Ordorac is a handsome town, with two-story stone houses and narrow cobbled streets around a large central market square. Granté bids Link farewell with a promise to meet back at the gate at noon tomorrow, and Link intends to make the most of his visit. He sells his replenished pouch of gems to a jeweller for more easily-traded rupees and heads to the bustling market. The bulk he exchanges for sword oil and other such essentials, but he shells out a good portion on explosive-tipped arrows, which are a speciality of the ex-mining town. He's beyond excited to try them out.
He's also excited to try as much street food as he physically can. The food in Akala is hearty and simple, and he browses carts offering grilled sausages and onions in a tangy sauce, deep-fried dumplings stuffed with minced meat, and a variety of other delicious-smelling things. He buys a wrap stuffed with shredded lamb and pickled cabbage
"You new in town?" the vendor asks as he expertly rolls the wrap up. "Your accent's not local, but I can't place it anywhere else neither."
"Just passing through," Link says, handing over an assortment of loose change.
"That so? You'll be wanting to visit the Goddess Shrine, if you've got time - it's less than an hour's ride from here. Proper ruined it is, don't think anyone really knows when it was built. But you can see all the columns where the temple used to be."
That's ringing all kinds of bells. Link balances the food awkwardly in one hand as he swipes through the slate before showing it to the man. "Is this the place?"
The man leans in to peer at the image. "That's the one. Didn't realise you'd gone already. Well, there's some nice gardens out by the goddess temple, those are worth a walk around too."
Link polishes off his wrap, which is tender and savoury and crunchy and juicy in all the right ways, and goes to collect Epona.
They make good time on the wide loggers' road through the forest, Link enjoying the warm sun on his face and the birds singing in the trees as Epona ambles happily beneath him. The ride is uneventful at first, but after a while he notices the birdsong and the rustling of small animals in the undergrowth has stopped. The trail up ahead becomes churned, with broken branches strewn around. He pushes Epona to follow the trail of destruction deeper inwards. Soon enough he hears an awful rasping noise and chokes on the fetid stench of monster. He emerges into a clearing, where the source of both is revealed: an enormous hinox, sleeping against a rock outcropping. As it snores, drool drips from the corner of its mouth. Good luck to find it sleeping, at least, he can get the drop on it.
Link dismounts silently, drawing his bow. He really doesn't want to get in range of those feet if he can help it. He aims for the throat; lets fly. The arrow lands true and the hinox wakes with a bellow. The wound doesn't seem to have hindered it at all. Shit. It grabs its log-sized club and charges at him, fast for its size and shaking the earth with every step. The bow was a mistake; Link flings it to the ground and draws his sword and shield, ducking as the hinox swings at him. The tree behind him crashes to the ground with a crack of snapping wood. Too close! Link ducks under the monster's arm again and slashes at its legs. The swing isn't deep enough to hamstring it, though it roars in pain. It swats at him with a massive hand which he narrowly dodges. Speed is really his only advantage here. He darts in and out jabbing at it, staying behind it as best he can while it lunges and flails at him. It's starting to tire, but he knows he's only one misstep from disaster. He needs to get a good hit in before his luck runs out.
His luck runs out: the hinox finally manages to hit him with a backhand sweep, and he's flung to the ground. Winded, he only just manages to roll out of the way as it stomps where his head had just been. His sword is trapped below its foot, and he runs through a stream of mental curses. He launches himself off the ground at a run, scooping up his discarded bow and turning in one skidding movement. He notches an arrow, dropping to one knee as he brings the bow up. The hinox is lumbering towards him; he'll only get one shot. He forces himself to still. Breathe; aim. It's almost on him. Link sends a desperate prayer up to Hylia and lets fly. The hinox's single yellow eyeball suddenly sprouts fletching as his arrow plunges deep into its skull. Link watches in slow motion as it tips forward and faceplants on the ground with an earthshaking thud. The club it was holding in its outstretched arm hits the ground, bounces, and hits him squarely in the head.
