Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

-Chapter 1-

Link didn't recognize the world anymore. After waking up in a strange cave, following a man that turned out to be the king of a kingdom Link had supposedly died for, he set out on his missions. Moving through the lands that once had to have been filled with people, yet he didn't remember them. Didn't remember how settlements once were in place of the numerous ruins, didn't remember the people.

Sometimes he saw glimpses, things that reminded him of… something. But never anything about him. Only about his duties, the other champions, and Zelda. The voice he had heard when he woke up. After talking to Impa, he realized he'd have to free the four Divine Beasts to get some answers, to know who he had been.

He needed to know. He felt empty, the space that should have been filled with memories of himself, his friends, his life. He didn't even know if he had any in the first place. It was maddening.

First, he went to the Zora's. He didn't have anything that would protect him against the harsh elements of the other towns, and the Zora domain was closest. Vah Ruta was easy to turn. The monster in it was a wicked swimmer, but Link managed to kill it with the electric arrows he had collected.

The memories were harder to process. Link sat on a bench across from Mipha's statue. Another name that he should have known. Another person that he failed. Yet, the way she spoke to him, his memory, it suggested that they had been more than friends. Not to mention the armor. Link felt wrong wearing it. It belonged to who he had once been, which felt like a completely different person than he was now. He didn't even remember his supposed fiancé.

Next was Vah Medoh. Link had gotten a warm shirt from the old man's hut, and felt brave enough to travel to the Rito village. The way there was tougher than it had been to the Zora's, the cold seeping deep into Link's bones, despite his warm clothes.

Link felt shaken after watching the Rito champion, Revali, in his memory. Was it really his memory, though? Were any of them? He didn't know. Apparently the old him and Revali didn't get along, but he supposed he was still sad that he hadn't made it.

The curse in Vah Medoh was easily defeated. Well, easily. Link didn't have any arrows left after his fight and he resolved to become a better archer, to be more able to take out long distance enemies. When Revali admitted to him that he was stronger, Link should have felt proud. Instead, all he could think about was that he had been too late.

Safe to say, Link had left the village as soon as he could, dressed in his new Snowquill gear.

He took a break after that. Went to Hateno, bought a house, and stored Mipha's spear and Revali's bow there. No one interrupted him there, and he felt at peace for the first time since his resurrection. It couldn't last, no matter how many recipes Link tried out, or how many books he read. He knew he had to keep going, free Zelda and Hyrule.

While Link was sitting at his table, he spread out a map. He was considering freeing Vah Rudania next, but he also wanted to check out rumors about another town that had survived the calamity. After contemplating for a few days -definitely not procrastinating his decision- Link decided that he needed to see other people. Ones he hadn't failed.

Lurelin was quite beautiful. They had survived the calamity because of their proximity to water, and apparently, when the guardians came, they had just gone out on the water where they couldn't be followed. Link felt relieved that some places had made it out relatively unscathed, and not just because of the people. Here, where news traveled from far, the champions and politics weren't that important. Meaning, Link could tell someone his name and they wouldn't recognize it.

There was an empty house there. Link struck a deal with the elder that if no one had bought it, he could stay there if he wanted, in return for some of the more exotic items he carried. He was fine with this arrangement, and got to know the people quite well.

His sense of duty kept gnawing at him though, so he said out in the direction of the volcano. After so much water everywhere, being somewhere else might be nice, he thought.

That didn't mean he liked the heat, though. The air around the volcano felt like it was on fire, and Link had an immense respect for the Gorons That lived there. He had barely made it to Goron city, and had immediately bought fire resisting gear. The whole set. It was heavy and Link could barely see anything, but it was better than not wearing it. He talked to the boss, and located Yunobo. Yunobo had been terrified, not meant for a power like this, insecure about using his powers, but he had still helped for the greater good. He reminded Link of someone. Someone who looked back whenever he looked into the mirror.

The fight against this curse was a lot harder than the others. Link suspected it was because it had to have been tough to be able to win from Daruk.

Daruk was someone with whom Link hadn't had that much of a connection, their conversation and his memories indicated that he had been a friend, but not a deep one. Sure, they probably would have died for each other, if Link understood their bond well, but they wouldn't talk about feelings and other deep stuff. Link was glad. He couldn't handle another emotional conversation so soon.

Or ever, if he was being honest.

On his way to the Gorons, Link had encountered a spooky forest. He hadn't gone in, but it did keep him busy. He decided to pay it a visit, and after he had figured out the way the air currents would blow was the way in, he made it with only a few minor missteps. (Even after figuring it out, Link still had been thrown out three times)

As he spoke to the talking tree, which he was just gonna banish to the back of his mind to be processed later, a sword caught his eye. It was pulsing with light, gentle sounds and voices coming off of it. Link squinted at it, ignoring the tree. He had the distinct feeling the sword was calling to him. He walked over to it, and grabbed the handle. As soon as he did, he felt the power drain from his body, but he didn't resist. It felt right. Link fell to his knees, but kept pulling at the sword. He started to sway, and blackness threatened to take over his vision. In that moment, the sword shone a bright blue, and shot into Link's hand. Link smiled, and promptly passed out.

After the very wholesome and definitely not concerning experience of getting his sword back, Link set off in the direction of the Gerudo fortress. He hadn't been in that direction much yet, so he couldn't teleport there. He rode his horse all the way to the stable, where he found that he couldn't ride his horse any further. Link walked all the way to the bazaar, where he happily cooled down and prepared himself for the next stretch of road. Link was in good shape, but even he could barely handle running through the desert in the sweltering heat. When he arrived, there was only more bad news.

Men weren't allowed in the Gerudo fortress. Link watched a man try and instantly get kicked out.

The man stood next to him and sent a grimace his way. "You also trying to get in?" Link nodded, not elaborating further.

The man sighed. "Man, I've been trying for a while now, I'm so close to giving up. Might check out the rumor from the bazaar." He muttered those last words under his breath, but Link heard them anyway and perked up. He tilted his head at the man and asked: "What do you mean?" His voice was scratchy with disuse. Link had at first put it on the resurrection; not talking for a hundred years would have its effects, but Link hadn't seen himself talk once in any of his memories. He did see himself sign though, so he suspected he just hadn't talked back then for whatever reason.

The man next to him sighed. "Apparently there is someone at the bazaar who can get anyone into the fort, but I don't believe it. If it was true, the Gerudo's would have realized and removed them, but I have no other options."
Link smiled reassuringly at the man. "I'm sure you'll get in, dude, don't worry."

Was it bad encouraging someone to break into the Gerudo fortress? Probably. But Link wasn't a hypocrite, so he didn't try to dissuade him.

He said his greeting to the man, and returned to the bazaar. As he started walking, he heard the guy mutter: "All those women, man."

The guy had been right. After searching the bazaar, Link hadn't found anything, and it was getting late. Link knew he should probably get a bed for the night, but he had gotten used to sleeping outside, and he barely had a thousand rupees at the moment. He was saving up for sheikah gear to move quietly, so he couldn't spend it on a bed, even if he wanted to.

He laid down on the ground, but the sand kept getting blown in his eyes. Link scowled, until he spotted a ladder that seemed to lead to the top of the inn. He could sleep on top, undisturbed by the sand that was constantly moving above the ground, set in movement by the ever present desert wind.

