Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 4- One Year Later
In his study within Hyrule Castle, King Rhoam is resting his chin in his hand as he quietly writes in his journal. He's been trying to record the events of the council meeting today. But, he is struggling to keep his mind on task, as it is constantly drifting off to think about his daughter.
It's been exactly a year to the day since Calamity Ganon was defeated and sealed away and the kingdom was saved, and since his daughter and Link had disappeared. Since then, the king had tried all that he could to try and locate the two, particularly Zelda. However, all his efforts had yielded no results. After about two months of active searching, the king had given his okay for the searches to cease. However, he had not given up hope so far. He had had guard posts set up at key points along the roads all across the kingdom to monitor traffic across the kingdom, and the citizens of Hyrule were still constantly reminded that the two were missing. However, there was still no sign of the two.
For so long, Rhoam has been trying to hold on to hope that he will see his daughter again. But, now, he is beginning to lose hope. The fact that the Yiga Clan has been spotted out and about more frequently in the last year, and that the number of monsters have not gone down as much as was originally expected, has made Rhoam start to fear that the worst might have happened, and that Zelda and Link might be dead.
Rhoam finally sets down his quill and pushes himself away from his desk. His thoughts are distracting him too much, and he cannot focus. He walks out of the study and into the library.
The king soon allows himself to fall into his thoughts, wandering rather aimlessly through the castle as he thinks of his daughter, his mind running through all the possible scenarios as to why she disappeared and why she still hasn't been found. He also begins allowing certain memories to flash through his mind. Moments that, looking back, he wished he could take back, or do differently. Now, he may never have the chance to try and make up for those moments.
After a period of time (how long he's not entirely sure), the king finds himself standing outside the Sanctuary. He looks out across Hyrule Field, and spots the statue of Zelda and the five Champions that had been erected on the spot where Ganon had been defeated. As he looks towards the distant statue, he finds himself saying a silent prayer to the Goddess that one day, his daughter may come back to him.
Within Zora's Domain, it's another pleasant day. A caravan has recently arrived from Gerudo Desert, and the Zora have all happily gathered in the square to look over what goods the Gerudo have brought for trading.
In the throne room, King Dorephan is watching his people gather for the market. It makes him happy to see his people enjoying themselves so. However, he's also got something on his mind. Someone he hasn't seen in a little while.
Muzu passes by the throne room. King Dorephan calls out to him, "Muzu!"
Muzu looks at him before running into the throne room. "Yes, my king?" he asks.
"Muzu, have you seen Mipha? I haven't seen her since sunrise. She's usually here for market days. Do you know where she went?" Dorephan asks curiously.
"Hmm. I think I saw her heading towards the reservoir earlier, but I'm unsure. I haven't seen her in a while either, come to think of it," Muzu responds.
"Hmm. Well, perhaps she will return soon," Dorephan says, not yet concerned and sure there is an innocent reason why she hasn't been seen.
Meanwhile, as the market is getting underway in the domain, up at the dam of the reservoir, Mipha is standing on the jetty extending out into the reservoir a short distance. She is standing in front of five other Zora, all trusted friends of hers. They are all meeting here for a very special reason.
"How went your searches?" Mipha asks her friends.
All five of them look disappointed. The one in front says, "I am sorry, Princess, but I found no sign of them."
"Unfortunately, I did not either," says another. The other three give similar answers.
Mipha sighs, saddened by this. Of course, she knew beforehand this would be the likely answer, but it still saddens her to hear this.
Mipha has been taking the Champions' promise to find Link and Zelda seriously, especially given her affection for Link. She had recruited these 5 friends of hers to help her search for Link and Zelda. Mipha frequently travels the land, typically remaining in the south-east around Zora's Domain. Her Zora friends searched along rivers and ocean coasts in the south and east to try and find any sign of them. However, despite a year of searching, they still had found no sign of the missing pair.
"I am sorry we failed, princess," the lead Zora says.
"It is not your fault. You all have done so much, and put so much effort into helping me. I could not be more grateful," Mipha says.
Mipha is quiet for a few moments, then says, "Well, it is market day. I think we should all return to the domain and have some fun to distract ourselves." The other Zora smile and nod, and begin to file down the steps leading down from the dam.
Mipha remains on top of the dam for a few more moments. She looks up at the sky and whispers, "I pray that you are alright, Link. And I will not stop trying to find you." She then follows her friends back down to Zora's Domain.
On the cliff overlooking Goron City, Daruk is humming a bit to himself as he and several other Gorons are chipping away at the rock with chisels. They are all working on a very special project. A few months after the defeat of Ganon, Daruk had proposed adding a carving of Link to the cliff, where several past Goron chiefs had their faces etched. The other leaders of Goron City had agreed, especially since Daruk was so passionate about it. The carving had been planned out, and now Daruk and the other Gorons beside him are working on finishing the cliff carving of Link. The carving is almost finished, and Daruk hopes to have it finished in the next few weeks.
