BOTW: The Lonely Knight

Remember

Link looked closely at it. He'd passed by it so many times before, he recognized where the picture had been taken.

"Does it look familiar? From this village, you should be able to get there in a half day's time."

She turned to Link.

"Now go, child. Seek out what the Lady Zelda has shown you."

Link looked at the picture. He hesitated for a moment. Would this memory make things right, like Impa said? Or would it simply affirm to him the truth of what he was: a lonely failure of a knight.

"What if this last one does not change anything?"

"Then you can return knowing you've done all you could. But maybe, just maybe... you can finally be who you truly are, Link. To find your cause once more."

Confused Link, looked at Impa. What did she mean by that? He already had a cause.

"Go now, Link. You will need as much time as you can get."

Deciding to take the leap of faith, the Champion nodded, before leaving the house. After waking up Epona, he got onto her back and rode off.

12 hours later

After riding out of the village, across the Kakariko Bridge, and through Blatchery Plain, Link got off of Epona. He'd found the place at last: a now rather moist and damp part of the plain called the Ash Swamp.

Leaving his trusted steed behind, Link slowly walked over to the location of the final memory. Reluctantly, he looked around. As he took in his surroundings, he began to remember. Of a time of fire and death.

Flashback

Link held Zelda by her arm as he led the way forward, the rain continuing to beat down from above, drenching them completely.

"If we can make it to Fort Hateno, we might be able to take shelter there," he told her.

Zelda breathed heavily as she tried to keep up. The two had been running since they'd left Hyrule Castle. Still, in spite of how out of breath she was, she did her best to keep up. Now especially was no time to slow down. It had only been several minutes before they'd heard the familiar sounds of Guardians, letting them know that they were being followed.

As they ran towards the distant wall of the fortress, Link suddenly heard something rushing towards them at top speed. Grabbing Zelda, he pulled her down as he ducked with her.

"Ah!"

A beam of blue light flew over them, hitting a nearby rock and shattering it to pieces in a ball of flames.

Getting to his feet, Link looked back. The horde was here, and they were ready to kill. Many Guardians were already attacking the fort, as the defenders atop the wall did their best to hold them back. The rest however, focused on the two as they stood alone in the field.

Knowing that there would be no reinforcements coming to save them, Link got up to his feet and drew the sword of evil's bane and his royal shield.

"Whatever happens, stay back, princess." he told her.

"Link, you've never fought any of the Guardians before, you don't know what they're capable of!" Zelda said, trying to warn him.

"It's time I found out then."

A Guardian stalker came scuttling towards them. Raising one of its many legs, it thrust it forward, baring its sharp metal claws. Link quickly raised his shield to block the strike, as he swung his sword down on the robot's leg. It hit it with a clang, leaving barely a scratch in its limb.