Also, technically, he hadn't needed to sleep since he came back, and he could just watch over the desert. Link nodded and gathered his stuff, standing up and walking to the ladder.

It would appear that the rumors hadn't been rumors. Link had been looking for a quiet place to sleep, and had instead walked in (up?) on a Gerudo woman, who had given him an outfit, flirted with him, turned out to be a man, and kept flirting. Head reeling, Link walked down to the fortress in his new clothes, trying not to be annoyed.

Listen, he knew he wasn't big and muscled, you couldn't be if you had to be able to move fast. But still, the outfit hugged him in all the right places, and Link couldn't help but feel disgruntled by the fact he apparently had a feminine physique. Well, at least it would help him with staying undercover, right?

It didn't.

Riju and Buliara, her commander, saw through him almost instantly. But at least they let him stay and helped defeat Vah Naboris. Vah Naboris contained without a doubt the most powerful of all the curses. It was incredibly fast, and its attacks were literally like lightning. Link had to return to the Gerudo fortress multiple times to heal up, after barely escaping.

In the end though, he did it.
Urbosa seemed nice. Still, they weren't that close, which for some reason made him happy.

After having freed all the divine beasts, Link headed to Hyrule castle.

Hyrule castle was terrifying. Monsters were everywhere, and strong ones, too. Link was tired, and done with all the guardians who tried to kill him wherever he was. Then came the fight with Ganon. Ganon died, Link didn't, and that was all he wanted to think about. The fight itself had best been left undescribed.

As he watched Zelda reform out of her light, Link hid behind a pillar. He didn't know what to say, how to talk to her. So he didn't. He ran, all the way to the forest of the talking tree. He had fulfilled his task, he would like to get rid of the sword. It had helped him, yes, but now, whenever he looked at it, all he saw was the fight against Ganon.
"I fulfilled my duties, and I came to return the sword to its resting place." His words rang out in the silent forest.
"Very well, my child."

Link drove the sword into the ground, as deep as he could, and the light blue glow on it spread to the ground, as if connecting the sword with it. Link took a step back, looking at the sword for the last time.

"Goodbye, old friend."

Suddenly, he was thrown backwards and he blacked out.

Chapter Text

-Chapter 2-

Pale moonlight shone over a clearing in a misty forest. A man, a boy really, laid on the ground. Next to him was a sword, stuck in the earth, pulsating blue light spilling from it, creating threads. Five of them appeared, and they shot off in different directions.

The first one went to Hyrule castle, where, still weak, Zelda suddenly was bursting with power. She felt it wash over her, healing her wounds, repairing her clothes. "What?" She murmured, unsure if it really was what she thought it was.

The second thread went to a volcano, inside a big lizard-like machine. Slowly, a small pile of rocks appeared, getting bigger until a person stood there, orange skin gleaming in the light of the lava all around him. Daruk stared around confusedly.

Another went to an elephant, standing proudly on a platform. Little bits of water formed, and a Zora was revealed on her arm and leg fins. Mipha had risen.

Fast and powerful, a lightning bolt struck Vah Naboris, and Urbosa stood where it had come down. She looked around hesitantly.

The last went to a bird perched on Rito village, little wisps of air forming a Rito, feathers and all.

The champions had risen again.

All of them were restored to how they were before their last battle. None of them knew how. They only had memories of being trapped. But one by one, they remembered a spark. A boy, coming to free them all. Link.

A presence filled their minds. It spoke no words, but all five knew what it said. Their return had been a gift from Hylia.

***

Link woke up with a pounding headache. He groaned, and looked around. He was still in the creepy forest. He frowned. Had he fallen asleep?

He mentally shook himself, and teleported back home. Although, not really. He teleported back to his house. His house wasn't a home, as far as he could remember he never even had one.

He didn't want to fight anymore. Honestly, he didn't want his old memories either. He just wanted to be. He might not remember it, but he knew he had never had the chance to do so in his life.

He cleaned his house, and put his sheikah slate and everything in it in a box under his stairs. Then he changed into a normal outfit a farmer would wear, and set out for the fields around Hateno to see if anyone needed a hand with harvesting.

***

Zelda paced up and down the pathway. Next to her was a shrine. This was the one the others had mainly used to get to the castle with their sheikah slates. Theirs hadn't been as advanced as the one that belonged to Zelda, but they could still teleport to places. One by one, blue sparks appeared, and the champions stepped forward. Zelda could cry. After a hundred years of grieving her friends, her family, they were back in front of her, solid and well. Urbosa appeared then, and she instantly rushed to give her a tight hug. Urbosa had been like an older sister to Zelda, and she was perhaps the one she missed most. Still, after Urbosa released her, she gave shorter, but no less tight, hugs to the others.

It took no time for them to be joking around like old times again, Revali boasting about his skills, Daruk patting -punching- people on the back, Mipha being sweet and Urbosa pretending she was above it all. Zelda knew that they were going to have to talk about what they were gonna do, that they all needed to grieve, but that could wait. For now, she was home again.

She turned to the side, the words dying on her lips when she saw empty space. She looked around, as if he would be anywhere but next to her.

Urbosa looked at her. "You ok?" This caught the attention of the others, quickly looking at Zelda, concern on their faces.

"Where is Link?"

Chapter Text

-Chapter 3-

Link entered his house, content after a day of hard work. It had taken some convincing to work next to the other farmers, but his older clothes and down to earth attitude had finally won them over. The villagers still treated Link with too much respect, but it was less now, and now they even made small talk with him. Link liked this.

***

Zelda hated living like this. They had been looking for Link for three days now, and they had found nothing but confirmation from Impa that he'd been briefly in Kakariko. The doubt and guilt were eating her up. How had she not noticed that Link was gone earlier?

She entered the gates of Hateno village, Mipha at her side. They had all split up to check the settlements and stables, no one acknowledging that Link could just as well be camping somewhere in the wilderness.

They asked around, already preparing for another rejection, when finally, they talked to a farmer that recently hired someone named Link as a farmhand. Zelda was doubtful at first, but the farmer knew what he looked like down to his blue hair tie.

Mipha and Zelda quickly activated the shrine in Hateno village and called the others.
"Do you think it's him?" Revali asked, looking bored. He and Link had never really gotten along, so he was only helping so that the others would stop whining about Link.
"I hope so," Zelda said, "But I'm not sure. Let's check out where the farmer said he lives."

The house was pretty close to the shrine, but far away from most of the others. The champions had to pass the new buildings and go over a bridge, where a singular house stood. It looked maintained, but still pretty old, and there was smoke coming out of the chimney.

Daruk smiled. "It seems like our small friend is home."
"Let's hope." Mipha muttered.

They walked towards the house, and after a moment of hesitation, Zelda lifted her arm and knocked on the door.
"Hello?" She called. "Is anybody home?" No one answered. Revali sighed and pushed past Zelda, opening the door that hadn't been locked. Zelda frowned. In all of her time of knowing Link, he had never, not once, left his door unlocked.

