You ride Ginger off the trail leading to the korok forest and set course north west around the forest to your destination.

Impa told you Darkblight Ganon cursed Typholo ruins to be inky black with no way of seeing a path. She said that your sword is going to be more difficult to obtain. This must include a puzzle. If there is no path, then there must be a puzzle having to do with direction. Like the embers in the flames.

You are lost in thought until you find yourself in a familiar location. You tug on Ginger's reins to stop as you stare in the location, trying to remember how you know this place. Then you remember the memory you recalled at Gerudo. The memory with Link...

Off by a clearing, you see a Lynel... and you remember that you and Link were interrupted by a Lynel in the memory. Could this be the same one? A descendent?

"What's the matter?" Link asks you, noticing your angered expression. He looks at where you were looking; the hills behind Hyrule Castle.

He gets out his Sheikah Slate and turns to the picture Princess Zelda took. You can see it in his eyes that he is recalling whatever memory that was. Part of you hopes he doesn't remember the memory of you, but part of you wishes very much that he does.

"Hey, Link," you find yourself calling as you continue to stare at the Lynel. You hear a hum in response as he is snapped back to reality. "Could we fight that Lynel?"

"Why?"

"It can be our warm up to the Blight Ganon we are about to face."

Link stiffens.

'Whoops...'

You forgot to mention the boss you are going to be fighting.

"There's another Blight?"

"I'm sorry," you cringe and look away. "I could've sworn I told you."

"It's okay," he forgives. "Better find out now than later."He stares at the Lynel circling its territory behind the castle. "Okay," he agrees with hesitation. "But if we waste any healing potions or get hurt, I am going to be mad."

'Trust me', you think, 'to me, it is going to be so worth it.'

You jump off Ginger and jog down the hill, waiting for Link at the base. "Ready?" you ask him. He gives you a nod.

Both of you run at the Lynel at once. The beast notices and gives a mighty roar. You jump out of his attack, royal claymore in hand. You find a perfect opening to attack and slash the daylights out of of it.

Link fights the Lynel from behind as you grab its full attention. It roars and leaps into the air. You run backward just in time as its sword sinks into the ground where you were standing moments before. As its attention focuses on Link, you draw your bow and fire a bomb arrow. It explodes in the gap between its horns and leaves a scorching fire eating away at its fur.

In the midst of the battle, Link gets an idea and retrieves the Sheikah Slate. He selects the Stasis rune and thrusts the Slate towards the Lynel. The beast is then suddenly frozen in time, trapped in a yellow sheen with magical chains holding it in place.

Link dashes towards the monster and slashes it. You quickly join him after a moment of awe. When the monster breaks free from the chains of time, it is knocked back slightly, but recovers.

You can see the Lynel was growing weak, giving you a leap of victory. "Both of us!" you yell. "Ready?"

You look over to Link and see his face emotionless and concentrating. The Lynel takes a slash and you parry the blade, performing a perfect guard, and creating an opening. "Now!!"

Both you and Link attack together and slay the beast. It groans a growl of defeat, and collapses on the ground. You grab its savage lynel sword and the savage lynel shield it once held.

You take your new weapons and strap them to your back, straightening your posture, and standing victor with your heart pounding. You can feel the extra strength Hestu granted to you in Korok Forest.

"What was that about?" You hear Link say, snapping you back to reality. "I've never seen you act like that before."

You ignore his question, deciding not to share the recovered memory. "Let's make this next victory two for two." You say and walk back to your horse.

~

You approach the entrance to the mysterious woods. Impa was right. You see no path in front of you what so ever. A single bird statue stands ablaze by the path with a torch leaning against the base. You look over at Link, and exchange ready looks.

You step forward, and immediately, every thing goes dark. The only thing you can see is the fire on the statue.

You hold up your hand, trying to see you move your own fingers, but it seems you have gone completely blind to everything except the puzzle.

