Link patted the chestnut's side. "You need a name, girl. I can't just call you "girl" all the time, now can I?" He toyed with a few options, but one seemed to resonate with him. It just felt right. "How about Epona?"

Epona whickered, and he got the distinct impression that she approved. He grinned. He'd always gotten along well with horses, and Epona didn't seem to be an exception. "Well then, we'll make sure you're treated better than now that we've got you away from those nasty bokoblins."

Whuff.

Clever horse. He shook his head and turned back to survey the scene. He couldn't see Midoriya, though the last time he'd seen him he'd gone off after the piebald, so he was probably fine. The girls were both cooing over the gray, which also seemed relieved to be free of its monstrous rider. All three monsters were down. He'd seen Mid—

Something moved by the girls. Link froze, eyes scanning the grass before settling on the corpse of the bokoblin they'd unseated. Except it wasn't a corpse. They'd only restrained the creature before turning their attention to the gray, and it looked like it had managed to saw through its restraints.

Link didn't even pause to think. He unslung his bow, leapt backwards, and nocked an arrow in a single breath. He felt time slow down around him just as it had with the last bokoblin, giving him ample time to sight down the shaft and let loose just as the creature lunged toward the girls.

WHSSssst!

Thunk!

The girls shrieked as the bokoblin crashed to the ground, leaking Malice. Link nodded grimly and reslung his bow. They'd done well, but their non-lethal tactics would get them killed. He'd have to talk with them about it later.

Now, what to do about the horses? He hadn't realized at the time, but the bokoblins had been riding bareback. While he and the others could do that, it would be uncomfortable. None of them were in riding condition, and the soreness from riding bareback might well slow them down. He would probably need to warp back to the Dueling Peaks and purchase saddles and blankets. He sighed. Just one more delay.

"Um, guys? W-we might have a problem."

Link turned and had to suppress a grin. Midoriya was leading his horse back by holding something out to it, probably an apple, and slowly walking back toward the group. It was a good solution to having no reins to guide the horse with. 'Clever. I'll have to remember that trick.' Epona perked up as the piebald approached, and Link kept an eye on her. Until they had a way of controlling them, he really didn't want the horses acting up. Losing even one of them could slow them down considerably.

"Whew, w-we made it," Midoriya sighed. "I didn't think that'd work."

"Yeah, good job, Midori!"

Link jumped; he hadn't heard Ashido approach. "It was clever, I will admit. What's the problem?"

Midoriya's face fell further. "I th-think the League of Villains knows we're here."

"What?"

"How?"

Link frowned. "What happened?"

"When I w-went after Kentaro—I-I named the horse Kentaro, by the way—and when I caught him, I was trying to figure out how to b-bring him back here. I looked up and I swear I s-saw Kurogiri on another hill watching me. He didn't st-stay long; I think he left when he saw I'd noticed him."

"By Hylia, we have to go after him then!" Link swung around to Epona and pulled up short when he remembered they didn't have saddles. "Calamity's ashes, we'll never catch him bareback. I'll have to go get us supplies from Dueling Peaks before we can give chase."

"I hate to say it, but pursuing will not be successful, Link."

Link spun to face Yaoyorozu. "Why not? He won't get far on foot, even with the head start resupplying would give him."

"That's not the problem," Ashido said quietly. "Kurogiri can teleport. As far as we know, he can go anywhere. He probably warped away when he saw Midori. Who knows where he went."

"He can teleport?" Link asked with growing dread as the three nodded. It made a terrible sort of sense, based on Midoriya's accounts of the events that had led up to his arrival in Hyrule. He'd mentioned that the villains had warped away his friend, but he hadn't really understood that at the time. Now, with more experience with teleportation, it finally clicked just what that had entailed. The tactical implications were enormous. Armies could appear anywhere at any time. Unless the Sheikah had some kind of anti-teleportation device… "So what you're saying is that they could attack us at any time?"

"Now that they know we're here, yes," Midoriya said. "But I don't know if they will. The League likes to strike from the shadows; a head-on assault when we're expecting it isn't their style."

"Like at the USJ, and the training camp!" Ashido exclaimed. "They had a lot of dudes at the USJ, but they used Kurogiri to split us up."

