In The Rain

Waking of Saturday, December 29, 2018

In The Rain

I warped to the Wetland Stable, and began to search the woods near the river. I didn’t find much. Just a lot of edible plants, some Koroks I’d already encountered.... Tye and Sorelia in a jam. I stopped to get them out of it.

Nothing. Nothing on this side of the river.

So I crossed to the west side. Picked a high spot of the bank and paraglided over the current. I did not receive a warm welcome on the other shore. One Big Yiga and three Stalkoblins took issue with my presence. But once I’d told them to knock it off, and gotten the woods to myself, and looked just a little deeper into the green....

There.

There was the spot. The Glowing Memory. Waiting for me to step into it....

Link and Zelda ran through the rain. Sword out. His other hand clasped the Princess’. He led her hard and fast through the pouring grey.

They were ragged, and filthy, and dirty, and desperate, panting—

Zelda stumbled.

Link pulled up, stopped. Turned and stood. Walked back slowly.... And stopped.

The trees and the rain could keep watch for a moment.

Zelda had collapsed hands and knees to the ground in her white dress. Her poor, beautiful white dress.

She still panted, and the breaths began to rack her frame with something more.

“How... How did it come to this? Everything... the Divine Beasts, all the Guardians, they’ve turned against us,” she bemoaned.

Link sheathed his sword, and knelt down too.

“It was Calamity Ganon. It turned them all against us—” She clenched her fists against the mud. “—And everyone... Mipha, Urbosa, Revali and Daruk... they’re trapped inside those things...”

She was crying. I could see her tears even through the rain.

“It’s my fault,” she cried, “Everything we’ve done up until now... it’s all been for nothing. All because I couldn’t harness this cursed power!” Her voice was rising now. “So I really am just a failure!”

The mud only ate her howling as she blew herself out, quieting again, “Everyone... My friends, everyone in the Castle... and my father most of all...” she said, “I left them... all to die.”

And she fell into Link’s arms and just.... wept.