You walk over to the statue and grab the torch, lighting it. You look and see another statue unlit next to the other. This must be a clue. The lit one is facing the unlit one, and the unlit one is facing the woods...

You light the second statue and walk straight ahead, listening to Link's footsteps behind you. If it is even possible, these woods are even more silent than the korok forest. Everything seems to be standing deadly still, waiting for you. The deeper you step into the forest, you more you can smell the infected smoke of malice. Red corrupted embers hover in the air around you.

You come across another statue, still facing forward. You infer this must mean to continue forward. You then come across one that is facing left. If you are correct, the next statue is in this direction...

You follow, and then find that your theory was right. You light the statue and freeze in place. You can hear the croak of a lizalfos, followed by quick footsteps.

The giant lizard breaths fire just as you duck. The light illuminates your surroundings, and you can see Link run at the monster, sword in hand, and strike it down. It lets out a cry, and dies from Link's blade.

"That was too close," you whisper. Link doesn't respond. He is most likely listening for any other approaching monsters. You light the torch again, as the flame was snuffed from your sudden movements.

You continue in this pattern for a while, you lighting the path as Link saves you from being burned at least four more times.

You then see two statues, both facing forward. You light them and see a large circle lined with the statues. You light all of them and put the torch away, now able to mostly see. You walk in the center of the circle and see your weapon waiting.

The gorgeous silver blade of a long sword reflected the orange flickering flames of the fire. Running down the middle of the blade was a gorgeous, golden accent. Just above the handle was engraved with the triforce. The handle was wrapped with fabric dyed a royal purple. The most striking feature was the cross-guard, shaped like a geometric pair of wings. The geometric design often featured with the triforce.

You reach to pick it up, fully on edge, expecting Darkblight Ganon to be anywhere. Then it shows itself just as you are about to grab the sword. Dark corruption swirls the sword and throws you back. You stare as the boss formed. The body created an arm holding the gargantuan of the sword you have seen before, vibrating guardian blue. You watch the other hand form a hideous clawed hand. And the head was matted in crimson mane like a lion's.

The boss shrieks and the ink in the air retreats into the ground, seeping back into the forest in which it was created in, allowing you to see fully again.

You glance at Link and see his concentrated face focused on the task at hand. His Master Sword glows a powerful blue, triggered by the taint and malice of Ganon's creation.

The battle begins.

The blight hovers above the stolen sword staring at the two challengers. You snatch your bow from your back and nock an arrow, aiming it at the beast.

The blight crosses its arms in an 'x', charging up an attack of magic. The ground blows an updraft in anticipation. Darkblight throws its arms down, and following the command, aura of malice erupts from the beast, rolling through the air around it, exploding down at you.

As the magic passes over you, you find yourself plunged into darkness again.

Your eyes widen upon seeing you couldn't even see the flames anymore. You were unable of seeing anything at all.

In that slight moment of hesitation, the blight seizes the opportunity. You and Link both yell in utter pain as the massive blade slashed horizontally with a double hit, almost instantly K.O.ing you both.

Both of you fall to your knees, shaking madly as the aura wore off. You grab your last health potion and drink a portion, feeling it heal your fatal gash.

You realize you have kept your eyes off of your opponent for far too long. The tiniest twig snap behind you, almost outside of your auditory range, sets off blaring alarms in your head.

You drop your bow and grab your Lynel shield, wrapping your hand through the handle, and covering yourself just in time as the blight bolts past you with the intentions of running its blade clean through you.

A piercing sound of grima slices through the air as sparks shower onto the grass. The shrill sound sends shivers from your spine to your scalp, and lasting longer than what you think your eardrums can handle.

In your squinted vision, your eyes fall on your Lynel shield. The cutting, gold plated edges of the shield were sharpened with the purpose of doubling as a weapon. In a yell, you thrust your arm threaded through the handle upward and cut into the corrupted body, even just a little.

The smallest deal of damage was enough to make it switch gears into close combat mode. Its sword lifts the slightest bit, allowing you to fully push the force off of you.

