Chapter Text
He's fighting against fatigue today.
His head is leaning against a pole on the train, his blonde hair mussed up slightly from the way he's resting. Trees zoom by silently through the opposite window and every once in a while, he can see cows and large barns before the world is whipped out of sight and becomes nothing but a greenish blur.
There's stickers all over the train walls and doors: triangles and ads for milk, disturbing images of a man in a green suit. Someone had carved into one of the luggage racks overhead "Skull Kid was Here." The title, oddly, brings up a moment of dread, but he quells it with a yawn and an inward shrug. He has long since known that he becomes paranoid and hypervigilant whenever he fights against sleep. His past did not do him any favors when it came to making it easy for him to fall asleep.
Which is part of the reason he fights so hard now--he wouldn't forgive himself if he is lulled to sleep by the rhythmic movement of the train. He doesn't know the people he shares the car with and does not know if it would be wise to trust them, though they don't seem all that imposing.
There's an older woman, sitting on several red cushions, a young woman that he can only assume is her granddaughter sitting next to her and casting shy glances at him every once in a while. It must be because of his bandages--he has one covering a nasty scar on his cheek and another hiding a jagged slash on his arm. He hopes he hasn't worried her with his appearance, but beyond that, he doesn't have much emotion to spare the two of them.
Further down are two people whispering excitedly to each other. They seem to be an older couple, though whether they were married or not…Link kind of doubts it. For starters, they act more like friends than like people in love and they keep discussing a little girl and how fast she grew up--"mere days!"--so maybe they were siblings talking about a favored niece or something.
At the other end of the car, surrounded by an almost obscene amount of books, is a young woman with short blonde hair and two white tears tattooed on her cheeks. She was rather beautiful, Link thought, and something in him aches, begging him to remember something he has long forgotten.
Odd, Link thinks, but he chalks it up to his fatigue.
He knows that he has heard voices before, following him into often restless sleep. Perhaps this voice, that insists he remember, is simply the audio from his dream, starting up and broadcasting in his ear even though he hasn't yet closed his eyes.
Hypnagogic and hypnopompic, the therapist had told him the last time he had seen her. She had winked and seemed somewhat amused by the prospect that no matter what, if Link was sleepy, he was hearing voices and seeing visions.
Remember, the voice repeats, louder now.
Shut up, Link urges it silently.
The pretty woman with the short blond hair is looking at him now, and her blue eyes are wide, as if she recognizes him.
They enter a tunnel and the entire train is cast in darkness.
While they hurry beneath the earth, a woman in a long purple skirt with brilliant red hair appears. She's smiling at him.
She's always smiling at him.
"I can't fall asleep," he tells her softly, so if anyone hears they will think he's talking to himself.
"Why not?" She asks. "It's a nice, sunny day on the ranch and there's no chores to be done. Nothing wrong with a quick cat nap."
"I'm losing my mind," he mutters and the darkness lifts and the train leaves the tunnel.
The sudden change in light had made her disappear, but he can hear Malon still, teasing him about his sleep deprivation.
He takes a deep breath and looks to his right.
The pretty girl with the tear tattoos is sitting next to him now, her face just inches from his.
He lets out a startled yelp that he isn't proud of and she flashes him an apologetic smile.
"Sorry," she says softly, "I don't do well in the darkness."
He lets out a couple of quick breaths before nodding and flashing a smile of his own.
"It's okay," he tells her. "There's a few more tunnels on the way to Necluda, so you can sit here with me if you want."
Remember, the voice says, more insistent than ever.
YOU remember, Link bites back mentally.
"Thank you," the girls says, before she rushes off to grab her books and brings them back over.
The old woman and her granddaughter are watching the two of them as the girl settles in next to him happily.
He's starting to get chills. Something is wrong here, isn't it? What if one of them isn't what they seem?
He can almost feel it: the cold steel of a sickle blade held firmly against his throat. An image from another life, perhaps, but he ignores it, berating himself for being so tired that his paranoia is going rampant.
The only way to cure it is to go to sleep--but with the growing sense of danger, Link is finding himself fighting harder and harder to stay awake.
The woman looks at him and smiles.
"Thank you for this," she says softly, "I'm afraid I'm horribly afraid of the dark, like I said. You're too kind for this."
"Don't worry about it," he replies, before looking at her.
"I'm Link," he says, holding out his hand.
She takes it and he bites back a smile at her firm handshake. He hadn't been expecting that.
"I'm Zelda," she responds.
"Well, no need to worry, Zelda," he says, leaning his head back against the pole, "I'll protect you."
*
Modern Hyrule is connected with a few train stations in choice areas. Someone can take the train from Kakariko all the way up to Rito Village. The train only stops at bigger cities--Kakariko, Hateno, Rito Village, Kara Kara Bazaar, Tarrey Town, Lurelin, and Castle Town--and Hyruleans have to either walk or go horseback for all the areas in between.
