Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda series is the intellectual property of Nintendo Co. Ltd. This project is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with Nintendo Co. Ltd., or any of its subsidiaries.
Timeline: Pre-BotW with TotK references
Chosen
Dusk was falling as the company rode solemnly, silently, through the forest. A chill wind whispered through the trees, rustling the leaves. Tack jingled and armor clanked against sheathed weapons. A lizard dashed across the road and Link's mare threw up her head. She shied, dancing sideways.
"Easy," Link murmured. He stroked her sweaty neck, and she twisted her head, glancing at him for reassurance. She huffed, but let him guide her back into formation, last in the column of twenty royal guardsmen. Link glanced behind them at the light dappling the company's hoofprints, then twisted forward, facing the narrowing road as it led into the misty shadows of pine trees.
The guard beside Link rubbed his arms. His breath clouded in the air. "Feels like winter. You cold?"
Link dug into his saddlebag and pulled out a small jar of roasted peppers. He offered one to Knight Sarion and ate a small one himself.
"Thanks." Sarion's short hair curled up at the tips and was dyed green, after losing a combat bet to Link: eight to fourteen bokoblins. He popped the pepper in his mouth and grinned. "Trust you to always have a snack."
"I've been up here a few times." Link stretched his legs in the saddle. "But never into the woods. Alone. My father forbade it."
At the head of the column, the captain raised his spear, pointing left. The guards sidestepped their mounts, shifting to the left side of the road. Link urged his mare sideways, and she pressed against Sarion's mount, so close the guards' knees touched.
Sarion peered through the heads in front of them. "Is that Eagle Company?"
Another column of royal guardsmen came riding down the road. The horses' eyes were white with fear and the guards—the ones who could ride—sat stiffly in the saddle. Faces blank, eyes darting, skin pale as moonlight. Mud smeared their shining armor and royal tunics. They clutched their reins and their weapons with locked hands.
A guard at the head of Link's company called out. "What's the problem, boys? Scared of a few trees?"
"Shut it, Mido," Sarion hissed under his breath.
In the center of the column, the captain and a private carried a stretcher. The man on the stretcher lay on his side, limbs contorted and rigid, like he'd had a seizure. As the stretcher passed Link, the man's eyes flew open. He stared up at Link, unblinking, still caught in a nightmare. "All dead," he whispered. "So many. They're all… dead."
A shiver shot down Link's spine. Electric. Enticing. He lifted his eyes past the column, toward the blue mist bleeding into the pine trees.
"Hawk Company," his captain called, pointing forward with his spear. "Onward."
Link clicked his tongue. They eased back onto the road.
The mist engulfed the captain. As the column rode forward, the pairs vanished like they were being swallowed, one by one. The row ahead of Link stepped into the blue mist and he drew in a breath.
"Here we go," Sarion muttered, loosening his hands on the reins. He rolled his neck. "All this for a sword."
Mist folded around Link. Once inside the veil, it was thinner than it seemed from the outside. The column reappeared, the soldiers glancing around the forest in wonder at the glowing blue dots floating in the air, light as fairies. Ferns curled along the road, dripping with cold moisture. He thought he saw two glowing blue eyes peeking from behind a pine tree, but he blinked and the eyes were gone.
The forest tests hearts, Father had said. It casts out the unworthy.
Link's stomach rumbled. He rubbed it through his tunic and chain mail. He hoped Father had found the porridge on the table. The company wouldn't make it home today. Tomorrow, if they were lucky. But if the forest treated him like it treated Company Eagle, it might be several days before he returned home. Neighbor Juli might check on Father. She was kind that way.
"Company, halt. Dismount!"
Link swung his leg over his mare's back and dropped to the soft earth. His sword rattled on his back and he flipped the reins over his mare's head. He walked her up with Sarion into the row ahead, creating a column of four.
His captain wheeled his horse around and planted the stallion in the center of a rocky ravine. He carried his spear erect, braced on the toe of his armored boot. Ribbons in the colors of the royal family—blue, red and white—fluttered from the shaft, tickling his polished helmet.
