I've had various story ideas surrounding the Legend of Zelda franchise, but I feel like I don't know the universe and its rules well enough to write about it properly. I got into the franchise through the only game that isn't canon: Hyrule Warriors. Besides that, I've only played Breath of the Wild and I'm working on completing Age of Calamity. Basically, I'm not as knowledgeable as other Legend of Zelda fans about what I'm talking about. 

Still, I wanted to write something on the universe since I love playing the games, so when it was my turn to choose the prompt, I went with something I could base a LoZ snippet off of. This section is meant to be about Zelda during her youth, in the Breath of the Wild timeline, before the events of Age of Calamity. Enjoy!

>(<>)<

Zelda was supposed to be studying history. She usually found history quite repetitive, since all her father ever assigned her to learn from it was the tale of the heroes from ten thousand years ago. She was descended from the princess from the stories, destined to unlock her sealing power when Calamity Ganon rose once again. Her father wanted her to know the legend like the back of her hand so she could activate her sealing power as quickly as possible.

     Yet, Zelda couldn't bring herself to read the text.

     She squinted at the lines in front of her, which were discussing the Champions of old. She sighed, closed the book, and walked to over to the floor-to-ceiling windows installed in her mother's study.

     Zelda had always done her homework in her mother's study, even when her mother wasn't there to teach her anymore.

     From the tower, Zelda had an extensive view of Hyrule stretching out before her. She could see the clouds of the Great Plateau in the far distance, and before that the small towns gathering around Hyrule Castle dotted the plains. Right below her were the training yards.

     Zelda had mixed feelings about the training yards.

     When she was younger, she'd love to peer out the windows and watch the soldiers endlessly wave their swords in an almost hypnotic dance. They'd slash through the air in perfect precision, sharpening their skills for when the need for battle arose. Zelda loved watching the soldiers train; they made her feel safer in ways she didn't know how to describe.

     "One day," her mother had said to her, "one of them will be chosen to wield the sword that seals the darkness. That knight will accompany you to help defeat Calamity Ganon."

     Zelda hated thinking about that part. Over the years, as the date of Calamity Ganon's next return loomed closer and closer, more and more people were sending their sons away to become knights for the king. They all wanted their son to be chosen as the next legendary hero. Seeing each face look up at her and her father in hopeful expectation made Zelda sick to her stomach.

     So many futures relied on her.

     Still, she couldn't help but be amused at the soldiers' antics. Since the legendary hero was always named Link, almost all of the castle's soldiers were named that. It was funny listening to the commanding officer instruct soldiers by their names, only to find that more than he intended responded. These situations had gotten Zelda in trouble more than once when she spit out her tea in laughter.

     The soldiers dispersed below her, presumably taking a break from their extensive training. It was impossible to tell them apart with their identical armor and helmets, yet Zelda still watched the small crowd wander around, breaking off into friend groups.

     How nice it must have been to be part of a crowd. They weren't singled out because they happened to be a princess born before the prophecy took place. Sometimes Zelda wondered if she hadn't been born a princess, would she still have to fulfil the role set before her?

     A couple of the soldiers had removed their helmets, revealing a couple young men horsing around with each other. One of them had seen her watching and waved from far away. He was immediately shoved by his companions; they were probably berating him for not being respectful enough to the princess.

     Zelda blushed as she turned away.

     One day, one of the knights would be chosen to fight by her side. They would probably be spending a lot of time together. Zelda hoped her chosen knight would be kind... perhaps like the waving soldier from below. A knight who wasn't afraid to be friendly. Perhaps he could help her through her stress of saving the world.

     Zelda rubbed the bridge of her nose the minute the fantasies of actually having a companion flooded into her brain. She was a princess. He was to be a knight. They would band together to save the world, then disperse to return to their lives. There would be nothing more to it than that.

     Still, she couldn't keep the soldiers out of her mind as she sat back down to read her history book. The thought of having a loyal companion took over her brain, until the words became meaningless blobs of ink on the paper. She groaned, cursing herself for every having to be born into this destiny.

     She may not have wanted the life she was born with, but it was the life she was going to have to endure.

>(<>)<

A/N

Honestly, I've really like how much characterization BotW and AoC have given to Zelda. It was refreshing to see the game take time to show how much the responsibility of trying to unlock her sealing power was weighing on her. I could go on and on about why I loved BotW so much, but this is just an author's note. This is for announcements. 

So, go read therearenooptions 's half! It's over the word count too; it's not just me making long snippets each week!

I'll see you all next Monday! :-)

~squidneyxd