The voice behind her was closing in; calling her back, calling for her to stop. Slow down, my Lady, it said, it isn't safe.
Instead, she pressed further into the raging storm, so hard and fast that the blinding dust and sand scratched at her skin, leaving her raw against the endless desert. But she was not running. She would never flee, no matter what her advisors said. This is my duty, she told herself, and decided then that she would never flinch. Not her. Not the Chief.
The dust storm had closed in a few miles to the north, and so Riju had no choice but to rely on her instincts and her beloved sand seal Patricia to guide her through the desert. There was little chance they could become lost; even a vast, empty space could become known. And Riju knew this desert. Any minute, any second now and Vah Naboris would emerge. Feeling the pervasive dust on her tongue, she called for Patricia to move faster.
"My Lady, please!" The broad form of Buliara was ploughing through the sand towards her, pulled by her spotted sand seal. The bodyguard's hands were wrapped tight around her sand seal's tether, the long rope wobbling under the speed, and she winced as she spoke. "It is too dangerous!"
"No!" Riju shouted over her shoulder. "We need to find Naboris!"
"It's no use!" Buliara was struggling to keep her balance. She motioned for Riju to pull back, and almost fell.
Defiant, Riju pushed Patricia harder, giving her sand seal's tether a hard yank, and she almost lost her footing as they flew forward over a sloping dune. Buliara may have been a strong surfer, but Riju was lighter and faster, and Patricia was bred for speed. Try as she might, and shout all she wanted, the guard could not keep up.
Riju tore blindly forward, and Buliara was swallowed up by the storm. "Sorry," she whispered. "I have no choice"
A few weeks past, the Zora had arrived at the newly constructed Geldarm Bridge, built to allow easier passage from Central Hyrule into the Gerudo Desert. Riju remembered when she had issued the decree and the pride she had felt at seeing the bridge completed. It could have allowed safer travel, easier trade, better alliances with the rest of Hyrule…
It could have been so many things, but then the Zora had laid siege, and refused to leave until Riju admitted to killing their King. It was one of mine, but it was not me! She had told them, cursing the name Cinelgen, and the endless trouble male Gerudo had seemed to bring her people.
Relentless, the storm raged around them, but neither Riju nor Patricia slowed down. She yanked the tether again, feeling the bite of the rough rope against her fingertips. The way the rope moved whip-like between her fingers, breaking blisters into callouses. Riju would have smiled; this was home. Her home. And no matter how many times she was fearful, or doubted herself, she needed only look out to the infinite horizon, and see the shimmer of the sun-baked air, and she knew that she loved this place with a ferocity that meant she would do anything to protect it.
But as much as she wanted to, Riju could not fight, and could not flee. The Zora outnumbered her guard three to one, and had almost cut Gerudo off completely from the rest of Hyrule; the only other way out of the desert was an arduous hike through the Gerudo Highlands. Riju had been told simply to sit and wait. They will tire, and leave, her advisors had said. We have all we need here. Our people can survive without trade.
With each passing day, the Zora pressed further across the Geldarm, threatening violence at every step. And then the news arrived of the massacre at the Gatepost Town Ruins; half a dozen Gerudo killed, an entire party of Zora, and the handful of Hylians who had tried to stand between them.
She would do anything to remedy the tragedy. Anything to prevent it happening again. Anything; even attempting to tame an ancient colossus.
Finally, faintly, rising out of the sands she spied four great columns, segmented and shaded in an ethereal amethyst hue. They were bent forward, the segments twisted across each other, and as Riju and Patricia approached, the rest of the Divine Beast Vah Naboris materialised from the storm.
They rounded to the front of the Beast, coming to a halt beside where its legs met the ground, and to where the Naboris' enormous form shielded her from the winds.
"Vah Naboris!" Riju shouted up at the Beast. "My name is Chief Riju of the Gerudo. I come seeking your aid!"
The Beast's wide head tilted downwards, its six shining, expressionless blue eyes centring on Riju. For a long, unsettling moment it stared, unmoving, and Riju wondered if it was beseeching her to speak.
"An army has come to attack my home," she tried to explain. "And the Champion, and the Princess - the ones who helped you - I cannot find them!"
The Beast shifted, and with a resonant groan, it tilted its head forwards once again, the bony segments of its long neck creaking as they slid across one another. It gazed blankly forward, and the lights from its ancient markings pulsed with a dim radiance.
"Naboris!" Riju cried. "Please!" But still nothing. The Beast ignored her.
Desperate, Riju brought Patricia around to an archway carved into the Beast's side; the entrance where she had seen the Champion Link go to tame Naboris himself. But it was closed now, a wall of stone where the door had once been. Naboris remained still, not noticing or perhaps not even caring, as Riju attempted in vain to push the doorway open.
This is the only way, she thought as she pounded her fists against the ancient stone. I thought you were meant to help us! The door was unyielding. Why? Why is this happening to us?
Buliara found her weeping by the stone door. She had fallen to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Her long braid had unravelled in the winds of the storm and now hung in a heap about her face. When she looked up, she expected to see her bodyguard's usual stern expression, but instead, she saw a gentle, rueful smile.
"There is no use, my Lady," Buliaria said as she wrapped an arm around Riju's shoulders. "The only ones who can pilot her are the Champion and the Princess, and we know that something must have happened to them." Her smile faded then.
"What else are we going to do?" Riju asked, beginning to wipe away her tears. "It is only a matter of time before the Zora storm that bridge."
"I do not know." Buliara frowned. "But we will need to protect our people without Naboris, and without the Champion and the Princess." She stood, and held a hand out to Riju, adding, "I believe together, we will find a way."
Riju allowed Buliara to lead her away from Vah Naboris, back to their sand seals, and back towards Gerudo Town. Once again, the Beast returned to the storm, and soon their home was cresting over the horizon - that tiny fortress of sandstone, and the people, her people, who lay vulnerable within.
Not together, but alone, she thought. We will find a way alone.
Cinelgen tied the binds a little tighter around Link's wrists, securing them firmly to Inglis' saddle. "Needs must," he apologised. "As much as we trust you."
But you don't, Link thought, though he did not say it. If they actually trusted him, they would let him ride free, and not bound by the wrists to another man's horse. Trust was elusive, Link now firmly believed. Trust only existed in the moment.
The party rode out before dawn on a morning so cold that Link had not been able to feel his feet as they walked him to the Castle Stables. They were in the depths of Winter now, the sun creeping across the sky in a low arc, and the darkness closing in on each side of the waking hours. Dawn rose slowly. Night fell quickly. Hyrule was blanketed in a pervasive, lingering sense of twilight. Milagre had been left to manage the operations at the Castle, a task she scowled at. But she had bowed to Cinna all the same as they passed by her at the Castle gates, sending them off with a cheerful, Don't screw up, guys!
Cinelgen rode a narrow-shouldered horse with soft, singularly sand-coloured hair and a white mane. His saddle was plain; rough dark leather and no ornaments save a few brass buckles for attaching saddle bags. As always, he wore his sturdy, too-short trousers, and his worn leather jacket under a rich red velvet cloak. He doesn't look like a King, Link often thought. He doesn't even look Gerudo, or Hylian, or anything. It seemed that his clothes betrayed his philosophy; a medley of ideas and approaches, all underlined by simplicity and practicality. He didn't dress like a king, because at present he was, in truth, just a wanderer. And so he dressed like one.
