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Chapter Text

"GET UP."
Link jolted to life at the rude awakening of having a bucket of water poured on her. it was her last day of cadet training, before she found out if she became a soldier, or if her and her sister would starve.

She scowled and stood up. no talking was a better idea when in her male disguise. You never knew when you would meet a bigot.

"CADETS TO THE COURTYARD! IT'S TIME FOR THE TRIALS!"
Link gulped down a nervous breath. Being one of the 39 top scoring cadets, she was not only 13th on the list, but she had the honour of trying for the royal guard as well as just for the army. There was still a chance, though, that she would fumble. Or that someone would realise her face was more feminine. Only those who were born male and presenting male were allowed to be actual soldiers or guards, any females would either be kicked out of the training program for stupid made up reasons, not pass their first test, or get given a job handing out flyers at a convention to give the appearance of gender equality among the troops. But she was shooting for gold. it was the only way to provide for her sister, and that little girl deserved to survive.

For Aryll, she thought.

"CADET 1, DAREN LEMASON!" He was amazing with polearms and a heavy large shield.

"CADET 2, LONNIE RALLE!" Lonnie Ralle was a sneakshot lookout who was incredible with a bow.

"CADET 3, GILLIAN SMITH!" Ah, Gillian. He was interesting. He was the son of 2 royal guard soldiers. Both good men. Aryll was actually currently being taken care of by them. He knew she was a girl. A melee fighter, he preferred a heavy claymore over the usual sword

"CADET 4, TONY ERK!" A perveted idiot who touched random girls at the club. They had fought multiple times, but he was not in the top 39. He was only fourth because he had to go to court in 29 minutes for a charge of sexual assult. He would not be getting in. They were all glad to see him go.

"CADET 5, RAIDER HERO!" Ugh, Raider. His real name was Jeffrey Briggs, but he had his name legally changed after he killed a single bokoblin and then decided he was the best person on the planet. He would get in. His dad was leading the judging panel.

"CADET 6, DARREN STORM!"

"CADET 7, LUKE SKYRUNNER!'

"CADET 8, PETE MELLAR!"

"CADET 9, JOE MUMSON!"

"CADET 10, WILEY PARKSON!"

"CADET 11!"

"CADET 12!"

Don't be nervous.

"CADET 13!"

They won't see through you.

Will they?

"LINK MILSON!"

*

Link walked out into the arena, slowly and carefully taking in her surroundings. The captains did not tell them what to expect. She reached down for a sword and shield, taking them off of the rack where they stood, still. She sweated a little. There was still no attacker or challenge appearing.

They can't see through you.

Can the-

THWACK!

An arrow hit the ground next to her and she looked up to see two snipers in royal guard uniform aiming their specially modified, extremely powerful bow at her. Without bothering to pick up the quiver, she snatched a bow and two stun arrows and brought them down.

This is too easy.

She whipped around and brought up her shield just in time to stop a man. From cutting her head off. From cutting her head off? He held no training sword, but a wicked curved sickle, slick with blood. The soldier who must have been supposed to attack, for the trial, lay on the ground, red seeping through his beige tunic.

She suppressed the urge to scream, and instead blocked another swing from the man with the sickle. A yell came from the crowd as the king noticed the chaos. soldiers were there in minutes and on the assassin.

But there were more. They came pouring through the gate where the cadets were lined up ready to enter. She got the sickening feeling that there were now many less of them than 30 minutes ago.

She raced forward, and grabbed the man's sickle. They would not be defeated with flat blades meant for disarming.

With a sickening squelch, She drove it into one attacker's chest, then wrenched it out again and was forced to immediately stab another in the neck as he raised his serrated blade to her back. On and on this went, her weaving through the crowd of enemies and soldiers, her blade gracefully tearing through flesh, her eyes threatening to spill tears at the sight of so much violence she herself had caused, until there was only her and a tall person with a huge sword levelled towards her face and a collection of daggers on their belt.

They attempted to attack, but we're too slow and she smacked the flat of the sickle she was holding across their dominant hand, effectively disarming. Then rose her sickle to slash their throat. They let out a deep chuckle, then began choking on blood.

"You are strong, to-be-hero, but not stronger than ganon. he will return."

Link let out a gasp of pain as the blade was weakly thrust into her leg. not much of a wound.

Then the assassin collapsed dead.

Link held back tears. How many had she just killed?

Chapter Text

A week after that day, link made some discoveries.

