Link quietly observed the citizens of Castle Town from his private balcony. He sat in his old, wooden wheelchair with a warm quilt thrown over his legs. His leather boots were replaced with soft slippers, his worn out gloves left his hands naked. His ancient forest green Kokiri tunic was folded neatly in a box and placed somewhere in the depths of Hyrule castle, along with his sword, shield and his other trusty weapons. All he had left was a heavy materialized gown draped over his aging body, but he never given up his hat. It was the only memory he wanted to keep of his past, aside from the triforce which would forever be painted on his hand. He also held the ocarina in his lap at all times. He always enjoyed the tunes it wielded. Every now and then, he would sit in the town square and play a melody. Zelda's Lullaby, Song of Time, even Epona's song; the long since deceased horse that would never return to him.
Many of his old friends were gone, like the stallion. They either aged or died of disease or passed away in some sort of unfortunate accident. The Kokiri would forever stay young, however. In his younger days, Link would often travel back into the forest and pay his old friends a visit, but the more wrinkled he became the less they recognized him. Only Saria, the sage of forest, would remember who he was. Sometimes they'd play Saria's song, the tune that let them connect to each other. They would hear it and memories would instantly flow through their head of all the adventures they had gone through. The memories were bittersweet for the elderly Hero of Time. Knowing he was aging and that his friend would always stay young was painful. The end of his life was approaching, but it was time to pass the legend down onto a new young hero; a hero that would do great things for the land of Hyrule and the rest of the earth.
Link manipulated the wheels and managed to roll back into his room given to him by the Princess Zelda. He scooted out into the hallway and began to make his way to the throne room. A very special guest would arrive within the hour, and Link would have to work himself hard to roll all the way to the bottom of the castle, having to be especially careful about making his way down the stairs. However, throughout his elderly time at the castle, he had learned to become extremely skilled at 'rolling down the stairs.' There wasn't much to do around the castle as a cripple, so he had to think of activities of his own to occupy himself with.
The old legend rolled into the throne room and met the elderly Zelda perched on her seat. They were the same age. They had known each other their entire life and were more close to anyone else in the kingdom. They offered their warm smiles to the other. Zelda took her cane that was leaning on the chair and began to make her way down next to her silent friend. Her rosy cheeks matched her benevolent personality. She placed a delicate hand on his feeble shoulder and squeezed it slightly. "Are you ready to meet the new youthful hero?" Zelda's voice was soft and smooth like the ocarina.
Link nodded and gazed intently into her eyes. They didn't think that a new hero would be born before the end of their lifetime, but apparently it wasn't so.
The enormous doors slowly slid open, and in came a small child about five or six years of age escorted by the well-trained soldiers of Hyrule. They strode towards the elderly couple and stopped a few feet away, giving the royal titles their space. The small boy awed at the two with wonder, unknowing of all the great adventures and deeds that the royals performed. Zelda beckoned her hand and the little boy ran over to her. He stared up at the old woman and blinked. This wasn't exactly what he thought of when he imagined a maiden who had saved Hyrule so many decades ago. He tugged on her dress. "You're wrinkly," the small minded child said.
Zelda giggled and nodded. She stroked her fingers through his silky golden hair and smiled contently at the boy. He would face much danger in the future. Thankfully he still had years to grow and develop before he would begin his legend. "Hello, youthful Link. It is an honor to meet you," she breathed, falling down into a deep curtsy. She stood up straight again and watched him with her cerulean eyes that glistened against the sunlight flowing through the open doors. "We have a gift for the new Hero of Time, but we would like some evidence first proving that you're really the hero chosen by the goddess." Zelda was already informed by a dream that this was, in fact, the Hero of Time. However, all of the Hylians were skeptical because they couldn't see her vision. If she proved to the soldiers that his was the savior, then they would easily spread the word to all of Hyrule.
Zelda slipped off her glove and revealed the golden triforce embellished on her hand. Link also uncovered his mark that was covered by a fold in the blanket. The small boy stared at them a moment before he finally lifted his meek hand. He slipped off the small glove and revealed a petite triforce on his skin. Link brewed a smile, and the child returned it with a grin. The guards in the back began to exchange whispers and mumbles, not entirely sure what was happening.