The Gerudo would lead, while Inglis and Link followed sharing a saddle. Aurelia rode beside them, and Cinelgen's guards Marlo and Teel steered a waggon containing the housing component for Rhoamet's diamond. It had been draped under a large cotton tarp, hidden from view. If asked, they would call it mining equipment, though Link knew they would not be asked. The roads were empty, the travellers having stolen back to their homes or the warm confines of the Stables, as talk of the civil war and the conflict at the Geldarm Bridge had begun to spread across the Kingdom, conveyed to Link in wisps of overheard conversations and whispers in the hallways. I wonder if you've heard. I wonder if you're there, dealing with it all alone?
He felt a strange sense of loss as the silhouette of the Castle receded behind them. It was a prison, but it had once been a home. Now the vastness of Hyrule was before them, and he gazed across it with a wonder tainted by grief. So much beauty in the cloak of white snow that covered the land, but so much conflict hidden underneath. He grasped at rediscovered sensations; the wind in his face, the rhythm of the horse's canter beneath him, the yelps of a fox as it tore across their path. Bound to the saddle, there was little to do but feel. If he closed his eyes, he was free.
The party mostly travelled in silence. Aurelia chatted idly, remarking on the weather, and the winter flowers, the way the season changed Hyrule underneath their feet as well as above. She spoke of flowers that stored starch in warmer months to survive when the sun disappeared, and of the way winter shrooms could be used to brew elixirs that could nullify even the heat of the desert.
"You sound like an apothecary," Link commented, and Aurelia laughed sweetly.
"Well, my sisters and I are all cooks." She gave him a sly smile, which Link could not help but return. "Though Hana cooks food. Cassiah and I… our brews were a little different."
"And useful too," Cinelgen added. "Many a time my people have been saved by her healing elixirs."
"Sounds like witchcraft to me," Inglis grumbled.
"Afraid she'll put a hex on you?" Cinna teased, and Link could practically feel Inglis rolling his eyes. "It's not magic to know how to cook."
After a few days of travel through the frozen landscape, the Akkalan had begun to fall ill. Inglis sniffled in Link's ear, and coughed half the day. Eventually, he began to slump, his eyes milky and his skin paled.
"Apothecary," Link called to Aurelia once the party had stopped to make camp in the Crenal Hills. They had left him propped up against a tree while they built their lean-tos and made a fire. "Have you got any Hyrule Herb?"
Aurelia's soft face brightened. "Are you learned in the healing arts as well?"
"No," Link said, thinking of Mipha's power, and Zelda's penchant for elixirs, and the Hyrule Herb tea she and him had shared when they had fallen ill in Akkala. "I've just had friends who were. I'm more of a cook myself."
"Ah, you'll have to cook for us, Champion," Cinelgen suggested. He and Marlo were knelt over the fire, coaxing it to life.
"That'll be difficult with bound hands," Link shot back, and the camp rumbled with laughter. They would only untie his binds in the evening, during supper, and would watch with casually cautious expressions to see if he tried to escape. They saw nothing suspicious as of yet.
Cinelgen halted his work, and pulled his dagger from his belt, moving to kneel by Link's side.
In three clean hacks, he cut the binds. "Cook for us then, I'm sure you can forage something nearby," Cinelgen said, eyes wild, the words more an order than an invitation. And then, a little threatening - "But don't get too ambitious. It's rough weather these days."
Link massaged the skin where the ropes had cut in, finding it chaffed and bloodied. "Come with me," Link said, the words a challenge. "Like you said, rough weather."
Cinna grinned, and gave a low nod. For the rest of the daylight hours, he and Link scoured the rocky hills for vegetables and game, Cinna's painted Duplex Bow quickly taking down a pair of slender-necked herons. That night Link made a simmering stew of bird meat and mushrooms, seasoning the broth with some rock salt and chestnuts that he had found on the hills, and the whole party had their fill. Even Inglis, still grumpy and battling his cold, managed to smile a few times at Cinna's ridiculous stories or Aurelia's snide remarks.
"Cheer up, Inglis," Cinna goaded. He turned to Link. "I saved this boy's life, and yet he's so dour all the time!"
Link had to bite down his shock, hiding it under a passively amused smile.
"Yeah, yeah," Inglis huffed. "Maybe I've just heard all your stories."
What do they owe each other? Link asked a final time. And the answer: everything.
A hand on his shoulder pulled him from his musings, and he jolted at the touch.
"Hey! It's only me, Hero!" Aurelia laughed. "This is good!" She nodded to an empty bowl of stew on her lap, and thumbed the fabric of his tunic. "If you were trying to impress me, you certainly have."
"Oh, I-" Link's mouth was lead. He could not speak and awkwardly sprang to his feet to refill his empty bowl. Behind him, Aurelia just laughed.
The party talked until the fire burnt low, and the skies sparkled with starlight. Allowed to lie with his hands unbound for the first night since their departure, Link slept deeply. In his dreams he saw the Castle, radiant and clean, a figure in gold at its peak. He climbed the spire to reach her, and when he did, she smiled. It's only me, she said, and when she reached out her hand to touch his face, Link awoke.
He was aching from the cold, blinded by the crispness of the dream, and slowly, making him wonder if he had woken at all, he became aware of the soft sensation of warm fingers against his cheek. She faded into focus. A girl rendered in white and gold.
Her blonde hair framed her round face, worn long and loose such that it swayed as she moved. She grinned, crows feet at the corners of her eyes, the soft light from the embers of the fire painting her in an alluring hue. You've come back to me, he almost said, but when he saw that her eyes were blue as the distant ocean, he knew something was wrong.
"This isn't a dream," Link murmured.
"It can be," Aurelia answered. She leant her face in close, her lips brushing his, and Link shot backwards, scrambling away from her. Aurelia followed on all fours. She was wrapped in a velvet cloak that hung loosely around her shoulders.
"Something the matter?" she asked innocently. "Cinna told me you liked blondes."
"I don't-" he managed as he scraped against the frozen ground, fingers stinging as he plunged them into the snow.
"Oh, you do," Aurelia chuckled. She caught him with a hand to his thigh, and he nearly yelped. From fright of excitement, he wasn't sure. Frantic, his head spinning, Link reached up to push her away.
"No," he wheezed. "I can't-"
But she just giggled again, and let the cloak fall. It had been all she was wearing. Link tried, and failed, not to look. "Please just go," he breathed.
"Aw," she whined. "Why?"
"I shouldn't - you're not -"
Aurelia slumped back onto the balls of her feet with a sigh. "I see," she frowned, the words falling limp and sullen from her lips. "You've nobler taste."
For a moment longer, she hovered above him, and Link wanted to reach out to her; to apologise or to make her stay or just to yield. Company of any kind, to fill the sudden longing she had stirred within him. Link felt his heart beating in his throat, fear and disgust and anticipation thrumming through him, centring on a new, absurd ache in his groin.
"Go, Aury," Link said. "Get away from me."
And with a huff, she wrapped the cloak around herself and went, standing to walk back to her bedroll. Her long blond hair swayed about her hips, golden even in the dim light, and it was only as she faded into the night that he realised; she reminds me of you.
"You're lucky you're climbing the mountain during the high winter!" the merchant at the Foothill Stables told them as Cinelgen handed over a pouch full of rupees to pay for the fireproof elixirs. "You won't need these 'til you get right into the village."
"How long does each vial last?" The Gerudo demanded, and the Hylian merchant shrunk away from him, intimidated by Cinelgen's towering figure.
"A - a day, at least," he stammered, and Cinna seemed unphased by the reception. He nodded in thanks, and signalled for the rest of the party to follow.
Link had been allowed to ride without binds now as well, though he still shared a saddle with Inglis. Though now it did not matter; they could not take their horses beyond the Maw of Death Mountain. They marched single file along the winding, rocky path, the volcanic rock crunching beneath their shoes. Cinelgen led as always, followed by Link, and then Inglis, Aurelia, and Marlo and Teel with the housing component now wheeled in a small waggon.