Number one, she was praised for murder, for actions she was horrified by. The king brought her before a council and praised her, for defending the kingdom of Hyrule and its beautiful people. She vomited afterward, then cried for several hours.

Number two, she could absolutely provide for her sister with her new job. 2 days after being brought to the council for praise, the king declared her the highest of guards, the one to guard his daughter, Zelda. She hadn't started yet, but got the sense Zelda wasn't too keen on her. Or, well, him.

Number three, mass funerals were not her thing.
it was beautiful, seeing them all honoured, but the dead cadets and their families deserved more than all the bodies, or what was left of them, being buried with a photo and a wooden marker in the soldier's graveyard. they deserved to say goodbye.

CHAPTER BEGINNING - A WEEK AFTER THE FIRST CHAPTER

Zelda tried her hardest to accept that she was expected to be perfect, like her dad, sorry, the KING, expected.To fall in love with the wielder of the master sword, when in her heart, she knew she would never love a man.

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that her father was hiding something. Every sideways glance he gave her. Every angered face when she refused to dance with one of those horrible men at balls. And now, assigning her a bodyguard to watch her every moment? He seriously wants a man hovering over her, even while she sleeps? ‘When do I get to choose my life?’ She muttered quietly, with evident frustration.

Just two hours ago, her father had assigned the boy. A boy who had just killed 30 trained assassins. A boy who seemed to be the same age as her. They were both too young for all this violence.

That didn't mean she was going to like him. At all.

Later on in the week, 5 days after the attack, in fact, Zelda spun around in a rage to demand her bodyguard stop hovering, only to tun around to find that the boy was, for once, no where to be seen. It was almost worrying. “Link? Link where are you?” She called softly. Then she heard the sobs coming from the bathroom. The door was still open, and she could see him inside on the floor, crying. Then, much to her surprise, she heard his voice. He was SPEAKING.

“It’s my fault, I let them all die… I’m a killer, I’m a monster… god if anyone finds out about my secret they might kill Aryll… no, no, no, what's wrong with me? I need to grow up!” The knight was clearly distressed.

“Sir Link?” Zelda whispered cautiously. “Are you.. alright?”
She was honestly dying to know the secret but understood that the knight was in a fragile state, so she held it off.

The knight whipped around, fast as lightning, and made a sorry attempt to look fine. He wiped his eyes. "I'm fine." He croaked in a soft and sad tone.

"No, you are not. You are crying on the floor in a bathroom for goddesses' sake!" Zelda exclaimed.

"No." Link sobbed. "I'm not okay."

Zelda crouched down next to her knight, Link, rather awkwardly, and placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "Link, I apologise for being rather..." She cringed. "impolite, I suppose. I just have been feeling angered in the times of late. My father is expecting so much of me, and then, with him assigning me a bodyguard, it felt as if he assumed I was unable to defend myself. I do not hate or dislike you."

She hesitantly continued.

"Would you like to tell me what is going on? I know I likely won't understand, but I can try."

Link raised his head slightly. "I-" His voice cracked, and more tears rolled down his cheeks. "I killed them all. So many people. I know they were bad, but what if they were just doing something awful in order to get money they need to survive? I might have just killed a child's parent. A child who will have to have it explained to them, Daddy isn't coming home. I'm a murderer, Princess."

He took a deep, shuddering breath. "On top of that, I should have noticed the man sooner. Mabye then all the other cadets who hadn't been through the trial yet wouldn't be dead. I know I'm just a normal person, but still. I should have done SOMETHING!" He let out another heaving sob, and Zelda pulled the knight close.

"None of that was your fault. You just happened to be there."

Link sighed. "But it's not just that. I must confess that I am a lier, Princess Zelda. You see-" Zelda cut Link off. "Stop calling me princess. Now, continue."

The knight softly smiled. "Okay, Zelda. Now, I understand if you wish to remove me from my position after I tell you this, but please, goddesses, give me a way to provide for my sister, or let her be adopted by someone. Anything. Just please,.don't let anyone hurt her. So, the truth is..." Was Link's voice sounding unusually high?

"you see, I'm..." The knight took a deep breath.

"A girl. I'm a girl princess, and I'm an orphan. I should not be a knight."

Chapter Text

Link wasn't sure what to do. Wasn't sure what she'd done. Goddesses, Zelda must have known from the second she entered that room! She hadn't been masking her voice, or speaking deeper. She'd been speaking, normally, in a feminine voice. It horrified her that the princess had even heard her speak. After she had explained, she would go back to signing or just not speaking, a habit she had gotten into after getting told she 'spoke weird' and asked 'is Hylian not your first language?', so that the poor princess didn't have to hear her awful voice. Another thing to hate, she supposed.

