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Mipha was just about finished healing the wounds of the last Hylian soldier resting in the makeshift infirmary of Outskirt Stable when she noticed Princess Zelda had entered the structure.
The young woman exchanged a few hushed words with the stablemaster and the Hylian captain that was perched at one of the tables near the entrance, then began heading towards Mipha herself.
The Zora Princess graced both her Hylian counterpart as well as her little Guardian knight with a tired smile once they came to stand before her.
"How are you doing?" Zelda asked as she tapped at the Sheikah Slate and handed over a Seafood Rice Ball from within.
"I am alright," Mipha replied as she took a dainty bite of the proffered food, "we've managed to heal most of the injuries sustained in that last fight. The rest will have to be mended by proper rest."
"That's good to hear," Zelda sighed with relief.
But that relief was short lived as her eyes fell once again to the Sheikah Slate, then trailed toward the stable entrance, where the sun could just be seen high in the blue sky.
"Still no word?" Mipha asked, trying to keep her own worries in check as Zelda shook her head mournfully.
Their group was currently in the process of evacuating the villages closest to Hyrule Castle.
Thanks to the precautions King Rhoam had enacted prior to Zelda’s 17th birthday and the Calamity’s subsequent revival, most of that work had already been done.
But the Calamity’s influence was still expanding and the Guardians it had corrupted were moving further and further afield… placing more and more villages in danger.
Thus, Mipha and Zelda’s current position at the Outskirt Stable while they awaited the return of Link and his small group of both Hylian knights and Sheikah warriors who had been sent to scout a potential path up to the Great Plateau.
“Perhaps this was a mistake,” Zelda murmured uncertainly as her eyes dropped back down to the Slate, which she was still hoping would alight with a message from Link, “we don’t even know for certain that there is anyone up there at all. What if they’ve run into trouble—”
“Link and the others are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves,” Mipha gently cut in as the poor girl began to spiral, “I realize that it’s well past the time they said they would return… but perhaps they found a path up after all and decided to investigate a bit further.”
“…or perhaps they found a new type of mushroom or some such and they’re all just watching Link devour them,” Zelda laughed lightly, as the memory of Link eating the Goron snacks Daruk brought along on their way home after obtaining the Master Sword flashed through her mind.
“That is certainly a possibility,” Mipha laughed as she took another bite herself of the rice ball, “I suppose I’d best check our supply of stomach medicines and the like, just on the off-chance they’ll be needed.”
“You need to rest,” Zelda stated firmly as she pushed the Zora into a nearby chair, “you’ve been tending to the wounded for hours now, sit down and finish your lunch. I’m certain I can find the medicine in question by myself.”
Mipha felt the slightest hint of unease, but ultimately decided it should be fine, so long as the princess did not try to create any medicine herself.
The Zora princess had just finished her rice ball while the Hylian princess had emerged with a bottle of the aforementioned medicine when a cry came from the entrance to the stable.
“MEDIC!!! I NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!!!”
Alarmed, the two girls rushed towards the voice to find a Hylian captain holding a badly injured Sheikah warrior upright as they stumbled into the stable.
There were a few more Sheikah warriors and Hylian soldiers trickling into the structure behind them, all with various wounds.
“What happened?” Mipha demanded of the captain as she directed him and the injured Sheikah towards an empty bed.
“Guardians,” the man answered grimly, “a large swarm of them. We fought as best we could, but ultimately had to retreat, since we weren’t equipped for a proper battle.”
“Wait, what unit are you?” Zelda suddenly asked, the tone of her voice causing even more dread to build within Mipha’s heart, “weren’t you… weren’t you with the scouting party for the Great Plateau? Weren’t you with Link?!”
“We were,” the captain replied with a pained expression, “he stayed behind to give us time to escape. With your permission Your Highness, I would like to gather whatever men are capable of fighting as well as the proper equipment to go back and assist the Hylian Champion—”
“You will do no such thing!” Mipha declared firmly, “do not think I missed the way you were limping Captain; you need to stay here and allow the healers to attend you—”
“With all due respect, Lady Mipha, Link—”
“I will go after Link,” Zelda suddenly declared, her eyes blazing with determination as she tapped at the Sheikah Slate, “I still have your coordinates recorded on the Slate and using the Little One, I should be able to triangulate—”
“Princess it is far too dangerous—!”
