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The Blade rests heavy against Link’s back. As heavy as it is, it’s also familiar from the lives and heroes past who also wielded the weapon. Link is the latest in a long line of heroes, going back to before records began and possibly even before the legends started. It is a weighted responsibility. An honour that so very few would ever get, but with it an unmentionable horror looming over the horizon. It’s peaceful now, but it will not remain that way. Time is ticking down from the moment of Link’s birth to when the Calamity will return. And when it does, the hero and the princess will stand as one to defeat it once more, as they will for all eternity.
This is why Link must train daily, with Father’s help, as he is now. Captain Gusho of the Royal Guard is a stern man and never talked much. The knowledge of his son’s fate rests heavy in his mind, as it does the King’s. At his father’s request, Link lives in his childhood home in Hateno Village. He is only seven, having lifted the Blade from its resting place only a year previously. Training began the moment Gusho realised that Link was the hero reborn and Link learned fast. With his mother’s Sheikah time-manipulation abilities, given to him by virtue of blood, coupled with his natural skill with the Sword, he will succeed. He has to.
Life continues on, destiny does not wait but its fated must. Both father and son are trapped at home, waiting for the birth of a new family member. Link’s mother, Kyo, is pregnant, after waiting years for another child. Link treasures the times spent home. It is comforting and easy to protect, so unlike the uncharted wildness outside Hateno that the thought to travelling to complete his destiny makes him wary.
“Are you excited for your brother or sister to be born?”
When Gusho speaks, everyone listens. His few words are often important, or at least necessary. You do not wait to reply, you just do.
“Yes, Father. I am. When they are older, I hope they like my cooking.”
Gusho grunts. For him, the knowledge that his son is a good chef is a reassuring one, for he doesn’t know how to cook and Link’s mother often needs help in the kitchen with her admittedly admirable habit of cooking for the entire village. Still, the future hero should focus more on training and not on his hobby. The hero should be a knight, not a chef like Link wants to be.
When the Calamity is defeated, then thoughts may turn to likes and dislikes. Until then, cooking is a necessity, not a job.
Pity. He likes cooking.
The midwife comes rushing out of the house, halting training. The baby has arrived.
The midwife speaks to Gusho before Link. It is understandable, he is the father, Link is merely the brother. She then turns to Link. “My assistant has your little sister. Go see her. We’ll send for you later to see your mother.” Then, she and Gusho leave.
Link enters the house and goes to his baby sister’s room. It’s rather bare for Father believes in simplicity and overspending for a baby who can barely see is unnecessary.
The assistant midwife is there, rocking the squealing baby. She turns to him and glances warily at the Sword attached to Link’s back. The weight of the future must weigh on her as well.
“Leave the sword by the door. I don’t want you hurting your sister,” the assistant midwife says. “She looks like your father, a Hylian like you.”
Hopefully she will have Gusho’s natural sword-fighting abilities like Link as well. Mother, despite her natural ability to slow time, rarely does so and never in combat. She’s a chef, not a knight like Link.
The baby indeed looks like Father. Was Link ever this small? This helpless? He’s the hero, he shouldn’t be helpless. Was the Princess, the girl who so recently lost her mother the Queen, the girl who is meant to help Link in his fight against the Calamity, the girl Link has never met, this helpless? Legend tells of a warrior princess alongside her courageous knight. How could such people ever begin so small and helpless?
Link refuses to hold his sister, as he would have to leave the Master Sword by the door to do so. He could never do that. “The Hero needs his Sword, he should never leave it”, the voice that echoes within it tells him.
Gusho returns. Link has never seen him so anxious. Emotions rarely cross his face as it does his mother’s. Whatever has happened is bad. Has the Calamity returned early? Link is not trained enough to defeat it and the Princess has not yet awakened her power. Is this why Link drew the Sword so early?
“Link, your mother wishes to see you.”
Link wanders to his parents’ room. Mother is lying pale on the bed, sick. She has been sick throughout the entire pregnancy in her heart. Her heart was weak too during her pregnancy with Link.
“Link, darling, come here,” she whispers, beckoning him closer. She’s weak, but she loves him, and Link loves her. “Link, your sister, she… I’ve left my cooking book by the fireplace. It’ll have all the recipes you need in there.”
Link is never allowed to cook without his mother being there. He is old enough for the Sword, but not for the pot. Now, he’s old enough for both.
Nobody tells Link what’s wrong with her. He knows. Link’s mother has always had a weak heart and having children made it weaker. Two pregnancies were too much. Like with all Sheikah, potions never worked on her, only food. Food that she is too weak to eat. She will die before the day is over.
The assistant midwife brings the baby in and gives it to his father. Then, both she and the midwife leave to give them privacy. A final moment for the family before tragedy.
His mother names his sister. “Mira, her name is Mira. She must mirror her brother.” She then turns to Link. “Promise me you’ll protect her, Link. Hylia knows your father can’t cook. He’d poison you both.”
He promises, silently like Gusho does, with a solemn nod of his head. He shouldn’t leave. The last moments of life are meant to be spent surrounded by family, but if Link stays any longer he will cry. Heroes don’t cry. Link takes Mira from his father and goes to watch the sunset.
Link stares down at her, finally letting a single tear fall onto the blanket Mira is wrapped in. He loves her, his little sister, it isn’t her fault. She may have only just been born, she may need protecting, but she will grow strong like him. He make sure of it. He’ll make sure that she lives to be older than Mother and that she will outlive everyone left in the family.
Link places one hand down to where the Master Sword should be. It isn’t there. He’s left it inside.