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DISCLAIMER:
Unfortunately, I do not own Link or Zelda. Other characters and settings from Legend of Zelda are the property of Nintendo. I am but a humble fan and this is a story written purely for entertainment purposes.
Where the Winterwings Fly
A Breath of the Wild One Shot
{Friendship, Family, Loss, Determination}
The mountain air was hard on his lungs. Link had to ensure his breathing remained steady, despite the piercing feeling of every inhalation. His eyes were watery and his lashes threatened to freeze with every blink. His stomach growled but he ignored it. He had no food left. He knew, though, from a previous journey, that refuge was not too far away. He just had to make it there.
Traveling by night was often treacherous but he did not have the luxury of rest tonight. He had already warded off the stalkoblins and a trio of stalmoblins. His previous bow had snapped from overuse but encountering enemies had turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
His eyes looked to the horizon, or what he could make of it, anyway. Dawn would be breaking soon enough. It had been a rough night but he had the gentle glow of a full moon to illuminate his path.
“That’s the goddess watching over you,” his mother once told him, back when he was a boy. That, he remembered, was before his sister had been born. Father had just been promoted to personal guard of the royal family. He didn’t see much of his father, then, but he could still see the love and pride in his mother’s eyes when she spoke of him. It was interesting what he recalled in times like this. His memory may have been lost but it came back to him in bits and pieces. Snippets of conversation. Kind voices of people that loved him. Sometimes he couldn’t place them. Sometimes it took repetition and dreams for him to remember who said what or when.
Warm memories like that were what kept him going. It was one thing that helped him continue to put one foot in front of the other, even when every step caused him to sink into the snow. It was a shame he didn’t have the proper boots for it but there was no sense in crying over it. He remembered that Father used that one often. The only thing he justified crying over was life or death. Father shed tears upon his daughter’s birth and the passing of his wife. Link couldn’t recall the man crying before… or since.
His hands clenched. He wondered if Father had shed tears at Link’s “death” or if he had perished before then. Link’s throat ached suddenly. He could not remember the last time he cried; it was shameful, Father would say, for men to cry over trivial things.
“You are a Knight of Hyrule now,” Father said on that fateful day. “And we, Link…” He could still remember how his father’s large hand felt, strong and proud, on his shoulder. “...we have to be more than men.”
They had become knights by skill, after all, not by birthright.
“If we can’t protect our kingdom,” his father said solemnly, “no one can.”
Another deep breath of cold air cleared Link’s uncertainty.
Father, he concluded, had perished in the Calamity. He was not one to go down without a fight… and Link could feel the truth in his heart. But Aryll, he hoped had survived somehow. Hateno Village still stood to this day. He had saved his childhood home from demolition. Link prayed and prayed , though the Calamity had already taken its toll, that Aryll had lived… and made a life without him. Without their parents.
Motion ahead of him made him pause. Ice Keese? No... He squinted at the creatures in the distance.
The sun was slow to rise. His eyes could barely make out the difference in the blues as the sky began to lighten. Somehow, though, he had caught sight of the cold whisper of a Winterwing ahead. What appeared to be one was actually two… then the number doubled, tripled, and soon there were over a dozen.
Link’s breath caught in his throat as he was transported back, over days, months, and more years that he thought he’d ever have lived. A memory appeared, blinding him, like the sun suddenly peering out from behind a cloud.
Her laughter was the first thing he became aware of.
The second was the change in scenery.
The snow around him had vanished. Instead of the treacherous Hebra Mountains, he stood among Hyrule Field. The lush green was speckled with flowers of every color. All flowers that she knew by heart.
Armoranth. Blue Nightshade. Mighty Thistle. Swift Violet. So many he had learned by sight, though the names sometimes eluded him. The princess was a scholar through and through and Link didn’t mind when she shared her knowledge, despite the fact his mind was guilty of wandering from time to time.
Zelda was but an arm’s length away with a smile on her face and a sparkle in her emerald eyes.
“Oh, Link,” Zelda gasped suddenly. “Look!”
The words put him on edge immediately. A hand went to his hilt. He turned his head towards the direction she had pointed… to see no enemies in sight.
“A Summerwing,” she said beside him.
His posture relaxed and he stood straight once more.
“It’s the first one I’ve seen this year!”
Very quietly, so as not to startle the creature, Zelda tiptoed toward the pink-red butterfly. Link thought it better to remain where he was. He rested a hand on his sword and watched with keen eyes as the princess raised a careful hand, one finger reaching out slightly more than the others.
And just like magic, the Summerwing sensed her will and landed upon Zelda’s finger. A breath escaped her lungs. The princess’ excitement was expressed only through her eyes. The moment was short lived, however, as the Summerwing fluttered and flew up and away.
“Some texts say that incredible numbers of Summerwings have been known to conglomerate right in this very field,” she told him. “Hundreds, thousands of them, in one spot. I’ve only read about it… and seen pictures. But oh,” Zelda placed a hand over her chest, “I’ve dreamed of seeing it with my own eyes for years.”
Blue eyes scoured the landscape. There were a dozen soldiers posted all around. Link was a new knight, after all, and young… He had not gained the full trust of the King or the men that served him directly. Thankfully, the other knights kept their distance and stayed within sight but out of earshot.
“Perhaps it was a bit naughty but once,” Zelda confessed, holding her hands behind her back, “when I was younger, I attempted to sneak away to the field. Scholars knew when Summerwing eggs spawned but they hadn’t yet pinpointed exactly when they swarmed together.”