“This was not a question, Captain!” Zelda snapped with a fierce glare directed at the man, “you and your men are injured. Waiting for reinforcements would take far too long and we cannot afford to lose Link! I am going!”
“Then I shall come as well!” Mipha stated firmly as she retrieved her trident from where she’d placed it while she’d been healing the injured.
Zelda was about to argue, but one look at Mipha’s face told her she’d have just as much luck dissuading her as anyone else would have dissuading Zelda herself.
Ignoring the protests of those around them, the two princesses headed out of the stable, Zelda once again tapping at the Sheikah Slate.
Suddenly, the young woman was engulfed in blue light.
Once it faded Mipha was surprised to find that the ceremonial dress Zelda had been wearing since the loss of Hyrule Castle was now replaced with her old travelling outfit which bore the royal blue that matched Mipha’s sash.
She was surprised even further when Zelda pointed the Sheikah slate away from them and something else appeared in a matching flash of blue light.
There before them now stood a contraption that reminded her quite a bit of Vah Ruta.
This creature was far smaller, though, and rather resembled the cattle she’d seen during a visit to Hateno (it’s quite cute, though not as much as Ruta, Mipha concluded).
“Meet the Master Cycle Sentinel!” Zelda declared proudly with a grand flourish towards the contraption, “the newest creation of the Royal Ancient Lab! It’s based off a text that described a Divine Beast that… is technically meant for Link, but he said he rather preferred his own horse….”
Zelda’s face twisted with annoyed disbelief, then dropped into worried sadness before she shook her head firmly and mounted the tiny Divine Beast.
The small Guardian immediately jumped into her lap, beeping with determination as Mipha climbed aboard behind Zelda.
The Hylian princess then twisted the right handle, which caused the beast to emit a loud roar.
Mipha had to grasp tight hold of Zelda’s waist as the vehicle surged forward, emitting a growl as loud as thunder as they practically flew down the path that would lead them to Link.
Link cursed as a laser bit into his shoulder before he was able to finally cut the last Guardian down.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the eerie pink light disappeared from the rogue weapon… then cursed again as he dove to avoid yet another blast.
He watched with growing dread as another Walker Guardian and a Sky Guardian appeared and began to charge both of their lasers this time.
It seemed like… no matter how many he took down, even more would replace them in a never-ending cycle.
His mind drifted to the story Sidon and the other time travelers had told him… about how their Link had faced an entire army of these things, alone, but with the added burden of protecting his princess.
Stop that! he silently scolded himself as he dodged the lasers and went into Flurry Rush, she has never been a burden, even when she didn’t have her powers… and he would never think that either….
Two of the Walker’s legs fell to the ground and the Sky Guardian wavered when he managed to shoot its eye with an arrow.
They soon recovered, though, and Link could see two more in the distance heading his way.
Gripping the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield tightly in his hands, Link screamed in defiance as he rushed towards his assailants.
“This is awful,” Mipha breathed as the latest Guardian was finally defeated, “it’s a wonder those men managed to make it back to the stable at all.”
“Indeed,” Zelda agreed grimly as she turned the Master Cycle Sentinel in the newest direction the Little One was indicating Link resided in, “to think that it’s not just Guardians, but Elemental Guardians as well as the Flyers….”
Her voice trailed off at the thought of Link, alone and surrounded by Guardians, so like the story Sidon and the others had told… so like the time when Link had been surrounded by all four of the Blights… so like what her father had probably faced when they’d left him at the castle….
A squeeze at her waist and a trilling in front of her brought Zelda back to the present as Mipha stated firmly, “we are going to find him… we are going to find Link and bring him home!”
“…yes, we are!” Zelda declared just as firmly as she increased the speed of the Master Cycle Sentinel and sent them flying towards their besieged friend.
Link cried out in pain as a laser shot dangerously close to his neck, the heat leaving a painful welt behind.
He managed to deploy Stasis on the Sky Guardian that had been rushing toward him, then had to dive out of the way of the Walker that was spinning towards him like a deranged top.
He landed in an ungainly heap, struggling to catch his breath as the Guardians regrouped and began charging their lasers again.
Link’s body felt as if it were being crushed by a Hinox as he struggled to stand again, his blurry vision trained on the lights that would spell his doom if he didn’t do something, and quickly.
