Chapter Text
“Juudaime! To your left!” I hear my silver haired storm yell out to me. I swiftly move one arm to block the incoming blow and simultaneously move the other to punch my opponents’ stomach. When will this end? They just keep coming and coming!
I see something glint out of the corner of my eye—it looks like a rifle’s scope. I calculate where it is pointing—oh no! “Lambo, move!” I scream running towards him. Fortunately, I get there in time to push him out of the way.
Unfortunately, it put me right in the path of the bullet.
“...Nii-san!”
“Tenth!”
I hear shouts exclaim, but I knew they wouldn’t be able to help save me. My flames were already near exhaustion from all the fighting and the blood loss from the bullet is too great to ignore. I murmur a low: “Thank you for everything.”
And close my eyes.
And pass on.
.
.
.
Or so I thought.
My head is throbbing—like whenever a mist tries to tamper with my mind. Huh? Why would I even feel anything? Have I not passed on?
There is a voice trying to pass through though.
Have I not earned my peace?
The voice is a little more audible: “Open your eyes.”
Have I not earned my rest?
“Open your eyes,” the voice calls again. My eyes flicker open slowly. “Wake up, Link.”
Link? The name rings a vary faint bell in the back of my mind, like I should know it like I do my own Tsunayoshi. But I don’t know a Link? Or have been one? My hyper-intuition chimes in with a poke and mental image of Giotto. Reincarnation maybe? My intuition agrees. But why?
The water recedes around me, and I slowly get up and look around. It seems as if I am in some sort of cave or chamber equipped with never-before-seen technology of some sort. There is the water-bed of sorts (that I was apparently just laying in) and a pedestal to the side of a door.
I go to examine the pedestal when the voice invades my mind once more: “That is a sheikah slate. Take it. It will help guide you after your long slumber.”
Considering I don’t see anything else that I can do at the moment, I follow the voice, even if I do not trust it. Between Mukuro, Spade, Mammon, and the other mists I have come to know, I know that random voices in my head (besides the ever-present hyper-intuition) means trouble.
I take the slate.
Fortunately for me, doing so opens the door, letting me into another room. This one is much larger than the previous. It is also filled with various old decaying boxes and barrels. And two chests that I decide to check out. Inside the one to the right is a very well worn pair of trousers. To the left is an old shirt that’s coming apart at the seams.
To be honest, I barely even registered that I wasn’t even wearing proper clothing—likely due to all the dying will bullets Reborn used to put me through. Though that didn’t mean I didn’t immediately put on the “new” clothes anyway. It’s not like I knew where I was or who I’d encounter (and potentially offend) by not wearing anything.
I should probably stop getting stuck in my own head and figure out what is going on here. Reborn would be so disappointed in me right now. Then again, he probably wouldn’t even get stuck in this sort of scenario anyways. He’d be orchestrating it instead.
I sigh, realize I’m getting off track yet again, and move forward. There’s another pedestal by another doorway.
“Hold the sheikah slate up to the pedestal. That will show you the way.” The voice echoes again.
I once again follow the instructions. The doorway opens and I see a bright light in the distance. Finally. A way out.
Of course, that is when the voice speaks up yet again: “Link… you are the light—our light—that must shine upon Hyrule once again. Now, go…”
You have got to be kidding me. Not again.
I make my way outside and just stand at the cliff’s edge. I…I don’t recognize anything. Any of this…this landscape. It’s so green. But I can see remains of decay. I see life, but not of people. What…what happened here?
Taking in a deep breath, I try to center myself. Doing so, I notice my flames are a bit different now. Still orange, still a bright all-encompassing sky. But the bonds are different. Most are gone completely as signified by the frayed edges, or very fragile, as if a single blow would snap it completely. I panic and try to grab a frayed edge. A ribbon. Anything that may give me a last bit of reassurance that my friends are okay. That they are not gone completely.
But, if anything, trying to grab those frayed ends causes a pulse of memory to go through my head. But the wrong person is imaged in the scene.
A rito warrior who loved to show off—Revali. Instead of an unstoppable tonfa-wielding force—Kyoya.
A gerudo chief ready to fight for her people—Urbosa. Instead of a bright, yet often scared, little boy—Lambo.
A strong goron ready to defend any who needs it—Daruk. Instead of a baseball-playing swordsman—Takeshi.
A zora princess who healed and loved just as well—Mipha. Instead of a bombing right-hand—Gokudera.
And the ones that barely clung on:
A spritely, ninja-like sheikah protector—Impa. Instead of the mysterious trident-wielders—Mukuro and Chrome.
A technologically-inclined sheikah duo—Purah and Robbie. Instead of the ever-enthusiastic boxer—Ryohei.
And a connection that he knows not what to do with. Almost as if the owner of the connection has forced the bond to occur rather than just naturally happen.
A seemingly bipolar hylian princess who was set to lead them all—Zelda.
The voice’s owner.
I didn’t know what to think of that last bond. It is like another sky tried to subvert my bonds for themselves but connected to them through me instead. Or something to that affect.
That bond? It almost hurts. It aches for what it could be—like the familial connections I had with Dino and (eventually) Xanxus. But the pull on my other bonds sets my teeth on edge, similar to how I felt whenever Iemitsu was around.
I assume that the little glimpses of memory were from my current body’s previous self, but I wonder what happened to cause me to awaken and not them? Or, as my hyper-intuition likes to prod, why a (guessing) future incarnation awakens instead of a past-self?
Well, I’m not going to get any answers just standing around here. Time to get a move on.
I look to the right and see a pathway down. As well as an old man just staring at me (which, to be honest, is a little bit creepy). I take a breath and move that way anyways—he might know something, or at least tell me where it is that I am.
I make my way down the hill to the little campfire the old man has set up. A baked apple lay in front of the fire, reminding me I have not eaten once since I have woken up. I ask the old man if I could have the apple (instead of just taking it—I have learned from experience that that is just asking for trouble), and he nods. We get to talking and he calls himself an old fool (Which I doubt, as he reminds me a bit of Timoteo, who was a cunning old fool). I did get him to tell me where I was, though.
Fortuitously, I now know that I am at the Great Plateau, the birthplace of Hyrule.
Regrettably, that really gives me absolutely nothing in relation to what I know.
The old man continues talking, going on about the abandoned temple nearby, telling me how to bake an apple, and letting me know that I can use a nearby torch as a weapon if need be.
I carefully take that torch, but tell myself to find something else quickly, as I doubt it would work well (or even long) against any enemy.
When I took my leave, I found an axe in a tree-stump. New weapon acquired.