Prologue: A Father's Will

All their plans... All their preparations... It had all meant nothing.

King Rhoam, ruler of Hyrule, a large man with a long white beard, with his crown and gold-trimmed, blue royal robes, could only stare at the carnage.

The Calamity had arrived. Every Guardian they had unearthed was now swarming Hyrule Castle... And the Castle Town below... all of it was in flames.

And above the castle, the once towering beacon of the kingdom, now surrounded by the swirling smog of dark purples and reds, taking the form of a grotesque boar.

Rhoam's daughter, her knight, and the other Champions have yet to return. And now... all he could do was get the survivors to safety, before the corrupted, autonomous weapons found them. Although, the king felt as if this would still be inevitable.

Looking in the distance, he could see the visage of the faraway Divine Beasts. He could not see them clearly... but where the blue lights should've shone... there was only a red glow, filling him with dread.

His troops marched on, as the terrified and broken people between carried what little they were able to salvage from their homes.

He could only look on, taking in the despair. Everything he ever knew, everything he wanted to protect... gone.

As everyone continued on, there started to be signs of... something, following them, and faint red lights in the distance. After rendezvousing with the soldiers at the Hyrule Garrison, they began their march, trying to escort the citizens to safety. Now, they were several miles away from Hyrule's capital, approaching the Great Plaetue, and yet, he knew that what he had feared had come true.

"Attention! We must protect the people. Even with as many forces as we have, we stand little chance against the Guardians, so must make sure that we can keep the people from them. So, we must split up, the smaller battalions shall take the people away from here, and eventually split up. Be sure to keep your families close. The rest of us shall pull their attention, and fight until the last man. It was a true honor, and I am sorry that I could not do more."

The declaration of the king left a solemn aura around the people. They had already lost so much, and now they might lose even more...

But as the faint sounds of the Guardian's steps could be heard in the far distance, a much closer sound was heard. The sounds of plants rustling.

That's when a man burst through. One King Rhoam reconginzed.

He was a bigger man, with a well-trimmed white beard and mustache, wearing a bandana wrapped around the top of his head, with a blacksmith's apron over a shirt and pants, a simple belt, and boots.

"Sir Banzetta," Rhoam greeted with joy. "I am relieved to see that you survived." The king knew this man to be a retired knight, who became a blacksmith after his long service.

He was also the father of two children, including Link, Champion and chosen Knight to the king's daughter, Zelda.

"I... I was coming back from a trip when I saw the flames in the distance, and the darkness in the sky," Banzetta explained. "I thought I saw movement, and then I heard your voice. Oh, I am so glad to see you once more." Then a look of worry came about his face. "Please, what of my son and daughter?"

King went silent, as thought back. "Your son, Link, must still be with my daughter. I dearly hope that they are safe. As for your daughter... unfortunately, I do not know of her fate."

As a look of horror washed across the ex-knight's face, he turned to the silent crowd, shouting, "No, my children... Please, Aryll! Is there a young girl named Aryll out there!? She's supposed to with a caretaker in town! Please, has anyone seen her!?"

No response...

The desperation on Banzetta's face was becoming more apparent, as then said, "someone hand me a sword and shield. I'm going back there!"

"What!? No! Are you insane!" Rhoam told his knight. "You stand no chance against the Guardians! Besides, many others have already fallen! If your daughter is not with us, then she is already more than likely-"

"I don't believe that for a second!" Banzetta snapped back. Then he calmed down briefly to say, "and even it is true... I must see it for myself. As a father, you must understand."

The look on Rhoam's face was solemn, but ultimately, he made a decision. He turned to his men, saying, "spare me a sword and shield for this man." As the order was given, and Banzetta was handed his new gear, the king added, "and bring me my claymore."

"Sire?"

"You heard me. Continue to follow your orders, and protect the people. I will return as soon as I can, but should I not..."

The king went silent, but his captains understood, and nodded back. "May Hylia watch over you."

"As may she watch over you, as well," the king returned. As he was given his large blade, he turned to the ex-knight. "Old friend, as a father, I know how much one cares how his child. And as such, I'll help you with this endeavor."

Banzetta could only smile. "Thank you, old friend."

Sneaking past the other way the Guardians were traveling was nerve-racking, especially considering that neither of these old men were proficient at stealth.

