log 🌻 the one left behind

[multidisciplinary]

Who: Zelda and others
Which: Log with open and closed prompts in the comments
Where: Around Reverein- Wild Harvest, Archives, and Wishing Well
What: Zelda wakes from her sleep coma and is big sad about her bf being gone
Warnings: Usual TOTK spoilers, possible themes of self-sacrifice



[ Zelda wakes slowly, opening her eyes to sunlight filtering through the window, playing on the rafters crisscrossing above her head and illuminating a few dust motes drifting in the air. The ceiling of her bedroom in Songerein.

She lets out a slow, defeated sigh and closes her eyes again.

She failed again.

The day Zelda woke to discover Link gone, she laid down in her bed and willed herself to go back to sleep. His departure did not come as a surprise, but that did not make it any easier to bear. He had told her that he would soon return to Hyrule, as if he knew-- no, not just knew, decided to go, as if that conviction was all he needed to break free from the shackles the dream world placed on its residents. It was time for him to return, he said. He was going to bring her home too. Nevermind the permanence of the draconification transformation. Nevermind the obstacle of the Demon King, looming insurmountable over Hyrule. He was going to overcome it all.

He was going to bring her home.

If Link could escape Songerein simply through sleep and conviction, then surely Zelda could as well. Why stay, when staying meant being without him? She only agreed to set duty aside and live for as long as the two of them were together. Link was gone; time for Zelda to fulfill her duty and become the Light Dragon.

And she partially succeeded; the princess managed to slip into a sleep coma of her own volition, where she spent the entirety of a month. But of course, escape still eluded her. Three times, Zelda has tried to wake of her own volition. Once by trying to swallow her secret stone and force the draconification transformation. Once by throwing enough baubles into the wishing well to grant her passage back to Hyrule. And now, by forcing herself to sleep. All three times, Zelda has failed.

Really, she should not be surprised. Leave it to Link to succeed in something like this the moment he puts his mind to it, and for Zelda to struggle and fail repeatedly. Such has always been the way for the two of them, hasn't it?

Zelda continues to lay in bed for awhile, wondering if she should try again, until the bedsores all over her body become too much for her to bear. No, she needs to get up. She needs to do something. If she doesn't find some way to occupy her mind, her thoughts will drift to Link... and whenever they do, it feels like scalding knives driving into her chest.

The pain of being the one left behind. ]

Comments

Open - wild harvest, songerein archives, wishing well, wildcard

[multidisciplinary]

[ Zelda can be found here and there around Reverein, looking significantly more tired and gloomy than she has for months now.

At the Wild Harvest, she is relaxing in the outdoor seating area with a plate holding a few squares of blueberry fudge, while a blue honeybee snoozes in the chair beside her. She will also be inquiring about the help wanted sign. (Anything to keep her busy and keep her mind off losing Link.)

At the Songerein Archives, the princess is hard at work trying to take care of everything that has been needing her attention in the past month. Visitors to the archives will likely find her rushing to and fro with arms full of papers or boxes, or examining a large map and making notes about where it needs to be updated.

If anyone just so happens to be at the Wishing Well, they will find Zelda covered in glitter and looking very cross. She is having a battle of wills with the well over a certain blue hair tie. Yes, the hair tie previously belonged to Link, but now it's hers and she wants it back. She will throw as many baubles as she needs to until she gets it!

If none of the above are appealing, wildcard is always an available option. ]

wishing well!

[inheritedearth]

[Aerith has accumulated her fair share of baubles for the well in her time here, but has never quite known what to do with them. She didn't want for much, truth be told, and she had donated a few, but recent events have had her thinking a bit more keenly about seizing the moment. There were a few things she might like to have, she had reasoned, which is what brings her to the well on this particular afternoon.

As it so happens, she's not the only one who'd thought to visit today— and from the looks of things, this other young woman's efforts weren't going very well.

Aerith clears her throat to get her attention, offering a wave before she approaches the well proper, giving the other girl a smile.]

Hello! Need a hand?

[multidisciplinary]

[ Zelda hears someone clear their throat behind her and turns around to find a young woman she's never seen before. In contrast to unpleasant expression on the princess's face, the newcomer greets her with a polite smile and a wave.

