He's never been one for heights, but diving from up high into the water is exhilarating—has been since his childhood in Zora's Domain.

Link, it appears, has awoken above a sea of clouds. He's never been this far, even atop mountains and Sheikah Towers. They only ever tickled the great heavens above. It's beautiful; the grass and trees dappling the floating islands are perpetually yellow like it's always Fall. He's stood at a precipice, the very peak of what seems to be a plateau. A floating plateau, not unlike the one he resurrected in. The heights will be a problem as he peers down a significant drop, barely able to see the ground through the passing clouds. He's unable to muster up the courage to jump.

Thankfully, the chill of the sky is somewhat warmed by his hole-filled trousers and an archaic toga he found in a chest only openable by his new hand. He cannot stop the fabric from wrinkling, but it's relatively charming and easy to move in.

"Well, Warrior King," that aggravating voice from before pipes up. He looks around, trying to find where she's judging him. Nothing. "I heard you were renowned for bravery. Afraid of heights?

Link bristles immediately at the jab. He then grimaces, remembering something his father used to say. The man always had a nugget of wisdom for any situation. "Courage and stupidity aren't so different, but the main separation is the temperance to look before leaping. Everyone is afraid of something."

And he, it appears, is afraid of heights. Figures.

Another scoff escapes her lips, and he finds it difficult not to sneer. "We placed so much faith in you, Warrior King. What a mistake."

"Stop calling me that." Link finally reaches his point of no return. "I don't even know who you are. What gives you the right to talk about faith? I am nobodies King."

"The right?! I have every right!" She screeches, pure rage in her voice, and suddenly, she appears before him. "My brother—The King of Light, The founder of Hyrule itself—died so you could win! And you already failed! The Demon King is free because of you and your… your… Princess!"

She's a feline. Her massive bat ears are pulled back with her catlike snarl. Sharp, predatory teeth line her ferocious mouth. Link is so taken aback by the sight of her he takes a step back in shock. The cat-lady, however, is not done with her rant. She points a familiar finger into Link's face, its long claw almost jabbing his eye. It's like looking at his new hand; they look nearly identical. Even if she's a ghostly apparition—a poe—she's terrifying.

"You've wasted ten millennia's worth of preparation! You set him free the moment you stepped foot in the Sealing Chamber, and now, nobody can stop him! You did not take his threat seriously. You should have stabbed him while he was still unconscious!" She rants and raves, and Link watches on in abject horror.

She's right. He did not take him seriously. He expected to kill whatever it was quickly and be home in time for dinner. Now, he's set loose the worst threat faced upon Hyrule, his Lady is missing, and he has no Sword that Seals the Darkness. He's exponentially weak—sucked dry of vitality and strength by that goddess-awful Gloom. He's screwed.

"You're a King of Nothing! Rauru's last wish was all for naught!"

"You're an Heir to a Throne of Nothing."

Zelda. She's still out there. And that realization is all he needs.

"You're right," Link grinds, admitting it hurts him physically. "It's all my fault. I got cocky—complacent. But Zelda's still out there somewhere, and I will find her. If that means killing this… Demon King, you can be damned sure I'll do that. Sword or not, nothing is going to stop me."

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. They miss the look the Ghost gives him, disbelief and a jolt of confusion at his words.

"Nothing." Link growls deeply before turning and leaping from the cliff.

It's night now. He has yet to accomplish anything of note, only running from corner to corner of the Island, hoping to find a way off—or for any sign of Zelda.

No luck.

Link is sat next to a fire he'd put together using sticks the green stone automaton used as weapons. He nurses a wound gained from his lackadaisical prowess, a hefty purple bruise from yet another stroke of Link's arrogance.

He'd been all-powerful for too long. Reliant on the Sword, his brute strength. Link's ability to fight, defend against blows and dance between strikes has become a significant challenge. His weakness is a hindrance, one he fails to believe he'll ever recover from.

If so, he must train and regain what he's forgotten within complacency. But a soldier cannot run drills when he's exhausted.

It doesn't help that the Gloom stole whatever remained of his fellow Champions Blessing. Mipha's Grace has left him, Daruk's Protection has shattered, Revali's Gale is gone with the wind, and Urbosa's Fury fizzled away with one last spark.

All that remains is him. Link has never felt more alone. He didn't realize what he had until it was all ripped away.

