Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.

"So let me get this straight…" Yunobo said as he paced around the area. "You were cowardly just like me?"

"Indeed… back then, I was simply titled "Leonardo the Cowardly Goron". I was one of Hyrule's chosen warriors and yet, fighting monsters simply terrified me. I would even go as far as to curl up into a ball even if Death Mountain had its usual rock slide events. Some Gorons went as far as to call me a "cowardly lion" because "Gorons aren't cowards"."

Yunobo winced. "Yikes. Gorons didn't hold back in the past…"

"So you can bet that answering the call to fight Salem after she assassinated Sonia was enough to make my blood run cold. I'd have half a mind to switch sides to fight with Salem just to save my own hide… but I couldn't do that to Rauru. And then I came to the conclusion that Salem would have just killed me anyway after her conquest was over with. She just seemed like that kind of woman."

"And… that made you "Lionhearted"?"

"Actually, no. There was a Grimm invasion in Death Mountain and, as Chieftain of the village, I was supposed to protect everyone, but… seeing them scared the wits out of me and hid in my hut while every other Goron brother went in on the offensive. It wasn't until I looked outside to see a few small Goron kids hiding behind some rocks… and one Grimm caught their scent."

Back then…

Leo heard screaming coming from his window. He looked out to see a few Goron kids hiding behind a rock while a Seer floated nearby. It stopped before suddenly turning to face the kids.

Leo gasped, his eyes widening. "Not the kids… please, anyone but them!" He grimaced, noticing that the other Gorons were being quickly overwhelmed.

He turned his head to see Stalwart, his shield.

Outside, the Seer pried the rock away from the Goron kids and flashed its tentacles, readying to kill them.

…However, a massive fire arrow struck the Seer. It let out a screech as it turned around to face Leo. The Goron aimed Stalwart at him, glowing with energy as he pulled it back and launched a fiery rock into the Seer.

With a hiss, the Seer latched its tentacles on Leo and slammed him down, pulling him toward it as its other tentacles reared their sharp bladed ends, pointed directly at his vitals. With quick thinking, Leo curled up into a ball and started to charge up a spin that managed to yank the tentacles off of him before he launched himself into the Seer to smash it against the volcanic wall to destroy it.

Leo got back up and turned toward the kids. "Are you kids alright?"

"We sure are, mister!"

"Good!" Leo smiled as he turned around and went to face the Grimm head on.

"Wait, is that Leo?" A Goron wondered.

"It is! He's bravely leading the charge! …Aaaaand he's getting quickly overwhelmed."

"Well, don't just stand there! Let's help a brother out!"

"RAAAAH! HIS COURAGE RALLIED ME UP!" A Goron cried as they gained their second wind and battled through the Grimm and helped Leo out.

Back in the present…

"I had unwittingly boosted their morale as we defended Death Mountain from the Grimm. Once the threat was eliminated, I gathered a small army of Gorons as we went to face Salem together."

"Wow… so it took a few lil' Goron kids to muster up your courage?"

"Yes… admittedly, I shouldn't have been so skittish before that fateful moment…"

"I can relate. Though it definitely took words of encouragement from my best friend and the heroine of Hyrule… heck, even my grandfather gave me a pep talk."

Leo chuckled. "I suppose courage can come from anywhere. We just need to answer the call."

"Indeed." Yunobo smiled before rubbing his head. "Ahehehe… well, unfortunately, Vah Rudania's been totaled by Salem."

"Then we must avenge the fallen Divine Beasts. Salem holds power by bringing about despair and discord. If we unite, then there's a chance to defeat her. I should know, we held Salem back once upon a time and now it is your turn."

He extended his hand out toward Yunobo, who extended his as he felt a wave of power wash through him.

"You know what you have to do."

"Right!" Yunobo nodded.

Meanwhile…

BGM: An Uneasy Heart (Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity)

"Do you… want to talk about it?" Winter asked as she had sat down next to Weiss.

"I don't get it… I'm a fearless one woman army. Yeah, I had help on occasion and I appreciated it, but… here I am, five years later and… scared out of my mind."

