"These chains so complicated, These memories so faded. They say I can't feel nothing. But in the ocean, I heard a heartbeat." Faith Marie, Nobody

*Three Months Later*

Op… ey…

Op… your eyes…

Open your eyes…

Wake up, Link…

His head throbbed. Who was that? She was calling, but thinking about her hurt. His eyes opened and, for some reason, swept to the odd glowing wall beside him. His newly found breath choked and his eyes began to burn. Who knows how long they'd been resting, but they already protested. Something surged through him and strengthened these. It was grief.

What, or who, was he grieving so instantly? Was it that woman? Who was she?

He should probably get up. He hit the floor. He got up again. He had to. This grief wasn't stopping. Underneath it, the captured expression of catastrophic failure. It surged and he had no reason why. But he had to stop it. To do so, he had to find that reason.

While he stumbled around, he found a pedestal in the otherwise empty room. It lit up, and he saw the massive mass of wires above where he once laid.

That is a Sheikah Slate. Take it. His attention was redirected. It will prove useful on your journey.

A familiar eye flashed in front of him. The grief surged. The light made him notice blood on the floor. He bolted out of the building in response. The view was huge. He felt small and hopeless.

He met an old man on the desolate plateau he'd glimpsed from that cliff. One who held him hostage for a little too long. Had he, Rhoam was the name and the former King of Hyrule he was, not already been dead, Link might have done the deed. Something within him resented this Rhoam person… the reasons why, however, refused to return.

She was named Zelda.

Zelda. The wind whispered in his ears. He realized they'd been saying her name all along. A goddess…

Something tugged on him. His goddess, his mind decided without any reason or memory. Flexing his scars for the first, second, third time was definitely uncomfortable, but he promised himself the pain was fading away.

The grass. He fell onto his hands and feet as his descent from this Great Plateau concluded.

Oh , how he suddenly became alive! These fibers under his palms, something was alight. His senses narrowed and, though it was unnatural for a Hylian's hips to be in perfect horizontal alignment with their shoulders, Link's did so without a flick of effort. He raced through the ruins that greeted his feral figure, growing stronger with every rock, grass blade and grain of sand that touched his scarred palms.

There was a lake! Before he processed the liquid, it covered his body.

Paddle.

Paddle paddle.

Paddle paddle-

Splish!

Link's nose was bobbing in and out of the water in a foolish manner. He saw a fish swim by.

It was bleeding underneath his teeth the second later. He retreated to the shore with this paddling that surely wasn't Hylian in the least to enjoy his snack.

His former self would have demanded he at least warm up the scaly supper before tearing in, but the first drops of blood that fell onto his tongue reminded him of an important truth:

He hadn't eaten in a very long time. The bones, organs, blood, and flesh all went down the same.

As he finished up the remains, he realized that his hips had been swaying in a most peculiar manner.

And that there were two fearful travelers staring at him. Swords drawn.

"Mina, you don't suppose?" The male commented.

'Mina' didn't take her eyes off Link. "Th-the last one had to have died of old age already… there were only three… one died in the Calamity, the other shortly after. No males survive…"

"There's no possible way he's the female's grandson or something? I'd swear to Hylia and all three Golden Goddesses before I'd believe he wasn't a descendant."

"I suppose… but she disappeared off the face of Hyrule. Not even the extensive records recovered from the castle have allowed anyone to identify her or any offspring. For all we know, Mils, we could be her descendants."

Mils scoffed. "Why us and not this guy? He's practically a hairless Hylian Retriever!"

"I suppose only the Sheikah could truly identify him…" She fished a small game bird from her pocket, Link's undivided attention was all hers. "Here boy? It's a boy, right? I don't know if female Wolfbreds look… feminine or not."

"Chest is flat. I suppose you could take the shirt off and see if there's more than two nipples, but that sounds a bit dangerous."

"Probably doesn't matter. Here, boy!" Mina waved the deceased fowl around, all awkwardness was forgotten and Link trotted over. "Oh, he's not wearing anything we could attach a lead to…"

Without another word, Mils clicked a leash onto the cloak he was wearing and snapped it around Link's neck. A sound of questioning escaped him.

"Good boy!" Mina tossed the fowl, Link dug in once again. "Perhaps we can train him just like a regular dog. A Wolfbred would be very handy in this dangerous region."

Mils mounted his horse while Link snacked, before an idea suddenly entered his mind. "Maybe we could breed 'em. The Royal Family used to do that. I bet other travelers would appreciate having a feral companion."

"I'm not entirely sure that's… moral. First off, we'd have to breed him to Hylian women, and I'm not sure any woman worth herself would do that. Secondly, he's part Hylian at least. He may have enough emotion that doing such a thing would upset him." Mina scratched his head. After they had departed she periodically tossed Link some sort of meat to keep him from tugging away, especially when the Castle once again came into view.

Zelda, Zelda, Zelda, Zelda! Link stubbornly slipped his head out of the cloak and ran for the Malice-consumed ruins. His would-be captors were unable to catch his attention and he continued northbound in Central Hyrule. He laid down once to absorb the sun above, absorb this grass. There was something about grass that filled him with happiness.

"Sir, what are you doing here? The Guardians will get you for sure!"

"Hm?" His feral outburst seemed to have calmed.

"This place is a death wish! Please, at least go to a stable!"

Link knew that this world was new to him, so he followed this other man to a nearby stable. "I believe this young man is a lost wanderer," The other man began, "he was out in the middle of Hyrule Field."

Rhoam's words came back.

"I'm looking for… Ka-ka-ri-ko." It sounded familiar, but he was afraid of why.

"Well, my boy! You're going the wrong way!" He got Link set out on the right trail, although his burning questions made the trip feel so long. He reached a fork in the road. He followed the directions as best he could, being momentarily distracted by a giant talking… tree?

"You-You see me?" The tree leaned in closer.

Don't cower, don't snarl, and whatever you do, don't bite the giant tree.

"Shaka! It's been one hundred years since anyone could see me!" Link tried to sneak away while the giant tree, which was apparently named Hestu, rambled on about the last two Hylians that were able to see him. A male and a female, royalty. Unfortunately for him, the 'could it be' followed by the royal revelation was enough to get Link caught.

"Where're you going? Come on! I need your help!"

And so Link was suckered into his first, of very very many, side tasks. Retrieval of red maracas from nearby monsters. It was simple enough, even with his lack of a weapon. The monster's flesh was rather soft to tear into, and they were little things. Easily overcome.

It was immediately following their defeat that Link learned monster flesh was definitely not edible.

He was free to go after this, the only lingering request being that he search for the tree's friends who'd played a terrible prank on him. "If you ever come through Korok Forest, come say hi!" were his parting words. It took a while longer than planned, but the words "Kakariko Village" finally danced above his head.

These people here. They knew him. They knew him better than he knew himself. He felt relief, knowing that Zelda's savior wasn't completely gone. Even if he didn't know him, these Sheikah did, and he knew they would teach him all about himself until he finally reunited with the part of him that went to sleep in that Shrine so long ago. He clung to this as he clambered up the steps of the Sheikah Head Family's house, and slowly pushed the doors open.

"So… you're finally awake."