I wonder… is this how you felt? Link asked his alternate self as he struggled to lift his shield and his numb fingers scrabbled at his Mini-Slate.
His mind drifted to thoughts of the travelers from the future, Champions in all but official title, and then to the Champions of his time. His comrades-in-arms, his friends, Princess Zelda… what would happen to them if he fell here?
Link had only just managed to lift his shield in a feeble attempt to parry the lasers that were going to strike him any second now as the beeping reached a crescendo… when the sudden chime and yellow chains of the Stasis rune froze his enemies in place.
There was the alarming sound of lasers firing and then a flash of holy golden light as a beautiful ruby red figure holding a silver trident jumped high into the air before slicing down on the Flying Guardian.
Both machines exploded and fell still as the Stasis broke, and the lithe figure landed gracefully before coming to crouch next to Link, followed almost immediately by a figure in sky blue.
Amber and green eyes gazed down at him worriedly as their mouths moved silently, before exhaustion finally pulled Link into darkness.
The fear Mipha and Zelda had felt when they finally found Link, on the ground and flanked by a Walker and Flying Guardian, struggling to lift his shield while the machines had been about to unleash their lasers, was indescribable.
Both princesses had deployed their Stasis runes and then Zelda had begun firing the lasers of the Master Cycle Sentinel as well as blasts of her own holy power while Mipha had jumped high into the air to deliver a devastating blow to the Flyer with her Lightscale Trident.
The sight of Link’s eyes, fogged with pain and exhaustion, falling shut just as they’d reached him, had almost broken them.
The Small Guardian had rallied the girls and between the two (er, three) of them, they managed to pull the injured knight into the cabin that had sat a mere foot away from where he’d fallen and miraculously avoided any damage from the fight.
Once inside, they’d gotten Link into the nearest bed, where Mipha had immediately begun applying her healing powers to the many wounds that decorated their dear friend’s body.
Zelda, in turn, had begun rifling through the house to look for additional medical aid or food that might have been left behind by the homeowners (while also praying that said homeowners had managed to reach safety).
Finding only a few bandages and a half empty bottle of unknown ointment alongside a loaf of stale bread, Zelda returned to the bedside, where she knelt as carefully and quietly beside Mipha as she could.
“How is he?” she murmured worriedly.
“Not as bad as we feared, thankfully,” Mipha replied, though she kept her focus on Link and her healing, “there are numerous wounds, though he managed to avoid any internal injuries. But he’s sustained quite a few burns and cuts that are bleeding profusely… it will take some time for my power to close them and even then, I’m worried about the amount of blood he has lost….”
“Meaning it’s probably not a good idea to move him just yet?” Zelda asked as her worried gaze drifted towards the windows.
“No, not until I can stop the bleeding,” Mipha stated grimly as she, too, shot a glance towards the windows, “and I would strongly recommend he not encounter any more Guardians for the day….”
“That might be a problem,” Zelda hummed as she used the map and Sheikah sensor to check their immediate surroundings, noting the many glowing yellow dots that symbolized the Guardians picked up by the sensor, “there are numerous Guardians drawing nearer to our location.”
“Should we try contacting the others, see if they can come to our aid?”
Zelda tapped once again on the Slate, calling up the larger World Map and setting the sensor to the Mini-Slates their friends possessed.
“No one is near enough to make it to us in time,” Zelda reported as she felt uneasiness begin to build in her stomach, “we’re going to have to get out of this ourselves.”
“Alright then,” Mipha breathed, turning to gaze at Zelda, “any ideas, Princess?”
“…probably not one you would like,” Zelda replied after a few moments more of staring at the map.
“One Link would absolutely hate, were he conscious?”
“Most likely,” Zelda answered wryly, “but our options are rather lacking….”
“What is the plan, then?” Mipha sighed in resignation.
“Something similar to what we employed when Link, Impa and I were ambushed at the Spring of Courage,” Zelda said as she showed Mipha the map. “There aren’t any of the devices like what we found in the jungle… but if I use the Master Cycle Sentinel and the Remote Bombs in just the right way, I might be able to block off the roads the Guardians will have to use to reach us.
“And, once those roads are blocked,” Zelda continued as she traced the path on the left-hand corner of the screen, “we all climb aboard the Master Cycle Sentinel and make a break for the stable… assuming Link will be able to be moved by that time.”
