The stranger sitting under a tree greeted Zelda as an orange glowing shrine and Riverside Stable came into view in the distance on the path ahead of her.

"Oy!"

Zelda almost responded, but the merchant's warning about the Yiga in disguise repeated in her mind. She kept walking, pretending not to hear him. The stranger stood up. Zelda's heart pounded.

"Shall I tell you your fortune, miss? No cost for a pretty little thing like you."

Zelda felt her face flush with anger at his bold advance, but she continued to ignore him. She kept walking a few more paces and hoped that he had lost interest. She glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye.

"That's right. Don't be shy." His voice was artificially gentle; he was trying to coax her.

Something seems off about this.

Suddenly her eyes were drawn to the blinding glint of the setting sun reflecting off a small metallic object he was trying to conceal behind his arm.

Zelda's heart nearly stopped. Yiga. Sudden nausea hit her and she could hardly breathe as she took off running as fast as she could toward Riverside Stable that was just ahead of her on the path. She didn't stop once, not even to turn around to see if he was pursuing her.

She finally reached Riverside Stable with a stitch in her side and her heart pounding as fast as it had when she ran from the Yiga footsoldiers a century ago.

She felt brave enough to look behind her. To her sheer relief, the man was nowhere to be seen. She took deep breaths, a panic attack nearly ready to overcome her. She vomited on the ground.

"Miss, are you all right?" The friendly man's voice at the counter made her jump.

She was still breathing heavily, and she could hardly speak. "No…Yiga…" She pointed vaguely in the direction from where she had come.

Wide-eyed, the man told her, "One moment, please." She watched as he whispered to a middle-aged woman inside the stable and they both disappeared out of sight for a few minutes. When they emerged, the woman was carrying a blanket and a mug of something steaming, and the man was in a set of surprisingly regal-looking armor over his torso and legs and carried a sharp, strong sword on his back, nearly identical to her own Royal Guard Sword. She gasped, wondering where he would have found it. Most people didn't go near Hyrule Castle. As the man walked outside to where Zelda was standing, he spoke again, quietly.

"I'm so sorry, miss. We've had problems with unsavory characters hanging around lately and we've had to increase our security here. I'll take care of it. Don't you worry; you're safe now."

Zelda breathed a sigh of relief but was still shaking as the woman approached her. The woman kindly removed the heavy items Zelda had been carrying on her back and placed them behind the counter inside the stable. She wrapped the blanket around her and led her to an empty soft bed, sitting down next to her and handing her the mug, which contained hot tea. The woman placed a gentle hand on Zelda's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, miss. Please accept our hospitality. It's on us. Stay as long as you need."

Zelda, still unable to speak, smiled weakly at the kind woman. Standing up, the woman went to help another patron. The reality of what could have happened hit her all at once, and she burst into tears, but they were healing tears. Zelda felt her heart rate and breathing start to slow as she allowed the wet drops to flow down her face. She took a drink of the tea. Its warmth felt so comforting to her as she swallowed the hot liquid, trying to focus on feeling anything but the fear that gripped her heart like a vice. Oh, how I wish Link were here.

She remembered how he would hold her silently whenever she was upset over being unable to awaken her power, even long before there was anything more between them. His arms were always a quiet, steady balm to her heavy distress. He held her at the Springs when she would cry in frustration and anguish over the silence of both the Goddess and her power. His strong embrace was a relieving comfort to her when the news of the overtaken Guardians and Divine Beasts, and the Champions' deaths, reached her ears. Oh, how she longed for those arms now.

She thought of the Champions. She loved and missed them all terribly, especially Urbosa. She became a second mother to Zelda after her mother passed on to the Spirit Realm during childbirth of her younger brother, causing Zelda to become both motherless and brotherless at the tender age of six.

Urbosa took Zelda under her wing and became a steadfast mother figure in her life. Her mother had been close friends with Urbosa, so it was only natural for the Gerudo chieftain to assume the role of Zelda's mother. She wouldn't have made it through those dark times without Urbosa's nightly comforts, holding her in her lap as she listened to the traditional Gerudo lullabies Urbosa would sing to her in her enchanting, lilting voice that would soothe her to sleep. Sometimes Zelda even called her Mama, which Urbosa deeply cherished, never having had children of her own but always wishing she did. It's difficult to start a family in a race with voe only being born about once every ten-thousand years, and there was no way a vai in her position could go outside her race to start a family, as a few of the Gerudo vai commoners did. For royalty it was against traditional Gerudo law, and they had to rely on artificial means to start a family, something Urbosa never wanted. The royal line would instead continue with her sister when the Gerudo stepped down as chieftain to become a Champion. She had expressed to the young princess that she hoped one day things would be different, and Zelda had agreed, even then, when she was too young to understand. She wondered if things were different now, one hundred years later.

