Failed

I’m sending this on all of my accounts because in the next few days I’ll be travelling and the amount of time I can spend on my laptop will be limited. I’m sorry I haven’t answered anything on here in awhile, but my muse has been a little hard to wrangle and staring at a draft for an hour doesn’t help with that. 

He’s been able to avoid monsters up this point, admittedly most was out of pure luck, maybe luck had to do with meeting this newcomer? Link could on guess, but right now, he wanted some damn answers (and everything that has happened for the past 48 hours to be a nightmare). He wasn’t going to kid himself that he’d last when nightfall came. 

(the monsters, the demon king, the fires, they all came after sunset)

Eyeing the decaying remains and then Ravio, it wasn’t hard to decide who he was going to follow. Despite the strange clothing and the fact Link had no idea who he was; it would be better to follow him than to stay here as ‘dinner with legs’. Giving him a nod, the young hero started to the hooded boy through the field (it reminded him of home, he tried to ignore the pain). 

Hopeless.

He felt undeniably hopeless as he held Acia in his arms, praying to gods that she may be spared from the carnage that befell upon the rest of the Amino family. She sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and he could only run, and run, and run (ignore the pain).

Then, a miracle happened.

Two woman (In the strangest clothing he’s ever seen, but there were more pressing matters) came out of no where and started taking down monsters left and right. Their interference allowed them to make it to the barn without being attacked (and mostly likely slaughter by monsters), and for that, Link was undeniably thankful. Without a doubt he owed them for saving them both.

Not caring if there was a saddle on Epona, Link placed his sister on her before commanding her to ride as far as she can, to Hyrule castle. The young man gave Epona a gentle pat before sending them off (this may be the last time he ever sees them, and it’s agony, but at the very least they’ll live). His little sister screamed for him but Link couldn’t leave their saviors to be overwhelmed by hordes of monsters.

It wouldn’t be right to leave them to perish when they gave them both a chance to survive.

He had an iron grip on his sword and shield before he took a deep breath and ran out of the barn, ignoring his self preservation he flung himself into the fight. One of the woman (she reminded him of a sheikah) was in trouble and Link was quick to rush to her side before any of the monsters could further hurt her.

If there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was to make the kid cry. He was just doing what the older knights did at the academy to Link himself. Scare tactics were effective, you had to stand up straight and take it. Snide remarks weren’t the best way to respond to yelling back there.

A lot of kids there were sent by their parents wishes, they didn’t want to be knights, but they had to be now. Most of the teachers realized that. The majority took one of two approaches, in Link’s opinion. They either didn’t care, let the kids do what they want (leading to a lot of injuries and scars), or they grabbed their attention by the ears with yelling and screaming (leading to a lot of tears).

There was one teacher he had that was the perfect middle ground. Yelling when forced, letting the kids run off at certain times. Link wanted to be that teacher. The kid wasn’t listening, he yelled, he got a little angry, Link figured that he could handle it. Apparently not.

Watching the teen try to pick up the sword and watch him jump back in pain made him really feel sorry for him, but also question whether he was fit to be the hero if a little yelling could completely deter him from picking up the blade.

Sighing, he walked over to the kid and put a hand on his right shoulder. “…M’sorry. I… I didn’t mean to get that angry with you. I’ve just seen what can happen to a world if the hero isn’t prepared, isn’t ready enough for the challenges that he’s going to face.”

“I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t. I slept for a hundred years and woke up. Didn’t know who or where I was. I was told to find this woman, Impa, she told me to go find my memories. I… I didn’t know what she meant, but I found them after a while. They came back. I was… I was ashamed of who I was. I could fight back then, I died fighting, but I died a coward. I was supposed to be this… this silent paragon of virtue and I wasn’t. I was crumbling inside.”

Link took a glance down at the sword. It didn’t look capable of burning, of killing someone just by holding it, but he knew what it was capable. If he hadn’t had a fairy on hand when he tried to pick it up, he would’ve died the first time around. “It’s not an act.”

