Haunting Shadow of the Past

Part 5

"Lily! Liliana! Where are you?" Link shouted his voice growing slightly hoarse. He had visited nearly every part of the castle and hadn't found his little sister. At this point he was starting to get genuinely concerned about his younger sister, could she have run off? The only place Link could think of that he hadn't checked was the stables. "It's worth a shot." he mumbled to himself.

He headed out to the stables, the sun now completely set, and saw some light seeping out of the window of Epona's stall. Link entered and that's when he heard muffled sobs. He walked over to his horse's stall and peeked inside to see his little sister sitting against the wall, her legs scrunched up to her chest and her face buried in her hands. Beside her layed a tired Epona who, despite being a horse, looked very concerned. "Lily?" Link asked, opening the stall door and entering. "What are you doing out here?"

Liliana looked up in surprise then frowned when she saw Link. "D-don't worry about it," she mumbled.

Link sat down next to her. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm not fully sure that I'm ready for a responsibility like this."

"I just don't want to lose you. I-I already lost mom. I don't need to lose my big brother too."

Link sighed. "I know, but you always have Dad and I don't plan on dying."

Liliana stood up and glared down at Link. "You should just tell them you don't want to do it. Tell the king and Princess Zelda that they will just have to find somebody else. And until you do that I'm not going to be talking to you." She let out a huff before turning and running out of Epona's stall. Link swallowed hard, was he really doing the right thing? Obviously he was but was this all worth it if it meant his little sister never speaking to him again. He knew she would keep that promise, a few years back Link had gone to hang out with a friend instead of playing with his sister. She didn't talk to him for a whole month and it would have been longer if Link hadn't apologized.

He looked back at his horse who had fallen asleep and Link let out a sigh. Oh well, it wasn't like he had a choice. There wasn't going to be another chosen one, this was his responsibility, one he had had since birth. He felt so stressed and tired, even though he had woken up only a few hours ago. Letting out another sigh he pushed himself to his feet and headed back to the castle to get some more rest.

...

The soft sunlight crept through the window and across Link's face causing him to wake up. He hadn't really slept well that night; he kept having nightmares about some dark entity attacking the castle and the rest of Hyrule in ruins. It was ominous and Link couldn't help but wonder what that meant. Surely it didn't mean the return of Calamity Ganon? With the Divine Beasts, the guardians, the master sword, and Zelda's hidden power there was no way that monster could do that kind of damage to Hyrule.

Link rolled out of bed and put his armor on. Just as he was about to leave his room he saw the Master sword leaning against the wall right next to his shield that he had been using for the last five years of his life. He grabbed the equipment and put it on before sneaking out of his room. He wasn't sure of the exact time but he knew it was early and his father and sister would still be sleeping. Link crept into the dining area and paused when he saw his father seated at the table, he looked tired.

Link stopped. "Father, is everything alright?"

Lian looked up and gave a small smile. "Everything is fine, son. What are you doing up so early? Today is your day off."

"Oh," Link frowned awkwardly, "I was going to go to Zora's domain and see how everything is going there."

Link's dad stood up and walked over to Link, then placed his hand on Link's shoulder. "Link, this is your day to relax. You don't have to feel responsible for everything." Link shrugged before turning to leave. "When will you be back?" Lian asked, letting out an exhausted sigh.

Link thought for a moment. "Tonight or tomorrow morning probably." Lian nodded and Link left. He felt terrible for just brushing off his father but he didn't understand since Link got this sword Hyrule was his responsibility, saving it at least.

Link walked out to the stables and got Epona. He noticed the morning brought a slight chill but Link shrugged it off. It would warm up as it got later and it wasn't too cold where he would need an extra layer. Link climbed up onto Epona and guided her out onto the main road that headed towards Zora's domain. Once he was in a good, open area he flickered her reins and Epona started at a slow trot. Wanting a little bit more speed Link squeezed Epona's sides and flicked the reins again causing Epona to take off at a full gallop. Link wasn't too worried about running into anyone considering it was so early and people normally didn't travel at this time. The wind whipped past Link and he couldn't help but smile. It had been so long since he had had a chance to really let himself go and it felt good.

Eventually Epona started to slow down and Link took a few deep breaths. It was a shame that he always felt the need to put on a different persona around others, it was what he thought he had to do, especially now. Nobody would want the hero that is to seal the darkness to be anything but serious. He rubbed the side of Epona's head and let out a sigh, how had his responsibilities doubled in weight overnight? Before he had gone to sleep he hadn't felt a quite as heavy burden. Had it been because of his sister filling him with uncertainty? No that wasn't it, he had already been uncertain. But Liliana had a genuine concern that she would lose her older brother and maybe she was right, he had an incredibly dangerous job. Not only did he have to protect the princess he also now would have to face Calamity Ganon.

Link also noticed that ever since he woke up from his dream he had a sinking feeling in the back of his mind. Something in the dream had seemed off. Sure Hyrule was in ruins and the castle was under the control of an evil entity but there was something else, a feeling of loneliness. In the dream he felt so alone and sad like he had lost something or someone special to him and the worst part was he wasn't even sure what it could have been.

As the sun moved across the sky Epona kept up her slow trot and since she knew where she was going Link had some time to think and ponder his dream. The more he thought about it the more confused he became. He couldn't quite place his finger on what his dream meant. Obviously it was Calamity Ganon who was in the castle. Had he possibly seen the future? It would make sense, the feeling of loss could be because Hyrule was destroyed or... Link didn't dare think about what else could have been lost; he couldn't bring himself to even think about it. Did that sense of loss come because he had lost his father, or sister, or all of Hyrule? Could he have failed everyone? The people were counting on him to send Ganon away so had he failed and he was forced to live with the guilt of not being able to stop the people he cared about from dying.

When Epona came to a halt Link was confused until he realized that they had reached the small trail that led up to the main entrance of Zora's domain. "Are you up for a challenge or would you prefer I left you down here?" Link asked, rubbing the side of Epona's head. She answered by starting along the trail. It was rocky and uneven in some places and in other places it was easy and by the time they got to the last stretch Epona seemed tired, it had been a difficult trek for her.

Once they had gotten to the long bridge that led to Zora's domain, Link jumped off Epona's back and tied her reins around a nearby tree. "I'm not sure how long I'll be but if you get hungry you can probably eat some of the grass around here." Epona nuzzled Link and he stroked her snout forcing a small reassuring smile. He then turned his attention back to the domain. It was a beautiful place, not just from structure but also from the type of stone that was used, it was so shiny and had a polished look to it. Two guards stood guarding the bridge and Link walked up to them.

"Halt," the male guard commanded, "state your business Hylian."