Hey everybody, it's LittleRoxCandy and welcome to the Worth a Shot rewrite! This is going to be a lot different than the original (which I didn't think was to great, but maybe I'm a little too hard on myself) as far as the storyline. In my original the events I wrote in weren't in correct order or didn't feel right, so after replaying BotW I am ready to make this thing feel as authentic as possible. If you would like to read the original, it is under the name Worth a Shot, Right? and should be in my profile. Reviews (I've had mixed feelings about saying this and got kinda carried away before... heh) are always welcome!
Anyway, my names been Roxanne, you didn't really care and I'll see you in a bit!
-Wait, that outdo is kinda stepping on someone else's territory- Bah, Dazz will never read this anyways.
Chapter 1-
~ Endings and Beginings ~
"Oh, Zelda. I'm very proud of you, I want you to remember that." The queen said softly, holding her daughters hand as the last bits of life left her pale, weak body. The once beautiful, radiant queen was now reduced to a bed ridden bag of flesh under the cold silk sheets of her deathbed. Even her vibrant emerald-green eyes had faded into a dull mossy color.
"Mother, please don't leave me! You still have to teach me- You have to!" Princess Zelda cried. She jumped up onto the bed and wrapped her arms around her mother. "What if something happens, and I can't protect everyone?"
The queen lifted her daughter's head up to look at her. "Darling, I promise you that if anything ever happens, you will be ready." She kissed Zelda's forehead. "I love you, Zelda."
A nurse came to the bedside and lifted Zelda away from her mother. "Let me go! Mother!" Zelda wailed.
The queen let tears flow from her eyes as she watched her daughter be carried out of the room. She weakly turned her head to her husband and laid a hand on his. "Roham, I need to tell you something important." Her voice almost a whisper.
King Roham wiped away his wife's tears with his other hand as she spoke. "I had a vision last night... Of war... The Calamity Ganon- He is going to reawaken and lay waste to all of Hyrule... Please, protect our daughter..." She closed her eyes tightly as she fought for her last few moments of life.
She opened her eyes one last time and smiled. "Just promise me that you'll never let her forget... How important she is to Hyrule... And to me.."
ooo
The sound of bells was heard throughout the castle, signifying the death of the queen. Zelda ran from the nurses and the servants trying to comfort her, down the castle's first floor, outside and down to the iron gates leading to Castle Town. She pushed the gates open and ran out into the busy town square.
Zelda had only been to Castle Town a few times before, and then she was escorted by servants and guards. Now that she was all alone, she had no idea where to go or what to do. She ran into the nearest alleyway, desperate to get away from the crowds of people.
She tripped over and fell to the dirt-covered pavement. She grasped her leg and looked at the bloody scrape on her knee. She began to cry, overwhelmed by everything that was happening. She was lost, hurt and alone.
"Uh, hey- Are you okay?" Someone said. Zelda lifted her head up and looked at a boy with unruly blond hair and soft blue eyes.
Zelda wiped her eyes and looked away from the boy. "No." She said sadly.
The boy looked at her curiously, then seemed to have an idea and dug in his pocket. He pulled out a bright red apple and handed it to Zelda. She hesitated, the took the apple in her hands.
The boy sat down next to her and produced another apple from his pocket. He took a bite and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "What's wrong?" He asked innocently.
Zelda held back tears as she spoke. "My mother just passed..." she said quietly.
"Oh. I'm sorry." The boy said hesitantly. He rubbed the back of his neck, and as he did so saw the scrape on Zelda's knee. "Gosh, you scraped your knee pretty badly."
Zelda nodded and looked at her bloody knee. "I fell on the pavement."
The boy got up and ran over to a barrel filled with water. He ripped a piece of cloth off of his oversized and tattered shirt and dipped it in the cool water. He then ran back over to Zelda and wrapped the cloth around her knee.
Zelda met his gaze as he finished tying the makeshift bandage. "Thank you for the kind gesture." She said.
The boy smiled widely, showing off the empty spot in his top row of teeth as the source of his whistle-ridden speech. "It's no problem. Besides," he stood up, grabbed a stick off of the ground and pointed it up at the sky. "Helping pretty girls is what heroes do!" He exclaimed.
Zelda giggled at the enthusiastic boy. "You think I'm pretty?" She teased.
The boy dropped the stick and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, I- Yeah, I guess..." he kicked the ground with the heel of his foot.
A castle servant walked past the alleyway, then caught sight of Zelda and called out to her. "There you are! Your father has been so very worried about you!" The servant grabbed Zelda's hand and led her away.
Zelda looked back and waved to the strange boy. He waved back and smiled.
ooo
Zelda slammed her journal shut and stood up abruptly. She stomped over to the study door and whipped it open. Her father stood outside the door, an impatient look on his face. "Zelda. I've sent three servants up here to get you to come down to the courtyard and yet you are still here in your study?"
Zelda crossed her arms. "I told each one of them that I will not be attending the knighting of that man!" She exclaimed.
Zelda grabbed the door and attempted to close it, but Roham's foot stopped it from shutting. "You must go. I command it." Roham thundered. Zelda rolled her eyes and marched past her father.
The knight stood in the center of the courtyard, with the entire royal guard behind him. The four Champions of the Gerudo, Rito, Zora, and Goron peoples each stood off to the side.
King Roham and Princess Zelda approached him, the king holding a sheathed sword in his arms and Zelda carrying a neatly folded sky blue tunic. Behind them, the chief knight held a blue, red, and yellow shield to present to the knight.
"Young knight, chosen by the Goddess Hylia; destined to protect Hyrule and wield the blade of Evil's Bane. Receive the blessings of the leaders of the four races of Hyrule and kneel before your king." Roham said.
The knight turned to the Champions and bowed. One by one they bowed in return. Then the knight turned back to the king and knelt. Roham unsheathed the sword and touched it on each of the knight's shoulders.
"I, King Roham of Hyrule knight thee Link, Hero of Hyrule. Rise." The sword was put back into it's sheath and handed it to Link. "I present you with the Master Sword in which you pulled from it's resting place before the Great Deku Tree."
Link bowed to the king who stepped aside for the royal guard chief. "I present you with the Hylian Shield in which you earned through feats of great strength, and as is tradition is given to the hero." The chief gave Link the shield and joined the rest of the guard.
Lastly, Zelda stepped forward with the tunic. "I present you with the Champion's Tunic, worn by the hero, the four Champions and myself, Princess Zelda of Hyrule, representing our unity as one kingdom under the great Hyrulian skies."
Link took off his knights tunic and donned the new one over his undershirt. He secured the sword and shield to his back and bowed to the princess. He then pulled out his blade and raised it to the sky.
ooo
Link walked silently behind Zelda. He watched her golden hair blow in the breeze and glisten in the sunlight. She was harsh, distant, and cold to him, ever since they had met.
Well, since they met the second time. When they were young, when he hadn't know that she was the Princess and she had only seen him as a goofy young boy who gave her an apple, bandaged her knee and called her a pretty girl... It was different. He didn't understand why it had to be, but it was.
Link had searched the streets for her for weeks after they first met. His missing tooth had grown back by the time he found out that she was the princess, and he would probably never speak to her again.
He fought himself to not jump in front of her and pick up a tree branch and tell her that helping pretty girls is what heroes do, or give her an apple and smile.
He wanted her to remember him, he wanted to look into her sparkling green eyes and tell her that he still thinks she's pretty. He wanted to get to know her, and talk with her everyday. He wanted to see who Princess Zelda really was, and not just who she showed the rest of the world.
Deep down, however, Link feared that she did remember him, and that she knew very well who he was. Maybe she just didn't care enough to acknowledge it.