He comes to an indeterminate time later, sprawled on his back squinting up at the sky. It's clouded over, so he has no way to tell how long he's been out. Epona grazes nearby, and the hinox lies where he'd left it. This close the smell is unbearable. He gags and rolls to a sit; the movement makes his vision swirl. He gingerly prods across his temple checking for blood, but thankfully finds none. That didn't go quite how he wanted. He stands, wincing, and gathers up his things then collects Epona. He tries keeping his eyes shut to soothe the pounding of his head but all that does is make every his stomach lurch with every step.
Despite the throb of his head, the swaying motion of horseback must drag him under, because he wakes to Epona snorting and pawing the ground. He slides off her, blearily taking in their surroundings. She must have followed the track all the way to the ruins as he dozed. Well, since he's here... He fumbles the slate from his hip and heads into the basin. Rubble from the fallen columns litters the ground, and the crumbling walls carved into the cliffside are overgrown with moss. There's a small waterfall where a stream trickles over the edge, collecting into the shallow pool below. The goddess statue presides serenely over this scene of decay. If only she could talk.
Link builds a fire and sits back against the basin wall, trying to clear his mind and encourage memories to return. He sees the columns pristine and shining, the Goddess statue resplendent on its ornate platform. Zelda is turning away from him, engulfed in bright light; he reaches out but he's too late, always one step behind... Wait. The image showed this place already in ruins. He frowns, trying to re-focus his thoughts. It's growing dark, and the still surface of the pool reflects the early moonlight.
Like a ghostly echo he can see Zelda kneeling there in her prayer gown, hands clasped together and head bowed as she beseeches Hylia for aid. It's not going well. When she starts crying he reaches toward her, a century removed and just as useless as he had been the first time round. Memory-Link mirrors him, indecision warring on his face before he sheathes the Master Sword and wades into the pool. He gently pulls Zelda away onto the drier land where he's built a fire in the shelter of the walls. The same spot Link's fire occupies in the present day, in fact; he's clearly predictable. Past Link doesn't speak, but offers the princess a blanket and a warm cup of soup. Once Zelda finishes drinking, he tentatively rests a hand across her shoulders, and she leans into the touch. The scene fades out, and Link rests his head against the wall, alone once more. He's not sure what he's learned from coming here.
He opens his eyes again to a deep blue night sky awash with stars. His fire has burned down to embers and there's a faint chill in the air. He's losing time, the head injury was clearly worse than he thought. Maybe he should have gone straight back to town. He's summoning the will to climb into his bedroll when he spots movement above. Undulating through the heavens is an enormous dragon, fire flickering at its jaws and along its scaly body. It's incomprehensibly massive, and Link realises with alarm it's heading this way. It lazily scrapes the treeline of the forest as it descends with claws longer than he is tall.
He's expecting an earthquake when it lands, but it touches down surprisingly lightly and peers over the basin edge like a gigantic and terrifying cat. Its eyes are ancient and fathomless and completely unreadable. It closes them to sniff at him and he freezes in place, but the dragon merely pulls back and huffs at the surface of the water. Even that gentle puff envelops him like a furnace; his dying fire comes roaring back to life. Shimmering gold ripples outwards over the pond, curling around the Goddess statue. Link waits with baited breath to see what it does next, but the dragon just lurches ponderously back into the air. It winds its way upwards and upwards, until it disappears from sight behind a cloud.
He realises with surprise that his headache is gone, and with it his various cuts and bruises. Huh. From behind the statue, he can see the glow of a shrine that he's sure wasn't there before. That can definitely wait until the morning.
His dreams are pure chaos.
He kneels before Zelda in
dusty darkness, as she pours affection and sorrow into his waiting bones
bright sunlight as she anoints him with resentment
and his heart burns, to know that all she ever wanted was what they already had but
and his ears burn, to know how little she thinks of him
"I used you, I'm sorry", she says
"Can you hear it yet?", she says
and slips from his grasp
like smoke
His hand is searing agony -
and he watches in horror
as it transforms to a paw the size of a dinner plate, bones cracking
- on the back there's a design glowing gold,
burning through his skin like the sun
Adrift in time...
