#can you imagine being assigned to night shift in kakariko

[rawliverandgoronspice]

drawing thralls and jamming to this:

[katedoesfics]

The Great Calamity

Chapter Four - Vah Rudania (Resolve and Grief & Daruk's Mettle)

When they were finished in Rito Village, Zelda insisted against returning to the castle, determined to make the journey around Hyrule to check on the other Divine Beasts as soon as possible, but not without stopping to speak with Purah, first. It was her duty, after all, to do everything necessary to make sure the Champions were well equipped and prepared to defend Hyrule from Calamity Ganon. Not only that, she was determined to learn everything she could about the Sheikah Slate and the Guardians. There was simply to much to do, and no way to know for sure just how much time they had left.

Zelda opted to head to Kakariko Village first to speak with Purah before heading north to Goron City. Link wasn’t necessarily against her idea, but it would be a long ride south just to go north again. He didn’t bother to argue with her, though, as he wasn’t exactly looking forward to the path up to Goron City, either. Frankly, being anywhere near Death Mountain wasn’t his idea of a good time, even if Daruk said the volcano would not erupt.

The ride to the village was uneventful. Even his clearly strained relationship with the princess didn’t quite feel as tedious. Perhaps she was growing accustomed to his presence. She didn’t exactly make conversation with him, but instead continued to muse on about, well, everything. Although this time, she was more focused on the Guardians and whether or not Robbie had managed to activate more of them. Link could only pray that he would not be required to go near those things. He’d take on Calamity Ganon a thousand times with just the sword on his back as long as he didn’t have to have any part of those machines, even if they were designed to help stop Ganon.

It was early in the afternoon when they arrived in the village. They followed the path up the hill to Purah’s lab, and to Link’s relief, there were no Guardians in sight. Inside the lab, Purah and Robbie were in the midst of a heated conversation. Impa stood off to the side, her arms crossed as she watched them discuss and debate. They hardly noticed Zelda and Link as they entered.

“We have the Shrine to our advantage,” Purah said sternly. “We must do everything in our power to get it in working order.”

“We have no way to even test it out,” Robbie said. “We can’t know for sure if the stasis function will even work, or how long it will last. And what about the side effects? There’s too many unknown factors.”

“We make them known,” Purah demanded. She turned, finally acknowledging Zelda and Link as they stood in the doorway. Her eyes immediately went to the slate on Zelda’s hip. “The slate,” she continued, turning back to Robbie. “It was unable to activate it, but it may be the key to getting it running once we restore it.”

“Get what running?” Zelda repeated, narrowing her eyes at them. “What’s going on?”

“The Shrine of Resurrection,” Robbie started, “that you and Purah found. It is, indeed, a medical facility of sorts.”

“But we don’t know how to get it working,” Purah said. “We should focus our efforts on restoring it. The future of Hyrule is bleak. We shouldn’t take anything to chance.”

“A medical facility?” Zelda repeated. “I don’t understand. I thought it was built ten thousand years ago? What could make a facility like that such a necessity?”

Purah and Robbie exchanged an uneasy glance, then turned their gazes to Impa. The brief, silent interaction made Zelda uneasy. Was the war against the Calamity really so bad ten thousand years ago? What could that possibly mean for their own pending war?

“Purah is right,” Impa said. “There was a reason that facility was built. We should do everything we can to restore its power. It could prove to be very valuable to us some day.”

Link shifted uneasily on his feet as Impa’s gaze fell on him.

“Well,” Zelda said, her voice soft for a moment. “What do we need to do to get it restored?”

Robbie shook his head. “We don’t know,” he admitted. “We’re working on it. Purah and I are heading out tonight to see what we can do.”

“What can I do?” Zelda asked.

“Focus on the Divine Beasts,” Purah said. “And continue to familiarize yourself with that slate. The more we know about it, the better. Make sure the Champions are well prepared; this war could be bigger than we could ever imagine.”

*****

Zelda did not learn anything more about the Guardians as she had hoped, but as she and Link left Kakariko Village behind, a more haunting image weighed down on them. The idea that the war against Calamity Ganon could be so dire to need a Shrine of Resurrection left them feeling ill at ease. With no idea of what they would be up against, Zelda was more determined than ever to make sure Hyrule had every advantage on their side.

Zelda walked ahead of Link - or perhaps it was Link who chose to stay a few steps behind - and examined the Sheikah Slate in her hands as her mind wandered. Regardless, Zelda preferred not to notice Link too much. He was merely there to assist her as she went about her duties, and that meant focusing her efforts on the getting to Goron City to check on the Divine Beast there. She spoke as she walked, mostly to herself as she gathered her thoughts. Link never made it a habit to respond to her musings, anyway.

“From here, we’ll make our way to Goron City,” she said. “Then, we’ll need some adjustments on that Divine Beast so Daruk can manage it as easily as possible. He’s figured out how to get it to move. However, it’s apparent that we still have much more to learn.” She held the slate out in front of her. “But to think, that Divine Beast was actually built by people. That means we should be able to understand how it works and how to use it to our advantage.”

Link watched her as she spoke, but did not interject.

“These Divine Beasts,” Zelda continued. “So much we don’t know. But if we want to turn back the Calamity Ganon, they’re our best hope.” Her pace slowed and her eyes drifted down to her feet, lost in thought once more. She could feel Link’s gaze on her and it made her uneasy.

Link waited, unsure of whether to approach her. He was well aware of her disdain towards him. In fact, she didn’t particularly do a good job of hiding it. He thought it best to hang back so as not to upset her.

