Haunting Shadow of the Past

Part 24

Eventually Urbosa stopped laughing and she rested an arm on Zelda's shoulder. "I'm sorry, little bird. I didn't mean to frighten you." She then looked over at Link. "I can let the both of you rest here for the night and you can head back to Hyrule castle in the morning."

Link nodded but didn't say anything.

Zelda looked at Urbosa. "That would be wonderful. Thank you, Urbosa." Urbosa nodded and smiled before leading Link and Zelda into the interior workings of the Divine Beast. Link took in the amount of machinery that was in here and that included several of, what Purah had called, Guardian Scouts. They were running around and making sure everything was working.

"They are almost cute." Zelda commented gesturing to one of the many mini guardians.

Urbosa smiled. "They are, but I'm sure they won't be for the enemy." Link had to say he agreed those guardian scouts probably wouldn't be as cute to bokoblins or yiga. Urboa led Link and Zelda to a corner and smiled. "It will probably be best over here and," she looked at Link, "the guardians will keep you both protected so you should get some sleep. I see the bags forming under your eyes and someone as young as you, regardless of your responsibility, needs time to rest."

Link sighed but sat down and leaned against the wall. There were some lights in the Divine Beast but, after Urbosa wished Zelda a goodnight and walked away, they turned off. The Divine Beast now was just left with the eerie glow coming from the guardians and some of the gears.

Link heard Zelda fall asleep quickly and he just sat in the dark thinking about Liliana and his father. He hadn't even been able to give Liliana a proper goodbye. He had run after Zelda so quickly and had assumed he would be able to see her the next day so it didn't even matter at the time. Now he sat in the monstrosity of the Divine Beast listening to the skittering of the guardians legs as they ran around.

Link must have drifted off to sleep because he found himself just outside of the Divine Beast Vah Naboris. He was gazing inside but something was different. The air wasn't still and there was sand whipping past him as Vah Naboris trekked forward. Inside the beast were no guardian scouts and there were several places where purple goo sat with flecks of it flying through the air. The Divine Beast let out a mighty cry and it started rumbling and Link's legs nearly gave out from under him.

Link then blinked and found himself facing a frightening monster that had shaggy long red hair and was made up of that goo stuff he had seen earlier. The monster wielded a sword and shield and shot around the room with unnatural speed. Link drew his sword and the monster charged at him. Link held up his shield and just before contact he woke up and sat forward in a cold sweat. The Divine Beast was now lit up by the sun and Link looked next to him. He expected to see Zelda but to his surprise she was gone. He started scanning the Divine Beast searching for Zelda but could only see the guardians running around.

Link jumped to his feet and started walking around trying to see if Zelda could by some chance just be hiding from him. She wasn't. Link called her name a few times but didn't get a response. After only a few minutes Link was sure Zelda was no longer on the Divine Beast. He quickly hurried out and was shocked by how chilly the desert was this early in the morning. Speaking of early Link wasn't even sure what time it was. The daylight hours were slightly different in the desert and even if they weren't Link had never been good with telling the time via sun position. He called Zelda's name a few times out into the desert but after no response he figured maybe Zelda had gone back to Gerudo town. Sure she hadn't told him but at least there she was safe.

Link started heading towards the town which could faintly be seen off in the distance and while he walked he scanned the surrounding area hoping that he would be able to catch sight of the Princess. Nothing.