Zelda takes a breath and tries to compose herself as Aerith approaches, but the best she can manage is going from 'vexed' to 'perturbed.' ]

I suppose I might. [ She heaves a defeated sigh. ] I've spent four baubles on this accursed thing and it refuses to give me what I asked for.

[inheritedearth]

[Perturbed is a step in the right direction, at least! Aerith doesn't seem the least bit bothered by Zelda's mood— she is the one interrupting, and even if she weren't, she's used to Cloud. He's perturbed most days, at least for a little while.]

Really? That doesn't seem right.

[Aerith frowns a little as she gives the wishing well a pointed look, her brow slightly furrowed as she puts her hands on her hips.]

It's supposed to give us anything of ours we want from home, isn't it? What is it you're trying to get a hold of?

[multidisciplinary]

It is, and it has never given me trouble in the past. [ She turns her gaze on the well. Perhaps the combined efforts of two women glaring at it will make it more cooperative. ]

I am trying to regain my-- [ Zelda stops abruptly, because even after all this time, she still doesn't have the right word to describe Link. They never sorted that out while he was still here. It just felt unimportant. ] --my boyfriend's hair band.

I know it is a silly thing to get worked up over, but it is mine and I want it back. [ She wouldn't normally be so defensive, but her emotions have the better of her and her usual patience has worn tenuously thin. ]

archives

[cawpatrol]

[ Given how busy Zelda is making herself, and how much she has in her arms, it's likely she isn't able to see that floor. Normally given how tidy the place can be, this wouldn't be an issue...

Except today, a visitor who is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand is on the floor. And there's a definite yelp as she dives out of the way! ]

Th-that was too close!

[multidisciplinary]

[ The archives are usually in much better order than they are right now. Trahearne would have never allowed them to get this messy! So with her arms full and attention everywhere but the floor in front of her, Zelda has no idea Black Raisin Cookie is there until she hears a little yelp from almost right beneath her. Zelda starts, crying out in surprise and jumping to the side (fortunately, the opposite side from where BRC dove). A few papers slide off the top of her pile. ]

I am so sorry! Please forgive me, I did not see you... [ The princess looks around frantically for the source of the person she apparently almost bumped into? But she doesn't see anyone?? ] ...there.

[cawpatrol]

[ A heavy sigh follows... one that comes from below. ]

Yes, people rarely do in this place. Raisin Crows, assist her at once.

[ "Caw, caw, caw!"

Her papers are being picked up, one by one, by... little birdies. And we do mean little - they're only a little bigger than gumballs! Five Raisin Crows in total, all of them working together to pick up the papers and gently place them back atop her pile. ]

[multidisciplinary]

[ BRC calls them 'crows,' but from Zelda's perspective, they look rather more like large flies. Until they fly up with her papers, that is, and she can get a decent look at them. No, they're not flies, they literally flying raisins. She can't keep awe from showing on her face as they steadily deposit each of her lost papers back on the pile. ]

Thank you... [ There's clear wonder along with the sincerity of her thanks. Zelda has lived in Songerein for a long time and seen many, many unusual things, but miniature crows made of raisins are a first. ]

My apologies for nearly stepping on you. [ Her eyes follow the crows as they return to BRC, leading Zelda to the person she almost stepped on.

...Said person is a cookie woman.

Do not ask, Zelda. You are a princess. It would be the height of rudeness to ask a question you can plainly see the answer to with your own two eyes. She is a cookie woman and that's just the way of it. Do not stare. ]

Are you new to the archives? I do not believe I have seen you here before.

[ Which would be easy to do, given, you know, cookie. ]

archives!

[flamberge]

[through all the work and effort put in, the archives are far less of a chaotic space than before. some chaos remains, but to the degree that one could expect from such a place. kratos, on his end, is working in finishing up organizing a particular cabinet. as zelda walks by, he glances at her over a shoulder.]

When you have a moment, can you add these to the stack of papers I'd given you earlier?

[he holds out said pile before placing it on a table nearby. nice and easy to grab whenever zelda can come by.]

