Chapter 18: Hero in Distress

Revali

Link just knelt there, panting heavily after his outburst. None of us dared approach him. Zelda was the one who finally took the first steps forward.

"Link, are you…"

Before she could finish, Link took off into the air with one of my gales then fired a bomb arrow at the ground. The explosion knocked Zelda back and created a huge dust cloud, making it impossible for us to see. I covered my mouth and used my wing to clear up the dust as best as I could as it billowed around us. The first thing I could see once it had cleared was Mipha, who was kneeling down next to Zelda as the Rito Princess was picking herself back up. We all gathered around Zelda.

"Are you alright?" Mipha asked her.

"I think so."

"Why would Link act like that?" Daruk said.

Zelda looked up where Link once was and said, "Link has so much on his shoulders. He clearly blames himself for the events that have transpired. Maybe… he thinks he needs to do this alone."

"But they weren't his fault, nor were they yours, and in his current mental state, doing it alone is likely going to get him killed." Urbosa said.

"I agree, but how do we tell him that? Especially since we don't know exactly where he went?" I said.

As we all tried to plan our next move, I found myself remembering Teba's letter, "…He has more of a burden than you realize and though he won't easily admit it, he needs help, your help to bear it… you are the only member of Link's first family, Revali, he knows it and you know it, but that position carries more than you think it does…keep supporting him and I promise he will support you…"

Maybe it was time I started to be the brother that Link needed me to be as Teba had advised, but how could I find him? He was long gone and thanks to the last bomb arrow he had fired, we had no idea where he went.

We needed a miracle to find him, thankfully we were in a temple. I turned to the statue of Hylia, knelt down, closed my eyes, and bowed in respect. The others had stopped talking and stared at me, suddenly realizing what I was doing.

"Hylia, I'm not sure if you can hear me. But I need to find my brother, please… send help." I pleaded.

I think she heard me, because I felt a warm power and then the warmth of another, smaller body, by my side. I opened my eyes and turned to see a familiar wolf with gray-green fur. His blue eyes confirmed his identity.

"It's you…" I said.

With a wink, he dashed off to the entrance before turning back. "Well? You coming?", he said, or rather telepathically communicated.

I turned to the others and said, "Well, come on! We have a hero to save!"

Weird as it sounded, that was exactly what we were doing as we ran in pursuit of our furry guide and the hero he was leading us to.

Hang on Linky, Big Bro is coming.

Link

I flew above a clearing, landed then walked to an all-too-familiar stone pedestal in front of a giant tree. I was alone, not even a hiding Korok nearby. Walking toward the slitted center of the stone, I slowly drew The Master Sword from my back before kneeling on the ground, holding the sword horizontally in front of me.

The silence gave me time to think as I recounted what had just transpired in my head and… I ask myself how I could have prevented all of this. I sighed in defeat. Once more the sword was starting to show its hidden weight and for the first time since I rose from the Shrine of Resurrection, I questioned if it was too heavy for me to bear. I closed my eyes and sheathed my sword as I got to my feet and prepared to leave. Whether I liked it or not, this was my burden and I had to bear it even if it killed me.

"If I may be so bold, what brings you here Link?"

The Great Deku Tree was awake after all, biding his time for the right moment to speak. I looked up at him before looking down in complete silence.

"Your silence speaks volumes, Chosen Hero. What troubles you?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Oh? And why is that?"

I couldn't bring myself to answer as I looked down.

"Your silence will not help you, Link. You must speak your mind this time in order to alleviate the weight that has been put on it."

"And who's to say that whoever I tell will be able to help?"

"Teba was able to, was he not?"

How did he know about…?

I was interrupted by the sounds of multiple figures approaching, causing me to spin around and draw my sword. I was greeted by the sight of Revali and the rest of the Champions running into the clearing.

Revali smirked, "Ready to jump into combat at a moment's notice, you haven't changed one bit."

"How did you find me?" I said, sheathing my sword once more.

"We had help from a friend," he said as Wolf Link ran out into the clearing and right in front of me.

"You led them here?"

He nodded, and said,"Of course. You needed help and they all want to help you, especially him ." he said, gesturing to Revali who was carefully but quickly approaching me.

I looked up to see Revali climb onto the stone triangle before sitting cross-legged and patting the stone ground next to him.

"Have a seat. I assure you that the stone isn't jagged or rough."

Not knowing what to expect, I crouched and sat in an identical position where he gestured for me to sit.

"Now, what's on your mind?"

I just looked down and said nothing.

"You know I'm not going to take silence for an answer, Link. Especially not this time."

I just took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Is it about the calamity?"

I didn't answer.

"Ghirahim?"

Same response.

I felt the weight of his wing on my shoulder.

"Link, please tell me. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

I looked up and saw the concern in his eyes that he wasn't even trying to hide. A look I hadn't seen since I was a hatchling.

Finally, I opened my mouth but closed it when I realized I didn't know how to word my concerns.

"Teba told me you have a lot on your shoulders as the Hero of Hyrule, something that even you tried to tell me on one occasion. Is that what's troubling you?"

"So much that I fear I can no longer bear it."

"Why?"

"Because I failed, Revali! Just like so many times before! I couldn't stop the calamity! I couldn't stop your deaths! I couldn't protect you on Vah Ruta! I couldn't stop Ghirahim from getting the Triforce of Power! I couldn't…"

Revali turned me to face him before firmly backhanding my face with his left wing.

"That's quite enough Link! You may be the hero and everyone is counting on you to save them, but… but that doesn't mean you can blame yourself for everything that goes wrong that you even remotely have a hand in!"

He got to his feet and pulled me up.

"How could you have forgotten, Link!? You saved Hyrule! You saved the Princess more times than I care to count! You saved the Champions from a gruesome second death! And..."

He took a deep breath, then spoke more gently.

"You saved me, twice actually. No, at least three times. Listen, Link, you've had hard times. I will admit that. But even I miss my target sometimes. That doesn't change this blue scarf around my neck, nor does it change the fact that that sacred sword on your back is yours to wield," he said

"I've known you for a long time, Link. Longer than anyone here, except maybe your past selves. And with all that I've seen, I believe the Goddesses were right when they chose you. You just need to prove that to yourself again."

"He's right, you know."

I turned to see that all my other selves had all appeared and they were listening to the discussion between Revali and I.

The Hero of the Sky continued by saying, "Keep in mind that the Hero of Legend was a result of a timeline in which the Hero of Time failed despite his best efforts, but that didn't make The Hero of Time any less a hero. I myself was not able to stop Ghirahim from taking Zelda and freeing his master. But in the end, I saved Zelda and defeated Ghirahim and his master."

He closed his eyes.

"You have been through a lot, Link, maybe more than any hero that has ever lived. Yet you have always had the power to break through every obstacle, the wisdom to solve any problem, and the courage to see it through. You still have that."

He then looked up with a more intense gaze

"Ghirahim has wounded you in a way that cannot be seen. You must heal yourself by facing the demon within you before you can face him again. For this reason, we present to you the trial which we have all taken. To prove to yourself and to Hyrule once and for all that you are worthy to be the hero. We present to you in the name of the Goddess Hylia, the Trial of the Shadow!"

Right when he said that, I began to feel an ache and burn in my body. It started small but grew until it became unbearable.

"You ok?!" Revali asked as I fell to my knees breathing heavily and labored.

I didn't know how to answer as I continued to struggle. It felt like there was something inside of me, and it desperately wanted out.