Zelda's POV:
"Gopongo village?"
Link nods and quickly gets on guard looking out for remaining Lizalfos that show their true form, seeing their fallen brethren, they begin to slither towards us,
"Eep!"
"They're coming fast, get ready to move, they have an advantage here," Link pats my horse, instructing it to start galloping away from the monsters. I'm so frustrated,
"A little more of a warning would've been nice!" I yelled at him. Pulling out my bow and drawing an arrow back, quickly launching it towards the slithering monsters.
My shot misses, blast it! Riding on horseback is so difficult, I can barely tame this steed! How can I help Link if I can't even have perfect accuracy?
"Ouch!"
I hold my hands, my fingers have a shooting pain through all of them, it feels like they're sweltering, it's such a sharp pain. I look down to my fingers still wrapped in gauze and see a faint tint of red seeping through the wrap.
My cry in pain distracts Link. Looking back to me gasping in worry, wanting to see what was wrong with me.
The Lizalfos duo wasted no time to take advantage of his worry for me. One of them begins to twist their hips,
"Link look out!"
But it's too late, it swipes their thick reptilian-like tail under Link's feet, causing him to fall to his back, still managing to hang on to his trusty sword. The other one approaches Link, not letting him have a moment to recover and whipped him with his tail, causing Links to get thrown back again, skidding across the marsh, he slowly gets up, rubbing his red cheek, with a now obvious slash across it.
"Well that wasn't very fair now was it?" he said coldly, his eyes locked on both the monsters, his shield ready.
The Lizalfos hiss intimately at him, and appear to begin shooting water bullets at him, he's able to parry incoming shots. But they're so fast, he can't move. While they slowly inch closer and closer to him.
If I were to be useful at all, now would be the time. Little One is going so fast though, just aimlessly wandering around the wetland, I can barely control her, making this shot is going to be difficult. I close my eyes, and take a deep breath in,
Focus
I seethe through my teeth, biting back the pain, reopening my wounds, feeling the blisters on my fingers burst from the overexertion as I draw back an arrow one more time, trying to hold the bow steady through my horses galloping. I exhale slowly,
Please don't miss!
The second the arrow is released it whistles through the wind, I feel like time has slowed down, waiting to see where it will fall.
Please make it…
By the three golden goddesses, the arrow lands directly on the nearest Lizalfos shoulder, it's not a lethal shot, but it distracts it enough for it stop its onslaught on Link, causing the other Lizalfos to foolishly look over and see what was wrong,
Link looks over to me and nods, not wanting to waste this opportunity, he charges quickly to them, and rushes in with a flurry attack, he's got them!
As he lands his last blow, they both go flying away, skidding across the field. One of them falls lifeless, but the other one that was vaulted further away still picks itself up, weak in the knees, possibly shocked by the impact.
Link then pulls out his bow and draws an arrow, his stance is perfectly relaxed, his aim already set. Before the Lizalfos can take one more pitiful step in retaliation, he quickly releases the arrow, a direct headshot.
I pump my fist in the air celebrating Link's victory. He looks over to me and his once cold eyes soften when his eyes meet mine.
"Not bad!"
He looks as though he's chuckling and ruffles his hair. My horse begins to get restless after not soothing her enough, I hear her snorting through her nose swaying her body side to side, I attempt to pet her mane to calm her down but nothing is working. She then begins to stand on her back legs whining loudly.
She's clearly upset, but about what?
I manage to barely hold on to the saddle, I look over to Link for his assistance, his eyes that were just barely relaxed are now filled with horror, as he begins sprinting towards me.
Then…I hear it, a mixture of mechanical beeping sounds, the sound of something charging. A sound I know all too well, I look behind me and see my nightmare.
"A guardian…"
I look to my chest and see a red dot pointed to me, I duck down and whip the reins–
"HYAH!"
Little One dashes off just in time before the laser goes off. I barely graze it, but it startles her and she bucks me off, kicking me in the chest. I skid on the ground, landing head first in the shallow water.
