. Magically. Mystically. Majestically. If under different circumstances, Link would have blushed and thought how lovely this moment would be. But this is different.

The beating of his heart was a mad one, pumping against his ribs and rocketing his skull like a bokoblin waving its club. His mind, his soul, his head, his brain, his entire nervous system, his everything, urged him to say something, anything, but not a word breaks these tightly sealed lips, and he felt more like a failure than ever before.

So much for a knight that offers protection.

For some mysterious reason Zelda seemed to be shining in the sunlight, a spotlight casted on her and especially her, like the Goddess had finally paid attention to her and put her at upmost importance. Was it because of her prayers? Does that mean…it had worked? Or was it simply just the sunset or Link's fooled, lovesick mind playing tricks on him? He wondered if he'll ever know.

An unexplainable sadness gripped at his chest mercilessly, flames licking his heart like some wizard had just cursed him with those long, nasty wands of theirs. He could almost feel the tension in Zelda's body, her sadness abound and folded neatly inside her, but those unseeing eyes gave it all away. As if out of instinct, Link felt his hand reaching for hers and—

She drifted ahead of him, her pace suddenly faster at the sight of the other Champions. A disappointment unmeasurable by Hyrule's official measuring units washed over Link as if he was a seashell on the shore, and all of a sudden he felt as if he wanted the ground to swallow him whole. Just what was he thinking?

"Well? Don't keep us in suspense." Daruk's heavy voice broke through his thoughts and slammed on his head like a painful reminder. "How'd everything go up there on the mountain?"

Zelda stared on ahead, and without seeing those eyes Link already knew that she was almost close to tears. Feeling the concern rise up the his chest he watched her gently, hoping that maybe his gaze could perhaps grant her some impression of comfort. It doesn't help.

Breathing a sigh, Zelda shook her head and looked down again, and it was as if an invisible pianist had pressed down hard on the notes of their life. The Champions looked around, some looking disappointed and some looking simply empathetic, as if they had predicted this all along. For some reason it filled Link with a strange despise that he pushed down almost too quickly.

Daruk's face fell so dramatically that it was almost funny, and Link was sure it would be if the scenario was that his birthday cake didn't contain rocks.

"So you didn't feel anything?" Revali stepped up, his sharp voice seemingly kind for once. His green eyes shone with something undecipherable. "No power at all?"

Zelda brought her hands together and stared on ahead at the sunset. "I'm sorry, no." Her voice sounded a bit choked, finishing off the sentence quick enough for her to stop the tears from rushing in. She ducked her head upon saying it, as if she was ashamed of her own tryings.

"Then let's move on." Urbosa's rich voice cut through, "You've done all you could." The second sentence was laced with something almost like motherly- sisterly love? She placed a hand on her hip. "Feeling sorry for yourself won't be of any help." She moved her gaze towards the direction of where they came from. "After all, it's not like your last shot was up there on Mt. Lanayru. Anything could finally spark the power to seal Ganon away." Daruk and Mipha nodded in agreement. "We just have to keep looking for that…thing." The Gerudo chief finished quite hesitantly, leaving her confident, encouraging sentence to a waste.

Link diverted his eyes back to Zelda again and wow, the sunset looked perfect on her, as always. Her long lashes shaded her green eyes and the blonde hair spilled down her shoulders like a golden waterfall - yet everything about her was caped with a sadness, no, a disappointment, a sapping away of the will to keep going- Link thought back to the time where they had shared their hug on the corridor in the castle, how tired and small she had felt inside her arms and oh how much he wished he could do it again right now, to wipe that heart-crushing expression off her face and make her smile again, to hear her laugh again-

"That's kind of you. Thank you." Those words were nothing but emotionless, Zelda now nothing but a blank slate wiped clean by her own two hands, numb at whatever that's going to come at her. Link's self consciousness clawed at his poor heart for not fixing this fast enough - but just how is he supposed to fix all this, anyway? It's that same damn question and it was never asked enough.