They entered carefully, but it was no use. The small house was entirely empty. The living room contained a dining table, with some old dishes on them, and there was a loft with nothing but a bed and a nightstand. On the walls were weapon stands, also empty. Under the stairs was a singular box. The fireplace crackled, small flames spreading heat through the room. They all stood awkwardly in the living room, not knowing where to look or what to do.

Mipha interrupted the silence. "The box is empty."
"Well, so is this place, so let's go."
Mipha's eyes sharpened. "We are going to sit here, and wait for someone to show up. If no one does before nightfall, we leave."

Zelda looked at Mipha, impressed. She managed to shut Revali up, and no matter how often she had seen her do it, it was still pretty hard to do.

***

Link walked over the bridge to his house, but paused in the middle of the bridge. He had just been collecting some mushrooms for dinner, and taken his sheikah slate with him so he could store them easier. He didn't like the thing, but it was useful and hid some weapons in case he walked into a monster or two. After all, he was definitely not supposed to carry the heavy weaponry he did.

However, when he left he had closed his door. He hadn't locked it, no one did around here, which meant that someone was, or had been, inside. He walked to his stable, which was empty, and after a look around, he changed into his ninja outfit. This greatly reduced the sound he made and covered his face up too.

He opened the door of his storage room, and tip-toed inside. The room had a door to his living room, and it had a little one way window in it. The whole door was hidden behind a weapon stand, so it made for a great spying spot. As he got closer to the window, he began to make out a few shapes behind it.

There were people inside. Carefully, Link drew his bow and notched an arrow on it. Bows were often seen as clumsy and not made for short distance, but Link found they had quite the surprise element, and he had sharpened the sides so they could also be used as a sword if necessary.

The moment he was close enough to the window to see through it properly, he froze. The champions were in his house.

How did they find out where he was? Wait, who was he kidding. One of the farmers must have told them. Slowly, Link backed away, and as soon as he was out of his storage room, he sped away and slid down the hill and into the trees. As soon as Link was well hidden in the shade of the dark trees, and far away from the path to the village, he opened the map on his sheikah slate.

Even though carrying the sheikah slate made him feel weird and wrong, it did have its uses. Especially as Link just had to run from his home with no warning. Although, at that moment, Link was the most grateful for the teleport function.

He looked at the shrines on the map to decide where he could go.

The volcano? No, there were almost only Gorons around and a Hylian like him would only stand out, even more if he was wearing his heat-resistant armor. Besides, he hated the heat.

He looked at the mountains on the map, but decided against it. It was still winter, and even if it wasn't, Link would barely be able to find any food. He was also pretty done with living in the wild after all this time.

How about the Gerudo fortress? Link shook his head. It was way too hot there, and even after his travels, Link was still pretty pale, so he would burn like a crisp if he went there. He would also have to be in disguise constantly, and not be free at all. The Fortress was a last resort.

That's when he thought about his deal with the Lurelin village elder, about being able to stay in an empty home in exchange for some items the people there couldn't get their hands on.

Decision made, Link set off to Lurelin.

Chapter Text

-Chapter 4 -

*3 months later*

The sun shone down upon a grassy hill. Behind it, there were grassy plains with horses running over it, small foals darting over the grass. On the other side was a small village, next to the sea. A boy was standing on top of the hill, his skin tan and hair bleached, eyes blue as the sky on a sunny day, staring out over the sea.

Link had been living here for a good three months. At first he had been scared, constantly looking over his shoulder. But now, he finally felt safe. He didn't really feel at home, not yet, but he did think this was a good place to stay. The people in Lurelin were kind and, like Link already knew, the people didn't really care that much about who he was.

"Hey, did you get the fish?" Link looked up, his stream of thought interrupted. Behind him was Armes. Link nodded. "Yeah, got them." He handed over a bag filled with Mighty Porgies, some of the fish still flapping.

Armes and Link had gotten along pretty well in the last few months. The Hylian boy was lively and hardworking, as long as he wasn't gambling of course. He also didn't treat Link like he was special. He appreciated that.

They walked back to the village, greeting Rozel on the way, who was staring out over the water like usual. The clouds that had been looming at the horizon for the entire morning were nearing fast, and slowly, raindrops started falling from the sky. Armes looked up.

"It's raining. I'm just gonna..." Link nodded. "Go."

With that, Armes ran off to waste his money at the gambling chests. Link shook his head, by now used to the antics of his friend.

He dropped the fish off at the communal food storage, and went to the horses next to the village. The horses weren't exactly tame, but they were used to people. He watched as the foals drank from their mothers, before running off to play with their friends. They seemed so happy, so careless, so free. They had no idea half of the foals would not make it to the next year. Winters were though, even more if you were living on the coast. Their mothers had to know, they had seen it before, yet you wouldn't know it if you saw them.

After all, parents know that the life their precious kids will live won't be easy, but they do nothing to stop it. They just try to protect them until they can survive on their own.

Link watched as they did their thing, not moving until stars started to show themselves in the sky.

A shooting star flashed past.
Before, Link would have prayed to get stronger.

Before, he would wish that they would win the war.

Now, he wished for a place to call home.

Only when the light of the sun started to appear above the horizon, did Link return to his house.
He still didn't sleep.

The next morning saw Link with dark purple bruises under his eyes. Not that that was unusual lately. After waking up in the cave his dreams had been images, of people he didn't know, things he hadn't done. Barely anything solid, but still enough to make his sleep restless.

Then, he had regained some of his memories. That's when the nightmares started. Not just of the things he had seen after the resurrection, but his old memories, too. The faces from a hundred years ago blended in with the faces from now, death and pain upon all of them. He had taken to not sleeping if he could avoid it. And he could. Lin had no idea if he was already able to do this before he resurrected, but now he didn't need sleep. It had come in very handy when he was traveling in the wild.

Every morning, Link went out on his fishing boat. Sometimes, Armes went with him, but not today. He went out past the bay, a bit to the north. He caught a few fish, enough for dinner, and around noon, he sat down close to Loshlo harbor. He could easily pull his boat onto shore there, and dip his feet in the water. He set up a small campfire, and roasted some of the fish he had caught that morning. His sheikah slate was hidden under his house, so he couldn't make a proper meal, but just fish, although a little bland, did make an acceptable lunch.

"Link?"

Link looked up and saw a Zora in the sea. He squinted, trying to see who it was.

"Sidon?"

The Zora got out of the water, and it was indeed Sidon. The Zora prince sat down next to him, and stole some of his lunch.

"How've you been? I haven't seen you around the Zora domain for a while." Link mentally grimaced. "I… just haven't been feeling like it recently."

He wasn't about to unload on the young Zora prince. Besides, he didn't know if it would get back to someone else. Sidon was kind of a blabbermouth, after all.

Sidon nodded. "Ah, that makes sense." He froze. "Wait, does that mean that you haven't heard yet?"

Link tilted his head, feigning confusion. He had a feeling where this might be going.

"No, I don't think I heard. What do you mean?"

Sidon turned to face Link fully, like he was telling him some secret.

"After Ganon was defeated, the champions rose again. I finally got my sister back."

Link widened his eyes. "Really? How'd that happen?"

"Nobody knows. They just appeared out of nowhere. Oh, that reminds me. Mipha has been looking for you."