Link was glad to have Inglis in between himself and the blonde-haired Yiga woman. Her advances several nights before had left him nauseous; from both repulsion and confusion. But fading away from her - and indeed the rest of the party - was easy. A well-worn disguise; the stoic, unfeeling Knight. He had grown so quiet that even Inglis noticed, and Link waved away the concern by saying that their travels had made him tired and that he found it easier to walk in silence.
It took the rest of the day to reach Goron City itself, and the higher they climbed, the more unbearable the heat became. They sweated and panted and drained their waterskins, but Cinna refused to let anyone drink a vial until absolutely necessary. Just as the merchant had described, Link only began to feel the tell-tale prickling sensation against his skin once the city came into view. Any further and the prickling would become burning, as his clothes caught fire, and the sweat on his skin began to boil. Cinelgen must have been feeling it too, for he distributed the vials with haste.
The tepid liquid was ash grey in colour and as viscous as honey, and tasted of charcoal. Inglis nearly spat his out, and Teel choked on hers, grey spittle flecked on her chin. But they all downed the elixirs, and pressed forward into Goron City. This is where you would have sent me, Link could not help but think. I'm here now.
Night had fallen, but the city was not subdued. It was illuminated by the streams of lava that flowed leisurely underneath the walkways, bubbling and gurgling, providing heat to the city even in winter. Children rolled along the rocky platforms and walkways, one of them bumping into Inglis and nearly bowling him over. From the barbeque station to their right, the smell of burning meat wafted through the air, and above them, a group of bards belted out a rambunctious tune on a handful of brass instruments and a set of impossibly large wooden drums. The Gorons were spread out through the city, some sitting outside their houses, some chatting, some snacking on rocks and molten, and many waved at the party as they passed by. Only the elderly ones squinted at them, but even then they didn't frown. Cinelgen motioned for Link to lead, and he walked them towards Bludo's house at the city centre. Marlo and Teel waited outside with the component as the rest of the party stepped into Bludo's house.
"Ah - well, look at this!" Bludo cried as they entered. "Link! How are you?"
Link stood with his hands on his hips, and he tried his best to emulate the version of himself that Bludo would remember; the freer, simpler Link, who only wanted to help. "Fine," he said. "I need a favour."
"Anything, anything," Bludo said, standing from his rocky chair at the end of the room. "Who're your friends?"
"Travellers, nothing more," Cinelgen said before Link could answer.
"Right… of course," Bludo said slowly, eyebrows raised.
"Friends from the road," Link affirmed, and Bludo's slightly sceptical expression softened into a warm grin.
He placed a hefty hand on Link's back, and led them outside. "What is it then, Link? How can we aid you?"
Link nodded to Marlo, who unveiled the component with a quick tug to the tarp that covered it. It felt as though the entire city turned to look; the Gorons gaped at the mechanical contraption with round eyes and open mouths. Even Bludo could not help but gape at what they had presented him.
"I need a diamond specifically cut for his. Tapered too, towards the front," Link explained. For a long moment, Bludo did not seem to hear, staring in awe at the housing component. But then he blinked, and placed his hands at his back.
"Aye, alright. You have rupees?"
Link nodded, casting a quick glance to Cinelgen. "Of course," the Gerudo added.
Bludo smiled again, his worries evidently gone. "Done deal then!" He cupped his hands to his mouth, and shouted, "YUNOBO!"
Across the plaza, Link saw a wide-eyed Goron pop his head out from one of the houses, and he recognised the face as belonging to the youth who had aided him in reaching Vah Rudania. Yunobo hurriedly sprung from the house, and rolled across the plaza to meet them.
"Link!" he gasped after he unraveled himself, arms open. Link could not dodge in time, and felt the air escape his lungs as Yunobo pulled him into a crushing hug. "How are you, buddy?"
"I'm fine," Link answered breathlessly. Behind him he could hear Inglis and Aurelia sniggering.
"Link here needs a diamond cut," Bludo pointed to the housing component. "For… that."
"Oh, you're not here to see Rudania?"
"N-no," Link answered quickly.
"I thought you'd have seen. Rudania shut itself down a while ago now." The Goron cocked his round head to the side. "That isn't why you're here?"
Link could feel Cinna's scrutinising gaze. "I… I can't help you with that, Yunobo."
"But don't you have that flat rock that you wore on your belt? I don't see it."
"I really can't help, Yunobo." he reiterated, perhaps a little too harsh. "Maybe some other time."
"Oh. Oh, okay. Only if you're sure." Yunobo shrugged. He waved at the party to follow, and led them to the ore refinery.
White feathers against the white snow. The warrior all but disappeared.
Teba had regained his son, but lost his family. And he mourned; the apprentice who had fooled him, the life that had evaded him, and the woman who had betrayed him.
When they were not walking, rounding the mountains back towards Lake Totori, he slept. The fight with Yahn had re-opened his wounds - mental, physical, and all the rest - and had damaged his armour. As dangerous as Hebra remained to them, he could not carry Zelda back to Totori, and he seemed to trust her to protect Tulin while he rested. When she expressed concern about not being capable, he just gave her the same, repeated line - nothing teaches aim like the fear of missing - and once she had been so mad that she had almost slapped him.
However, aside from keeping an eye out for wolves or a stray lizalfos, there was little Zelda needed to do to watch over Tulin. The child was as dutiful as ever; he foraged for firewood, found them food, and often sat with Zelda during her evening watches. And he doted on his father. Tulin brought Teba water, checked his bandages, and even redressed the wound on his father's shoulder.
"You're good at that," Zelda told the fledgeling once he was done. Teba had already fallen back asleep, and was snoozing between them, his spiny feathers rumbling as he snored.
Tulin nodded, grinning up at her with a brightness dancing in his eyes that she hadn't before seen. "Mother taught me how to sew. Bandages are just fabric, plus they're stretchy."
"Maybe you could be a tailor," Zelda suggested, and the brightness dimmed.
"I don't know," he shrugged, running a hand over his single braided feather. "Father is a Warrior. So I should be one too."
Zelda frowned. "Is that what you want, Tulin?"
The fledgeling didn't answer. Tulin interlaced his wingtips, his eyes suddenly hard and pensive - an echo of his father - and he avoided the question with his own. "Is he going to be okay? Father isn't normally this…"
"Glum?" Zelda chuckled. Tulin nodded, looking down at his father. "No, he isn't," she agreed. There was no need to conceal the truth.
"Do you think… he'll get better?"
Zelda followed Tulin's line of sight, and appraised Teba with a small smile. She ran a hand through the spiny feathers on his crown, and Teba stirred slightly, mumbling, no, don't, don't leave, and when he began to snore again she said, "I think your Father is an old warrior in a world that changed while he wasn't looking." Just like you, Hero. "His friends changed, his purpose changed. He wasn't ready for it, and now he's hurting."
Tulin had not taken his eyes off of his father. "How can we help him?"
"I don't know," Zelda admitted. At least, I think I don't.
"Maybe if I had been stronger…" Tulin sighed, leaning forward, his chin resting against his wingtips.
Zelda stood, and carefully stepped around Teba to sit by Tulin's side. She held out her right hand, and removed her glove to show him the mark of the Royal Crest. "I'm sorry I hid this from you," she said. "But do you know what it is?"
Tulin studied the radiant mark. She held it closer and let him run a wingtip against her skin. "Father called it a mage's mark."