"And at the training camp, they employed stealth and hit-and-run tactics," Yaoyorozu added. "I agree with Midoriya's assessment; they are unlikely to employ a frontal assault until they are entirely sure of their position."

"And when we're likely least expecting them." Link pinched his nose and sighed. "All right, I'll still warp back over to Dueling Peaks and get us some riding gear. We need to put some distance between us and this point as quickly as possible."

As quickly as possible, it turned out, still wasn't too fast. Of his three companions, Yaoyorozu was the only one that was comfortable in a saddle. She rode easily on Etsu, the horse she and Ashido had caught, and needed very little direction. Ashido could ride, but hadn't in years. Apparently, her cousins lived in the countryside, and she'd been able to ride whenever she'd visited. She didn't have Yaoyorozu's easy grace in the saddle, but she rode Kentaro well enough.

Midoriya, however...

Link had never seen anyone fail so badly at riding. The idea of controlling such a large creature as a horse seemed to intimidate Midoriya, and his steed sensed that. After a few failed attempts to ride Kentaro by himself, Ashido climbed up in front of him to take the reins. He'd had to wrap his arms around Ashido's waist to hold on, something that he evidently found embarrassing, if his beet-red face was any indicator.

Still, they were making good time. They'd made it down off the slope and back onto the road by early afternoon, and the horses seemed to appreciate the even surface. He absently patted Epona's neck, and she shook her head.

Whuff.

"I know, girl. You want to go faster. You know we can't, or we'd lose the others."

Epona didn't seem to think that was a terrible option. She tossed her head and whickered quietly again, and he chuckled. She had spirit to her, he had to admit.

Slowly, the scenery around them changed as they left the mountains behind and entered the wooded foothills. Link breathed a sigh of relief as the ominous presence of Hyrule Castle faded behind the encroaching trees. He couldn't help but feel a little on edge with it in the distance, like a constant reminder of his failure.

To the east of the road, the hills fell away into the Lanayru Wetlands, which were half marsh, half lake. Dozens of islands and sandbars poked up above the western surface of the lake, though the closer to Zora's Domain one traveled, the less frequent those became and the deeper the lake grew.

According to Impa's map, the road they wanted ran through the ruins of Goponga Village, which was set on one of those little sandbars. It had gone from island to island, so clearly there had been proper infrastructure for the locals to travel at one point. 'Hopefully those bridges are still intact.'

"Link."

Link started in the saddle and turned to look back at Yaoyorozu. She had ridden ahead of the other pair and was carefully managing the reins and a piece of parchment.

"Sorry, I did not mean to startle you. I think I see our junction ahead."

"Oh?" Link turned around and stared down the road. The main road continued into the trees before disappearing around a hill. He squinted at the spot where the road turned; there was something there that didn't seem quite right. Not dangerous, but not natural. Maybe it was the road?

"I think you're right. That spot up there where the road turns? Behind the bushes?" Link asked, pointing.

"Yes, I believe that is it. It matches my map."

"Your map? Is that Impa's?"

"No, I Created it. I took careful notes of the elder's map and made a duplicate before we left. It isn't perfect—I focused on the immediate area we would be traveling in, so most of the surrounding regions are less detailed than either the elder's map or yours."

"That's still impressive." Link started to turn back before the rest of her sentence registered. "My map?"

Yaoyorozu gave him a look of disbelief. "On the Sheikah Slate. The one you showed us."

Link closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Right. The map that he'd discovered that had turned out to be ridiculously detailed. The one that had been crucial in navigating the Plateau. The one that was conveniently accessible from his Slate. That map. He pulled the Slate out and began tapping through it until he got to the map.

It was blank.

'What? Where's the map?' He stared at it for a moment before swiping around. There was the Plateau, and there were the Dueling Peaks and Hateno. Realization hit him, and he flipped the Slate around for her to see. "I'm glad you have your map. We'll have to rely on it until we can reach the Guidance Tower for this region."

"Yes, that would make using your map a little bit harder." Yaoyorozu glanced back at her map, unconsciously guiding Etsu around a rock in the path. "The Sheikah have marked the tower on their map. It looks like the road will pass by it, so it should be simple enough to stop by on our way up the river."

