Link and Heron had split up so that they could get all of the supplies that Dana asked them for. As Link wandered through the town trying to find the general store, he encountered quite a few Sheikah in their masked disguises. He attempted to avoid them because he thought that they looked a lot like the Yiga that had attacked him so many times.
"Boy." A deep voice behind him said, startling Link. He whipped around and glared at a person who wore most of the traditional Sheikah garb, but upon further inspection revealed a Yiga scarf poking out from the bottom of his cloak.
"What do you want? Are you here to attack me, like your friends?" Link growled. The man sighed,
"I was afraid that you would respond like that. I bear you no ill will, I promise. I quit the clan when Zelda started acting strange, almost like she had become more violent than she was before. I was wondering if you would help me once your knighting ceremony was complete, and possibly we could work together to fix her. If you did that, the attempts on your life may stop. So what will it be... help us, or die?" Link knew that this was a threat, and he had seen enough Yiga to know that this man was not retired because Zelda didn't let people retire! He also knew that the swordsman was telling the truth within a lie, because the attempts on his life had been increasing in both number and frequency.
"How can I know that you will keep your promise? How do I know that as soon as I reach the Gerudo town I won't be attacked? I will think on your question, and if I decide that it's worth it, then I will let you know. Now if you'll excuse me, Yiga, I have things I need to be doing besides talking to an assassin." Link stated. The Yiga became visibly more agitated and stormed off in the other direction, cloak and scarf fluttering behind him. Link's shoulders slumped, and he trudged the rest of the way to the store, contemplating the story the Yiga had told him. Yiga are known for their cunning lies and disguise abilities, he thought, but he sounded genuinely worried about the Gerudo chieftess, and I worry that they might actually need my help. But why me? I'm not the legendary hero...am I? He froze in the middle of the path, flashing back to when he had journeyed to the Museum of Heroes. He remembered how much he had found similar to the great warriors and the amount of teasing he had received for those similarities. What if I am the legendary hero of old? Or at least an incarnation of him. But that would make Lord Ganondorf the living curse of Demise, if the legends are correct, and Zelda would be the one with the blood of Hylia. But that makes no sense, Zelda is evil and wants to destroy everything that Ganondorf has done, while the king has protected Hylians and the allied tribes with all his life and abilities. How would the... Wait a minute, by the time I was born, Ganondorf had already taken the oath of Odowalla, which means that the curse of Demise probably wouldn't effect him. Plus our leader isn't Gerudo, but Zelda is, which means... The Yiga! He said that Zelda had been acting weird, more violent, and she is Gerudo so- he was snapped back to reality by a tap on his shoulder.
"Sir, are you alright? You just, well, I don't know, froze and stared at nothingness for so long I began to get worried. I'm so, so sorry if I interrupted anything." Link turned and saw a girl of about seventeen, looking very shy and quite a bit terrified.
"Don't worry," he reassured her. "I was just lost in thought. Thanks, actually, for snapping me out of it." He smiled at her. She looked instantly relieved. He glanced at the sign behind her and speed read it.
"Oh, you work at the general store? I was just looking for that, actually. Mind showing me around?" Link asked the girl, then realized that he didn't know her name. "I just had the realization, I don't know your name yet. What is it?" The girl seemed genuinely surprised by his question.
"Y-you want to know, my name?!" She gasped. Link nodded in reply. "Oh, o-okay, w-well my n-name is Gale Providence. I, well I can't transform. When I went to meet Odowalla, I was so, bland as he called me, I had no animal form. I haven't had the courage to go back yet." She instantly went back in shy mode. She kept her eyes on the ground while leading him into the store.
"If it's not to much trouble, here is the list of items I need to pick up. I do have a deadline, though. I need to beat the Sheikah headquarters by four." He informed Gale.
" Wait!" She yelped, looking up and taking a step back to get a better view of him. "Oh my goddesses! You are the one I've been told about! You're the one that the knighting ceremony is for! This is going to be the biggest event that has taken place in over thirty years! All of the town is shutting down to witness this historic event, because Lord Dragonsblood is going to be attending!" She paused, "oh, sorry, I didn't mean to overwhelm you, I thought you knew." Gale went back to her quiet demeanor. Link was to shocked to respond. The ENTIRE TOWN?! He thought, almost wanting to believe that he had misunderstood what she had said. I mean, I knew that Ganondorf was attending, but an entire. Freaking. Town? For me? I'm a nobody that happened to be adopted by the right hand woman to the king, but I don't even have parents, for Odowalla's sake. I really hope that she is wrong though. He went along with no more interruptions until he had everything he needed. He also used his own money, not the rupees that Dana had given him, to purchase a cloak that had the Hylian crest of old times, the red, birdlike shape underneath a golden Triforce, and the emblem was on a dark, almost navy blue background that made up the rest of the cloak. He decided that wearing this with the hood up would help conceal his identity and protect him from further incidents like the encounter with Gale. He left the shop after donning his new accessory and after thanking Gale for helping him find everything in time. Link began making his way to the wagon they had arrived in so that he could drop off the supplies he had acquired. Dana was already gone, probably preparing for the knighting that she would be performing. Link was relieved that his mentor was the highest ranking officer in Ganondorf's Defenders of the Lost Art, so she was always the one asked to do ceremonies and other things of the sort. Heron, on the other hand, should have been there by now. He was supposed to have a few extra errands to run that didn't have to do with what Dana needed. Accounting for Link's little misadventure with Gale somehow recognizing him and the amount of time required to find all that was on his list, Heron and Link would have arrived at about the same time, so the fact that he wasn't there began to worry him. After a few more minutes passed, Link started to consider going out looking for his friend. Maybe he was attacked by that Yiga I saw. Maybe he got lost. Maybe- his thoughts were instantly cut off when a clucking laugh sounded above him. His eyes shot upward and were met with the sight of a rather amused white Rito.