"Weiss, it's okay to be scared…"

"I know that! The one thing that scared the hell out of me during the Calamity was Ruby not making it out alive. I needed to make sure she was okay… despite all of our friends falling to the Calamity. I'm no stranger to fear but… this… this feels different."

Winter nodded. "You know you don't have to do everything alone… having friends by your side doesn't make you weak."

"I know…" Weiss sighed, leaning on her shoulder. "I've just… got a lot on my mind."

"I'm sure you do…"

Weiss groaned. "First I lose my arm, then my wife is nowhere to be found… then I get tormented by Salem and that stupid Scorpion pet of hers…"

"We'll find Ruby. You said she's somewhere stuck in the past, right? We'll find a way to get her out."

"I hope so… but there's one other thing." Weiss mentioned. "Every once in a while, I'll see this silver dragon flying around Hyrule. I don't know why, but I feel a sense of familiarity and peace whenever I see it."

"A silver dragon? I think I've seen it fly near Lake Hylia at one point… though that might have been Farosh."

Weiss put her hands over her face, rubbing them on it as she let out a sigh. "What am I gonna do?" She wondered as she removed her hands. "For the first time in my life, I feel… helpless."

"You got us to rely on. I saw you shutting down when we saw those demonic hands pop up."

"Ugh… I'm sorry for having a panic attack and just… shutting down at crucial moments."

Winter hugged her. "No no, it's okay… we'll work through this. I don't know how long it'll be, but we'll help you get through this."

"Yeah!" A voice agreed as Yang walked over and knelt down. "There's no use mopin' right now! We'll be your shoulders to cry on if you need something! And heck, the last thing Rubes will want to see is you despairing!"

"Right…" Weiss nodded.

"If… you want, we can take a break to get you re-focused and-"

"No." Weiss interrupted Winter. "If I take a break now, then Salem will take over Hyrule… that's the last thing anyone needs." She slowly got up, taking a deep breath.

"Well, yeah… but your health comes first." Impa pointed out as she walked over. "The last thing we want is you being mentally struggling fighting against the wicked bitch of the west. Let's not overdo it… not to mention the death of two Divine Beasts are weighing you down."

"Which is why I'm not going to let Vah Ruta or Naboris fall to Salem." Weiss said, closing her eyes and focusing her mind. "Thanks guys… I needed that."

"Woof!" Zwei barked happily as they walked out of the shrine.

End BGM

BGM: Goron City (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)

"Hey! How is she?" Nora walked over. "I would've gone in but I didn't want to crowd her…"

"She's doing a lot better." Penny said.

"Yeah… I just… needed a moment." Weiss responded.

"Good~! Now, call me up if you need me to break someone's legs. I got four legs with my name on it and believe me, they need a visit from yours truly~" Nora smirked.

Weiss laughed. "Will do."

"Hey Weiss! Before you go…" Yunobo walked over to her. "I, uh… gosh, I don't know how to explain this but-"

"You're the new sage? I have a feeling you talked with your ancestor."

"...That obvious?" Yunobo blinked. "Wow! Yeah, that's pretty much how it went. Do you mind if-"

Weiss pulled her arm out as Yunobo grasped it, as his power went into her hand as an image of Yunobo appeared next to Weiss.

"Wow… you can call me up any time you'd like and my spirit will give you a boost… or just call me up on the Purah Pad, whatever you wanna do." Yunobo chuckled.

"Right." Weiss nodded, dismissing Yunobo's spirit as they both hugged each other before they parted.

"So where are you headed next?" Cinder asked.

"Zora's Fountain."

"Ooooh… I heard the water's a little dicey over there." Nora said. "Better be careful."

"We will." Weiss said, hopping on her bike as the rest got on their vehicles/ice birds. "Let's go!"

The trio watched them take off as they turned toward Goron City.

"Soooo… any ideas on how to get Death Mountain to blow up again?" Nora asked.

"Uh… no clue!"

"I think waiting might be the only option." Cinder said.

Nora slumped. "I was afraid of that."

