Author's Note:

I based this story on the lore in Creating a Champion because it's been in my head since before Age of Calamity came out. I have nothing against Age of Calamity allowing the players to play through claiming the Master Sword, quite the opposite, but in terms of actual lore, I still see it as a retcon done for gameplay purposes. So! I still lean towards BOTW Link having claimed the Master Sword when he was 12.

Chapter 1: Koroks and Beckons

"They're calling you," Link's father repeated in a tone somewhere between puzzlement and irritation. "The Woods."

Link simply nodded. He'd come to his Knight Dad because he knew he'd ultimately take this seriously, he didn't mind if he was a bit annoyed at first. His Cook Dad would have been harder to talk to precisely because he wouldn't have been annoyed at all, he would have been convinced Link was messing around and he would have joked to play along.

Rucas sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. If he had his guess, Link had somehow heard of the Master Sword and had gotten it into his head that he could have it, by mere virtue of being a very good swordsman and oblivious to the fact that when the Master Sword did choose someone, it would mean a hero was needed, which would confirm the Oracle's words and just be bad news all around, especially for whatever poor soul ended up wielding the blade. Thankfully, there was no chance of a twelve year old, no matter how talented, being chosen by the sword of evil's bane.

Or at least Rucas hoped there was no chance.

"I'm going to need you to be very honest now," the knight said. The first step in ordering his son to forget about the sword was to make him admit that's what he was after. And in the off chance it wasn't, well, there was no use to putting the idea in his head. "What have you heard about these woods? Tell me everything."

"They're called the Lost Woods because most people get lost in them," Link said.

"Not most," his father corrected. "Most doesn't begin to cover it. Everyone gets lost in them, Link. Including very skilled children like you."

Link tilted his head, puzzled. "But the Royal Family…"

"Fine, okay. Not absolutely everyone. You're correct, the Royal Family can navigate the woods. The magic guides them to…" he stopped, catching himself before he gave his over eager son more ideas than whatever the boy had already been exposed to. "Where? What is it you expect to find?"

"The Royal Family is guided to the Great Deku Tree," Link answered. "He's sort of a Guardian Spirit that's also a really big tree? Apparently he's like a father to the Koroks. That's what they said, anyway."

Rucas felt a shiver run down his spine. Given that the Great Deku Tree's existence was a secret, either a Royal Knight had given Link this information - and as a Royal Knight himself, Rucas was pretty sure none of them would be so indiscreet - or… "Who's they?" he asked, dreading the answer. Link had either eavesdropped on a conversation he really shouldn't have, or he had been talking to something he shouldn't have.

"The Koroks," Link said.

No hesitation, no hint of realisation.

"You've been talking to KOROKS?" his father asked. He couldn't quite keep the fear out of his voice. Koroks were invisible to Hylians. They were afraid of "big people", or at least they were being kept safe from them. Most people didn't even know they existed.

Now Link hesitated. He blinked and even jerked a tiny bit, obviously surprised by the question and the tone in which it had been asked.

"I… I didn't know I wasn't supposed to," Link said. "But why? They're not dangerous, they're always just playing."

Rucas swallowed. Link imagining the woods calling to him in a case of misplaced wanderlust, he could deal with. Link having somehow heard of the Master Sword and deluding himself into thinking he might be able to claim it, he could deal with. But Link being friends with the children of the forest, who were never seen by anyone, put the situation under an entirely new light. If Link could see and talk to the Koroks, it made him special. More special. And with an ancient demon possibly about to reappear, his twelve-year-old son had no business being seen as special by anything related to the Lost Woods.

He half kneeled in front of Link to get down to his level – Link wasn't even a big 12, he was notoriously small for his age - and put his hands on his shoulders. "Not to worry, son, you've done nothing wrong. But the Koroks aren't normally seen by Hylians, ever. They're invisible to us. The fact that you can see them and that they talk to you… well, it's... shocking. Extraordinary. You are most likely the only Hylian in Hyrule who's ever SEEN them. You are not to go into the Lost Woods for now, Link, even if invited or called. I…" he swallowed, realizing as he was about to say it that he couldn't ignore this. "I need to make the King aware of this."

Link sagged despondently but nodded. "Understood, Father."

"Now tell me the rest of what you heard about the Lost Woods. In particular, anything the Koroks told you."