He pokes mindlessly at the fire, the proximity of the stars above not catching his awe like they usually do, as he's locked mercilessly in the confines of his solitude.

"The stars, they shine beautifully so high in the sky. At this altitude, I could reach out and touch them." A whisper, almost a croon, calls from behind him. It's non-threatening, a kindly and gentle voice that puts Link at ease.

He looks over, for some reason not surprised to have another Poe appear. He's big, feline-like the woman from earlier was. Link can guess who this one is.

"Are you Rauru?" He asks, trepidation leaking from his tone.

"That I am, Link," Rauru says, not taking his eyes from the night sky. "I assume my sister told you about me?"

Link huffs, surprised he's using his name rather than the whole 'Warrior King' bullshit used earlier. "King of Light, Founder of Hyrule. Person-Who-Placed-His-Faith-in-me, whom I have already let down." A scoff. "Have you come to attack me, as well verbally? If so, leave me be. I can get that much done on my lonesome."

"Yes, she…" Rauru sighs. "Is a tough one. You must recognize her position, however. She's been stuck in that arm for longer than we wanted her to be. She died, you see. Before her time. All she knew of our plan was that you would show up and slay the Demon King."

"Which I failed to do,"

"Not yet." Rauru corrects, making Link look over in confusion. "Time is a fickle beast. Speaking of that, I imagine you've spotted the Temple at the far edge of the Island?"

Link nods slowly. "Yes, the towering stone building—the only building visible. I've seen it."

"Go there when the bells toll," Rauru says serenely, his eyes closed as if reciting a prayer. "That is where you will find your Zelda."

Immediately, Link jumps to his feet, the fire forgotten. "She's here? I-I'll go now!"

Rauru only shakes his large head—jewelry tinkles with the motion. "The Bells must be Tolled. Rest, Link. You will need it."

"I can't." Link stresses, gathering what meagre supplies he'd managed to scrounge up during his exile here. There isn't much, just fruits he'd been keeping in a nap sack made from his old clothes, a timeworn wooden bow, arrows, and his broken sword. "Not when she's all by herself."

"The Temple will still be there tomorrow,"

"But she might not be!" Link snaps before sighing and waving his hand at the dead… man? "You wouldn't understand. She's—"

"Your everything, yes?" Rauru answers patiently. "Your world? The reason you keep moving forward, even after losing everything?"

His words stun Link into silence, freezing his frantic packing with their tremendous weight.

The cat-man lets out a deep chuckle at Link's face. "Yes, I've been in love before. When you're so deeply captivated by another being, it becomes… necessity to be with them. I understand your frustration intimately. Don't do what I did, don't throw yourself into an excuse for death to save them."

Link stares into the ancient King's eyes, reading the sorrow wafting from them like words on a page. He's loved and lost. He understands.

"How…" Link finds himself finally reaching his breaking point. It's been non-stop since he woke up; he hasn't had time to process anything. It's all hitting him at once. "How can I forgive myself for letting her fall? I couldn't… I missed her."

Rauru only offers a small, sad smile. "I have yet to find the answer myself. She was murdered, my Queen. Before I could even try to protect her."

… ah. That would be soul-rending.

"I'm sorry," Link instantly gives his condolences.

"Thank you, but it was a long, long time ago." A deep breath pulls into Rauru's dead nose. "Peace has yet to come, but I have finished grieving. Tell me about yourself and the world you live in. We still have some time until sunrise."

Link exhales before letting his rucksack fall to the ground with a thud. He joins it soon after, his head burying itself in his hands. "I'm not interesting. Just a soldier."

"Who just so happened to come into possession of the most beautiful weapon I have yet to see," Rauru grins, or the closest approximation to a grin possible with features like his and gestures to the Master Sword. "Even all but destroyed, I can feel her presence. She is quite the marvel."

He… feels her? That's amazing. Zelda was the only one he knew that could do something like that.

"You've never heard of the Master Sword?" Link asks, pulling her from his tied-together sheathe. He hesitantly holds her out to him, letting Rauru take in her glorious beauty. He's still a little protective of her, but the dead man has yet to draw up any uncertainties. "I thought she was older than the country itself."

