Forgive me | Legend of Zelda FF | ENG

12 ~ Helpfulness

I looked at her in disbelief. It could not be that we had been the last people here!
Hectically, I looked around; the barracks and constructs were all deserted and even where the soldiers normally bustled about, everything was completely empty, as if it had been swept clean.

I turned back to Hilda and looked at her urgently.
"But where are all the people then?", I asked without even taking my eyes off her. "Where have all the Hylians gone?"
Hilda gently put her hands on both of my shoulders and turned me away from her so that I could now look directly at Hyrule Castle.
"They all fled to Castle Town," she explained as I heard her exhale bitterly. "My husband also fled to Castle Town, along with our son."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I replied immediately, turning to give her a hug. A little shocked, she jerked away at my sudden touch, but then wrapped her arms tightly around my hips as I could already hear her begin to sob quietly.

We remained like that for a while; me with Hilda in my arms, as we both stood on the abandoned maneuver and training ground. Carefully I stroked her back again and again, hoping to calm her down somehow.
"I had to watch the Malice tear them to the ground and overpower them," she brought out in a shaky voice as I just squeezed her tighter.

I hardly knew Hilda, but she was part of the people of Hyrule and as their princess I felt responsible for everyone here. Seeing her like this ripped my heart out.
How could such a kind-hearted person have to lose everything? And then to see it happen?
Maybe that was why she entered the Malice in the first place, to get to me and save me; maybe because I was the only person around who could have survived at all.

Somewhat awkwardly, Hilda broke free of the embrace again and now looked at me with a gentle smile as she carefully brushed her tears from her cheeks.
"But it won't do either of us any good here now if you don't get anywhere, right?" she asked me in a brittle voice as I gave her a confused look back.
"Well, you'd want to do something, wouldn't you?" she asked me now, waiting for my answer.

Of course I wanted to do something, I had also had everything kind of planned out in my head; well, not really, but I wanted to go to the castle. Save everyone. Free the castle. Defeat Ganon. And above all, save Link.
The thought of Link immediately made me feel queasy again. I didn't know what had happened to him, but in the time I was unconscious, the Malice must have already reached the Shrine of Resurrection, there was no other way than that.

A shiver ran down my spine.
If I had really lost Link now, then I would no longer be happy in my life; actually, I wouldn't know what to do then. And to keep telling myself that he'll be fine is really just a way of distracting myself from the fact that I'll never see him again....
I mean, Malice kills everything and everyone when you came in contact with it, and Link was lying unconscious in the Shrine of Resurrection. Add to that the fact that the Malice had come from the Master Sword in the first place, which reflected Link's condition; which meant as much as Link had to be somehow involved in all the Malice shit too.

Hilda was right; I had to do something. Even though I didn't really have a plan yet, I still had to do something.

"I want to do something, of course," I answered Hilda as she looked at me in happiness. "I can't watch the whole country being taken over by an evil force."
"That's a very commendable attitude, Zelda," Hilda said as she walked closer to me and took my hand. "You have what it takes to save the land yet. You could be called our last hope."

I winced briefly at her remark. The Great Deku Tree had said the exact same thing to me just before he withered away; just before he died. The Deku Tree was right; I was the last hope and the remaining inhabitants of Hyrule, even if it was only Hilda, trusted in me and my Sacred Power.

They believed that their princess would save them.

Hilda smiled kindly at me as she led me by the hand back to the house from which we had come. Once there, she went back to the bed and took the pile of clothes again.
"Actually, I was going to give these to you right after you woke up," she put in as she began to giggle. "But I guess that didn't work out."
A smile spread across my face. It was fascinating how Hilda could remain so cheerful and confident in such a situation. But that was exactly what I needed; otherwise I might have given up long ago.