This was decided for a number of reasons--for starters, medical supplies could reach bigger cities and then be distributed out to smaller areas with a very small carbon footprint. Secondly, Hyruleans, no matter their race, had a fondness for adventure, whether that adventure was going to the old ruins of Deya Village or just heading out of the city for a bit to have a campfire with friends.
Link himself was heading to Dueling Peaks and was taking the train to Hateno before he would have to double back on his horse for the day ride to the stable.
He didn't much mind, though; for one, his home was in Hateno and he was looking forward to crashing in his own bed. Secondly, a day long journey with no one to bother him but his horse sounded like a dream come true after the week he was having.
Zelda has long since fallen asleep since they last spoke, her head leaning against his shoulder. He has been endeavoring since then to not move his arm or shoulder too much.
The older woman across the aisle has also nodded off and her granddaughter is reading a magazine. He squints a little to make out the title: Kakariko Rumor Mill. Huh. They must be heading home to Kakariko then.
They flash past the Dueling Peaks and Link grits his teeth. He's always hated this part of the train ride. The train runs along a narrow ledge on the side of the mountain and the vibrations often sends rocks falling to the ground below and while it hugs the side of the mountain, the train car is cast in darkness.
He's thankful Zelda is already asleep--he has no desire to be jump-scared by her again when the light comes back.
The light?
He seems to remember something--being tucked into bed and hearing a woman's voice.
She's alive?! He remembers thinking and he had looked towards the castle to see pillars and, in a swirling darkness, a single golden light.
He snaps out of it as the train grumbles, not noticing that everyone except Zelda is awake and looking at him, almost expectantly.
He looks down at Zelda. Would she mind if he fell asleep? He has no idea when her stop is--for all he knows, she's heading all the way to Zora's Domain, or even Akkala.
You are the light that must shine on Hyrule once again.
If he doesn't fall asleep soon, he muses, his disorder is going to kick into an unmanageably high gear.
He looks at Zelda, sighs, and is about to close his own eyes when they come out of Dueling Peaks and wails and cries of terror echo back to them from other train cars.
Zelda awakes with a jolt, looking around somewhat dazedly.
"What's happening?" She asks Link.
"I don't know," he tells her, putting an arm protectively in front of her so the sudden lurching of the train doesn't toss her across the aisle. "Just stay close."
Light hits the car and the granddaughter screams.
Dueling Peaks stable is on fire.
In front of the stable are creatures Link has only confronted in his nightmares. They tower over the people attempting to escape, picking up trees as if they weigh nothing.
"What is that? What is that?" the granddaughter yells.
The word comes to Link, though he does not know how he knows.
"Hinox," he says grimly.
The older couple make their way towards the others, holding onto poles and seats as they go.
"Hinox?" the older man shouts. "I've only seen some of their old bones in ruins. You're telling me those massive beasts have been alive this entire time?"
"They're quite strong," his companion said, recording the footage with her pad. "We'd have to find a way to topple them, I'd reckon."
"What do you mean 'we'?" the granddaughter huffs. "Those things would squash us!"
"Would they be able to throw the train?" Zelda asks fearfully.
"They already are," Link responds, his eyes widening at the scene unfolding in front of them.
One of the train cars is already in one of the hinox's hands, which explained the sudden lurching. It looks to be torn in half, Hyruleans tumbling out to the ground below and some falling into the flames.
"Evacuate the train!" Link yells, taking Zelda's hand.
He drops her hand so he can pry open the train doors.
The white haired young woman shakes her head as Link reaches for her to toss her out.
"N-No," she stutters, "No, no, no--"
"Come now, Paya," her grandmother says, patting her shoulder. "It'll be fun!"
The old woman jumps out before Link can even blink. Paya, with a frustrated and terrified yelp, plunges after her unthinkingly, only realizing what she's done when it's too late to turn back.
The elderly couple jumps out on their own as the train lurches again.
"Another car!" Zelda yells in terror. "They ripped off another car!"
"We've got to go!" Link responds and he takes her hand once again before the two of them plummet towards the ground below.
*
"Got a weapon?" a voice says, almost amused, and Link groans.
"Not you again," Link moans. "Unless you're here to lead me to the afterlife, leave me alone."
"You're more like me than the others," the voice decides and Link opens his eyes at that.
Squatting near him is a young man that honestly looks far too much like himself for comfort. The blue eyes, the blonde hair, even their hairstyle is similar.
The main difference is their height and scarring. The man squatting near him seems unusually short, maybe around 4'9. Link's height isn't anything to write home about--he's an underwhelming 5'4--but he feels tall in comparison.
The man also has scars everywhere: across his face, down his arms, and across his exposed chest.