Even still, they managed to get past the mechanical menace, and approached the ruined castle town. The fires were still lit the grounds in a burning glow, smoke rising high into the dark skies. But much of it had now died down into a low ember. And a few Guardian stragglers roamed around the wreckage.

"Forgive me for prying, but why did you leave your daughter in the Castle Town?" Rhoam asked, as they made their way through the ruins. "Weren't you planning on returning to your home in Hateno?"

"That was the plan, but I had to leave for an emergency engagement with the blacksmith's guild I am a part of," Banzetta explained. "Aryll could not come with me. But as I stated before, I made sure that she was with a caretaker before I left. But as I returned... I saw the Calamity rise in the distance. So I rushed to find the evacuation party, hoping she Aryll escaped with you."

"Let us hope that she did escape, and that we can find her soon."

It didn't take long to find the house that Aryll was supposed to be in, as the family lived on the edge of the town, so when the Calamity arrived, they had a better chance of escaping. It was still standing... for the most part. Its roof had collapsed, and the building was dangerously close to some of the remaining flames.

And nearby was the scared and burnt corpse of a young woman...

"Is that...?" Rhoam sounded.

"No... No, No, No!" Banzetta cried.

"Calm down! We don't want to attract the Guardians-"

But the ex-knight charged into the house, shouting, "Aryll! Aryll! Please, still be alive!"

Rhoam grew nervous, but he understood. But his gaze was scanning across the area, watching out for any unwanted attention.

Banzetta rummaged through the house, calling for his kid. But after no response... he began to lose hope.

Then he heard coughing. The coughing of a young kid.

Banzetta quickly rushed over, finding someone trapped under rubble. He may have been old, be he was still quite strong, and was able to push it out of the way.

And there she was, a girl of eight years old, wearing a white dress with a purple corset and purple sandals. And very much alive.

"Aryll," Banzetta said, tears in his eyes. He picked up his little girl. "You're okay!"

"Papa! I was so scared. There were loud bangs outside, bright lights... I was told to hide, and Miss- Miss-"

"It's okay..." the father said, calming her down. "You're okay... We'll be okay..."

A concerned Rhoam came inside, finding his friend with the young Aryll. "Oh, thank Hylia. She's alive. I'm glad to see a child that has survived. But we are not out of the woods quite yet... We must leave before-"

Suddenly, something broke through the wall, and struck Rhoam from behind, clawing down his back, knocking him down, and causing Aryll to scream.

And through the new hole, they could see what the attacker was. A Guardian. A large mechanical being with six tentacle-like legs with claws on the end, attached to a large, dark body shaped with a swiveling head, like an upside-down urn, and a single, small, glowing blue eye.

The eye stared at the father and daughter, as a red beam began to shine on them.

Banzetta dove away, daughter still in his arms, as the red beam becomes a brighter blue beam, blasting apart the wall behind them into flames.

"...When my son mentioned these things, I knew they wouldn't be good." Banzetta hadn't seen the unearthed weapons before, but Link had told him about them, and how much interest the princess had in them. He didn't like the sound of them. "And I am not exactly happy to be proven right," he finished.

Banzetta got up, making sure Aryll was alright, and quickly approached Rhoam. "Are you okay?"

"Don't just stand there, run!" Rhoam shouted with a groan. The Guardian was still there.

And it began to aim its red gaze again.

"I'm not leaving you," Banzetta said, and with no good options at the immediate moment, kicked his friend to roll him over, and barely evaded the next beam, causing Aryll to scream once more.

With at least a short period of time before the next attack, Banzetta took a hand and helped the king back up.

"A bit rude, but I thank you and your quick thinking," Rhoam said. "Let's move."

They began running, barely outpacing the next beam, as the Guardian began to chase them, and attempting to swipe at them.

Rhoam had dropped his claymore when the Guardian stuck him, and he was bleeding. Maricuoulsy, the damage wasn't too severe, at least not enough to impede his running. But he was no longer in shape or position to fight back. As for Banzetta, his sword would do little to the machine, not to mention the girl still in his arms.

But the Guardian would not relent. It was quick, and the only thing saving the escaping Hylians was the nearby forest.

Even still, it began to prepare its beam once more.

So, Banzetta could see that a change in plan was needed.

"My friend, take her," the ex-knight said. Rhoam didn't know why he wanted to do this now, but he did not complain, as he took the crying Aryll from his friend.

