Do it for her

The moment Toka lays eyes on him everything comes flooding back. A century of mourning and fury they thought they buried roils to the surface like bile in their throat. He’s unchanged, appearing the same age as he did during that fated battle.

It’s not fair...

Their grip on their spear tightens. It isn't fair.

He walks side by side with her brother like nothing’s happened. By the way he looks at the grand city in the distance in slack-jawed awe, it’s like he doesn’t remember being here. He doesn’t remember anything.

He doesn’t remember her. He doesn’t remember her dying when it should have been him...

They shake their head to banish those old hateful thoughts from their mind. Link wasn’t at fault for what happened. It was their fault....they should had been there to help. They could have saved-

No no no no. Stop that. Stop thinking like that.

But when he looks at them with the same bewildered look, like he’s been misplaced, they feel their grip on reality slipping. Their vision blurs, arms go slack by their sides as the vivid memories of a century ago find their grip on them.

A decade of training put to the test. Finally, they have a chance, a real chance to show Mipha how strong they’ve become. No longer will they be shy little Toka, they will be the greatest warrior of all Zora.

And what better way to prove their strength then to dominate the most important battle of their time.

---

Calamity Ganon and his fiendish hoards are on an all-out assault of Hyrule Castle, a brutally swift attack that barely left any time for the heroes to get to those great mechanical beasts. Even the deployment of each army was something of a rush job. The Hylians especially had a rough time since most of their barracks were in chaos. The Zora army was the first to arrive on the scene, rushing in from the rivers and taking the monsters lingering there by surprise.

The Zora quickly take the battlefield, carving through hoards of armored monsters to make room for the armies of Gerudo, Goron, and Rito. While the initial charge is successful, Toka sees more and more of their fellow soldiers fall to the thunder magic thrown by Wizzrobes, and the arrows of Lizalfos. They hunker down behind one of the many stones that dot Hyrule Fields as magic casts and a rain of arrows. Zora armor is thin but sturdy, allowing for swift movement in the water. Against arrows and magic, it’s nearly worthless.

Just as it seems like their advance would be stopped, the Rito arrive. They soar above the battlefield, picking off straggling monsters of all types. With a shout, Toka resumes the charge, their spear held high. The answering roar of those following them drives them forward with greater purpose.

From the south, the Gerudo armies cleave through, followed by the Goron from the north. Ganon’s armies retreat towards Hyrule Castle where the great and terrible form of Calamity Ganon himself writhes around the spires in a purple cloud of malice.

The Hylian soldiers cheer and roar as the four armies converge on each other. Five become one army, poised to rid the land of Ganon’s minions. They were prepared for anything, any monster that would cross their paths.

A Lyonel wielding a massive club rears above the hoards, its bellowing roars echo above the sounds of battle. It barrels through its own subordinates and its enemies alike, swinging its club at anything it can reach. Toka stands tall with the other Zora around them, drawing upon their years of intensive training. They just had to wait for the proper moment.

The beast lunges forward at them only for Toka to roll out into its strike in the nick of time. They turn on their heels and leap up into the air, stabbing the spear down into the monster’s back. The Lyonel bellows and bucks wildly to try and throw them off its back, but their grip remains like iron. Other Zora take advantage of the beast’s distress and strike at whatever their spears can reach, while Toka uses the spear as leverage to pull themselves onto its back.

Grabbing a fistful of the Lyonel's mane, the steady themselves enough to pull out a shortsword from their belt. They ride the monster like Hylian rides a wild stallion, holding on for dear life and slashing at the back of its head and neck. The moment it runs out of energy, Toka plunges the sword into the nape of its neck. It lets out a deafening roar before collapsing to the ground in an unceremonious heap.

Toka rises to the cheers of those around them and a surge of pride swells in their chest. Felling a Lyonel is no easy feat, even the strongest amongst Zora have trouble. As much as they wanted to celebrate the proof of their strength, the battle continued to rage around them. The creatures that had scattered after their leader had fallen join up with other battalions in skirmishes. With their spear in hand, Toka rallies the Zora and Hylians cheering them.

Everything was going to plan. They would win the impossible battle against malice incarnate and his fell armies. They were strong, indomitable together.

A searing purple beam streaks from the distance, landing in the center of a formation of Goron and explodes. Everything stops around Toka, even the monsters look at the source of the beam in awe. There, cresting over the hills before Hyrule Castle, are the Hylian’s special weapons. The ancient sheika Guardians meant to be the defining force against Ganon now take aim at the five armies they’re meant to protect. The Goron’s fail to scatter in time as another volley of beams decimates the ones that lingered after the initial strike.