BGM: Field - Day (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)

"Let me know if you need to switch." Winter offered.

"Okay." Weiss nodded as she drove through the field, making their way toward the Woodland Stable.

"Hmm?" Impa noticed a dark mist overlapping the Lost Woods. "What's going on over there?" She wondered.

"There seems to be some kind of thick black fog surrounding the forest." Penny said.

"I wonder…" Weiss drove toward the thick fog out of curiosity, but as she went through… she came driving back out and meeting with the others. "Huh?"

"Did you make a U-Turn?" Raven asked.

"No, I just drove straight through." Weiss said. "That's weird…"

"We might have to come back later until we can figure out how to get in." Yang suggested.

"Good idea." Weiss nodded as they turned around and took off for Zora's Fountain, where a few Gloom-covered Guardians started to attack them, only for Penny and Terrako to fire lasers back at them. Weiss fired a laser from the Master Cycle to blow up the remains of one Guardian while Impa threw kunai at another, where the tags exploded and caused the Guardian to break apart.

"Even Gloomed, they're weak…" Yang said.

"I wouldn't be too cocky. They tend to get a bit creative…" Weiss warned.

"Yeah, true." Yang agreed as they turned left to keep going, but then stopped before they reached Inogo Bridge.

"What the…?!" Weiss could only say as they stared at the contaminated water in front of them.

"Purah was right… the water's contaminated." Raven said. "...I just didn't think it was this bad."

Yang looked over in the distance, seeing a thirsty Bokoblin drinking out of the contaminated water… only to see it drop to the ground and convulse for several seconds before falling limp. "Ooooh, it's "killing you if you even drink it" bad."

"Let's go." Weiss said determinedly as they drove off, but then Weiss had an idea as she activated the Anti-Gravity and launched off of the pathway and landed in the water.

"Huh?" Winter looked down to see that they were driving on the water. "How'd you know?"

"Long story!" Weiss said, shuddering at the thought of it as Winter rubbed her back as Yang accompanied her with the rest following.

A few Octoroks came out of the toxic water to shoot rocks at them, only for Penny and Terrako to blast them away. They drove over the waterfalls and kept going, avoiding any Lizalfos with Shock Arrows in the vicinity.

By the time they reached Ruto Lake, they pulled up on the edge of the cliff and drove up until they reached the top. They turned back to see the ground behind them covered in sludge.

"Gross!" Weiss grimaced.

"Blegh! Definitely smells too…" Yang grimaced as Zwei let out an offended cry, upset that his nose was greeted by such foul smells.

They turned toward the Great Zora Bridge and drove through it.

End BGM

Once they made it to the other side, they noticed Zora's Fountain was completely empty.

"Where is everyone?" Weiss wondered.

"I'm imagining they went to cleaner waters. Can't say I blame 'em." Raven said.

"Hello! Anyone here? Hellooooooo!"

"Up here!" A voice called to them as they would see a green female Zora waving them over. They immediately ran up the stairs.

"What's the situation? …By the way, I don't think we've met." Weiss said.

"I just came here about a month ago before the Upheaval happened. I'm Yona, Sidon's fiance."

"FIANCE?!" Weiss said in surprise as everyone else looked surprised. "Sheesh, you wake up on a floating island and he grows up on you…" She said softly.

"I think I have an idea who you might be. Weiss, right?"

"Yes, that's me. This is my sister, Winter-"

"Hello."

"-Yang-"

"Sup!"

"-Raven."

"Hey."

"Penny-"

"Salutations~!"

"Impa-"

"Hi!"

"Terako-"

"Boop!"

"Zwei and Revali."

"Woof!" Zwei barked as Revali let out a screech.

"Nice to meet all of you!" Yona smiled.

"So, where are all the Zoras?"

"Come with me." Yona walked over into the infirmary where the vast majority of the Zoras were being held.

Their eyes widened in shock while Weiss put her hand over her mouth in horror.

"Oh my gosh… it's worse than we feared."

Sorry about the long wait in-between Gaiden and this chapter! I unfortunately got sick and had to wait it out until I could think properly and write the chapter.