Note: As before, be sure to watch the final cutscene from the Champions Ballad DLC, it's a fantastic scene in my opinion!
-Prelude V-
The reason had become perfectly clear to her now. In fact, Zelda was certain her father could care less if Link joined them for every meal, as he insisted on him doing every day since she returned. Her father wasn't really interested in sharing his private time with a strange boy from a faraway country village who just so happened to pull a very important sword from a damnable rock. All it was really was just another part of his seemingly endless schemes to make her face that which she had come to fear and despise the most… Her one and only duty.
In other words, the King wanted Link present at every possible moment to serve a constant reminder―like an insistent itch in the back of her mind―of what she still lacked to achieve. The King wanted her to see that golden-haired boy sitting silently from across the table, eyes boring holes into her every time he looked her direction, as if taunting her, whispering in her ear 'you have yet to succeed.' He wanted the boy chosen by the Sword to act as a leash around her neck, pulling her back if she ever strayed too far from path of following nothing but absolute, unequivocal dedication to her prayers and offerings. The King did so knowingly, she was certain of it.
Not that her father had malicious intents. Far from it really―he was merely doing what he honestly thought best. But he had become so engrossed with the idea that there was some shortage of effort within her, that there was something she just wasn't doing quite right, preventing her from reaching her potential… and yet she couldn't ever disprove the notion. Of course, Zelda knew deep down she was trying her best, but when had that ever been enough? Maybe she was missing something?
And so, like always, she endured her father's meddling, with no small amount of frustration.
The question was, however, was Link in on it too?
He never said anything to her―or her father for that matter―that would indicate as much. Never a sharp remark or pointed observation. Then again, he had said but three words to either of them in nearly two weeks. But perhaps it was his silence that testified to his involvement in her father's musings; he certainly had motive to despise her considering she, so far, was the first in line to fail, endangering his own life at the first signs of Ganon's return.
Zelda had yet to puzzle that mystery out quite yet.
At any rate, however, he seemed more than subservient to the idea of just sitting straight in his chair like a perfectly trained footman, taking small proportioned bites from his plate till it was spotless, and then wait as patiently as a stone to be excused. He usually went to practice rigorous forms with his newly acquired blade out in the training yard after their meals, but Zelda expressly avoided the sight of it. As if she needed more reasons to scare her off to the castle sanctuary for an extra prayer or two.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner was more than enough time for that.
"Can you believe it," her father suddenly muttered to himself, turning over the neatly written report in his hand and dropping it on the table. He finally sipped from his spoon which had floated idly above his bowl ever since he started reading. "These testy Yiga will be the death of me yet, mark my word."
"What happened now, father?" Zelda asked flatly.
"Oh, the usual pillaging and arson," he grunted, pushing up his spectacles to the bridge of his nose. Off handedly, he regarded Link and asked, "you wouldn't happen to be willing to go hunt down these bastards, would you?" Zelda could sense the dryness of his tone―a bad joke, really―but evidently Link did not.
"Send me wherever I am needed, your Highness," the Knight answered in all seriousness. The King grunted again, almost as a chuckle.
"No, we have plenty of capable men to handle the whole mess. We need you here, near the Princess." Zelda's spoon scrapped and clinked against the bottom of her bowl loudly, and not entirely by accident. Her father simply ignored it. "Besides, with the ceremony being tomorrow, your presence will be required." Link's only reply was a firm nod before his eyes strangely found their way to Zelda. Under their meticulous inspection she felt like she would melt into her chair.
His gaze always unsettled her. She much preferred it when he ignore her entirely; at least then she felt like she could breathe. Luckily however, it didn't last long. After a beat he looked away and continued chipping away at his food, and she felt a noticeable weight leave her shoulders, freeing her arms to spoon in a mouthful of soup.
A servant entered the dining room then, and loudly announced that delegates from Death Mountain had arrived, and at the King's bidding, the servant brought them in with orders to bring more food, and a lot of it. That sent the footmen and chefs scattering, but it was a controlled, well-practiced scattering.
"Daruk!"
Zelda's heart lifted when she saw Daruk and his two Goron Brother's squeeze their way in through the tiny Hylian-sized door, and she rushed from the table to greet them. Her Champion smiled warmly and laughed from his belly, embracing her in a rather abrasive hug. There was very little in the way of traditional mannerisms for the Gorons, especially when it came to acceptable greetings between sovereigns, but Zelda could not have cared less. She enjoyed his warmth and breach of typical protocol.
"Its good to see you, little Princess," Daruk declared from his gut, patting her on the head like one would with a child. "And you, little King. And you―" the Goron paused, as if puzzled, and then in a moment of clarity he roared with laughter, rushing over to where Link had stood and clapped him on the back resoundingly. "Well break my boulders," he said, which if Zelda remembered correctly was a well know Goronic euphemism for something much less… appropriate. "What are you doing here, Brother?"
