Open your eyes… Wake up, Link…
Link's eyes flew open, and the world was bright. Terribly bright. He closed his eyes again, his head searing in pain. He opened them more slowly, blinking quickly as his eyes adjusted to the light. And the world took shape around him. A world of white. Of strong, bright lights. He stared at the lights that lined the stark white ceiling. He followed the ceiling with his eyes across the room to the far wall. A plain, white wall.
Link pushed himself upright as his eyes scanned his surroundings. He appeared to be in some sort of hospital room. There was a machine beside him that seemed to monitor him. He followed the wires that came out of the machines and were stuck to his skin all along his body. But, why was he here?
His eyes moved to the door. There were muffled voices coming from outside the room. He strained to hear them, but he could not make out their words. After a moment, there was a pause, and the door opened. A fierce old woman poked her head in first, then made her way to Link's side. Link watched her curiously.
"You're awake," she said simply. "How do you feel?"
Link hesitated. A loaded question. He felt… confused. Who was this woman?
"Do I know you?"
The woman's eyes widened. She turned on her heels, quicker than Link would have expected from such an old woman, and her gaze narrowed on the nurse who stood in the doorway. "What's the meaning of this?"
The nurse hesitated, but stepped into the room. She let a light shine in Link's eyes and he moved away with irritation.
"Do you know your name?" she asked him as she checked him over.
Link hesitated. He didn't know his name. He didn't know who he was.
"Snap out of it, Link," the woman barked at him. She pushed closer to him with fury in her eyes. "Zelda's stuck inside that palace and she needs your help."
Link? Zelda?
"Do you know where you are, Link?" the nurse asked.
Link shook his head slowly.
The nurse straightened and turned to the old woman.
"I want answers," she hissed at the nurse.
"It could be any number of things," the nurse said. "His injuries were severe. There was a chance there would be some memory loss when he came out of the coma."
The old woman muttered under her breath. "Leave us," she said to the nurse. She held her gaze on Link until the nurse left, closing the door behind her.
"You must remember, Link," the woman pressed. "The fate of Hyrule is in your hands."
Link stared blankly at the woman. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Hyrule is at war," she explained to him. "You and Zelda set off to defeat Ganon, but you were severely injured in the process. Zelda went off alone to try to hold Ganon back until you recovered."
"I… what?"
"Our enemy, Link. Ganon is our enemy. You've been working in the Special Forces Unit to try to stop him from taking over. You were entrusted with the duty to protect Zelda and aid her in your mission to stop him." The woman hesitated, her expression softening. "You don't remember anything at all? Not even Zelda?"
"No," Link said simply.
She turned away from him for a moment. "Link. I know this may be difficult for you, but Zelda's waiting for you. Hyrule is counting on you. We need your help or else we will fall under Ganon's control." She looked over her shoulder and met Link's gaze. "I know I'm asking a lot of you right now, but will you help us?"
Link's brows knit together. "Are you insane?"
The old woman rolled her eyes and went back to muttering to herself. "Memory or not, you haven't changed." She strode across the room and picked up a few items; a cellphone and two guns. She tossed them carefully onto the bed at Link's feet. "Your stuff."
"My stuff?" Link stared blankly at the two guns.
"Let's hope you're a good a shot as you used to be, hm?"
Link ignored the weapons and picked up the phone. He turned it over in his hands, then turned it on. He wasn't sure what he expected. Maybe a stray text message or voicemail, but there were no notifications at all. In fact, there wasn't even service.
"Cell towers are down," the woman said. "Since Ganon took over the palace, life is a bit more restricted these days. Travel from town to town is dangerous with the Guardians on patrol."
Ganon, Guardians, Zelda; it was all foreign to Link.
"Think about it," the woman said as she made her way to the door. "I'll see if I can get you discharged today." She held her gaze on Link for a moment before leaving him alone in the hospital room.
Link turned his attention back to the phone and flipped through it absentmindedly. He scrolled through some of the contacts. Daruk, Dorian, Impa, Mipha, Revali, Sidon, Urbosa, Zelda. He didn't recognize any of the names. Did one of them belong to the woman? What was his relationship to her, anyway?
He gave up with the contacts and tried another route. He opened the photo gallery. It was just as sparse, but he looked through the few pictures that were there. There was an older looking image of what appeared to be a couple with a child. Something about the image convinced him that it was his family. A few pictures clearly had him in them, along with a few others he didn't recognize. He and a Goron, quite a few of him with a Zora girl. There was an image of a Rito as well with a mustache and horns doodled on his face. Among these were a few of a young woman with blonde hair, and a couple of the two of them together. All friends of some sort (and perhaps one strongly disliked Rito). Friends he could not remember.
He let the phone drop onto the bed. It meant nothing to him. The images, the names - it wasn't enough to put any pieces of the puzzle together. He couldn't help but to feel guilty. These friends he once knew, that he could no longer remember, meant nothing to him.
And that woman who expected him to walk out of that hospital and save Hyrule. Who was she kidding?
At that moment, the woman returned. She was speaking as she opened the door and helped herself in. "...good to go tonight." She met Link's gaze. "Remember anything yet?"
"I don't think it works like that," Link muttered, growing irritated with her impatience. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"
"I'm Impa," the woman said. "Leader of the Sheikah tribe and Zelda's trusted advisor."
"That means nothing to me."