'Should be' being the operative term. He nodded to Yaoyorozu to show that he agreed before looking back at the other two. "How're you two holding up back there?"

Collective groans wafted back through the air to him, and he couldn't help but grin. "Oh, you think it's bad now; just wait until tomorrow. You're going to feel like the horses have run over you rather than letting you ride them."

More groans followed, and he chuckled to himself and started searching the underbrush. There were certain herbs that, when mashed into a paste, could be applied to alleviate muscle soreness. It was, or had been, a favorite among the soldiers after training.

Link shook away the faint memory of a room full of laughing men. Those men were long gone, but the lessons they'd taught him would live on.

Eventually, they reached the fork where the road split between Goponga and the former Moor Garrison. After a brief break for lunch—which Link insisted that everyone should remain mounted for—and to gather a few of the herbs he needed, the group turned down the road into the wetlands.

The tree cover, sparse though it had been, quickly thinned away as they approached the shore. The water glistened in the late afternoon sunlight, like a thousand blue rupees under torchlight. It wasn't more than waist deep in many places, but it was still enough to slow one down—and for the lizalfos to swim in. Wooden platforms extended from the shore to the first island, where Link could clearly see the ruins of the village, as well as the wizzrobe responsible.

The wizzrobe was frolicking in the air above one of the ruined buildings. Even from this distance, Link could see its glowing eyes peering from beneath its cowl, its mouth stretched into a horrible, crocodilian grin. If they examined it more closely, Link knew that they would find traces of the Hylian the monster had once been, but he had no intention of doing so.

Unfortunately, his plan for a quick defeat didn't seem likely to work. The creature's lightning-yellow cowl and the electricity that danced around its wand showed just what elemental affinity it had succumbed to.

'You never make things easy for your servants, huh, Hylia?'

"We may have a slight problem," he said, turning to face the others. "I don't have a way to safely kill the wizzrobe."

"Wh-what do you mean, Link?" Midoriya asked, leaning out from behind Ashido.

"There isn't an elemental counter for yellow wizzrobes, and their magic makes them more resilient. I'm not sure if we can kill it before it summons a lightning storm."

"Wait, you mean that these guys can control the weather?" Ashido exclaimed. "Man, I wish we had Kaminari right now."

"Unfortunately, we do not," Yaoyorozu said. "And from the sound of it, any engagement could turn into a prolonged battle. Could we sneak around?"

Link shook his head. "Unlikely. While the lake isn't deep, it's lizalfos territory now. Cutting through when we don't have to could be even more dangerous."

The group fell silent, each of them eying the creature uneasily. After a few moments, Midoriya asked, "Are w-wizzrobes immune to the element they work with?"

Link opened his mouth, and then furrowed his brows and closed it again. Were they? Most of his—admittedly still vague—experience with them involved employing their elemental weaknesses or, with yellow wizzrobes, archer support. "I… don't know. Maybe? That's not something I've tested."

Midoriya nodded, and his face grew animated. "I h-had an idea when Ashido mentioned Kaminari. He's one of our classmates who can control electricity, but if he uses too much, he shorts himself out. I was thinking, what if we did—"

"—Did that to the wizzrobe!" Link exclaimed. "That might just work! How would we do it?"

"I have a solution."

Link turned toward Yaoyorozu. The girl had pulled out the book she claimed had notes on "molecular structure," whatever that was, and was carefully consulting it. After a moment, she glanced up at him. "What is the best wood for arrow shafts?"

"Cedar."

"Perfect."

She flipped a few pages before settling on one and scanning it. After a moment, she closed the book and replaced it, held out her arm with the sleeve rolled up, and scrunched up her face in concentration. A patch of skin started glowing, and after a moment, an arrow emerged, point first. When she was done, Yaoyorozu gently grabbed the shaft before it could fall and handed it to Link.

"There. The arrowhead is made from pure silver, and I inlaid a strip of silver in the center of the shaft. It should conduct the wizzrobe's electricity back in on itself."

Link took the arrow and weighed it in his hands. It was a little heavier than he liked, but not too heavy, and unlike his other arrows, it appeared to be entirely one piece. He spun in his hands for a moment before nodding. "Let's find out, shall we?"

