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–
Link fell to one knee, then to his side. He is not quite aware of what is around him. He remembers where he is, and why. But he could not give you any more information than that. The brilliant light that tore through malice just moments ago left Link staring into the storm above, unseeing.
He will eventually know exactly what transpired here. What the light was, how it manifested, why his sword was taken away. He will know where she went. What this singular moment cost the three of them.
But at this moment, he knows nothing.
Nothing but *burning*.
–
He woke to the sound of a woman’s voice. It is familiar, yet who is speaking is unclear. She speaks in a quiet voice, her weariness and desperation evident. Following her words, he exited the cave he is in and is greeted with a landscape he will eventually appreciate for what it is, and how it came to be.
It is not enough to override the feeling beginning to well within his heart.
He visited the shrines, gaining more power than anyone in Hyrule currently possessed. He received the paraglider, gaining a freedom most will never experience. And he has perhaps the clearest goal of all the land’s people.
But as Link looked out of the Temple of Time, across the kingdom he was charged to protect, none of that matters to him. He remembers enough. Not much. But enough.
And his eyes and heart burn with a rage few others will ever know.
–
The people do not know him. Link is just another traveler foolish enough to venture this close to Hyrule Field. But they help him all the same. They give him a bed, clothes that fit better, a meal, and directions to a village hidden in the mountains. He hears of a sword - the Sword that seals the darkness - in the opposite direction. His heart tells him to rush to the sword, to reclaim what is his.
His head prevails, and he ventures to Kakariko Village. His heart is still burning, but it is now accompanied by a longing for the Sword that he does not know, nor to whom it belonged to.
Impa tells him. She gives him the directive passed on by the Princess - free the Divine Beasts and aid the races of Hyrule. Upon hearing his tale, and all that his travels have brought to his recollection, she gives him a tunic. It is a clear blue and decorated with a sword - the Master Sword, the Sword that seals the darkness, *Link’s* sword. She cautions against racing to the Sword, or to the castle.
“The Princess has lasted this long. She can hold on for a short while longer. Zelda was-”
Link does not hear her finish. That name, which Impa says with reverence, brings a rush of emotion and memories. He doesn’t have a clear picture of her. But he remembers who she was, who she wanted to be, who she wanted *both* of them to be.
And as though Impa’s utterance broke some unspoken seal, Link hears a voice. The same voice who guided him out of the cave and is responsible for that flash of light within the castle.
“Link.
“I can feel the resolve of your heart.
“You are our final hope.”
Impa’s protests are lost as Link explodes out of the building, startling the guards at the door. The villagers move out of his way as he sprints down the path towards his horse and rides it through the village entrance. He cares not for their frightened looks, though he will later. For now he has only one objective:
The Lost Woods.
He reaches the Wetland stable by nightfall and leaves again before the sun is up on a fresh horse, a brown mare who responds remarkably quickly to Link. His frantic energy seems to infect the horse, which maintains her pace for exhaustingly long stretches. But Link’s anger only continues to grow, every second that passes is another in which his Princess, his charge, his companion, his friend, *Zelda*, is fighting a battle they both know she has no chance of winning on her own.
As though they know something unusual is happening, monsters continuously appear in his path. The stronger ones are defeated with his borrowed, then his stolen swords. The weaker ones either flee from before him or are torn apart in his rage. That anger, once controlled and rarely seen, is now on full display for anything unfortunate enough to try and slow his progress.
He arrives at the Woodland stable before the sun has begun to set. His intent of continuing on to the Lost Woods - the objective so close - is prevented by the stablehands, who take one look at him and his exhausted horse and practically force him to stay the night. He spends the evening cleaning his tunic in the nearby pond and staring in the direction of the woods, trying to ground himself in the present and not in moments that have passed by or are yet to be. His dreams are about as coherent as his thoughts, offering only flashes of ideas or moments.
Yet through the night, he feels the warmth of the castle’s inhabitant pressing upon his mind, giving him a hope for what will happen after his quest is completed.
–
When Link wakes, it is to a peaceful sunrise and the sounds of the stable around him. He thanks the stablehands for their hospitality, saddles his horse, and leaves. The road is empty at this hour, and Link can’t help but feel a little disappointed. He could have used a warm up.
Behind him, he hears a puff of smoke and something landing quietly on the grass. He whirls, dismounting as a man clad in red stands before him. The man’s face is hidden behind a mask depicting a crying eye, though the tear extends upwards. A longsword is sheathed at his hip.
They stare at each other. Then Link shoots forward, drawing a sword taken from the monsters in his path the day before. The man draws his sword, and Link can feel that familiar anger bubbling in his chest as their swords meet with a *clang* that sends the horse fleeing down the road.
