MOTIVATION.
OoT
They were strange to him. Not just the children, but the Grownups as well. He was used to a community, but the Hylians seemed to be every man for himself. The children did nothing but play all day, none of them hunted or gathered, and he got such strange looks when he munched on the edible flowers for a snack. Food was food, and he couldn't understand why they would disregard something that was so plentiful in the area. Even the Grownups didn't seem to do much of anything. Most relied on others to grow their food, hunt or raise animals, or catch fish. It was all so backwards.
"You are, in fact, a Hylian! I am pleased to reveal this truth to you at last!" The words still echoed inside his head for days after he heard them. A Hylian. He was a Hylian. It still didn't seem real. And yet...
"I, the Great Mido, will never accept you as one of us!" Had Mido known? Had...had Saria? He wasn't a Kokiri. It had been a lie. His whole life had been a lie. He should have died with his mother, would have died if the Great Deku Tree hadn't decided he was important. Because he was the Hero. That was the only reason he'd been saved.
If he'd been raised Hylian, he'd probably feel more bitter about that, but he understood. You did what was needed to benefit the community. If that meant an individual had a harder time of it, then it was unfortunate, but it didn't change what needed to be done. Hyrule needed a Hero, and apparently that was him. So he would do what was needed for his community, he would save these people, be their Hero, and maybe...
Maybe when it was over he'd be able to live the way he wanted. He'd already travelled all over the kingdom, and made friends with all sorts of people. If that 'Sworn Brother' thing was as serious as it sounded then the Gorons would never turn him away, and surely the Zora wouldn't mind him stopping by sometimes. Not that he would want to live permanently with either race, but being able to visit would be nice every now and then. He could never stand living in Castle Town or Kakariko either, they were too crowded, too strange. Perhaps Lon Lon, with the option of visiting other places when he got itchy feet. Lon Lon was so much quieter than the bustling Towns, closer to what he was used to from the Forest. And he liked the horses, even if the cuccos seemed to want to kill him. Take a pot-shot at a bird one time... but he'd take the birds over the monsters any day.
Link glanced over at Navi and wondered if she would stay with him once their mission was complete. Probably not. She belonged in the Forest, and he ...didn't. It wouldn't be fair to expect her to stay with him, but at least she was here now.
He looked up at Death Mountain and squared his shoulders. There would be time enough to sort out his life later, for now he had to put aside his personal wishes and daydreams. He was the Hero, and he had a job to do.
TP
It had started out so simple. Go after the monsters, and rescue Ilia and the kids. Bring them home, help Rusl set up a patrol so they would at least have warning if they came back. Not an easy task, but not exactly complicated either.
It had quickly become very complicated.
Sometimes he wished it had stayed about just his little village, that he didn't have to be responsible for all of Hyrule. He wished there was someone else he could hand this off to, someone who would actually know what they were doing and didn't have to rely on an imp who liked to alternate between riding on his back and hiding in his shadow.
Wishing never got anything done.
"Is this it?"
"Should be. Are you ready for this Little Wolf?"
No. No he wasn't. But that hadn't stopped him yet. "Let's do this."
ST
How had he let himself get talked into this? All he'd wanted was to get his certificate from the Princess, a simple piece of paper that would validate what he'd been working towards for half his life. And now, here he was, standing in front of the Woodland Temple, the Princess as a ghost at his side. He barely knew what to do with the sword he was holding. He was an engineer, not a soldier. Give him a train and he knew exactly how to drive it, run it, maintain it. Give him a sword and... well. At least he hadn't stabbed himself yet, but he had swiped it through the Princess more than once with his flailing. He was completely unsuitable for the task at hand, and he knew it. He was pretty sure the Princess knew it too, so why was he still here?
Who else would do it?
He was the only one who could see the Princess, the soldiers at the castle barely seemed to know she was missing and had no intention of doing anything about the Spirit Tracks. What could they do anyway? Just the soldiers by themselves couldn't have gotten past the Phantoms, and the Princess would still be wondering around Castle Town, lost and confused, if he hadn't found her. Link was almost certain he was going to die trying to help, but despite this he couldn't NOT try. This had to be done, and there was no one else.
Taking a deep breath, Link screwed up his courage, and walked forward.