"If I may…" Mipha began somewhat nervously, her eyes darting over the place, occasionally landing on Link before quickly looking away. Zelda gave a gentle nod in approval and Mipha looked down in almost embarrassment.

"I thought you…" The Zora princess took a step forward gently, "well, I'm not sure how to put this into words…I'm actually quite embarrassed to say it." She looked down with some determination in her amber eyes. "But I was thinking about what I do when I'm healing." Her eyes didn't focus on any of theirs, and Link found himself studying his childhood friend in confusion. Mipha was barely like this - so confusing, so puzzling and hard to figure out. Just- what is her point here? Even the princess seemed more focused on Mipha's words instead of her own troubles, those brilliant green eyes of her shining with curiosity.

"You know, what usually goes through my mind…" She pauses a bit, her eyes unreadable. "It helps when I think--when I think about—"

A loud rumbling interrupted Mipha's words and she stumbled forwards with a surprised grunt. Everything was shaking out of nowhere, like an earthquake attacking the lands without warning; rocks flew from the skies and birds escaped into the air, the animals running away from the trees and fleeing to a safer place. Suddenly aware at the sound of danger, Link snapped those sapphire eyes back to the princess and moved before they even landed on her properly, stepping up to support her just in case she falls over at such a loud noise. And she momentarily does, a sense of panic seizing Link's chest as she fell back helplessly, a scared yelp escaping her lips - he stepped forwards to help her back to balance just in time, feeling his skin light on fire against her soft, pristine one.

Out of instinct, all the Champions turned back ta the source of the noise, alarmed expressions on their faces. Revali immediately began flapping his wings, sending himself high above the ground with that familiar swirl of wind he created. The Champions watched in concern as the Rito made his way on top of the mountain, those keen, green eyes of his scanning across the fields for something unusual. Something in Link stirred at the fearful cracks of thunder in the distance - something bad is coming, he could almost feel it, like an ancient one whispering into his ear to be ready. Could this really be…

Revali's terrified expression seemed to have proofed him correct. Link felt his blood run completely, utterly cold as the Rito Champion flew back to the ground, his movements as stiff as he had ever seen on him. All the Champions' eyes enlarged in unison as they realized just what Revali had seen up above that mountain.

Calamity Ganon was awake.

"It's here." Urbosa spoke casually, her voice controlled and eerily calm, almost a reminder for everyone to stay strong and fearless. Link balled his fists and tried to contort his expression into something more stoic - and, unsurprisingly , seemed to have failed. It'll will be just like how we planned, he told himself, trying to calm his nerves, everything will go smoothly. It'll be so fast that you'd be back at Hyrule Castle before you know it.

"This is it, then…" Daruk's voice was powerful as well, determination flowing through those words. Wow. It seemed as if everyone felt braver and more courageous than Link in here - isn't he supposed to be the big strong hero that wasn't afraid of anything? Then why is his heart hammering against his ribcage like it was trying to jump out, his hands trembling slightly as he tried to remember how to wield the sword properly, and his feet tracing backwards as the purple clouds appeared in the skies? And why does he feel like he wanted to run back to his village and hide until this is all over? Self hatred made its way up his veins and twirled around his body, like an evil snake promising to poison him into dust.
"Are you sure?" Mipha's voice was nothing close to scared, instead professional and restrained.

"Positive." Revali was the same, those wings of his nothing but prepared for battle.

"It's awake. Ganon!" And then Zelda's voice piped itself into his mind, fear tinged on the edges with a desperate attempt to hold herself together. It almost shone into Link's soul like her unawakened powers - warm and soft and as precious as a new born child. It was a reminder better than Urbosa's by a thousand times, like a painless slap in the face telling him that this is who he was protecting. Who he was fighting for.

Oh well. All that fear and underprepared terror sapped into the wind like monsters after a fight, disappearing without a trace, replaced with a burning determination and certainty so strong that Link felt like he could run to the castle right at this moment and slice that big thing into pieces. Anything for victory. Anything for safety. Anything for her.

