Disclaimer: All characters, places, and etc. belong solely to Nintendo and Legend of Zelda. I claim no ownership of any of it.
Hello! This is my first fanfiction, and the idea came to me by reading some other works similar to this one. This is my idea as to the story of Zelda and Link in Breath of the Wild, before the Calamity. Enjoy!
Chapter One: The Wolf and the Crown
"Alright, rookies! You are no longer just children playing make-believe in the courtyard. You are cadets, the next generation of Hyrule's finest warriors!" A drill sergeant said, pacing in front of a line of bright-eyed 12-year-olds. Rain poured down on top of the eve they were standing under, turning their training ground into a muddy swamp. There were fifty total, but he could already tell that more than a few would be dropping out before the week was up.
"Most of you are here for one or two of these things: glory, adventure, social status, ego nourishment, or goddesses forbid, fun." This drew a chuckle from most of the cadets. Only a few didn't laugh at this remark, instead standing at attention and staring straight ahead in their muddy brown cadet outfits, including a younger blue-eyed boy. The sergeant took note of these few, then went back to addressing the group as a whole.
"This cadet program can get you all of those. However! Glory will only go to those who are deserving! Adventure will only go to those who win approval! Status will be a reward, not a birthright! And as for all of you who have an ego desperate for more things to gloat about, you can forget about it!" Once again, a wave of laughter ran through all of the cadets except for those same few he saw earlier. "Laugh now, rookies! I'll be the one laughing by the end of the day!"
"Hey, sir?"
"That's sergeant to you, cadet!"
"Sorry, sergeant. Do you expect us to train in this weather?" One of the older cadets asked.
The sarge laughed at this. "If this were a training camp for cupcakes, of course not. But you aren't a cupcake, sprinkles. And rain or shine, you're training. Now, all of you, 100 laps around the perimeter of the area! And hurry! I don't have all day!"
The cadets complied, some more reluctant than others. By the first week, around ten had dropped out. The rest were wearing out quickly, including the one the sarge had nicknamed 'sprinkles'. The only one he saw who kept pushing himself was the blue-eyed boy, though he was visibly as exhausted as the rest.
The sergeant continued to drill them every day. The cadets were slowly improving as weeks turned into months. Their strength increased. Their will hardened. Their mentality changed from lighthearted and playful to grave and serious. The sprinkles kid began to gather a circle of friends, which was to be expected. There were always bullies. Did sarge stop them? Oh, no… he watched them. He watched their effect on the other cadets, both positive and negative. The quiet, fragile ones broke like glass. They were reduced to tears and withdrew, wallowing in self-pity and depression. Others joined them, taking the path of least resistance.
But there were three that fought back, and didn't let themselves get bullied but rather defended those who did. These three were committed more than any of the other cadets. A red-headed boy they called Fox, a darker colored girl nicknamed Hawkin, and that blue-eyed boy who appeared to lead them. However, after watching them for a while, he realized that he was a team player, not a commander. But all the rookies, save the group of jerks, looked up to him.
After a month and a half of training, the sarge had to leave on a mission, giving him no choice but to give a training assignment and leave his subordinate to make sure things didn't get out of hand.
When he returned, he found the cadets scattered all across the camp, but the ground where they trained was pretty well empty. Most were sleeping. Others were reading or having a laugh with their few friends in the camp. Fox and Hawkin were reading a tactical guide, which was a better way to spend their time than most.
But not all. That blue-eyed boy, the one everyone looked up to, was out in the training ground. He ran laps at a marathon pace around the perimeter. He climbed the walls to their peaks, doing pull-up after pull-up on the ledge before climbing back down. He was clearly tired, but he had a hard look in his eyes that told the sarge that he would work himself to the bone until he was told otherwise.
The sergeant watched him from the corner for a while, before walking up to him, determined to know what drove this boy.
"Cadet! That's enough for today." He said as the boy continued doing pull-ups. His arms were shaking, but he didn't seem to let that stop him. "Cadet! You have done enough! Now come down! That's an order!"
The boy glanced back and realized that it was the sergeant talking to him. He clambered down the wall and stood in front of the sarge at attention. "Cadet, what are you doing? Disobeying your superior?"
"I apologize, sergeant. I was unaware that you had returned. Shall I do another run through the drill?" The boy said. He was exhausted. It was written all over his face. The sergeant had to admire his resolve and willingness to follow orders through.
"At ease, cadet. You've done enough for today," he paused. "Why are you not relaxing with your fellow cadets?"
"Because you left us a drill to do," the cadet replied simply. His long hair was caked in dirt.
I'll have to dig deeper than that. The sarge thought. "But why do you want to do the drill?"
