Here is my second chapter for Heroes of Hyrule. This one's a bit longer than the first. Chapter II is about the size you can expect for most chapters. Anyway, I tried to give this one a little bit of emotion and charm. I hope anyone who reads it can grasp onto those themes.
As always, feedback is appreciated! Let me know how I did :)
Here we go…
– Vengeful Cam
Chapter II
"Your father would be so proud." Link could still remember his mother's sad smile as she'd said it. There was love written across her lips, but sorrow hid within her blue eyes. Sorrow, because she knew what The Master Sword meant. It meant that Link, her brave little boy – the last remnant of a broken family – would be leaving her.
Link adjusted himself in the back of the wagon, glancing back at the farmlands of Mabe Village in the distance. Link's father, Arn, had been born in the Great Plateau to a drunk father and an abusive mother. He had run away when he was young in an attempt to join the knighthood of King Rhoam. At Castle Town, he trained as a squire, and, after displaying phenomenal prowess, he quickly earned his sword. He had met Link's mother, Layla, in Mabe shortly after becoming a knight, and he settled down: worked on a farm, had a kid, led a proper life. But then he died. When Link was only a boy, his father had been robbed of his life by a rogue Sheikah who called himself Yiga.
A damned fool, Yiga must have been, to take an innocent life, Link reflected solemnly. He found it comforting that his father's killer had been hung; he hoped the noose had failed to snap the Sheikah's neck, and that he had suffocated slowly and painfully, regretting that he had left a mother and her child deprived.
Link shook his head…too many wicked thoughts flooded his mind this day. He must be tired. He moved his hand beneath his tunic and fingered the small pendant his mother had given him before he'd left. It was a small shard of sapphire attached to a leather string.
"Your father gave me this long ago," she had said. "He'd said that every time he'd see the beautiful blue sapphires he was reminded of me," his mother had choked on a sob, he recalled.
Link glanced down at the gem. He supposed it brought the blue out in his eyes – the same blue that hid within his mother's sad eyes. Perhaps that's why his father was reminded of his beloved.
Shifting his gaze upward, Link found that the sky was still very grey and gloomy. He hoped it wouldn't rain upon the unshielded wagon. He let out a dissatisfied grunt and scooted over to lay down on the sacks of grain that sat, clustered, in plump mounds about the wooden space.
As he shifted his head to a more comfortable sack, Link found himself holding back tears. Why had he been able to pull The Master Sword? Why had it chosen him? Now, the only person his mother had left was abandoning her…perhaps forever. He cursed the goddess, Hylia. Damn her, and damn the accursed sword.
Link shivered in the cold, reflecting on his ill fortune asthe rain began to patter down upon him. He hoped Castle Town would be warmer than this cold, grey world around him.
Clang! The gates opened wide to let the horse-drawn wagon through. Link snapped awake. He didn't recall falling into slumber, but he supposed he had been tired. Glancing around he realized that he had not in fact been brought to Castle Town. They had already ridden past it, and now they rode into the main of the estate: Hyrule Castle. Brick walls, towers, and turrets surrounded Link in an intimidating fashion. The clouds were still grey, and the sun was still hidden, but a soft wind, comforting and warm, seemed to caress Link's face as it passed. It would have been uplifting, Link mused, if he hadn't been soaked to the bone from the previous rain storm.
"We'll take him from here, thank you," a gruff voice spoke, startling Link from his thoughts.
He leapt from the wagon to find that they had stopped just outside the gateway. Brick roads trailed this way and that, and shadows cast by towering turrets ensured that this place remain grim and hopeless – at least for Link. The gruff voice that had spoken belonged to a broad man with a square jaw and thick stubble. He looked angry and intimidating, but Link spotted a kindness in his grey eyes. The man, like his companion next to him, wore a crimson tunic hidden behind a blue vest that sported the symbol of the king. Thick white gloves and tall boots accentuated the outfit, and, to complete the look, blue caps, outlined in crimson, sat upon the two men's heads. They paid the driver, and, as he departed with his wagon, turned to get a good look at the wielder of The Master Sword.
"Well, well, well," the one with the gruff voice spoke, "you're just a boy."
Link instinctively puffed out his chest and stood as tall as he could, to which the large man just chuckled. Link said nothing.
"My name is Calvin," the gruff voice rattled again. "I am the captain of our grace's Royal Guard. This here is Gydon. He is of the order of the guard as well."
Link turned to look at Gydon. He was better looking than Calvin. His face was clean shaven, and he had short dark hair that outlined a defined face. He was searching Link with faint green eyes, looking for a sign of strength that pertained to his obtaining of the sword, or perhaps it was a weakness he was looking for – Link couldn't tell.
Suddenly, all was quiet, and Link realized the two were waiting for him to speak.
"I'm Link," he stated bluntly.
Calvin smiled and scratched his jaw, "Simple name for a simple speaker. It's an honor, Sir Link."
"I wouldn't go calling him sir just yet. He is barely a knight, and The Master Sword does not promise any titles," Gydon responded haughtily.
"You mustn't mind Gydon. He is an honorable man, but he does not approve of unearned glory."
"Glory is of the utmost honor. Being a member of the Royal Guard speaks of great prowess. We are deserving knights. But pulling a magic sword from a stone – that bears no honor," Gydon explained.
Link glanced at him, emotionless, hiding behind his newfound mask, and he said nothing.
"Well, child, I suppose we should find some better-suited clothing for you before you meet his grace. It would not do to appear before King Rhoam sopping wet. I am sorry that your traveling was not pleasant. I would have preferred to send a more suited carriage for you, but alas, the Royal Guard is upheld with honor – not an abundance gold," Calvin laughed. A deep, throaty laugh it was. Link decided that he liked the captain of the guard.
Even Gydon was not all bad as he clapped Link's back with a smirk, "You'll be an honorable chap before you know it, Link."
Link smiled. Maybe pulling The Master Sword didn't bode ill after all.