He's nine
seventeen years old,
kneeling in the ruins of the
Temple of Time, and he knows he can't
must claim the sword. It sings to him, across endless years
... or skyward bound
He launches himself off a cliff
into empty sky, clouds above and below.
He falls through
and through
and through,
the storm raging around him, scouring his skin raw.
It washes away everything he was before,
leaving blank perfection behind.
Link's keenly aware, when he arrives back at Ordorac, that he hasn't bathed, eaten or slept properly since yesterday. Granté's waiting for him as arranged, looking well-groomed and well-rested.
"You look terrible," he observes. "Did you lose a fight with a hinox?"
Link scowls at him. "I won, actually." That prompts a rather concerned face, so he adds "I'm fine. Just had a really... weird night."
Granté raises an eyebrow at that but doesn't press the issue further. Link runs his hand through his hair, which somehow dislodges yet more leaves. He feels fractious and tense, like his skin is too small, or his teeth don't fit right in his head. His dreams taunt him. Some of the fragments he can easily dismiss as potential memories (like turning into a wolf...what was that about), but how can he be sure of anything he "remembers" if he's had plausible but contradictory ones? How can he ever hope to become his old self again if he can't even tell what was real?
It's not helping him work out his relationship with Zelda either. She runs hot and cold towards him in the memories he's recovered, but he has no idea what order they happened in, or whether all of them happened at all. Had he done something terrible, to sour her towards him? He digs his heels to Epona's sides and heads off at a gallop, leaving Granté to catch up.
They round Kanalet ridge in thick fog, finally bringing Akala Citadel into view. Link exhales harshly. Even with visibility lowered so far, he can tell the fortress is ruined. Its impregnable walls are exploded out around the tower base; huge chunks of rubble are strewn right across the valley. What's left is utterly consumed by creeping vines. Weeds sprout from between the flagstones and the parade ground is littered with rusted Guardian husks. Looking up, he can see more clinging to the ruined walls.
"What happened here?" he asks, voice breaking.
Granté looks around with mild curiosity. "After the Champions fell, the military focused on aiding the evacuation of central Hyrule. Refugees fled to Hebra, Faron, Necluda... but the majority came here, and the Guardians followed. The garrison held the Akala span for several days... until Divine Beast Vah Rudania arrived." As he speaks, his face falls; the realisation that what's merely history trivia to him is lived experience to the man beside him, perhaps.
Link closes his eyes; he can imagine the rest. They leave the horses behind because the bridge to the citadel is rotting and decayed, and Link doesn't trust it to hold. Their footsteps echo in the silence of what was once the busiest garrison in all of Hyrule. He wanders the halls which are still accessible, tracing his fingers over crumbling tapestries, dusty weapon racks, splintered beds. Granté follows behind, careful not to disturb his reverie.
It's strange, to be somewhere his past self spent so much time. There are echoes everywhere, tiny snippets of daily life in the garrison.
In the dormitory he sees Karane excitedly telling the other pages she'd been chosen to squire for a knight, the first of all of them. Remembers crying softly, the first night he arrived; he'd never been away from his mother and sister overnight before. In the library, he hears Pipit quietly confiding his worries for his own widowed mother back in Deya Village. He remembers whiling away long winter evenings reading up on tactics and techniques by lamplight. In the kitchen, he can taste the apple tarts he and Cawlin begged from Henya, the cook; remembers trying to charm the scullery maid, Elise, his awkward teenage self pleased when she giggled and blushed.