He swung around and unlimbered his bow, nocking and drawing in a single motion. He sighted down the shaft, adjusted for the slightly heavier arrow, and said, "Prepare yourselves. If this doesn't work, we'll have a bit of a fight on our hands."

He released.

Whssssht.

KRRZZZT!

KREEEEEEE!

The arrow passed through the field of electricity next to the wizzrobe's wand, dragging arcs of lightning from the wand behind it as it half vanished into the creature's cowl. The sound of the energy arcing between the wand and the wizzrobe almost drowned out its screams. Link squinted at the wand before quickly turning Epona in the opposite direction. "Everyone, turn around! NOW!"

KRRZZZT!

THOOOOOOOM!

Link's hair stood on end as a wave of static and sound washed over them. Epona reared, and without thinking, he reached down and started patting Epona's neck, both to soothe the horse and to help her with her sudden afro. He risked a glance back at where the wizzrobe had been and smiled grimly at the new crater in the ruins. That was certainly one way to deal with the wizards.

Once Epona had settled, he turned back to face the others and saw Yaoyorozu's mouth moving, but there was no sound coming out. He shook his head, and suddenly, sound returned to the world with a pop.

Neighing horses mingled with what Link had come to recognize as curses, and he quickly surveyed the scene. Yaoyorozu had gone back to soothing Etsu and Ashido was struggling to keep her horse from trampling Midoriya, who had fallen off and was the source of the cursing.

All in all, it wasn't the worst horseback engagement Link had been a part of.

He swung himself off Epona and slipped over to Kentaro. He snagged the reins and started murmuring in his ear. "Shhh, it's all right, buddy. You're okay, and so are your riders. Even your lady friends are doing all right. You want to put on a good display for them, don't you?"

Link continued in that vein for a few more minutes. He wasn't sure if it was the words or tone of voice, but eventually Kentaro quieted down. He whuffed one final time before shaking his head and starting to graze. Link patted his neck before looking down at Midoriya. "You all right?"

"Y-yeah, I think I'm okay," Midoriya grumbled, wincing as he sat up. "The soreness you were talking about? I can feel it all the way up."

He nodded before looking at the girls. "And you two? You're both all right?"

Ashido nodded vigorously. "Yup! Been a while since I've been on an upset horse, so that was a good reminder."

"Indeed," Yaoyorozu agreed before chuckling. "You might say that this was not my first rodeo."

Link wasn't sure what a rodeo was, but the comment drew groans from the other two. He decided not to worry about it. "I'll admit, that worked far better than I thought it would."

"Did we get it?" Ashido asked, spinning around in the saddle to look.

"After such an explosion, I would imagine so," Yaoyorozu said. "But what caused it? I didn't put any explosives in the arrow."

Link shrugged. "I don't know for sure, but I think the lightning rod destabilized the wizzrobe's magic." He turned back around to help Midoriya up and was entirely unsurprised to find him frantically scribbling in the notebook that he kept Hylia knew where. "Midoriya."

"Hm?"

"You good to stand?"

That caught his attention. He winced again before stashing his notebook behind his back. "I-I think so."

"Then let's get you back on that horse. We'll camp on the far side of the ruins for the night." Link grabbed Midoriya's outstretched hand and hauled him to his feet. "If it's any reassurance, we probably won't train tonight. You'll all be sore enough."

"Oh thank God," Ashido sighed.

Once he was sure that Midoriya was once again securely in place, Link swung himself back up onto Epona's back and shucked the reins to get her moving. They slowly turned toward the village and, with the others in tow, started across the plank bridges. Link eyed them nervously, but despite their age and the water that sloshed over the horses' hooves with every step, they held together remarkably well.

The first ruined buildings sat immediately on the other side of the bridge. A pair of circular stone structures sat on either side of the path, likely the remnants of some kind of guard post. Link eyed them, noting the scorch marks on the remaining structure. They looked like lightning burns, but he wasn't sure if lightning could melt stone.

Shattered houses lined the street behind the outpost ruins. A few buildings still had enough walls and roof left to be considered a shelter, but most had been almost entirely flattened. Charred and rotten wood and shards of tile were scattered all across the village, though that seemed to be a result of the wizzrobe's death. Something about the destruction bothered him, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.

