They're all dead.

The sound of Faron's pounding feet slapping against the rain-soaked ground rang in her ears.

We need to run.

The rain lashed against her face.

Farther. Faster.

She clung tighter to Zelda's slippery hand, dragging her along behind her as they dashed through the forest toward Fort Hateno. And still her blinding terror screamed at her to:

Run. Run! RUN!

It was all she could do.

Then Zelda's hand yanked free of hers and Faron snapped to a halt, whipping around to find that the princess had tripped in the mud, her clothes liberally spattered with muck, her deflated form trembling violently. She didn't get up, just sobbed into the sludge.

Faron didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She grabbed the royal by the arm, trying to pull her to her feet.

"We have to keep going," she said, "We're almost to the fort."

Zelda proved uncooperative, her protests starting as an incoherent murmur and soon growing into choked screams.

"No no no no no no NO!"

Her hanging head snapped upright, her green eyes meeting Faron's for a moment before being lost behind her filthy hands as she buried her face in them. Yet something about that gaze finally managed to halt Faron's efforts.

"How did it come to this?" Zelda cried weakly, "The Divine Beasts...the Guardians—they've all turned against us! Everything we did—that I did, was for nothing! And now...now they're all trapped inside those things..."

Faron knew exactly who she was referring to, and her grip unconsciously tightened on Zelda's arm.

"I failed them all. Father was right. Our only chance for defeating Ganon is lost all because I couldn't harness this cursed power! So I really am just a failure..." Zelda's voice cracked before she choked out another ragged sob. "Because of me, we had to leave them all behind...leave them all to die!"

Faron started to tremble, the reality she'd been desperately trying to avoid pressing on the edges of her mind. She gave a violent shake of her head, trying to chase it away, but it kept pressing in.

"My father...Urbosa...Mipha—"

"SHUT UP!" Faron screamed, letting go of Zelda and drawing the Master Sword, "Just shut up! You see this sword? I was supposed to earn this! If you're a failure, WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM?!"

With a vicious jerk of her arm, she flung the Master Sword away, the Blade landing quietly several feet away. If not for the burning of her eyes, Faron probably would never have even noticed that she was crying.

"I couldn't do anything..." she said, a tremor in her voice.

Mipha's face stuck in her mind's eye, haunting her. Faron fell to her knees.

"I promised—"

I promised to protect her. AND I WASN'T EVEN THERE! She saved my life...saved me from myself, from my father. And I'll never be able to repay her...

Zelda moved closer, kneeling before Faron, a desperate sort of hope in her eyes.

"Perhaps...perhaps there's something we can still do. You're the legendary hero! If we just go back—"

A rage like nothing she had ever felt before flooded through Faron.

Everyone was dead. And here the princess was, lying to herself. Faron was never meant to wield the Master Sword. That much had become obvious over her short stint as 'the hero'.

Everyone is dead, Faron repeated silently, And we're going to die out here too if we don't move NOW!

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Their very survival was at stake, so why couldn't the princess see that? How could she not care about her own life? She just kept babbling on, trying to come up with some half-baked plan to storm Hyrule Castle with the Master Sword and—

Faron snapped, and before she even knew what she was doing, the back of her hand connected with Zelda's face, drawing a startled gasp from the princess.

And then the full horror of what she'd done immediately struck her.

Faron stared at her own hand, her eyes stretched wide in shock.

For a fraction of a moment, she had finally understood her father. For a fraction of a moment, she had become him.

And she could never take it back.

Her eyes shifted to Zelda, who was holding a trembling hand over her cheek, her eyes as wide as Faron's.

Fright, confusion, that feeling of betrayal...it was all plain on her face. It was the exact same mess of emotions that Faron had felt the first time her father had struck her, and seeing it now sent the ground plummeting from beneath her feet. Her throat and eyes burned. She took a step toward the princess and saw her flinch away.

"Zelda..." she choked.

Then she heard it. The sharp snap of a branch breaking under pressure. Her head snapped toward the sound.

No...

She saw movement through the trees. Her eyes leapt to the Master Sword lying on the ground well beyond reach, to Zelda still kneeling in the muck, then back to their approaching doom. Her entire body tensed.