"No. Unfortunately, I must predate her. A shame. Her power would have been a great boon in the War." Rauru gazes upon her, raising his hands to touch, but Link pulls her away. "Apologies. I got carried away; I didn't mean to offend."

"No, I just—" How's he gonna explain this? "She's… picky. You may already be dead, but I dunno if she'd still try to kill you for not being me."

"Ha!" His laugh catches Link off guard. "A temperamental blade! Who'd have thought it possible?" The mirth in his eyes passes as he flicks his gaze back to Links. "So, she chose you, then?"

"So I've been told." An ugly feeling Link hadn't felt since he was a child pools into his stomach. "All my life, she was what I was known for. She's why I became a Knight, and she didn't even speak to me until I died."

"You… died?" That seems to catch Rauru off guard this time.

"Long story." It's Link's turn to laugh now, eager to change the subject. "Besides, I already told you I'm not that interesting. You and your sister intrigue me, however. If you'll excuse the language, what are you? You mentioned a War?"

Rauru stares at him for a while before looking down and chuckling. He walks over to Link before falling into a heap beside him at the fire.

"You have quite the lack of self, don't you? Everything you've said since I met you has been fascinating. But I am willing to humour you. For now."

Link doesn't agree but listens with intent.

"For one, my people are the Zonai, beings who are said to have come from the heavens…"

The sun peeks over the horizon, beginning its morning journey behind the building Rauru named the Temple of Time—it looks nothing like the one he knows and cherishes upon the Great Plateau. Link and Rauru have fallen into a companionable silence after they shared with each other knowledge the other would find fascinating.

Link can't help but wonder why the Zonai would deign to found Hyrule, but finds the question lodged in his throat. The large man is very kind and understanding, but Link doesn't want to offend him with too many questions. He's a King, through and through. Since he was old enough to carry a sword, the ingrained knowledge of station punched into Link holds his tongue in a vice.

He's afraid to ask Rauru's thoughts on being an Oathbreaker. Link is sure the old King is also keeping some questions to himself.

A serpent in the sky behind the Temple of Time catches Link's attention, lazily floating in the air majestically like every other one he's seen throughout his time in Hyrule.

He doesn't recognize this one, however.

"I've never seen that dragon before." Link says, breaking the silence and pointing at the serpentine being. "Must have come up when the islands did."

"You've seen others?" Rauru asks, watching the dragon with what Link believes to be… apprehension. Regret?

"Yeah. Dinraal, Farosh and Naydra." He counts them out on his fingers. "They're what we named Eldin, Faron and Lanayru after—The provinces of Hyrule where they tend to linger."

"Huh." Rauru chuffs. "Hyrule has provinces… how large my country has grown since my passing." A haze clouds Rauru's blue eyes before he shakes himself out of it. "Apologies, I… My wife always wondered about the future of our Kingdom. I wish she could see it now, as I am."

A glancing sadness passes over Link as he speaks. "It was magnificent before the Calamity—a war not unlike your Imprisoning War. Before I died protecting the Princess, I was a Knight in service to King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. The land was populated. My father was an Earl, for Goddesses sake." Reverie passes over Link's eyes. A light chuckle escapes his lips as he remembers the country in its prime. "You couldn't walk a kilometre without running into someone on the road. But now…" he sighs. "People are afraid to leave their homes, their villages. Monsters prowl the countryside, bandits and thieves run amok—only recently has my military been able to retake ground. It's a non-stop war of attrition to regain our home."

"You lead a military?"

"Yes," Link nods, watching the dragon circle the Island as the sun breaks. "Zelda didn't like the idea initially, but I was on the ground with the people. They needed security, people to look at for protection. I had experience, so I figured…" he shrugs, turning to the Zonai. "Why not?"

Rauru stares at him, lingering before he looks away with a soft smile. "The Warrior King… she was not kidding."

"There it is again," Link cannot hide his frustration. "Why are you calling me that? I am not a King."

"You lead people," Rauru calmly answers. "You're married to a Princess. You're nobility. Does that not make you a King?"

Link shakes his head, ruefully scoffing at the Old King's words. He'd kick himself at his impropriety if he weren't worked up. "You and I know there's more to being King than that. I… I can't be King. I'm a soldier, and that is all I will ever be."

Rauru lets his statement simmer while Link catches his breath. A moment passes before the Old King speaks again.

"What are you so afraid of?"