Zelda, on the other hand? She had some different things going through her head.

Zelda wasn't sure what to think.Link didn't look like he, sorry, she, was joking. The knight was really a girl. And she looked nervous.
"Are you going to tell your father? Please, just don't. You can fire me, do whatever, but ..don't do anything that could hurt Aryll. Please."
Zelda frowned. "who's Aryll?" "M-My little sister. She's only 8 and never did anything wrong. Please." Link croaked. There were tears rolling down her face.
Zelda frowned. If Link was so afraid of what they'd do to her sister, why did she tell the truth? Why did she not pretend she was hiding something like, 'I can't swim for over twenty metres, sorry' or, 'I don't think I should be your guard'? She seemed almost too honest and truthful. Usually Knights, or just people in general, often lied quite a bit to remove themselves from a situation.
"Why did you tell me?" Zelda thought out loud.
"Well, I suppose I just felt the need. I didn't want to keep that kind of thing a secret. And besides, you were so angry at the idea of having me, a man, follow you everywhere, and with you hearing ym voice I thought you would already assume I was a girl. And besides, you asked! I can't lie to royalty!" Link stammered.

And then there was a knock on the door to Zelda's room. "ZELDA. OPEN THIS DOOR, YOU HAVE A PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN 20 MINUTES AND IF YOU LOOK ANYWHERE NEAR AS DISHEVELED AND AWFUL AS YOU LOOKED AT THE TRIALS, YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT BE SEEING THE DIVINE BEASTS. IF YOU EXPECT ANYTHING YOU NEED TO WORK FOR IT.
IF YOU DON'T PULL YOUR ACT TOGETHER, I'M SENDING IN SOMEONE TO MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A REAL PRINCESS." Declared King Rhoam Bospheramous of Hyrule.

(suprise surprise he's an a**hole and gets worse)

Link wiped the tears from her eyes and frowned. Their good king hyrule was this awful to his daughter? Besides, her beautiful, floor length, navy dress and cream coloured coat at the trials had looked beautiful!

Zelda's shoulders slumped, and she walked toward her closet, pulling out an array of progressively more and more elaborate gowns. "I hate wearing dresses all the time," she mumbled, "but if I'm not wearing one, I'm not 'representing the royal family and the nation of Hyrule' or 'setting a standard for royalty,' so he gets extremely..." She winced. "Frustrated."

"Pr-" Link attempted to talk, but cut her self off. She didn't feel like hearing her own voice anymore.
Zelda willed herself not to cry.

Link silently rose and made her way over toward Zelda to help the girl, who shooed her away. "I'm perfectly capable of choosigmng my own clothing and dressing myself." Zelda spoke tersely, her frame tensing up and her face reverting to a practiced princess face. With a polite but strained smile, Link thought she looked as if she was a real people person. But the mask was not complete, and she was looking through the cracks to the broken down girl underneath. For that was all that either of them were. Teenagers. Girls. Children. Scared enough that they feared all those around them, yet also feared for them, for the rising of the demon king was an ever imminent threat. Young enough that they called their youngest years 'just a little while ago'.
Old enough to go out with someone they liked. Broken down enough to let no one see the tears.

Chapter Text

WARNING: START OF THIS CHAPTER HAS MENTIONS OF BLOOD AND GORE, INJURY, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF A WHOLE FREAKING LOT OF TRAUMA FOR THE CHARACTERS.

Link struggled toward the fountain, attempting to ignore the searing pain in her side or the blood pouring into her eyes, the scarlet tears she wept. No, she did not currently care for her own wellbeing, but for the fading woman (no, she was still just a girl, they both were) in her arms. The girl was struggling to breathe, constantly losing more and more of her life-force as her sacred blood spilt from 2 arrow wounds in her shoulder and leg. She couldn't let Princess Zelda (her Zelda, her light) die. "Zelda.. no, hold on, we're nearly there, it's going to be okay. You're okay, we're okay." She spoke, but her voice was barely a whisper and kept cracking, she was not so sure of herself. "Link..." The Princess (more than just a figure, more than just a friend) whimpered, tears making tracks in the dried blood, grime, and not dried blood coating her face. Pain painted both girl's faces, and the sky wept as they limped slowly through the blood, the tears, the screams, the fallen, the mud, toward what would hopefully save them. But before she could reach the healing waters, a bloodcurdling wail, a plea for help, whipped her head around. And there she saw King Rhoam Bospheramus of Hyrule, and Revali of The Rito, and, most upsettingly, her lovely, sweet little sister. 2 dead, and one corrupted by malice.