"Sidon, about that-"

"Oh, I'm gonna tell her right now I saw you here!" Sidon jumped up.

"Wait-"

But Sidon was already gone.

Link sighed.

When he'd first seen the champions, he'd been half convinced he had eaten some bad mushrooms. The only thing that convinced him it was real was the fact that the door was open. But now he knew for sure that they were back. The question was: How? How can a dead person come back? Link had no clue. Although, that was not the most important thing. Sidon would probably go straight to Mipha, and tell her that he was here. And sure, Link wasn't exactly next to Lurelin right now, but if she would ask there, they would tell her that Link was living there. After all, he had used his real name.

Which meant that he would have to prepare himself to see her. Maybe even someone else, if they were around. Or he could run, like last time. But Link had just settled down here. He'd just made a friend. He didn't want to abandon that.

As quick as he could -not very, his boat wasn't made for speed- he returned to Lurelin. The village was the same as always, but Link, for once, didn't greet anyone. He just went to his house, and sat down, waiting.

Chapter Text

-Chapter 5-

Mipha peered down at the map. A lot of fish were avoiding a particular cave they normally loved, so she needed to send out a team to check it out. But almost all of the soldiers were dealing with the Lizalfos on the path to the domain, so she needed to figure out which ones could be missed. She also couldn't risk sending some others to check it out, since the signs looked a lot like there was a lizalfos camp in that cave. The most logical option would be to keep a warrior team home and send them there, but the teams were carefully set up in a way that reinforcements were always around.

She had no idea what to do. She wasn't good at logistics like this. You could give her war strategy no problem, but she had never been trained for this. There simply hadn't been any time with Ganon rising. She pondered over who she could help for advice, but she also didn't want to seem like an unknowing little girl. She slammed her head onto the table, and groaned.

"Mipha! Mipha!"

Mipha looked up, and a moment later Sidon came stumbling into her room.
"What do you want?"

This was enough for Sidon to start rambling.

"Okay, so I was swimming at Hateno bay, like I do every Wednesday, because that's when Koyin takes the sheep to the beach, and I really like sheep, because they're so fluffy. They aren't fish though… Wait, do sheep fish exist? Cause that would be so cool-"

"Sidon," Mipha interrupted. "Get to your point."
Honestly, if he was gonna tell her about a cute stone he found, again, she might commit fratricide. In Hylia's name, she had things to do!

"Fine. Anyways, I saw Link today."

Mipha froze. "What?"

"Yeah, he was at the Loshlo harbor. I sat down next to him, and I got a lot of sand between my scales. It was really annoying. But I did get some fish. It was grilled, but still really delicious. Link is a great cook."

Mipha stood up, facing her brother. "What was he doing?" Even though there was a pretty good chance he already left, she had to try to figure out where he could have gone.

*3 months ago*

"It's almost nightfall." Urbosa commented.

"I know. He'll be there." Zelda was tense, just like she had been the entire afternoon.

"He's not gonna show up." Mipha sent a sharp glare in Revali's direction. He was probably right, but they were dealing with a determined Zelda, and they all remembered how that went last time.

"He will. Just a bit longer."

Revali seemed like he wanted to snark back, but Mipha shook her head. They waited until it had truly gotten dark, and they all started to get shifty. The fireplace had gone out hours ago, and it didn't seem like anyone would come home that night.

At some point, Revali sighed, breaking the tense silence that had been there for hours.

"I'm just gonna come out and say it. He's not gonna show up, we don't even know if this is his house in the first place, and I'm getting fed up with searching for a guy who probably doesn't even want to be found. I'm going home. If you want help finding your knight, ask someone else." With that, Revali walked outside and flew off.

Mipha wasn't surprised. Revali and Link had never gotten along. Personally, Mipha thought Revali was jealous of Link, but Link not reacting was what truly made things tense between them.
From the beginning, it had been pretty obvious that Revali had only been helping with finding Link because he didn't want to deal with Zelda if he attempted to refuse her demands.

Daruk cleared his throat. The sound seemed louder than it actually was. "Uh, I really want to spend some time with my grandson, so I think I am just going to…" He said awkwardly.

"Just go." Zelda said, resigned.

Daruk nodded. "I'll keep an eye out for him" With that, he stepped outside and teleported away.

Zelda turned to Mipha and Urbosa.

"Well, aren't the two of you leaving? Just go."

Urbosa nodded. "I will be taking my leave now, as I have pressing matters to attend to. If you need my help, I will be there. All of the champions are welcome, even the men," this was said with disdain, "as long as the men leave the women alone."

She stood up, and put her arms around Zelda, a very uncharacteristic move for the often withdrawn Gerudo.

Zelda sent her a small smile, and with that, Urbosa took her leave.

"I'm not going." Mipha sat down on the second chair, and they sat there in silence until the sun came up.

Still no sign of Link.

*Present time*

"A fishing boat."

"Huh?"

"You asked what Link was doing. He had a fishing boat. It was a really cool one, the wood was so smooth. Do you think I could get one?"

"You are half fish and can swim faster than a boat." Mipha deadpanned.

"Oh yeah, good point." Sidon exclaimed.

"..."

"..."

"Do you need something else?"

"Nope. Just standing here."

"Leave."

Mipha was, once again, looking at a map, but instead of where she had been looking earlier, she was looking at the fishing bay. Sidon had said Link had a fishing boat with him, which suggested some kind of permanence. And really, the only place where people actually lived was Lurelin. Hateno was also an option, but it was pretty far from the sea, and therefore it would be way too much trouble to drag it back or to a secluded place. Lurelin was the only logical possibility.

She thought about messaging Zelda. The princess had been frantically looking for him. But she had finally calmed down a bit, and MIpha didn't want to give her false hope, so she decided against notifying the princess.

She swam to Lurelin, preferring that above teleporting, as it made her really nauseous. She asked the first person she saw if he had seen Link. The boy pointed her to a small house at the edge of the village. Mipha quickly walked there, her nerves growing with every step.

The house was small, but well maintained. She walked up the steps, and in front of the door, she hesitated.

"It's open." Mipha jumped. She took one last deep breath, prayed to the Goddess for strength, and stepped inside.

Chapter Text

The house was small. It was just one room, with a bed against the wall furthest from the entrance, and a small carpet with some pillows and a table on it. The princess in Mipha wanted to turn her nose up at the house, but the part of her that had missed her best friend was much more prominent.

"Link." she breathed. "It's you."

And there he was. His clothes may have been different, but those eyes were just the same as she remembered. For just a moment, it was like the Calamity had never happened, like they were just two best friends, living in a time of peace.

Almost unconsciously, Mipha took a step forward, ready to hug him, or just touch him, to see that he was real, but Link moved back as she said forwards. Her face fell.

"Mipha. Why are you here?" The words weren't said in a happy tone, like she had been hoping.

She frowned. "I'm here to see you."

Link's face showed nothing of what he was thinking, and he repeated his question.
"Why?"

Mipha floundered for a second. "Because… Because I'm your friend? I've missed you."

Link sighed. "You miss the friend you had a hundred years ago. Not me."

Mipha scoffed. "What do you mean? You are Link. You're Zelda's bodyguard, a knight of Hyrule, my best friend, a champion-"

"I was."

