Author's notes:

Since I am relatively new at writing, any sort of constructive criticism is appreciated. Is there something that you liked or not? Do you have an observation about the story? Feel free to post reviews all you want.

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Part one: Getting out of Hyryle

Foddlan year 1174

The weather was bright and sunny in this mundane afternoon of the Zora Kingdom. On the rocky beach of the calm river which ran just at south of the land of the lively fish people, there was not much activity, as usual.

Well, that was if you did not count the odd group of people who were currently in a small break beside the wooden construct that they had already almost finished.

In the shadows of a nearby rock formation were sitting a familiar blonde Hylian, as well as his best friend, a gigantic red Zora.

The latter had just come back from a refreshing swimming tour, which was pretty useful for him to avoid dehydration. It was rare, after all, for a Zora to have to work under such conditions. In fact, he was probably the only one present who would have rather had a rainy day to work.

The young warrior at his side was wearing an old pair of pants that looked torn up at their bottom. While he did not wear a top of any kind, he had strapped a magically iced sword to himself to help him support the heat. His hair had become pretty long, not having been tamed in a few months at least, and a short blonde beard was beginning to form on his face. His Zora friend had joked that puberty had finally gotten to him after a literal century.

Not far from them were a young white-haired woman and a middle-aged Rito. The latter was playing his latest tune while the Sheika girl merely stuck around him, listening to his music. It must be said, however, that she could not help but peek out of her bare-chested friend from time to time, when she thought he wouldn't be looking back. In truth, these two could not actually be said to be taking a break, as their role on this beach was more to provide moral support to their two friends than to contribute to their physical labor in any meaningful way.

After the Hylian had finished his quick snack, composed of a semi-dozen apples and a potion which, according to him, would increase his strength, he and his aquatic companion resumed their work while they made some small talk, the Zora beginning first.

"Hey, Link, we still didn't settle on a name for your ship, did we?"

The blonde, in response, lifted his eyebrows as he inspected the hull before he shrugged and looked back.

"I have never really thought about one, to be honest. What do you think?"

"Well, then, my old friend, I happen to have the perfect idea!"

The mountain of a Zora then proceeded to chuckle like a child before he lifted his fist up near his chest and performed the toothiest, and yet most charming grin you could ever imagine.

"We should name it some combination of our names, since we built it together! This way, you would also have a reminder of our good times together."

At this, the Hylian could not help but snicker as he tapped his ship.

"With Link and Sidon? What kind of name do you do with that? Sink?"

As Sidon's expression dropped slightly at this realization, the blonde let out an amused chuckle, but then became pensive. After a few seconds, he nodded his head and exclaimed.

"You know what? I like the idea. Sink it is!"

"Wait, what? Are you sure that you wouldn't want to think of a better name?" Sidon was looking quite dumbfounded, but his gaze was drifting due to him still thinking of an appropriate name for a boat, not that he really thought he could make his friend change his mind.

"No, I said that I like it."

"But… why?"

At this, though, Link let of a loud laughter that grabbed the attention of his two other friends posted a bit farther.

"I never ask 'Why', Sidon. I always ask: 'Why not'!"

"Well, maybe because we could name it anything else that the very thing it is not supposed to do… Why wouldn't we name it something like Hyrule's Might instead?"

"Because this is quite a stupid name, and I like the irony of the first one. I might be tempting fate, but even if Sink does just that, sink, then I have at least four stamina meals stored, so I'll be fine swimming back to the shore."

Sidon then shrugged, now used to the Hylian's quirks, and used his claws to carve the ship's chosen name on the prow. Now that it was identified and after a good hour of further inspection, the duo then tested it on the waters to see if it did as its newfound name would imply, and to the Hylian's pleasure, it didn't.

Before they announced it to their companions, however, Sidon took a look at his blonde friend with a concerned expression on his face.

"And… how did the princess take it, in the end?"

Link's expression briefly sombered, before he adopted a more neutral one.

"Not well. She began rambling about me protecting her and me abandoning my duty, and all of this kind of things… Then, I told her I wasn't her servant anymore and that I wouldn't help her in her politics anyway…"

He then took a long breath before he began rambling himself, which was quite surprising for his Zora friend.

