Nightmares - Skyward Sword {ZeLink}

Chapter 9 - A Wounded Goddess

Link’s P.O.V

“ZELDA! PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP! I PROMISED YOU I WOULD COME WAKE YOU UP AGAIN! YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME, NOT LIKE THIS!”

I sobbed lightly to myself as I held her body close to me, her chin rest atop my shoulder as I cried into hers. My mission was to protect Zelda from the beginning. But now that I’ve failed, what next? Anything? Or is it all over?

“Wake up, sleepyhead… PLEASE! Wake up…” I whispered into her ear.

A small spark ignited some hope within me, when I felt Zelda’s chest thud in time with her heartbeat against my own chest. But it was slow.

I lowered Zelda down onto the ground so she lay flat. I cautiously drew the Master Sword from its sheath, on lowered it slowly toward Zelda’s face.

“LINK! WHAT IN HYLIA’S NAME ARE YA DOING!?”

Groose’s sudden outburst made me jump, which caused me to nearly drop my sword. That… could’ve ended horribly.

I yelled back at Groose for nearly making me slice Zelda’s face.

“SHUT UP GROOSE! THIS ISN’T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!” I started lowering my sword again, making sure the blade was on the flat side.

I put the blade closer to her nostrils and held it there. I saw small bits of her breath create fog on the sword, and a wave of relief came upon me.

I swiftly sheathed the sword again, and lifted Zelda into my arms, making sure not to cause anymore blood loss. Groose and I began walking towards the doors of the Sealed Temple.

I pushed the big stone doors open with my backside along with Groose, and stood outside. I walked to a nearby wall and put Zelda up against it while I called for my loftwing.

Because we were on the surface, my loftwing took a lot longer to arrive, but that’s to be expected I guess. They were not created to go through the cloud barrier that separated this land from our own.

Once it eventually arrived, it landed right in front of me. I took Zelda into my arms again. My loftwing must’ve known what was going on, because he then lowered himself onto the ground completely so that he was lying down, making it easier for me to set myself atop of him.

Groose spoke just as I was about to take off. “But Link! What am I supposed to do with Granny? She’s still wounded too!”

I thought about it for a moment, and then I had an idea.

“Groose, you stay put here with the old woman. I need to take Zelda back to Skyloft! She doesn’t have much time. But I will return with medical supplies after I get Zelda some help.”

Groose didn’t seem to argue with that idea, which was a first. He nodded in understanding and returned into the temple so that he was safe.

“Let’s go boy”, I said to my loftwing. His take-off was slow and steady, but rather bumpy at the same time. His pace began to pick up a little as we neared the cloud barrier.

Once we were above the clouds, my bird made a fast break, which nearly made me fall off. Nonetheless, I held on. He knew that Zelda was in grave danger, and he was doing all that he could to help me, and her.

I looked down at Zelda in my arms as her hair blew everywhere. I saw her bleeding was slowly starting to commence again, most likely from the sudden movement.

I ripped off a bit of my tunic and scrunched it up into a ball of fabric. I applied pressure onto the wound, like Professor Owlan had taught everyone in First-aid class, but not too much that it would cause more internal damage.

Skyloft grew larger every second. Whilst still holding onto Zelda, I commandeered my bird so that it landed right in front of the academy’s doors. I thought it’d be best to not make a scene.

My feathered friend laid on the ground once more as I scooted onto the solid ground of my home. I ran straight for the door and kicked it impatiently until someone answered.

“Someone help! This is an urgent matter of life and death… Zelda’s life!” That seemed to work.

Not 1, but 4 people came to open the door. There stood Pipit, Karane, Professor Owlan and Zelda’s father, Gaepora. All of their faces had the same expression all over; horror.

“Link! What in the goddess’s name has happened!?”

“Wha…what’s wrong with Zelda!?”

“My daughter! My dear daughter! Why!?”

They were all asking questions, obviously wanting answers. I spat it out to avoid any other questions.

“It was my fault! I did this to her! Now PLEASE! SHE NEEDS HELP!”

Everyone was silent after that. I admit, I probably did make it sound a lot worse than what really happened. Everyone moved out of the way as Owlan lead me to Zelda’s sleeping quarters.

Owlan placed a blanket on top of Zelda’s bed to prevent getting blood everywhere. He fixed up her pillows so that she laid down flat. I placed her on the mattress and took a few steps back as Owlan dashed in and out of the room carrying all sorts of medical supplies.

“Link, I need you to get some wet cloth to clean up the blood. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes of course!” And with that I dashed out of the room as quick as I could.

I had only been gone for a few moments, but by the time I came back it looked as though Owlan had given Zelda a complete makeover. She had Band-Aids and bandages covering her skin everywhere.

The only thing that hadn’t been treated out of all her wounds was the one in her abdomen. I quickly gave Owlan the cloth he had asked for and he immediately put it to use.

Watching Owlan treat Zelda’s major injuries took extreme measures for them to have any kind of effect at all. I saw that he began pulling out a needle and thread, and I knew what he was going to do.

I instantly felt sick and could feel myself swaying back and fourth wildly.

“Link, are yof alrghjghxkdl…”

His words became muffled and his voice trailed off as I blacked out and fell to the ground…