The skies were cloudless on this particular day. The bright light of the Sun shone down upon the road. An ornate horse-drawn carriage came to a stop in the middle of the road. A young man, adorned with golden armour, leapt from the back of the horse and knelt to inspect a wheel.
Archelaus stepped down from the carriage with a child in his arms. "Why have we stopped, Owlan?" He asked.
"The wheel seems broken, Sire," Owlan replied. "I'll have it fixed immediately, Master Archelaus."
He nodded and moved back into the carriage. He placed the sleeping Rhoam on a seat and sat, startling his wife awake in the process.
"Why aren't we moving?" she asked.
"A broken wheel, Asherah."
The last vestiges of sleep seemed to have left her and she took Rhoam into her arms, frowning as she did. "He seems to have taken ill." Laying a hand on his forehead, she frowned again. "Hold him for a moment." She passed their son to him and stepped out of the carriage. Archelaus held him close, rocking him to keep him from waking.
A scream from outside broke him from his reverie. He set Rhoam down and snatched up his sword. Dashing outside, he found himself facing a terrible sight.
Owlan was lying slumped against the carriage. Blood gushed from a wound on his head but he still seemed to be breathing. Behind the carriage stood a Lynel, charging at Asherah.
Archelaus threw his sword at the beast, hitting its flank. The beast stopped mid-charge, turning to face him instead.
He started as he realized that his only defence against the beast was gone. Asherah seemed to have realized the same. She sprang forward and pulled the sword from the Lynel, throwing it at its neck. The sword hit its head instead and the beast roared. It drew its bow and charged forward, shooting an electrified arrow at her neck as it did.
It had all happened so fast that she had no time to dodge. Archelaus launched himself at the galloping beast. His efforts were rewarded with a second electrified arrow to his leg.
There's a fine line between courage and recklessness.
He fell to the ground, his vision clouded.
Captured Memories
"Move faster!"
Rhoam gritted his teeth but did as told. Battlemaster Otra was regarded to be the foremost authority on swordsmanship. That this was despite the other man being only a few years older than Rhoam was impressive.
He wasn't particularly interested in learning the art, but it was expected of him to join his father as a knight.
He took a glance at his father where he sat at the edge of the Sharpsword— as this particular training ground was known.
Your sword will save your life one day, child, and you will thank me then.
He ducked under a thrust to his neck, cursing his momentary lapse in concentration. He countered with a wide slash at his opponent. The experienced swordsman capitalized on the opening given to him to slash at Rhoam's arm and draw blood.
"First blood has been drawn!" Otra cried "Eagus is the victor."
Eagus was an army veteran, having joined over twenty years ago. He knew Rhoam had no interest in joining the ranks of Hyrule's knights. He gave the younger child a pitying look as he sheathed his weapon and turned towards the barracks. Rhoam sighed and sheathed his sword, turning to Otra with his head hung.
"Do not fear, child," Otra said, in an attempt to placate him. "I will have you better than your father in no time at all!"
He heard his father scoff and his heavy hand land on his shoulder.
"Come, Rhoam. We must hasten to return."
He could only nod, not being able to bear seeing his father's disappointment. He removed the sheathe from his back with aspirated movements and handed it to Otra. The Battlemaster's face was kept blank as he looked after them as they walked away.
Captured Memories
His first battle was in Necluda. It was a new experience for the boy who'd never ventured beyond Castle Town. He'd rarely leave even the Knight's grounds at Passeri Greenbelt after his mother's death.
The Civil War had been at full swing at the time. Most of the Gorons were more than happy to immediately forfeit. It was clear most of them had a similar opinion of their self-proclaimed chief as the Hylian army did. The Hylian traitors, on the other hand, were still a problem.
Most of them were poor fighters. Simple peasants enticed to the 'usurper chief's' side by promises of great riches. A fair number of them still were proficient with a sword. Rhoam even saw some of Hyrule's knights fighting against them.
Never let your guard down in battle! It is these small mistakes that will ensure you remain a failure!
He'd spent too much time in assessing the situation. A blade had come in from behind that he instinctively spun to block, aimed at his neck. Taken by surprise, he swung his longsword in a wide arch in his right hand, holding a dagger in his left. His assailant deflected his strike from his neck. Through some stroke of luck, the man still received a deep cut to his chest as Rhoam pulled the sword back. He fell to the ground and thrust his sword at his neck again in a last-ditch effort to kill him. Rhoam stepped back to dodge and sliced at his sword arm, leaving the man to bleed to death.
Taking large breaths to study himself, he turned and blanched. Standing between the sea of fighting Hylians was a Hinox.
He began fighting his way to the Hinox and upon reaching, found Otra already in battle with the beast.
It was captivating to watch how the Battlemaster wielded his greatsword. The man could cut through the monster's thick hide with little effort. Determined to play his part, Rhoam took his bow from his back and took careful aim at the Hinox's eye. His arrow missed, but it succeeded in distracting the creature and Otra threw his blade into its knee.
The monster fell and Rhoam picked his sword up again. His bow dropped to the ground, forgotten as he sprang forward and drove his blade into the creature's head.
Otra laughed as he walked towards him.
"Not even your father could have taken down an Akkalan Hinox!" He exclaimed.
Rhoam ignored him and charged back into the fray.
Captured Memories
His father had been becoming weaker by the day. In the span of a few months, the man who was a Knight, looking to be decades younger than what he was became a bedridden man. The man was every bit as weak as one would expect from one of his age.
And on this rainy day, he had called Rhoam to him. At the time, he hadn't known that the words he'd hear would be Archelaus Bosphoramus' last.
Do what I couldn't. Protect your family. Serve Hyrule. And know that I'm sorry.
He hadn't understood at the time. But he did now.
I'm so proud of you, Rhoam…
Captured Memories
"You may go."
