The Collapse (AU) (TOTW)

Sabotage

"Alright, we're over halfway to the stable," I said, looking down at a map. The horses were grazing in the nearby field, and Zelda sat next to me on the side of the path. Hoz and the 4 men laid scattered under some nearby trees. We were rested on the path West of Whistling Hills, which sat West of Riverside Stable.

I looked over at the men and Hoz was walking over, he looked distressed, and when he stopped, "Link, one of our men is feeling sick."

I looked at Zelda and she looked at Hoz, "What kind of illness is he feeling?"

"He says he's dizzy and his head hurts, he's having really bad headaches."

Zelda looked and me, and we stood in unison and walked over to the tree line. The man was sat up against the tree with the other two around him. He seemed distressed and was holding his head in his hands.

"Sir... are you okay?" Zelda asked him, sitting on her knees across from him.

"L..." He began, but trailed off.

"What?" Zelda asked.

"L..." She looked at me, as if saying 'What the hell?' I looked at him but he kept his hands in his hands, "Li... Lin..."

"Link?" Zelda asked, at first I looked over but then she pointed at him.

He began shaking after she said my name, "Link... Link..." He finally looked up, "Link! You killed my master and Erin, I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!!" He shouted, transforming into a Yiga member. He pulled a curved blade like the other Yiga from the desert and got into a fighting stance.

"Oh... it's just one of you? That'll be easy." I said, drawing my sword. But then suddenly, the other two members started shaking and transformed into Blademasters. Zelda stood abruptly and I grabbed her arm and pulled her behind me.

Hoz looked shocked and backed up slowly, then he turned on his heel and ran. In shock, I sheathed my sword and grabbed Zelda's hand and started sprinting the opposite direction. They continued their pursuit and chased us, I glanced back and the two blademasters were doing their magic thing. The foot soldier used his magician trick to appear in front of us, I acted quickly and swung down as hard as I could, slicing through his arm and into his torso. He yelled in pain and vanished, so me and Zelda continued running. The other two had activated their magic and whistling geysers rushed towards us, I ran in a zig zag with Zelda in tow. The soldier appeared in front of us and we slid to a halt. I unsheathed my sword and swung down, burying my sword into the shoulder blade. He grabbed his shoulder and disappeared, I looked up and he was falling down towards us with his longsword. I swung my sword up and through the air, slicing into his waist, and continuing down, slamming him into the ground and cutting further into his waist. He screamed in agony and stumbled with his disappearing "magic". I raised my foot and planted it on his back, then I pulled it out and he screamed. He started shaking and was able to finish his "magic spell", vanishing while still screaming.

"Link..." Zelda started, when I turned she looked terrified, looking into my eyes in fear. I stepped over to her but she still looked scared of me.

"Zelda, I-" But all of a sudden one of the Blademasters geysers opened up under me, and shot me up into the air. When I hit the ground, I stumbled and rolled before gaining my footing and seeing Zelda on the ground with a Blademaster standing over her. I looked past them and saw Hoz on his horse heading towards

His sword raised up and he began to swing down, "NOOOOOOOO!" I shouted, I felt a strength rush through me and I was running in slow-motion. I dash forward in an instant and reached them as the blade was inches from her throat. I thrusted my sword and felt it block the curved blade, I swung up and flicked the blade away. The Blademaster looked surprised for a moment before I stabbed through his chest. He staggered and I yanked it out, I hit him with such force, blood started pouring out of his chest. I grabbed his chest, he attempted his disappearing spell but fumbled and fell to his knees. I decided to leave him and grabbed Zelda and hurried to our horses, I helped Zelda onto her horse and got on mine and we rushed away from the scene.

We took off quickly, heading towards Wetland Stable. After 15 minutes of riding, we were in the clear so we slowed down. We were getting closer by the minute, since there wasn't too big of a gap between Riverside and Wetland Stable. We travelled in silence, with Zelda seemly still in shock from the events. It was a quick ride and we arrived at Wetland Stable without our men to battle off the swarms of Bokoblins. When we arrived there, we saw the stable entrances were blocked off and it was surrounded by Bokoblins. 10-12 of them were gathered, not noticing us just yet, I quietly got off my horse and approached them.

I gestured at Zelda to get away and be quiet and then I confronted the closest one. I drew my sword and swung down on their head, slicing through it smoothly. It collapsed on the group and the other Bokoblins noticed, luckily for me, a majority of their weapons were resting on a nearby log. I sprinted towards the log, slicing through 2 of the Bokos, I landed in from of them and blocked their weapons. Unluckily for me though, they started grabbing at me and trying to hit me, I swung a wide slash and cut the ones directly around me. I ducked their swings and sliced through their bodies with ease. Within 5 minutes, all the Bokoblins were dead, once the last one's body hit the ground, all the bodies disintegrated. I signaled for Zelda to come over and she got off her horse and walked over to me.

"Are you okay Zelda?" I asked, touching her face with my right hand. She flinched and pushed my hand away with a smile.

"Yes Link, I'm just fine... Let's get the stable back in order."

"Oh..." I trailed, looking away. I shook my head but followed her orders, walking over to the entrance and breaking the barricades off.

"PLEASE DON'T HURT US!" One of the stable hands shouted, with all the people inside hiding behind different objects in the room.

"It's Princess Zelda!" A young boy shouted, as Zelda came through the entrance. And with those words, the crowd cheered with a variety of chants, ranging from "The Princess saved us!" and "We're saved" and the worst of all, "Who's that weird boy with her?!"

Then Zelda gave one of her signature speeches and we settled in for the night. The staff gave us life-long passes to stay there, and expressed a lot of gratitude. Mostly towards Zelda, but either way, we got the best beds in the stable and Zelda quickly drifted off to sleep. Sleep didn't come as easy to me, because I had a lot of thoughts running through my head.

The Goddess Hylia told me that me and Zelda fall in love in the proper timeline. But our relationship is so rocky, I mean, she was so cold to me today. Maybe it was because I brutally assaulted a Yiga Member, but what could I do?? It was in the heat of the moment and I saved her. And how come everyone praised Zelda and not me, they called me the weird boy. Bad thoughts filled my head but eventually, I fell asleep.

*a whole year long break is crazyyyy, lmk if my writings gotten better. ALSO MOST IMPORTANTLY, WOULD YOU GUYS PREFER A GOOD ENDING OR BAD ENDING??? I COULD WRITE BOTH OR PICK ONE: REPLY/COMMENT ON THIS TO LMK YOUR THOUGHTS. THANK YOU!*