Chapter Text
Aria is on her way home from the grocery store when the world ends. Well, at least that’s what she assumes is happening. An earthquake massive enough to rend nearby buildings in two shakes the ground. The rumbling in the distance explodes in volume, ash filling the sky and blocking out the sun. The people around her scramble for cover but Aria knows it’s already too late. They are too close to Yellowstone. There is no safety here. There will be no escape either with the earthquake wrecking the roads.
Again, the ground shakes beneath her feet and the power plant across the street starts making noises she doesn’t like. So Aria drops the plastic bags in her hands, distantly mourning the loss of her eggs and jam, and takes off in the opposite direction as fast as she can on the unsteady ground. If she’s going to die, she’d like to put it off as long as possible. A power plant explosion sounds like a terribly painful way to go—not that she would know. She tends to avoid information like that. It gives her imagination way too much ammo to haunt her with at night.
Another tremor shakes the ground, and she darts away from a nearby tree as it starts to fall towards her. This is not good. This is very, very not good. Her hands shake for reasons completely different from the shaking ground. The wail of a baby in the distance is suddenly cut short. Aria tries not to think about what that means. Maybe the mom just managed to hush them? Yeah, let’s go with that.
The power plant blows sky high before she is able to get too far. She’s launched into the air by the blast and can feel the heat scorching her skin. It happens so fast there’s no chance to cry out in pain. It’s over for her.
Or at least it would have been, if she’d hadn’t—by complete happenstance—caught someone’s attention with her quick thinking and desire to live for as long as she could.
Perhaps you will survive, a feminine sounding voice whispers in Aria’s head. Good luck, little one. It will not be easy.
And with that, the world goes dark.
When Aria wakes up again, it’s to the feeling of wind brushing through her short hair and the dull pain of miscellaneous bumps and bruises. She squints her eyes open and blinks a couple of times to adjust to the light. As her eyes adjust, she finds herself in a tiny valley nestled in the middle of some hills. And next to her, in the very middle of the tiny valley, is a small structure. It’s completely dark with swirls of stone covered in moss decorating it. That—she staggers to her feet and peeks around the front just to make sure.
Yeah. That’s a Shiekah shrine alright. And as she listens closely she gets a sinking feeling. The grinding of gears, whirring of engines, and whooshing of propellers fill the air. A glance behind the shrine confirms her fears. This isn’t just any Shiekah shrine. It’s the one right next to the castle, surrounded by Guardians.
Suddenly Aria finds herself very grateful for the 300+ hours she sunk into Breath of the Wild. She certainly doesn’t remember everything. But she does remember patterns, paths, and tactics she’d used on various enemies. The question is whether or not she can pull them off now that everything is real and she’s just herself instead of the Hero of Hyrule.
…probably not. But she squares her shoulders and pushes the doubt away. Aria refuses to just sit down and die here. Not after she kind of survived the probable apocalypse. Not after someone went through all the effort of pulling her out—even if they did leave her in a horrible, horrible location. At least her starting place doesn’t have any guardians actively searching there.
If she remembers correctly, the decayed Guardian behind the shrine and to the left is still active, just stationary. There’s a Guardian Stalker out on the road. And there are three Skywatcher Guardians patrolling the area. But all of them, except for the decayed Guardian, are searching ground level. And if she stays quiet and away from the decayed Guardian, she might just have a chance. But just in case… Aria pulls off her backpack and digs through it. There it is. Her can of crushed tomatoes is there at the very bottom.
It’s no shield, but it’s the biggest can she’s got. And, therefore, is her only hope of deflecting a guardian laser. She’s got one very risky back up plan. But at least she’s got a backup plan. Just in case. Aria grimaces as she looks at her bag. She’s very attached to it. It was her grandmothers before the woman’s passing. But right now it’s a liability. She’ll have to leave it here. The young women hugs it to her chest one more time before tucking the floral backpack between the side of the hill and the side of the shrine. Hopefully it will be safe here until she can get it back. Then she turns back to her task—survival.