I'll organize them once I've sorted a few other things.

[multidisciplinary]

[ With the addition of Kratos to the archive's staff (or at least, that's how Zelda is treating him), they were able to get the majority of things in good working order before Link departed and the princess tried to follow after. The archives' regular staff are able to keep day to day operations running smoothly in Zelda's absence, but administrative duties have started to pile up again...

Unfortunately, her energy for the task is dramatically lower than it was in April. Although she came to the archive today with the intention of losing herself in work, Zelda has found herself strangely incapable of doing so. Her mind refuses to engage with anything except rerunning memories of Link over and over again.

Not for the first time today, Kratos will hear her sigh as she passes behind him. Zelda has made no mention of Link's disappearance, but it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. The pair were frequently seen in each other's company, even long before their relationship took a romantic turn. Link's absence from Zelda's side may not be that unusual, but coupled with her dismal mood, there would seem to be a correlation. ]

Of course, just a moment.

[ Zelda attempts to balance her box on one leg while reaching for the papers on the table. Unfortunately, the box is quite a bit heavier than she can manage like this, and it slips right out of her hand and crashes onto the floor in a spectacular landslide of paperwork.

UGHHHHHHHHH. ]

wishing well

[thehighwind]

[He just happened to be passing by when he suddenly hears some kind of loud POOF and founds himself covered in glitter.]

The hell is this!?

[multidisciplinary]

[ Zelda lets out a very un-princess-like curse as the wishing well once again spits out her offered bauble and the traditional explosion of glitter. Bad enough that the well denies the dreamwalker the item they sought to regain, but it feels the need to add insult to injury by showering them with glitter. Unnecessarily rude of it, in Zelda's opinion. ]

Failure, is what.

[thehighwind]

Failure of what?

[Spitting out glitter pteh ptoo!]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Sorry you were in the splash zone, Cid. ]

To retrieve my belongings from this accursed well. [ Said sourly at the well in a vain attempt to make it feel bad for not giving her what she wants. ] It is supposed to return one of my belongings from my homeworld in exchange for one of these silly little baubles, but it is being difficult today for some reason.

for Alastor

[multidisciplinary]

[ During her month of slumber, Zelda was plagued with nightmares. Nightmares of Hyrule. Nightmares of the Demon King. Nightmares of the Light Dragon. Nightmares of Link.

But one nightmare was not her own. One nightmare involved a radio tower.

Since waking, many of her nightmares have faded into the back of her mind, their details muddled by the fog of sleep and the princess's unwillingness to look back at them. But the radio tower --or, rather, the remains of the radio tower-- are clear and sharp in her mind. And Alastor, bloodied, making his way across a nostilium-riddled Wasteland. Screaming. Zelda has never heard him scream like that before.

She ponders writing to him in the journals and asking about the nightmare, but such a blunt approach would probably be less than successful. Alastor can be cagey when he wants to be, and a moment of weakness (even if it's only in a dream) is probably one he would rather avoid talking about.

A different approach, then. Something more personal. ]

Alastor, would you be interested in pursuing the little game you challenged me to in February? I find myself with ample free time today.

[lonelysmiles]

[Alastor had almost forgotten about the suggested game, but the reminder immediately draws his attention. His ears twitch with interest.]

Certainly, my dear! Let me know when you're coming, and I'll have refreshments ready if not a full meal!

text -> action

[multidisciplinary]

I am presently engaged in a few tasks at the archives, so I expect to be by within the next hour or two.

Light refreshments will be more than enough, thank you. It seems my appetite is slow to return after my month of slumber.

[ Not the whole truth, but not a whole lie either. It's hard to want to eat without Link around.

About an hour and a half after penning this message, Zelda will arrive at Alastor's house and knock lightly on his door. Despite a month of sleep, the princess looks tired and wan, lacking her usual sunshiny brightness. ]

[lonelysmiles]

[Alastor answers the door and ushers her inside.]

Good Heavens, my dear! You look positively dead on your feet! And I think I'd be an expert on that! Ha ha!

[He leads her to one of the comfy parlor chairs. There is a tea set already out and waiting with a few light sandwiches and some beignets.]

