Shewatched him from afar.
'The Silent Swordsman'
"What a joke." She scoffed, and stalked away from her palace window. Why hadheof all people gotten everything he wanted? Zelda, the Princess of Hyrule, paled in comparison to 'the mighty Link', who had pulled the Master Sword.
Why had he fulfilled his destiny while she was still struggling with hers? Pushing these thoughts out of her head, Zelda walked across her massive bedroom to her desk and sat down. Tears started to stream down her cheeks as she buried her face in her arms. It just wasn't fair! Why didshehave to be the failure? She had already had so much suffering in her life! Her father, King Rhoam, was incredibly strict. His stern, selfish expectations really didn't help with her self-hatred. But her mom, Queen Daphne, had been kind, caring, and loving. The exact opposite of her father. The only problem? Her mom had died at a young age.
Zelda had barely known her mom before she had passed away, diagnosed with an unknown illness. Tears splattered onto her desk as she thought of her mom, soaking into the wood. She had never quite been the same after Queen Daphne's death.
'Knock knock'
Zelda jolted up in her seat. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she got up to answer the door as she tried to stop sobbing. Whoever it was, she couldn't let them see her crying.
Taking a deep breath in, she steeled herself, and opened the door.
A member of the Royal Guard was kneeling in her doorframe. "What is it?" Zelda choked out, trying to sound formal. She couldn't afford to let her walls down like that anymore.
A quiet cough brought her attention back to the figure kneeling in front of her.Itwas him.The Silent Knight. Zelda's breath caught in her throat.What is he doing here?He...he...he... He what?
Whatdidhe do? All he did was draw that sword...maybe...maybe it was an accident. Maybe he didn't try to?No.She couldn't afford to let down her guard. She had already been used more times than she'd like to admit.
'Cough cough'
Zelda's attention snapped back to the present, looking down at the knight, she saw him making strange movements with his hands."King Rhoam kindly requests your presence in the Sanctum."Zelda sighed. Of course he spoke in sign. He really was a silent knight after all.
Suddenly, he stood up."Permission to take leave, Your Majesty?"His hands flashed. "Yes, yes, go ahead." Zelda dismissed him. As he turned around, their eyes suddenly connected for a moment. She stopped, struck by his eyes. They were so blue! It was such a pretty color!
No.Zelda slammed the door on him, angry with herself.How was he so innocent and perfect!? Oh,how she absolutely despised him!
But then...why did her heart skip a beat when their eyes met?
Curse that knight and his eyes! Curse him and everything he had done! Curse how he made her question everything she had thought!
Zelda tossed her hair behind her back as she prepared to go talk to her father. There was no doubt about it. She hated him.
No doubt...
The halls of Hyrule Castle were like a beautiful maze. The delicate stonework had been crafted with care, and blue flags bearing the Hyrulian crest were hung everywhere. You could turn any corner and find yourself lost amid the red carpeted corridors. Small, glass windows littered each wall, looking out into the beautiful landscape that was Hyrule.
Zelda often found herself staring out through the glass panes, lost amidst the beauty of Hyrule. How she wished she could be lost now. Instead, she knew exactly where she was going. The Sanctum. Where her oh so cold, empty, strict, stern, mean,father (Zelda could think of a million other worse descriptions for him,) sat on his throne.
She finally arrived at the exit to the outside part of the castle. The Sanctum was at the head of an extremely large courtyard which sat on top of the main building. Laying her sweaty palms on the rough, wooden door, Zelda pushed it open and stepped out into the sunlight.
Stagnant air filled the room, little flecks of dust floating around with it. Everything was still.
And hot.
King Rhoam was sweating on his throne. And of course, the only window was right behind him, sunlight pouring down onto his face. Of course nothing made it worse than the terrible news that had just been brought to him.
The Great Calamity.
Something that had been feared for thousands of years, had just been prophesied to be returning. And the only one that could fully stop it, was his daughter.
His failure of a daughter who had yet to unlock her powers. The sacred power of Light had been handed down to his daughter Zelda by the goddess Hylia. The Calamity, foretold by the prophet Astor, had been defeated time and time again by none other than Zelda's ancestors, who also held the power of light.
