Crash Landing

!Link Hebra Mountain South Summit

It was fun while it lasted.

Truthfully, I knew I couldn't exist in this secret little world with Y/N forever. I knew I'd have to face Zelda at some point and answer for my actions.

Answer for my feelings.

Some part of me is running from this mask and the history attached to it. I have faith, at least, in Riju and Teba to uphold their end of the search. Even if it is all in vain.

How ironic it all is. I spent so much time before destroying Ganon trying to recover these lost fragments of memories. Now, I want nothing more than to run from them. To pretend they don't exist. To abolish them, along with the Hero of Time and what it is he is asking me to do.

If the answer is the Ocarina of Time, then the question remains... will Y/N remember my feelings toward her?

Or will we continue to go around and around in a cycle of firsts with the continuous possibility of nevers?

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Your bodies were soaring. With each kilometer of descent, you both disappeared into a souffle of clouds. What did the clouds taste like? You opened your mouth, your tongue hanging out like a drooling puppy. You were met with surprise when little droplets of ice rained against it. You smacked your lips together, trying to gather your thoughts on what you were tasting.

"See, Y/N, this isn't so bad. Sometimes, you just need to take the plunge." Link's hands gripped the paraglider as he made a gentle turn toward a bullseye painted on a mountain ridge in the distance.

"Link!" Your voice was exuberant with your new discovery. "The clouds taste like ice!"

"I wasn't aware ice had a flavor." An amused chuckle drifted from behind you. "That's what clouds are made of. Didn't you know?"

"You're forgetting I'm not an environmentalist. I'm just a guardian researcher."

"You're not 'just' anything. You're everything."

You couldn't help but wonder about Link. Where was all this brazen energy coming from?

Why was it so heavy all of a sudden?

And why was it making you sad? As if he was getting closer and closer to you, only to be pilfered away. The creeping anxiety of disaster kept surfacing, and you had to push it down. You hoped its heaviness would sink beneath the clouds and land back on the ground, where it hopefully wasn't waiting for you.

"Y/N, can you see that target in the distance? Ready your bow and try your best to aim."

You removed your bow with an arrow from the quiver that was stationed on your hips. You tried to remember what Link taught you. But you kept thinking about his hands and how they guided your body. You kept thinking about how you weren't safe from the deepest depths of your desires, even when you were up high where you hoped they couldn't reach you. You shot the arrow, and it hit a random area of the mountain, ricocheting off and plummeting to an uncertain fate below.

"Remember what I taught you. Keep your elbows straight. I know it's hard, but you can do this. We can't win, but we can try, and that's what matters."

You pulled the string of the bow and aimed with a new arrow. You had a proposition you wanted to offer Link. A motivating factor. If he would take it.

"If I shoot the center, will you tell me what Teba said?"

He remained silent. Your arm began to slightly shake, your arms becoming numb from holding the position for so long, until he finally said, "I'll consider it."

His words were all the permission you needed. You shot the arrow, hitting the side of the center. You scowled at it. You withdrew another arrow, not settling on anything less than a bullseye.

"Y/N, one more try before we hit the upcoming air current. It's going to catapult us upward toward another target."

You aimed your arrow, trying to concentrate despite the wavering of the paraglider as it hit a patch of turbulence amongst the clouds. You focused, and your mind fluttered over to Link and his current outbreak of lovey-dovey energy. If you could shoot for Link's heart and hit its core, which hadn't been an easy feat, then there was no reason you couldn't hit a damn target on a mountain.

You shot it, the tip of the arrow protruding from smack dab in the middle of the bullseye. "YES!" You exclaimed, admiring your work.

"Terrific! I knew you would get it, Y/N!"

Your heart trembled at the way Link always seemed to root for you. Link. I'll never find someone else like him. Your lips pulled downward; the ice that joyously pelted your tongue now pelted your face as you drifted through another cloud. Even if the cards are stacked against us, I won't give up fighting for him. Fighting for us. You thought of the Hero of Time and Link's bitter resentment. You thought of an unloved and shunned Kilton possessed by the malevolence of Majora's Mask. You thought of Zelda's tear-streaked face when Link told her that he will break the cycle and be hers no longer.

You hit a bustling air stream, shooting upward into the clouds once more. You decided to leave your guilt beneath them. "AH!"

Link was laughing behind you. His laugh sounded like that of an infant who was getting his feet tickled. It was pure delight. "Those are my favorite."

The sound of the air being torn like a piece of paper shredded your eardrums. Tulin appeared beside you. "You know I've hit four targets already. Are you even trying?"

Teba glided to your other side. "Tulin, you wanted friends to play with. Is that any way to act?"