"With her, it's always 'do this' and 'go there', and I'm getting sick of it, if I'm going to be honest. I may have put up with that before, but that was before I got some taste of freedom. I do not want to just stick with someone's hide anymore. At least, even if there's not really anything interesting to do here, I can still decide of where I go and what I do. Besides, it's not like she needs me for protection. Blood Moons have practically stopped, I have nearly driven most dangerous monsters to extinction, and the Yiga haven't shown their butts around in years."

Silence then imposed itself after this little venting out as Sidon uncomfortably tried to imagine what the poor woman must have been feeling at that very moment. Her sentiments for Link weren't exactly a secret for anyone who knew the two, even for Link himself. Her love for him had been the catalyst for awakening her latent powers fighting the Calamity for a century.

However, when Link had woken up from his slumber, well… the man he had been before had died long ago. He didn't even remember anyone of his former life, apart for some scarce memories he managed to recover. When the two reunited, Link was a completely different person. From the loyal and reserved vassal that she had grown to love, he had become a rash goofball and, most of all, a free spirit like none other. For the Godesses' sake, he had tried beating up Ganon itself to death with a wooden spoon just because the Hylian thought it would be funny. Only the improvised weapon's limited durability had prevented him from going through with that plan.

Even with her so blatant feelings for him, however, Link found himself unable to reciprocate them. He didn't dislike her, far from it, but he still couldn't feel love for someone he only had very vague memories of at best.

"In other words, she wasn't happy. At least, we could say goodbye properly. There's just you guys I didn't actually salute yet."

"I see… Will you sail right now or tomorrow?"

"The way I see it, the faster I can find another land to mess around in, the better. It's just a shame that no one would come with me, though."

Sidon sighed slightly at his friend's complaint before he place a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

"To be fair… everyone you know has a life to lead, here. I'm the heir of the Zora's throne, Kass has a family to take care of, and Paya, well… I think here's the farthest she ever went from Kakahiro Village."

The blonde Hylian nodded slowly. It was not that he was upset to go away all by himself – heck, he's pretty much been living by himself for the last few years, now, and he quite enjoyed it. No, the thing was that, for as much as he liked to wander around in the wilderness for days straight, there was always a time where he felt the need to go back to civilization and actually interact with people, be it the calm village of Kakahiro, the goofballs that were the Gorons, Kass' adorable family, these lovable misfits from Tarrey Town…

… or yet, Zelda who was now living in the house he'd bought in… some town whose name he couldn't recall.

Now that he had grown bored and he was going to sail away like this, well… it was going to be hard, no doubt. To leave all of these people he had fought alongside with, had saved, or just pleasantly made acquaintances with…

Not that Link ever chose the easy way to do things.

"Yeah, I guess. In any case, I still have my Plate, if I ever feel homesick, I'll just have to teleport back into Hyrule." The blonde man was tapping slightly on his Sheika Plate, always strapped around his hips as he said so to emphasize his point. Sidon simply looked over to the near ocean and then back at his friend.

"So, you're going to tell them your goodbyes or..?"

"Oh, yes, sure. Just give me a minute."

Link then moved out to the Sheika woman and the Rito bard who had been observing the working duo for a while now. They seemed to have understood what Link was going to do and got up to meet him mid-ways.

First, he turned to the massive bird man who was giving the young Hylian the kindest smile his beak would allow him to perform. Link bowed slightly as he pronounced his departing words to the Rito.

"Kass, after I'm gone, can you do me a small favor?"

"Yes? What would it be?" Said Kass in his usual, gently tone as he lifted an eyebrow at Link's sudden request.

"If you do a song about me, I would like if you kept my crazy side in it, just to stay true to the source, you know?"

The larger man chuckled softly as he bowed in return.

"Doing otherwise would be a disgrace to your character, I believe." The Rito bard then looked up in the sky with an air of melancholy. "We have both travelled a lot in our lives, Master Link, and so I understand why you would wish to discover what has been hiding over Hyrule's boundaries after all this time. No matter how your new adventures turn out, however, know that you are always welcome back home if you wish." Hylian and Rito slightly nodded at each other as the former now faced his Sheika friend and, for a fraction of a second, almost regretted it.