"Well, he was mostly right," Zelda conceded, and it occurred to her that few living would recognise the Royal symbol. "But what it is, is a power. I was told my whole life that I was born to wield it, and yet it never came to me. Not matter how hard I tried, or how much I told myself that it was my destiny. But you know when it did come forth?"
"When?"
"When I wanted it, Tulin. When I wanted it more than anything I'd ever wanted before." When I was ready to die for it, though she did not say that to the child.
The little Rito's face was twisted. "But didn't you want it before?"
"Not truly. But my Father insisted it was my duty to find this power, and he made me keep trying. I was so angry at him. He seemed not to care what I wanted." She closed her hand into a fist, and the mark burned brighter. "But now I think he was just afraid of what would happen if I failed. It made him cruel, and confused."
Tulin shrugged. "Father never seems confused."
"That's because adults are masters of pretending, Tulin. They're better at it than children!"
Tulin smiled. "No, that can't be," he giggled.
Zelda nodded firmly. "It's true! Their imaginations are so strong that they believe their own made-up stories." Tulin laughed again, so loud that Teba began to stir once more. His eyes lolled open, and he gave them both a grumpy look. Ignoring him, Zelda wrapped a hand around Tulin's wing.
"I want you to promise me something, brave one," she said.
"What's that?" Tulin asked.
"Do what brings you joy," Zelda looked to Teba, and their eyes met. "I am certain now that if you do, your father will be happy too."
Teba looked away, caught, and with a sigh he rolled over to turn away from them. Tulin did not notice. He was deep in thought, his wings crossed at his chest, and after a few moments, he leapt to his feet.
"I have an idea then!" he beamed. "Father's armour is damaged. One of the straps came loose in the fight. I've got needles, and thread. Mother's. I can fix it."
Zelda could not stop him once he was set on the task. The little Rito darted over to their packs, pulling from his a small case, and hauling Teba's damaged leather armour back to where Zelda sat. He worked so long that she had to take the needle from his wingtips and order him to bed. And in the morning, he rose well before either Zelda or Teba to complete his work, proudly presenting the fixed strap to his father as they were preparing to leave their camp.
"Huh," the warrior smiled. "That's actually quite impressive. Can't even see the stitching."
Tulin was ecstatic, jumping from foot to foot with excitement. "Mother taught me."
Teba's face fell, but he strapped on the armour without complaint, and knelt down to ruffle the fledgeling's feathers. "I owe you one, Tulin," he said softly. Zelda watched as Tulin gazed up at his father, wonder and sadness on his youthful features. The little Rito then held out a wing.
"Let's go," Tulin said. Teba hesitated, casting a glance backwards to Zelda, but then he smiled, and took Tulin's wing in his own. Together, they walked out into the snow.
Tulin's talons clicked on the wooden planks as he sprinted towards the Flight Range Ravine, giggling through panting breaths. "I missed this!" he cried, and leapt, the updrafts carrying him high into the air. Zelda had chased after him, but could not follow, crying out for him to be careful. Behind them, Teba stalked over to the ever-burning fire, puttering around the hut to search for a spare log of firewood to stoke the flames.
"Leave him be, Zelda," he called out to her from the fire. "He'll be fine."
Casting one last glance at the white-winged fledgeling, Zelda turned from the ravine and went to join Teba in the hut. She stopped by his trunk, and used the key he had given her to unlock the latch, breathing a sigh of relief when she found the crossbow and the Master Sword still safely tucked within.
There was no use hiding it anymore. If someone found her, they would have to take it from her. She reached down to grab the Master Sword, marvelling once again at how light it felt. She tried to picture herself wielding it, wearing it on her back, carrying its burden; but she could not. And so how am I meant to continue our work without…
"Why did he give it to you?" Teba asked from behind her. In the distance, Tulin's peals of laughter echoed across the range.
"For safe keeping, perhaps?" Zelda offered, taking hold of the hilt and gingerly drawing the Sword from its scabbard. Her arm tensed; the Sword was resisting again. Put me down, it seemed to be saying. Interloper. Unhand me.
"That's not all it is, is it?" Teba sensed her thoughts, and Zelda nodded. She went to join him by the fire, keeping the Sword in hand.
"We used this, along with my powers, to cleanse Divine Beast Vah Ruta," she began to explain. "The Beasts are still infected with Malice. And Vah Medoh… he is among the worst."
"Then that is why - Link wanted you to continue the work."
"But - it isn't my Sword!" Zelda protested. "I'm not its Master - I can't wield it as he did."
"You certainly look the part," Teba chuckled. There was some truth to that - Zelda still wore Link's Champion tunic, the blue and white fabric peeking out from under her snowquill coat. She wore it because it was a strong piece of armour, she told herself. Woven with the properties of dragon scales, but inside she knew. It was a piece of him. That was all it was.
Lowering the Master Sword across her lap, Zelda traced the way glow of the flames danced across the blue blade. She offered it out to Teba, and cautiously, he held it by the hilt, examining its make as Zelda spoke.
"In any case, cleansing Medoh is not my first priority. I seek to pilot him," She looked at the Rito warrior expectantly. He quirked a brow, silently asking the question, You?
Zelda shook her head, and Teba froze, his expression caged. Gingerly, almost in disbelief, he tapped his chest. Me?
"Oh, honestly, who else, Teba?" Zelda rolled her eyes at his frown. "We need to secure Medoh away from Cinelgen's people. If we can launch him, we can seal him, place him out of reach of Hylian and Rito alike. And then we can cleanse him when Link has been returned to us."
The warrior did not move, only glared, and slowly, he began to shake his head. In the silence, Zelda heard Tulin's laughter across the way. "I can't," Teba said. He handed her back the Sword.
"Why not?"
The warrior bowed his head. "I can't go back there. Not yet."
"... Saki?" Zelda scowled at the name.
Teba nodded and looked up to where his son played, his eyes watery, drooping. With a long sigh, Zelda stood. She knew grief, but not this kind. Her grief had been rolling, laden in the layers of her skin. Inherent. Anticipated, almost. Ten years of failure had prepared her for the fatal blow that Calamity Ganon laid her kingdom, and a hundred years later she had survived its effects. Grief could no longer surprise her.
But Teba's grief had hit a blind spot, winded him, driving a hard knife into the one part of him that he had thought incorruptible; his family. There was nothing she could say. Nothing that wasn't a lie. She left the Master Sword in its safe place within the storage chest, and returned to Teba's side. Tulin was still happily soaring through the ravine, a blur of white against white as the snow began to fall.
Teba spoke with a small voice. "Did you… did you really kill Yinli?"
Zelda shook her head. "I don't even recognise the name… who was he? What did he look like?" It was a lie, she knew.
"An old white-feather falcon, with brown as well. Stern face. Stubborn, too. He carried one of the best bows in the village, a tri-shot Falcon."
Her eyes went wide as he spoke. The face was hazy, but the memory was not. Gasping, blood pumping, her feet scampering across the ageing stone floor, desperately climbing the stairs as triplets of arrows raining down around her. And above, a white-feathered Rito, plumage flecked with greys and browns, a spectacular bow in hand.
The Rito bandit that she and Link had fought in Hyrule Castle Library. She remembered him. And she remembered how Link had shot him through the neck.
Zelda swallowed hard. "H-he was Yahn's father?"
"He was more than that," Teba answered. "He was Elder Kaneli's advisor, and has been missing for quite a while now."
"Kaneli's advisor?" She felt the blood drain from her face, and sat in a stunned silence, blinking dumbly at the fire in front of them. How? How could this happen?
Teba's face was drawn, his expression seeking. "What is it?"
"I-I didn't kill him, Teba." She whispered, trembling. "But Link did. In Hyrule Castle. Yinli was among the bandits. He wore the scarf."
