How A Legend Is Made [Link Audition]

[Deleted]

Freedom
	The imprisonment ends
		But now a real challenge awaits

Link had been 'gone' for some time. And yet, he knew what awaited him at their destination. People he had failed, people whose relatives he may not have been able to save. People who may have even watched the goddesses themselves damn him for what was supposed to be an eternity. He still felt an emptiness in his heart from the soul-wrenching defeat he--no, the world, had suffered. He had also had plenty of time to come to terms with what had happened, however. In his time in the sacred realm, he had had a lot of free time, time alone with himself and his thoughts. Well, not quite alone. He'd been at the mercy of the gods inside that realm. They would visit and speak to him, reaffirming their beliefs in his failures. It was supposed to be his job to save the world. He alone bore the weight of destiny upon his shoulders, and he was too weak to fulfill that destiny. Eventually, though, he'd come to understand a very important lesson inside the sacred realm.

The goddesses were wrong.

Link may have failed the world, failed Zelda, failed his people. His courage, however, had not failed him. It was not a fault of his character that had led to his downfall, for he knew in his heart that he had put everything he possibly could into being the hero everyone had wanted him to be. The way he saw it he had been tasked with the impossible, and in that sense the goddesses had betrayed him. ...Link's gaze drifted over to Zelda. After everything they'd both been through, she still believed in him. She had rescued him from his imprisonment to return to Hyrule and correct the wrongs wrought upon the world. She'd even prepared a militia of the bravest men and women in Hyrule, those still willing to stand by the fallen heroes in this dark time. The only people worth bothering with. In that regard, she was wiser than the gods. Perhaps he should send her his prayers instead; they'd be put to a lot better use.

"...We're going to do things a bit differently this time, and everything's going to turn out the better for it. Alright?" Link reassured Zelda without being prompted, verbally lending her his courage. He knew that she had been through a terrible time in his absence and he could only imagine the toll it had taken upon her. He had never been a man of many words, but that had to change if things were going to go differently this time. He could not stand back in silence watching the world go by. A long moment would go by before Link was willing to elaborate on his encouragement. "For starters, my place in this world has changed. From now on, my place is going to be at your side. Whatever comes of this, I'm going to need your help." Link went on to explain. There would be no more legendary heroes and goddesses reborn between them. Their roles were now to be as equals, or at least that was how Link saw it.

The sound of bickering caught Link's ears. They'd reached their destination. Stepping forward with a new spring in his step, Link all but threw the doors to the hall open and marched inside, taking several long strides without breaking his gaze upon the invisible horizon before coming to a stop. His hand drifted to his back and he scanned the few gathered before him. He saw both familiar and unfamiliar faces, but all of them had fallen to a hush upon his arrival, watching him expectantly. Link drew his blade, but it was not the familiar master sword that struck fear in the hearts of evil. Instead, it was a humble wooden blade he'd whittled during his many, many months of free time in the sacred realm. Whittling had become a hobby he'd taken up to pass the time. It helped stave off the isolation madness. Link held the sword in the air and leveled it at no one in particular before performing a simple exercise with it. "...Well, it's time to get to work. Would any of you be willing to engage me in a training exercise? I need someone that isn't afraid to hit me." Link announced in a matter-o-fact tone, passing an apologetic glance to Zelda. As much as he wanted her company, he couldn't ask her to fight him. Not because he thought she couldn't, but because he knew she could and didn't wish to test her unnecessarily. Still, she was more than welcome to accept his offer and he communicated this by meeting her gaze expectantly, looking for a response. "I haven't fought a battle in some time, and we're all going to need to be at our best for what's to come."