"You've all heard the prophecy." The captain's voice carried down the ravine. "We're about to get a visit from the Demon King. May the Goddess help his soul."
A few chuckles rippled through the company.
The captain pointed his spear, sweeping it down the line of his men. "One of you could walk out of here today, a hero. The forest will decide." He sidestepped his mount, opening the view of the entrance to the Lost Woods. Mist curled around a ruined archway and a flock of silent ravens perched on the peak. "Your brothers can't help you in there. You face the test alone. My orders are to send you in, one at a time, to meet your destiny." The captain raised his spear and Link drew his sword with the rest of the company. "Hyrule calls!"
"We answer!" The company shouted as one, thrusting their weapons skyward. Link cried out with them. Pride surged in his chest. The eagle seemed to blaze on his tunic, and he kept his sword lifted for a moment.
It was worth it, Father.
"Knight Karta," the captain called. "You're first."
A tall, lean soldier from the center of the column handed his reins to his partner. He stretched his arms across his chest, hefted his sword, and marched into the mist. The ravens cawed and scattered as he approached the archway, then the forest swallowed him.
"At ease," the captain said to the rest of the company. "Get comfortable."
Link exhaled. He rolled his shoulders, stiff from the all-day ride from the castle, and balanced on one leg, stretching his quad. He tied his mare to a pine tree and hooked a feed bag to her bridle, letting her munch while he headed back up the road to gather dry firewood.
When he returned, arms laden with branches broken from the trees, he chose a spot up on a rocky ledge overlooking the entrance to the woods. Several guardsmen were already sitting on the ledge, legs swinging over the ravine. Rupees glinted, passing between them. They cried out suddenly as Knight Karta reappeared out of thin air. The man dropped to the ground at the entrance and fell on his seat, glancing around himself in bewilderment, like he didn't know how he'd gotten there.
The guardsmen above him roared with laughter.
Karta jumped to his feet and threw a rock at them. Link ducked as the missile flew over their heads and almost struck him, then Karta spun around and ran back into the woods. A red rupee flipped from one onlooker to another.
Link shook his head and dumped his wood on the ground. He arranged it in a pyramid and filled the space in the center with dry grass. He pulled out his flint and striker, cast a shower of sparks into the grass, and blew gently until the embers caught. A small flame leaped from the nest and he fed a twig into the fire, encouraging the blaze.
"Hey. Short-Stick."
Link stiffened. He straightened, lifting himself to his knees as Sergeant Mido stood over him.
He was twenty-five, wide-shouldered. A royal broadsword hung on his back. Freckles dotted his nose and his red hair frizzed in the moisture. He nudged Link's pyramid with the toe of his boot, flicked out a stick, and the structure collapsed. The fire puffed out.
"Not strong enough." Mido grinned and pointed to Link's cheek. "Got a smudge there, fire-boy. Didn't your girlfriend tell you to wash your face? Oh wait, you don't have one." He grinned. "What kind of girl would go out with you? You'd have to stand on a box to kiss her."
Link drew out his pocketknife and flicked the blade open.
Mido tensed, but Link drew a stick of pine towards himself and began peeling paper-thin curls, building a new nest of kindling.
"Why did you come today?" Mido leaned over him. "You think you actually have a chance at the Master Sword? A baby like you? How old are you? Fourteen?"
Almost eighteen. Link relaxed the tension from his jaw. Don't ever let them see it hurts you. He focused on shaving the kindling.
Mido lowered his voice. "You're only in the guard because of your father."
Link's hand froze, mid-cut.
"Everyone loves Captain Ardis." Mido rolled his eyes. "Some hero he turned out to be. Lost his whole company to a couple moblins."
Link's knuckles turned white around his knife. Lynels. Five of them. Get your facts straight. He saw his father's proud face, blindfolded, raised high, as they lifted his stretcher from the wagon. Don't let them see. He drew the blade down the pine, peeling another curl.
"I would have saved them if I'd been there. I know what's right for Hyrule." Mido picked up a stick and tapped it over his shoulder. "But Ardis, he didn't even have the dignity to die."