Link breaks the contact with a push and lunges forward again, but his opponent pops out of existence and reappears directly behind him mid-swing. He turns his forward momentum sideways as he spins, catching the man’s sword on his own. He growls, forcing the locked swords up as he steadies his feet beneath him. They stay like that for a second, then Link slips to the side of the blow and swings as the assailant’s momentum sends him forward. The man puffs out of sight again and Link’s blow hits nothing but air. He feels the man appear behind him again, but this time he’s ready.
Time slows to a crawl as Link sidesteps the blow and faces the swordsman. He moves forward, sword held in both hands -
And plunges it into the man’s chest with a roar.
They disengage, both letting go of their weapons, the assailant grabbing at the sword in his chest. He looks at Link and speaks, his voice defiant.
“This will not stop us! The Yiga will yet restore this land to its proper state! We will bring about the Calamity and put an end to you and your precious Zelda! Glory to -”
The man’s voice cuts off as Link drives the dropped sword through his head. Link rips his own sword free and glares at the corpse of his enemy as it collapses to the ground.
Two more puffs of smoke appear, this time in front of him, revealing two men wielding bows and clad the same way as the man laying at Link’s feet.
“How dare you! We’ll kill you for that!”
They notch arrows in their bows and jump up, attempting to get out of range of Link’s sword. They don’t jump high enough, and the first man falls as Link drives his sword into the man’s forehead. They land and Link directs his attention to the second archer, who is looking at them with what Link can only describe as fear. He disappears in a cloud of smoke, and this time he does not reappear.
Link draws his sword from the archer’s forehead, which is now dripping red and has chips on the blade where he met the first man’s sword. He looks at the carnage around him, then back to the road, where his horse is still standing.
“Let’s go.”
–
Link leaves the horse at the entrance to the Lost Woods and goes in alone. As he enters the misty forest, he feels a pull from something he does not recognize, yet is familiar. His heart begins to race, its desire now so close. He follows its promptings, ignoring the whispers in the trees as he presses onwards.
He sees an archway appear out of the mist and he feels the mist dissipating around him. The path in front of him clears, the strange light changing to a more friendly shade of green. Small creatures, some simply frolicking around, others hanging from small pinwheel like creations, watch him as he continues to follow the ever strengthening pull.
And then he sees it, and everything around him seems to fade out.
A sword, the Master Sword, the Sword that seals the darkness, *his* sword, the sword that can save Zelda and finally put to rest this … thing he has felt since he woke. It stands upright in a pedestal, handle gleaming in the light.
He approaches and wraps both his hands around it.
In an instant, he sees an exchange between a woman (it’s Zelda, it has to be, it must be) and the tree behind the sword's resting place. He feels the wisdom emanating off this being, who has surely seen countless years pass away.
“It seems my role is unfinished,” she says.
“I sense there is great strength in your dedication,” the tree responds.
“Great Deku Tree, I ask, when he returns, can you please relay this message; tell him -”
“Now, words intended for him would sound much better in the tones of your voice, don’t you think?”
The world snaps back into focus around Link, leaving him wondering what Zelda wanted him to hear so desperately.
“Oh, little one…”
Link looks up and sees the same tree from his vision before him, unchanged even in the century between moments.
“I sense your dedication is as strong as your Princess. I sense much anger in your heart, yet I feel those same qualities within you that allowed you to pull that sword before.
“I will not stop you from pulling her again. She is powerful, yes, but do know she alone will not be enough to end this battle. You must wield her with the courage befitting a hero.”
Link looks back down at the sword. Everything within him is screaming; in triumph, impatiently, in anger. He can feel the sword calling him, and he listens, wrapping his hands around it again.
And the world fades away once more
–
Link saw nothing but white.
“Master,” said a monotone voice behind him. He whirled, reaching for his sword but grabbed only empty air.
A woman stood (floated?) before him. She looked as though she was made of blue glass, dressed in a purple tunic and a cape that split evenly between the two colors.
“Who are you?” Link’s voice came out sharper than he intended, but the woman seemed unfazed.
“I am Fi,” she said, “I am the spirit in your Sword. I have dwelt here since time immemorial, since the very first Hero.
“I have slept this past century, waiting for you.”
“Why me? Surely someone else could have wielded you?”
“There was no one. We both slept, and now we are both awake again.
“I know of the anger within you. It is, perhaps, the least logical of all of the emotions with which one can wield a sword. Yet I have seen it do great things for those who can use it well. Terrible things, but great.”
“...is that what I’ve become? Something terrible?” Link’s voice echoed through the nothingness. “Should I try and stop feeling this way? Would that better save Zelda?”
Behind Fi, Link could see things beginning to move, though he could not make out what they were.
“I did not say that. Your past incarnations felt the same way.
“Your family taken away from you, across the sea and out of reach?