I was wondering…
What could have caused such destruction to such a small, isolated village. The geography around this village essentially gives anyone living within these surrounding hilltops only one way out.
People living here would have no chance against an aerial attack or even a high ground assault.
The Guardians…
Only they could have caused total obliteration to a small village, the holes through the roofs and the charred roofs. The toppled houses…they are the only things that could have had such power of destruction at such high ground. All the people who lived here…I'm sure barely any survived. I couldn't save these people, and now I am here face to face with one of their killers who's been stomping on their graves for a whole century.
…
Get…up…
Links POV:
What is she doing? Why is she walking straight towards it?
I'm going as fast as my legs will take me, I see it's aiming for her again.
Think Link.
What should I do? I could shoot it, but I can't risk missing even a little. Why is she taking off her bow? Does she intend to shoot it? She draws back, her face gives away her pain. I can see blood starting to seep through the gauze on her hand, and tears seeping through her eyes.
She shoots at it and the arrow just dings right off it. With no hesitation, she quickly drew another arrow, missing once again. The whirring sound of the laser being charged is getting faster. It's about to fire.
I'm so close, there's only one thing left for me to do, I run ahead of Zelda guarding her whole body, and barely parry the incoming laser blazing towards us. It's enough to stun the guardian and I've caught up now, quickly using a spin attack while it briefly cools down from the blast.
Slicing off one of its mechanical arms. I don't stop slashing, taking full advantage of its stunned body, I feel the Master Sword pulsing in my hand. My attacks are coming down so strong I feel like I'm tearing through its arms like its paper. It begins to try to scurry away from me trying to maintain some distance, but I am so…
Angry.
Every moment in time feels slowed down, as I slash this Guardian while its beginning to once again charge its beam now pointed at me in a last ditch effort on its part. I don't care, it's on the verge of destruction anyways. Sparks are beginning to come out of its whole body. And I'm inadvertently inhaling the smoke it's making.
Why would she do that?
She knows she doesn't stand a chance against it so why?
I scream so loud as I land the final blow on the guardian, and it begins to self-destruct. I quickly make some distance before the shrapnel disperses.
My body feels so heavy, I feel like I can't breathe. My chest won't stop heaving, my hands can barely grip onto the Master Sword. The adrenaline won't make me stop shaking. I haven't felt that kind of fear since…that day.
The day that I was supposed to die. My body had finally collapsed in trying to protect her but…I couldn't keep her safe then. If Zelda had never awakened her power, she wouldn't have made it, she surely would have been killed, and it would have been my fault, because I wasn't strong enough to protect her.
There's a thud and small splash from behind me and I see Zelda on her knees with her eyes glossed over, tears streaming down her face. I look around the area one more time. That should be the last of them, I don't see any more monsters in the area. I sheathed the sword onto my back and began walking towards her, and got down to her level. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement…but…I know there was probably a reason…
"Are you…okay…?"
She says nothing.
"Zelda…why did you do that?" I asked calmly.
"I-I'm sorry Link…I-I don't know what came over me…" she begins to ball her hands into a tight fist resting it on her thighs, looking down in shame.
"Why don't you try?"
Taking her hand and holding it carefully, I immediately feel her fist soften once she feels my touch, rubbing my finger over her hands. She looks back up to me, her eyes bloodshot, her chest began heaving, and her voice began to crack as she spoke,
"L-Link…the people who lived here…t-they…they had no chance during the Calamity…did they?"
I don't say anything, I just look around and see the ruins of Gopongo Village. Until I began recovering my memories from the Hyrule I remember, it never occurred to me why there were so many ruins throughout this kingdom. A small breeze blows through the rotted pillars and small waves form throughout the Wetlands, it lands softly on my face, softly brushing my bangs out of the way.
To think about what may have happened here…
Pulling her up to her feet hastily, she looks away from me, guilt written all over her.
