Fictober 2023: The Legend of Zelda Oneshots

Grown Up

Prompt: "Who takes care of you?"

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The air by the open window was cool and crisp. Zelda wondered if, despite that, the soldiers training outside were hot and sweaty. She was glad she had a day off. She was spending it relaxing, right now reading a book. One of her favourite places to read was in a guest suite, where she could watch the soldiers train through a window.

She was indulging in her favorite book, a book her mother used to read to her. It had pictures for little kids. Zelda, at almost-seven years old, wasn't a little kid anymore, but she still liked the book. She would never tell anyone. How embarrassing, for someone to know she liked something so childish.

As she turned the page, she saw movement from the corner of her eye. She looked up to see a little boy pop up next to the window. He was a few inches shorter than her, with hair her same length. He wore armor with no helmet.

"Hello!" He waved as he spoke. "Are you Princess Zelda?"

She thought the answer was obvious, but she answered anyway. "Oh, hello! I am. And who are you?"

"My name's Link! I'm a knight."

She had heard of a child joining the ranks lately. Apparently he could best adults in combat and could shoot arrows that landed on the target every time. Was this him? He must be. Most children weren't knights.

It felt wrong for such a young boy to have to dedicate his life to knighthood. "You're a knight?"

"Yep! It's fun! Mostly. Kinda. Sometimes. Well, I like when Sargent says good job, and I like sword fighting. I get hurt more now that I play with grown-ups than I did when I was just playing with my friends, though."

She looked over at the soldiers. Some were training, some were standing around chatting. She wondered why Link wasn't there with them. "Shouldn't you be training? My father always says training is one's purpose in life, and the most important thing one can do. That's why I spend all my time doing it. Well, not today. But most days. This is my day off. I get one every quarter."

Link shook his head. "No, we're taking a break. Hey, speaking of His Majesty your dad, you know how he's the king?"

She knew he knew the answer, but she replied anyway. "Yes, I do."

"And your mom is dead like mine, right?"

She was sure he knew the answer to this, too. It had been a tragic but swift and painless death. Zelda found solace in knowing the illness didn't cause her mother any symptoms before she died, despite the lack of signs making her death so sudden. She wished her mother was still here. But she wasn't, so Zelda answered accordingly. "She is, yes."

"So who takes care of you?"

She considered the question. She didn't have just one caretaker. She had many nannies, handmaids, and tutors. "Well, I suppose my nannies do, for the most part."

"What's that?"

"Well, it's sort of like a parent, but they aren't related to you. But they take care of you and everything most parents do. They read to you, listen when you need someone to confide in, and make sure you brush your teeth."

"Huh. That's cool. I didn't know that was a thing. I was kinda worried you were all alone."

"No need to worry. I have my nannies and handmaidens, and I even have three friends. I don't get to spend much time with them anymore, though." She did not like this conversation anymore. She decided to change the subject. "How about you?"

"How about me what?"

"Who takes care of you? If your mother is deceased, your father is busy, and you don't have a nanny, who takes care of you?"

He made a face of confusion. "I take care of myself! I'm a big kid. And a knight!"

"How old are you?"

"I'm eight-and-a-half!" He gave a big smile. He was missing teeth.

"Break's over!" The drill sergeant called. Several soldiers groaned.

Link frowned. "Dang. It's time to do push-ups. That's my least favorite thing to do."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Training's half done. It's only five more hours, then I can go play in the woods. My favourite woods are kinda far away, though, so I'll go to different woods. In my favourite woods, there's this glowing sword by a big talking tree and a bunch of green spirits and one has stinky maracas and broccoli for hair. The tree says the sword is mine, but I can't touch it until I'm stronger or I'll die."

"That sounds like a fun game." She wished she had time to play pretend in the woods, daydreaming about stinky broccoli spirits and imagining trees could talk.

"It's actually—"

"Link!" The sergeant yelled, "Get over here now!"

Link frowned, then said goodbye. "I have to go now so I don't get in more trouble. Sargent is mean when I'm in trouble. It was nice talking to you! Bye-bye!"

"Goodbye," Zelda replied. She watched Link trip on his sword, far too big for him, as he ran away."