Link is heated instantly, offended at the words. "I'm not afraid of anything. I'm fearless, Chosen By the Sword. I have the blood of countless heroes in my veins. I can't be afraid."

"That sounds like scripture, preached innumerable times to a child who couldn't fathom his destiny."

"You—!" Link jumps to his feet, ready to defend himself. He finds no words to express his need, so he just runs a hand through his hair and groans. "You don't understand. The Bearers are a legend passed through countless generations. You can't grow up and not hear about it and the meaning they hold. We're raised believing we could be the next chosen until we try to pull the sword."

"I believe I completely understand," Rauru says matter-of-factly. "Your people were so afraid of evil, they threw children at a sword and raised them to think they could be the ones to wield it to destroy that evil. Then, when you pulled the sword, all their expectations on their child fell to you." His large, sad eyes bore deeply into Link's soul. "Every single one."

"Stop," the Hylian gasps, holding his mouth. "S-stop. You don't… you don't understand."

"What have you done that keeps you from taking a crown you deserve?"

"I'm an Oathbreaker!" He roars, throwing his hands out like a blade in the empty air. "I failed in my duty! Who says I won't fail as king, as well?!"

Rauru's eyes widen before hardening. "What Oath did you break."

"Protection," Link forces out, his shoulders sagging with his exclamation. "I died on duty, left my charge unguarded."

Suddenly, the hardness disappears, replaced by confusion. "So you fulfilled your duty?"

His words only frustrate Link further. "No, I died! I failed, broke my Oath! The consequences—"

"I created the Oaths," The Old King waves him off. "I know the consequences. I also know what makes or breaks an Oath. You did not break anything."

Link is taken aback. "B-but I left her—"

"Let me get this straight," Rauru holds out his large clawed hands. "You died protecting your charge, fought to your last breath and then returned a century later to save her, killing this… Calamity?" Link slowly nods along, unsure as to what the Zonai is getting at. "Honestly, that sounds like you went above the call of duty. It's frankly—excuse my language—damned impressive. I'd have given you my daughter, too, if only for you to become my heir."

Before the Hylian can respond and state he wasn't given anybody, a bell chimes in the distance, followed by a dragon's roar.

"That's that, then. Best be off to the temple, right?"

The Poe disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving Link reeling alone with only the sound of crickets and birds to keep him company.

"You're still here, Warrior King?!" Scratch that, Link sighs. She doesn't show up at any time while talking to Rauru but deigns to show up when he leaves. Of course. How typical of his luck. "Do you just enjoy wasting time or something?! Make yourself useful and get to the Temple! Did you not hear the bells?!"

Goddess, this cat lady is really getting on his fu—

Link grimaces as he stumbles up to the massive stone gate where the entrance of the Temple lay. He stumbles up one of the innumerable steps, leaking blood from his abdomen as he trips on a stray rock. It's only through sheer will he does not collapse after taking a particularly fierce blow from one of those 'Soldier Bots' guarding the entrance. It had a rusted sword; he dearly hopes he doesn't get Brick-Limb from the bite of the blade.

Rusty weapons always carry the danger of disease. Robbie and Purah were never pathologists but were adamant about proper medical care when out in the Wild. Well, he's in a new biome—the sky has a different ecosystem he has yet to figure out or fully digest. Eating the greenery is usually how Link learns what's good and what's not.

Zelda… always called that a recipe for disaster.

However, disease is still a hurdle. Even with his animalistic immune system and stomach, he should see about cleaning this wound when he gets the chance.

"'Normal people,'" Link huffs as he closes in on the massive entrance to the terraced temple. "I'm normal. Just got the stomach of a dog and the immune system of a—yeah, never mind. That was a fair point."

Not much longer now. Zelda can call him as abnormal as she wishes as soon as he gets in there. He just wants to be in there, to apologize for missing her hand, to grovel at her feet for—

His finger nearly scrapes the door, but a flash of red and an 'X' accompanied by a loud gong bar his entrance with the same barrier he'd touch with his new appendage.

"No!" He shouts, slamming the Zonai hand against the barrier, only for it to gong again. "I'm so close! Let me pass!"

"Hmm," Rauru hums from behind, but Link doesn't turn to greet him, only tries again in vain to open the barred gate. "You lost your arm and vitality to the Gloom—it must continue to linger, so the AI reads you as contaminated. There are precautions in place for anything related to the Demon King in all of Zonai technology."