The foe was one second too late to react before you jump to your feet with your Lynel sword drawn and strike at full throttle. Link appears at your side in the blink of an eye to aid you. Together, you deal damage down a quarter.

The boss shrieks and spins itself into lines of blue light, having enough. It travels back to the sword, hovering above it.

"(Y/N)!" Link calls and runs toward you. "The updrafts!"

The boss crosses its arms, forcing the ground to create the updrafts. Before you can ask any further information, Link wraps an arm around you, pulling you towards him, and unfolds his paraglider.

The drafts bring you high into the air, free from the range of the blindness attack.

With full sight, you are able to see the perfect opening. You reach behind you for your bow but grab only air, since you left it on the forest floor. You look to your left at Link's equipment and can see he carried a forgotten boko bow which he obtained before he met you and only used once.

You reach behind him and swipe his bow, forcing him to loosen his grip on you. Link looks at you unexpectedly and understands your intentions as you grab an arrow from your quiver. He lets you go, giving you full room to do your worst.

You nock the arrow and critically hit the beast right in its spiraling, blue eye as you fall. Its head knocks back and it falls to the ground behind the sword.

You land heavily on your feet and grab your Lynel Sword next to Link, who draws his own. You both attack the boss with everything you have in that fleeting moment. You manage to deal the damage halfway, triggering phase two.

The blight spins itself into light and travels back over the sword. You ready yourself and watch it curl over with a scream. The scream shrieked and wailed distortedly in a volume so loud, the entirety of Hyrule could hear it.

A new kind of sense jamming aura came over you, but this time, you could no longer hear anything.

The force was so great, you feel your knees buckle on the spot. You've never heard a silence so deafening. It blocked out everything ranging from its own voice to the racing heartbeat inside of you. You could barely even hear your own thoughts.

Successfully dazing its challengers, the blight advances onto another attack, this time targeting Link, who is only a few inches closer to the blight than you are.

Link pulls a straining face and forces himself to look up at the monster with anger-fueled determination. The blight raises its sword horizontally as it advances onto him. Link grabs his radiant shield and prepares for the moment of truth.

The blight slashes the air horizontally before swerving just before it hit Link, causing him to parry nothing, and leaving him wide open. The blight plummets the blade down and knocks Link to the ground.

Already near death from the start, the lethal assault easily triggered Mipha's Grace inside Link. Her spirit heals him with green flames.

You stare dumbfounded at the scene. The blight managed to avoid a parry from Link.

'This fight is impossible,' you think. 'Should we get out of here while we still can?!'

The blight crosses its arms to blind you again. Link was still on the ground, baffled at the power. You focus your attention back on the monster and wrack your brain.

'There's a pattern,' you think. 'This blight is the embodiment of the fear of losing senses. But even if I'm blind and deaf, I still am. I still have a voice. Using that, I can call upon--"

The blight throws its arms down, emitting the aura, and sending you into darkness. Just as it advances onto you, you plant your feet firm on the ground, throw back a hand, and swing it forward, snapping your fingers.

'-- Urbosa.'

The fury of the power zaps the beast. You immediately turn to your right as you hear the blight crackle, way too close to you for comfort. You stopped it right in time.

Blind, you thrash at the blight, claiming a quarter of its health. Your sight returns shortly after, and you're able to see Link return to your side.

The beast slowly picks itself up from the ground, moments away from retreating back to the sword. Link grits his teeth and snatches the Sheikah Slate, selects the Stasis rune, and points the slate to the beast.

Chains of magic lock it into place with a flash of yellow. Though it held for just an instant, it was just enough to allow you to throw yourself forward with your blade, forcing its health to dwindle down to its last point.

The chains snap and the beast lifts itself back up with another deafening shriek.

You grit your teeth and squint through the pain, pushing yourself to stay standing.