"Daruk!"
Daruk looks down and sees one of the Gorons who is responsible for gathering any information related to Link or Zelda.
"Hey! What do you got?" he calls out.
"Talked with some merchants that frequent Akkala. They said they've never seen someone who looks like them," the Goron responds.
Daruk sighs in frustration before saying, "Alright. Keep at it, and let me know if something comes in."
"Yes, sir," the Goron responds before turning and rolling away.
Daruk turns back to the stone and resumes chiselling away, but now his thoughts are focused on something else. "Maybe it's about time I head out on another search of my own," Daruk mutters to himself.
High in the skies over the south-eastern coast of Hyrule, Revali cruises on a steady wind flowing steadily eastward. At Urbosa's request, he is once again conducting a search of the kingdom. This time, he is focusing along the southern coast.
After a year of searching, Revali is about ready to give up the search. Of the four Champions, Revali is the only one so far thinking that it's time to give up the search. He considers it useless at this point and that Link and Zelda are not going to be found unless they want to be. However, the others are determined to continue searching, and he knows that they'll never let him hear the end of it if he stops assisting in the search.
Revali sighs to himself as he does a few barrel-rolls as he descends a little bit as he passes over Lurelin Village. Seeing that the sun is starting to set, Revali mutters to himself, "About time to head back to camp. Ugh, why does Urbosa continue to insist on this?"
Revali turns himself around and begins flying back towards Lake Hylia, where he and Urbosa had set up a base camp from which to launch their patrols during this round of searches. He's starting to feel a bit hungry, and is looking forward to dinner.
However, as Revali nears Lake Floria, he glances down at the ground routinely, not expecting to see anything out of the ordinary. At first, he doesn't. Then, right as he is about look back up, he sees something. A Hylian man with long blond hair, with a sword strapped to his back.
Rvali stares down at the Hylian, shocked at what he's seeing. The Hylian looks too familiar. It can't be, could it? It's been a year, so could it really be him?
Revali descends a little bit to get a better look. As he does, the Hylian looks up at the cliff face next to him as he heads towards a cave in the cliff face. As he does, Revali gets a good enough look at his face, and shock ripples through him. It has to be him. Link.
Revali noses down and dives towards the ground. But almost as soon as he does, the man he thinks is Link enters the cave.
Revali sets down moments later. He looks at the cave for a moment before he carefully walks into the cave, pulling his bow off his back as a precaution.
However, as he enters the cave, Revali realizes it's not going to be so simple. Almost immediately, the cave branches off in two different directions, and there is no sign of anybody. Revali looks between the two different passages, and finally chooses to try the right one first.
Revali descends into the cave, ready for anything, but keeping all his senses alert for Link. Unfortunately, he encounters even more forks as he descends further into the cave, getting him further confused. However, he sees a large number of edible plants and fruits glowing in the cave, and some small animals. Privately, he guesses that whoever this is, they probably came in here to forage food.
Revali spends almost half an hour searching the cave before he finally gives up and heads back to the surface. He knows that either Link is still down there somewhere, or left the cave while Revali was searching another part of it and escaped his notice.
However, even if he's not going to be finding him here, Revali is still feeling a bit excited. At last, he's got a lead. If that was Link, he can't have gone far from wherever he's staying, or he probably would've been seen by now. Whether or not Zelda might be with him, at last, he's got an idea of a general area to search for Link.
Revali quickly summons an updraft with his special ability, soaring up into the sky. He immediately makes haste towards Lake Hylia, knowing Urbosa will want to hear this immediately.
As the sun finally sets, Revali reaches Lake Hylia and flies down towards his and Urbosa's camp along the shore. Urbosa is already back at camp, grilling some fish for their dinner.
Urbosa looks up as Revali sets down on the other side of the campfire from her. "Just in time for dinner," she says.
"I think I found him," Revali blurts out.
Urbosa looks at him in surprise, especially at his suddenness. After a moment, she asks, "Are you positive it was Link?"
"No, I can't be positive. I only got a quick look at him from the sky before he vanished into a cave, and I wasn't able to find him after that. But, from what I could see of him, and the sword on his back…I'd say the odds are favorable it was him," Revali says.
Urbosa is quiet for a moment before she asks, "Why did you see him?"
"Just west of Lake Floria, amidst those groves of palm trees," Revali says.
Now, a smile begins to cross Urbosa's face. "Good. We'll rest tonight, and tomorrow we'll focus our search on the surrounding area," she says.
Revali can't help but smile a bit. Maybe this search isn't as hopeless as he thought. And if he can find Link…oh, he is going to lord it over Link forever.
And, I'll end the chapter there.
So, next chapter will show Revali and Urbosa searching for Link and Zelda and finally finding them. It'll be up soon. Until it is up, please leave a review (I haven't heard from any of my readers yet), and stay tuned!