"What?"

"I was. Actually, no. He was that person. The warrior, the titles you speak of, that was him. The one who held the master sword. The old Link. Not me. I don't want to fight for people, for a kingdom I don't even remember! I want to be more than an attachment to someone else! I want to be a person, I want to live!"

He was silent for a moment, before he spoke, in a small, almost sad voice. "I just want to be me."

Mipha sighed, growing more and more annoyed. "What does that even mean? You are Link, you have always been, and you always will be! Whatever bullshit you are going on about right now, in Hylia's name, cut it out and come back home with me!" Her voice was rising, to the point of screaming.

"Leave."

Mipha took a small step back in surprise.

"What?"

"I want you to leave my house, and I want you to never come back. I don't want to see you again. Ever." Link's voice dropped an octave. "Now get the hell out of my house. Goodbye."

"Listen, I think you're being a little rash, we can talk about this-"

"Go!"

Link took a step towards her, and despite herself, she took a step back. And another, and another. Before she knew it, she was running away.

***

She had left the door open. That was all he could focus on right now. As in a haze, Link walked to it, and closed it. The action seemed to have a sense of finality, like he was cutting the opportunity for something off.

Link sighed, and sat down on his bed. He… hadn't meant to say that. It wasn't that he didn't mean it, but he still felt a little guilty. For what, he wasn't sure. It might be for taking the last bit of a memory that she had treasured away. But he was not that memory, and he didn't want to pretend it was.

He sat there until the morning, locked away in his thoughts.

"Link, may I speak to you?"

"Sure, just give me a second to put this down."

Link carefully set the bundle of fish he had caught this morning on the ground. It wasn't very much, but he had been distracted. Then he turned to Rozel, signaling he was ready to talk.

The village elder hesitated, and Link tilted his head slightly.

"Did you know that Armes got into a relationship a while ago?"

Link thought for a second. "No, I wasn't aware. Why?"

Rozel sighed. "Well, they have been getting quite serious lately, and they would like to move in with each other after their marriage. And, there is a house that is not owned by anyone…"

Link's heart sank.

"So you want me to move out."

"Well, not right now, but I did want to warn you, so you would have time to prepare."

"Oh, okay. I-I'm going to put the fish away, If that's alright."

Rozel nodded his head, and Link walked away.

As soon as he was inside 'his' house, he collapsed. He slid down the wall, putting his head in his arms. They were kicking him out. Somewhere, in his subconscious, Link had known that this wasn't permanent. He had still hoped though. But now it seemed that even his 'friend' hadn't trusted him. If he had, he would have told Link. For Hylia's sake, Armes was thinking about getting married, and Link didn't even know to whom.

If he hadn't gotten the memo before, he had it now. He wasn't welcome here. He was nothing more than an outsider. One that lived between the others, but still an outsider.

It was just like Hateno village all over again. He had thought the people there liked him, but they still ratted them out. These people were just like that.

Would he ever find a home between people who didn't accept him? Who didn't think he was one of them?

No, he decided, he wouldn't.

Mind made up, he grabbed the few sets of clothing he had, along with the few things he kept in his house. He hadn't ever really decorated. Maybe he had, somehow, always known that he wouldn't get to stay here.

When the sun had gone down, and the village had gone to bed, Link went outside and crawled into the space under his house. In a specific spot, marked by nothing but a few shells, he dug down and took out a small box. Upon opening it, his face was illuminated by a soft blue light.

Link opened up his map, once again deciding over where he could go. It felt almost familiar, driven away, desperately needing a place to hide.

He didn't know where he could go. Any of the villages were a no-go, just like the areas around roads and stables. Teleporting there would either get him spotted instantly, and if it didn't, someone would see him sooner or later.

He couldn't remain where he was though, or leave on foot. Not when she knew where he was.

Looking back at his map, he marked off all the shrines that might get him seen by someone. The amount that remained was pitiful. There were a few shrines around the northern part of the Hebra mountains, two in Akkala, two in the Faron region, and one in the desert. Of course, there were a few on isolated islands, but they were surrounded by water, and while Link didn't know what Mipha thought of him now, he didn't really want to face the anger of the princess, so he decided against these too.

In the end, Link chose a shrine in the Hebra mountain area. It was easy to hide in the mountains, and if necessary, he could escape relatively easily by gliding. Most importantly though, almost no one ventured that far into the cold mountains. Of course, Link would have preferred someplace warmer too, but he didn't really have much choice.

Mind made up, Link let the tingly feeling wash over him, and just like that, he was gone.

The next morning, when Armes arrived at the docks, he saw Link's boat still there. He decided to wait, hoping for a nice morning with his best friend. He waited until he had to leave to catch enough fish for the day, wondering where his friend was.

Chapter Text

Ever since his return, Revali had felt like he had no space anymore. Before, he had always been a loner, training constantly to become nothing but the best Rito warrior that had ever lived.

But, back then, even after returning from a long day of hunting or training alone, there was a sense of belonging there, familiar faces, sharing a few words with his neighbours.Now, the village just felt overbearing.
Most of all, it was strange. Revali knew no one here. All the faces he remembered like he last saw them yesterday were gone now. Every single one. Sometimes, he would look at someone and see their great grandparents on the color of their feathers, or the shape of their beak, and it hurt to see how his old friends had lived their lives, while his spirit had been stuck in a possessed titan, being reminded of his failure every single day.

Revali didn't remember much from the time between the Calamity and being set free, but the feelings of failure the wreckage of Vah Medoh whispered into his ears, constantly, had taken him apart constantly. Revali had wished over and over again to just die completely, to not have to suffer anymore.

Although, he did suppose that one part of his wish had come through. When he was awake, at least. Then he was fine.

The elder hadn't even been born when Revali was alive for the first time. He felt like a stranger in his own home, and he hated it.

Revali was adored, almost admired, by everyone here. He would like to say that he wanted, even liked the attention, but the attention was thanks to status as a champion, not himself or his skills.

He also wasn't used to getting positive attention, but he didn't didn't want to think too hard about that.

A small burst of wind from the side ruffled his feathers in the wrong way, causing Revali to lose his balance for a second but he righted himself quickly. It did make him fly low enough to realize where he was though.

He had no clue.

Revali cursed to himself. In the past, Revali had gone further north than the other Rito warriors to train, hunt, or just to be alone. The fact that he didn't recognise his surroundings, meant he had gone really far north.

Revali quickly lowered himself to land on the nearest peak, and opened up his sheikah slate. He was indeed in the most northern region of the Hebra mountains. Were he to fly back, he would be back in the deep of the night, which would be very unsafe. Revali trusted his skills, but even he knew that, especially after the Calamity, there was increased monster activity and he didn't want to risk it.

If he teleported to the platform in the Rito village, he would probably get harassed by his fellow Rito's, since the platform was pretty busy all the time and Revali would rather not face them. The sun was already going down, though.

Rivali almost selected the Akh Va'quot Shrine, but a figure in the snow caught his attention, and Rivali froze. He wasn't easily spotted in the mountain environment, due to his gray feathers that blended in nicely with the rocks around him.

The figure didn't seem to notice him. It seemed like they were gathering food, as the figure, Revali now realized it was a Hylian, looked like they were taking away all the berries from the bushes next to the small cluster of trees he was in.