You watch as the beast travels back over the sword in lines of light. Now hanging upside down with only one option left to keep its life, its eye illuminates red. The guardian laser projects a circle on your chest, winding up an attack.

You draw a calming breath as you stare at the beast. You reach behind you and grab an arrow, nock it in your bow, and pull the string back. You close one eye with only seconds left, and fire the arrow.

The arrow lands a direct hit into its eye, stabbing into the blue with half of its length.

The blight rives in the air, tearing itself apart, and spills the malice out of its body. Then, it disappears, lifting the curse from the forest. Daylight showers down onto the forest floor, filtered by the leaves of the trees.

Your eyes land on the sword that has waited for you for a century. The very sword you carried in what seems like a past life. The sword that you've heard enhances your abilities to hear the goddess.

You slowly walk over to the weapon, taking deep breaths all the while. It stuck into the soft earth at a rough angle. The patches of moss around the dirt creeped up the sides of the blade. You grab the handle, wrapping your hands around the fabric that refused to fade or fray after all these years.

Reacting to your touch, the triforce above the handle gleamed in a bright light.

You wrench the sword out of the ground, tearing the roots of the moss in the process. You slowly turn the sword to point up and hold it before you.

The blade, steel lined with gold, didn't have a single scratch or stuff on it. No rust could be seen. Not even a smudge. You lift the sword up and level the glowing triforce with your eyes.

Another forgotten memory resurfaces inside you.

--~--

"I come seeking help," the princess said to the goddess statue in the spring of courage, "regarding this power that has been handed down over time. Prayer to awaken my power to seal Ganon away. Mother told me, that her power would develop within me. Now, she is no longer with me... So I seek help to the spirits tied to the ancient gods. I beg of you... please help me awaken this power."

Princess Zelda stayed silent for a few moments, praying with all of her focused energy and listening for even the slightest whisper of the spirits.

"Please, Goddess Hylia. Help me awaken this holy power that has been passed down for generations in your bloodline."

She waited, tightening her hands balled in a fist. Nothing comes to her.

"Why is this happening?" she said with a voice teetering on the edge of a sob. "Why can't I hear them? The voices of the spirit realm? The ancient gods's voices were so clear to her, my grandmother. The power is in me, somewhere, and prayer will awaken it. Or s-so I'm told."

She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her forehead against her hands, fingernails digging into her palm. "Please," she begged. "Please let me hear or feel anything. I've spent my whole life praying, but my devotion has been proven worthless. What do I need to do? What am I doing wrong? "

The princess let out a cry. "Is there something wrong with me?"

She waited, listening with all her might, but nothing answered her.

(Y/N), standing on the outskirts of the water by the stairs, turned around to look at the princess. The Royal sword resting point down on the stone, supported by the commander's hold. (Y/N) gazed with sympathy at the princess, waist deep in chilling water.

"Please," Zelda begged with water beading in her eyelashes. "Please," she raised her voice. "I can't go back with nothing! Not again! My father, as well as the rest of the kingdom, thinks I'm a failure. Please help me show them that they're wrong!"

Her whole form began to shake as she let her cry. The anguish contagiously filled the air and met with (Y/N), who's face twisted in commiseration.

The royal guard was told to wait as the princess commences the ritual, but seeing the princess suffering in the waters was agonizing.

Zelda's wailing cries rose in volume and tipped (Y/N) over the edge.

(Y/N) dropped the sword with a clatter. Now separated from its owner, the faint glow from its triforce engravings died.

(Y/N) ran into the waters, water seeping through their uniform. (Y/N) pushed past the resistance, splashing the water white, and hugged the princess in a high hold, comforting her as she weeps.

With the comfort of her good friend, Zelda takes breaths to calm herself down. Her thoughts scolded her with verbal abuse about her actions and conjured up atrocious and unrealistic things her father would say to her when she returns.

(Y/N) seemed to be the only one left in the castle who she could turn to. Everywhere (Y/N) walked turned into a safe space, and the princess was beginning to rely on it.