The little boy looked up at Zelda again with his eyes. "What do you have for me?"
The ancient woman immediately clapped her hands, and a small servant ran to her side holding a wooden box with an engraved triforce on top. He held the box up to the fair lady and she tenderly took it away from them. Zelda raised her arm and began to dig in her grey hair, then suddenly brought down a small key and stuck it into the lock of the box, twisted it, and opened the chest. Inside was the green tunic that Link had worn so long ago, along with his belt and pouch. Another servant quickly arrived carrying the Hylian sword and shield that was used to protect the hero in his battles. Zelda pleasingly stared at the boy who gazed at all of his new gifts. "When the time comes, these items will aid you on your quest," she started. "But for now, they are only something to look at." She turned her head to look at Link, who started to nod off into a slumber. She kicked his chair and he jumped up. "The former Hero of Time also has gifts to bear."
The young child moved from Zelda's dress and now clung onto Link's quilt. The hero took off his hat and placed it on the boy's head, for Link no longer had use for memories of it. He also tightly clutched onto the ocarina before handing it off to the hero. Zelda smiled, knowing it was painful to give them away but was proud he did it anyway. "The hat represents the pride of the Kokiri forest, which we are very close to. And the ocarina is the only form of communication we have left with them." Zelda informed, her eyes narrowing. "Please don't lose these. We are entrusting you with these sacred items."
The boy nodded and held the ocarina close to his chest. He wiped the mouth piece with his sleeve and blew on it, letting out an awful noise. The elders chuckled in amusement. He would learn the melodies once the time arrived.
A small girl peeked from behind one of the columns. Zelda felt the presence and turned to see her great, great granddaughter peeking from behind the pillar. She smiled at the young girl, who would possibly someday rule Hyrule as the princess. "Come here, my darling," Zelda called. The small child scurried to her great, great grandmother and hid behind the giant dress and grasped onto it. One of her hands held a triforce as well. Zelda looked at the small boy again and shoved the girl in front of him. "You two will grow to be a great team, just like Link and I were."
The children timidly stared at each other, unsure of how to react. Their faces turned into a deep red, and the little girl suddenly curtsied. "It is a pleasure to meet you, O great hero!" She squeaked. The boy returned her courtesy with a bow and shot straight up. Zelda chuckled at the two awkward beings. The little girl now returned behind the old woman's dress and peeked at the new boy.
Zelda warmly smiled again at Hyrule's new chosen hero. "I hope to see you sometime in the future. For now, you may return to Hyrule. You may always visit us as you please," the old woman said.
The boy nodded and turned on his heel. He began to stride out the door with the soldiers by his side, all marching in unison. They stopped behind the doors and slammed them shut. The room's sunlight disappeared. The little girl realized there was nothing else interesting to witness, so she ran off into one of the other rooms.
The former hero and princess looked at each other and smiled. "He looks promising," Zelda stated with a wide grin. She took hold of the wheelchair's handles and began to roll him back to his room, completely discarding her walking cane. "I know how special those items were to you, but you did right be the gods and goddesses. They will be proud," she whistled. The poor, crippled woman had to push with extra force up the never ending staircase. "Hoo! You've sure gotten heavy!" She finally reached the top with great difficulty and wheeled him back into his room to the balcony where he could watch over Hyrule once more. The new chosen hero was flaunting his new ocarina and hat to the other children. Zelda took a deep breath and let it out, snickering afterwards. "Yep. That's our hero." She turned and left Link alone in his room.
The former Hero of Time watched the new hero attempt to play on the complex instrument. Every now and then he could hear an awful high note. It warmed his heart to know that the child was at least growing closer to the object. It would help him with many things, and he doesn't even know how great it is yet. Link sighed. He wriggled his fingers where the ocarina used to be, but nothing was there for him to hold. One day that child would be as old as Link and pass down the ocarina to another child, and he would feel the same way. It was bittersweet to give up his most beloved items. They were his memories, and now they had finally passed on to a new chosen hero.