Her thoughts continued about Urbosa, remembering how formidable and fierce she was as a warrior, but even more so with her love. It was she who had the best advice, raw in-your-face opinions, no-nonsense attitude, and quick, biting wit that Zelda often emulated, much to her father's displeasure. Urbosa purely had an undying love for Zelda, her own people, and the entirety of Hyrule that was even more powerful than the lightning she could summon with a snap of her fingers.

Zelda's thoughts of Urbosa were suddenly interrupted by the noisy clank of armor coming toward her. The man from earlier had returned, and he had a large bleeding cut on his face. He was holding a small bundle of items in a sack. He came toward her and kneeled at her bedside, and he began whispering.

"Miss, I'm sorry to bother you, but I wanted you to know that Yiga won't be causing any more trouble around here." He gave her a look as he emptied a bunch of mighty bananas and a Vicious Sickle from the sack onto the floor in front of her.

Zelda finally felt like she could breathe again. "Thank you, sir. I appreciate your service, and your kindness."

He nodded and left her alone, and Zelda finished her tea and crawled into the soft bed, finally able to get a few hours of some restful sleep.

...

...

Zelda woke up with a start, sitting straight up in bed. She wondered where she was for a moment before her mind finally cleared. The Riverside Stable was dim, and the sounds of soft snoring in a bed a few spaces down from her could be heard, along with the chirping of crickets outside. The man and woman were sitting at the counter; his armor was removed and he now had a bandage over his face and was asleep in his chair, while she quietly sipped from a mug and read a book.

Zelda carefully wrapped the blanket around herself that the woman had given her earlier and walked up to the counter. The woman put her book down and smiled kindly. "What wakes you at this hour? It's nearly midnight. Hey!" The woman suddenly stood up and took Zelda by the hand. "Come with me. I have something to show you."

Zelda was a little bewildered at the woman's insistence, but she followed the woman outside, who led her to the south side of the stable. The woman stopped and pointed in the distance, the light of the nearly-full moon casting a bright shimmer over the land. "Follow the river to where it leads over there. Do you see that glowing orange tower? Look slightly to the right of it. The waters of Lake Hylia lie straight below that area. Keep your eyes on the skies above the lake. I'll be right back." The lake was not visible from where she was standing, but she kept watch over where she had been told. A few minutes later the woman brought out a scope for her to look through. "Here. You can see him better through this."

Zelda's curiosity got the better of her. "See who?"

The woman checked the time. It was 11:59. "Patience, young one. One more minute now." The woman's voice was kind, but she was holding back her excitement. "You're going to love this."

Zelda was excited now, so she quickly lifted the scope to her eye. She let out a gasp several seconds later as a luminescent green and yellow long and thin dragon materialized into view within her scope, glowing bright against the darker background of night. She could see that he had a great yellow horn on his head, and his green scales were shimmering with rainbows cascading off of them in the light of the moon. He was gracefully gliding through the dark sky at a slow and steady pace, lifting himself up and down gently as he drifted over the barely visible glistening waters of Lake Hylia that she could now see through the scope.

The woman quietly spoke again with wonder in her voice. "It's Farosh, the dragon god. He hasn't been seen in these lands since ancient times, and now he's been seen for the past two nights in that exact place at this exact time every night. He started showing up as soon as those orange towers sprang from below the ground and the old shrines started glowing. I wonder if it's connected."

Zelda's heart leapt. Oh, it's definitely connected. And the dragon gods are real after all!

"I believe the legends state the dragons bring good luck to anyone who sees them," the woman continued, winking at Zelda.

Zelda put her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Thank you so much for showing me. I really needed to see that."

"I had a feeling you might. Now come. Get some more rest. I will have breakfast ready for you in the morning." She led Zelda back to her bed inside the Riverside Inn. With Zelda's heartache and fears eased and her heart in better spirits, she fell asleep easily in the quiet calm of Riverside Stable, dreaming of the dragon gods.