What was a Hylian doing up here? They could barely survive the cold, and even if they had some type of cold resistant gear or potions, it was very unpleasant for them to be in this cold.

Revali told himself he was just watching the stranger in case they were a threat to the village.

He was mostly avoiding going back, and this was an acceptable reason, but that wasn't the point.

The figure tripped. Revali stepped forward, as if to catch the Hylian. When he got closer, he suddenly realized who that was.

It was Link.

Revali scowled. What was that stupid champion doing here? Was this where he had been all this time? Whatever. It wasn't his problem. The figure got up, and his now visible face revealed that it was, in fact, Link.

Revali wanted to approach him, maybe act annoyed about how much he had been stressing Mipha and Zelda out, but hesitated. It just didn't seem… logical for Link to be here right now. Revali hadn't been close to Link before, but the guy hadn't seemed like someone that ran away from his problems.

He kept watching, as Link stumbled again and again, getting up every time, and continuing to gather food. He had no idea how much time passed, but it was fully dark outside by now.

Link tripped again. Revali watched, almost disinterested at that point, and waited for him to get up again. When he still hadn't risen after a minute, Revali got worried. He waited for another minute, to ensure that this wasn't a trap -Revali may have been good at hiding, but that frustrating Hylian had always been better at finding him- and approached the boy lying in the snow.

Slowly, he flipped him, and gasped quietly. Link's lips were blue, and his face had almost no color in it anymore. Revali realized he had to do something. Even though he had never liked the Hylian, he still wouldn't let him die if he could stop it. Besides, the princess could be pretty scary if you asked him, and Revali did not want to cross her.

But he also didn't really want to explain why he helped. After all, he was not known for helping out random people, and he didn't want anyone mistaking this for kindness, and, Hylia forbid, asking things of him that he wouldn't get anything in return for. No, thank you.

Revali lifted Link off of the ground, mindful of his head, and put him down next to the tree he had been close to. This way, when he woke up, he would think he got there himself. When he was carrying him, Revali had felt how cold he was, even though he was dressed in a cold-resistant outfit. Revali noticed that it wasn't the Snowquill armor.

These temperature resistant outfits were mostly powered by the magic and gemstones or other items that were part of the outfit, but they still consumed some of the wearers energy. This wasn't as much of a problem with the high quality gear the Rito's made, designed to barely consume any energy, but with this other top, it was likely that it had been taking up a lot of his energy. When your energy runs out, the clothing tends to stop working, and the wearer will be susceptible to the temperature around them.

Luckily, Revali had always been the best, and at more things than just fighting. First, he sat down next to Link, sharing his body with him so he wouldn't die. Then, he carefully took out a loose feather on his left wing. Rito feathers were imbued with magic, but not enough to harvest. Unless, of course, you were a master weaver. Revali carefully cut open one of the seams with an arrowtip, and put the feather in the gap. Then, he focused and started putting the little side parts of the feather in specific places, spreading it out over the gap. He whispered ancient Rito words under his breath, putting the magic of his feather and himself into the rest of the outfit, making it just a tad stronger.

This way, the shirt would only consume about half the energy it would have otherwise. After that, Revali waited. He would have liked to give Link a replenishing potion, or some food, but he didn't have much on him at the moment, and he didn't want to leave Link alone. So he sat there, studying Link's face, and watching as, very slowly, his lips started to regain color, and his temperature went up.

As soon as Link's eyelids started to flutter, signaling he was about to wake up, Revali teleported away to the village, and when he was asked where he had been, he told them that he'd been out training.

***

Link felt warm. This was weird, since he was never warm. Link was, and had always been, susceptible to cold, and he was in the deepest part of the mountains right now. But he did feel warm. He tried to open his eyes, to see what exactly it was, but as soon as he started moving, the heat disappeared.

Link whined. He was still cold!

But the heat stayed gone, and when Link finally managed to open his weirdly heavy eyes, he saw nothing but a few wisps of blue, that also disappeared after a second.

Slowly, Link pulled himself up against the tree he had been leaning against.

He must have fallen asleep next to it. He wasn't sure, honestly. Last night hadn't been very clear. Link had built a small shelter by now, next to a hill that blocked out most of the wind, but his food had started to run out after a while. So, he had been gathering whatever he could, which was nothing more than a few berries. Link had hoped to find a few animals, but had been unlucky.

He quickly ate one of his measly berries, and slowly walked back to his shelter. Halfway there, he froze. A Great-Horned Rhinoceros was less than 30 meters away from him. He got into a crouch, and drew his bow. Carefully, he aimed for its head, and released the arrow.

The rhinoceros turned at the same second, though, and the arrow, instead of hitting it in its head, killing it instantly, hit its side.

Link silently cursed as the beast turned his head to where he was, and quickly shot another arrow, which hit its side

The rhinoceros charged towards him.

Now cursing loudly, Link ran as fast as he could.

The Great-Horned Rhinoceros followed him, and Link sprinted blindly in a random direction.

He stopped short in his tracks.

There was a giant cliff wall in front of him, and the rhinoceros was still out for blood. Link quickly switched his bow to his very best one, collected after defeating a stray Yiga warrior.

He got down on one knee, and aimed. When the beast was almost upon him, he released the arrow, and it hit it dead on. It died instantly, but its speed still knocked Link back into the cliff, definitely bruising his back.

He collected the meat, and made his way back to his makeshift shelter, still cold.

Chapter Text

Selmie was pretty nice, Link decided. The woman had patched him up and given him food and a place to stay, and for that, Link was very grateful. But more than that, the woman only cared about shield surfing. Link had been staying at her place for two weeks now, and he was pretty sure that, even if he told her about his past, she wouldn't even remotely care about it. But, no matter how nice she was, he still didn't want to take advantage of her kindness, and he didn't want to bother her, so he went out a lot, exploring the mountains.

A few days ago, Link had spotted a strange door just off the main path, and he wanted to take another look at it. If he had learnt one thing after everything it was that if something seemed suspicious, it probably was worth investigating. He'd packed light, expecting to climb, and had left his Sheikah Slate, bow and his extra food there. He didn't expect to need them anyways.

As he had expected, he couldn't open the door the normal way. Pushing did nothing, and since the door was built into a literal mountain, there was no way Link was getting around it to find another entrance.

Link did know that there was always a way around it. Honestly, it seemed a bit suspicious, like someone made those ways around it on purpose.

Link shook his head, dispelling the thought.

"Alright," he murmured, backing up. "Let's see what's up."

Link noticed the small snowballs a bit higher up, and an idea struck him. He could roll those snowballs down the hill, and maybe he could get enough force behind them to open the door.

He smiled victoriously, but it became a frown when he took a closer look. He'd been shield surfing a lot recently, and had subsequently learned how to spot the right paths down, and which paths would throw you headfirst into a wall. From what he could see, all of the options were of the second type, which wasn't good.

Slowly, Link started to map out all of the possible ways down.

The first path on the left would grow the snowball quickly, but he wouldn't be able to get it down safely, and it would definitely break against the rocks.

The second option, a little more to the right didn't lead to the door, so he wouldn't be able to get it to open the door, since it needed speed to hit the door hard enough.