NO!

But her silent screams couldn't stop what came next.

The Guardian crashed through the trees, causing Faron to catapult into action.

"Run!" she screamed, yanking Zelda to her feet and shoving her forward.

She clung to the thin hope that somehow they might still make it to Fort Hateno and meet their reinforcements.

They were so close.

The forest erupted in electric blue, the Guardian's beam burning a scorched line in the ground and setting trees ablaze. Zelda screamed. Faron pushed her off the path toward the meager cover of the trees, shouting at her to move.

She didn't look back at the Master Sword again.

Another crash sounded, and Faron witnessed in horror as a second Guardian barrelled toward them from behind. Another flash of blue lit up the forest, and with an almost deafening crack, one of the trees before them began to fall. Faron grabbed a fistful of Zelda's dress and hauled back, pulling her out of harm's way. Then again came the unmistakable sound of a Guardian preparing to fire.

"Get down!"

Even as she shouted the warning, Faron was already dragging Zelda down, the blast careening over their heads and striking the ground a stone's throw away. Then Faron was back on her feet, compelling Zelda to keep up as she leapt the fallen tree and raced for their destination.

We have to make it. We have to—

Then the first Guardian was on them, sending another tree toppling over. It's terrible eye took aim. Faron gave Zelda a hard shove, then threw herself forward.

It wasn't quite enough.

The force of the blast threw Faron easily twice as far, making her hit the ground so hard that the air was knocked out of her lungs. Her vision spun, but still she tried to get to her feet.

I have to get up. We have to keep going.

She lifted her head, and there, towering over her, was the first Guardian, followed closely by the second, and now a third. Faron could hear her blood pounding in her ears, feel her lungs constrict, her chest draw tight. Time dragged like a grindstone across her skin.

She couldn't move.

I'm going to die.

Then the looming Guardian turned its focus away. With a strange sense of unreality, Faron turned her head in the same direction, trying to find what had claimed its attention, and found herself staring at a winded Zelda sprawled across the ground.

For a split second, she felt relief at the realization that she wasn't the primary target.

Then that relief was followed by horrified disgust.

This was the person she was charged to protect, and yet she had intentionally hurt them, and now even considered sacrificing them for her own life.

Faron's gaze fell.

I really am a coward...

Time dragged to a standstill. Faron remained unmoving.

Then a quiet voice in her mind answered, "I don't believe that. Not at all. You made a promise, and I know you were sincere. That is why, even if you don't, I believe you are brave."

Faron raised her head. She could almost see Mipha's face in that moment, her gentle smile setting her eyes alight.

"Fear will always be with us. But a hero...a hero will continue to fight despite that fear."

Somehow, Faron got her feet under her, her eyes fixing on Zelda.

She'd lost the chance to fulfill one vow already.

But she wouldn't lose this one.

No matter what it takes.

She grabbed the shield off her back, strapping it hastily onto her arm. Her feet were already propelling her forward. Zelda was trying to scramble to her feet, struggling to find her footing in the muck, her movements panicked and wild. She only just managed to stand up when Faron heard the telltale sound of the Guardian's beam activating. She hugged her shield to her side and slammed into Zelda at full speed, knocking the princess out of harm's reach and putting herself directly in the path of the beam.

It was like being hit by a stampede of lynels. The shield absorbed most of the impact, the metal cracking like tempered glass. Faron was catapulted backward, her body colliding with a tree before hitting the ground with a dull thud.

But there was no pain, only peace. Faron heard Zelda scream but it sounded a thousand miles away. She couldn't help but smile.

She'd be so proud of me, she thought, picturing Mipha's face once more, So would...my mother.

There was a blinding golden light, and Faron let her eyes slide shut, a comforting darkness pulling her in, telling her it was time to rest.

So she rested. For how long, she didn't know. Her consciousness fell utterly silent.

There was only darkness.

And...a voice. It pulled at her, seeming somehow familiar. But where had she heard it?

What is it saying?

Her consciousness gravitated toward it. It seemed to grow louder, turning from hazy to gradually clear.

And it said: "Open your eyes."