Link peeled another curl.
Mido tapped his stick. "Hey. Look at me." The stick whistled as it came down, aiming for Link's head.
His hand flew up. He snatched the stick, stopping it inches from his skull. From his knees, he glared up the stick, up the arm, and locked eyes with Mido. "Say whatever you like about me, but you will not insult my father."
The color slowly drained from Mido's face. Then his cheeks flushed red. He jerked on the stick, but Link held firm.
"Sergeant Mido!" the captain called up from below.
Mido shoved the stick toward Link. "On it!" he called out and spun away. He combed his fingers through his hair, straightened his tunic, and jumped down from the outcropping. His armor rattled as he landed. He cracked his neck and saluted to the boys sitting on the rim. "I'll show you ladies how it's done!" He vanished through the archway into the Lost Woods.
Link uncurled his fingers from their grip on Mido's stick. Blood hammered in his ears—he should take a walk, cool down. But he bent over his wood shavings and defiantly gathered them into a pile, rearranging his pyramid over the kindling. He struck his flint and broke it in half.
Light footsteps approached behind him. "Twenty rupees: the woods spit him out in five minutes." Sarion dumped an armful of wood beside Link's pyramid. "How did a guy like that ever become an officer?"
Straightening from his new flame, Link sat back on his heels. "His mother was an attendant to the queen."
"Weren't there rumors? Her and General Pika?"
They weren't rumors. Link crossed his legs.
Sarion sat down across the fire and held his gloved hands to the flame as it snapped up the pine logs. His voice softened. "How is your father?"
Link edged closer to the fire. The warmth of the peppers was fading from his belly, but the fire crackled, hot and fresh. He extended his hands to the heat. "He's getting around more. I found him a dog."
"He must love that. I thought he hated dogs."
A tiny smile twitched on Link's face. "They've come to an understanding. But she's still a puppy. When he asks for his cane, she brings him a sock." The smile widened, then disappeared into a frown. Link turned his hands to the flame. "He begged me not to come today. He told me to say I was sick. He's never asked me to lie before. Being home isn't good for him."
"Thus the dog."
Link nodded.
A scream echoed through the air.
Sarion jumped to his feet and Link's head whipped toward the misty woods. The chatter of the soldiers died instantly. The scream sounded again, longer, louder, trailing off into a strangled choke at the end.
The captain ran for the entrance to the forest, but pulled up suddenly at the archway. "Sergeant!" he shouted into the mist. "This way!"
There was no answer. The ravens peered down with beady eyes.
Clutching his spear, he stood frozen. "Mido!"
The eerie scream ripped through the fog again.
With a curse, the captain spun around. "I need a volunteer! Pull him out of there!"
"Why don't you go?" someone called.
"I'll do it." Link stood to his feet.
The soldiers on the ridge stared at him. He didn't know what he was doing himself. He grabbed one of the burning sticks from the fire. Holding it as a torch, he hurried down the outcropping and jogged to a halt in front of the captain.
Mido screamed again, and the captain flinched. His eyes darted over Link's small frame, landing on the quiet confidence in Link's eyes. He grasped him by the shoulder and pushed him toward the archway. "Hurry."
Raising his torch, Link walked toward the mist.
Sarion ran in front of him and braced himself in the arch, blocking his way. "You don't have to do this."
Link stepped closer. The light from his torch gleamed in the raven's eyes.
Sarion's voice tightened. "They weren't going to send you in. You're too green."
"Mido isn't my enemy. I won't treat him like one."
"Link."
"I'm not going for the sword. The forest knows." He gave Sarion a small smile and reached up to his shoulder, pushing him lightly aside. "But thank you for trying to stop me."
The mist surrounded him.
Sarion vanished.
A breeze swept the mist around him and the cold sank into his bones. Wisps curled around dead trees and the long grass brushed his boots. He shivered, wishing he'd thought a little longer before running down the cliff. He could have grabbed more peppers from his saddlebag, maybe a medical kit, or a stretcher. Sparks drifted from his branch. He could have grabbed a rag and a little oil, made himself a real torch. At least.
