New Home - BotW Link x Reader (Undergoing Revisions)

Chapter 08 - Kindred Spirits, Spirited Adventure

A knight is independent. A knight is steadfast. A knight is selfless.

Those were the words imparted onto him, but he knew what they meant in the heat of battle.

A knight was solitary, even among his unit. He had to be able to defend himself and complete his directive alone, if necessary.

A knight was strong, even when he didn't want to be. He cannot run away, no matter how scared he is.

A knight was stupidly brave, even in the face of a hopelesss defeat. He had to fight, even if his doing so would not turn the tide of battle nor offer time to those retreating.

Those truths, solemn truths disguised only as guidelines, were only amplified now that he was the knight chosen to protect the princess. Only the finest knights were ever chosen for this role - he was honored to have been chosen. And among these Champions now, perhaps these new comrades would come to trust him as his old mates had.

Well, maybe the Rito guy wouldn't, but he would work on that.

Still, as the king imparted on him, and his old knight-captain had echoed, now the entire was kingdom was watching him, because all of Hyrule loved their princess, and she was to be protected at all costs. If that wasn't nerve-wracking enough, so too was the thought that any slip-up might have him hanged or banished or whatever else the king might deem necessary.

On any royalty's head was a high price - which would have to be paid if anything were to happen to it. So, if Princess Zelda were to fall, for any reason...

He didn't want to think about it. Thinking of failure often invites it. So, he didn't do that. He didn't dare.

A knight is independent. A knight is steadfast. A knight is selfless.

The weight of Hyrule's future was on his shoulders. His and his alone. He could not falter, and he could not fail. He wouldn't allow himself to. So, to that end... maybe the Rito was right. Maybe leaning on others was wrong to do. After all, this responsibility was his alone to bear, and it was up to him to hold it.

A knight is stupidly brave. A knight is strong. A knight is solitary.

Solitary...

Yes, solitary. Who better to protect the princess than himself? Who else could be trusted to do so? Who else... but him, he who had been chosen to do so?

Solitary.

There was a time and place for camaraderie, and it wasn't now.

Not when all of Hyrule was counting on him.

—

My feet may as well have had wings for as quickly as I was running, and I might as well have been a bird for how little my feet actually touched the ground - or so it seemed.

I don't think I had ever run faster than I had in those brief, fleeting moments of me dashing down to the hill, bypassing the path and running through longer grass, down steeper hills, and leaping over bushes on my way to Hateno's village proper.

If there was one thing I could thank about Hateno, it was that my house was uphill and the proper downhill, and not the other way around. If I had to run uphill to reach the village gate, I'd have never gotten there in time.

And this, unlike every other instance in my life... I needed to reach my destination as quickly as possible. In a town as lazy as Hateno, it wasn't hard not to feel laidback all the time. But now I felt a sense of urgency previously unseen here. And it certainly felt off to be feeling that sense of urgency, as much as it must have looked off to everyone I blew past.