"What? But-but he works for Kaneli!"
"He worked for Cinelgen," Zelda corrected. "And if Elder Kaneli's chief advisor worked for Cinelgen then-"
"Kaneli does too," Teba breathed. They stared into the fire together, rendered mute, a terrible understanding having passed between them. Cinelgen hadn't infiltrated the Rito. He had allied them. Indeed it seemed nothing could surprise her now.
"It was Yahn," Teba growled, his face darkening. "It started with him. He must have convinced his father, and then Kaneli." Teba shook his head, an incredulous smile creeping across his face. "That little bastard. It isn't enough that he turns my wife against me. He's taken my home from me too."
Zelda looked past the fire to the upright body of Vah Medoh, perched on the spire of Rito Village. She remembered a piece of her meagre political education; alliances had mutual benefit. How do the Rito benefit? What did they trade Medoh for? She was at once terrified and determined, knowing the answer. It doesn't matter now.
"We can wait no longer, Teba," she said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "You will help me secure Medoh. Yahn will never control the Beast, but his recklessness could damage it beyond repair."
Teba squinted at her, surprised by her sudden sternness. "Yes ma'am," he teased, muttering under his breath, "Anything to keep that little bastard away from it."
"Good!" Zelda said with a resolute nod, feeling that strange wildness within her once again; the excitement, the thrill. Link's armour was doing more than making her look like him, it seemed. "We'll go as soon as the snow clears."
Teba laughed again, amused by her enthusiasm. It wasn't until he pried her hand from his shoulder that she realised she had been squeezing it tight. "I just don't understand - why me?" he asked. "There are plenty of stronger flyers in the village."
Zelda looked at Teba's injured wings; his damaged armour; his battle-hardened face. The scars of the only Rito who cared enough to stand up to Cinelgen's chaos - even at the risk of his own life.
"Perhaps there are, younger ones too," she said coyly, ignoring Teba's unamused scowl. "But none of them are Champions."
The diamond was to be sized and cut to… approximately what Link thought they needed. He could not tell them the truth; that he had no real idea of what would work. But he instructed the Goron miners at the refinery of his specifications, and was relieved when they began to nod.
"Aye, we can do that," one of the miners said. "Should take a couple days. Hope you packed enough elixirs."
"Can't we just head back down the mountain?" Teel protested, shirking the idea of consuming more of the fireproof elixir. Cinelgen shook his head.
"How often do we get to see such unique parts of our kingdom?" he smiled, though he did not improve Teel's mood. The Goron miner chuckled.
"Unique," he repeated. "You are funny. Call it what it is, Hylian, it's hell."
Cinelgen narrowed his eyes, squaring up to the bulky Goron miner. They were the same height, the Goron as robust as Cinna was lean. "I'm not Hylian," he snarled.
The Goron was unaffected, waving Cinelgen away. "Ah well, I can't tell anyhow."
A few days here, Link thought. Is Cinna worried that travelling down the mountain will allow me to escape? It only occurred to him then that Cinelgen kept exclusive watch over their stash of elixirs. No better way to keep a man in line than to hold his life in a vial.
Cinelgen had calmed down, and was leaning against the wall of the workshop, watching with folded arms as the Gorons set to work on the diamond. The rest of the group were waiting outside; the party never split. Cinelgen called it bad luck.
"Don't look so concerned," Cinna chided him. "I'll remind you this was your idea."
I'm not concerned for you. Link just smiled. "I know this isn't the nicest place."
"We can hear you, lad," one of the Goron's grumbled.
Cinna sighed, running a hand through his messy red hair. "That's time enough for us to see Rudania then," he suggested.
"Maybe, I might be needed here." Link had no intention of letting Cinna get close to a Divine Beast. Not after what happened with Ruta. He chewed his lip, trying to suppress his frown. The heat was making the mask harder to wear.
"No," Cinelgen said. "I've made up my mind. If we're stuck here, I want to do something productive."
One last diagnostic. One last check. Malice everywhere; even on the control terminal. Medoh would be a stubborn Beast to fly. Beside her, Teba was adjusting the draw of his bow, shivering.
"Are you afraid, Teba?"
She expected the warrior to shake his head, but Teba nodded. "Always," he frowned. "Every moment."
Three days had passed since they had arrived at the Flight Range; Teba had since sent Tulin home on his own, while he and Zelda remained to wait for their wounds to heal. She had watched him embrace the fledgeling one last time, whispering something in his ear, before giving him a gentle nudge back towards the village. And Tulin seemed resolute, launching himself into the air with ease.
For three days they planned, and prepared. They would fly together to Vah Medoh, and Zelda would use the Sheikah Slate to induct Teba as Pilot. He would launch the Beast and take it as high as he could, before sealing the entrances. Finally, he and Zelda would return to Rito Village to confront Elder Kaneli. Simple enough.
But when she thought of each step in the sequence, the plan seemed less and less straightforward. What if Teba was not accepted? What if they could not seal Vah Medoh? And stood at the precipice of the Flight Range ravine, gazing towards the gargantuan body of the Divine Beast, Zelda understood then that it was just herself and Teba in the way of Cinelgen's plans. A Princess in hiding, and a Warrior in mourning. Not the partnership she would have chosen.
But she had no other choice and no time to doubt. The sun had begun to rise, and daylight would soon rush to meet them. They needed all the waking hours they could get. And I doubt Teba would like to fly blind.
"I'm ready when you are," Zelda said, and Teba nodded, shouldering his bow and kneeling to allow her to climb onto his back. Zelda carried her own Sparrow bow, with its limbs painted in white and gold, though she no longer bothered with arrows. Three swift beats of his wings took Teba to air, and together, they ascended towards the rock spire of Rito Village.
The winding walkways and suspended huts soon passed beneath them, and peering down over Teba's shoulder, Zelda noticed a congregation forming at the top level of the village. Rito of all colours, their voices raucous, Elder Kaneli standing before them. What's happening? She wanted to ask Teba, before realising that he would know no better than her. The question would have to be answered later.
Medoh was perched somewhat precariously on the rock spire, its broad wings splayed outwards, and its body raised skyward - practically vertical. Not a particularly convenient configuration. Typical Revali, Zelda thought dryly. The Divine Beast's main control unit was situated on its back, among a plethora of ancient columns that stuck out of its body like spines. Normally the induction was simple, but with Medoh's upright position, they would have to complete the process on the rotated control unit itself, balanced several hundred feet above Lake Totori. Zelda swallowed her fear. You've survived falls, she reminded herself, though it did not calm her nerves.
Teba flew them up and over Medoh's wings, descending onto the angled control unit. He landed deftly on the unit's bud-shaped housing and knelt to allow Zelda to dismount. Carefully, the high winds howling in her ears, she crawled along the control unit towards the terminal itself, which rotated on its side as with everything else. Fingers shaking, breath taut, she tapped the Sheikah Slate against the terminal.
At once, Medoh began to shake with such ferocity that Zelda nearly lost her balance on the smooth stone of the control unit. But eventually, the Beast settled, unleashing a shrill squawk that Zelda was sure could be heard across all of Hyrule.
Simple as taking a photo; Zelda held the Sheikah Slate towards Teba, instructed him to keep still, and waited patiently for Medoh to react. The Beast screeched again, longer this time, and Zelda read aloud the words with excitement. "Accepted! Teba of Rito Village, I officially induct you as pilot of Divine Beast Vah Medoh."
Teba just shrugged. "Great. Where's the flight deck?"
She pointed to the terminal. "This is the flight deck."
"That? What do I do?"