******************************

(I will let you guess who was who, but no spoilers from me!)

******************************

ONE MONTH FROM LAST CHAPTER

Link opened her eyes with a gasp. This had been the fifth time this week she had had the nightmare. But it always slipped out of reach, with her unable to remember it.
She got a bad feeling that something rather... unpleasant, was going to take place soon.
She sighed, and got up out of bed.

********

For the past month, Link had not had her routine changed once. But in the last three, she had had everything change.

She had gone from a normal girl with a loving family to an orphan.
From someone who never accepted help, to someone who was willing to do anything.
From someone who had never left her village to someone who was now off to meet the races of hyrule.
(From someone who disliked herself, to someone who loathed her every part.)
And, from a girl, to a knight.

For the first time in 5 years, Princess Zelda was permitted by her father to leave castle town. And she was EXCITED. But her father was not only an overbearing twit, but also an irritating sasquatch of a man who constantly reminded his daughter of her failures. And because of this, the first place they were headed was the spring of wisdom, where he wanted her to awaken her powers.

Zelda tried to protest, but her father was very insistent. "You will first head directly to the spring of wisdom, where hopefully you shall awaken your powers. No detours. With the rise of Ganon imminent, and the prophecy..." He cut himself off. "Never mind. You will awaken your powers, or you will continue serving as nothing but a disappointment." The king sneered.
Zelda had looked furious, but said nothing.

Link hadn't had a father for a while, but she was pretty sure they were NOT meant to act this way.

By the time they had got back to Zelda's room to pack for the long journey, the girl was crying.

***********************************************************

It took them about two hours to get out of central Hyrule after setting off for the journey, and they now settled down for a short break. It would have taken longer with the original proposed armed cohort, but in the end, Rhoam had decided to keep their little... expedition, a secret. Apparently he had manipulated himself into another mess by telling people that Zelda had had her powers awakened from the young age of 6.
Therefore just Link.
But Zelda was far from helpless. She had trained quietly in a courtyard in the middle of the night, dressed up in a tunic with her hair bundled tight under a cap so if anyone saw, they would assume it was Link. She was good with a sword, but incredible with a bow. And as far as the King was aware, she couldn't handle either.

Despite the slightly disastrous conversation with Zelda's father happening some hours ago, the effect of his verbal abuse toward her that afternoon still lingered. She flinched when Link tapped her shoulder to let her know they should stop soon. She looked exhausted. And when she tripped once down a tricky path, she looked as if she felt Link would yell at her for it.

Link had a feeling that the damage went more than one afternoon deep.

She took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and approached the girl.
"Zelda..." She spoke, voice a little croaky from lack of much recent use.
The girl flinched, then whipped her head around. "Y-yes, Sir Link?"
Link sighed. "Princess, I know it's not my place to ask, but... are you okay? You seemed to be treated rather, well, almost rudely, by your father earlier. Does he speak to you like that regularly?"
Zelda blinked. Hard. "I'm quite alright, Link. And you are correct, it is not your place to ask." She snapped, but her voice broke at the end, which gave Link all the information she needed.

King Rhoam Bospheramous Hyrule was an abusive parent. And there was nothing anyone could do about it.
She got as close as she could to the princess without overreaching her personal space as the girl broke down in waves of sobs.
Link frowned. "You know princess, I may just be a bodyguard, but you are already doing me a favour by keeping my secret. So if you ever need, I don't know, someone to talk to or something, I am here. You don't have to suffer in silence. I did that for too long."

The girl gave a weak nod, then straightened herself up, tears drying away. "Now, let's go disobey direct orders from a monarch!"
Link sighed. This was not going to be easy.

Chapter Text

Link had had the dream again that night. She should have known, known that something terrible was going to happen. The second that Zelda told her about the spring. The second they got within a distance where it was visible. She should have stopped them. But she was only remembering it now. And she wasn't sure if Zelda would make it or not. but she knew that it was ending. Right here, right now.

ONE WEEK EARLIER
Though it almost pained the princess to say it, she was appreciating her bodyguard. Link was polite, and kind, and actually there for her. She didn't pretend to understand. She didn't tell her that her father, esteemed King Rhoam Bospheramus was correct and maybe she should try harder. No, Link listened. She was there through the regular breakdowns and tears. And she was perfect. (Not that Zelda would ever say that to her face.)