His unease grew the further into the destroyed village they went. The destruction seemed almost too precise. Some of the ruins were the result of neglect and were far more intact than others, which seemed to have been targeted. These buildings were in much worse condition, with entire sections of walls or roofs missing or, in a few cases, entirely reduced to rubble. Monsters would have just burned the entire village to the ground instead of picking specific buildings. Even a lynel wouldn't have been this precise.

Beside him, Midoriya sucked in a breath. Link glanced over at him and saw him studying something in the dirt on his side of the road. "What's wrong?"

"I-I don't think the wizzrobe was what destroyed the village."

Link straightened and had to stop the almost involuntary twitch toward his sword. "What?"

Midoriya pointed at something ahead of them. "There's a bunch of tracks on this side. They look like… claws? Like bird claws? I don't think that's right though 'cause these would be pretty huge birds."

Ashido groaned as Link guided Epona ahead. "Midori, why do you gotta do this? Now we gotta deal with giant birds? My poor little heart can't take much more of this."

"I think Tokoyami might object to that sentiment," Yaoyorozu said.

The three started bantering, but Link tuned them out as he swung out of the saddle once more to examine the tracks. It wasn't particularly hard to find, given that it was about the size of his chest. It looked exactly like Midoriya had said; a round-ish foot with three talons on one side and one on the other. Ahead, he could see more of the tracks, but they didn't behave as they should. Either the bird in question only had one leg and was hopping along the road… or something else went through here.

With a sinking feeling, Link turned his attention back to the buildings. Now that he had an inkling of what to look for, the signs were obvious. The way some of the houses seemed to have collapsed on themselves, or how some buildings were mostly intact save for some fire damage, all pointed to the same thing.

Something big had torn through this town.

It had to have been recent if the tracks were still here. Link knew the region saw a lot of rain, or it had a hundred years ago, at least. If that was still the case, any tracks older than the last storm would have been obliterated by the rain. And he couldn't shake the feeling that those tracks were familiar, though he couldn't think of a monster that they might—

He stiffened before lurching upright and stumbling between the other horses toward Epona. "We need to leave."

"Are you well, Link?"

"Yeah, you look like you've seen a ghost, dude."

As he pulled himself back into the saddle, he caught Midoriya's eye. "Guardian. One of the big ones."

Midoriya sucked in a breath before looking over the scene. Link could see him putting the pieces together the same way he had; his eyes darted across the ground and over the buildings, and he started mumbling to himself almost immediately. To his frustration, the other two didn't seem nearly as concerned.

"A Guardian? Like, one of those robots?" Ashido asked. "But weren't they all broken up when Zelda used her whatsit?"

Link sighed and shook his head. "No, they weren't. Only those that followed us into the valley."

"Oooh, so there are more of 'em. I betcha we can take care of 'em."

"While I don't share your optimism, Ashido, I do believe we do not need to worry about this one," Yaoyorozu said.

Link turned toward the girl incredulously. "I don't think you're grasping just how deadly these things are."

She shook her head. "Oh, I am quite confident in your and Midoriya's descriptions and have no desire to test myself against one of those machines. I do not think we have a cause for undue concern because I believe the Guardian has left the area. Otherwise, one of Impa's scouts surely would have reported it to her."

'That… is an excellent point.' Link chewed on the thought. The tracks were definitely more than a day old, and Impa would have told them if they'd spotted a Guardian in the area. Given its proximity, she may even have had it dispatched when it appeared, as it would have been a threat to Kakariko.

He let himself relax a little. "That's fair. I would still prefer to get away from here as quickly as we can though."

"We should probably stop for the night," Ashido said. "From what I remember, riding horses in the dark was a bad idea in our world, even with our modern lighting."

Link sighed. "Again, you're right. Let's find some shelter. We can reassess our options in the morning."

The group lapsed into silence, and after a few more minutes they came to what had probably once been the village's inn. Even in the rapidly fading light, it was clear that they wouldn't be able to stay in the main building. The structure was one of those that had been attacked; while there were still four walls, most of the upper portions had collapsed on the interior, and the remaining walls looked more than a little precarious.