“Tell me the truth,” Zelda finally spoke again. She looked at him over her shoulder. “How proficient are you right now, wielding that sword on your back? Legend says that an ancient voice resonates inside it. Can you hear it yet, hero?”

Link remained silent as Zelda continued walking. In truth, he didn’t know what to say to her. He couldn’t possibly admit to her that no, he could not hear the sword speaking to him. Not since the day he was supposedly chosen. And it only made him worry. He was assigned a task - a seemingly impossible task at that - to save Hyrule from its doomed prophecies, yet the sword that was supposed to speak to him remained silent.

He wondered if he should say something to the princess. He opened his mouth to speak, but to his relief, Zelda continued on.

“I can’t help but to wonder what happened here, ten thousand years ago,” she said softly. “Legends, prophecies, destinies; I suppose if they’re all true, then it must be in our destiny to win this war. Perhaps that Shrine of Resurrection is the key.” She didn’t really believe it, but it eased her worries to think that their destinies - Hyrule’s future - was fated to live on. If their ancestors could fight through each rise of Ganon, then surely so could they. It was a reassuring thought, at the very least.

They traveled throughout the day, stopping only to rest for the night at the base of Death Mountain. In the morning, they followed the path up towards Goron City. Despite their ascent, the air grew uncomfortably thick and warm from the volcano. To their relief, they arrived in the city by midday, though the sun seemed brighter and hotter than ever. Zelda was anxious to work on the Divine Beast quickly so they could leave as soon as possible.

Daruk eagerly took them aboard Vah Rudania. As the princess examined the beast, Daruk hung back with Link. Vah Rudania climbed it’s way across the rocky terrain of Death Mountain as they admired the views. Link looked down and across Hyrule to the distant mountains. From atop the Divine Beast, the view was spectacular, and proved just how vast the kingdom truly was. He smiled at Daruk’s excitement as he piloted the machine.

“Yeah! I think I’m finally getting the hang of controlling this Divine Beast!” Daruk said. He stretched his arms and turned to Link. “I tell you what: sure is a blast piloting a toy like this around. Let those other Champions know, they better eat their gravel if they wanna keep up with Daruk.” He turned his gaze up towards Death Mountain. “Speaking of which, can you believe this view? Just look at all those deletable rocks sprinkled on those mountains. Mighty tasty.”

Link followed his gaze and smiled. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a glutton for a good meal, but rocks certainly weren’t on his menu.

“I may not know a whole lot about this Calamity Ganon thing,” Daruk continued, “but mark my words, I’ll protect this land of ours to the death. Right, little guy?” He let his large hand come down hard against Link in an affectionate pat on the back and laughed as Link stumbled forward under the force, forgetting his own strength.

“Hey, by the way,” he said as Link regained his footing. “Congrats on becoming the princess’s appointed knight. That’s a really big deal! Protecting the king’s daughter. No pressure!” He let his hand rest on Link’s shoulder, softer this time. “Seriously, though. The princess is a strong personality - so strong she can’t quite see the range for the peaks.” He scratched at the back of his head. “Remember that, and you’ll be fine.”

The ground began to shake suddenly and Daruk turned his gaze towards Death Mountain. “What the -?”

Above them, a large chunk of rock broke away from a towering pillar, and the boulder came crashing down, threatening to topple on top of them. But at the last minute, Daruk thrust his arms out and a magical red force field shot out from around him, protecting him and Link from the impact of the boulder. The boulder bounced off of the magical shield in shattered pieces and the rumbling quieted.

“All right, so what was I saying,” Daruk said absentmindedly. He turned back towards the mountain, mumbling to himself. “That was a little strange. As far as I know, Death Mountain has been quiet for decades. But if the mountain is shivering enough to send down a bunch of boulders that size, then…” He shook his head. “Nevermind. Forget I said anything.” But his gaze returned to the mountain, his brows knit together with worry written on his face.

Link followed the Goron’s gaze. He was not oblivious to Daruk’s uneasy reaction towards the rumbling. Perhaps it was a sign of Calamity Ganon’s awakening. The idea twisted in Link’s gut like a knife. They were far from ready to be at war.

Zelda joined them atop the Divine Beast, the Sheikah Slate in her hands once more. She seemed not to have noticed the rocks falling around them, deep inside the Divine Beast.

“It looks like you’ve got a good handle on the controls,” she said to Daruk with a smile. “With these Divine Beasts at our control, we’ll have no problem taking down Ganon.” She returned the slate to her hip, eager to leave as soon as they could. “We should head back to the castle,” she said, turning to Link. The Shrine of Resurrection still haunted her and all she wanted to do was scour her notes and continue her research of the ancient technology in hopes that something would help Purah and Robbie restore the facility.

Admittedly, Link was eager to get back to the castle as well, if only for a break from traveling across Hyrule. It had been some time since he had a decent night sleep, and a comfortable bed at that.

I set out for Goron City today to make some adjustments to Divine Beast Vah Rudania. I still recall feeling his eyes on me as I walked ahead. The feeling stayed with me so long, I grew anxious and weary. It is the same feeling I’ve felt before in his company. And still, not a word passes his lips. I never know what he’s thinking! It makes my imagination run wild, guessing at what he is thinking but will not say. What does the boy chosen by the sword that seals the darkness think of me? Will I ever truly know? Then, I suppose it’s simple. A daughter of Hyrule’s royal family yet unable to use sealing magic. He must despise me.