"Families…were destroyed here…how many more places are like this in Hyrule? How many people…had to die…? From Ganon's wrath…?"
My hand rests on her shoulder, she looks back to me once again, her eyes pleading for an answer.
"What's done is done,"
She pulls away from me, directing her angered gaze back to her feet, "How…can you say that so easily…?"
"How can you place so much blame on yourself?"
"B-Because I was supposed to seal Ganon away, everyone was counting on me…these people here they—" her voice cracking,
"They had nothing to do with this!
The Guardians just killed them, without giving them a chance…they didn't have to die!
How can I possibly be okay with that?
How can anyone be okay with that?
A whole village, wiped out.
Because, I couldn't do what I needed to do.
It wasn't just the Champions nor my Father, Link, it was—"
"Stop,"
"W-What?"
Looking back to the destroyed, abandoned village. There's no war that doesn't have its own casualties, it's not fair that innocent lives are lost, it's only natural to pin the blame on someone. How do you begin to ensure their deaths and sacrifices aren't in vain?
"Remember why we're here Zelda, what we're doing…" she doesn't say anything, "We're not going to let Ganon get away with this again, I promise,"
"I could've just—"
"There's nothing else you could've done, you did everything, and you saved everyone,"
"You keep saying that, and I want to believe that…but…look around…"
"It's the truth, Zelda, there's…so many places in Hyrule much like this…are you really okay with sacrificing yourself after everything we've been through?
How do you think the Champions would feel?
Or your father…?
O-Or me…?
After everyone laying down their lives. How do you think they'd feel if you sacrificed yourself over something that…
That you can't bring back?"
"I-I…" she looks down to her bow, holding it in a tight grip, the gauze on her hand now saturated in blotches of red, I reach out for her hand and begin undoing the wrap to inspect her injury.
She remains quiet, contemplating. The Calamity wasn't our fault, even so, we both have many deaths that we must bear, it's not something that should fall onto two people but…
"Link…you say there's many places in Hyrule like this…" continuing to unravel her gauze, I nod slightly, "Do you…truly believe that finding new pilots for the Divine Beasts…will prevent something like this happening again?"
"It's…hard to say…but I do know that it would be better to have them than not, right?"
"Y-Yes…I suppose you're right…" She looks down to her now unwrapped hand, stained in blood from her open wounds, her eyes hollow. "Sometimes…I feel like I can hear them…"
"Hear what?" Grabbing my med kit and begin to clean her hand off, letting her not dwell on the injury.
"The voices…of the innocent people who were screaming for their lives on that day…they echo in my mind all the time, no matter what I do to keep them at bay, seeing something like this just…reminds me there were many other voices I didn't hear that day…suffering just as much as we were,"
I saturate a clean cloth with a green looking potion, and begin to put pressure on her hand,
"This might sting a bit…bear with me,"
She pulls back ever so slightly, biting her lip keeping the stinging pain to herself. Wiping off the patches of blood, ensuring her delicate hand is cleaned up with no chance of infection,
"Hyrule lost many of its people that day, so many precious lives, I guess…I just can't understand if I am truly gifted with the powers of the Goddess…how could her spirit…a-allow this…to have happened—"
"Ah ah! Again, blaming yourself,"
Her frown softly turned into a small smile, her glossy eyes still puffy. A tear falls down on her cheek. I bring my hand up to her face and gingerly wipe away her lone tear.
"I wish you would be kinder to yourself, nobody in this time blames you for anything…and if I could, I would take away your guilt,"
"It's not your burden to bear, you…already do so much for me Link,"
Brushing my bangs out of my face, delicately tucking a long strand of hair behind my ear. Feeling my face flush, choking up.
"And I've made up my mind,"
"And that is?" I ask, head tilted.