In an effort to stay as far away from the decayed Guardian as she can, Aria starts climbing up the hill directly opposite to it. Her slightly worn sneakers get enough traction to haul herself up to the top of the hill even with one of her hands out of commission as it clutches the can of crushed tomato to her chest.
She successfully makes it to the top of the hill without activating the decayed Guardian and feels a swell of hope that is immediately crushed as she sees the active Guardian Stalker on the road. It’s massive, easily twice her height and much nimbler than the game made them seem. It’s fine. This is fine. As long as she keeps to the high ground she should be safe.
Then she reaches the end of the hill. Okay. This is fine. She just needs to wait until the Stalker is on the other end of its route and get to the other hill quickly.
Once the Stalker is halfway back, Aria skids down the side of the hill and sprints further away from the road hiding a little behind the side of the hill and watching the closest Skywatcher’s pattern. It circles the next three nearest hills, crossing the path twice as it does so. She waits until it’s just past her with its red search light and runs for the hill. While she’d love to sprint, she needs to save some of her energy for climbing up the hill.
Scrambling up the hill, Aria hears the whoosh of the propellers coming closer and drags herself up to the top just in time with a burst of adrenaline. Something ripped as she did so but she doesn’t care yet. She lays flat on top of the hill and gasps for air as the Skywatcher passes her by without notice. A glance down shows her jeans have ripped from her knee down. It’s not great, but better her jeans than her leg. The young woman only allows herself a short rest to regain her stamina before getting up again. The adrenaline rush will wear off if she waits too long and she can’t afford to crash right now.
She watches the Skywatcher and its route again before running for the next hill. This time she simply ducks behind it. The sides of it and sheer cliff and she’s not trying her luck with that right now. Again, Aria waits for the Skywatcher to pass her by before moving on. She makes it to the next hill. It’s close to some ruins and she’s running out of hills so she makes for the nearest dilapidated building. And that’s when she hears it. The Guardian theme.
A chill runs down her spine as she turns around. The Stalker saw her. A glance back proves that the house is too far away given the Stalker’s speed. Flight won’t serve her here. Aria will have to fight. So she braces herself, readies her can of crushed tomato and waits. And waits. And—now.
Just as the Stalker fires its beam, she thrusts her can out towards the flash of light. And by some act of divine providence, Aria’s plan works. The beam is deflected back to the Stalker and hits it right in the eye. The machine squeals and whistles as it flashes, malfunctions, and finally shuts down and goes dark before dissipating into a cloud of smoke.
Aria drops the leaking can and to her knees and thanks God for his help and asks Him to pass on her thanks to whoever else might have helped her. After a moment, she opens her eyes again and takes a shaky breath as she climbs to her feet. She goes to travel further down the path to the bridge. She wants to get as far away as possible—but then a little pile of items catches her eye. The Stalker left behind a couple of parts—a couple of screws, a gear or two, and a small ancient core. And, well, she can’t just leave them there.
So she carefully makes her way over and scoops them up before scrambling to get further away from the Guardians. Aria already fiercely misses her bag, but she is not about to go back for it now. Maybe someday later she’ll go back for it. But not today.
The young woman follows the path for what feels like hours. Her hands grow shaky after a couple minutes of peace, her shirt is caked with sweat, and her eyes droop in exhaustion, but she keeps going. There is a stable down this road if she can make it. A stable means relative safety. And Aria could really use some relative safety right now.
The sun is dipping low in the sky and her steps are slowing as the fake horse head comes into sight. Aria staggers as the relief hits her like a truck but thankfully doesn’t fall for a third time. So she drags herself on until someone is in view. It’s midday so there aren’t too many people there. But she catches the attention of what appears to be a Rito child as she staggers again. He squawks in alarm as, a couple of steps later, she trips on a tree branch and crashes to the ground again. Her spoils fall from her arms as she tries to catch herself—only for her arms to buckle as they hit the ground. More noises of alarm from the stable’s direction are the last thing she hears before everything goes black for the second time that day.