Her face was blushing red as she took deep breaths to calm herself down, prompting Link to let out a silent sigh. Her love for him was not any more subtle than Zelda's, quite the contrary, in fact.

"Paya, I know that you have a lot of responsibilities, now, with your grandmother's time coming up. I'm sure that you'll make a great leader."

'Just try not to fluster every time a young man comes around, though'

In response, the Shieka woman glanced to the side, avoiding Link's own gaze as she breathed in and weakly smiled.

"I'm going to miss you, Link. Everyone will." Her breathing pace was slowly but surely accelerating as she tried to establish her exact sentiments, but her throat tightened before she could go on.

Link was having the impression of watching a puppy getting kicked as she struggled to put her goodbyes into words. In a rare occasion of emotional openness from the young Hylian, he took a step forward and threw his arms forward. Before the mortified Paya could react, Link had wrapped her up in a tight embrace, gently patting her back as she began to sob. After quietly crying over his shoulder for a minute, she finally regained control over her emotions and distanced from Link. The latter, looking quite down himself, attempted to reassure her.

"I will miss all of you too. Don't worry, I'll come back someday, and that day, I may even settle down once and for all, who knows?" He then looked in the direction of the ocean, a brief look of apprehension passing through his face before being replaced by redoubled determination. "Until then, though, make me a promise, alright?"

Paya then performed a quick nod, eager to hear his request.

"Don't wait for me for your life to go on. I can't be sure of when my return will be, and in any case, you'll be happier if you can find the strength to move past me, okay?"

The Sheika's excited expression sombered once more and, lowering her gaze, she shook her head.

"I'll try… I promise you."

During this exchange, Kass had contented himself with observing the situation being resolved, but he could see that both young people were getting more and more sad from their interaction. The worst part for the Rito was that if Link hadn't let his thirst for novelty and adventures get the better of him, he could have settled down in peace, with pretty much anyone he could have wanted. From what he saw, Paya would have been quite tolerant of his peculiarities.

After the depressing exchange, Kass tried to change the mood.

"Now, Master Link, if I may ask you, where did you intend to go? Were you travelling to the plains at the North?"

"Actually, no. I'm going to the west of the Gerudo Desert. From there, I'll travel North and circle around Hyrule. I've never been able to reach these grounds, and that's made me quite curious about them. When that's done, I'll either go deeper into the continent or go to the East; I've spotted a few islands at quite the distance from here." The Hylian, while lacking his usual over-excitement, had still somewhat recovered his enthusiasm.

"I see. So, you are not actually going this far as of yet, at the very least. In any case, I hope everything goes well for you."

"Same for me, friends. Until we meet again!"

Following these words, Link returned to his makeshift boat, which was patiently waiting for he and Sidon to push it back into the river. As he arrived, his Zora friend glanced at him with a pitying face. A quick look from Link, however, told him that he did not want any more negativity for the moment, and the two sent 'Sink' into the water.

As the ship began to move to the East, Link turned back to his friends on the shore to wave at them one last time. Sidon was lifting his fist in the air enthusiastically while grinning as wide as he could, while Paya's waving was far more timid and, if Link had to guess, she was trying not to cry. Kass, for his part, had taken flight and circled around him before taking a spot further down the river and began to play the very first tune Link had heard him playing, which he affectionately called the 'theme of Kass'.

It took a few minutes before the pleasant tune went out of earshot, and at that moment Link felt, no he knew, that his adventures had now only just begun.

Part 2: A Mercenary's Daughter

Foddlan year: 1174

It was rather late in the night in the usually calm town of the Gloucester's territory, and yet there seemed to be an aura of festivity surrounding it. One could feel the walls of the houses literally trembling with the loudness of the music in the tavern, but mostly of the sheer energy of those assembled there.