"I didn't exactly want or not want to. I saw it as a necessary part of being a cadet."
"Okay then. But why exactly are you a cadet? What are you after? Revenge? Killing? Glory?"
"Sir-"
"Please, call me sarge. You've earned it."
"Sarge, I don't want to kill, get revenge, or glory. I'm here because I have no right to stand idle while soldiers lay down their lives for me. I'm here because it's the right thing to do."
"You seem like quite the Alpha around here, son. What's your name?"
"I'm Link, sir."
"Link, huh? Well, cadet, you seem like you've got the course down to a science. So what's next?" The sergeant asked.
"I was hoping for swordplay, Sarge. But I understand that you probably have your own plans for us," The boy 'Link' replied.
"Alpha, you may just be in luck," Sarge replied. He chuckled lightly as he dismissed the cadet back to his room. Though he would never say it out loud, he inwardly lamented, he liked this kid.
King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule's footsteps echoed off the empty halls of the castle as he paced his way through its long corridors. Too often lately, he had been having painful memories resurface of that dreadful day six years ago. The memory of his wife's body resting in an extravagant coffin, the feeling of remorse in the air, and most of all, Zelda. Rhoam had expected her to be distraught, but she was incredibly collected and formal for being only six years of age.
But after the funeral, she realized what had happened. For several days the king could hear her crying in her room, alone except for the Gerudo chief Urbosa. Urbosa had been Zelda's mother's close friend, and had been there for the princess when no one else was. She had become somewhat of a mother figure to the princess since, making it easier for Rhoam to be a king rather than a father.
But lately, he had begun to learn of the return of Calamity Ganon. Only the princess and the hero could stop him, with the help of the ancient belongings of the Sheikah. He did not know who the hero was. He had no clue where to look for the Sheikah technology. But he did know where to find the princess.
However, when her mother passed, she lost the best mentor she could've possibly had. She showed no sign of a holy power that could defeat an entity of pure evil. The king knew nothing about how to unlock Zelda's power, causing this resurgence in memories of the Queen. This lead to his nighttime strolls, giving him time to collect his thoughts without the eyes of the court upon him.
If only I could see you once more, he thought. Then I could ask you to help Zelda.
"Father?" A voice said from a nearby door. The king saw a pair of green eyes peeking out from the darkness, along with a strand of golden-colored hair.
"Zelda, what are you doing up? You need to sleep!" He replied, a disciplinary tone creeping into his voice.
"I can't! Every time I close my eyes I see it again!" She exclaimed, stepping into the light. She inherited her mother's looks and intelligence, giving her a determined fire behind her eyes and a face that many found attractive.
The fact that she was seeing something piqued the king's interest. "What are you seeing, dear Zelda?" He asked more softly, escorting her back to her bed.
"A red and black storm surrounding the castle! Seizing control of machines that shoot beams from their eyes and hunting people down!" She said, fear in her expression.
"Are you being hunted?" The king asked, now worried. This sounded so real.
"Yes!..., but there's a boy with me. He's trying to take me somewhere when those things show up and…" she stopped as tears came to her eyes.
"Zelda, my daughter, that's only a dream. It isn't real. You're perfectly safe here at the castle," the king told her. "There's nothing you need to worry about."
"But what about the boy?" She asked, her eyes still afraid. "Will he be safe?"
"Yes. Now go to sleep," he said, closing the door to her room. But as he walked away to his residence, he began to fear that it wasn't a dream. He had told her next to nothing about the Calamity. But she knew exactly what it looked like, and had also seen the Sheikah weapons turned by its power.
When he returned to his room, he briefly spoke to the guard outside.
"Your majesty, is there an issue?"
"A concern. I fear that nobody is safe. The Calamity is approaching. We need to be wary of the unusual."
"Unusual?"
"My daughter may have had a vision of a dark fate of the kingdom. And without her sealing power, we need every possible advantage we have."
"What kind of advantage are we talking about, your Majesty?"
"Anything we can muster. Even the cadets may be an option. How's your son doing there, Sir Forester?"
"Link is about as good as I expected. I'll be training them in swordplay starting next week."
"Let's hope that those cadets are ready for disaster."
"Let's hope we're all ready for disaster, your majesty."
Down the hallway, out of sight but not out of earshot, Princess Zelda listened to her father's door close before running back to her room. She shut the door swiftly and curled up into a ball on her bed, a soul-tearing feeling of fear wracking her body. She now knew that it was real. All of it. She didn't know the boy. She hadn't even seen his face. But she knew for certain that whoever he was, he was doomed to die defending her from the incarnation of all evil.
A red and black beast, bigger than Hyrule Castle and only spoken of in legend.
Calamity Ganon.