A Night to Rest

Restless Misadventure

Link quickly assessed the situation. He had just packed all his belongings, so he would have no concerns about leaving immediately. Nice. His opponent was a lynel, so there was no way he would be outrunning it, and it had already been spooked out of its territory, so it would likely not hesitate to continue to chase him even if he miraculously managed to dodge it beyond where its territory would typically extend. He camped by a cliff in case he couldn't outrun an enemy during the night, but he hadn't accounted for the range of a Lynel's bow. And he knew it would shoot. With a feeling of dread, the tired hero realized that this was a fight he couldn't avoid. Moments after Link resigned himself to fighting the beast during a thunderstorm at night, the lynel let loose a roar and charged towards him. The hero, now fully awake, hurriedly equipped his claymore while sprinting into the open area just north of the mesas. He could make better use of his agility in the upcoming fight if he had room to run.

Seconds after Link began his mad dash, the lynel was on him. He swiftly side-stepped as the beast narrowly missed and had to skid to a halt as its momentum pulled it forwards. Link took advantage of its concentration on stopping itself to mount the beast while plunging his weapon between its shoulders. Its tough hide protected it well, and it managed to shake him off while roaring in agony after being stabbed half a dozen times.

The Lynel immediately oriented itself to face Link as it filled its lungs with air. Not two seconds later, it began to spit fire balls at the small hero, forcing him to dodge while trying to get within range to attack it. As soon as he was in range, Link used his entire body weight to swing his claymore towards the beast, letting the centrifugal force cause him to spin, adding more speed and force to his attack with every rotation.

In an attempt to force the Hylian out of range, the lynel reared up on its hind legs and raised its spear up with the intention of slamming into the ground, which would send a shockwave affecting everything within 2 yards. Link immediately recognized the attack pattern and tried to sprint out of its strike zone. He was almost out when the shockwave hit, knocking out his breath and sending him tumbling further from his campsite. Disoriented, the hero stumbled to his feet, only to see the lynel staring vaguely behind him with a fearful expression before running away full tilt.

Then, Link felt it. All his hair was standing on end as if trying to escape the confines of his skin. He cautiously turned around to find Farosh close. Far too close. He immediately ran opposite it, but it was too little too late. Slowed by the wounds and fatigue of his recent battle, Link was unable to avoid the electricity that was soon flowing through his body as his mind went blank.

Link opened his eyes to find himself nearing the area he had previously tried to camp at. Sorting through the memories of his death, Link found that he couldn't have acted any differently to avoid the outcome - aside from the possibility of just being able to "fight better". He now had three options: look for another camping spot in the dark, teleport away and restart his search for the statue in the morning, or abandon the thought of sleep entirely.

......

A/N: Thank you for reading! Any feedback on what did or did not work in my writing is greatly appreciated! This is the end of what I have planned , but I'm currently working on a longer one.

The pictures used in this chapter (and the cover) are screenshots from Breath of the Wild that I took.