"Like the Sheikah," Link ceases his attempts, only to rest his head against the door. He's so tired of things not going his way. It can never just be simple. "Typical. It makes sense, but I don't like that she's so close, and I can't see her."

"It's frustrating, I know." Rauru agrees. "However, the precautions are in place to protect our places of importance. Besides, this is a good opportunity to cleanse you."

Link's attention is perked. He looks over his shoulder at the Zonai. "Cleanse?"

Rauru nods. "Yes. There are Shrines of Light dappled across the Island. From here, you can spot—"

"Four?" Link interrupts, getting a strange sense of deja vu.

"Yes, but you should only require three." Rauru is seemingly unperturbed by Link's lack of decorum, and the Hylian doesn't know what to make of that. Everything inside his head screams at him for disrespect, but Zelda's absence messes with everything else. "You… also should have that wound healed by one of the Medi-Servants."

The Cat-King points at the gaping sword gash on Link's stomach, but the Hero rolls his eyes. "No time. I'm going to the Shrines—maybe they'll heal me like the Sheikah ones did."

He begins his march with his hands clenched, leaving Rauru in the dust. "Link! You need to rest!"

He can sleep when he's dead.

"Awaken," Link gasps a breath, filling his lungs with air he'd never thought he'd feel again. He's prone, his body caked with mud from the passing rainfall in some long-forgotten clearing somewhere on the Great Sky Island. "You're reckless, Warrior King."

Rauru's sister is standing over him as he pushes onto his back, breathing heavily as he stares at the passing rain clouds. Her voice lacks the normal stabbing hate he's used to, which rubs him the wrong way more than it should.

"Ugh," Link grunts, rubbing his head where the fatal wound should have been. It's just wet skin now. "You saved me?"

"Yes," She affirms.

"Why?" He croaks.

The Captain Construct was just a little too fast, its weapon biting. Link got complacent—again, for Hylia's sake. He dipped when he should have dodged, his flimsy wooden shield scavenged from a Soldier's corpse shattering under the blow. He did not prepare for another.

Goddess, how many failures will it take to rid himself of this arrogance? When is losing everything finally going to be enough for him?

While the man falls under a spell of self-loathing, the Ghost sighs. "Because… I have been unfair to you. After your conversation with my brother, I had a moment of recollection, and what I saw in the Sealing Chamber was exactly what happened to me when I died. I was taking my frustration out upon you and using your failure as an excuse to justify my own."

Link finally looks up at her, seeing the shame pouring off her in droves in her body language alone. Link can't say he was expecting a heart-to-heart, but he won't look a gift horse in the mouth. It would've been a long journey had she constantly been at his throat, considering she's going to be trapped within his replacement arm.

"My older brother, he… tried his best." She chokes but resolves to keep going. "I was with the other Sages; we had just returned from a meeting with the Zora tribe. Lady Sonia had been waiting for Rauru, and I—" A sob escapes her, and she covers her mouth. "S-sorry."

"It's okay," Link eases, holding out his new hand. Her eyes linger on it.

Recollecting your own death and the memories that led up to it isn't easy. He could never hold it against somebody.

The Zonai intakes another shaky breath before resolving to continue. "I was there when she was murdered, me and the Sage of Time. I-I thought it was her that killed my Lady. I didn't even see the Demon King raise his blade against me."

"The Sage of Time was also there?" Link asks. "Why? Didn't you say you were with the Sages?"

Link would have also been suspicious of her—especially if she was near the cooling corpse of his Princess. He doesn't blame the Zonai for holding mistrust. Hell, he might have already gone on a rampage. She held it together better than he would.

"The Sage of Time was… She and Queen Sonia were relatives—Distant, but Lady Sonia always wanted a daughter. They were very close, and couldn't do a thing without one another constantly nearby."

"She could've been taking advantage of that desire Queen Sonia had," Link jadedly responds, bringing his knees to his chest and resting his arms atop them. "Sounds like the perfect chance for an assassination."

"My thoughts exactly," She replies. "Imagine my shock when the Demon King stabs me in the back as I attempt to slay the Sage. He laughed at my arrogance, how I should've paid more attention."