"Why don't you come find out?" Zelda shuffled back to let him pass, and Teba slowly crawled towards the terminal. "Piloting the Beasts is more instinct than anything else."
With trepidation, he leant down to place a wing against the terminal - and Teba gasped. His whole seized backwards, eyelids fluttering, muttering the hell was that, and his wing snapped from the terminal. The Beast shrieked again.
"Go on," Zelda smiled, watching with anticipation as Teba placed his wing against the terminal once more. She had tried, and failed, not to steal a glance at the lake below.
"Vah Medoh!" Teba cried suddenly. He locked eyes with Zelda. "He spoke! They can talk? But… but they're just-"
"Automatons?"
"Did you know about this?" Teba was breathless. "I could see it all… as if its eyes were mine." And then he began to laugh, a real laugh, full of joy and sheer delight. "Why didn't you bring me here earlier!? This is fantastic!"
Zelda chuckled nervously, pressing herself closer against the still rotated control unit, still the only thing between her and several hundred feet of air. "Please just launch him," she said.
"Alright, alright," Teba placed his hand on the control unit again. "Let's get out of here, Medoh."
The Divine Beast shook once more as its legion of ancient propellers creaked to life, the rhythmic whirring pulsing through the entire structure. It lurched forward, giving one final screech. The propellers roared, the Beast rumbled violently, and Zelda wrapped herself even tighter around the main control unit.
Teba had closed his eyes, and his body tensed. The roaring from the propellers quietened into a steady hum. The warrior was muttering something to himself, though Zelda could not hear, and finally, with a jolt, Vah Medoh was launched upwards. Slowly, steadily, still shuddering against the force of its own propellers, the Beast began to rise.
Both Teba and Zelda tumbled down from the control unit as Medoh began to right himself, and they stood to find that, at last, the Beast's wings were flat with the horizon. Teba kept a wing to the terminal while Zelda surveyed the area. Medoh's outer platform was as wide as its wings, and the stone beneath her feet was mossy from age. She counted over two dozen of the ancient columns that jutted out from the stone, all half ruined, or collapsing. And her diagnostic had been correct; Malice clung to the outside of Medoh, as well as within, and a particularly gruesome piece gurgled on the main control unit.
"Can you tell me how high you can go, Medoh?" Teba asked, and he nodded at a response that Zelda could not hear. "As high as you like," he grinned, relaying the message.
She patted him on the arm. "You're a natural, Teba."
Teba keened, clicking his beak, unaccustomed now to praise, "Well, I wouldn't-"
Oh, so the finest warrior in Rito Village has some modesty? She almost said, but Teba's words and her thoughts were cut off by a sudden shout behind them. They spun around to see four figures spilling out from Vah Medoh's interior - all Rito, all familiar, all scrambling across the mossy stone towards them. Teba's snapped his wing away from the terminal, and moved to stand in front of Zelda, his face drawn, and his muscles held taut. He held a wing at his back, ready to draw his bow as the Rito approached.
"Well, well," Yahn sneered. "What have we here?" His wing was still in a bandage, though some had fallen away, revealing the veiny, purple-red corruption. Malice.
Rylen and Orli followed close behind, and on their tail was a soft-pink feathered Rito, her hair hanging in loops about her face, the feathers dangling as she moved. When she saw Teba and Zelda, she skidded to a half, her talons scraping against the stone.
"Teba!?" she cried. "What are you doing here?! Where have you been!?"
"I'm asking you the same thing, Saki" Teba returned. Yahn only laughed, "Ah, at last they meet," he said.
The four Rito stood before them; Saki stunned into silence, Yahn chuckling, and Rylen and Orli passive, but ready, both eyeing Zelda knowingly.
"Well?" Zelda addressed Yahn, stepping from Teba's shadow. Appraising the Rito she noted that they were unarmed, though Yahn kept a dagger at his belt. They did not come to Medoh to fight.
Yahn put his wings to his waist "If you must know, we were camped inside this Beast, when you so kindly did what we've been attempting for months."
Teba had no time for his former apprentice, his furious glare saved only for Saki. "Why?" he seethed at her.
The Rito woman met Teba's insolence with her own. "I had to do something!" she snapped. "You spend all your days at that Flight Range! You disappeared for three weeks with our son!"
"Had to do something?!" Teba pointed an accusing wingtip towards Yahn. "Helping this idiot? Going behind my back?"
"How would I have told you?" Saki countered. "Would you have cared?"
"That isn't an excuse!"
In the soles of her feet, Zelda felt the familiar rumble of Medoh's propellers change, and weaken. The platform began to shift.
"Kaneli told me he had a plan," Saki began to explain. "... and Yinli told me not to involve you! He… he said that you wouldn't agree, but that he was sure his son could help us!
"His son works for a madman! Of course I wouldn't agree!"
"I didn't know that at the time, Teba!"
"But you know now!"
Rylen and Orli were watching the exchange with blank, bewildered faces, while Yahn tried unsuccessfully to break up the argument. "If I may, my interest is Medoh-"
"You really don't know," Zelda cut him off, addressing the two silent Rito. "Did Yahn never tell you who you work for?"
Rylen folded his arms at his chest. "We work for Kaneli," he said, and Orli nodded, and turned to Saki, "Don't we?"
Yahn scowled, his hand on the hilt of his dagger. A silent threat, but a pointless one. Come dance, then, she thought as she sized up him up. I know a song we can sing. She mirrored Teba, a hand held at the ready to draw her bow.
Saki had not answered. The trio of expectant faces left her stammering, backing away slowly as no words came from her open beak.
"Tell them," Zelda urged.
Yahn seized her by the shoulder. "You will do no such thing."
"Do not threaten my wife!" Teba snapped, storming forward. Zelda jolted after him, pulling him back. The platform began to shift again, faster this time, and she felt her body lift from the stone. The clouds had begun to recede above them, and the thought was little more than a pulse in the back of her awareness; we're falling.
"I don't understand," Orli frowned. She gave Rylen a nudge. "Why is there an issue?"
"I-" Saki began.
"Tell them," Teba said. "You've been to the Castle. Yahn was injured so you went! What did you see?"
Saki wrenched herself from Yahn's grip, looking down her nose at the smaller Rito. "I wanted to believe what you were doing was right but… the food shortage here… all because-"
"Enough!" Yahn snapped.
"What does Yahn have to do with the food shortage?" Rylen pressed.
Teba did not relent. He pointed to Rylen and Orli. "Tell them!"
The pulse was stronger now. We're falling. "Teba..." Zelda called out.
"The war," Saki began. "I tried to ignore it-"
"Enough!" Yahn bellowed. Saki ignored him, speaking only to Rylen and Orli. "Go home," she urged.
"Teba, I need you here!" Zelda cried. We're falling! She ran to the control unit, placing a hand on the controls, but as she was not the pilot, she could do nothing.
"I'm sorry I let his happen," Saki continued. "But Teba is right-"
Her words became a shriek as Yahn brought a fist hard across her face. Teba was swift and precise, tackling his former apprentice to the ground as Vah Medoh suddenly lurched sideways, its entire right flank dipping.
The stone fell out from underneath her. Zelda screamed, her stomach leaping into her throat as she plummeted down the steeply sloping platform. She was slammed hard into one of the ancient pillars, but managed at the last moment to wrap her arms around it, her legs whipping out underneath her. There was nothing to stand on but air, and when she looked down, she saw clouds. The propellers revved ferociously, but the Beast continued to fall.
