Linktober 2023

Day 16, Dragons

Link felt like he knew the Light Dragon when he first saw her. But the reason why shook him more than any answer he came up with himself.

Tags: Link/Zelda, totk spoilers, Angst, hurt no comfort

He watched in horror as all his questions for the past weeks were answered. He saw the blinding light, so similar to the one she used to seal away Calamity Ganon, only this time she was sealing away herself, and his sword.

The Light Dragon Link had admired and ridden and followed for weeks since waking up had been Zelda all along. It made some sense, he thought. Why he felt so much closer to her... if that made sense. Like he knew her, knew her story. Could read her mind. He pulled the sword from her main without knowing the full story, without knowing how it got there.

Goddesses, did it look painful. Link sobbed, an innocent bystander to the transformation, as his girl gave up everything to get his sword back to him, to save her Kingdom, to get back to him. There was a weight on his chest as he watched the scene, watched her cry, leaving tears of visions of the past as clues for him to find.

And then the vision faded with a roar that shook the ground. Link, stranded on a monster infested island, looked out, disoriented by the sound and the vision. What happened?

He looked around. There were silent princesses by where the pool was. Those definitely weren't there before. And then another roar sounded, and Link looked up, to find the Light Dragon – his Zelda – flying overhead.

Link didn't think before running after her, taking a handful of silent princesses as he took of across the sand, paying no mind to the monsters that gave chase or the water that came up to his knees, then his waist, then he was swimming to shore faster than he ever had before.

She was fast, he had to give her that. But her was determined, and even as his lungs burned from running and the ocean water he inhaled by accident, he still screamed for her. He screamed until his voice broke, until it was torn and shredded by the sound. It scared the nearby monsters and koroks, but there were no people around to see, nobody to watch him run helplessly to her, even though he didn't even know where to begin helping her.

I'm coming, I'll save you, you made it, I'm here. He screamed until his voice was nothing more than a whisper. Until he caught a fallen bit of sky island and used Zelda's ability to send him into the sky. Then he was gliding after her, using the updraft the dragons had to land on her back.

She was so beautiful... How could she be this beautiful in every body, every form?

Link ran along the spines on her back, picking up loose bits of scale and spine until he was at her head, holding on gently to one of her antlers.

"I'm here, Zel," he said, softly because he had to. His voice cracked and hurt. "Thank you for bringing my sword back to me."

She didn't respond. He wondered if she was truly gone. What if he couldn't bring her back?

No, he decided before the tears could fall completely. He would find a way to bring her back, even if he had to destroy the world or himself to do it. She deserved better than this, so he had to try.

He couldn't live with himself if this was her future.

They stayed like that for hours. Link sat on her head and spoke softly, not caring if she could actually hear him or not. He told her about the school and Purah and Robbie and Josha, and all the people she left behind and would miss.

When night fell, she was close to Central Hyrule, about a mile walk to Lookout Landing. And, despite not wanting to leave her, Link didn't know where she was going, and didn't have proper supplies if they ended up in Hebra or Gerudo. So, holding back tears, he glided toward the lights of Lookout Landing in the distance, leaving Zelda behind with a promise to return.

Link walked through the gates of Lookout Landing with a mere nod to the man controlling the doors. Purah saw him, running up to him and asking rapid fire questions.

"Can... we talk tomorrow?" Link asked softly, his voice still rough as gravel. "I'm so tired."

Purah, he could tell, wanted to question him. His eyes were rimmed with red from crying, and he was a little sunburnt on his face, and he sounded terrible. And he looked exhausted, but not the normal kind, like after a long day. No, he was emotionally tired. What had he seen?

Purah left him alone, and Link went to the emergency shelter, finding a bed for himself in the dark corners with the other residents.

He cried that night, quiet as he could, until sleep claimed him. That night, he dreamed of her, and the pain she went through, and the eons she's lived without him.