Destiny

With Wild and Time out of commission, we had slowed down to normal speed, but to me, it seemed like we were just barely chugging along. Each hooffall in harmony with my heartbeat.

It started raining. I noticed how often rain has been lately.

Though for Akkala, it's an everyday occurrence.

I was wearing Flora's borrowed clothes and a pair of boots I managed to scrounge up, finally free of that dress and fraying sandals.

The ancient bow and a quiver of arrows was strapped to my back and for the first time, I felt like I could actually do something. That I wasn't that useless, pathetic princess I was a few weeks ago, taking shelter in my room from an inevitable war.

And now I'm in the thick of it.

I heard the sounds of battle, as familiar to me now as my own voice.

The sounds of Guardian warfare roused Wild and Time, blinking groggily as they try to make sense of what's happening. But once they did, they seemed to recover quickly, which is good, they're some of our best fighters.

We left the horses at the stable, to ensure their safety.

"Are ya sure ya wan' ta go there miss?" The stablemaster asked, looking wearily over toward the fort. "Been hearin' some battlein' ever since last nigh'."

"It's okay," I said, paying. "It'll all be over soon."

I don't know who I was trying to reassure.

I pulled the ancient bow off my back along with a singular arrow. The bow expanded from its resting form, as if it could tell I would need it soon. The blue string shone through the rain. The bow hummed to itself, a resoundant tune that only it knows and is simply a foreign sound to my own ears.

I really wanted to take it apart with Robbie, if not to figure out what makes it tick, than to reverse engineer it to make more for our army.

If it really can shoot in a perfect line for forever.

I nocked my arrow on the 'string' made of pure light. The same light used in a Divine Beast or Guardian's blast.

The drawback was hard, but I couldn't fight back the exhilaration of finally being allowed a bow of my own. And a bow made of ancient technology, no less!

I was a little rusty, having been all but banned from my beloved practice when father decided I should start spending more time on my 'training'. Which is loosely translated into pointless praying.

Cal stuck close to me, but stayed well out of my way so I didn't accidentally hit him instead of my intended target.

"The soldiers need our help!" Warriors said, taking charge with a still sleepy Time clinging to him. "Impa, Hyrule, Time, Wind, and Flora, you go to the first keep, Sky, Wild, Twilight, and Four, go to the second one, and that'll leave Legend, Destiny, Cal, and I with the keep in the center of the field. Stick with your team, even if we don't all rendezvous until after the fight."

I nodded, breaking off with my assigned team.

"Princess…" Impa pleaded, grabbing my arm before I went too far. "The way forward is too dangerous, please don't do anything reckless." But even she knew that it was a lost cause.

"I am going." I said firmly. "You cannot stop me. Now then, we must aid the soldiers who are in trouble."

Impa sighed. She nodded, immediately dropping it and running off with her team to her designated keep.

Legend, Warriors, Cal and I ran past all of them. We've heard that the keep in the middle was in need of the most help. And when we arrived, I could immediately tell why.

A Fire Lynel was terrorizing the outpost, bodies laid everywhere and the ones who were still alive, looked on their last legs.

"Princess?" One of the captains asked in dazed surprise as I pulled him out of range of the lynel's attacks. "This outpost is doomes–please, make your escape before it's too late!"

"Never." I said. "I will do my part–no matter the cost." I needed to say it, if not to give him hope, then to boost my own self confidence.

I then turned to the Fire Lynel.

Legend's ice rod was coming in clutch again, freezing the Lynel in its ramage and allowing us to get close without fear of getting hit.

The drawback on my ancient bow was hard, especially at first, but I found myself getting more and more used to it until pulling back and releasing the arrow came as naturally as breathing.

By the end of the fight, the Lynel looked more like a porcupine than a Lynel.

A loud boom! reverberated throughout the field, causing me to jump a few feet in surprise. Cal, looking as startled as I felt, helped stabilize me.

I couldn't help but blush.

"An explosion!" A Hylian Captain cried out, pointing out the obvious like I did to keep myself from panicking. "Was that the Guardian from before? It sounds like Fort Hateno is in grave danger."

"Oh no…" I said. I knelt down and picked up a nearly full quiver of arrows from a fallen soldier, whispering my regrets as I stood back up. "We must hurry, then."

Everyone nodded and began to follow me.

Why did they follow me without question? I wasn't even a princess anymore, and probably will never be again. I don't have my powers, I don't have military experience… If anything, they should be following Warriors!

But instead they chose me.

When we got to the fort, a Stalker and twin Skywatchers were wreaking havoc on the fort, which looked ready to give way at any moment.

We can't let that happen.

Some of the others were already here, locked in combat with the mechanical monsters I once looked upon like marvels.

Wild, for one, was riding a Skywatcher with a shit-eating grin on his face as Twilight pretended not to notice, probably tired of having to deal with the child masquerading as a man.