The last possible way down, close to the cliff wall, would have been perfect, with the right speed and amount of snow, if there weren't a hole in the middle of the path. Link scanned the ground, looking for something he could fill the hole up with, when a soft sound caught his attention. Link looked up, and saw a black Lizalfos right in front of him.

His instincts from fighting all this time saved him, and he drew his sword just in time to parry the monster's first strike. It jumped back, and Link planted his feet firmly in the ground, readying himself for a fight.

When it jumped again, Link lifted his sword, returning the force and drove the Lizalfos back. It dropped its weapon, and before it could get up, Link rushed at it, and slashed a large cut on its stomach. Dark blood gushed out, and Link slashed again, this time its right front leg, almost cutting it in two, and the monster roared.

The Lizalfos let out a growling sound, and suddenly moved, making Link hit its armored back, and a shattering sound rang through the air.

His sword had broken.

Link's hand shot towards his hip to open his inventory, only to find thin air. He'd left his Sheikah Slate at Selmie's.

"Damnit!" He hissed through his teeth. He lunged to the side when the monster, that had gotten up in his momentary confusion, pulled his shield from his back, and defended himself with it, the shock of the blow going through his entire body. It kept jumping at him, and Link was slowly pushed back to the edge of the cliff. He briefly considered it as a way out, but the wall was way too steep, and he wouldn't be able to get away fast enough.

Stepping back, Link's left foot slipped on a small rock, and he fell backwards, hitting his head against the rock wall behind him. The freezing cold of the frozen rocks quickly seeped into his clothes, but Link felt the hottest he'd felt since moving to the mountains. His head hurt, and Link was pretty sure he felt a small trail of blood go down his face.

He was cornered, unarmed, and hurt. A monster was in front of him, trying to murder him in cold blood.

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Link felt pure fear coursing through his veins.

A memory flashed through his head.

"Come on, didn't you want to be a knight? Fight me, then!"

Link fell down on the ground, his knees scraping on the rough ground. The four bigger, older boys surrounded him and laughed.

Link, seven years old, let out a small whimper. Most of the older kids at the orphanage didn't like him, but this particular group was especially vicious.

"M-my father was one, so I will be too. That's what the kni-"

A kick to his stomach silenced him instantly. "Shut up, weakling. You will never be anything but a small and stupid runt. And, if you do make it, you will die in the first fight. Just like your stupid. Weak. Father." Those last words were each accompanied with a harsh kick. His arm, his leg, his chest.

Around him, Link heard the boys laugh. A ratty looking boy with heavy acne, silent before, spoke up.

"Hey, how about we give him a little reminder of how weak he is. So he will never forget."

Their leader grinned. Link was terrified, and shrank back, blue eyes frantically looking around for an escape.

"What do you propose?"

"How about we write it on his skin? Permanently."

Another boy drew a small knife, blunt but enough to pierce skin. Link whined, scooting back. The boys laughed, and advanced.

Link was forcefully pulled out of what he assumed to be an old, forgotten memory, by the screech the monster let out.

The Lizalfos jumped again, and, still a bit disoriented by the memory, Link jumped to the side a split second too late, its claw scratching open his left leg, and he landed harshly.

Link tried to get up as fast as he could, but the monster had already reached him, and it slammed his head into the ground. Link saw spots overtake his vision, and he fought against the darkness.

The monster raised its weapon to deliver the final blow, and time seemed to stand still.

Link could see the small clouds his breaths had created.

He felt the cold, everywhere around him, but in his core, there was heat.

Burning hot rage.

Link reflected on everything he had done to get where he was, everything he'd had to do to survive, and decided that he was not going to die here, not today, not ever.

He spotted a sizable rock, the same one he had tripped over, and in a split second, he grabbed it, and rolled, ignoring his hurt ankle. The monster's weapon shot through and wedged itself into the rocks behind him.

A small, almost feral smile crept onto Link's face. His body was thrumming, adrenaline rushing through his veins.

He got him.

The monster pulled on its weapon, his defense down for just a second.

It was enough. With as much force as he could, Link lowered his rock down onto its head. It screeched, but the force of a rock being brought down onto its head brought it down on the ground. It tried to get up, but the second it was stunned on the ground was enough for Link to jump on its back, his legs on either side. He brought the rock down again, and the Lizalfos started moving erratically in its attempts to throw Link off of it.

It ran itself into the rock wall, and he had to drop the rock to free his hands, scrambling for purchase on the smooth armor.

In a weird way, it reminded Link of taming wild horses, if they wanted to kill their rider, and most likely eat him.

Honestly, Link had never thought too hard about what monsters did with the bodies of those they killed, and, frankly, he didn't really want to know.

Link had to fight to stay on top of the monster, and he attempted to get its head, so he could either snap its neck, or find support to stay on, but his fingers slipped into its right eye.

If Link had thought staying on the Lizalfos was hard before, he was wrong, because the thing let out a screech so loud that Link was pretty sure he heard rocks fall down, and it thrashed violently.

Link had a split second to decide what to do. He would either get thrown off, or he'd have to, well, dig in, he supposed. Well, Link liked being alive, and he dug in his fingers, his nails pushing hard, making its eye pop out, only connected to its skull by a single cluster of muscles.

The monster was still thrashing like it was Calamity Ganon itself, but by now, Link had a firm grip onto its eye socket, a bit slippery due to the blood. It was enough to stay on, and he was stable enough to move his left arm around its thick neck, and just like that, he snapped it.

Like a puppet who's threads were cut, it crumpled to the floor, and finally, Link let go. He landed on his back, panting harshly.

"Thank you, Hylia." He murmured.

With a groan, he pushed himself up, looking sideways towards the monster that had almost killed him, and he saw what remained of its eye. Bile rose up into his throat, and Link threw up violently. Even though he had killed many monsters, and he just wanted to survive, it still felt wrong on a deeper level to rip a living being open like that.

He tried to ignore it, and reached for the weapon that was still stuck. With a few hard pulls, Link managed to get it free, and he used it to support himself in standing up, but his left ankle still hurt too much to even try to stand on it, let alone walk.

Link fell back onto the ground. With his leg in the state it was in, how would he get back to Selmie?

The woman was his only chance of survival right now, and though she was nice, Link wasn't a shield, so the woman would never go look for him. He had no food though, and if he stayed where he was, Link would probably freeze to death.

Mind made up, Link pulled himself up, leaning on the weapon the monster dropped.

Hylia, it hurt so much.

Despite his swimming vision and the searing pain in his leg, Link started walking, and made his way to the main path Selmie tended to take. There was no way he could make it up, but Link had hope she would come down in a few hours. It was the only way he could get help. Link cursed how dependent on the Sheikah Slate he had grown; if he'd just been better prepared, this would have never happened. Experienced travellers could take out three of these monsters no problem, but Link had to fight for his life against just one.

Step by step, Link walked to the path. He had almost reached it, when he stepped into a small hole in the road, invisible thanks to the thick layers of snow covering the ground. He lost his balance for a split second, and put his left leg down unthinkingly to stabilize himself.

Link fell down, and black took over his vision.