“Your kingdom under the dark influence of twilight, its inhabitants unrecognizable?
“A world not your own, yet one you have grown to love all the same, under threat by an entity controlling the very heavens?”
The shapes behind her became clearer. Shadows of people, restlessly swirling in her shadow.
“Would you not be angry?”
Link was quiet. He could feel his anger rising once more, filling his body with energy that buzzed beneath his skin, itching for a release.
“I will stand with you, as I always have, as I was created to do.
“Now, take me up one more time.”
The shadows behind Fi exploded outwards, racing around the pair. Link caught whiffs of the sea and of beasts and of something else he could not place. Something primal, something dangerous, something fierce and angry even beyond his current state.
“We have a war to win.”
–
Link gasps as the world slams back into focus around him. Several small creatures were milling about him, chittering. He took a breath, then focused once again upon the Sword. His grip tightens.
He pulls.
And the Sword slides cleanly out of its resting place.
The creatures around him let out a cheer as he raises the blade and examines it. It shows no wear, no evidence of its conflict from a century prior. It pulses, once, shining with a blue light before stilling again.
Some of the creatures come up to him carrying a sheath, expertly made and in the same condition as its counterpart. Link takes it from them, smiling slightly for the first time since he awoke.
“Go,” says the Great Deku Tree. “I can feel your anxiety rising with every moment. The Korok Forest will remain safe under my watch.”
Link nods, strapping the Sword to his back, the other forgotten. He turns and begins to run, not looking back.
“End this, little one.”
–
His horse is waiting for him at the entrance to the Woods. She neighs as he approaches and begins to move before he has mounted her. She tears across the countryside, surpassing even her speed from before.
The stable appears from among the trees. The sun is beginning to set, and Link can see the stablehands waving to him as they approach. But he does not acknowledge them beyond a wave of his own as they barrel onwards, passing the stable entirely and turning west. He can hear their shouts behind him. He does not care.
He has done enough waiting.
They reach a bridge, and Link can see something glowing purple and blue. He can hear it beeping as they approach, and his mind floods as he sees it fully. The mechanical spider - the *guardian* - takes the same approach as the monsters that preceded it, moving into the horse’s path. But she does not stop, only adjusting her path slightly. The guardian attempts to block her off more completely, but stops when Link vaults off the horse’s back and drives his Sword into the thing’s eye. It goes dark, but Link barely registers it as he pushes off, landing once again on the horse’s back.
“Good girl,” he says, and she whinnys triumphantly as they continue forward.
They encounter four more guardians before they reach the castle, each one disposed of in efficient fashion. The last one gets shredded by the Master Sword as Link’s anger gets fully focused on it, falling into an unrecognizable pile of mechanical parts.
“Get -”
He leaves the horse at the gates of the castle, charging forward on foot as beams of scorching energy burn the ground behind him.
“Out -”
Two Lynels are eliminated as he storms the gatehouses, pausing only long enough to take a bow from the stronger one.
“Of -”
Lizaflos and Moblins offer Link almost no challenge as he enters and leaves Zelda’s study in a flurry, tucking a delicate flower into his pocket.
“My -”
A Stalnox that inhabits the castle dungeon is dispatched in moments as Link retrieves a final piece of equipment.
“WAY!”
Link is seeing red as he walks into the Sanctum. The Master Sword is shining in her full majesty, bathing the walls in a brilliant light. Link looks up and sees some*thing* hanging from the ceiling. He can feel the power emanating from it, the power that leveled the kingdom of Hyrule.
Link can only feel rage.
Monstrosities of guardian parts and malice appear in front of him, one after the other. He does not know their significance. He will, in time. He will know just how much their existence has cost.
For the moment, they are just more obstacles.
The first attacks with wind and energy, sending beams in every direction as though it is aiming for something not present. Its beams are deflected back into it as Link pummels the creature with energy beams of his own.
The second attacks with ice and spear, trying to keep Link at a distance such that his own weapons are ineffective. He gets within its guard and tears it apart, the Master Sword dancing in his hands.
The third attacks with fire and axe, the impacts strong enough to cause the earth to tremble. Link finds it much too slow and sends it crashing around the room as he strikes over and over.
The fourth attacks with lightning and sword, fighting Link with the same tools he has available to him as though it cared about honor. He outduels it, punishing every weakness with enough blows that the very air begins to burn.
And then, there was nothing. The enemies around him do not stir, burned and shredded beyond what a normal Hylian could do. But Link feels no satisfaction, no peace. His anger and bloodlust have not been sated. He knows what’s left. That there is one more enemy in his way.
The cocoon above him begins to thrash around, and as Link looks up it ruptures with a deafening roar. A massive figure falls to the floor and the floor breaks, sending them both tumbling into a spacious room that glows an angry shade of crimson. It pulses as the figure crashes into the bottom, stirring up clouds of dust and debris.