"Brother?" Zelda didn't mean to blurt it out quite so hurriedly.
"Yeah! Brother! I met Link a few weeks ago, just at the base of Death Mountain. A gang of Bokoblins thought they could get the jump on the little guy, but he showed them whose boss, right?" He patted Link's head in the same manner her had done to Zelda, though considerably rougher. "He took care of them like it was nothing, and by the time I rolled down the mountain, they were retreating like cowards. Heck, one even tried to sneak up behind me, but he threw a rock at its head and knocked it out stone cold. Guess I looked like a pretty big fool, huh, little guy?" Daruk scratched his beard.
"Naturally," the Goron continued, "I invited him up the mountain, and we shared a MIGHTY feast. He even liked our roast-rock! The little guy was speechless when he tasted it! I decided right then and there to declare him a full-fledged Brother."
"It seems we live in a small world, Master Daruk," the King said welcomingly, rising from his chair. "I suppose it was no accident that you have met you fellow Champion and wielder of the Master Sword before now. Hylia does seem to shine down on us in some ways, does she not?" Zelda tensed at the remark, and Daruk's jaw dropped.
"You're the Hero!?" The Goron's eyes grew wider when Link nodded slowly, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, I'll be a Goron's uncle! I guess it's no surprise though, you definitely know how to handle yourself."
Zelda was honestly too surprised by the coincidence to form any intelligent input to the conversation. In one way, she was glad to hear that already two of her Champions had already met Link―it would make getting them to work together far easier―but in another way it made her heart twist selfishly. Daruk and Mipha both seemed to hold Link in very high regard. She could only pray that they did not adopted the same feelings towards her as so many had before; that she was the weak link of a chain bound to hold back assured annihilation.
Chapter Eight
Unity
Urbosa stood beside Zelda as they watched the last of the fireworks scatter across the evening sky. The ceremony had gone quite well all things considered. Her father, as usual, made a grand speech from the balcony of his throne in the Inner Sanctum, his deep voice rumbling in coarse echoes across the vast chamber. He spoke of many things; duty, destiny, the Champions' roles as protectors of the Kingdom, and of course, Zelda's birthright as the first born of royalty to carry the torch against the dark.
"'Zelda,'" he had said. "'I trust you with the task that only a daughter of the Royal Family can fulfill. Lead our Champions, Princess. And together, protect our people from the threat of Calamity Ganon.'" In one form or another, it was the same words he had spoken to her countless times before. Protect our people. Protect your people. If only she knew how.
"You were right, Princess," Urbosa said with a slick smile, resting her elbows on the stone railing of the observatory balcony. "He is much shorter than I imagined." Of course, she was speaking of Link, who at the moment was not in sight. Apparently Daruk and Mipha had swept him off somewhere to avoid the crowds of eager townsfolk dying for the opportunity to shake hands with living, breathing, heroes, just as Urbosa had swept her away for the same reason.
Even Revali, for all his swelled-up pride, desired a moment of peace, and had taken of on wing to circle the spires of Hyrule Castle above. He claimed he wanted to get a layout of the castle for strategic purposes, of course, but Zelda knew better.
"Though, I must disagree with you on one thing." Zelda crooked and eyebrow at the towering Gerudo woman questioningly.
"And what is that?" she asked.
"He is quite handsome, in my opinion." Urbosa laughed from her stomach. "Even pretty, almost, with that long hair luscious of his. Put him in a dress and you might fool an unsuspecting guard back home in Gerudo Town." A mischievous smile crept across her dark lips, but Zelda grumbled irritably and looked away.
"Looks hardly have anything to do with ability, Urbosa," she remarked pointedly.
"Of course they don't, little bird," Urbosa replied. "I am just surprised you find him unrememberable. But enough about that, what do you think about him? What is he like? He seems awfully quiet." The Gerudo crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the edge of the balcony nonchalantly.
"I don't know what to think anymore," Zelda admitted with a somber sigh. "All I know about him is that everyone who meets him praises him for his valor… his abilities. Daruk and Mipha revere him as some prodigy, even the townsfolk whisper his name in the streets as a Hero, telling of his great exploits in the south. And yet, not a word passes his lips, especially to me. I fear he loathes me already because I am doomed to be his downfall." A surge of vulnerability flooded through her body, and Zelda had to look away from her companion, hiding her wet eyes.