Had that been the last building in the village, Link might have insisted on pushing on, but the inn's stable was still intact, shockingly so given the state of the main structure. Link dismounted and flung open the door, revealing a dozen or so stalls. About half were cluttered with refuse and rubble, but with a bit of tidying, the others looked like they were still usable.

Link led Epona to the nearest usable stall and started cleaning. By the time the others had managed to dismount and get their horses in, he had cleaned out the bits of junk in Epona's stall, removed her saddlebags, and was brushing her down. "See, isn't this much better than camping with some smelly bokoblins?"

Whuff.

"Yeah, I bet they were. Bokoblins aren't known for their manners."

Someone chuckled behind him. "I didn't know that horses could hold a conversation," Ashido laughed.

"Of course they can!" Link said, half turning to make sure she could see him roll his eyes. "You just have to know how to listen. And be willing to interpret how they respond."

Yaoyorozu laughed as she began currying her horse as well. "We get it, Link; you like to hear yourself talk, and Epona gives you the perfect excuse to do so."

Link gasped and placed a hand on his chest. "Do you hear that, Epona? They think that I like hearing myself talk! Can you believe that?"

Epona ignored him and continued eating the grain cake that he had given her. He shook his head and chuckled along with the others. "Yeah, thanks for not backing me up."

Whuff.

Still chuckling, Link closed Epona's stall before making his way over to and climbing the ladder to the hayloft. The loft ran the entire length of the stable, and while there was the occasional hole in the peaked roof, it still seemed dry enough. It was also mostly empty, thankfully; he doubted that any hay still here after a hundred years would have been fit to eat, let alone use as bedding.

It would work perfectly as a secure camp for the night. Link was reasonably sure that the other monsters in the area would wait a few days to investigate the wizzrobe's disappearance, and they didn't have to worry about the owner of the inn getting after them. He leaned over and began clearing some of the leftover plant debris away to make space for them to sleep. "Why don't you three toos up the bedrolls? We'll camp up here."

Muffled cursing and more laughter echoed up from the main stable, and Link turned his head just in time to see Midoriya's head poke up the ladder. The light from the makeshift windows lit up his face just enough for Link to make out the line's of pain in it.

"You w-weren't kidding, Link. I can barely feel my legs."

He chuckled. "Just wait for tomorrow."

Midoriya winced. "Dammit, I forgot about that. I th-think I'll sleep down here; I don't th-think I would make it down the ladder in the morning."

"That's probably a good idea. Go on down then. I'll be down in just a moment. We'll leave the girls the good room, and I think I have something that might help with the soreness."

Link followed Midoriya back down the ladder and hurried over to his saddlebags. After a moment of searching, he found the bag he was searching for and extracted the herbs he had harvested along the road and a small, wooden mortar and pestle. He grunted in satisfaction before settling down to get started.

After a few minutes, he heard someone slide back down the ladder, followed by Ashido's voice. "All our stuff's up there now except for yours and Links, Midori. You gonna be good down here?"

"Y-yeah, I think I'll be okay. It's really interesting, actually; given the kind of training we do, I wouldn't have expected to be nearly as sore as I am."

Ashido's giggle echoed through the room. "Yeah, riding horses uses some weird muscle groups. I think some of 'em are the same as my dance routines, so I'm not too sore, but I still think I'll be feeling it in the morning."

"That's lucky. Maybe you can show me some time? I'm always down to try some other kind of training."

"You bet! You can do all sorts of things with dances. I think I know a couple routines ya might enjoy."

Link snorted as Midoriya began spluttering and decided that the herbs had been ground down enough. He retrieved his canteen from his saddlebag and quickly poured a handful or so of water into the bowl before mixing everything together into a fine paste. He eyed it critically for a moment before nodding to himself and standing up and walking over to where Midoriya had settled for the night.

"Oh hi, Link!" Ashido said cheerfully. "Didn't see ya over there. What's that?"

"It's an herbal salve that helps with muscle soreness." Link carefully scooped out about half of the paste before handing her the bowl. "Go bring this up to Yaoyorozu and put it on. You both may have more experience, but you'll be thankful in the morning."