Rhoam nodded, standing and leaving Otra's quarters for Castle Town. It was a long walk, and seeing as he wasn't in any particular hurry, he stopped at the Sacred Grounds.
When he reached there, he found a young woman already kneeling there. He removed all his weapons and armour before joining the woman.
Powerful Din, let the earth you created bless Hyrule with its harvest. Wise Nayru, restore the order you brought for us from its exile. Courageous Farore, lengthen the lives that you granted us if we are worthy of your blessing.
Great Hylia, protector of the Triforce. Hear the prayers of your humble servant on this land. Grant me the power, wisdom and courage to emulate your example. Let me overcome my doubts and serve Hyrule.
He stood and looked up at the sky.
Help me become what I need to be.
His father's last words echoed in his mind.
He shook his head and looked over to the woman beside him to see her still in prayer. As if she had felt his gaze, her eyes snapped open and she turned to him.
She relaxed somewhat after seeing him picking up his Knight's Halberd and don his Royal Guard's armour.
"Forgive me for interrupting you, Milady."
"Master…"
"Rhoam. And you?"
"Zelda. Zelda Amare Hyrule."
Rhoam's eyes widened and he fell to his knees, head bowed in respect. "Forgive me, your grace. I did not realize."
She waved her hand at him, her face now exasperated. "It's fine. You don't need to bow."
He stood up, still somewhat hesitant and his head still bowed. "I will leave you to your worship then, Princess."
Zelda shook her head. "It's fine. I'd love some company. That is, if you have the time, of course."
"I- Very well, milady."
"Call me Zelda."
Captured Memories
King Rhoam's Journal
The signs are clear. Calamity Ganon is not a being of fable, as I had once believed, but reality. A blight on the beautiful word of the Goddesses' creation. The battle draws ever closer and it is not one I think I will survive.
There is little hope for victory. Zelda has still not awakened her sealing power. If she fails, the land I swore to serve will fall and take the family I swore to protect with it.
My father, were he alive, would say, "There is always hope, Rhoam. Sometimes, you have to find it in the darkness."
Zelda, I now address this to you. Perhaps, you may find the good in me and learn from my mistakes.
My father passed this lesson to me— one passed down through the generations. It has helped me, and now I give it to you in the hopes that it helps you.
'Courage need not be remembered, for it is never forgotten.'
I have seen your courage, Zelda Amelie. I remember it in the girl you were before your mother's passing. Find that courage within you.
As he set down his quill, the castle began to shake. Rhoam walked to his window and looked up at the sky. A storm cloud had appeared over the castle from which arcs of purple lightning struck the castle. A demonic roar filled the air.
He donned his worn Royal Guard's armour and took his Knight's Broadsword from its sheathe. If he was to die, he would die with honour.
Author's Note
This was not at all what I expected it to be…
When I first started writing the outline for this fic, it was because of a thought as simple as 'wouldn't it be cool if Rhoam fought a Lynel? Like in The Ballad's Beginning*'. And then it evolved into an entire Rhoam life story. Not that you're getting that. There were a ton of scenes I wasn't happy with and scrapped, including the Lynel scene**. I'm still not too happy with the first scene and the end of the Sacred Ground's scene, but I feel that some of the stuff in those scenes is necessary to the plot.
My original plan for this fic was to write 5K words, but I will gladly run away with my almost 2K words. This story took me the better part of a few days and I'm still not entirely happy with it.
Meh. Something else to redo in the future, I guess. I do have a couple of other oneshots (Only 2K this time. Each… I'm dead, aren't I?) So! The customary explanations section is comin' right up!
Asherah is the name of a Semitic mother goddess who was worshipped by the Israelites before the advent of monotheism. It means 'she who walks in the sea'.
Archelaus is the Latinized form of the Greek name 'Αρχελαος (Archelaos)', which meant 'master of the people'. It comes from 'αρχος (archos)' meaning 'master' and 'λαος (laos)' meaning 'people'.
Master is meant to be a title of respect for Knights, kind of like 'Sir' for us Earthlings. In-game, only the Sheikah use that title and it's more likely than not that they meant it kind of like 'Mister'. I thought this would be a reasonable alternate explanation, however.
Passeri Greenbelt is an actual in-game location, located Southwest of the sacred grounds if I recall correctly.
The 'Civil War' was loosely based off of The Ballad's Beginning, where something similar happens. It's been quite a while since I read it, though, so it might not even be that fic. Hmm. Methinks it's time for a reread!
The Akkalan Hinox comment was based on the fact that the Shrine Quest 'The Three Giant Brothers' takes place there. I thought that someone unfamiliar with Akkala (basically everyone at this point, seeing as there aren't any settlements that I know of in Akkala besides the Tech Lab and Citadel) could see the Elder Kin and assume that was the norm in the region.
In the Sacred Grounds scene, I call Zelda 'Zelda Amare'. In the Diary scenes, however, I call her 'Zelda Amelie'. In case you haven't realised, they're different people. I went with a concept I saw in a fic a few months back; each Zelda has two names to prevent confusion. So, Zelda Amelie is BotW Zelda and her mother is Zelda Amare.
*: A fic on both FFN and AO3 by fioreofthemarch that I highly recommend you check out. All of his/her works are amazing, so give them all a read!
**: I was thinking of making a short oneshot about his 'last stand' though, in which that might appear. Would you read that?
Also! Before I end this off, I'm now the moderator of the Reddit community r/ZeldaFanFiction. Currently, we only have 160 members, but you can change that! Help me grow the community by joining and contributing. You can find it at reddit r/ZeldaFanFiction (remove the space). Yes, it's shameless self-promotion, but if you're still reading, you must find my ramblings at least somewhat interesting, right?
Stay safe people of the Earth!