Mido screamed again and Link flinched as the cry pierced his ears. It was much louder here, much closer. He waded through the grass in the direction of the sound, passing a ruined wall, marking it in his mind the way his father had taught him in the forest.
Not going for the sword? That's what had said this morning, and Link tried his best to always tell the truth. I promised him.
He passed a tree shaped like a trident and glanced back, making sure his landmarks were still there, that the forest hadn't shifted them.
Why shouldn't he go for the sword? His father had never looked so proud, the day Link was knighted. Nine months ago, at seventeen. The youngest knight in centuries. The most talented, people said. A slight flush crept into Link's cheeks. I try my best.
But the sword felt like play to him. Like singing or dancing. Like swimming in the clear waters of Zora's Domain. The Zoras were born swimming; he was born to play with swords. And kill.
His smile vanished. 'We kill for the sake of life,' his father said. 'We give ourselves so the people can be free. Your mother understood. She married a warrior.'
But Father didn't speak of Mother anymore. Or Aryll. Link's hand drifted to the locket under his tunic, atop his chain mail. Would Mother have wanted him to go for the sword?
'Yes!' His sister shouted, leaping up from her grave to punch Link in the arm. 'Silly.'
His smile lifted up again.
A whimper sounded ahead, coming from behind a gnarled tree. Jagged holes gaped in the hollow trunk, like a screaming face. Dead branches stuck out like arms. Link raised his eyebrow. He imagined Aryll sticking out her tongue at the tree and wedged his torch into the branch's fingers.
Mido crouched in a fetal position on the other side of the tree, clutching his right arm to his chest as he rocked back and forth. "Stop it," he whispered. "Take it away."
"Mido."
The man's face flew up. His eyes were wild. They flickered with the same blue glow as the mist. "Take it. Please. It hurts so bad."
"What hurts?" Link asked.
"My arm." Mido's face scrunched in pain. "It's burning. It's so hot." His eyes flew to the sword peeking up over Link's shoulder and he gasped with hope. "Please. Help me. Cut it off."
Link crouched down at Mido's side. "Let me see."
Mido extended his trembling arm. Link pulled back the edge of his sleeve as far as the bracer would allow, examining his clean skin. "There's nothing wrong with it."
"Yes, there is!" Mido shouted. "Ganon cursed it! He cursed me! You have to take it. I'm begging you. I'm going to die."
Link stood and extended his hand. "You're hallucinating. Let's go. I'm taking you out of here."
Mido shot up from the ground. He tackled Link, knocking him flat on his back. The air rushed out of Link's lungs. Mido pinned him down with his weight as he grabbed for the handle of the sword.
He's as heavy as Father.
Link flattened his fingers into a spear and jabbed Mido in the vein of his neck, interrupting the flow of blood to his brain. The man's body stiffened in shock, then he collapsed, unconscious. Link wiggled and pushed himself out from under the body, then removed Mido's sword from his back; the woods made him forget his own weapon. He bent over the body, pressing his fingers to Mido's pulse, and counted the heartbeats as his body slowly relaxed.
Was he cursed? Link lifted the man's right arm, twisting it from the wrist, but found nothing but armor, leather, cloth and flesh.
Color flashed before Link's eyes. Crimson. Red. Darkness. A blue and green light, twisting into an underground ceiling. A corpse, coming back to life. Two eyes flashing yellow in a desiccated face. Then the pain hit. Living darkness shattered the sword in his hand and flooded his arm. It ate, it consumed. A scream surged in his chest, but he cut it off. Cut it back. For her.
The vision vanished. Link fell to his hands and knees, breathing ragged. He clutched his right arm to his chest, shaking with the memory of the vision. Tears of pain gathered in his eyes.
"Will you accept this, Hero?"
His face snapped up. The voice was deep, ancient as the forest. It came from everywhere and nowhere.
Link rubbed his glove across his nose and came away with a smear of blood. "What is this place?" he whispered.
Legs weak, he stood and grasped Mido under the arms. He began dragging the man's body in the direction of the trident tree. His jaw clenched. No. I would not accept that.