"O-kay! I'll see you tomorrow, Midori. We can talk more on the road."

Link grinned as Midoriya's face turned beet red once more before offering him some of the salve. "Here, best get this on now. Take it and rub it into the skin over the sore muscles. It'll take a bit, but you'll be feeling better in the morning, promise."

He followed his own advice, retreating to the next stall before rolling up his trouser legs and rubbing the stuff into his calves and thighs. The paste was nice and cool, and he knew from experience that that coolness would slowly seep into the muscles. Once done, he retrieved his bedroll and settled into the stall, struggling to push away the uneasy feelings that had been following him since passing through the village.

Look out, Link!

Link's eyes snapped open, and it took all of his restraint to stop from going for his sword. He was still in the stable, and judging by the light filtering in from the few windows, it wasn't quite predawn.

Who had awoken him? He could hear Midoriya's quiet breathing under the heavier huffs of the horses, but that wasn't it. The girls weren't moving around upstairs either, which was odd since he had definitely heard a woman's voice. After a second, he realized that it was the same voice as the one who had spoken to him on the Plateau.

'Princess Zelda?' he asked hesitantly in his mind. There wasn't a response, but he wasn't about to chalk it up to a dream or a memory. He had some experience with both of those, and this had felt much more present than that. Something wasn't right.

Carefully, quietly, Link got to his feet and slowly worked his way to one of the windows and peered out. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He didn't see any movement, and none of the ruins seemed any more ruined. If a monster had been nearby, the horses would have smelled it, so he was pretty sure they were safe on that front.

After a few minutes of watching, Link was about ready to dismiss the feeling as some weird echo. He took one final look across the village—and froze when he spotted a blue-pink light on the eastern side of the village. It didn't flicker like fire and seemed to be moving in a circle.

'Oh Hylia…'

Link weighed his options. If that was what he thought it was, he had to go take care of it right now. While it wasn't currently attacking, its mere presence constituted a threat to the entire area. On the other hand, it was dark, and he didn't know how well the horses would react to fighting a Guardian. He'd have to go on foot.

He sighed and hurriedly dug out his energy sword and Sheikah shield before creeping over to wake Midoriya up. He gently shook his shoulder, and Midoriya came awake with a start.

"Wha—"

"Shhh!" Link placed a hand to his lips, though he didn't know how well Midoriya could see in the dark. "There's something on the outskirts of the village. I'm going to investigate; if you hear something, get ready to fight."

He slipped away, leaving Midoriya to struggle awake. He appreciated the Earth kids' willingness to help fight, but he was going to keep them out of trouble as much as he could. If he could spare them even a little of what he'd gone through, that would be enough.

Besides, he was owed a rematch with these Calamity-cursed machines.

He opened the door just enough to slip through before closing it again and treading toward the light. Now that he was outside, he realized that the only sound he could hear was a quiet creaking accompanied by the occasional splash. As he approached the top of the hill, he pulled out his sword and shield, but didn't activate the blade yet. He wanted to get a good look at how bad the situation was.

Turned out, it was pretty bad. The Guardian was stalking through the water fifty or so feet away. From the way its head moved, it seemed to be aimlessly wandering rather than looking for anything in particular. 'It probably just started patrolling after receiving its last orders.'

Peaceful looking or not, Link knew that it would attack as soon as it spotted him. He watched it go back and forth a few times, trying to work out a plan of attack. He glanced down at the handle of the sword he was holding before looking back up at the machine. The legs seemed awfully thin to be supporting something this size. Maybe they could be a weak point? An idea of how to fight it slowly meshed together in his head. Now all he had to do was wait.

After the machine had passed for the third time, Link slunk down the hill to get into position. He crouched behind a small boulder and held his breath. A few minutes later, the Guardian passed by once more. One of its legs splashed down next to Link, and he took the opportunity to activate the sword and strike. The sword sank into the metal, cutting through the thin leg like a knife through warm butter.

Snap!

BANG!

Something inside the leg must have ruptured, as the severed end exploded away from the trunk of the body. Link stumbled backwards, hopping from foot to foot to avoid the sparks spewing from the truncated limb. The blow also staggered the Guardian. It swung about wildly, searching for the source of the attack. When another leg came down near the boulder, he didn't hesitate.

