Nostalgia

Frigid

Summer and spring had come and gone, fall making itself well known throughout the vast lands of Hyrule. Leaves of various colors crackled and crunched under both Queen Zelda and Hero Link's fur-clad boots. They were ascending the Gerudo Highlands in hopes of obtaining the beginning sprouts of wildberry bushes and coldshrooms they needed before nightfall. These ingredients had properties that would aid them in the upcoming winter, its approach always seeming to come faster than the year prior.

Luckily, they only found themselves in the throes of one snowstorm, their trek being relatively peaceful.

In the wake of that tranquil moment, Link found himself heavy with thought-as he often did nowadays-his boots carrying him to the cliffside a few paces from Zelda herself. He did this in fear their situation may go awry, the proximity a necessary precaution so he'd be well within bounds of protecting his Queen. Not that he doubted her abilities with a sword or bow, not at all, for he knew she was way beyond capable of standing her ground.

He overlooked the many miles that made up the Gerudo Desert with a desire to fulfill a promise he'd made. The memory of tear-filled eyes and longing, yearnful, outstretched, hands swirled throughout the Hero's mind in an overwhelming flurry, the pain in his chest being something of a recurrence lately as well.

It had been nearly 2 years...and Link was now nearing 19 years of age.

"Link!"

The young man in question quickly directed his attention towards Zelda.

"Are you ready to depart?" She stated, standing, with a small smile upon her face.

He looked out over the sea of sand once more before turning back to his queen.

With a slow exhale, he nodded and trudged on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They descended the Highlands with ease, making their way to the castle grounds within a mere 2 hours on horseback.

At their arrival, the new strew of palace guards greeted them at the gates of Castletown with the familiarity of what Link could only assume of relatives.

As him and Zelda continued towards the castle stables, a young girl, around the age of 5, stumbled out onto the cobblestone lined street in front of his horse Stella. She reared up in response, and he tugged her reins away from the child respectively and swiftly, the straps making a dull snapping noise at the motion. Startled himself, Link fought out a short gravelly shout of "Move!", firmly in her direction. She hesitantly scurried out of the way, hooves clacking thunderously a nudge to her left as Link soothed Stella out of her frenzy.

He knew he should've taken Deca. She was far less temperamental.

Zelda began to ramble anxiously, Link dismissing her offer to take his horse as he dismounted.

He unraveled Stella's lead and grunted in slight frustration. The girl remained to the side, tears budding at the corners of her eyes. He sighed through his nose, making a move to raise his hands when the girl flinched.

"I-I'm so very sorry M-Mister Hero! P-please! I'm sorry!" She rattled on, her bruised and laceration riddled arms raised over her head as a feeble attempt in guarding herself.

Link inhaled slowly in surprise.

These people were still living in poverty the closer they were to the outskirts of Castletown. And this child was being beaten for trying to steal food for her family.

This is what Zelda meant in her last correspondence.

He stooped down to look beneath the young girls' arms and saw her dirt clad face, tear streaks cutting through the grime. Gently he removed one of his riding gloves, extending his hand to her and placing it under one of her eyes. In a feather like motion, he wiped away some of the filth, her body twitching in response as her deep blue eyes snapped open. A moment passed before he drew his hand away, a smile beginning to pull at the edges of his face. She stared back into him in awe.

Today he changed her life.

Yet he would never know.

Stella clacked an impatient hoof on the cobble and the girl jumped again, Link grunting a soft 'Hey' in his horses' direction. When he turned back to the child, he stood.

The last golden bands of light clinging to the horizon that evening bounced off his tousled locks of hair as he waved goodbye. The girl waved in stunned silence at the ethereal man before her, whom of which was remounting his horse and riding on with a still worried Queen beside him. She continued to stand there like that even as he crossed the bridge to the castle gates, the sound of grating metal being the telltale sign of their opening, and even further so when he rode up the path out of sight.

"Silas!" A man hollered.

The girl in response turned toward the beckoning call and with one final glance back at those gates, took off full sprint into the opposite direction.

Tears stung at her eyes again, bare feet burning at every snap of flesh against the road.

Who was she kidding?

That life just wasn't made for someone like her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His weapons and light armor clinked as he walked with Zelda through the castle, fellow knights bowing ever so slightly as they passed. The feeling was both foreign and somewhat comforting to Link for reasons he had yet to understand. Although these years had passed and he'd had the opportunity to regain majority of the memories of his life prior, he knew deep in his core he'd never truly be the same man. He found peace in that.

His ears twitched at a disturbance shortly before a guard rounded the corner, nearly tumbling into Zelda. With a quick extend of his arm, he caught the lean young man and nudged him back to his feet.

"Your highness!" He began, bowing. "General Master Link!" He stood tall, saluting.

Zelda giggled at his expense, Link rolling his eyes before saluting back.

"At ease soldier." Zelda stated, tucking a stray strand of unkempt hair behind her ear. "What ever is the matter?"

The man in question spoke a mile a minute about the repairs still being made to the castle, new guards in rotation and rank, and several other updates that the lower class soldiers took turns reporting back to Zelda for. Well, until she ultimately made her choice for a master courier. Which Link had noticed she was brushing off for the last several months.

One sentence that stopped him and Zelda in their tracks however was his final report.

"There are also leaders and representatives here from each surrounding nation requesting an audience with your highness due to your latest correspondence." He shifted awkwardly.

"They seem...unsettled and in varying degrees of disagreement..."

Zelda tensed.

Link's heart thundered in its cage.

All at once those desperate hands and tear filled eyes shot to the forefront of his mind.

He promised.

Then lied.

No one besides Zelda, her guard, Purah, that little girl outside, and a few residents in Hateno knew he survived his second attempt at the Calamity. He'd been hiding. Piecing his mind and body back together.

Or maybe he just ran away from it all.

And now he had the greatest inkling shit was gonna hit the fan. Real. Fast.