Above her, the Rito had scrambled. She caught wisps of bright colours as they darted through the air. The black and white of Yahn and Teba, airborne, tussling, swooping and diving as they traded blows. The streak of pink that followed, desperately trying to pry the two Rito apart. And the blue and greens of Rylen and Orli, chasing close behind in a vain effort to make sense of the sudden fighting. Zelda kicked, dangling high above the thousand foot drop back to the earth, heaving through terrified gasps as she tried to keep hold of the stone pillar. Medoh lurched again, this time to the left, and Zelda was thrown back down onto the floor of the platform. Only the Beast did not stop, its left side continuing to arc downwards, and soon she was scrambling to find something new stop her descent.
Zelda slid helplessly across the now platform, back towards the main control unit, landing on an ancient pillar just thirty feet from the terminal. Yahn and Teba slammed into the stone platform beside her, springing apart and careening down the towards Medoh's left wingtip. Saki followed above, shrieking for them to stop.
As she passed, the Rito woman turned back towards Rylen and Orli, who were still in pursuit. "Go!" she shouted, wheeling herself around midair to face them. "Get everyone out of the village! This thing is going to crash!"
With hasty nods and waves, the pair of Rito disappeared over the edge of the platform.
"Get back here!" Yahn shouted, vaulting himself off the steep platform and racing through the air after them. Teba had done the same, wings beating as he chased after the black-feathered Rito.
As Medoh slowly began to roll to the right, Zelda climbed down onto the horizontal platform, releasing her desperate grip on the stone column. She clambered to her feet and sprinted towards the main terminal, entirely unsure what she would do when she reached it.
Teba and Yahn were not done. They met in the air once again, exchanging blows, rolling and spiralling over each other, with Saki at Teba's side, and then Yahn's, her pleas for them to stop unheard.
Medoh lurched against, this time backwards, and Zelda managed to grab hold of the smooth stone of the terminal just as she lost her footing. The Beast was silent, the rumble from its propellers having completely disappeared. The only sound was the rush of the wind as the ground raced towards them.
Desperate, Zelda slammed her right hand down on the terminal, the crisp Royal Crest searing in a powerful golden light, and her vision blackened, the voice booming within her.
Keeper. I am compromised.
Zelda opened her eyes and saw darkness still. "What's happening?" she cried. She was no longer on Medoh, but rather in an endless and consumingly bleak room. Across from her was a figure shrouded in shadow, her green eyes stern and shining. Then the darkness splintered, shattering into light. Zelda covered her eyes, only to find she was back on Vah Medoh. It spoke again.
I require help.
"How?" Zelda called out to the Beast. She could feel its entire make; every gear, and every core. She closed her eyes and was awestruck by a vision of the curving horizon of Hyrule, presented before her in its full glory. The Beast answered.
The Three.
She looked down at her hand and the trio of triangles against the back of her palm. The power! With all her might she surged her magic into the control terminal, feeling it in her veins, in her skull. No longer physical; something spliced from reality itself. She could taste the Malice within Medoh on her tongue, and exultant, she fought back against it. The corruption was cowed, and it withered under her force, but it was not destroyed.
Medoh began to lift once more, its propellers droning. Zelda's hand stung. Her mouth was dry. Once Medoh had regained what seemed like its full power and had returned to a horizontal position, she slumped from the control terminal and fall limp against the ancient stone platform.
The still brawling Rito barreled down onto Medoh's back, having been airborne once again. Yahn leapt to his feet, followed closely by Teba, who threw a wild punch towards him. Yahn dodged, returning the strike in double, and shoved Teba to the ground. Saki fell at her husband's side.
"Please stop, both of you!" she shouted.
Zelda's whole body ached. She could barely move, managing only to pull herself onto her knees. She looked up, and saw Yahn advancing towards her.
"So you're the pilot!" he bellowed, brandishing his dagger. "Not the old man!
"Zelda!" Teba was on his feet and launching himself onto Yahn before either Saki or Zelda could react. They tumbled to the ground again, but the apprentice rolled away, and in a deft motion he grappled and pinned the warrior against the stone. Yahn raised his dagger, so high that it glinted in the sun.
"NO!" Saki screamed. She bolted forwards, desperately wrenching the blade away from Yahn's wingtip, and in a single, almost unseen motion, she buried it deep into his neck.
Yahn choked and spluttered, face twisted with disbelief as a rain of crimson blood burst from the wound. Saki wrenched the blade free, dropping it as though it had burned her, and Yahn fell back against the stone. Saki's wingtips were soaked in blood; the same that had sprayed Teba's clean white feathers, the same that was pooling under his former apprentice.
No one moved. No one spoke. Zelda had not even gasped. She blinked stupidly at the gruesome pantomime before her. Teba's beak fell open, his gaze fixed on his wife.
Saki took three steps backwards, her face leaden. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and gave them one last horrified look, before taking wing, and disappearing south.
As it turned out, only Cinelgen was interested in accompanying Link to Rudania. Inglis, having grown up in Akkala, was not fond of the heat, while Aurelia simply wanted to go nowhere near what she called a 'mountain ready to blow'. Marlo was already struggling, more than Inglis, his feathers made for the frozen climate rather than the boiling, and Teel had refused to stay on the mountain any longer than a day, and had left that morning to wait for them at the Foothill Stables.
If Yunobo had any suspicions, he did not show them, and he chatted happily with Link as they hiked up the mountain. The Goron youth recounted seeing Rudania attack the Castle, and plied Link for details on the battle. He thankfully seemed unaware of Zelda's existence, for Link had not figured out how to explain away her absence.
"Tell me about this Beast," Cinelgen beseeched of Yunobo as they approached the summit.
"Uh, well, I don't know much!" Yunobo admitted with a laugh. "But I know he's in some dormant state. And that he was once piloted by the Champion Daruk. He was my ancestor, you know. It's kinda funny."
Cinelgen's attention piqued. "Your ancestor?"
"Yeah, well, yes." He tugged on the Champion scarf that he wore around his neck. "At least I was told and I-"
Link heard the now familiar menacing curiosity in Cinna's voice. "So maybe you can pilot Rudania?"
"Uh, well-"
Yunobo was cut off by a piercing screech that soared through the air from the west, echoing across the rocks around them. The trio turned in unison to look, and in the far distance, Link saw Vah Medoh jolt forward. It seemed to shudder, once, twice, and a third time, until it finally lifted off from the rock spire of Lake Totori. "Woah!" Yunobo gasped, Rudania forgotten behind them.
Zelda! Link nearly cheered. You did it! I knew you would. I always knew! He wanted the dance, he wanted to sing, but could not. Instead, he watched in silent awe as Medoh climbed into the sky, screeching once again. It tore through the air, nearly disappearing into the clouds. But almost as suddenly as it had risen, it stopped, and then it banked steeply to the side, and then the other, tumbling through the air.
"No!" Link cried out, unable to stop himself. His legs were carrying him forward as if absurdly he could reach her in time, and he yelped as he was suddenly constricted at the neck. Cinelgen was yanking him backwards by the collar.
"Hey, what-" Yunobo said.
"What are you doing?" Cinelgen barked.
In the distance, Link caught sight of Vah Medoh at it flashed with a golden radiance, and began climbing once again. Her powers! She'd done more than just launch Vah Medoh. She had cleansed it, somehow.
Alone, he thought, alone and without me.
Link looked up at Cinelgen, and then back to Yunobo, and then out across Hyrule towards Hebra. His collar was tight around his throat, and Cinelgen was demanding again that he answer, but all Link could think about was that Zelda was there in the sky and she was alive, and he needed to help her in any way he could. He heard his own voice say, but she doesn't need you. Link didn't care.
"Is-is everything alright?" Yunobo asked nervously.