His stomach weakened—could he accept it? The vision replayed itself before his eyes. Was that the future? Was it set in stone? Or a possible future, that could happen? But how could he defeat Ganon with a broken Master Sword?
I'm not defeating Ganon. That's impossible for someone like me. I'm just… a solider. A kid.
He thought he heard the deep voice again, rumbling with a chuckle.
Mido stirred. He moaned and Link dragged him faster, heading for the ruined wall. A raven perched on the stones, tilting his head.
"Stop… dragging me," Mido muttered.
"Almost there." Link pulled him toward the arch, about fifty feet away.
"Mido!" the captain's faint voice shouted into the mist. "Link!"
Mido reached for the mist. "I hear the sword… calling me. I can still do it. Give me a chance. Let me go."
The raven launched from the arch. It transformed into blue mist and flew into Link's eyes.
Link's heel slipped in a pool of blood. He staggered, catching himself and the body in his arms. His legs trembled with exhaustion. Explosions burst around them, cries of rage and sacrifice.
"Let me go," the body whispered.
"Hold on." Link's voice was hoarse from smoke and disuse. "Triage is coming." His leg buckled, and he fell, bringing the body with him.
The man's green head lolled against his chest. "Leave me. We did this for you." Sarion coughed. He lifted his arm and pointed with a broken finger to Hyrule Castle, cloaked in an eerie red mist. "Get to the sanctum. Be our… hero." His head fell forward.
"No!" Link clutched the body.
"I didn't know you loved me so much," Mido muttered.
Link dropped him. He rolled away and jumped to his feet. He stared at his shaking hands, but his gloves were clean. No blood. No dirt. There was so much they didn't know—yet.
Mido stiffly rolled onto his knees.
Face tight, Link returned to the man's side. He hooked his arm around his back and supported him as he stood, and Mido leaned on him as they limped toward the arch. Link wanted to go home. He imagined his father, wrapped in a blanket by a crackling fire, the dog sleeping at his feet. A warm apple pie. His soft childhood bed. The banner of the royal guard tacked on the wall beside his training schedule. What was it all for?
He supported Mido through the arch. The mist unfolded. His company shouted as Link and Mido appeared. Two knights stepped forward and took Mido's weight. They guided him, protesting, up the hill toward the horses.
"You made it!" Sarion grabbed Link's right hand.
Link squeezed his fingers. He stared at him, clean, alive. The man flinched in his grip.
"What did you see?" Sarion's eyes darted over Link's face, and as he understood, the color slowly drained from his skin.
"Come." The deep voice echoed again. Link's gaze spun toward the call. It reeled him toward the mist. Toward pain. Possibility. Glory. A future that could be. Color surged up in his soul, the call of an adventure beyond anything he could dream.
Sarion unpeeled Link's fingers from his hand. He smiled. "Go on."
Link stepped back. He glanced at Sarion and the road leading up to the sunlight, then he turned and stepped through the doorway.
The mist enclosed him once again. He jogged toward the glimmer of the torch, still burning where he'd left it in the hand of the tree. He worked it free. The end was burning down to a smolder. He broke a new branch, lit it from the old. As he held it up, the wind shifted. Sparks and smoke blew to his left. Link followed the wind.
A smile broke across his face as he ran through the mist. I'll tell you about this day, Father.
He forgot to mark his surroundings. The mist thickened, and he felt a warning in his gut, like he was straying too far off the path. He blew on his torch, igniting the flame, and the sparks pulled him in a different way. He felt like a drifting leaf, tossing in the wild currents of time.
The mist swirled into the shapes of people, like he was walking in a crowd. They drew back to let him pass, staring at him and the sword on his back as he climbed up onto a platform. Cheers erupted around the crowd. Flags waved. Fireworks burst in the air.
Clutching his torch, Link felt like he could run forever. I win the war.
The crowd chanted his name. But the vision deepened, turning inside. As he stood on the stage, hollowness filled his chest. He was a dry pot, cracked and broken, held together by the icon they needed to believe in. He painted a smile on his face and lifted his hand. A girl in the front row fainted.