Chapter Text

"You saw him? You, you talked to him? How was he doing? When is he coming back?" Mipha stared at the excited princess in front of her, and tears built up in her eyes.
"He didn't want to see me. Us. What did I do wrong? He said-" Her sobs interrupted her words, and she threw her arms around Zelda, clutching onto her like her life depended on it.

Urbosa spoke up, her voice, calm but strong as always. "In the desert, when a warrior does not feel one with herself, she goes out with nothing but her weapon. She will only return when she has the desert in her heart, and only her body will carry scars, not her mind. Even though I am loath to admit a man might be able to do something this pure, if there is one, it is Link. He might just be in his own desert right now."

Zelda scoffed. "Oh, come on. Link doesn't work like that. He doesn't go off to do things on his own, he needs someone to guide him. He hates being alone, and he can't even talk. How would he ever even be able to communicate?

Mipha whipped her head around, her eyes flashing with anger. "That's what you think? Link can talk. When we were kids, he was always telling me about his day, a story, something. Then you came along." She was speaking angrily, her proper, royal accent disappearing until she was barely coherent, almost fully hissing at the other princess. "You are the reason Link had so many eyes on him, so much pressure, that he felt he wouldn't say anything right! You are the reason he doesn't speak anymore!" Her gills were flaring open and close rapidly, and she seemed out of breath.

"He… Link can speak? I- I didn't kno-"

"Of course you didn't. You don't know anything about him. He is nothing more than a shadow to you. Tell me. Do you even know what his favourite food is? What he likes to do when he has free time? Do you know when he was born? How many siblings does he have? For Hylia's sake, do you have any idea why he got his ears pierced?"

Zelda was quiet. A soft sob forced its way out of her, and she said nothing. Mipha looked down on her, eyes as cold as the waters in winter.

Urbosa took a step forward, and gently led Zelda out of the room. After a moment of hesitation, Daruk did the same to Mipha, and they walked towards the water next to the castle.

Mipha was brimming with anger, but tears still ran over her cheeks. She stayed silent, until they reached the water, and she jumped in, swimming away to clear her head.

Revali looked at all this, and he sighed.

He thought back on the small figure in the snow he had seen a while ago, and wondered how someone so weak and fragile looking could affect others so much.

Revali had kept quiet during the confrontation between the two princesses. He knew anything he said would be interpreted as rude and apathetic, even though he usually didn't mean it like that. Besides that, while he didn't really like Link, he also understood the Hylian had a need for privacy. If Revali spoke, he didn't want to say the wrong thing and let on that he knew where Link was.

Or had been, at least. The blonde had a fully functioning Sheikah Slate, and could be anywhere by now, though Revali doubted it. Link had been working as a farmer in Hateno village, and later as a fisherman in Lurelin. If Revali put the fact that back then, Link had never spoken about his own dreams like the others had, together with his actions, it seemed like he just wanted to settle down and be left alone. At least for now. Urbosa had probably been right when she suggested he was just finding himself. Again, Revali had never been close to the knight, but he did know that he was trained from a very young age. In this different time, there was no need for the champions anymore, and Revali figured Link might not be sure about what he wanted to do now.

Revali might be arrogant and mean to most people, but he could understand that sentiment. As a matter of fact, he understood it very well.

He walked to the balcony connected to the meeting room, and took off, pushing upwards with strong movements of his wings. Flying had relaxed him since he was little, even more than the others. He definitely needed that right now, after the explosive emotions of the two princesses. He always had a bit of headache after witnessing heavy bouts of emotions, and he detested loud sounds due to his sharp senses. They were attuned to the mountains, where most sounds were instantly muted by the snow around, and therefore, arguments weren't his favorite thing to have to hear.

He honestly wasn't sure what they had even been fighting about. It seemed clear to him that Mipha had spoken to the Hylian and made him run off. Nothing interesting about that. But when Zelda spoke about what she expected Link to think and do, Mipha had almost exploded with rage. It made sense, Revali supposed, since the Hylian princess had been very wrong about him, apparently.

In all honesty, Revali doubted that either of them truly knew him. Mipha, while spending a lot of time with the boy during their childhood, hadn't truly spoken to Link in years, even before the Calamity. And now, he had gone through so many things they had no idea about. None of the villagers they had spoken to knew much about what he had been doing if it hadn't impacted them directly.

As for Zelda, she only knew Link when he was already a knight, and had fallen silent under the pressure. She had also hated the fact that she had to have a guard with her at all times, and wasn't ever friends with Link. They were companions, nothing more. Just like the argument proved she knew nothing about him, their true bond, aside from the one forced in the Calamity, was weak.

Not like Revali himself was any different. The only reason he even still hung around was the fact that he didn't want to spend too much time in the Rito Village facing his supposed 'clan' consisting of strangers.

And Urbosa. She was alright.

But Revali was fine, he just wanted to live without being treated like some hero, and he figured that if he was fine, Link honestly probably was too. That meant he didn't have to worry about anything anymore, because there was no actual problem aside from some princesses being dramatic.

His head now clear and untroubled, Revali entered the common room most of the champions avoided through the balcony. Except for Zelda, all of their rooms were connected to this common room, but with the threat of Calamity Ganon gone, they barely had anything to do with each other.

The only one frequenting this room except for Revali was Urbosa, and just as he had hoped, she was sitting on one of the couches. Revali said down next to her, silent.

"You know something, don't you?"

"Yes."

Urbosa was the most sensible out of all of them, and, honestly, Revali's favorite. She reminded him of her home territory; calm at first sight, but an absolute force of nature when angered. Ravali knew that she was a true warrior, balanced in mind and soul.

Privately, he thought she was the strongest of all the Champions, made even more clear by the fact that she had controlled Vah Naboris, the most powerful of all the Divine beasts.

"I thought so. Your silence was quite unusual for you. Normally you would have interrupted the argument halfway through, yet this time, your words remained unspoken."

Revali sighed. "You would be correct. I was worried that if I spoke, something would have shown through my words. So, I simply didn't. I respect his privacy, and I'd rather he be somewhere I can see him, and not in an unknown location. Besides, though we may never have been friends, I do recognize his survival skills." Revali very mindfully didn't add how he saw the Hylian boy almost freeze to death a while ago.

The former matriarch nodded. "Very well. I do not share the secrets of the desert myself when there is no need to. There is one thing I would like to know though."

Revali leaned forward, curious.

She continued. "Is he safe? "

"Yes," Revali answered. "Last I saw him, he was alive and not an active danger." He hadn't been freezing anymore when Revali had left, so it technically wasn't a lie. Though he figured he might need to check on the Hylian, just in case.

A rare show of emotion broke through Urbosa's usual stoic mask, and she said, with a soft smile: "Very well, that is all I needed to hear. Would you like cup of tea? I brewed it from herbs that grow in my homeland, and I think you'll quite like it."

Revali nodded and sank down in his chair. "By the way, how is your granddaughter doing in the position of the matriarch?" Revali asked. "What was her name again? Ryu? Isn't she quite young?" Urbosa let out a small laugh. "That she is, quite inexperienced as well, but I trust that one day in the future, she will become a great leader." Revali smiled. "Well, I suppose that if you place your trust in her, I will too."

Urbosa truly was his favorite.