"I can't blame him… but… but its so frustrating. After all these years of praying and worshiping, begging for answers, Hylia finally sends a Hero to work alongside me, and yet he cannot bear to speak to me, and I cannot overcome the shame of seeing that sword on his back." A tear threatened to roll down her cheek, but she blinked it away before Urbosa could see it. "I just can't do it, Urbosa. I see the hilt of the Master Sword resting over his shoulder and all I can think about it how much I have failed my people… how I continue to fail my people." Zelda's muscles tensed when she felt gentle hands press against her back, but with a deep breath she relaxed and turned to face her dearest friend.
"You are not a failure, Zelda," Urbosa said, her emerald eyes shining with warmth and sincerity. "Life has dealt you a low blow, little bird, but I know that you will find your stride someday. And when that day comes, Ganon won't stand a chance. I promise you." The Gerudo Chief wrapped her arms around Zelda and brought her into a strong embrace. "And don't you worry about Link. If he's decided to single you out, you'll show him just how wrong he is. You'll see. And if he doesn't… well… we Gerudo have ways of bending little Hylian boy's minds to see things proper. Even ones with darkness sealing swords." They both chuckled lightly, and a after a long peaceful silence Zelda spoke.
"I'll try my best, Urbosa," she said, smiling sadly.
"I know you will, little bird," Urbosa replied, stroking a hand through her hair. "Now. Shall we go join the others? We can't leave them to their own devices long. Daruk will bring the castle down on top of us if he's not careful."
"Yes, I suppose you're right."
"So this is the Sheikah Slate, eh?" Revali held the strange rectangular device deftly in his feathers, examining it with keen eyes. It had been a rather bizarre discovery, really. Something Robbie had dug up on one of his countless excavations before sending it to Purah for intense study. Although, since Purah was still pouring every available second of her day into analyzing the Master Sword in hopes of creating copies, she had passed it on to Zelda for her own scientific analysis.
So far, she had only managed to make the thing turn on, and perform an odd, but rather remarkable task.
"It is. Apparently, there are more uses for it than we originally thought. Sadly, we've yet to decipher all of its secrets." Seeming done with the thing, Revali dropped the Sheikah Slate into Mipha's small hands, allowing her to stare in wonder at the ancient relic.
"The Princess showed me something strange recently," Urbosa said, leaning over Mipha's shoulder. "Somehow it can create true to life images."
"Oh wow," Mipha gasped. "I would love to see it." The young Zora Princess gave the thought a considerable pause, and then as if she were bolstering her courage she asked, "Princess, may I ask a special favor of you?"
"Oh course, what is it?" Mipha glanced back over her shoulder sheepishly, where Daruk and Link were talking quietly between themselves―Link even less so, and Daruk not so quietly―and Zelda couldn't help but wonder why she would look so nervous.
"Could… could we create and image of us all together… like Urbosa said?" It was an odd request, but Zelda was willing to oblige. And so, after having a nearby servant run and fetch Purah from her laboratory―she hadn't resurfaced all day, but there was no one who knew how to operate the strange thing―the Princess and her newly dubbed Champions gathered together into a small bundle.
Zelda tried to orient herself so that she could be between Daruk and Urbosa, but Purah expressly repositioned them so that Daruk towered above them in the back, Urbosa and Revali on her right, and then Link and Mipha on her left. Zelda made no complaint.
"All right," Purah said excitedly, pushing up her glasses so that she could see the Sheikah Slate's screen a little better. "This spot should work nicely. Keep your eyes on the Sheikah Slate everyone. Uh, Daruk, can you crouch down a bit? You're as big as Death Mountain."
"Uh? Oh!" Nodding once he understood, Daruk leaned in, just above Zelda's head.
"What's with the glum face, Princess? Give me a big smile?" Urbosa stepped in closer and put a hand on Zelda's shoulder and Purah's instructions continued to pour out. "Revali, move your tail closer to the group. Mipha, you look so tense. Deep breaths, okay?"
"Right!"
"Stay just like that, here we go! Smiiile, click snap!" Just as the Sheikah scientist pressed the indicator on the screen of the Slate, however, Daruk grinned roguishly. And with his arms the size of tree trunks, the mighty Goron grabbed them all up in a Goron sized hug, to quite a comedic effect. Naturally, the picture turned out awfully―in Revali's opinion that is, considering he looked like a cucoo with its tail on fire―but Mipha could not have been happier with its results.
And so, with as the sun set on the day of their Ceremony, Zelda and her Champions joined together for the first time and feasted in honor of the occasion. And although it grew a little awkward at times when Zelda was forced to interact with the boy chosen by the Sword, her heart felt a little lighter having such dependable Champions at her side.
In this, she allowed herself to feel a small flicker of hope.
Welp! The Gang is all here! And now we finally get to move on to the pre-DLC part of the BOTW story! I cannot wait! I have many many wonderful things planned, and I look forward to hearing from all of you.
Stay classy, my friends,
-Bold