"Alright, so, Link, first up, we are headed to Gerudo town! To meet with the Gerudo chief, Urbosa!"
Link cocked her head, shock it with a look of confusion, mimed shaving a beard, and wiggled her pointer finger in front of her face.

Link speak for, "What? I can't come, no boys there?" or more literally, "What? I can't, not a boy." but considering the conversation, and the fact that several other guards who absolutly did not know of Link's... situation were in the room and would probably be able to decode Link speak, she probably was saying the first one.

Zelda sighed. Though she knew Link was a girl, no one else did, and as much as she wanted the everything for the saint of a knight (who kept her grounded through her father's harsh verbal abuse and insistence on her being pathetic, too boyish, and a disappointment) she knew one thing she could probably never provide was the true freedom she deserved. The freedom to be herself, to be honest, and to be able to spend time with her little sister Aryll.

she hoped that after Gerudo town, they would take a short stop at Hateno. She could wear a big floppy hat or fierce deity mask or something so that no-one recognised their princess wandering around with an old resident turned 'male' knight to the royal family and her eight year old sister.

It would be luxury to just be able to pretend for once.
To play normal in the way that little girls played her life.

To not be the pretty face for the kingdom, to not be the girl constantly getting asked for her hand in marriage. The girl constantly disappointing her father. 'The princess who failed.' he called her. She was pretty sure that that wasn't how a dad was supposed to act.

But how would she know?

Link had never been somewhere so humid or hot before. standing on the edge of the Gerudo desert in a tunic and pants, she felt like the godess' had decided she should live in eternal discomfort. And they hadn't even actually crossed the border into Gerudo territory yet!

goddess', she was weak. A knight who couldn't even handle the heat of the gerudo desert in relatively light clothing? How would she handle if a fight broke out and she had to march down there in armour?

just as she was contemplating resigning and finding a job as a cheese seller in hateno for a minimum wage 4 rupees an hour as opposed to her more than above average salary of nearly 500 rupees a day, Zelda exited the stable and approached with a dangerous look on her face. "Liiinkkk!" she called in a singsongy voice that left Link deeply concerned about what shenanigans were about to unfold.

she carefully looked up, noticing that Zelda's hands were very deliberately placed behind her back. She gave a bit of an evil grin. "Ready to play dressups?" She spoke in the same irritatingly cheery voice as she pulled a traditional gerudo vai outfit from behind her back. "Now I know you could just wear normal clothes, but there is a risk that someone will alert my father to your gender. Besides, where's the fun in just acting normal?"

Chapter Text

Gerudo town was quite possibly one of the most beautiful places link had ever seen.

it had fountains pouring down from towering aqueducts, grand palm trees lining a sandstone street, rich silk and cotton drapes floating down in a light breeze, and people everywhere, dressed in beautiful, rich shades of magenta and snowy white.

she had opted to wear her own clothing, and Zelda had not opposed it. She had only been joking with the vai clothing, though link did wear it for the desert trek, as to not overheat.
(She didn't hate it.)

as they entered the town gates, it occurred to her how strange it must look to the few hylian people scattered through the town. A female knight, guarding the princess, no less. She half expected to be stopped by a guard on their way to the palace. But instead, the guards simply looked past her as if she were a regular visitor to the town.

★★★★★★

Zelda was almost nervous. She had not seen Urbosa.in a very long time, not since...
well, her mother's funeral. The woman had comforted her then, so she did not fear too deeply.
What she was afraid of was the reaction to Link.

At her mother's funeral, her father had spoke of appointing no one but the Chosen Hero as a Knight for Zelda. To protect her in ways that no one could protect her mother. And Link was not a chosen one. Her father had said, the prophecy spoke of:
'A man to defend, until the very end
Hyrules last stand, Knight enabling the princesses hand'
or some shit like that. Whoops. She'd sworn.

Sometimes she got the feeling that her father had not told her the true hero's prophecy.

Because he still looked at her with disgust.
He still told her she needed to find a suitable man.
He still told her that she wasn't good enough, and 'what would they do if the hero wasn't good enough and the princess wasn't either?'

but.
That was besides the point. There was a chance that Urbosa would fear that Zelda needed more protection, and then would assign her Gerudo guards, who would get to know Link as a girl, and cause some complicated situations when they arrived back in central Hyrule. And as much as she wanted to believe Urbosa thought of her as capable, and as much as she may, she would always want to protect her. Zelda guessed losing someone important to you would do that to a person.

