WHO: Rowena Hyland → Zelda WHEN: Afternoon of September 11 WHERE: Dunhaven Park SUMMARY: Rowena tries to get some photography time in, but it's cut short by the forecasted rain. A tumble into the mud drags her back to Hyrule and another storm. (Posting this a day early because I'll forget otherwise. 🙃) WARNINGS: Sads. Also, pretty extreme spoilers for Breath of the Wild, if you're worried about that.
The rain started as just barely a drizzle, giving Rowena just barely enough time to tuck her camera safely away into her messenger bag before the clouds seemed to give way and the drizzle turned into a downpour. She had known that she would be cutting it close, but had taken the risk in coming down to the park to get some gloomier pictures. While she didn't care at all if she were to get wet herself, it was the camera in her bag that she knew wouldn't be able to sustain the water like she could.
Turning, Rowena hurried toward the path that led to the parking lot. The roof of her car could just be seen over the crest of the hill and her feet seemed to double in speed at the sight. But somewhere between the wet grass and foam flip flops, she felt herself lose her footing and immediately topple forward to the ground. Rowena fell hard, catching herself on her hands and knees with a soft oof.
The knock to the ground seemed to jostle her mind, sending her far from Dunhaven Park to Hyrule. Zelda fell to the ground, her hand slipping from Link's grasp as her sandal caught on an uneven part of the muddy ground. She was soaking wet, her white dress and arms caked with mud from the flee through the forest. Her hands pressed to the ground, her breath coming in gasps as she heard Link's footsteps advance toward her.
"How…" Zelda paused, her head bowed as Link sheathed his sword into the hilt at his back, then kneeled in front of her. Her breath was still coming in shallow gasps, but still she managed the words. "How did it come to this? The Divine Beasts… the Guardians. They've all turned against us…" Of course, she knew the answer to that question. "It was Calamity Ganon. It turned them all against us!"
Zelda's fingers curled into fists in the mud, her anger rising and then slowly cresting into sorrow. She looked up, not quite meeting Link's eyes as she continued, "And everyone -- Mipha, Urbosa, Revali, and Daruk… they're all trapped inside those things." Finally, she looked to her companion, tears rising in her eyes, before covering her face with her hands. "It's all my fault!"
She knew that if she paused, he would assure her that it wasn't her fault. Link may not have been a man of many words, but the two of them had grown to form a bond that she hadn't been expecting when he had been made her champion all that time ago. It seemed silly now to think about on the anger and derision she felt whenever she saw him or caught him following her, simply doing as he was bid by the king. He had become a comfort, having saved her time and again and truly put his life on the line to keep her safe. Zelda knew that she owned him more than she could ever repay, but she also knew that any words of comfort he might try to give her now would be false. This was her fault.
"Our only hope for defeating Ganon is lost all because I couldn't harness this cursed power! Everything -- everything I've done up until now… it was all for nothing. So I really am just a failure!"
All of the meditating and praying, all of the research and studying. None of it had amounted to anything. She was as powerless as ever, unable to do anything to safe her friends and kingdom. "All my friends… the entire kingdom… my father most of all. I tried and I failed them all." The tears were falling freely now, her voice soft as she tried her best to contain the sobs that were threatening to escape as she finished, "I left them all to die."
That was it, after all. Zelda had done all that she couldn't, but it hadn't been enough. She hadn't been enough. As much as she wanted to seek blame elsewhere, she couldn't. She had known of the threat that was Calamity Ganon. She had known that he would come to torment and destroy, just as he had time and again before. Her role had been predetermined, just as Link's had -- but, unlike Link, she had fallen short. She could almost see the disappointment on her late mother's face, hear it in her father's voice. As her sobs finally broke free, her face falling as she let her pain and sadness take hold, she fell forward. Link didn't hesitate, silent as ever, but taking her in his arms and letting her cry.
It was the rumble of thunder that seemed to bring Rowena back to her senses, still crouched over in the mud and letting the rain splatter down onto her. It had to have only been seconds, but the memory had taken hold of her, a shuddering sob of her own erupting from her chest, identical to that of Zelda's. She could feel her hot tears on her cheeks mixing with the cold rain from the sky. It was the lacking of Link's arms and the realization that she was by herself that truly let her mind clear. A moment later and she was back to her feet, stumbling forward until she was finally in the safety of her car.