"Sweet Hylia above!" He cawed, "you should see the look on your face! It's hilarious! I've been sitting up here for nearly an hour, and I started to wonder if you would ever look up! I never thought that you would be that concerned for me, though."
"Haha very funny, person-who-doesn't-exist-anymore. I was worried about you, and you had to go laugh at it. That's the last time I feel concern for you, you big flying Cucco." Link angrily huffed. "Anyways, where have you been, besides snoozing on the wagons roof?"
"Ah, must I repeat my long and grueling trek in verbal form?" Heron whined dramatically. When Link gave him the 'consider this payback' look, the slightly older, (and taller), Rito sighed. "Fine, if I must. First, I had to walk, can you believe it, all the way through the appliance store, and had to carry a whole load of junk back here. Then I traveled through the Din forsaken animal supply store for horse feed, and saw caged birds, caged birds Link! After that tragedy-"
"Okay, I think that is enough whining for today. If I hear any more complaining in the next twenty-four hours then I'm afraid my brain will explode. Please spare me that gruesome fate, and tell me what time it is, without theatrics." Heron glanced up at the sun and estimated the time to be approximately three in the evening. Link knew from past visits to Kakariko that if they didn't leave the wagon now, they may end up being late. Sadly, Link had a lot of experience in the art of arriving at a destination way after the allotted time, and having to try to bargain his way into keeping the incident from reaching Dana's ears. The two friends raced towards the headquarters with Heron flying and keeping Link on track, and the knight-to-be running on the ground with his new cloak flapping behind him.A few minutes later, they arrived at the facility, just fifteen minutes before the ceremony was set to begin. Dana, as can be expected, was less than amused.
"Fifteen minutes. That is all. You really need to learn how to arrive on time." Dana said in a disapproving manner.
"On time?! I am on time, in fact, I'm fifteen whole minutes early! What do you mean by 'on time'?" Link objected .
Dana sighed, "when will you learn? Early is on time, on time is late, late means the world ended. Next time you have something as important as this, please remember that, okay?" Link grumbled a frustrated "fine", and Heron left to go find seating near the front of the arena so he would have the best view of the knighting. Link's annoyed trainer finished preparing him, then left to get her speech together and ready. Link peeked out of the door he was behind and saw dozens of townsfolk slowly making their the seats. He then looked at the Great Leader's section, and saw Ganondorf and the archeologists who were originally with him during the uncovering of the Gate of Beasts. Ravio, with his little bird and bunny hood, Shad, with his research book and glasses, Nova, with her high-tech binoculars, and the mysterious Rito, Tabatha. All four of them were chatting, but Ganondorf seemed like he was only half listening. The king scanned the walls, then saw Link peeking out from the crack in the door. He raised an eyebrow, and as soon as the eye contact was made, Link jumped backwards, almost yelping in pain. It wasn't the King's fault, at least he hoped that was not the case, but as soon as their eyes had met, the back of Link's left hand seemed to catch on fire. He rubbed at the skin on the wounded hand, then realized that there was no burn. In fact, there was nothing there at all, save a slight golden glow emanating from a small, triangular mark that Link instantly recognized as the old symbol indicating the Hero, the Demon, and the Goddess Hylia's chosen one.
The ceremony didn't take very long, probably no more than an hour in total, but to Link it felt like ages. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get the image of the glowing crest out of his mind. Why was I chosen to wield this power? Link thought. I have already made an oath to follow Odowalla, so how can I be a chosen one? Will I be cursed by the very deity that gave me the freedom to change forms at will? I know I've always thought of it as more of a curse, but I don't want to be sent on some epic quest to save the world. Link realized that he was over thinking the situation. In fact, he was over thinking it so much that he nearly missed it when Dana said the ceremonial speech that he had to respond to.
"Link, are you willing to become a knight in the service of Lord Dragonsblood?" She asked him. Link momentarily pulled a blank, then remembered what he was supposed to say.
"I, Link, do accept this position as a protector of the citizens, and will serve our great king with my life." He proclaimed.
"Very well. Since you take such a great risk, you will meet our Leader after the ceremony is complete and he shall decide your first task."
Link remained silent, as he was supposed to, and waited. A few moments later a boy, who appeared to be younger than Link himself, brought forth a chain mail shirt, brown leather gauntlets, brown boots with golden buckles, tan trousers, a long sleeve white undershirt, and a forest green tunic with a matching cap. He nodded as he accepted these items, and, at Dana nod of release, left the arena to change into his new uniform. When he finished, Link pulled out a map he had borrowed/stole from his adopted mother. He hunted down the Great Leader's previously decided meeting place and began to make his way there. It took a while, what with all of the twists and turns that were like a maze to someone who rarely visited, but he located the old peach tree grove and the pavilion hidden inside of it. He opened the door to the room, and saw Dana, Ganondorf, and the four founders all waiting for him.
"Sit down, Link. We have important matters to discuss." Dana informed him. Link obediently found a seat and took it, patiently awaiting the long, boring conversation. "Now, my son, we will discuss your future."