Link x Reader ~ Find You

Chapter 5

"NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! NONE OF YOU UNDERSTAND!" Link finally snapped furiously as bitter tears welled up in his weary eyes, bursting the dam of his anxieties. "You cannot possibly understand how I feel! The unequivocal, overwhelming guilt... The agonizing terror that the one person I love more than life itself could be dead.. I've never been so frightened in my life.. This is my fault... It's all my fault..." The valiant warrior, who had saved the entire world just a month ago, fell to his knees sobbing. He was entirely broken, all pretense of valor completely dissipated, the lack of sleep and the hours of guilt, anxiety, and helplessness completely overwhelming him.

Renado's face softened in sympathy at the crushed boy before him. He knelt down beside his weeping form. "Link, have you ever wondered what happened to Luda's mother, my wife?" The blonde sniffed and sat up slowly, sobs still racking his body, and met the patient eyes of the shaman with his own blood-shot pair. He gave no response, but waited for him to continue.

"Many years ago, on a cold winter evening a few weeks after Luda's birth, a mysterious man came into town. His skin was as pale and blue as the late morning sky, his eyes as yellow as the sun. He wore a cloak as dark as the deepest night; he gave no name. He claimed he needed a place to stay, but my wife, Ohma, was extremely apprehensive of letting him do so. I insisted that the man would stay in our home, and scolded her for judging the man simply for how he looked." Renado chuckled humorlessly. "So," he continued, "the man stayed with us; he said he'd be gone before dawn. Ohma told me again how uncomfortable she was with this man staying in our home. I assured her that everything would be alright, that no harm would come to her or our baby. That night, I awoke to Luda crying. I looked over and saw my wife wasn't in bed, and assumed she had gone to check on the baby. Regardless, I got up to see if everything was okay. Once I discovered that neither Luda nor Ohma were in the nursery, I knew something wasn't right. I grabbed a hatchet from under my bed and rushed downstairs to find the anonymous man standing there, illuminated vaguely by the moonlight. In his arms he held my daughter, and my wife was standing just a few feet away from them, crying. She said he had threatened to kill our baby, she begged me to do something, anything. I demanded the man to give me my child and leave at once, but he simply laughed at me. I warned him a second time, this time holding up the hatchet to his sight, but still he did not concede. So I threw it. I threw the hatchet, and it hit him squarely in the forehead. Somehow, I managed to run over and catch Luda before she hit the floor. Ohma began to laugh a shrill, unfamiliar cackle that didn't belong to her. I turned to her and noticed that her eyes were not their usual shade of green, but were instead an unnatural, glowing yellow. I blinked and what had just been my wife became that wretched man, those same yellow eyes carving a hole into my soul. I looked to the floor and saw my wife laying where the man had just been with the hatchet in her skull. By the time I looked back over to the man, he was gone. That wicked man... was none other than the king of Twilight. Zant." Renado concluded, his voice barely above a whisper. "Had I waited just a few more moments, or analyzed the situation closer, I'd have noticed his dark magic at play; but I didn't. I acted rashly and it cost me the love of my life. This is why you must deliberate before taking action. There are more lives at stake than your own."

Tears were streaming down Telma's and Ashei's faces, and both Shad and Rusl bore mournful expressions. "I had no idea," Link croaked hoarsely.

Ashei excused herself from the room and Shad followed worriedly after her. "I will go to the castle to retrieve the scrolls, but I want you to stay here and rest, Link." Renado instructed. Link stood shakily to protest, but before he could open his mouth, Renado stopped him.

"Your body is exhausted, and so is your soul. You need food and rest. You are weak and unfit to rescue __f/n__ in this state." Link hung his head in defeat as Luda, who had a few tears in her eyes, led him up the stairs into the bedroom where the Zora prince had stayed a few months ago. He removed his sword and gear before falling into the bed and resigning himself to a deep, tumultuous slumber.