Whatever you were doing at the archives couldn't be the only thing responsible for this.

[multidisciplinary]

[ If Zelda had intended to downplay her present mood in front of Alastor (and she had, subconsciously), she should have known that he would see right through her immediately. She offers only the most half-hearted smile at his joke and allows him to lead her inside.

Slung across Zelda's back is a makeshift scabbard that holds the broken remains of the Master Sword. When she first returned to Songerein last summer, she carried the sword everywhere with her, refusing to be parted from it. After awhile, she became comfortable leaving it locked up at home, assured in the fact that it was safe in her treehouse. But now she's back to carrying it everywhere; thus, she lifts it over her shoulder and lays it down on the floor before she sits down in the offered chair. ]

You are correct; it is not the archives. [ She sighs. Might as well just be out with it. ] It's Link. He has awoken and returned to Hyrule.

[ And left the woman who loves him so heartbroken that she tried to sleep her way home to her own demise. ]

for Sheik

[multidisciplinary]

[ Night falls. The princess has not been back to her treehouse all day.

And despite the lateness of the hour (and the way her stomach grumbles for the dinner she should have eaten hours ago), she cannot bring herself to go home.

Home is with Link. And Link is no longer in Songerein.

Hours pass and still Zelda does not go to her treehouse. She lingers in restaurants and shops until they close, at the Archives until one of the new librarians orders her to leave and rest, and then outside on the Plaza, staring at the reflection of the starry sky in the fountain.

Goddess, how she does not want to go back to an empty house. The thought of being alone is enough to make those daggers plunge into her heart over and over again. She is already destined for an eternity of solitude as the Light Dragon. Why must she suffer loneliness while she is still Zelda?

It is midnight when Zelda arrives at Sheik's house and knocks on the door. No message was sent through the journals to make sure he would be home when she called. In fact, if he has not visited her treehouse, he may not even be aware that she has awoken from her month long coma. It is not because she does not want to see him. It's because she knows that when she sees him, she will fall to pieces. Because he will know by now that Link (Zelda's Link) is gone, returned to a Hyrule where the princess has sacrificed herself and become an undying dragon. Zelda doesn't want to talk about the Light Dragon right now.

But she also doesn't want to be alone.

Thus, here she stands at Sheik's doorway in the middle of the night. ]

[sagesurvivor]

[In a way, the last month could be considered a return to form.

He'd picked the locks when, one day, neither the Princess nor her Champion answered their journals and his knocking upon their door brooked no response. He's not proud of it - of invading their privacy, when he holds his own so sacrosanct - but the dread that had gripped his heart in that moment demanded nothing less, and what he'd found once he stepped inside did little to soothe him.

Link was gone. And Zelda, laid upon her bed and refusing to wake, with the corroded Master Sword clutched to her chest as though prepared for funerary rites... seemingly attempted to follow.

Upon seeing that, a certain... hollowness grew within him then, aching and bereft. And as the Hero of Time also fell into slumber, as the darling ranch girl awoke from her own dream, as he took it upon himself to keep the Princess' space clean, to tend to her plants, to guard her and to play their lullaby for her again and again and again... Sheik realizes the familiarity he found in that void. Recognizes the meaningless futility of his actions, their utter foolishness in the face of his complete inability to affect change in any of the ways that truly matter.

Her treehouse becomes his own personal Hyrule in miniature. She sleeps alongside the holy blade, and he waits for her to wake, alone.

Every little thing is different. Every little thing is the same.

It is only when he begins to notice the sickly greying of the tree's bark around the areas he usually stands watch that he concedes to pulling himself away from her side. Nostilium - pale and passive, but draining nonetheless - clings to his heels just as surely as his shadow, and while he could hardly be called an expert when it comes to his own feelings, he knows himself well enough to understand that so long as the Princess and the Hero both sleep, so long as he is reminded of the loneliness that awaits him in the waking world, he will not be able to prevent that foul energy from seeping into his surroundings.