No more disguises, no more lying, no more masks. Link spun around, landing a punch hard against Cinelgen's gut. The Gerudo keened, stumbling backwards, a choked around escaping his lips. Link turned to Yunobo.
"You need to find the Princess," he said urgently. "Her name is Zelda!"
"What? Where?"
Link pointed to where Medoh flew. "There! Find her! Help her!" He dodged Cinelgen's swift retaliation; a sudden blow aimed at the face. "This man is my captor! They've taken the Castle!"
"Enough!" Cinelgen spat. He brought his bony fingers around Link's neck.
"Hey! Hey!" Yunobo shouted, storming forward. Cinelgen dodged, using his momentum to slam Link into the rocky mountainside. Yunobo careened past them, down the mountain path, rolling across the rubble and tumbling out of sight. Cinelgen wasted no time; he slammed Link against the rocks again. His vision flashed white and his eyes rolled in his skull, the pain blossoming from his temples to his toes. He heard the voice again. She survived without you. Launched that Beast without you.
Before Yunobo could return, the Gerudo had dragged Link back down the mountain. They cut past Goron City, all the way back down to the Foothill Stables. Link was too injured - too dazed and weary - to fight back.
"We gave your our trust!" Cinelgen seethed, throwing Link to the ground. "And you betrayed us - betrayed me!"
When he spoke, he tasted blood. "Oh, you think I was on your side?" Link rasped. He stumbled to his feet, skin tingling, body throbbing with pain.
"Then you lied to us!" Cinna said, wildness giving way to wrath. "You've been working with that automaton for how long and you never even could-"
"Oh I could, I did!" Link said. "Rhoamet answers to me, and only me! I was never on your side, Cinelgen."
"Then whose? The Princess's?!"
"Always," he said. Link stood up as straight as he could. "And some day soon, she's going to return, and take back that Castle." Without you.
"You're a fool if you think that. She's alone, wherever you sent her! You think she's survived this long?"
Link laughed. "Didn't you just see the Beast in the sky? That was all Zelda. I was never the Champion you wanted, it was always her." And she was fine without you. What were you ever for? His pride dissolved into a frantic, inconsolable sorrow. "I am a fool, but not as much as you are!"
Cinelgen threw a punch, swinging wildly and Link did not flinch. He caught the blow with his cheek.
"Do it!" he challenged as he regained his balance. "Kill me!"
"You'll die for that girl?!"
Link surged forward, his face only inches from Cinelgen's. "She doesn't need me!" He was shouting now, a new pain in his eyes from where the tears gathered. "She doesn't even want me! So kill me, Cinna! Kill me now! I've died before, it wasn't hard!"
The Gerudo grabbed Link by the collar, and wrapped his hands tight around Link's neck. He closed his eyes and prepared for the pain. Ready to feel the last of it. But then his captor wrenched him backwards, and tossed him into the dirt. Teel had found them then. Cinelgen motioned for her to tie Link's hands in binds.
"We cannot kill you. We need someone to fit the diamond," Cinelgen said once it was done. "And you will make a valuable hostage."
They left him there until dark, but Link was grateful at least that the dirt was soft under his head. Words are worse, he thought as the pain coursed through him. Words hurt more. But he'd been wrong there, he realised, as he'd been wrong about so much in his clumsy attempt to play manipulator with his captors. He searched for a new mask to wear, and found none. Not the Knight, not the researcher, not the spy.
He was himself at last.
There had not been time to clean themselves up. Teba's white feathers were still spotted with blood, and Zelda was still queasy and broken as they stood before Elder Kaneli. Vah Medoh circled the village above them; Zelda had run a final diagnostic, right before they descended from the Beast. The Malice had receded somewhat, but would return soon. No time. Never any time.
Half the village had come to witness the meeting. They whispered amongst themselves at the strange sight of the dishevelled Hylian girl, and the injured Rito warrior before them. Zelda tried not to see the suspicion in their faces.
Elder Kaneli rocked gently in his chair as Teba spoke. "Yinli is dead. Yahn is dead. My wife is gone. Medoh is functional but very unwell. Your operation is over."
The old owl bristled. "I have no idea what you speak of."
"But you do!" Rylen piped up. He and Orli had returned to the village as Saki instructed. They stepped forward from the crowd. "Why did you never tell us Yinli was dead?"
"Because it means your alliance was a failure," Teba said pointedly. "It didn't deliver the Rito into glory, it started a civil war."
The Rito murmured. The war? They whispered. But we're not involved.
"We did no such thing," Kaneli said.
"But if you did..." Teba peered around at the crowd. "I heard talk of a food shortage. Judging by these angry faces, it'd be bad for that to last much longer."
"There is a shortage of grain from Necluda due to some danger on the roads, nothing more!" Kaneli insisted.
"And goat's milk too!" someone in the crowd said. "And fish from Lanayru!" said another.
Teba folded his wings at his chest. "Sounds bad," he said knowingly, trapping Kaneli in one of his harsh glares.
Zelda produced a blue and white neckerchief that she had pulled from Yahn. It had been tucked in his bandages as before. She held it out to Kaneli. "Have you seen this before?"
"I have!" Rylen cut in again.
"As have I," Orli added. Kaneli remained tight-lipped, squirming.
"Bandits of every race wear these," Zelda went on. "Yahn carried one. Yinli wore one around his neck. Isn't that right, Rylen? Were those in your camp bandits?"
Rylen's face dropped. "What do you mean, bandits?"
"Those soldiers," Orli answered. She gently took the scarf from Zelda's hands. "The Hylians that Yahn brought into the camp. He said they were friends of his, but they all wore this scarf."
"You don't have to listen to this girl!" Kaneli protested. "Yahn warned us about her! A Hylian mage, a witch, come to destroy Vah Medoh!"
The Rito were uproarious then. Zelda opened her mouth to argue when Tulin's voice suddenly burst through the crowd. "But she's not!" he cried, racing towards his father. Teba took him under his wing. "You saw Vah Medoh turn gold, didn't you? Right before it stopped falling!" He looked up at Rylen. "She saved it! She stopped it from landing on the village!"
Rylen gave Zelda a long, hard look. You tried to kill me, she remembered. Those bomb arrows nearly killed us both. The broad Rito looked up to where Medoh hovered. "The fledgeling is right. The mage saved the village."
"That she did," Teba flashed her a grin. Kaneli was bumbling, muttering at the affront, but Zelda ignored him. She saw some in of the Rito nodding, and leapt at the opportunity.
"Then listen to me!" she said, addressing the villagers. "You are running out of food, and a civil war is destroying your home! And your Elder made a mistake. He allied with those who started it! But he couldn't have known - none of us could!" She looked again at Kaneli. "Help me destroy these bandits, and I will end it once and for all."
"I still don't understand!" Orli said. She held Yahn's neckerchief tight between her wingtips. "Yahn called you a Princess. Kaneli says you are a mage. Saki said you were a bard. Who are you then?"
In her periphery, Teba was smirking, and it was all she could do to stop from laughing. "Right now, it doesn't matter," Zelda said. "I just want to help, and I want to end this chaos."
Kaneli stood from his chair. "Fine! But I have a condition," he announced.
"You are in no place to negotiate!" Teba growled.
The crowd jeered. Aye! They cried. Kaneli did this to us!
Zelda held a hand out to them. "No, listen to him."
Kaneli lumbered out of his hut, his round form wobbling as he walked. He peered up towards the sky, and pointed to Vah Medoh.
"Do what Cinelgen's people could not," he said. "Medoh is unwell, you say? Then cure him. Return him to us, and the Rito are yours."
A/N: A day late but here it is! The biggest chapter yet!