Prologue:
Last Breaths in the Wild
The darkest age in Hyrule's history was about to come to a close. As she stood atop her mighty Divine Beast, Vah Ruta, Mipha gazed down across the landscape below. To her right she saw her kingdom. She knew that her brother was there, standing guard, taking good care of the Zora people. She trusted her brother, yet still she worried.
Not for Prince Sidon of the Zora, but for the Hylian Champion Link. She shifted her gaze towards Hyrule Castle. She may not have been able to see him with her own eyes, but she knew Link would soon head into the castle and take on the Calamity Ganon. She offered a quick prayer to the goddesses, then set a hand on the Divine Beast her spirit stood upon.
"Link, it is time to fight Calamity Ganon. Vah Ruta and I are here for you. We shall help in your fight, and I hope that my grace shall keep you protected no matter what may come. Link..."
"I love you," she wished to add, but kept in her own heart,
"so please come out of this fight alive. Your courage is strong. Just don't let it blind your path."
Back at Zora's Domain, Sidon would stand on the bridge leading to Zora's Domain, along with the other Zoras, staring in the direction of Hyrule Castle as well.
"Go for it, Link! We are all rooting for you!" Sidon would yell out into the rain as he and the other Zoras would cheer out for Link.
Maybe except Muzu, who offered a silent prayer instead.
Standing before Lady Impa of Kakariko Village, Champian Link would declare he had freed the Divine Beasts, weakening Ganon. A look of hope glimmered in the elder's eyes as she looked upon the lad, urging him to finish his mission once and for all.
"Though Ganon's power is weak, I do not know how much longer the princess will be able to hold out. You should have everything you need, Link. The princess... our Zelda... I leave her life in your hands."
"I won't fail," Link replied, his voice strong and full of resolve. The old woman would nod in reply, seeming confident in the boy, but worried all the same.
"Even with the blessings of the Divine Beasts on your side, you must be careful. Calamity Ganon will be well protected. Be prepared for anything!"
Nodding, Link departed from the woman's home, making his made his way out into the world after mounting his horse. He started on the path for Hyrule Castle, cracking his companions reins with a spirited vigor. The sooner he made it to the castle and stopped Ganon, the sooner he could free the princess-- no, everyone.
The cool winds of night tossed Link's sandy blond hair back as he felt his horse gallop down the dirt path, his hooves kicking up dirt. Other than the heavy breathing of his horse, the champion would hear nothing but the sounds of crickets chirping in the wide open fields.
His journey would take him over Kakariko Bridge, past Dueling Peaks Stable, over Big Twin Bridge, and finally past Dueling Peaks. When he would reach a wide open field and finally be able to see Hyrule Castle in the distance, however, things changed.
His blue eyes narrowing, the champion found himself distracted by a rather familiar, yet frustrating sight he would often see in Hyrule: the blood moon. As it began to rise in the sky, his eyes drifted from his path. Unfocused, he wouldn't realize his horse was about to jolt upward and whinny in distress. Before Link could even try to sooth him, the horse would toss Link off its back. The boy tumbled onto the ground afterwards, grunting as he would reach up to wipe some dirt off his face.
What just happened?
Standing up, the hero drew his Master Sword from his back, quietly searching through the darkness for a threat in the distance.
Unfortunately, a threat would never present itself.
Instead, Link would find himself stricken with a nauseatingly overwhelming dizziness. He groaned, reaching up to touch the side of his head, unable to comprehend what was causing this. He wouldn't stop the sensation and eventually his vision would fade to darkness as he fell unconscious.
The sight of the blood moon worried Mipha, but she knew that Link had survived many blood moons before. She had watched Link fight hundreds of Calamity Ganon's forces. She felt confident in his abilities.
However, this night was different from the others. The blood moon did not simply respawn monsters and disappear. The moon held its eerie red glow for much longer than a normal night.
Suddenly, Mipha was shocked to find no more presence of Link's spirit. As hard as her heart searched, she found no sign of Link. The Hylian Champion had vanished, and this has truly struck fear into her heart. The hero could not disappear once again.
"Vah Ruta, charge!" Mipha commanded the beast in the direction of the missing Link. The Divine Beast began groaning and producing it's trumpet call. Step by step, the beast moved forward. Eventually, by miracle of Shiekah technology, it climbed down from its mountaintop perch. Vah Ruta began travelling west, towards Hyrule Castle, no doubt drawing the attention of the Zora Prince gazing upon the castle.
The beast charged and charged, pointed towards Hyrule Castle, yet once they became close its pilot vanished. From Mipha's view, the world had gone dark.
As Sidon stared in anticipation towards the castle, he caught notice of the Divine Beast through the heavy rain, which was making its way towards the castle.
"Is that the Divine Beast Vah Ruta?" "Is it heading for the castle?" "What's going on?" The various murmurs overwhelm the crowd, and Sidon had grown worried for Link, as he had no idea on what was happening. To investigate this, Sidon dived from top of the bridge down all the way to the lake below it, and once done so, he started to swim at an accelerating rate, racing towards Hyrule.
"I'm coming to aid you, Link!"
And as he drew closer and closer, Sidon eventually blacks out too.
Sometime later, Link would awaken. Surrounded by the blackness and disoriented, the boy would stumble to his feet with a look of confusion on his face. Unsure where he was, it would take him a moment to remember where he had been before blacking out; the blond had been on his way to Hyrule Castle to take on Calamity Ganon.
But this place didn't look like the castle. No, this place didn't even look like anywhere in Hyrule at all. So what what was going on exactly?
The first thought that came to Link's mind was that Ganon had something to do with this. Perhaps this place was an illusion created by his enemy, a last resort to prevent Link from stopping him.
While that thought made sense, one thing was out of place: the people around him. He saw other individuals who didn't look like minions of Ganon or even Hyrulians.
Something was very wrong. Although Link didn't know what it was, he intended to find out. He needed to get back home and finish his duty.
When Sidon came to, all he saw was darkness, but not the kind of darkness he knew, but some kind of dark space.
Getting up, he looked around, and saw a couple of other people, weirdly varied from what he saw, that had apparently made their way somehow. One person he took note of was Link, who he had not expected. Excited, he ran up to him, and grabbed him by his hand to shake.
"Link! It's great to see you! How goes your journey?!" Sidon was overly ecstatic, despite their current location.
Sidon's naturally excited voice roused Mipha from the black void of unconsciousness. As she rose to wakefulness, she noticed an odd sensation. A sensation she had not felt for over a century had resurfaced. Smooth scales covered her body, a body which once more held flesh and blood, and delivered the sense of touch to her consciousness. She could feel reality once more, whatever reality this dark space brought.
Once more, by some miracle, she had returned to life.
"Sidon... Link..."
Her voice was hoarse, unused for such a long time. Yet still, through cracking and softness, the sweet cadence of her voice poured through, "This is most certainly a joyous occasion. I have returned to life, and you both remain alive. The goddesses have given us another chance, but..."
Mipha groped around in the darkness while her eyes adjusted. To her surprise, her hands found the cool metal of the Lightscale Trident. She used it as a staff to pull herself to her feet and have a look around, noticing the three structures surrounding them.
"...it seems as if we are not in Hyrule anymore. We must find a way home."
[/hr]