And in the training yard, so many memories, overlapping and merging together. The burn of muscles; the dull pain of getting hit with a practice sword. The sound of Instructor Eagas laughing as Link, still just a page, soundly defeats two squires twice his size. The rise of irritation at Groose playing dirty as they spar, the bigger boy always trying to get an edge over the commander's son. The swell of pride at winning a mêlée competition being hosted in honour of the visiting Royals. In the stands, he sees the King looking greatly enthused and the Princess looking bored.
He feels his father's hand clasping on his shoulder in approval; the sting of scraping his hands falling over as a young child. He pulls on his father's leg but the commander's attention doesn't waver from the Zora delegation. The Zora Princess tucks her spear in her elbow, then crouches to take his hands in hers. They're slightly rough, dry and warm. There's a tingling sensation and the stinging stops. Mipha smiles down at him fondly, and he grins back up at her, tears drying on his grubby face. Link stands where his child self did, looking up at the sky. He feels like an open cup, memory and sensation pouring into him and overflowing. He remembers who his father was. He had friends, a mother, a sister!
They pass through what used to be the garden. It's now the site of a mass grave, and Link realises belatedly that there were no skeletons in the citadel. It's good, that people came back to bury them, but it still leaves the taste of ash in his mouth. How many of his fellow knights are buried here? He sweeps the dust and leaves away from the marker stone and reads the inscription.
This stone pays tribute to the brave men and women
who gave their lives so that many more might live.
Led by Commander Arn, they held this fort for seven days
until Princess Zelda could seal the Calamity within Hyrule Castle.
We are eternally grateful for their sacrifice.
His chest tightens. Commander Arn. His father is laid to rest here. He rests his hand on the stone and bows his head, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. His brief joy at remembering his family and friends dissipates. They're all dead. He knew that, but it didn't feel real until now, when he had faces and names to mourn. And they died believing he had failed them all. So many people died because he and Zelda didn't manage to fulfil their destiny in time. He doesn't remember much about those final days (except running; except dying). Could different choices in those critical moments have prevented this? After a while he feels Granté's hand on his shoulder.
"We should climb the tower," the Sheikah says gently.
Link nods, and gets up. Moves on.
There's a flying guardian patrolling the area when Link and Granté climb out through a hole in the citadel walls, which is absolute bullshit in Link's opinion. He fights down what would be a very inconveniently-timed panic attack, and settles in to watch from the safety of the rubble.
"I think we can get to the tower sides in the time it takes it to loop back round," he says to Granté. "But it would definitely notice us climbing."
"Could we distract it?" the Sheikah asks.
"Maybe, but probably not for long enough. How about this..."
They let it whirr past once more then leap into action, running to the tower's base. Granté boosts Link up and he grabs the latticework, climbing for all he's worth. Below, the Sheikah runs back to cover. As the Guardian heads back, he fires one of Link's explosive arrows to draw its attention away. It works just long enough; by the time it loses interest Link has pulled himself up onto one of the balconies, and nocked his own arrow. The Guardian notices him, its red laser marking his chest. He lets fly with a sense of vicious satisfaction. The explosion breaks its rotor blades and it drops from the sky like a stone, smashing to pieces on the thoroughfare far below in a dramatic fireball. Link pumps his fist in triumph, and waves Granté over to start his own climb.
Once they've reached the top and updated Link's map, Link removes his updated slate from the pedestal. Suddenly there's a distant BOOM, followed by a rumbling that he feels in his bones. The explosion came from the direction of Death Mountain, and to be heard from this far away it must have been big.
That can't be good; either the volcano is erupting, which will make getting to Vah Rudania nigh impossible. Or Vah Rudania is the problem, and Ganon is gaining strength. Hylia only knows what destruction he could wreak with the Eldin Beast fully under his control again. Link sees the utter destruction of the citadel in his mind's eye. He pushes the slate into Granté's hands.
"Go get Purah!" he yells. He runs to the tower edge, unrolling his glider as he goes, and leaps off into the mist before the Sheikah can even reply.
Notes: Hoo boy, formatting this one was an experience I'm not in a hurry to repeat. I'd love to hear what you think! Poor Link. He deserves a break.