Then Banzetta drew his borrowed sword and shield. He recalled a trick that he had taught his son, and figured that now would be a good time to see if it still worked.

Even after only a few encounters with the weapon's method of attack, the ex-knight had a grasp of its timing. He waited and listened for the target beep, and when he heard it, swung his shield out...

And performing a perfect Shield Parry, knocking the beam the Guardian fired back at it, knocking it over!

It didn't take long for it to start getting back up, and Banzetta made his final decision...

"Old friend, please, take my daughter and go!" he told Rhoam.

"What!? What about you?" the king replied.

"You're right, a father cares for his child, and will do anything for them. And someone has to keep this thing busy." Then he handed his daughter to the king. "Please, Aryll, forgive your father for failing to be there for you..."

"Papa..." Aryll said, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry..." Banzetta said, turning his attention to the Guardian.

"Aryll, come, we must leave," Rhoam said, as he picked Aryll up and made their escape.

The little girl could only stare back, as her father began to fight the machine chasing them. Deep down, she knew that this would be the last time she ever saw her father.

It didn't take long for Rhoam to make his way back to the Great Plateau, Aryll still in his arms. She was quiet and despondent... and the king could tell that she was suffering from the loss of her father.

He understood what she was going through. Banzetta was not just her father, but his friend, too. And he was certain that he had lost many other friends and loved ones to Calamity already. Everyone had. He might not even be able to see his own daughter again...

...Rhoam could only hope that his dear Zelda was safe.

A figure appeared from the entrance of the Plateau's gates to climb up to the top. Rhoam recognized her as Impa, an advisor to the crown. She had long white hair, tied up in a bow-like style in the back and into a tip with a ribbon near the bottom. She had a wide-brim hat, a short, beige kimono, blue leg-covering with metal plates with the Sheikah's symbol, and sandals.

"Your majesty, you're alright!" she exclaimed, approaching the king. "And... Aryll. Where is her...?"

The king's silence answered her question. "Oh."

Rhoam sighed. "I am glad you're here, please, I need you to take Aryll somewhere safe."

"Your majesty... What about you?" Impa asked.

"I must attend to my troops."

"But-" Impa looked back to the Plateau. "The Guardians have begun to ascend the cliffs. They've nearly collapsed the entrance to the top, and they're approaching the Shrine-"

"I will not let my troops fight alone! I will die beside them, if I must!" Rhoam shot back.

Aryll looked up at him. She was scared. Her father was gone, and now the king too might be lost.

And yet, he sounded so confident...

"I... I understand. We're trying to secure the Shrine of Resurrection. But, I... I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen." The Sheikah grabbed Aryll's hand. "Come on, many of us are trying to escape to Hateno. Your family used to live there, right?"

Aryll nodded, and Impa picked her up, giving her a piggyback ride. "Okay, hang on."

As the two ran off, Rhoam turned to the Great Plateau. If this was his end... so be it. And he approached the cliffside, he thought about his own daughter, hoping that she and her knight still survived. That the worst had yet to come.

...Little did he know, this would not come to pass... for one of them. As something invaluable had already been lost.

Author's Note: So, I hope you liked the start to this new story! There's a bit to explain, which I'll get to in other chapters, where it's a bit more relevant, but I hope you can tell that this is only a part of the set to this little "what if?".

So, who are these new characters? Well, if you've seen the Japanese version of "Creating a Champion", you'll find concept art of Link standing with a little girl holding a Cucco and an older man with a sort of blacksmith's garb on (at least I perceive him to be a blacksmith, with the long apron and large muscles, seems like a man who does that kind of hard work).

(By the way, you won't find this in the English version of the book, as it is replaced with a generic map of Breath of the Wild's Hyrule. I don't have the book in any language, but when I heard about this, I don't remember it being seen as a positive decision on Nintendo's part. And I agree. It's almost like Nintendo was willing to let the Japanese see this concept art, but not us Americans and such. But that is pointless, because the internet and translators exist. It just leaves one side disappointed.)

These characters are believed to be Link's family. And we know that Link has a father, as Zelda mentions that he was a knight (well, of Link would of parents, he has to be born somehow, what I mean is that he has a father of relative importance in the setting, even if it's just a small tidbit on Link's background). So it's safe to assume that this is in fact Link's family (with my interpretation that Link's father retired and became a blacksmith).