“Probably, if I stay and maintain a steady flow of my Grace,” Mipha answered after she assessed Link’s condition, “however, this will mean that you will be alone….”
“I will be fine,” Zelda declared in as confident a tone as she could muster, “Robbie ensured the Master Cycle Sentinel was fully equipped with the best of defensive capabilities, not to mention I have the power of the Goddess….”
There was an insistent beeping as the Little One jumped up and down between Mipha and Zelda, causing the two princesses to smile fondly.
“…and, of course, we have this brave knight to aid us as well,” Zelda added as she gave the Small Guardian an affectionate pat, “everything will be fine.”
Mipha still looked uncertain, but she simply nodded and gave Zelda’s hand a tight squeeze as she said, “just promise to be careful… and come back as soon as you can.
Things went relatively smooth for Zelda after she left the cabin.
As she’d stated in her plan, she used the Master Cycle Sentinel and Remote Bombs to bring down a number of structures and trees to block the paths leading to the cabin where Link and Mipha lay and, so far, had only had to contend with a few of the Walker and Flyer Guardians… and one Fire and Electric Guardian (which she was extremely grateful Mipha hadn’t been present for).
Soon, the last of the roads the Guardians were travelling on were blocked and she was zooming back to the cabin, eyes drifting upwards towards the darkening sky.
Mipha opened the door of the cabin once she heard the familiar roar of the mini-Divine Beast and breathed a sigh of relief when she found Princess Zelda with only a few scuff and scorch marks to show of the skirmishes she’d faced during her time alone.
“Do you need me to heal you?” she still asked as Zelda jogged towards her.
“I’m fine, nothing an elixir won’t clear up,” the blond answered dismissively, “how are you and Link? Can we head out now… or do you think we should wait until morning?”
Mipha gazed at the darkening sky with uncertainty before stating, “Link is stable enough to travel, though he has yet to regain consciousness. And… I cannot say I like the idea of travelling at night, but if the Guardians were able to clear the roads whilst darkness reined….”
Zelda’s lips thinned with worry at the statement of her own fears before she nodded decisively.
“We’ll head out now, then. I’ll drive, of course, and we’ll sit Link in the middle with you in the rear. Between the two of us, we should be able to keep him steady, perhaps use some of the rope I spotted to keep the three of us connected, should the unexpected happen.”
Mipha nodded and soon, the girls were lifting the unconscious boy onto the cycle, Zelda looping his arms around her waist while Mipha looped one arm around Link and the other around Zelda (both girls pointedly ignoring the heat on their cheeks).
They were then zooming off again, Zelda plowing down any Bokoblins that withstood her lasers while Mipha managed to bat away the Keese that flew towards them with her trident.
They were just coming up on the exit of the small village that would lead them to the road which, in turn, would lead them to the stable… when they hit a final snag.
How a Turret Guardian managed to have planted itself directly in front of the arch that symbolized the village’s exit Zelda didn’t know, but the Malice Guardian… now that was going to be a problem….
Quickly turning the Master Cycle Sentinel into a sharp right to avoid a blast from the Turret, Zelda activated the function that sent the Cycle hopping into the air as a mystical blue track materialized.
They then swerved into a left curve on that track, the wispy blue energy exploding after them as they came back to the ground to the left of the Turret.
“This is going to be difficult,” Zelda said through gritted teeth as she activated the Master Cycle Sentinel’s shield, deflecting the laser from the Malice Guardian.
“I’ll take care of them while you and Link make a run for it!” Mipha cried as she readied herself to jump from the mini-Divine Beast.
“Absolutely not!” Zelda cried as she sped out of the way of the Malice Guardian’s charge, “you won’t be able to make a dent in that Guardian with the Malice covering it unless you have the Master Sword or my powers!”
“Ideas, then?” Mipha called as she deployed Stasis and swiped at the Malice Guardian’s legs with her Trident.
“Play Cucco with the Guardians until they are defeated?” Zelda called back as she shot a blast of holy light at the Malice Guardian while shooting the Master Cycle Sentinel’s lasers at the Turret.
“What a marvelously horrifying idea, Princess!”
“Glad you like it!” Zelda laughed a tad hysterically as she leaned the bike dangerously to the right to avoid the spinning legs of Malice death, their own legs nearly scraping against the dirt as she desperately deployed her own Stasis rune and fired balls of holy light at the metal appendages.