“It starts off as one. Yes. You tell yourself that you’re worthy and prepared and courageous enough even though, deep down, you know you’re not. You keep telling yourself that over and over until it’s ingrained into your character, until the act is real.” He sighed.

“It’s not an act anymore. Listen, you can try again if you want to. You can take a break. You can never pick up the sword again, if that’s what you want.” He gave the boy a pat on the back before sitting down on the grass.

His thumb carefully brushed against his palm, searching for any marks or burns from the blade. The searing, white hot pain was gone as soon as it came. Taking a deep breath to compose himself; His gaze went to the Master Sword once again. Tears were once again wiped away despite more threatening to make themselves known.

He didn’t understand. Was it rejecting him because of his fear? By the goddesses, he was willing to take up the blade and defend, but he doubted his own ability to do so. The young hero never stood a chance against Ganondorf. It was proven quite clearly that he wasn’t even close to being ready, loosing nearly everything but his life in the process (He was so close to giving that up as well). 

Lakas would’ve been better at this, he was actually a knight (In training).

 Feeling his teacher’s hand on his shoulder, Link hesitantly looked up at him. The last thing the teen expected was an apology but he took it, giving a nod. When push came to shove, he knew he wasn’t ready... And the eerie words Farore had given him (”The floods will come,” what does that even mean?) left him discouraged about the future. 

However, before he could speak, his teacher started to explain his own story (One that Link only figured bits and pieces of, but all signs pointed to a horrible fate befalling Hyrule and its people). And honestly, he had no idea how the elder (Now learning he has slept over 100 years) managed without knowing who he truly was. 

With Link’s words, it felt to be one of those times where the he just needed to shut up and listen. Yet, that couldn’t stop questions from whirling through his head as he tried to figure out what Link meant when he called himself a coward. He didn’t give up in the end and kept on fighting, even when it sounded like his teacher wasn’t at his best. 

One piece of information seemed to missing when Link spoke about it being an act. How long did it feel like an act to him, until it was real? There was a certain point in time that started it all, “When did you find you were meant to be the hero? How?”

The Triforce of Courage that made its home on his right hand, moving after his left was lost, meant he was the hero. Yet, that didn’t mean much. A symbol of what he’s supposed to be but it didn’t give him a lick of guidance nor explanation. 

With the pat on his back, he turned to watch as Link went to sit down on the grass. Never picking up the blade felt selfish, like hell he was going with that choice. His teacher seemed to do a complete 180 with his teaching style, it had been anger and now he’s telling him to do what he wanted. Was this just another tactic to get him to draw the Master Sword?

“I want to be able use the Master Sword, it’s the only way to protect everyone back home from Ganondorf.” His gaze returning to the Holy Blade, he couldn’t help but feel woeful, “I won’t let anyone suffer the same fate as my family.”

Leaving the burning farm behind, Link and Acia ran like their lives depended on it (Because it did). After fleeing from his duel with Ganondorf (They both knew how it was going to end, hence he took the hidden option of bolting out of there with his little sister in tow), the two siblings made their way through the forest; To the Lost Woods. 

Rumors and stories surrounded the woods; those who came in never came out. Death by the hordes of monsters or the slim chance that they could make it in the Lost Woods? By the Goddesses, Link was going to give his sister the best shot they had (The chance the rest of his family didn’t get).

Lakas always said that giving up all hope is the point in which you truly lost. 

Entering the ominous mist of the Lost Woods, the adrenaline stared to waver. Their fear of being caught slowly began to drain, the noises of being followed soon turned into nothing but eerie silence. His remaining arm wrapped around Acia, they slowly trudged through the maze of trees in hope to find something or even better; Someone. 

Whoever named this forest wasn’t lying when they called it the Lost Forest, every twist and turn looked like the last. Light was lost to them as only mere rays were able to shine through the canopy above them. Yet, they couldn’t wander forever. Their injuries took their toll, Link being physically unable to go on once the pain came in full swing, and Acia couldn’t touch anything due to her burns. 

Laying against a tree, the young hero allowed himself to drift to sleep, his sister getting comfortable laying next to him. The two of them were lost but at the very least, they weren’t alone.