Linked Worlds

Chapter Twelve: Wild

"Link? Link, wake up..."

"Huh? Did you have another nightmare?"

"Yeah..."

"Hey, it's okay. Come here, you can sleep with me tonight."

"Okay........... Link?"

"Yes?"

"I miss momma."

Wild opens their eyes, and find that it is raining. They shake the dream from their head- they won't be able to remember, no matter how hard they try- and sit up. They sniffle and groan, their nose is clogged. Must be allergies. They look around at their surroundings.

They lay next to a cooking pot. There are a few boxes, a wooden barrel, an explosive barrel, and a campfire. Goddess, their head hurts. They can see one of the bridges leading to Zora's Domain. Wild rubs the sleep from their eyes and turns to their teammates, only to find that they're not here.

They jump up, ignoring the dizziness. The group has always stuck together, even after sudden switches. Did they get separated? Why would that happen? Did they decide they didn't need Wild anymore? Did the group finally realize that they're a failure? But- but they all told them that they didn't think that. Were they lying?

Wild sits back down and tries to control their breathing. They squeeze their eyes shut, thinking about what Sidon taught them.

"It will be okay, my love. Breath in for four seconds..."

One, two, three, four.

"Hold your breath for seven seconds now, you're doing amazing."

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

"Excellent! Now breathe out for eight seconds, I believe in you."

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

"Now repeat that as many times as you need, love. I'll make sure nothing else can harm you."

Sidon..... they're close to Zora's Domain. They could go see him. But the group... What if they're in danger? If they really did just accidentally separate, they could be anywhere. And if they're anywhere near here, there are a lot of things they could bump into. The blood moon brought everything back. Wild can think of five nearby Hinox, a talus, not to mention those lynels. They need to check all of those places, then travel down the main road to Zora's Domain for good measure. Those lizalfos can get overwhelming. Oh, and the guardian watchers in Upland Zorana...

Geez, it's no wonder why Hylians don't travel here that often.

"Okay," they whisper as they nod to themself. They pull out their map, cough a little (Ugh, they're congested), and warp to Mah Eliya Shrine.

The rain hasn't reached here yet. They start heading up to Shatterback Point, speeding up their pace. In their state of hurry, they leave behind the shock arrows. They need to make sure nobody is fighting that lynel.

The lynel's territory is silent, but they're not fooled. They walk out into the middle, and shock arrows are immediately being shot at them.

'All clear,' Wild thinks as they run up the peak and jump off. The East Reservoir Lake sparkles in the morning light, much more beautiful than it was when it was being flooded by the corrupted Divine Beast. They let themself drop onto another ledge to regain stamina, then glide down to where the talus resides.

Approximately three minutes later, they're running to avoid getting crushed.

"All clear!" they shout as they warp away to Sato Koda Shrine.