The rain poured from enraged clouds, hammering against the measly piece of fabric that was thrown over the blonde Hylian's head in a feeble attempt to keep himself dry, but it stood no chance against the wrath from the sky. Link slid the soaking material away from his face as he ducked under an aged tree for shelter.
Resting a hand against the coarse trunk, his gaze swept through the downpour for any sign of the Princess. Her departure from the house wasn't exactly unexpected, but why she had taken off in the middle of the night would forever remain a mystery. Even with the Calamity gone, the outside world could be unforgiving.
But ... maybe he worried too much for her. It seemed like it was an instinctive thing to do, but Zelda could hold her own — she had proven that much. And maybe she didn't really need him worrying for her well-being, but he couldn't sit there and turn a blind eye. He owed her his life, after all. If not for her, everything would be different.
So, Link pressed on.
He wandered aimlessly through the pelting rain, searching along every path he could think of for a sign of her. He ducked under every sheltered area that came to mind, and even checked the Inn to see if she had stayed there to wait out the rain; nothing.
Much to the boys dismay, his next option was the woods. The thunder had begun to recede a few short minutes ago, taking the cold rain along with it. He stopped to light a torch and pressed on. The orange glow came to a halt as his boots squished in the mud and his steps backtracked a bit to cast the light below. Footprints, embedded in the ground, stared back at him and stretched on as far as he could make out with the weak light given by his torch — too many footprints to be created by him in that moment.
His heart thumped lightly in his chest and a knot tightened in his stomach as he began to assume the worst. It wasn't exactly a secret that Zelda had been staying in the quaint little village of Hateno with her former knight, and villagers had a tendency to gossip about matters unrelated to them.
A knee sunk into the mud as Link bent down, closely examining the disturbed area for any tell-tale signs of what exactly might've happened. Among the footsteps that held the lingering memory of what had happened, a few stray pieces of evidence that were most likely unintentionally left behind, stared up at him from the mud. Fingers peeled the soggy material from the grime it was resting in and held it up to the flame to study it better. The material itself wasn't mere writing paper due to the thickness, but it wasn't quite cardboard either; it was teetering dangerously along the line that divided the two and bore the signature Yiga Clan emblem that the Hylian boy knew all too well.
The almost amusing and all too easy fight with Master Kohga burned in his mind, forcing all the pieces to fall into place. Through his travels he'd encountered many short-lived battles with the measly Yiga footsoldiers that Master Kohga sent out, but after successfully infiltrating their hideout for Riju's Thunder Helm and defeating the boss, the Yiga Clan seemed increasingly angry with the hero. Truthfully, Link hadn't been expecting so much backlash from them; but it was nothing he couldn't ever handle.
But ... this? Taking Zelda as vengeance for what Link had done? It was right up their alley, sure, but that didn't make the thought any less infuriating.
Standing back up, the blonde boy folded the soggy token of evidence and placed it in his pocket before sprinting off in whatever direction the footsteps lead. He had never been so thankful for the rain before tonight, as it was serving a greater purpose than anyone would ever realize. The dozens of footsteps directed him for a good while until the ground slowly dried and forced him to momentarily halt and weigh his options. Luckily, a few lone travelers were able to confirm his suspicions by vaguely describing the group as a cluster of people who seemed to be in a rush to reach their destination, and that strange laughing echoed in the hills after them. One traveler, who was visibly shaken up, produced a Yiga Clan emblem that reflected the one Link had in his possession. And if that wasn't confirmation enough, the shaken man went on to tell the Hylian that a few of the members had stolen the bananas he was planning on selling near Hateno Village in the upcoming week.
And that was all the information Link needed. Luckily, the Clan wasn't terribly smart and proved to be quite predictable often enough, so his worry toned down just a notch or two after gathering the traveler's stories.
And with that, Link took off once more; this time eased a bit, but still frustrated all the same.