Homeward Bound | Legend of Zelda

Chapter 5 - Kindness for the Last Knight

"So, what's a kid like y'self doin out 'ere?"

Link shrugged, pointing towards the looming shadow of the castle in the distance. "I'm going to stop that."

Brigo halted in his tracks. He stared down at Link, a mixture of disbelief and perturbation contorting his face. "You an idiot, boy?" He snapped, starting up again, his pace quicker than it had been.

Link drew his eyebrows together, a pang of hurt in his chest as he looked back to Hyrule, who was trailing behind. The smaller hero scowled at the back of Brigo's head.

"No?" Link pursed his lips. He didn't think he was an idiot. He had tried to eat a raw mushroom yesterday, but those were extenuating circumstances. 

"Nobody goes into that castle and comes out alive." Brigo warned. His face set into a glower, eyeing the riverbank a short distance away, gaze away from Link. "You'd do well to keep well away."

Link shuffled after him, fingers tingling to draw his sword again and prove... prove what, exactly? That he could fight? Sure, he'd taken out a stray bokoblin with a stick and poked three chu chus to their doom, but he knew that wasn't anything compared to the darkness shrouding their land. The guardians were evidence enough that creatures more powerful that a walking glob of slime roamed these lands, and truth be told, Link wasn't sure he was up to it - despite what Hyrule's says.

"I can't." He muttered, fiddling with the hem of his tatty shirt. "I'm a hero."

Brigo scoffed. "Right. And I'm a Great Fairy."

"Wow, this guy is a moron." Hyrule crossed his arms. "You're a knight of Hyrule, and he has the balls to doubt-"

"I'm a knight?" Link stopped, eyes blowing wide at the revelation, eyes fixed right on the boy that Brigo couldn't see. 

"A knight?" Brigo echoed, the end of his spear stamping into the ground with a blunt thud. "There ain't been a knight in these lands for a century. They all died in the Calamity. Don't you go disrespectin' their memory." 

Link turned back around, torn between harassing Hyrule for more arguably crucial facts about himself and defending his honour against Brigo's scepticism. He couldn't blame the man, not really, not when he was only just learning this as well. 

Link pressed his lips together. "I- I can-" I can fight. I can protect this kingdom. I can save people. I can save Hyrule. I can end Calamity Ganon. "I can." He muttered, hands curling into fists of determination, mouth setting in a firm line. "I will save Hyrule." 

Brigo was quiet. His dark eyes bore into Link's fair blue, wide nose twitching as he sniffed indignantly. The tension in his shoulders and brow relaxed slightly, easing up on the fierce incredulity. "Is that so?" He spoke slowly, softly, as if he were speaking to a child. Link ignored his tone and nodded. "Well then." He turned back to the path and continued. "We need more people like you in the world. Ready to face whatever. Courage has been lost over the years, ever since the Princess and 'er knight fell." Hyrule's ears perked up, and he hopped forwards to walk on the other side of Link, listening attentively. 

A ringing sounded in Link's ears, a loud and high pitched drone of nothing. He pinched the bridge of his nose, willing it way. The Princess and her knight. Wh... Why did that make him feel sick to the stomach? It was worse than the chu chu incident, and he worried his rushed breakfast would be making an even hastier reappearance.

Hyrule's elbow found Link's ribs, startling him back into the present. "Princess?" He choked out. 

"Ay." Brigo nodded solemnly. "Both fell in the fight. Dreadful thing. Some say they were the only pair that could vanquish the evil. Terrible shame. End to the royal line, too. Not much to be done about it. Not with that thing still roaming." He jutted his thumb towards the castle, grimacing in disgust as if the mere thought of the evil lurking in the castle hallways was enough to revolt him.