Indeed, it was a day of celebration: the group of bandits that had plagued the village had been driven off at long last and the ones who defeated them were all too content to be welcomed as heroes for the night, if it meant that they could get a few drinks for free. The tavern of the town was crowded to a point where the revelers almost had to take care not to push each other outside.

At the same time, however, the rest of the village found itself quite tranquil, apart from the bombastic noise coming from the club and the occasional children or teenagers profiting of their parents' drinking night to get out and roam freely as they pleased. Sitting on the stairs leading to the town-hall was one of these teens, although not one native from the place itself.

The blue-haired young woman had taken this spot nearly after the beginning of the festivities, patiently waiting for her father and his comrades to finish their party so they could depart and go… wherever they would have their next job. As the night went on, however, she slowly realized that at the current way the mercenaries were celebrating, they would certainly need at least two or three days of hangover before they could actually travel again. Thus, she decided to make some use of her time and she withdrew her dagger and inspected it before starting to polish it.

Byleth did not really mind if she was to spend her night alone. In fact, she vastly preferred passing her time taking care of her weapon than to join the drunkards that were her companions. She lifted her eyes slightly in the direction of the tavern as she thought of them, an extremely rare shadow of a smile passing along her features as she could hear her father yelling inside.

Her peaceful evening was interrupted, however, when in the corner of her eyes she noticed a silhouette approaching. She quickly jerked her head to the side, in order to see if it was a foe of some kind, but her feeling of urgency died down just as fast.

Another girl, of around her age if Byleth had to guess, was now standing merely a few meters from her, observing the young mercenary with a bizarre mix of uneasiness and admiration. By these orange hair and eyes of hers, Byleth immediately knew who she was.

Leonie, the impressable teenager that had taken a liking on her father as he and their group had established camp near the village while they planned the attack on the bandits. He seemed to have appreciated her company as well, since he had passed his free time here by training her into basic spear handling, and he even made Byleth and her spar once to let her see how someone more experienced went at it, and probably to force his daughter to socialize for once.

While these thoughts passed through the young mercenary's mind, she realized that Leonie was becoming more and more uncomfortable, possibly because the former was intently staring at the latter with the emotionless expression that was usual of her. While she wasn't very good at emoting and interacting with people, Byleth was still quite capable of reading someone's eyes and overall features, and she decided that the villager girl must want to talk with her.

"Goodnight. What do you want?" Leonie flinched slightly as the blue-haired girl spoke, but she quickly retook control of herself and acquiesced before responding.

"I just wanted to talk with you a bit, but you seemed busy, so…" There was a short silence as the orange teen tried to evaluate Byleth's mood, which proved to be quite the task. "Were you?"

"Not particularly. What did you want to say?" As she said this, the young mercenary put her dagger right back into place as Leonie watched over to the tavern with wonder in her eyes.

"How is it… you know, to be the daughter of Jeralt?"

After a few seconds of thinking, Byleth's gaze turned back to the orange girl as the latter looked at her expectantly.

"I do not understand. I think it is normal."

If Leonie had been perplexed at Byleth's previous behavior, she was now getting slightly annoyed, if her new frown was of any indication.

"What do you mean, 'you do not understand'? This man is a living legend!"

Now, it was Byleth's turn to frown ever so slightly, as the teen evaluated Leonie's words. Often in the past, strangers would tell her how great her father was, and how she was privileged to have him to train her. However, as much as she had been told about how much Jeralt was, in their own words, a 'badass' or an 'exceptional warrior', to her he was merely her father.

Besides, for as much as she could tell from observing children of her age, they seemed to think the same way. Be their parent be an excellent butcher, smith, or librarian, they would think of their parentage's skills as the norm since they had shared their lives with these people.

It just so happened that her own father was of a seemingly renowned and respected profession.

Before the orange teen could get more agitated, however, the two girls' attention was attracted back to the tavern, from which some adults were beginning to exit, presumably to go back home. Some of them were singing, others were still carrying a jug of beer, and others could barely stand without the help of another. Byleth's group happened to belong especially to the second and third categories.