"And thus, King Rauru lost two important people in a single night." Link sighs, shaking his head in deep empathy. He doesn't think he'd have been able to continue like the King did. "The Golden Three truly work in unpredictable ways."

"Indeed," silence follows between the two before the woman breaks it. "My name is Mineru."

Link looks up at her. She's fighting to avoid his gaze. "Link. 'Pleasure."

Mineru blows air through her nose. "I'm sure. How goes your cleansing process?"

"I gained Fusion and UltraHand. I'm feeling stronger with every Shrine, yet still weaker than I have ever been," Link looks down at the Zonai appendage. "However, it's… amazing how versatile your magic is."

"Technology." Mineru corrects. "But, I can understand your viewpoint. Any technical wonders you cannot explain with words or knowledge are indistinguishable from magic. After all, magic doesn't exist."

"Yes, it does," Link disagrees easily.

"Heh," Mineru scoffs, but it's different from her regularly biting ones. "Tell me then, Warrior King, what magic have you seen?"

"Hylia herself speaks to me when I go to her statues," He shrugs. "My sword speaks to me. There's a magic tree that speaks to me. Little invisible children play hide and seek hidden from anybody but me, also speak to me." He counts all these off lazily with his Zonai fingers. "Oh, and my wife is the mortal reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia, who can summon arrows created from light using a bow crafted by her very essence."

He doesn't really wanna get into the Champions' Blessings. After all, he can't prove he can use their magic anymore, and it's not exactly his own power to brag about. It wouldn't feel right.

Mineru's jaw drops. "Well—Point taken. You could also be stark raving mad. We can… agree to disagree?"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Goddess… Damn it all!" He slams his fist against the green wall, etched with archaic symbols he assumes to be words, maybe scripture. He spins around, snarling as he points a razor-sharp finger at the ghostly king. "You said I was cleansed! What other blockades must you place in front of my path back to my wife?!"

Link is angry. Not frustrated, not upset, angry. Zelda wasn't inside the Temple of Time, only that damned stone she picked up back in the Sealing Chamber. For some reason, it glued itself onto his hand, forming some sort of… jewelry? The whole situation is bizarre.

It also lets him reverse time on a specific object, but that isn't of importance at the moment.

He got to see her, at least—if only a vision. She's just as beautiful as in his dreams, clad in a white dress not dissimilar from her prayer gown. It was a little more… embroidered? Less pure white, unadorned like her regular gown.

Regardless, she's still gorgeous. He just wishes he could've spoken to her and apologized. But she's not here.

"Link, calm yourself," Rauru holds out his hands. "You are cleansed, but the Gloom took your energy. This door is not a measure of Corruption, but strength—Willpower."

"I have enough Will to drown in it!" Link growls. "Tell me what I need to do, Rauru. Get me off of this Goddess-forsaken Island!"

The Ghost looks over, and Link follows his gaze to the Goddess Statue, standing like a guardian in the middle of the room. The main attraction of the Temple, Link gathers. He already knows what the King will say next.

"There's one more Shrine—"

"Where?" Link interrupts harshly.

Rauru offers a sad stare. "Where you awakened for the first time. Head there; you will know what to do."

Link walks through the Ghost as if he were dust as he storms out of the Temple with drive enough to destroy the world.

"Will enough to drown in," Rauru says, watching the Hero sprint into the trees. "Indeed."

Getting back to the Room of Awakening was difficult, especially without The Sheikah Slate. But the Zonai were ingenious, and Link has enough of their 'Technology' to create behemoths of power. A simple glider with enough fans to power Castle Town was all he needed to reach the Plateau he jumped from three days prior. Building things is fun; it takes his mind off racing thoughts of self-hatred and failure, much like cooking does when he has the time for it.

Well, looks like he finally found a new hobby. It won't replace his old one, but building with Zonai constructs will definitely be something he takes to in the near future. However, the small battery gifted by one of the stewards will need an upgrade sooner rather than later. His creations only last minutes, while he'd like them to last hours.

He makes it back to the chamber he found the Ouroboros sigil and looks around to see what it is that Rauru meant when he said Link would know what to look for.

All he sees is water and the wheels—

"Oooooh!" He throws his head back in realization. "Man, I hadn't even considered using my new powers. I really gotta get used to it, huh?"