But, Wild's Skywatcher fell to the ground, soon enough, and Wild leapt to his next victim. Guess he's had a lot of experience fighting Guardians, a lot more than any of us has. (Though I once overheard Sky muttering something about a 'Silent Realm' and 'his Guardians'.)

Wild knelt to the ground for some reason, but before anything could happen, Twilight nudged him and pointed to our group and Impa's as we approached and Wild sprang back up, looking pale-faced.

I wonder why.

With my arrows, I couldn't do more but stun the Guardians, but that was enough, as it allowed the others to cut in and jam their swords into their necks, eyes, and other weak spots.

I ducked behind Cal's shield as the last one exploded into Malice and spare parts.

"Quickly!" I yelled, breaking free of the battle. "We must hurry and save those within the fort!"

Impa caught up to me and the three of us ran in together with the heroes following behind. Well… All but Wild and Flora and Twilight. But it might just be to defend our backs.

We ran through the fort, when an evil little snicker caused me to stop and turn around in surprise. It was Astor. He was here. Why was he here?

Cal unsheathed his sword and the twin blades of the holy sword shone brightly in the night. (Why was everything at night now? Why can't we have a battle that takes place in the middle of the day?)

Astor was levitating above the ground, like normal, his twisted large ancient core spat out Malice onto the ground and onto Astor's arm, dripping under his sleeve. But it didn't seem like the mad prophet noticed, nor did he care to notice, as his full attention was fixed on us, a crooked smile made his eyes grow even smaller.

"Your thread will be cut here, 'Your Highness'." Astor mocked, trying to insult me.

He raised his hand and the Malice that had been left by defeated Guardians started to move toward him as we were pushed back. Cal raised his shield in an attempt to protect me from the flying debris and rubble.

The wind stung my eyes, drawing tears as I tried to stay standing and keep all remaining arrows in my quiver.

When the wind finally stopped, I was shocked at what I saw. "It cannot be…"

The Blight Ganons (two of which I didn't recognize but assumed were the infamous Fire and Waterblight Ganons) hovered in the air behind Astor. They hung like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

But then they were restrung.

The power of the elements was returned to them as the last of the Malice seeked into them, and they came alive.

But they didn't move as naturally as they had before. Now they seemed like empty shells. The description 'puppets' fit them more accurately than 'sentient beings'. It was sickening, watching Astor control their carcasses like that.

"Go, get her out of here!" Cal cried. "I'll handle them!"

Impa grabbed my wrist and started dragging me in the opposite direction of the fight.

The heroes took a little more convincing, but the look of mournful realization on their faces told me that Calamity might not make it out of this alive, if he's Wild, who has lived through this. So then why was I leaving him to fight all four Shards of the Calamity himself?

I wasn't, that's why.

I struggled against Impa's grip, dragging my feet along. I felt like a child having a temper tantrum but I won't leave him behind!

I remembered my father, and how I'd let Cal drag me away from him, when I could've done something, anything to help him. To save him.

I finally ripped my wrist out of Impa's grip and immediately began racing back toward Cal. To Link.

I was surprised she didn't try and stop me, she was much faster than I, but I was still grateful.

"Link…" I panted, tears streaming down my face as I watched him get surrounded by an impossible enemy.

Once again…

Flashes of my life in the original timeline told me that this is where Link… Where Wild died. I can't let that happen.

I tripped over a rolling rock, but managed to regain my footing just as quickly. I yelled out Link's name in desperation as I reached out a hand.

Something in me clicked.

A bright light washed all of Fort Hateno and ash swamp in a golden light, as bright as the sun as it crests over the mountains.

I felt all my injuries, my new ones, the old ones that still haven't healed, I felt them all stitch close. The light was warm as it chased away my fatigue.

All the memories of my life as Flora up until this point were unlocked, and I saw how different our lives were, and how lucky we were, even as the world burned.

I knew my light had purged all Guardians currently on this field of their Malice, deactivating them and saving more than a few lives. I hoped my powers healed all their wounds as well.

Cal looked back in surprise. I smiled gently as my powers slowly faded.

My powers.

Fire and Waterblight Ganon were both lying on the ground, almost all strength sapped from them by myself. I didn't see Wind nor Thunderblight. Was it too much to hope that I had dispersed them completely?

"I… I…" I stammered, looking down at my hands in amazement.

"Less wonderin', more stompin' monsters outta existence!" Twilight scolded, running up with Wild and Flora. Now I know why they stayed outside and I'm glad they didn't meet their fears.

I nodded.

I could feel my powers flowing through me as if they had always been there, as much a part of me as my blood or my skin.

Something compelled me to summon the Bow of Light out of seemingly nowhere, even though I know it had always been a part of me, just buried beneath the surface, behind a lock I didn't have the key to.

The string and arrows were made of pure light, the power of divinity.

"We must strike now!" I called, my voice filled with renewed vigor. "Don't allow them to regroup. We will eradicate them from Hyrule!"