"Huh? That's all this is? Is it not some test of our courage?" Teba let out a laugh that hit the clouds like a sonic boom.

"Heavens no, I know Hylians can't win an aerial challenge against Rito in the same sense Rito couldn't win a race against Hylians that are on foot. And sometimes it pains me to admit it, but Link has proven himself many times over. Even if I don't agree with his methods."

Tulin huffed. "Hey, Hylian, shoot one bullseye with me together. If you do that, I will happily call it a draw."

You giggled. "I'll hit a bullseye with you, but only if I can tell you you're cute."

Tulin fell back, his wings flapping with exasperation. "Wha-" A small ring of red formed above his beak and bled into his feathers, where his cheeks were. "Fine! You're on!"

As you concentrated on the upcoming target, you could hear Teba and Link mumbling. Snippets of the conversation drifted into your ears. "So, would you please watch for Kilton?"

"I'll do it. But I just want to make it clear that I have Vah Medoh on standby if you don't clear up this mess with the Blood Moon."

Your blood felt hot beneath your flesh at the way Teba was talking to Link. As if it were Link who conjured up the Blood Moon. If there was anyone he should be upset with, it was you. You were the one who forgot to mention Kilton's ominous warning.

Was this all your fault? Had you followed Kilton and insisted on treating his wounds, the mask would still be safe and sound in the castle. You wanted to defend Link and insist Teba take his attitude out on you. You opened your mouth, but Tulin chirped, alerting you.

"Here it comes!" His talons were tight on the string of his bow as he took aim to shoot. You readied your arrow alongside him.

"Let's do this!" You both shot your arrows, hitting the center of the target that was suspended atop a cliff carved into the side of the mountain. Except your arrow shot Tulin's off center. His arrow fell out and clattered down the mountainside.

"Hey!" Tulin's eyes flared in hysterics. His beak was open halfway before he let out a blood- curdling howl. An arrow coming from one of the surrounding mountains shot Tulin's wing, causing him to tumble downward into the open air.

"Tulin!" Teba screamed.

You reached forward, thrusting your hand down, and managed to grab Tulin's claw.

"Y/N!" Link gasped as the weight of the paraglider began to be tugged downward.

Another arrow whirled past Link's head.

"We are being attacked!" Teba flew circles around Link, his eyes rabid and wild.

"We must get out of the air!" Teba grabbed Tulin as Tulin sniffled into his injured wing. Blood trickled from his wing and onto his face. You watched as it sprinkled into the clouds; a concoction of icy droplets and frozen blood splatter was strewn before your eyes. Your heart floundered with unparalleled hurt at the sight of the wounded baby Rito.

"Link! See that cleft in the mountainside over yonder? With that small patch of ground before it? Try to float into it and land. If you get shot, I won't be able to successfully carry all three of you and fly." Teba continued to lap circles around you and Link, making you realize he was trying to deter any arrows hitting either of you.

"Teba! Can you gage who is shooting?" Another arrow sliced into your ankle, causing you to scream.

"Link!" You hollered.

"Y/N!"

"Shit," Teba hissed. "They're coming from different directions. We are dealing with multiple attackers."

You felt your mind drift into a state of unconsciousness. You couldn't even feel your wounded ankle or the bone that held the arrow in place. Link had said to have faith. But you couldn't lie; your faith was being tested right now.

I'm not going to die. Not here. Not thousands of miles up in the air. Link won't let it end like this.

Another arrow ripped through the open air, missing you both. The landing was so close.

Not close enough. Another arrow ripped past you.

Y/N? Can you hear me? Get the Ocarina of Time. Hurry! You must get the Ocarina of Time. It is the only line of defense.

You knew the voice well enough by now to know it wasn't Link's voice you were hearing.

Somewhere beyond the voice and the commotion in the air, you heard Link yowl.

He had been hit.

Your mind became a blurry stew of thoughts. You felt the bow slip out of your hands. Flashes of muddled white and gray eclipsed your closing eyes as you saw Teba still circling around you, creating a wicked gust to ward off the oncoming arrows. You could hear Link calling out to you. Unconcerned with wherever the arrow had just hit him.

You heard the Hero of Time again. As your soul appeared to vanish from your body, leaving Link and you vulnerable and suspended in the air, that would be the last voice you would hear.

"When he uses the ocarina, I will guide you. I won't let you forget. Like you have forgotten me. Malon..."

Edited: 9/16/23

***SQUEE I'M BACK BECAUSE I'M SO STOKED TO WRITE THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS! I'VE HAD THEM IN MY HEAD AND THEY WERE THE MOTIVATION FOR THIS FANFIC AND NOW WE ARE FINALLY HERE!***