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

[sagesurvivor]

[Oh. Something... resonated there. Curled against him as she is, Sheik can feel the tension in her body shift as her voice goes somewhere very distant, to a memory of some other time and place far away from here. Of all the reactions she could have had to his attempt at comfort, it's certainly preferable to most, but that doesn't mean he knows why, exactly, his words have left her so awed. It's not as though they were very optimistic.

He leans forward slightly to better see her face, questions writ upon his own.]

... Princess?

[There's a lot going on in that head of yours, please share with the class.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Up until this point, Zelda has looked tired and despondent, but when Sheik looks down at her now, he'll see a familiar light in her eyes-- one that is usually present, but has been conspicuously absent tonight. ]

You're right... I've been looking at this all wrong.

[ She moves to sit up, causing Sheik's arm to slip from her shoulders and down her back. When she looks at him, he'll be able to see the gears turning in her mind as she sorts things out in real time. ]

There must be a reason I am still here.

[sagesurvivor]

[His surprise persists as he watches her pull herself up, but it is not unpleasant. On the contrary, from the depths of his own grief, seeing the light return to her eyes feels like nothing short of a small miracle. Given the words that inspired it, perhaps he should be more concerned about the possibility of her throwing herself into some other impossibly cruel fate, but... for this moment, he can be satisfied that she's willing to move forward.

He nods, a weak smile tugging at his lips.]

I see. I... am glad to know there is some insight to be found in my counsel, still. That expression befits you far more than despair.

[He's still... useful to someone, in some small way.]

Of course, you will have my assistance in seeking that reason, whatever it might be, but it will be your strength that matters most when you find it.

[As she's not seeking his support quite so much, he'll free a hand to nudge her snack plate a little closer. Please eat, Princess, it's been a long month...]