"Not much," Link said defensively. "They said I should meet the Great Deku Tree, but that's not why I'm saying the Woods are calling me. I don't think it's the Great Deku Tree… it's not quite like an actual voice or anything, but in my mind it… sounds? Feels? like a woman. Not a man. I… I kind of think it's a Great Fairy?"

The first thought that crossed Rucas's mind was that the voice in the sword was depicted as female in the stories and legends. It was not a welcomed thought. Link was TWELVE and anyone who didn't know him enough to realize how lethal he could be would call him a runt. Some of the other kids called him the Mighty Minish for crying out loud! Besides, the Oracle predicting the return of Ganon was bad enough without an apparent rush on the Master Sword's part to find its Chosen Hero.

"May… maybe, yes," the knight stammered. "Do not go into the Woods yet, Link. I'm dead serious right now."

Link swallowed and nodded.

"Go practice. I'm going to ask for an Audience."

Link nodded again and trotted off, somehow managing to give one of the courtyard dogs a pet without slowing down on his way to the training yard.

Link being famous as the impossibly gifted child who could defeat fully trained Royal Knights in combat – including, mortifyingly enough, Rucas himself - had its uses at time: as his father, when Rucas requested an audience with the King, it was immediately granted. He was brought to King Rhoam's chambers and his majesty himself soon appeared. Rucas immediately fell to one knee, head bowed and eyes kept down.

"Sir Rucas, I'm told you have something you need to tell me," the King said.

Straight to the point. Hyrule's monarch rarely had time or thought to spare to frivolity. With the threat of Ganon hanging over his head and the Princess deprived of anyone who could help her unlock her power, he had worries that were not easily set aside for lesser concerns than the end of the world.

"It's about my son Link, your majesty."

The King nodded. "An exceptional child who could, if we judged on skills alone, already be a worthy knight. Is he well?"

There was no point wasting the King's time. Rucas opted for directness. "He's made friends with the Koroks and he says a female voice has been calling him to the Lost Woods, your Majesty."

His eyes were down, so he did not see the King's reaction, but after a short silence, he heard him collapsing on the nearest chair and take a shaky breath.

"Look up," the King said. "I would speak to you face to face."

Link's father met the King's eyes and waited. Was he imagining things, or was the King pale?

"When you say Link made friends with the Koroks, what exactly do you mean?"

"He can see them, my King, and they talk to him. They've been telling him he should meet the Great Deku Tree."

The King sighed heavily and rose from his seat to start pacing the room. "And a female voice is beckoning to him as well," he said.

"Yes, your Majesty. But…" Rucas stopped, not sure it was his place to remind the King of Link's young age.

The King seemed to guess what he'd been about to say. "He's only twelve, isn't he?" he asked, not unkindly. "Only a few months older than my own daughter."

Rucas nodded. "Yes, your Majesty."

The King had made it to a window. He sighed again, looking out to his Kingdom.

"We cannot ignore these signs," King Rhoam said. "To wield the Blade that Seals the Darkness would be a heavy burden indeed to place on one so young, but if was chosen, depriving him of it would do him no favour. He may as well start training and bonding with the Master Sword now if he can claim it. Hopefully, he won't need to use it in earnest for several years yet... the Oracle is firm that we do have a few years, although regretfully no more than that. The Princess will need to start training more seriously as well... You and I will share worries, Sir Rucas."

"Shall I tell Link to allow the Koroks to take him to the Great Deku Tree, my King?" the knight asked.

"Not alone," the King replied. "I will go with him. I need to know what the Great Deku Tree knows, and I need to reassure myself that the one chosen by the blade will not die trying to claim it too soon. You may go, get both yourself and the boy ready to travel. I will send for you both shortly."

The Knight got up, bowed, and left. He started walking faster as soon as he was out of the King's study, and he was running in earnest down the Castle's Halls and out soon after that.

He was pretty sure he was running to his doom: he needed to tell his husband that their son was about to go claim the Master Sword. Thankfully, he knew for a fact that Theden knew of the Master Sword already, most likely from overhearing it at the Castle, where he worked as one of the royal cooks. His husband had joked about Link being good enough to be chosen just last month. Neither of them had suspected the joke would turn out to be a prophecy.