The Hands Of Time | A Breath of The Wild Fanfiction

The Field

The sound of mechanical whirring and buzzing filled their ears the moment they arrived.

Unfortunately, a huge wave of lightheadedness crashed against her. The dreaded chills resumed their racing at her spine, and she noticed Link sitting in the grass beside her looking disoriented.

Mipha's convenient healing magic had worn off now that she'd been to and from the present. Link had gone two whole trips through time and Zelda couldn't even begin to imagine was his state was like. He was probably miserable.

It was a good thing that Zelda had changed out of her gerudo clothing and into her regular everyday clothes, for the terrain around them was grassy, the sky was gray and cloudy and the familiar sour stench they'd smelt in the present was eminent here as well.

The field was also filled with guardians.

Using the dwindling strength, she had left, she hoisted her weakened knight up by the arms and began dragging his limp body across the drenched grass towards a small group of boulders they could hide behind.

"Are you alright?" The princess asked him breathlessly after they'd acquired cover.

"Probably," Link groaned, "I'm freezing, and my head won't stop spinning," he explained, shaking as he tried to stand.

His knees gave out for a moment underneath him, and he fell forward into the princess's arms.

She caught him haphazardly, nearly plummeting to the ground herself.

"You're not alright," she mumbled worriedly.

"I'll be fine, no need to fret over me," Link chuckled weakly, standing upright again, but with a slight slouch in his posture.

"You say that, but it's obvious you're not," she sighed. "Regardless, we should be scoping the area for..."

Her words trailed off the moment she spotted the strangest sight she'd ever seen in her life.

On the opposite end of the field was herself; a past iteration of Link was holding onto her wrist, trying to guide her to safety.

Eventually, the pair were cornered by some of the guardians who'd managed to spot them.

Zelda watched as the past Link collapsed in exhaustion to the ground, standing in front of his princess and protecting her even still.

"Link go! Save yourself!" Her past self pleaded, gently placing her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to urge him away.

Link however, didn't back down, he remained standing there giving no consideration towards leaving her side.

One of the giant machines scuttled in front of them. It's mechanical eye glowed brightly, and a red laser erupted forth, targeting the defenseless knight.

"No!" Zelda's past self cried, preparing to leap in front of her appointed.

But, before she could, the attacking guardian suddenly broke down, crumbling to the wet ground, buzzing and crackling, now no longer working.

It's giant metal legs splayed out on the grass and the whirring of its internal engines ceased.

"Wait...this isn't what happened..." The current Zelda mumbled to Link, who didn't need to respond in order to show he understood as well. Something was amiss.

Taking advantage of the golden opportunity, the past Zelda grabbed Link's wrist just as he'd done moments before and took off running again.

"Come on, Link! We just need to hold out a little longer!" She said, charging through the field with her knight in tow.