"I am not having it with these hallucinations," Link grumbles and, to his surprise, the man laughs.
"What a mood," the man says. "When I lost my memory, and would have random flashbacks, it was the WORST. Especially when I was in the middle of battle."
He taps the side of his cheek.
"Got this one from a Lynel at the trailhead for Mt. Lanayru," the strange man says. "I got my revenge, though."
"I have to wake up," Link tells him. "There's some sort of monster attacking the stable. People are dying."
The young man's face grows serious.
"People are always dying in Hyrule," he tells Link, who gets chills from his stare. "The land, the gods, everyone on it, desire blood. There's a great darkness waking up. There will be more than just Hinoxes attacking people. You need to remember, if you want to save Hyrule."
"You know about the Hinox?!" Link asks, suddenly feeling wide awake. "Please! You have to tell me how to beat them before anyone else dies!"
"Their eye," the young man smiles as he begins to dissolve into smoke. "Find a bow or a sword and stab them in the eye."
*
"Link!" a voice yells and he finds himself being shaken lightly by Zelda. "Link, we have to move!"
"We can stab it," Link gasps.
"WHAT?!"
Link points towards the stable.
"We can stab them in the eye," he says again, climbing to his feet. "Does anyone have anything sharp, like a sword or something?"
"You can't be thinking of going against that thing!" Zelda says, grabbing his arm.
"People are dying, Zelda," he tells her, taking several ragged breaths. "I can't just sit and watch."
"I have a sword," Paya says unexpectedly. "Or I did. It's still on the train. On the rack above where I was sitting."
"I'll grab it and try to get on a car that the Hinox grabs," Link says. "I can't see how else to reach it's eye."
He turns to Zelda.
"Stay here with the others," he tells her. "If they start coming down here, run until you reach the Deya Village ruins and don't look back."
He races up towards the train, which is slowly being dragged away by the Hinox.
He tries not to think that there's more than one as he's climbing, or about the impossibility of his plan. All he can think of is the people who fell out of the back of the car, never to get back up.
He climbs up the cliff and goes back into the train just as it lurches forward significantly. He loses his balance and crashes onto his back, something rolling off of the rack above and landing next to him.
He recognizes the blade--a kodachi, signature of the Sheikah tribe--and he grabs it before stumbling to his feet and running forward.
By now, other passengers have vacated their cars and Link only has to jump over fallen luggage and general refuse.
"You'll have to act fast," a voice says to his left and Link looks to see the same young man from before. "I don't have much time to help you, either. After you dispose of these things--"
"--if I dispose of these things--" Link mutters.
"When you dispose of these things," the young man corrects fiercely, "if you want more answers from me, go to the large rock in your backyard and move it. And make sure you do it when you're wide awake, so you don't have an excuse to ignore me anymore, okay?"
"Fine. Whatever," Link tells him through gritted teeth as he steadily makes progress through the train cars.
The man stays with Link for longer than expected. He's sure his therapist will love to hear about this experience, jotting it down in her notepad in a color-coordinated manner, switching between red, green, and blue pens with astounding efficiency.
"A man that looks like you?" she would likely say, tapping her pen against her cheek. "An ancestor, maybe?"
Go to the large rock in your backyard.
Link grits his teeth. He REALLY needs to go to sleep.
He finally makes it to the front car and realizes just how bad the situation is. Part of the bridge is missing and the railcar is teetering towards the ground slowly.
His stomach turns.
"This is impossible!" he grounds out, but before he can decide to retreat and think of a more strategic plan, a large hand grabs the car.
The roof crinkles from the grip and Link jumps down onto a gigantic red arm.
Might as well go out like a complete idiot, he thinks, and he makes quick work of climbing up the large, grotesque beast.
The beast hurls the car at a group of rapidly retreating horseman and thankfully misses, but the resulting explosion sends an unbearable blast of heat into the air and Link grits his teeth as he readies the sword and stabs for the Hinox's massive yellowed eye.
The beast howls from his blade, stomping around and attracting the attention of the other Hinox. Shit. He hadn't prepared for how to get to the other one and as it stomps closer, it's large eye fixed on him, he begins to wonder if Hylia hates him.
As his Hinox falls to the ground with an earth quaking thud, the other begins to swat nervously at its body, as if it was being attacked by a troublesome bug. Through the smoke of the fire, Link sees something impossible: the man he had spoken to, his own hallucination, making his way up the beast. He is surrounded by blue flame and is wearing a shirt to match along with tan traveller's pants and brown boots. Something glowing bounces on his hip as he moves nimbly up the beast, before taking down the second Hinox in a flash of light.
The second thud rattles Link and the ensuing silence makes him wonder if the crash had briefly turned him deaf. He took a few deep breaths and watched as the blue-flamed hallucination turned towards him before disappearing into thin air.