I'm doomed I just came up with another LoZ AU 😔
There's a cult that believes in living a life somewhere between human, animal, and fae. They've decided each one in its whole has Issues, so they're trying to like. Find a balance. They have a deal with the local Great Fairy that any wandering children become adopted - mostly by the cult, though the fairies get a share - as long as the cult brings rupees and stuff to keep the Great Fairy powered up (being sent to sell items to get rupees is a sort of punishment task, being sent to interact with the outsiders because maybe you acted too selfishly that week or like whatever thing is against the rules)
The cult believes that anything related to Ganon and the Triforce and whatnot are all Bad. To avoid evil and destruction, everything related to the repeating events of history should be destroyed asap. Zelda should be killed in their opinion bcuz she's got the blood of the goddess, and the goddesses are all Bad for involving themselves in this/making the Triforce/etc, anyone with the mark of the Triforce needs to die, desire for power of any sort is evil and should be squashed down, the desire to go out of your way to help others is also wrong because it could feed the idea of heroism and that's bad too, thinking yourself smarter than others is wrong, studying more than the basics required for living is wrong because one also must not desire too much wisdom - it's all very strict.
Simultaneously, they all care a lot about each other and have a deep sense of community. All three groups they take bits of lifestyle from care about companionship and community and stuff (well, depends on the type of animal, but the point is there), so they sleep all together in like cuddle piles, they share things, they care about each other.
I’m thinking they wear masks (or at least something that covers their eyebrows) whenever they're not sleeping, bathing, or maybe eating depending on whether the mask covers their mouth, because body language is something all groups have, where facial expressions are limited primarily to humans and some fae, thus they should limit what's visible of their facial expressions (eyebrows for sure, maybe mouths, idk) (aka I like the aesthetic of masks so I'm figuring out a reason to make it happen haha)
So they're very oddball. They sleep and eat on the ground because those are the most basic needs and one shouldn't elevate themselves over others while doing such basic things. They grow food, and also hunt food, mostly with weapons unless they have the finesse to catch things without, because they acknowledge that they are not actually animals and don't have the same hunting skills. They don't lie, but have no qualms with using wordplay to get around it just like the fae.
They have a group dedicated to combat training in case they should ever get the chance to strike down one of the Bad Things - they have to know how to wield a sword and fight, say, should Zelda come along, she'll probably have guards, fighting will be required, etc, but otherwise, they don't believe in unnecessary violence - unless it's to protect oneself or get food or something, outright violence is bad. That doesn't count play fighting though! Yeah sure bite and scratch if it's obvious it's play. Good for the brain and body.
Anyway, Link gets adopted by them when he's too little to remember anything else. He's raised by this group and is currently 8 years old - unfortunately as the only kid remotely his age at the moment. Sometimes they manage to get more than one kid within a certain amount of time, but other times it is like it is for Link, where the second youngest person is like, 16 or something.
He's currently training with the other group allowed to practice swordplay and they're all very impressed by how quickly he picks it up! Even though he prefers biting and scratching when fighting, he's good with the sword. They wonder if maybe he'll grow up, become one of the leaders of the patrol groups, and maybe even kill Zelda <3 or find whoever has the Triforce of Power or Courage and get rid of them.. wow, big hopes!
Except uh, something happens and it's revealed he had the Triforce of Courage. It was dormant or whatever until XYZ event and the power showed itself. It's a big bummer for everyone (they do love him after all) but it's gotta be done. They have to kill him. And Link is really upset because he believes in it to, that he's been cursed by this cycle and needs to die to stop it along with all the other pieces, but also dying sounds scary. He kinda doesn't want to die.
But then the fairies get involved. Woah there, he's ours too! You can't kill him! We never said you were allowed to kill one of our children! There's an argument, the Great Fairy quickly teaches Link Farore’s Wind, and sends him away.
He has. Absolutely no idea what to do. Everyone is upset. Misplaced anger is bad. Maybe if he gets rid of everything else involved, the fairies will see that there's no real harm in letting him die too because it'll be the final piece in this whole thing. Or maybe by then, at the very least, they'll have worked out some sort of deal to where Link can be dealt with properly.
So he decides okay, he'll kill Zelda, find whoever has the Triforce of Power, or wherever it is, and get rid of that too. Then, at last, he can be dealt with and the cycle will end and everything will be okay!
Now he has been sheltered. He's never met other Hylian’s. He’s not old enough to be sent on errands like the others.
He certainly doesn't know what Zelda looks like. He's heard of Princess Zelda, of course, and that she's bad (like him, he supposes), and needs to go, but he has no idea what she looks like or even how old she is. So when he comes across from Zelda, running away (presumably from uhh evil haha), he doesn't know this is the girl he's supposed to kill. And she doesn't plan on going around sharing her identity either. When Link finds out she wants to like, get rid of Ganon or whatever he's like oh great, we've got the same goal, we can stick together.
Of course, by the time he finds out who she is, he's already gotten attached and his view has already been shifted a bit, leaving him much more torn between what he was taught growing up and what he's been learning out and about. He can't bring himself to kill her by then.
And like, during their journey, when he tentatively mentions the evil of the Triforce, Zelda is like uh. No?? It's.. not. And he's like but history says Ganon, powered by the Triforce, does all sorts of evil things. And she's like well the Triforce itself is neutral. It's up to the person who wields it how it's used. The Triforce has also been used to stop him! It's like a knife. You can use a knife to carve something pretty, or to stab someone. The knife isn't evil, it's neutral, and depends on who is using it.
And he's like. Oh. Huh. Hm. That makes sense to him. But like… that's not ever how it was told to him. So he's confused!
Meanwhile Zelda is like boy howdy have I found a weirdo. Idk what's up with this guy. He eats on the floor, ripped that Stal’s arm off with his mouth, and has very little concept of physical boundaries, but has also kept me safe and fed soooo. The more she learns about his beliefs and stuff the more concerned she is though, for sure. Especially the uh, need to kill Zelda part. Oop. But she can't get by on her own so she supposes she'll just continue keeping that a secret!
Uhhh anyway that's really all I've got but. Yeah. My brain was thinking about a lot of tropes I like and jammed them all together on accident and this was the result.
Bonus: sis asked what they'd do if they ever just happened upon the Triforce as a whole. Because to destroy it, they'd have to use it to wish it destroyed. And using it is like, against their beliefs - so I figure they'd probably break into factions. The side that says using it once for the benefit of all is fine, the other side that says using it will create some new horrible something cycle because it's cursed or whatever, etc, then there's probably a big civil war or whatever and it's a mess.