★★★★★★

"Little bird!" Urbosa greeted Zelda with a smile, and a small show of confusion when she noticed Link that vanished I half a second.
Link did not waver.

"Urobsa. We have come to ask for the assistance of your people against the rising threat if calamity ganon." Zelda spoke formally, attempting to diminish the smile that her mother figure brought to her face.

"Always all business, evenwhen you were a little girl." The woman chuckled. "But yes, princess. You will have our help. We are already aware of the calamitous affect that his return would have on all the people's of Hyrule. You will find my warriors supporting the King's army soon enough."

Link noted the careful choice the Gerudo chief had made to not refer to The Good King™ as Zelda's father.

She approved.

"Little bird, may I inqire upon your knight?" Urbosa questioned kindly as she gazed daggers upon Link.
She gulped as Zelda stood.
"Well, I disuppose I should unpack my belongings, don't you Link?" Link have a nervous nod as the girl left the room, effectivley trapping he rwith the angry looking, tall, scimitar wielding Chief Urbosa.

"You're the hero, aren't you?"
Link wasn't sure how to respond. She wasn't sure if a way without speaking.
"Lady Urbosa, I...
I honestly don't know."
she reponded quietly. "But besides, Zelda's father always says it's a man, so..."
Her voice cracked unpleasantly from weeks of little use.
Urbosa looked confused.
"What prophecy do you speak of? Because the one I know of, the one Zelda's mother told me, speaks of a woman."

★★★★★

Upstairs, Zelda was panicking. She had just realised the date. If they didn't smash out all of the other champions and the springs in this next week, they would be back late. And her father wouldn't like that one bit.

She was weak too, and from the way the hyrule animal count had been reporting more malice-crazed bokoblins, lizalfos, and moblins than ever, it seemed the rising was imminent.
And she wasn't going to be able to stop it.

Suddenly, she was choking. It felt like her mind was running at 2000
She decided to compose a plan. A list. She relaxed a bit at the thought of just laying out all her problems and tidying them up. It usually made it easier.
PRIORITIES:
1. Talk to all the champions. Mipha had been agreed to being a champion since long before Link came around, and Daruk had come to the castle to talk with them instead. All that left was Revali.
2. The springs. It was a condition of her father's that each time she journeyed away from the safety of the castle and its surroundings, she must visit the springs of wisdom, power, and courage. He seemed to be getting desperate for her to awaken her powers, as this time he wished for her to visit one of the long since forgotten springs of the goddess Hylia. Add that to the list.
3. practice bow skills more. The one documented weapon of the princess was the bow of light, which shot arrows of complete purity and had near unlimited power. She would need to use it when the time came.
4? Try some Hateno cheese and mess around with guardian parts with Purah. She couldn't completely deprive herself of things she enjoyed.

★★★★★

When Link approached Zeld outside in the guards training yard, who was half way to rage quitting after two arrows in a row hit the outer circle of the target, it took It took the princess a moment to register the hollow look in Link's eyes, or the stray tear that threatened to roll down her face.
She didn't even get to ask before link spoke.
"I heard the real prophecy."
Zelda froze.
"What do you mean, the real prophecy?" She murmured, her panic levels rocketing sky-high with every second.
"Zelda... I'm sorry, but your father lied to you."
Link said carefully, in a tone that made Zelda terrified. Why did Link look so scared?
"Tell me." Zelda blurted out before Link got the chance to speak again.
"Tell me... The truth."
Link wiped the traitourous tear from her cheek and spoke.

"A hero who seems out of place,
using her strength as a shield.
Killers, silent deadly grace,
children killed and minds not healed.
A princess takes a final stand
beneath the bloodstained skies.
Held over red-drenched land,
defeat ganon and minds are free to fly.
By the sword wielder,
girl born of shadow and flame
the dark beast ganon shall not rise again."

Zelda was quiet for a moment.
"The hero is a girl..." Link nodded tersly.
LInk, weren't you born after a fire on the night of the shadow comet?" She spoke quietly.
The knight did nothing but nod again.
"Out of place, Killers, with deadly grace, children killed. Link this sounds an awful lot like..."

Link squeezed her eyes shut, willing the world to go away.
Though the blackness removed her from her thoughts for a moment, she ultimately opened her eyes, staring directly at Zelda. The princess. They both knew it now.

"Me. It sounds like me."