A/N: Here is Chapter 2, pretty quickly! I'm going to try to get the first few off quickly, so that you have something to read! I am still writing my other stories which are my priority, but these will be easy to write so I may get these posted quicker.
I have decided to include all 18 memories in this story, rather than just 13. They will go in order chronologically, and they will be posted and titled accordingly. Enjoy!
"Hero of Hyrule, chosen by the sword that seals the darkness..."
He kneeled before his Princess, in the center of the Sacred Ground just outside of Castle Town. His moment had finally come. In his years of proving himself as a knight and a worthy guard for her, Link was finally being knighted by Princess Zelda herself.
Though it wasn't an unbelievably special day; The entire kingdom was preparing themselves for the worst war they could ever imagine. Link's knighting was hardly anyone's main priority at the moment. Not even the King himself was in attendance, just the four Champions and of course, Princess Zelda.
"You have shown unflinching bravery and skill in the face of darkness and adversity, and have proven yourself worthy of the blessings of the Goddess Hylia."
Hardly, Link thought. He had passed a couple of tests set by the King, and had trained since near birth with his father on being a Royal Knight, but he was not that far above the other knights when it came to skill. Being as young as he was, his true ally, the one to thank for his praised skill, was his agility. He could dodge attacks and move in ways no one could match. His stealth was unlike any in the past 50 years.
As for his bravery, he could say he deserved some bragging rights there as well. As the other knights complained, he was just a reckless teenager, hardly worthy of any recognition, likely to cause the death of fellow guards or, even worse, get killed himself. But so far, it had worked out all in his favor.
When it came to the Yiga Clan, not a single person could protect Zelda better than Link. His hatred for the malicious clan burned brighter than anyone. It was not bravery or skill that drove him to perform so well against the traitors, but pure hatred.
"Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight, the sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the hero."
His ancestors had set the bar quite high for him. Far back in the blood of his father was the Hero of Time himself, making it none the more obvious that he would be the recipient of the title 'Hero' in this age.
He huffed, as quietly as he could. There were times when even he doubted if he was truly the hero. The past few years, with the crowning of the four Champions, Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa, he had quite a lot of doubt riding on his shoulders. From Revali especially, he felt like nothing more than a silly teenager, biting off more than he could chew.
It was times like those he wished his father were still around. When faced with adversity, Link's father always had the answer, no matter how terrible things were. He himself grew up with tales of Calamity Ganon, and used those tales to spark not only an eternal hatred inside of Link, but a fear that motivated him to become the best he could, so that should the Calamity ever come again, he would be much more than prepared.
"We pray for your protection... and we hope that- that the two of you will grow stronger together, as one."
Hearing the Princess falter like that was no reassurance to his promotion. If even Zelda had no faith in him, why were they still here?
The sword. The Master Sword was the reason for Link's recognition, for this ceremony. Up until now, the Master Sword, the sword that seals away darkness, had sat in Hyrule Castle, untouched by any since 10,000 years previous, when the Hero of Twilight had wielded it, sealing his foe away to the darkness forever. Many had tried, of course, to prove themselves worthy, to lift the sword without even a flinch, but all had failed.
Up until King Rhoam, desperate for a hero in the preparations for Ganon's return, had taken each knight and tried them with this sword. None succeeded, until the Princess stepped up boldly to her father.
"What about Link? I think he's proven himself worthy one hundred times over in the training in the barracks." Zelda had boasted, dragging Link up by his arm in front of the sword and the King.
"Oh please, he is but a child. While he is a valued knight, he is no hero!" King Rhoam had laughed. He had begun to walk away when Zelda nudged Link's shoulder and whispered to him.
"Give it a go, won't you? You will never know if you never try. You've got hero's blood!" Hearing her sweet voice so close to his ear was more than enough to motivate him. He had given her a reassuring nod and stepped up to the sword.
In one swift motion, Link unhinged the sword and raised it high. Zelda squealed and King Rhoam, as well as the rest of the Royal Guard, looked absolutely flabbergasted. But Link was just as surprised as they were.
Link snapped out of his head, and continued listening to the Princess in her knighting process.
"Forged in the distant past..."
But whispers off to his left caught his ear.
"Gee, this is uplifting. She's making it sound like we already lost!"
Daruk, the Goron Champion, was the first to complain of the Princess's faultiness. While he was not necessarily wrong, Link felt a burning passion to tell them to shut it.
The Rito Champion, Revali, someone who Link had a special quarrel with, was the first to retaliate at Daruk.
"Wasn't this your idea? You're the one who wanted to designate the appointed knight with all the ceremonial pomp, grandeur, and nonsense we could muster!
"And if you ask me, the whole thing does seem to be overkill. I think I'm on the same page as the Princess regarding... this boy."
When this caught Link's ear, he almost leapt in the air and sent the Master Sword straight through Revali's beak.
It was not the insult that bothered him. He and Revali were known among Hyrule for the competition between them. Revali was Link's greatest nemesis, never letting Link forget his age, his lack of real battle experience, and also his failures, whenever they did happen.
But no, it was his mention of the Princess. It was one thing to doubt Zelda's faith in him by her quavering voice during this official knighting, but it was a complete other thing to hear from someone else that she did not have faith in him.
At least when he thought it himself, Link could tell himself he was being silly, that Zelda undoubtedly trusted Link with her life, and would not have made him her appointed knight otherwise. But hearing these words from Revali, Link's heart sank deep.
He wanted to make the Princess proud, to prove that he wasn't just some boy, to not just gain her trust, but to earn it. He wanted to be the person to make Zelda forget that Hyrule was under the threat of a catastrophic calamity every second. He wanted to make her feel safe.
Clearly, he had failed.
"Oh give it a rest."
Urbosa had cut into the bickering by now.
"That boy is a living reminder of her own failures. Well, at least that's how the Princess sees him."
The Gerudo Champion was not wrong. The reason Zelda needed an appointed knight, which her father did not hesitate on making clear to the whole kingdom, was because she could not awaken the ancient power deep within her that would allow her to seal away Calamity Ganon once and for all. She had the blood of the Goddess Hylia, just as her father, but only women of that bloodline could awaken the sacred power, and Zelda was one of few in a long line of Royal blood.
Unable to protect herself, that was what Link was for. Somehow, the Hero's descendant and the Goddess's descendant would pair up against the mighty calamity, just as fate would have it.
This, although heartbreaking for Princess Zelda, gave Link a bout of reassurance.
As he continued to kneel, he felt Zelda's eyes pouring onto him. No matter what anyone said, or what anyone did, Link was her appointed knight. Link was the one who, from now on, would accompany Princess Zelda wherever she went. By the King's orders, he had to spend every waking minute with her, and every sleeping minute continuing to protect her. His new job was to be with the beautiful Princess all hours of every day.
And knowing the fact that it wasn't just the King who wanted him with her, that Zelda herself knew that she needed him there, Link was okay with it.