Yet his daughter had failed to show even the tiniesthintof her power. And she was almost out of time.
Rhoam sighed. How he loved his daughter.
I only want what's best for her.
It was something he often told himself, perhaps in some desperate attempt to justify his cold nature.
But it never worked.
Suddenly, a knock on the massive wooden door jerked him out of his thoughts.
"Come in."
"Zelda." Rhoam spoke. "The Calamity draws near, while you still draw no closer to activating your powers.
Zelda sighed, exasperated. "I'm trying my hardest!" She had been trying foryears!Nothing ever seemed to work, no matter how hard she tried!
"I know." King Rhoam's voice softened. But only for a moment. "But it isn't enough."
Zelda took a step back.
"I will be sending you to pray at the Spring of Power in a few weeks time. But first we need to gather the Champions. Just in caseyoufail." King Rhoam spat, putting an emphasis on you.
Zelda, looking shocked, just stood still, frozen like a statue.
Her lips moved as if to say something. Then she whipped around, and ran.
Zelda couldn't see anything. Tears blurred her vision as her feet pounded through the grass of Hyrule field.
She couldn't believe it. Her father wanted her to train at the springs again? She had already spent hours upon hours praying in the freezing cold water!
She had left the castle. And she wasn't going back. Not to her father at least.
Trees flashed by as she continued to run.
About an hour or so later, she arrived where she was heading towards. The Breach of Demise. It was where her best, and only, friend Purah lived.
The Breach was a large maze of canyons and cliffs. Filled with sandy paths and rocky outcrops, it was a sight to behold.
Wait.
Something was wrong. It wasway too quiet. Usually birds chirpedand horses roamed the valleys. But no sound reached Zelda's ears. Except one. Heart thumping in her chest, Zelda heard it. A quiet, rapid beeping.
Quickly locating the noise, Zelda turned around. Red flashed in her vision. The beeping stopped. Another flash of light filled her vision, and she closed her eyes, prepared for the worst.
But it never came.
Zelda opened her eyes. There was a Royal Guard. Standing in front of her with all his fancy armor. Zelda breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe.
The guard turned around, and she got a good look at her rescuer.
Her heart skipped a beat.
It was him.
Link.
Zelda desperately tried to scramble backwards, startled, but her foot caught on a sharp rock and she stumbled.
Link rushed forward and reached out to grab her hand, almost certainly to indicate that they needed to leave. Zelda didn't take it. Instead, she slapped him across the face.
Hard.
Then she started running, feet pounding on the gravel below her.How dare he! How dare he try to help her!Zelda could take care of herself perfectly well.
Another flash of light filled throughout the canyon. Zelda felt warm cloth as a body crashed into hers, slamming her into the rocky ground as a glowing beam of light shot over her head.
Something cracked against the back of her skull. Looking up, Zelda saw the young knight's fuzzy outline as her sight closed inwards and everything went black.
—
(Link's POV)
Crap.
Crap crap crap crap!
Crap.
I've killed the Princess!
Link started to sink into panic, slowly realizing the depth of his situation. Clutching his messy hair, he dragged his hands down his sweaty face.What am I going to tell the King? I'll be beheaded! Just like my father!
'BOOM!'
A huge blast sounded right above him.
CRAP!
The guardian was still on the hunt. Link still couldn't understand why it had turned on them. 'Theremustbea malfunction in the system.'He thought, as he grabbed Zelda and checked her wrist for a pulse, trying not to let the panic overtake him.
The guardians had originally been created by the Shiekah, an elite group of ninja warriors, thousands of years ago for the sole purpose of aiding the legendary hero against the Calamity.
Finally grabbing hold of Zelda's wrist, he felt a slight pulse in his shaking hands.Thank goodness! She's not dead!
'beep...'
What?
'Beep..'
Where is that...
'Beep...beep...beep...BEEP'
Link whipped around just in time to see the source of the noise.
The Guardian. One clawed, spider-like leg resting on the rock behind him, it leaned it's chunk of a torso forward and looked him straight in the face.
The Guardian's single, lightning blue eye looked him straight in the face before flashing red.
Crap.