Impa made a sound through her nose. Her actions and mannerisms since Link woke up were unlike how Link imagined such an old woman to be, and a leader of the Sheikah no less.
"Is this how you normally act?" It was a fairly genuine question.
Impa shot him a glare. "Of course not. But after these last few weeks, I've grown rather short. And quite frankly, I'm tired of your attitude. Why couldn't you have forgotten that?"
"I'm sorry I'm such an inconvenience to you," Link muttered.
"At this moment you are. You proved useful up 'til now." She sat at the edge of the bed and sighed. "I am getting too old for this." Her hand touched the phone on the bed and she picked it up. The gallery was still open when the phone clicked on, and an image of Link and Zelda was on the screen. It was clear by the image that Zelda had stolen his phone to capture the picture with her outstretched arm. Her eyes were bright with laughter, and though Link's arms were crossed in the background, he had a smug smirk on his face.
"You don't remember her at all," Impa said softly. She smiled down at the picture.
"Who is she?" Link asked curiously.
"That's Zelda," Impa informed him. "It seemed the two of you had grown quite close."
Link let his gaze fall back onto the picture. There was an odd pull in his chest.
"She's in trouble?"
Impa nodded. "After you fell, she went to the palace to hold Ganon back as much as possible." Impa hesitated and placed the phone back onto the bed at Link's feet. "She can't do it without your help, Link, and she can't hold him back much longer. Her power is weakening day by day. It's only a matter of time before Ganon is able to break her seal." She met Link's gaze, her eyes full of concern and sadness. "Please help her. Stop Ganon before it's too late."
He couldn't believe he was doing it, but his head nodded, almost on its own. "Okay," he said softly. "I'll try." He supposed it was the least he could do, after all. If everything Impa told him was true, then Zelda was someone very important to him, and she was counting on him to come for her. Oddly enough, he didn't feel distrustful of the woman, despite everything she had told him and how ridiculous it all sounded. Something in the back of his mind told him he could trust her and that he needed to do this. Besides, without his help, it was likely Hyrule wouldn't stand for much longer.
A soft smile spread across Impa's face, erasing her earlier cold, hard expression. "Thank you, Link."
Link hesitated. "I'm not quite sure what I need to do."
Impa leaned against the footboard at the end of the bed. "Since you are without your memories, let me fill you in. The history of the royal family of Hyrule is also the history of Ganon, an evil that has endured over the ages. It is fated that history will repeat itself, and that Ganon, a man who holds a piece of the Triforce, will rise over and over again in an attempt to gain the other two pieces and claim ultimate power. And just as Ganon is fated to return, so is it fated that two individuals will rise to seal him away once more. These two individuals are a princess who carries the blood of the Goddess, and a warrior who has the soul of a hero.
"In preparation for Ganon's return, King Rhoam, knowing the destiny his daughter was meant for, groomed her for the task in sealing away Ganon. It was crucial for Zelda to awaken the Goddess's power that slept inside of her, so she went through vigorous training through most of her life. Even you, Link, though you did not realize it, were groomed for the task to aid Zelda in saving Hyrule from Ganon's looming threat.
"You and Zelda came together and worked to activate four Divine Beasts, an ancient technology created by the Sheikah hundreds of thousands of years ago. Along with the Divine Beasts were the Guardians, which were created to work alongside the Hylian soldiers as defenses against Ganon's army. The power of the Divine Beasts was to be used to help defeat Ganon, allowing you and Zelda an opportunity to stop him and seal him away once more.
"The Divine Beasts were piloted by four individuals we called Champions: Daruk of the Gorons, Mipha of the Zoras, Urbosa of the Gerudos, and Revali of the Rito. These warriors were among the best of their races and were brought into the Special Forces Unit to work with you and Zelda. Together, you were the team that would defeat Ganon and restore peace to our country.
"However, we had underestimated Ganon's power, and the Guardians and the Divine Beasts were lost to Ganon's power and the four Champions were killed. They remain under his control, making the country very dangerous. The Guardians patrol the roads and guard the palace where Ganon is locked away. The Divine Beasts wreak havoc over the land, threatening the lives of everyone near them.
"In order to bring Ganon down, the Divine Beasts must be reclaimed from his control. Without them, you likely won't even be able to get near the palace. You'll need to free them before you can reclaim the palace and save Zelda."
"Piece of cake," Link muttered.
Impa smiled and let her hand rest on Link's foot. "I'm sure it will be for you," she said. She stood and her joints cracked. "The road will be dangerous with those Guardians. They'll come at you with everything they've got and they won't rest until you're dead or out of their sights. But you've outrun them before. I'm sure you'll be able to do it again." She picked up the phone and tossed it at Link. "The Divine Beasts are right where they should be. You won't have a hard time finding them at all. Just look for the large machines causing chaos, hm? But if you get lost, these fancy smartphones have some pretty useful apps." She scrunched her nose at the device. "They're beyond me. If you need me, I'll be back in Kakariko where I have some business to tend to. My army is just about all that remains left to defend Hyrule, so we have our own preparations to make. Oh, and one more thing." She turned to the table to retrieve one more item.
"This is the Sheikah Slate," she said as she tossed it to Link. "You'll probably need this for those Divine Beasts." Impa made her way to the door, pausing with her hand on the handle. She dug through her pocket and tossed him a set of keys. "Make haste, Link. I don't know how much longer Zelda will be able to hold Ganon back. And be careful. We can't afford to lose you, hm?"