He sighs, his shoulders falling limp when he realizes that nobody is going to reply. He steps below a balcony and uses one of the stranger abilities he'd achieved. He flings upward before sticking to the roof like an arrowhead, phasing through solid stone as if swimming in water. It's… interesting and a bit like diving, but… up? It's hard to explain, but if he breathes while doing the upward-dive, he finds his mouth and lungs filled with dust.

He learned that the hard way.

Link gives his hair a quick shake as he pokes through the hard ground. Placing his hands around the hole he created, he pulls himself out with a grunt.

There are worse ways to travel and Link thinks this one might just be one of the better options. He can't count how many times he'd gotten tapped and had to climb his way out of small crevices. This ability will make that a cinch.

Well, upwards and onwards he thinks with a grin as he reverses the flow of time for the wheels.

"You want… me to place you within it?" Link replies to his sword, devastated at her words. "Why? I-I need you!"

A hilt cannot destroy evil, Master

"Korok Forest," He frantically tries, pacing around the stone altar where a golden orb beckons for his only possession. "T-the Great Deku Tree can heal you!"

After a short millennia, yes.

Goddess, when did she get sarcastic?

Link races through his options, his hand threading through his thick, unbound hair while the other holds his broken blade.

"The-the Sword Trials. That could—"

I have absorbed all of the light they could offer. The Sheikah never designed them for repeat use.

The sword's words slowly turn weary, her sharp analytical tonnage and word choice shifting to one of sadness.

Place me atop the Altar of Time. Allow me to regain my place at your side.

"You can't," Link sobs, his grip tightly wound against the purple-winged cross guard, refusing to let her go. "Please. I can't lose you, too."

A moment of silence passes between them, as he chokes on his sobbing breaths.

you are not the only one who feels as if they failed during that fateful encounter, Master. My strength was lacking when you needed me most—I shattered. Allow me the chance to atone for my failure.

Ha, of course.

Link lets out an involuntary laugh. It's mangled by his tears, but it's still a chortle.

Of course she would feel the same as he does, his very own blade, created for him and him alone, regrets a failure that isn't even hers.

What does that say about him?

He opens his eyes, staring down at her beautiful, broken luster. Who is he to deny anyone the chance to atone?

So, with a mournful smile he accepts her wish and gently holds her out to the golden orb.

"Please be careful," he whispers. "I can't do this without you."

She offers him one last shine, a small warble of musical sound—and disappears from existence with a resounding clock-tick.

Tick-tick—tock.

Link falls to his knees, letting out one last mournful cry at the final loss of his closest allies.

How much more is he going to lose? What else will the Demon King take?

"No more," he sniffs, resolving himself to stand. With a shaky breath, he walks over to the edge and tries to spot where he could—

The Dragon he'd seen prowling the skies breaks the barrier of nimbus, soaring over him with a resonating roar of power.

Link throws his arms up, shielding his body from the wave of wind threatening to throw him off his feet.

And catches a glimpse of its eyes as it passes.

"Green…" he mutters, watching its flowing mane of gold billow in the bright blue sky.

Like two beautiful emeralds, draconic eyes unconsciously scan the area around it and Link cannot take his eyes off of it.

Something in him is… he cannot explain it. Whatever that dragon is, he doesn't like it. He doesn't like the feeling it gives him.

Link chalks it up to more Zonai screwery. This damn arm has been… well, it's proven its uses, actually.

With one final worrisome glare at the dragon getting ever so high in the sky, he walks back to the edge of the Island and takes in Hyrule.

His heart aches at the sight of the Castle, now floating atop an island of its own, ripped from its seat of grace as a landmark of Hyrule.

Link can only pray Lookout Landing fared well in its raising.


Heyo, nice little Link-centric chap. I like this one. Hopefully, you all did too.

Thanks so much for all the reviews. I hate how I can't reply to them on this site. If anyone has any ideas on how I can still interact with you, lemme know. The interaction literally fuels me forward lmfao.

I hope Mineru makes a little more sense to you all after this one. She caught a lot of you off guard, which I'm happy about. I enjoyed writing Link so much. He's so... lonely. and not in the edgy way like I'm so used to writing. I love it; this has been such a growing experience as a writer for me.

Thank you for reading. Lemme know your thoughts-Even if I can't reply, I want you to know that I do read every single one.