#but i wasn't sure how to so i fell back on oot. which. how surprising that i would choose to write time

[hyliancourage]

' tell me now, boy-- where are your precious goddesses when you need them? '

his lungs burn with exhaustion and stress, the muscles of his arms aching as he forces them not to tremble despite how tired he is from holding and swinging the weight of the mighty Master Sword. this fight, this final fight against the dark lord himself, has proven to be the most taxing and difficult of them all. the enemies of dungeons and temples past seem laughable in the face of the demon king now, and link has to wonder at how he ever found them impossible, now that he’s faced with the impossible. 

link wonders for only a moment though, raising his shield up just in time to block the heavy handed blow from ganondorf’s sword that would surely have cleaved his skull in half. his teeth vibrate and clack unpleasantly in his mouth at the sheer force, drawing blood from where he bites down on it accidentally in result. but despite the ringing of steel in his ears link throws himself backwards and then rolls safely away, creating much needed distance once more.

ganondorf’s mocking follows soon after, and link has to grit his teeth, forcing himself to take deep, somewhat unsteady breaths through his nose and not gulp air down through his mouth like he wants to. his grip on the master sword tightens, slick with sweat, and for a moment — only a moment, there’s a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. he doesn’t doubt the fated plan of the goddesses — doesn’t doubt their power or their reach. it was once rumored that hylian’s ears were so long so that they could hear the whispers of the goddesses, but link has never heard them, not once, not even while he stood in the temple of time. he has always kept faith no matter what, but he has to wonder where that rumor came from — if over time, the goddesses’ voices faded as they moved farther away from hyrule. 

but before ganondorf’s words can get to him too much, the mark of farore burns hot and bright on the back of his hand, bright enough to be seen even through the thick leather of his gauntlets. yet despite the heat that it gives off, it doesn’t burn him. it’s, at most, warm — comforting as it is telling. the mark of courage, the mark of farore is with him, and that’s answer enough for him. while he can’t speak on nayru or din, farore is with him at least, and nayru with zelda. he hardly imagines that din, on the other hand, is very pleased with ganondorf’s actions – his greed and power hungry desires. din, who’s power cultivated the land and created the red earth. that same red earth is now crumbled, torn and crudely warped, infested with all the monsters ganondorf has summoned forth. 

it’s answer enough for link’s eyes narrow, for him to grit his teeth and find the courage to move forward again, the wisdom to see past ganondorf’s tricks, and the strength to carry on.  “ it isn’t me who should be worrying about them. ”  he murmurs. “ clearly, it’s destined by the goddesses themselves that you don’t succeed. ”