Link does not intend to give whatever form this is supposed to be a second to gather its bearings. He drops down and, with all the momentum of his fall, lands a two-handed blow to the thing’s body.
The shockwave of the strike pushes the dust away, revealing a deep gash in the creature’s side. It roars and swings its many weapons, trying to land anything upon the swordsman. It connects with nothing and, as it turns to get eyes on its enemy, receives a blow between its eyes. It staggers backward and Link pushes his advantage as he slashes with abandon. Hit after hit after hit sends the creature into a panicked frenzy.
For a moment, a figure can be seen in the shadows of this battle. It nods in approval, white eyes gleaming. Then it is gone.
A guttural sound begins to echo around the chamber. It bears the weight of untold pain and sorrow, of a warrior, of a quiet man releasing anger and frustration upon something that deserves every last piece of it.
Link screams until his throat gives out. Even as the beast begins to spew streams of malice and its eyes darken he swings his Sword, who even now burns with a brilliant blue. The beast collapses, completely still. He lowers the Sword. His breaths are heavy in the air as he stares at the decimated form of his enemy.
A golden light envelops him. He tries to move, but before he can do so it has already faded from view. He stands outside the castle, faithful mare beside him, as purple clouds begin to circle Hyrule Field.
Another beast, this one many times larger than the one Link tore to pieces beneath the castle, emerges in the form of a boar. The ground quakes as it steps forward.
“Link!”
A woman's voice, the voice Link has been longing to hear, *Zelda*, sounds in his ears.
“You’re almost done, I am sure of it.”
A bow, gleaming in that same golden light, appears in front of him.
“Take this.”
The desperation and the hope ring through in equal measure.
He sheathes the Sword, grabs the bow and urges his horse forward, climbing onto her back as they race towards the boar. His horse weaves in and out of the trees, avoiding massive beams of purple energy the boar shoots in their direction.
“I’m going to push and give you an opening. I can’t hold it for long; hurry, Link!”
Link sees the boar's forehead begin to glow with that tell tale golden light. He shouts, and his horse maneuvers out of the trees towards the boar. He nocks an arrow and takes careful aim. The boar fixes its gaze on him.
“End it, Link!”
Time seems to freeze as Link launches himself out of the saddle. The boar's forehead glows brighter still as he launches shot after shot. As he lands heavily, he falls to one knee, then to his side. He watches as the boar’s form begins to waver as though it were a mirage from the heat.
The world erupts in brilliant light, tearing the malice apart and releasing a shockwave so powerful it knocks Link onto his back. He hears trees crashing into the earth. He stares up at the sky as the violent clouds of purple and lightning dissipate into nothingness.
He doesn’t know how long he stays like that. The knot in his chest has loosened.
“Link.”
A hand gently grasps his own and helps him to his feet.
“My knight.”
He turns and sees a woman holding his hand, smiling softly.
“My companion.”
Her dress may have once been white, but it is covered in marks and stains that disfigure it terribly.
“My friend.”
His eyes well with tears.
“Link.”
“Zel-”
He can’t even get the name out. Instead, he wraps his arms around her and buries his face in her neck. The tears begin to fall as he feels her hands embrace him in kind.
They stay like that for a long time. Finally, Zelda breaks the silence.
“Oh, Link…” she says, softly and sadly. He pulls away slightly and looks at her. Her face is stained with tear tracks.
“Zelda.” His voice is weak and strained, but the relief in that single word is enough to get them both to smile, if only slightly.
The Master Sword pulses on Link’s back. They both feel her approval and their smiles widen.
“We did it.”
“Yes, Princess. We did it.”
“None of the formalities, please,” she says, “I think we passed that point long ago.”
“… okay,” he says, voice soft, “Zelda.
“Let's go home.”
“And where would that be?”
He pauses. Then,
“Wherever you are.”
She smiles.
“I like the sound of that. Home it is, then.”
Link walks Zelda over to his horse and helps her into the saddle.
“Did you ever give her a name?”
“…no. I hadn’t thought about it.”
“For someone who cares so much about horses, how do you forget to name her?”
“I was kind of busy traveling the length of the kingdom. I also don’t have any ideas, at all.” He climbs into the saddle and nudges the horse towards the road.
“May I name her then? You can say no, if you wish.”
“You can.”
“Then, she is Epona.”
Link smiles. “I like that.”
Epona whinnies.
“I think she does too.”
They ride in silence for a while. As the stars begin to reveal themselves and the night awakens around them, Link sees the rising smoke of a stable in the distance.
“Zelda, we’re -” he starts to say, then trails off. Zelda is resting her head on his back, eyes closed, breathing steadily. He smiles.
“Good night, Princess.”