Neither girl spoke again as the game of Cucco commenced, Mipha’s trident swiping at Guardian legs stripped of Malice by shots of holy light, while the lasers of the Master Cycle Sentinel worked to wear down the durability of the Guardian Turret.
Zelda eyed the fuel gauge of the Master Cycle Sentinel worriedly as the needle dipped further and further towards empty but continued to drive the vehicle at top speed between the two Guardians.
The princesses screamed in triumph as the last of the Malice Guardian’s legs was finally severed from the body and the last throw of a Remote Bomb led to a particularly loud explosion emitting from the Turret.
Zelda summoned her bow of light and sent an arrow of holy power shooting through the Malice Guardian’s head, quickly following with a last, powerful beam from the Master Cycle Sentinel.
At the same time, Mipha froze the Turret with Stasis and hurled the Lightscale Trident as hard as she could towards the glowing eye in the center of its head.
Both Guardians exploded in the dying rays of the sun and the women screamed once again in triumph and delight.
“We did it!” Zelda cackled, “we actually did it, we defeated them!”
“And we managed to avoid any major injuries!” Mipha laughed in turn, “oh, had this been either Link or Sidon, I would be so angry at them for displaying such recklessness….”
Almost as if he were responding to his name, Link chose that moment to emit a small groan as he shifted in his position between the two girls.
Said girls peered worriedly at the young knight, the Small Guardian emitting excited chirps as blue eyes blinked open slowly and peered blearily at his companions.
“Mipha… Prnsess? Wha-… where… wha- ‘appened?”
“Link! Thank the Goddess!” Zelda cried as she twisted around to hug Link tightly alongside Mipha, “you had us so worried! How are you feeling?”
“Tired ‘n sore,” came his muffled reply, as his face was smooshed against her shoulder, “mind’s all fuzzy… ‘n ‘m hungry….”
“Why am I not surprised?” Mipha laughed as the women pulled away enough to look the rumpled knight over properly, “you can have all the food you want, once we return to the stable!”
“M’kay,” Link hummed before his head drooped down to rest on Zelda’s shoulder and then the light sounds of sleep drifted up to the two princesses’ ears.
“Seems he’s still feeling the effects of his battle, as well his blood loss,” Mipha huffed as she gently ran her fingers through Link’s tangled mess of hair.
“He’s going to be fine though… right?” Zelda asked as she peered worriedly at the sleeping boy.
“Yes, with proper rest and nourishment,” Mipha replied as she carefully dismounted the small Divine Beast and trotted over to retrieve her Lightscale Trident.
Zelda sighed in relief, then flinched in surprise as Link suddenly snuggled affectionately against her neck.
Before she could grow too flustered, the Small Guardian directed her attention back to the Sheikah Slate, which showed the Master Cycle Sentinel had almost completely depleted its fuel.
Quickly swiping to the inventory screen, Zelda began pulling out damaged Guardian parts that the Lab had deemed completely beyond saving or reusing for anything productive.
She then looped an arm around Link and gently maneuvered the both of them away from the opening that appeared in the Master Cycle Sentinel, into which she dropped the damaged parts.
The parts disappeared in a flash of blue light and the meter showing the fuel level drifted towards full.
“Simply incredible,” Zelda breathed as the opening closed immediately, “still need to determine what would give it the most energy and whether there’s something far more sustainable than Guardian parts—”
“So, it needs to eat like a live animal, then?” Mipha asked as she slid back into place on the small Divine Beast.
Her own arm slid around Link’s waist as she pressed her chest against his back and peered alternately at the Sheikah Slate and the Master Cycle Sentinel.
“Well, no, or maybe yes, but not quite,” Zelda began to say, but a quick beep from the Little One who gestured at Link, then the road behind them and finally the road ahead of them with a definitive chirp accompanying every pointed jab of its claw, cut her off.
“I’ll explain later,” she said instead as she revved the Master Cycle Sentinel’s engine.
Mipha was slightly disappointed, but the reminder of the danger they still faced as well as Link’s condition helped her to put her curiosity on hold.
The fact that Link shifted so that he was leaning more against her and his head was nestled into the hollow of her right shoulder a few seconds into the ride didn’t hurt either.