The neighboring Rito commanders order a retreat, followed by the few Gorons that survived. Toka can only stand in the chaos and flames as the strong assault crumbles before their eyes. Victory seemed so certain only a few short moments ago but now...

The earth itself trembles with the victorious roar of Calamity Ganon. ...Now all is lost.

Toka barely registers that they’re moving with a retreating battalion. Other soldiers seem to be in the same numbed stupor. It isn’t until they come to a stop over a mile away that they truly feel the weight of this defeat.

Something went wrong with the divine beasts, and all of the champions had died. Including...

They sink to their knees, spear clattering to the ground.

It doesn’t seem real, it doesn’t seem possible. There’s no way that Mipha could just be...gone. She was their champion, she was supposed to be the best of the five champions. She was.....

But when Toka looks up to the crumbling form of the divine beast Vah Ruta, bursting with the same malicious energy that emanates from Ganon....

The messenger wasn’t lying... She really is....

---

It had been so long since Toka had such intense flashbacks like that. By the time they came to, the Hylian and the prince had moved on with their tour. With the prince gone Toka heads out into the wilds surrounding Zora’s Domain, their legs moving despite the aching numbness that weighs down their limbs. They only vaguely know where they’re going, various landmarks seem to float by them. The lone maple tree, the second bend of the stream, the rocks that look like a little frog...

They come to a small grove of old pine trees, a familiar spot left long neglected. It’s quiet, out of the way and secluded. Toka leaves their spear resting against one of the trees and lies down in the soft bed of moss and shed needles. They pull their knees to their chest, curling into a pathetic ball to try and dull the pain of old wounds reopening.

Some great warrior they are...

The pain comes in waves. Sometimes it’s simply a cold that creeps into their joints and spreads to their whole body. Other times it’s so crippling it feels as if they’ve been stabbed over and over. They had no idea old wounds could hurt so much.

To keep from making sounds and feeling even more pathetic, they bite their arm. The sharp teeth natural to Zora sink in a bit, crushing the hardened scales of their skin. A pitiful sound wells in the back of their throat but is suppressed till it’s nothing but a small whine.

Every effort they had made in becoming a guard, a warrior and rising through the ranks, training for weeks on end to catch Mipha’s attention. To even just have her look their way. But she never did look their way...

Watching Mipha pine after the Hylian tore them up inside. Watching Mipha grow despondent over the champion’s relationship with the Hylian princess tore them up inside. It was just one big circle of heartache that ended in tragedy.

Toka sits up after what seems like hours of lying in the grove and rubs the bruising that begins to form on their arm. It’s a shorter episode than in the past, but it still fills them with shame that one of the best Zora warriors would be reduced to a sobbing mess hiding in a grove. The old sage that helped them through the first rounds of these told them that recovery would be arduous, some of her patients taking centuries to recover fully.

They turn their head to the sky, “Mipha...I’m sorry...I didn’t think it’d take this long.”

They sigh. She’s probably not listening to them. They never spent much time studying spiritual things, but with her spirit trapped in that divine beast drowning the kingdom, they doubt any kind of prayer would reach her.

That doesn’t stop them from trying though.

“I always was too stubborn for my own good...” they mutter to themselves.

“...I don’t blame him. That Hylian, I really don’t. But watching you throw your affections at him over and over, only to face rejection...Especially while I was breaking my arms and legs trying to get you to just...turn around and look my way. I guess it left me a bit bitter.”

Toka runs their fingers through a patch of wildflowers trying to grow in the shade of the trees, “It’s a bit funny, though. I can stand up to all these creatures that roam around our borders, fight in a doomed battle with my head held high, but I could never find the courage to talk to you, let alone tell you how I felt.”

“I suppose, in a way, I should thank you. If I hadn’t been trying to impress you...I don’t know where my life would have gone. You gave me purpose...you still do. Even when it gets hard. I just...I wish you were still here. I wish you could hear me...”

“What did you even see in that Hylian anyway. He always seemed so flighty and distant, always with the princess. I get that it was his job but he was attached to her hip the whole time. He’s a bit of an odd duck, that one. But...I suppose we weren’t all that different in the end. We’re both dedicated to our duties, even a hundred years later. Hylians aren’t supposed to live that long, right? I wonder how that happened...”

They sigh again, “What am I doing...You can’t hear me. And even if you could, there are others you would want to listen to more. Your brother, father, teacher, the Hylian....Well, even though it’s pointless...I still have to try, right?”

Toka forces themselves to their feet, “I guess I should be heading back now. If the Hylian is here then that means something big is going to be happening soon. I can feel it. The others are saying that he’s supposed to save us all. If he’s our savior we better prepare for worst case scenario, right? Or at least ready our weapons.”

“Thank you for everything, Mipha...I’ll try not to disappoint you.”