So, when Zelda finally finds herself at his doorstep, she will notice a similar decay burning itself in places into the trunk of the tree he's made into his home. Only the area surrounding a makeshift lean-to propped against the side of the tree does not bear any of the marks of Sheik's anxieties, the nearly adult dream tapir within idly working its jaw as it snoozes.

Slowly, the door creaks open, just a crack, after she knocks, the light inside eclipsed by the darkened figure as it peers around the door, and then— it's flung open so hard its hinges rattle, and the sound of it slamming into the wall behind echoes into the night. Uncaring, Sheik surges forward in a blur, his arms wrapping fiercely around the Princess' solemn form in a relieved embrace. He trembles against her as he once did that cold winter's day in her greenhouse, overcome, but he does not hold onto her any less tightly for it, his voice coming out more as a shuddering exhale than anything else.]

Thank the Goddesses... you're awake.

[... If only being in Their favor did not come with so many catches.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Between the darkness of nighttime and her own distracted thoughts, Zelda only notices in passing the unusual patches of "decay" on Sheik's tree and how they look similar to those she spotted on her own. But she pays it little mind. What would normally pique the princess's curiosity and concern is for now written off as a strange oddity she can't be troubled to examine.

Zelda isn't left waiting outside for long before the door opens ever so slightly... only to then be thrown open with so much force that it startles her. Before her eyes can even adjust to the sudden light from inside the house, she feels Sheik grab her and pull her in tight against him. (And as he embraces her, he will undoubtedly notice that she has the fractured Master Sword in a makeshift scabbard strapped across her back.)

The moment she realizes what's happening, Zelda throws her arms around Sheik and buries her head against his shoulder to muffle a sob. All of the sudden, being held is the most important thing in the world and her hands clench in fists at his back. She doesn't cry yet, but she shakes in his arms. ]

You're still here. [ Her words are muffled against him and she refuses to raise her head to speak more clearly. ] I don't know what I would have done if you were gone too.

[sagesurvivor]

[You'd live, he should say. You'd heal, you'd endure, you'd survive. He believes it, too, that for all the Princess trembles and threatens to cry, her will could never be broken by the loss of someone like him.

But he doesn't say it, because the truth is that he missed her. Terribly, desperately so, despite all his knowledge that their eventual parting is an inevitability, that she would hasten it along, if only she knew how. He missed her, this strange and wonderful princess who slipped past all of his defenses to make a home in his heart, and though it is the height of foolishness - of selfishness - he is not ready to let her go.]

I'm still here.

[He echoes, softly, his arms shifting around the bulk of the blade at her back to hold her more surely, as though she might vanish like morning dew with the dawn if he doesn't. Most everyone else he knows does.]

I'm not— ... I won't go anywhere. I won't. Not so long as you're here.

[This is not a promise he can keep, not really. But he speaks it with an ardent conviction regardless, the will of one who would challenge the gods themselves to try and take him if they demanded it. It goes against everything that he's learned, that he's accepted over the years as part and parcel of his duties and his destiny, but they all feel so incredibly small in this moment in comparison to his need to hold and comfort the heartbroken woman in his arms.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ It's good that he keeps those thoughts to himself; Zelda is in no mood to entertain the possible depths of her heartache at the loss of "someone like him."

What he does say bolsters her tired heart. He won't leave. She believes him, just as much as she believed Link when he said he would return to Hyrule and bring her home. Somehow, even this dream world could not keep Link trapped when he decided it was time to leave. Zelda suspects that it would have the same difficulty forcing Sheik to leave. ]

I am sorry to intrude at this late hour. [ There's no strength behind her apology; it's made solely out of habit by someone for whom politeness comes as second nature. ] But I cannot bring myself to go back to that empty house.

[ It's selfish to ask Sheik to accommodate her in his home. She should not impose on him, because he prefers to keep his distance and only engage with others on his terms. But in recent months, he has stopped being so distant with her. In recent months, he has become all the more steadfast and ardent, as though his vow of loyalty is to her rather than the princess of his own era. And with all the dear friends Zelda has lost in these recent months, she clings to those who remain all the harder.

Just as she clings to Sheik, seeking strength in the warmth and solidness of him, real and tangible despite this nightmarish world of dreams. ]