Link was silent, as it felt inappropriate to interject while the Princess spoke of eggs and breeding. Besides, he was interested to hear what she had to say.
“My theory,” she said, glancing over with a smile, “was that Summerwings met here, in Hyrule Field, before they migrated in the fall. So I packed a backpack and attempted to sneak away on horseback.”
If he were a different man, perhaps Link would have smiled, or even laughed, at the thought. Instead, he kept his face neutral, as he’d been taught, and he met the Princess' eye to indicate he was still listening.
Zelda gave a heavy sigh. “I didn’t even make it out of the courtyard before the guards caught me.” She gave a little chuckle and shook her head, green eyes turned downwards as they walked. “I’m sure you think it rather silly, don’t you?”
Link shook his head. He understood the desire to leave home and explore. The difference was his father had not shielded him from the world; he had gone on adventures from a young age. Not because of his own desire, but because of his father’s stubborn persistence. He had seen many sights and traversed many towns; however, Father did not take the time to stop and smell the rare bloom of a Silent Princess or admire the way Stealthfin and Fireflies glowed in the pitch. Link learned, from a young age, how best to kill beasts, what to do (and what not to do) if one wished to survive in the wild. Unlike hers, his upbringing did not focus on books and the beauty of his surroundings.
No, he was raised to fare well in a fight. He was taught that everyone had talents and it was their divine duty to use it for good, lest the goddess take back what she had bestowed. Fighting was his gift. Kindness, compassion, empathy for her people… those were hers.
“Link, look!” Zelda grabbed onto his arm and used her other to point in the distance. “It’s starting!” A laugh escaped the princess’ lips. “I can’t believe it! Oh, Mother would have been thrilled to see this.”
As always, her green eyes softened in the sadness of memories past. A cloud passed above them for a moment, obscuring the sun. A moment later, it blew away.
“A picture must be taken,” Zelda reminded herself aloud, “for posterity. Very few people will ever have the chance to see something like this in their lifetime. We should consider ourselves fortunate.”
Though he could have stayed captivated in the memory, a sudden icy gust caused Link to shiver through his doublet. It was a painful reminder of the present and all of its woes.
He would need better clothing to survive. The meal he had prepared warmed his body for a period but the effects would not last forever. His weapons were looking quite worn at the moment. His best bet would be to replace them as soon as possible. Link sniffled and pressed on ahead.
Ahead of him, what seemed to be a dozen butterflies simply continued to multiply until there were two dozen… then ten… and they kept multiplying, exponentially, it seemed.
The mountaintop was overtaken by a massive swarm of Winterwings, their iridescent blue wings fluttering against the earliest whispers of morning. Daybreak caught their dazzling color as snow and dust swirled around.
Without thinking, Link walked towards them until he was in their midst. Blue swirled around him like an icy tornado filled with silver and gold. The wind whipped at his hair and he sought comfort in the thought of a warm voice. Discomfort , Father always said, is temporary.
Link closed his eyes and took a deep breath though it stung his face and lungs. His body was suddenly chilled to the bone, as if the cold permeated every fiber of his being. The mountain wind bit at his skin like an angry Keese and violently whipped his hair. Despite this, he told himself, he would prevail.
In the distance, he could see Hyrule Castle… or what remained of it. At night, the area was lit up in a violent glow. The cloud looming over seemed to grow larger every day.
Truth be told, prior to the Calamity, Link was not the most faithful. He had grown up praying, as his parents had taught him, but it was only recently his heart truly began to believe. Somewhere, in that castle, Zelda was fighting. Not just for her life, but the lives of everyone in the kingdom. Perhaps, he thought, she would end up saving those even beyond where their people could go, past the place where the cliffs touched the skies.
Above him, a cloud of Winterwings danced. There were more butterflies than he had ever seen, even that day, years and years ago. For a moment, he forgot his troubles. The very first rays of light began to pierce the veil of darkness. Slowly, a warm glow began to spread over the mountain peak, and then the swarm of Winterwings. It was dizzying and bright, white light bouncing off the butterfly scales and blue flashes illuminating the immediate area. Gold dust fell from thousands, maybe millions, of tiny wings as they fluttered above.
Before it was gone, Link had the thought to reach for his hip. His fingers were beginning to freeze but, thankfully, he still managed to grab the Sheikah Slate and capture a true to life image of the scene. He did not stop to admire it, however, for there simply was no time for that.
He had one potion left… and he hoped it would last until he reached the nearest shelter.
“Link,” said a familiar voice. “Please… don’t give up. I believe in you.”
A very small smile graced his chapped lips. They were fewer and farther between now than they ever were… but her voice alone had the power to heal his spirit.
If she believed, well, he would simply have to as well. He believed in her… and he believed the goddess would watch over him, blessing him with the strength he needed to complete his quest.
A feeling of warmth spread throughout his body from his very core to the tips of his frozen phalanges. Just as the elixir had elevated his temperature, her voice had elevated his soul. A newfound fire rose up inside of him, a stubbornness that had kept him going, even now. Determination welled up and caused his fingers to clench as he began to trudge through the snow once more. He made his way east, towards the peak, towards the light, towards the dizzying swarm.
He couldn’t protect her last time but, Link vowed to himself, he would not let her down this time. He would not let his kingdom fall to ruin again. Link would rescue the princess and, one day, he vowed, when Ganon was gone and the world was renewed, he would bring her here… he would bring her to the mountain where the Winterwings fly.