"I won't allow this kind of siege to happen again. Power, or no power; during this restoration of Hyrule, I must include more defenses for smaller villages to be better prepared for a siege like this again. The Royal Family failed its citizens during the Calamity, the least I can do…is make it up to the future generations,"
Grinning at her resolve, I stand up, pulling her up with me.
"Which is why we need to hurry to the Domain, are you ready?"
She nods in response, prompting me to bring my hands up and whistle for the horses to come. Without hesitation, Epona comes rushing for me, Zelda's following closely behind. Her steed still looks quite shaken at the Guardian encounter, by its clear uneasiness. Bobbing its head back and forth, whipping her tail, and snorting through her nose. She slowly approaches me and I gently pat her nose, Zelda walks up to her looking at her with guilt.
"I'm sorry about what happened back there Little One…" placing her head in her mane. "You were very brave…"
She returns her sign of affection and leans into Zelda, her tail slowly whipping less. Zelda then hoists herself up onto her now calmed steed. Epona nudges me in jealousy, waiting on her praise. Chuckling at her advances I quickly jump and soothe her as we start trotting off to the end of the Wetlands.
"How much farther?"
"We're almost there," Looking down to the Sheikah Slate, we should be crossing a few bridges just up ahead, then not far ahead, will be Inogo Bridge. We'll nearly be at the Domain at that point. It's late in the afternoon, so we may have to camp if Zelda doesn't want to hike through the night. In the midst of my thoughts, Zelda gasps,
"Link, do you see that?" she points out to an unfamiliar figure in a small pond just ahead. Squinting my eyes, I observe a maroon looking rock resting in the center of the body of water.
"I could've sworn I just saw it move," she said quietly. Approaching with caution, I analyze the mysterious object. Doesn't look like any Octorok I've ever seen. The texture on it looks…scaley. Epona leans her head into the water, sniffing at the object and in an instance it jumps out, emitting a scream.
"AHH GET AWAY FROM ME YOU HAIRY BEAST!"
Epona backs up quickly, standing on her two legs, "Whoa whoa! Calm down!" gripping my thighs on her to keep me from falling down.
That voice…sounds familiar.
"Can't a girl get some peace around here?"
"W-We're sorry! We didn't mean to disturb you!" Zelda apologizes.
When I'm done calming Epona, I turn to the small pond where a familiar Zora floats around lazily. She looks at me and her annoyed face quickly morphs into an excited smile.
"You! You're that Hylian that helped Prince Sidon!"
"That would be me,"
She swims closer to the edge of the pond, folding her arms on the ground and resting her head against them, "What're you doing out here? Who is this?" pointing to Zelda.
"We're heading to the Domain, we need to speak with Prince Sidon,"
She gasps in disbelief, "P-Prince Sidon? Y-You're going to go see him? Whatever for?"
"We have something…very important to tell him," I finish, the Zora looks over to Zelda once again curiously.
"You still haven't told me who you are!" she says in a snarky voice. Zelda looks embarrassed to say anything else, "M-My apologies…" she murmurs.
"My name is Zelda,"
"Zelda?"
"Y-Yes,"
"Waaait…Zelda…you mean THE Princess Zelda?"
Zelda nods her head slowly, on edge awaiting her reaction. The Zora jumps out of the water doing a graceful spin, landing in front of her horse. Little One seems a bit tense, but can sense no harm to come from the oversized fish out of water. She inspects Zelda, getting close in her personal space. Touching her long golden hair, amazed by its softness.
"Wow…you're really here! This is…AMAZING!" She shouts gleefully. Zelda flinched from her sudden outburst but quickly was relieved by her positive reaction.
"You absolutely MUST go meet with Prince Sidon at once! He'll be thrilled with your return!"
"Prince…Sidon? Isn't that Mipha's baby brother?" the Zora girl gasps giddily.
"Yes! Our Prince Sidon has grown up to be quite the Zora! Lady Mipha would be so proud to see what he has become," she fawns.
"I-I'm glad that he's doing well…" Zelda says quietly, more to herself than a response. The Zora then walks back to the edge of the pond and jumps back in the pool making quite the splash. Emerging from the water, with a wide grin.