As for their names, Aryll's is easy. That's the name of Link's sister from the Wind Waker. Easy to copy it over to BotW's Link's sister. She doesn't have the pet Cucco she's holding in the concept art (the BotW sister), but only because it didn't fit well into this prologue. Her liking Cuccos would fit very well with her greater, yet simple role in the story.

As for Link's father, to get his name, I looked on the Zelda wiki, and found the names of several different fathers for different Links, all coming from different sources of external media related to Zelda, such as manga. I really liked the name Rune, but I felt that didn't really fit in this era of Zelda, so I went with Banzetta.

Now, we don't know the fate of Link's family in the official game, as they are never mentioned outside of Zelda's mention of his father (we don't even know if Link actually has a sister in BotW), but I would figure that they must've been lost to the Calamity. Though, of course, this is not the case for this story.

As you can tell, this prologue was about Aryll escaping (with a cameo of young Impa, who you see in Age of Calamity). Aryll does have an important, albeit small role in the story, which you'll see next chapter. I am also aware that in Creating a Champion, they mention the evacuation routes made during the Calamity. I feel that the path they took was mostly accurate, but I apologize if anything is inaccurate. It's not super important, but I do remember that Hateno was a small community until it became a refugee local after the Calamity.

I do want to mention, I know that Link is a prodigy in the art of the sword, which, naturally, he is the hero reborn, after all. Apparently, he even found the Master Sword at quite a young age, despite what Age of Calamity says. But would figure he'd have to start somewhere. And naturally, that was probably with his father.

Because of this, I'd figure that some of Link's skills were taught to him by Link's father, including the Shield Parry. It's quite the unique skill, even if Urbosa knows it, too. This is why I had Banzetta use it. Plus, it's his best chance to fight the Guardians. And yes, the way it is described in the prologue is the actual key to timing a Sheild Parry for the Guardian's laser in BotW.

Finally, I'd like to talk about King Rhoam. Quite the misunderstood character, he is. Lots of people hate him, because of how harshly he treats his daughter, Zelda. But that is a misconception. He was acting as king, relaying the expectations that she had as the princess of Hyrule, especially the immensely important she has to play in sealing the Calamity. Of course, he did push her too hard, but Rhoam himself probably felt an immense pressure on himself. I won't say that makes it right, but it's better to see the full picture.

If you find King Rhoam's journal hidden in the library in Hyrule Castle, you can tell that he actually really cares for his daughter, but feels that he can't act as a father in the wake of the Calamity's return. We finally get to see this kinder version of Rhoam in Age of Calamity, when he reunites with Zelda and the Hyrulian army (though I'll admit, kind of undercut when later, we see how a young Zelda made the little guardian in the game, and then how Rhoam took him away).

This is going to sound strange, but I think Rhoam is a lot like Asgore from Undertale. Both are loving fathers, but they are also forced under the burden of guiding and protecting an entire kingdom as their king, especially during the darkest of times, with the highest of expectations placed on them. Of course, Asgore was never harsh to his children, as far as we know, and, of course, his children died, leaving him a broken man. Whereas, basically the opposite happened to Rhoam, seeing as he is the one who died, not his daughter. But he was still left as merely a spirit, unable to change fate by his own hand. Nor could Asgore change the fate that had befallen him.

Anyways, for the prologue, I really wanted to focus more on the fatherly side of Rhoam. And it should make sense, too. If you read his journal, you'll see that he planned on finally acting as a father, and reconciling with Zelda when she returned from the Spring of Wisdom, but as we know, things didn't go as planned, as the Calamity awoke during her trip back. But seeing as Rhoam is guiding the evacuation, his mindset should still be somewhat on wishing he was a better father. That is why he was so receptive to Banzetta's worries, and why he chose to join her. He was acting as a father, not a king, even if was for his friend's children.

But as explained in the ending of the prologue, this action cost Hyrule dearly, as you'll see in the coming chapters.

To end this off, I must say that I am excited for the sequel to Breath of the Wild. And I am so happy that we finally have both the name and release date for the game. In fact, Tears of the Kingdom is slotted to be released a few weeks before my birthday, so lucky me. But until then, I hope this story satisfies you. I can't be certain that I'll finish this story before TofK comes out, nor do I expect to plan more story based on that game, but this is something to keep us occupied until then.