Most noticeably, though, was the muscular and bearded brown haired man who was walking towards the pair, not without some stumbling. Upon seeing this, Byleth's expression perked up a little while Leonie went very excitable all of a sudden as she ran over to the man.

"Mister Jeralt! I'm so glad you came! How was your night?" The young woman asked with a great deal of enthusiasm before the older mercenary laughed a bit and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. It was apparent to Byleth that her father had gotten himself drunk hard again.

"Excellent, Leonie…" His gaze then went over Byleth and he gave out a wide smile as he went to wrap his only child in a suffocating embrace. "Oh, and how did yours go, you two? Didn't think you would get together by your own acc- Oh, sorry…"

He let go of his daughter as the latter gasped twice for air, having just now realized just how strong his grip still was for her. Byleth, afterwards, sighed in annoyance. Normally, her father would behave in a more reserved manner around her, just like she preferred. Drunk, however, he could act way more… well, drunk.

"I- I was just trying to chat with her a bit, mister." Her expression then became slightly somber as she timidly put her hands behind her back. "Now that your mission is over, though, will you have to go?"

Even in his current intoxicated state, Jeralt could discern the disappointment and worry on the young Leonie's face while she lifted a pair of suppliant orange eyes at him. He then looked to the side and proceeded to grin before kneeling down so their faces could get on the same level.

"Officially speaking, our mission isn't over before we've told the Count about it… and besides, there may be a need for a bit of reconnaissance, just to make sure every poacher is dead, am I right kid?" He looked over to his daughter with a wide smile on his face and winked at her. As usual, her response was to stare blankly at him, albeit with a barely perceptible shrug which seemed to be enough for him to understand her.

"While my men go out and look this out, why don't you come train with us two, girl? By the time we're gone, I'll have made of you the deadliest teenager of the entire region…" He then looked to Byleth. "Except for her, of course…"

After Leonie's excited agreement, the younger mercenary couldn't help but narrow her eyes in annoyance. Jeralt was normally collected and only performed well-thought actions. Place him anywhere near a drink, however, and he began to spout out promises like this. At least, he was wise enough to forbid the carriage of alcohol in the group.

He then proceeded to walk off to the hotel of the town, where he could get a good semi-night of sleep, and Leonie then puffed out her chest proudly. She looked over at Byleth and grinned.

"Heh! You'll both see! One day, I'll make him proud! I'm sure I'll even surpass you someday!"

At this statement, the young mercenary found a bit of an issue. Even if Leonie trained hard for as much as she wanted, it was hardly believable that she would surpass someone who had been a seasoned warrior as soon as she knew how to talk. Where she went and fought, the people called her the 'Ashen Dragon', and for a good reason.

Still, getting in such a petty argument was not something that interested the blue-haired girl. Instead, she merely nodded and got up.

"If you believe so. Now excuse me, I will go to bed as well. Have a good night, Leonie." Then, with a polite bow, she walked off to the same direction that her father had went to.

Leonie, for her part, could feel her heart beating harder and harder. She was going to be trained by one of the best mercenaries in all of Foddlan! Now she would maybe be able to become one herself, and she would then be able to help people in need, just like Jeralt and his troops had done, or maybe she could join the Leicester military or the Knights of Seiros…

No, screw this. Being a mercenary, free as the wind, was way better.

Thanks to LostCipher999 Nfor proof-reading the first two chapters of this story!

Notes:

So, the prollogues. I'm going to clarify a few things that I feel need to be said.

In this story, the first BOTW game only will be taken into account, so whatever happens in BOTW 2 wil not be considered canon here (as if I have any right to talk about canonicity, but hey...).

For the sake of having Link and Byleth be actual characters with personalities, I have decided that I would write them as how I felt when playing as them, so Link is basically experiencing Post-Game boredom at the moment.

I have decided to make so that Leonie and Byleth meet each other in their teens, when Jeralt was hired by Count Gloucester, because I thought that it would make sense, as well as making their one-sided rivalry have some background.

I intend to add a chapter every time I finish another, or every month.

Got any more question, critic, or other commentary? Don't hesitate to review, because I am relatively inexperienced in writing and I want as much feedback and constructive criticism as possible!