"As a member of the Prince Sidon Fan Club, I'll escort you all the way to the Domain, the name's Tona," smiling at Zelda. She giggles bashfully and twirls her hair around her finger nervously.
"There's no need! We'll just slow you down, we'll make it there eventually," Zelda says kindly. Tona rolls her eyes and huffs in impatience,
"We absolutely can't keep Prince Sidon waiting, is there a way I can give you a quick ride?"
"T-That would be splendid but…what about the horses?" she asks, looking over to me for some suggestions.
"Lets meet at Inogo Bridge, we'll leave the horses there for the time being, it'll be safer for them,"
"Okay! I'll go find something to carry you in. Meet yah there!" then diving into the pond disappearing underwater.
Zelda and I exchanged looks, "You're quite popular these days, aren't you?" she giggled.
"Well, I wouldn't say that," laughing nervously.
We get back to riding with a quicker pace, approaching the incoming monster camps. Just up ahead is Inogo Bridge. This is the last stretch. The Lizalfos laying around must've taken off, because it's rather peaceful. It doesn't make me stop looking around for any sign of the reptilian enemies, or any shadows of the Yiga…
It's briefly daunting to see such a network of this many camps lying in the center of a river. Epona and Little One remain calm, giving me slight relief. Crossing the terrain carefully and quietly, Zelda looks over the posts and into the river. Scanning every ripple and small disturbance through the water.
"No sign of them…"
"That's a good thing, but stay close, and don't fall in,"
She rolls her eyes, dramatically turning over to me, letting out a posh attitude, "As if I would fall in, I'm much more composed than that!"
I chuckle softly at her sarcasm, continuing forward, remaining silent. Though it wasn't long until that was broken by the sound of Zelda clearing her throat.
"So…Sidon…huh?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm assuming when you said you knew someone to pilot the Divine Beast you were referring to…Sidon?"
"You'd be right,"
"I see…"
"Is there…something wrong with that?"
"It's just…considering he lost his dear sister while she was piloting the Divine Beast…don't you think it's a bit…cruel to ask of the Zora?"
"I didn't really think about that, but…there's probably no harm in asking right?"
"Is there anyone else you know?" her eyes begging for a different answer.
Taking a moment to really think about, I try to look back on everyone I've met or remember from the Domain. Despite what the elder Zora say, referring to themselves as warriors is honorable. But they're in no position to fight. And the younger generation now seem like they don't have much training in fighting either.
No one else comes to mind.
"I'm not as popular as you think," I chuckle nervously,
"So that's a 'no'?"
"Y-Yes?" treading carefully. She looks away from me and lets out a heavy sigh, already looking defeated.
"Then I suppose we have no choice,"
"The worst thing they can do is refuse the offer,"
"And if they do?"
"We move on to the next one," trying to reassure her.
We crossed the last bridge with no Lizalfos in sight, finally home-free to Inogo Bridge. I'm glad the monsters seem to have died down over here. Seems like we don't have to worry about monsters over here anymore with Ganon's influence gone.
"We'll tie up the horses here just before this small cliff, we'll walk the rest of the way to the bridge," jumping off Epona and grabbing her by the lead,
"You're sure they'll be okay here?" Zelda asks as she dismounts her horse.
I nod my head in response, tying up the horses. I look over to see Zelda looking out in the direction of Zora's domain. She seemed…distant. Holding her clenched hand in her chest, taking shallow breaths, her eyes filled with unease.
If I remembered what happened during the Calamity, after I woke up, especially to Mipha…would I have come back here on my own accord? Could I have faced Muzus' wrath, or any of the elder Zora the same way? Or have taken Sidons kindness as pity? The guilt of everyones death slowly crept in me like a parasite. As my memory was being restored, it became obvious.
I couldn't save Mipha, my best friend.
I couldn't save any of them.