Link shook his head. The vision faded. I save them, but not myself.
The wind shoed him out of the mist and he landed in a forest.
It took a moment to orient himself. He planted his feet and inhaled the fresh air. This was no vision—this was real. White moonlight spread through a lush glen. Glowing nightshade sprouted among ferns as high as his chest. It smelled green, like moss and algae and fresh earth. Pools of water sparkled in the moonlight. Creatures popped out of the thick canopy and hung from swirling fronds.
Link flicked out his torch and dunked the end into a puddle. Slowly, he walked forward. Insects chirped. Fireflies hovered in the leaves. He came down a small slope, pushed aside a giant frond, and froze.
A stone pedestal lay in the center of the glen. In the pedestal stood the Master Sword.
The blade gleamed blue in a shaft of moonlight. Link walked forward, heart pounding. It was the most terrible and beautiful sword he'd seen. Double edges razor-sharp. Just his size, the right length for his arm. He stepped up on the pedestal.
"The sword stands as a test against those who wish to wield it."
Link snapped out of the trance. His head jerked up.
An enormous tree rose above him. A face moved in the tree and the deep voice sounded again. "I am the Deku Tree. I have watched over this glade since time immemorial. Do you wish to test your courage, young one?"
"I do."
Link reached for the sword. He froze, fingers encircling the hilt, but not quite touching it.
He remembered his father, lying in bed, leg splinted. Blinded. A tube in his throat, unable to breathe through his shattered face.
That's what becomes of heroes.
Link pulled his hand back. Nausea spread through his stomach, acrid with disappointment.
Who do I think I am? I'm seventeen. There were so many warriors in the kingdom, more experienced, more hardened. They deserved a chance, first. But he remembered the Eagle Company—the finest in Hyrule—retreating in disgrace. The sword didn't choose them.
"A hero is not determined by his size," the Deku Tree said.
"I'm not a hero," Link murmured.
"At least you admit it." The tree chuckled. "Those who drew the sword before you were not heroes yet. They also doubted. And believed."
He thought of his father again, how they almost had to break his fingers to release his hand from his sword. He fought so hard to give his family life, to give his son a future. A future Ganon was trying to steal.
"I won't let him steal it." Link grasped the sword.
A dozen visions flooded his mind, so many images and sounds. He couldn't retain them before a new one stamped on top of it.
Giant machines shaped like animals. Four warriors. Laughter. Friends. Whispers: It all comes down to you. An invisible pressure, suffocating him with expectation, stealing his voice. Shutting him down, forging him into a creature of steel and duty. Castle Town, burning. Flashes of blue laser beams. Running in a forest. Guardians. Pain, the clash of steel. Pain. Steel. Pain. A golden light.
Silence.
Link's eyes flew open. His mouth hung wide, but he couldn't breathe. The sword was halfway out of the pedestal.
There was more?
He gasped for air like a swimmer, then he dove back under.
This vision was shorter. Further in the future. He looked down at his black right arm. It belonged to someone else. He was free-falling through the sky—on purpose. Building machines. On purpose. Lighting a path through darkness, slaying blood-red monsters on purpose. For her. A fire burned in his heart. It snuffed out in despair. New faces folded around him, embracing him: five races and a boy with dark, spirited eyes. They were crying with grief, then joy.
Then a kiss.
A crown.
A family.
It's going to be okay.
Link opened his eyes. He took a deep breath and pulled the sword free.
He held the blade in front of him, turning the blue steel to catch the moonlight. It was light as air and heavy as the world.
"What is your name, young one?" the Deku tree asked.
"Link."
The tree laughed, deep and long. "Of course it is." He smiled fondly at the boy. "Of course."
Note: I dropped a few teasers in this one-shot for my upcoming LoZ fanfic, "The Hero's Squire." Link rescues a feisty boy from the Yiga Clan, and after many misadventures, adopts him as his squire. This novel-length adventure features an OC and is set mid-game TotK. It will be launched in the next few weeks (September 2023). Stay tuned!