Snap!

Bang!

Crnnch!

The air whooshed out of Link's lungs as the newly-shortened leg crashed into him and sent him soaring through the air. He crashed down on the hillside and tumbled to a stop facing the lake, which gave him a wonderful view of the Guardian's targeting laser as it finally spotted him. He struggled to catch his breath, but no matter how much he tried to draw in air, it seemed like his lungs didn't want to respond.

'Well, I guess this is how I die. Again. I wonder if the Goddesses give prizes to those who manage to get themselves killed twice?' As strands of energy swirled around the Guardian's eye, Link closed his eyes.

Dink!

CRMMPT!

Link winced as a wave of heat washed over him, but it was much cooler and less painful than he would have expected for a death laser. He forced his eyes open and was surprised to see the machine staggering around, its lights blinking between Sheikah orange and Malice pink. As it turned past him again, he noticed what looked like a single arrow lodged in the machine's eye.

'What a shot!' The robot's eye was definitely its weak point, but it was an incredibly small target. Link was pretty sure that he might have issues making it. Whoever had made it was incredibly skilled—more so than any of his fledgling warriors.

His lungs finally began working again, bringing with them sweet, crisp air. He sucked in a second breath before lurching to his feet and snatching up the sword from where it had fallen. He could find out who to thank for the save later. For now, he needed to focus.

As he staggered into a run toward the machine, it managed to steady itself and bring its targeting laser to focus on Link once more. He gritted and pushed himself to run faster. If he could get close enough, it wouldn't be able to target him. Before he could make it to the waters, a green blur zipped past him.

"SMAAAAASH!"

The Guardian rocked back on its remaining feet as Midoriya unleashed his quirk. Link stuttered to a halt as he stared, wide-eyed, at his friend. Despite the darkness, he could clearly see Midoriya's face thanks to all the weird green lightning that he generated. It was the same face he made when they were training, the face of pure, absolute determination to come out on top. It was the face of a hero.

It was also the face of someone in trouble. The Guardian lashed out with one of its legs as Midoriya fell to the ground, catching him in the stomach and punting him back toward the island. He came to a face-down stop a few feet away in a pile of limbs and fading lightning. Link 's concern ebbed as Midoriya groaned and started moving. He was down, but not out.

His anxiety returned in full force when the all-too familiar targeting light appeared on Midoriya's back. Link's heart hammered in his chest as he broke into a sprint toward the boy. He didn't know what he could do besides knock Midoriya aside, and even that might only be a delay. He didn't have time to close with the machine, and whoever had taken that shot earlier hadn't interfered again. There simply wasn't time to do anything!

For the second time in the span of a handful of seconds, Link was sure that he was going to die. Sure, he would go down defending a friend, but he knew that death was coming. And though he knew it could spell disaster for Hyrule, he welcomed it. He skidded to a stop between Midoriya and the machine, breaking the lock and becoming the machine's new target. Somewhere behind him, he thought he heard someone shouting his and Midoriya's names.

Just as the light around the Guardian's eye reached the critical point, Link felt the back of his right hand pulse. The area around him briefly flashed with a golden light, and suddenly, he knew what to do.

Time slowed down around him as he unlimbered his shield. He brought it forward right as the Guardian fired, the blue-white beam rippling as it tore through the air toward him. Right as the laser reached him, he swung his shield. He couldn't have said how he knew it would work, but he wasn't surprised when the shield impacted something that was somehow both solid and liquid and sent it soaring back the way it had come from.

FSCCHHEW!

CRRRRRMPT!

The laser crashed back into the Guardian's eye, blasting ceramic shards and splashes of energy out into the surrounding lake. The machine staggered backwards, its lights flickering, before collapsing to the ground. The lights faded as a stream of Malice billowed out of the shattered eye before dispersing into the night.

Link stared at the ruined hulk in disbelief. 'I… I did it! I can't believe that worked!' He took a step forward, intent on investigating the wreck, but his legs gave out beneath him. As he fell to the soft earth, he heard the drumming of hooves on hard-packed dirt. Then he heard no more as darkness claimed him.