"Malon!" someone screamed desperately. "Cremia!"
The barn door flung open, letting in the darkness. Romani stumbled in after it, out of breath and on the verge of tears. Zelda knew that expression well. Fear. And it was very contagious. Zelda had caught it already.
The twins leapt from the bench to get to their little sister. Their voices were lost to Zelda. Questions. They were talking to Romani. But Zelda couldn't understand a word of it. Her mind was too far gone from their words. All she felt was a simmering heat. The burnt smell of smoke filled her nostrils.
Fire. Something was on fire.
Zelda pushed past the sisters, out into the night. It was supposed to be dark, with thousands of stars overhead. But the stars gave no light. Neither did the moon. Lit arrows streaked across the sky, met thatched roofs, and set homes ablaze.
Ingo stood near the gates, wide eyes staring forward emptily. His legs trembled and gave out as he clung to a messenger cuckoo. The message had already been sent and it wasn't what he wanted.
Zelda only drew close enough to hear his frightened mumbling. "This – it's all wrong, all wrong. I didn't want this. I just… wanted to help Lon…"
So this was his doing. Somehow, Zelda wasn't surprised. She should have known he'd try something like this from the moment she saw him looming around when everyone else had been so eager to see her. She couldn't even bring herself to blame him, much less hate him.
Clearly he had his reasons, even if Zelda didn't understand them.
"Zelda!" Talon yelled, almost dragging a half-asleep Ganondorf and Agitha from a burning cottage. "You have to get out of here!" He then looked to his daughters. "Girls, get their carriage!"
They did so with fascinating speed. It was less than three minutes before they'd readied carriage and brought it over. Then they readied the three Hyruleans and sent them on their way.
Zelda looked at them wide-eyed from the back of the carriage. "Impa!" she yelled. "What about Impa?"
"She did ask for you," Cremia said.
"She's looking for you!" Malon added, raising her voice so Zelda would surely hear her.
So Impa was out there, most likely. She was still alive. She just had to cross her fingers and their paths would cross once more one day. She just had to be patient and keep an eye out. Then she and her nanny could face this chaotic world together once more. And this time Ganondorf and Agitha would be by her side.
But, for now, she just had to live.
The carriage sped off into the night, pursued by Moblins and the tyrant's knights.
"Got a plan?" Ganondorf snarled.
Zelda replied with a question. "Got a bow?"
"Somewhere."
Somewhere was good enough. Zelda began to dig through supplies in a panic.
But Agitha's voice was calm, almost with fear in the form of trembling lips. "I think I can handle this," Agitha said. She pulled a jar out of her basket. Inside were small, neon green beetles. Agitha took the lid of and gave a hopeful smile at the insects. "Pretty please, my friends, help us!"
The beetles took flight from their bottle, growing more than a hundred times their size as they exited the carriage. They began to attack their pursuers and didn't stop until they were in the clear. Then they shrunk and returned to Agitha's jar, looking like strangely colored but otherwise normal insects. They all knew the truth about it though.
"How in the Sand Goddess's name did you do that?" Ganondorf demanded.
"Just what are you, Agitha?"
She gave a nonchalant shrug. "Just a Hylian gifted with the friendship of the insect kingdom."
It was no longer a question why Farore chose such a young, cheerful Hylian as their Hero of Forest. It was her talents. For a moment, Zelda was afraid of Agitha's pure might. But there wasn't time to be scared.
She turned her attention to where their pursuers came from and readied her bow. She had to be ready in case more of them came to avenge their fallen comrades.
She kept her eye trained on the horizon, arrow readied. She would not let her allies down. Not now. Not now. Not ever.