"Let's stop wasting time!" Daruk turned towards the princess, those blue eyes of his almost intimidating under the unnatural purple lights up above. "We're gonna need everything we got to take that thing down!"

Zelda didn't reply, instead kept staring at the direction of Hyrule Castle over the mountains, her small, fragile figure showing nothing but hopelessness, her hands shaking and eyes forlorn. That urge to protect - if Link was being honest, it almost felt like a mother's - rushed in and Link gripped his gloved hands so tight it was as if he was trying to inflict harm on himself.

Hearing no response, Daruk turned towards the other Champions and raised his left hand like a victorious athlete. "Now Champions! To your Divine Beasts! Show that swirling swine who's boss!" His voice brought Link a sense of power, pumping and running through his chest. "Link will need to meet Ganon head on when we attack! This needs to be a unified assault!" () He turned towards Link, calling his favorite nickname for him as always: "Little guy! You get to Hyrule Castle."

At the command, Link gave the slightest of nods, already mapping out the fastest way there in his mind. A small, arrogant grunt was heard from Revali but he ignored it, refusing to let anything distract him right at this important moment, this crossroad deciding all of their fates.

"You can count on us for support." Daruk said with such a reliable tone that Link almost smiled in return - maybe, just maybe, everything will turn out to be alright in the end. "But it's up to you to pound Ganon into oblivion!" Link suddenly had the thought that Daruk had drafted all this before, and had practiced all this back in his dome in Goron City in front of the mirror. Quite likely case, honestly.

He urged himself to be serious. Urbosa made her way behind the princess, cupping those bare shoulders with her soft hands. "Come. We should go." The next thing he knew, worry was then everywhere inside Link's system, wilding around like grass on fire. Just where will they take her? Will she be safe? How can I protect her? What will she be doing? Having to have barely separated from Zelda ever since the beginning of his duty, he couldn't help but feel troubled at the thought of her leaving his vision in a dangerous time like this.

"We need to get you someplace safe." Urbosa followed up, studying Zelda's unreadable green eyes. A loud silence was heard as the princess looked down, a thousand machines probably working in her mind, making up impossible decisions that Link couldn't even begin to imagine about. And then before he knew it, she was shaking off Urbosa's hands, a motivating power in her voice as she spoke firmly to Daruk. "No! I am not a child anymore! I may not be much use on the battlefield…" Urbosa slowly retreated her hands, surprise tinged with honor mixed with concern dueling on her face. The same agitated in Link's heart as well, such complex emotions rising up to his chest that he almost felt dazed by it. "But there must…There must be something I can do to help!"

The Champions looked around at each other in helplessness, their minds empty and scraped of ideas - well, that is, except for Link's.

"Well, this might sound a bit bizarre coming from me, but…" Oh, it seemed that Urbosa was an exception as well. "Why don't you go with Link to the Castle? You do have your light arrows, yes? Wouldn't those do some help with the fight against the Calamity?"

Wait, no— that's not what Link had meant! He let out a short refusal in response, before rapidly explaining just how dangerous it could be for her to be there. Something glinted in Urbosa's eyes as she studied his own, a smile too unfitting for the occasion on her lips.

"I actually think that's a great idea, Urbosa," Zelda surprised all of them with this statement, her voice still firm and determined. "I'll go with Link to the Castle. My powers still have a chance after all, don't they?"

Link stared at the princess in utter disbelief as she grabbed his hands into her own, Link too astonished to get embarrassed at this point. "We'll be going, then." She stated shortly, before taking Link towards the direction of Hyrule Castle, and whispered so quietly that it was only heard by no other but her personal knight. "We'll all be together again before we know it."

A/N: (): I didn't make this spelling mistake on purpose here, Nintendo literally said that in the memory, you can legit go see…Daruk must have bad grammar? Or did the producers just not notice. Wow

Also-

I can't promise anyone updates that are specifically dated anymore I'm sorry,

It's just two chapters though! I already have the next one roughly drafted so the next update will be soon I promise!11!1! 1!!

~ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