I know Zelda carries those same feelings with her. Still choosing to face her fears head on. I had the luxury of slowly recollecting everything.
My hand falls on her shoulder softly, she looks as though she snaps back to reality. Turning around quickly, facing me.
"Everything's gonna be fine,"
"I-I'm not worried about anything…"
The horses begin neighing in excitement, looking around to find the source of their source mood shift. Tona's eyes are peering just above the river, when she notices me. She jumps up in excitement and begins waving us over. She's holding a rope in her hand, pulling it towards the earth.
"Hop in, on the Hylian Express!" she chuckles. Chunking over an overly sized barrel.
Zelda shares the same look of concern as I do.
"First stop, the wonderful, incredible Prince Sidon!"
"I do beg your pardon but how…do you intend to carry us in this?" Zelda asks as delicately as possible. Tona begins laughing hysterically.
"I know it's a tight squeeze, but I figured I could carry you through the river. We'll be at the Domain in no time!" she says cheekily. "Now hurry up and get in! We can't keep our prince waiting!"
She can't be serious, this seems so ridiculous. We'll be packed like sardines in this thing. Maybe I should just go on ahea–
"Are you coming?" Zelda asks as she's climbing into the barrel.
"W-What?"
"Swim to it, Hylian! We're burning daylight"
"Isn't it a little too—"
"Hurry it up!"
"Fine, fine!" walking over and hopping into the overly large barrel. Awkwardly slipping in, trying my best to give Zelda as much space as possible. Tona grabs the lid to the barrel, hovering it over the top.
"Hold on! It's gonna be a little bumpy!" she laughs snarkily. Covering the barrel, leaving us in darkness. We immediately feel the barrel tip over landing in the water. My body falls on top of Zelda, I hold my hands out, keeping myself propped up, so I'm not lying on her. But I can't move my body over or away from her.
I'm stuck like this.
"Sorry!"
"I-It's okay,"
By the sound of her voice, her face is merely inches away. I can hear her light breathing as she's trying to stay as still as possible. But her breath falls lightly on my neck. Sending shivers down my spine. My face feels so hot, knowing that I'm this close to her. My thoughts go back to earlier today when I accidentally saw her…nearly exposed.
Nope, don't think about that. Anything but that, Goddesses please.
Not right now, not right now, not right now.
"I-I should've probably just gone on foot huh? I didn't expect us to be cramped up like this when we were offered a ride," I laugh nervously. Zelda shuffles around slightly, placing her hands on my chest. The sound of her sharp breaths and her soft touch sends shivers through my whole body. Making it nearly impossible to shake out any kind of lewd thoughts.
"I-It's fine like this…really,"
There's a sudden shift in the current resulting in us getting whipped around the barrel. Losing all composure I had gained earlier. Zelda lands in my arms, as I instinctively wrap them around her, trying to keep her from flailing around. Securing my head in her shoulders, we continue getting flung around, must be some tight corners Tona is making or a rough current she's trying to fight.
I end up accidentally squeezing Zelda too tightly on one of the thrashings.
"A-AHH!" She moaned directly in my ear, quickly putting her hands over her mouth
If I wasn't hot earlier, then I'm sweltering now.
"A-Are you okay?"
She immediately burrows her head in my chest, attempting to hide her whole face. Now holding on to me. I can't help but bring my head up, letting out a long sigh.
How much longer is this going to take?
I'm at the end of my rope here…
There's a sudden stop, Zelda slowly picks her head up from my shoulder and it feels like she moves her face to mine.
"H-Have we stopped?"
I feel us floating, so I push up the lid on the barrel and see it.
In all of its glory.
The intricate luminous stone looking structures. The larger than life dams surrounding the enormous body of water we find ourselves in the center of, the long streaming, glistening waterfalls running off the large platform from above with a long ladder leading up to a brightly lit plaza.
We've made it.
"Welcome to Zora's Domain! Princess Zelda!"
