A Hero's Ballad

Chapter 12: Blades of the Yiga

 I walked back to my room, Link trailing behind me. He had been quite insistent upon staying by my side throughout the entire day after he had heard about the lizalfos attack; probably upset he had not been there himself during the attack so he could uphold his duty. In fact, he had been uncertain about me leaving with Urbosa to train from the beginning, afraid something would happen to me. And something had happened, fueling his need to not let me out of his sight. Because of this, he had been glued to my side for the rest of the day and after days of intense training, the attack, and then dealing with everything once we returned to Gerudo Town, my patience was running thin.

Inhaling deeply several times and then exhaling slowly, I tried my best to not snap at the knight. He was only doing his job, even if he was going a bit over the top with it. Nothing was going to happen to me in a palace filled with Gerudo warriors.

Once Urbosa and I had returned to the Gerudo Town, Urbosa immediately went to the palace to talk to Natuma. By the time we got to the palace, both Natuma and Link were waiting for us, clearly having received word of our return. Natuma and Link had listened in stunned silence as we recounted what had happened, from Urbosa's new power to the Lizalfos attack. Natuma had instantly sprung into action, preparing several patrols to search the desert and another to investigate the battlefield we had just come from.

Urbosa and I led Natuma and a few Gerudo warriors back to the site of the attack. Link had also tagged along, refusing to leave my side, despite the fact that I was surrounded by a group of esteemed warriors.

Natuma and Urbosa had taken their time investigating the sight, leaving me to patiently wait for them to finish. I answered a few questions every now and then, but otherwise I waited, wishing I could go back to the palace and just sleep for several days straight. Now that the adrenaline had left my body, everything was back to aching, however now it felt worse than before.

When we finally left and returned to Gerudo Town, Urbosa had a healer come to tend to both our wounds properly and more thoroughly than I had done after the battle. The whole while, Link stayed nearby, out of sight of the healer, but if I tilted back, I could see him leaning against the wall that led to the guest rooms, patiently watching and waiting for me.

Finally when that was done, I was allowed to return to my room. I said a brief goodbye to Urbosa and then walked away, feeling each step as I did, my limbs heavy. As I reached where Link was, I merely gave him a brief glance and then walked past him, wanting nothing more than to collapse on a pile of blankets.

Reaching my room, I turned to Link and making sure to keep my voice level, I said, "Link, I'm very tired. It's early, but I'm honestly just going to go to sleep and I won't be leaving my room until tomorrow. So go do something rather than follow my every footstep." I didn't wait for a reply or reaction. I simply opened the door to my room, walked inside, and firmly closed the door behind me.

I let out a long, exhausted sigh and sluggishly made my way over to the bed. With the last of my energy, I took off my armor and desert clothes and then pulled a shirt over my head. Then I fell onto the bed, sinking into the soft, heavenly mattress. I had never been so grateful to lie in a comfortable bed. I grabbed a pillow and then held it to me, curling around it.

Although my body was completely drained, my mind was still running at the speed of light, thinking about everything that had happened. My eyes felt wary, so I knew sleep wasn't far off, as long as I could quiet my raging thoughts for a moment.

The fact that Urbosa had been given this extraordinary power was proof that Calamity Ganon was coming. Hylia would not give such a power for no reason. The increased appearance of monsters was also an indicator, although not conclusive. But now I knew for certainty that Calamity Ganon was coming. I needed to find the other champions and give them their powers as well. And most importantly, I needed to unlock mine.