Calamity's POV

With Wild awake, we were free to get ready for our joyride in the Divine Beast to a fight that will evidently decide Hyrule's fate.

So no pressure.

I stuffed what little I have into my bag. Thankfully, it was magic so I could easily fit all I had into a little pouch that went on my belt.

Last thing I grabbed was the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield.

I Rendezvoused with the others in the middle of a plaza. A dais rose an inch above the ground, it always seemed as if it was meant for something.

Like a statue. But there never was one.

The heroes and Flora were always in their little group, separated away from Destiny, Impa and I, along with what was left of the small faction of the Hyrulean Guard.

They were still fussing over Wild. He had recovered nicely and kept shrugging off their concerns easily.

The last ones to arrive were Mipha and Sidon. I noticed a dagger hanging from the Princess's waist. She wasn't the best with daggers, but she could use them when forced to close corridors.

Mipha nodded to Destiny and then Time. "Let's go."

Mipha led us through the twisting labyrinth that was her home.

It was early on in the morning. The sun still hidden behind the eastern cliffs. But the sky was steadily lightening as the sun rose.

Vah Ruta was docked at the reservoir. The entrance was lowered so we could climb aboard.

The two Zora disappeared into the main control unit.

Not long after, all the windows and entrances slid shut, locking us in, and the water out.

Then we submerged.

Metal clanked and gears whirred as Vah Ruta started moving. I sat down against the wall, knowing I'll probably be knocked off my feet at some time.

The sound of rock scraping against the Divine Beast filled the room. I winced with a few of the others. Although most of them didn't flinch.

I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm claustrophobic.

So being stuck inside this Divine Beast, in a tunnel that can most certainly fall on top of us, did nothing to calm my already rattled nerves.

My eyes were squeezed shut. I felt someone sit down beside me.

I saw a light from behind my eyelids.

I cracked them open. Wild had sat down beside me and was scrolling through the Sheikah slate.

He showed me only pictures of the wide, uncaged lands of Hyrule.

Far from the underwater prison of the Divine Beast.

Seeing the rolling fields and rising mountains helped slow my racing heart and calm my nerves.

Wild didn't say anything, which I was grateful for. He just held out the slate so I could clearly see the pictures the Hero of the Wild was slowly paging through.

But then Wild accidentally flipped to a picture of him naked (from the waist up, at least) smiling as a gold Lynel charged at him.

I raised my eyebrows (I could never do just one) as Wild blushed. I chuckled as Wild switched back to the beginning of the landscape pictographs.

I guess, being just the future version of myself, Wild also has claustrophobia.

But maybe he has it worse. They don't call you the 'Hero of the Wild' if you spend most of your time in confined spaces.

I felt my fear ebb away until it was less of a second heartbeat, and more of a passing thought, you notice it but only briefly before it is overtaken by more important things.

Wild cycled through the same pictures the whole four hour ride, but I never got tired of looking at them.

Wild was quite the expert behind the camera.

He might have a job in it if the hero gig doesn't work out. Or if it ever leaves him alone, the glowing arm pointing toward no.

Finally, we breached the surface.

The panels slid open and the doors raised, letting us see either Akkala or the Rist Peninsula and the rest of the Akkala Sea.

Ruta shuddered to a halt in front of the shore.

Mipha and Sidon came out. "You all get off here." Mipha said. "Sidon and I'll look for a way to get Vah Ruta directly to the Citadel."

Destiny nodded. "Thank you both."

"Of course Princess." Sidon said. "We're all in this together."

"Let's go." Impa said. "The quicker we start moving, the sooner we'll get there."

We stepped off the Divine Beast. Ruta locked itself off again before submerging.

We turned to the hike we had before us.

Destiny sighed. "Well… no time like the present, amirite?"

And with that, we started the hike to Akkala Citadel.

Hyrule's last defense.