"So, what are planning to do, now that you've defeated the Calamity?"
He put his hands into fists.
"Zelda and I... Zelda and I are going to each of the leaders and... and talk to them, I guess."
"What are you going to talk about with them?"
He tightened his fists.
"I don't know."
"You don't know? Didn't Zelda tell you what you'd be talking about?" "Rebuilding Hyrule, I guess. I'm just her knight. I don't need to know," he lied. The truth was, Zelda didn't want to overwhelm him. She did tell him the gist of it, though.
"That doesn't make much sense. I mean, you did help defeat the Calamity..."
The other person rambled on, leaving him to his thoughts. Thinking usually got him. He would think about the future, and what they would do to rebuild Hyrule. The task was daunting, similar to how exploring had felt at first. It was kind of scary to think about it. That was why he tried not to think about it. It was hard, though. How would they even do it? What if something happened?
He didn't realize how tight his fists were until he felt a sharp pain on his palms. He sighed a little. Seriously? Again?
"Excuse me, but I should get going. Zelda might need me." "
Oh, okay. Bye!"
The other person waved at him, but he barely noticed. He was already walking away.
He headed over to a large brown dog. It was actually a wolf, but it acted like a very well-trained dog. It was kind of odd. He liked it, though. It was a good boy. It helped him when he freaked out. Zelda told him not to call it that, but what else would he call it? Nothing. Freak-out was fine. It was accurate.
He crouched down next to the wolf and pet it before sitting down and leaning onto it. Its fur was soft. He hadn't decided on a name yet, since he had been too busy. He had just been calling it "the wolf." It would be good to name it, but he couldn't think of what it should be. He said that it was because he wasn't good at naming, but really, he was worried that he wouldn't like the name he gave it.
Why was he afraid? Maybe it had something to do with why the wolf helped in the first place. Yes, that was probably it. It was just another, smaller thing he was afraid of. It was why he didn't like telling people things. Why he didn't talk in the first place. He was afraid to show, and to commit, to have responsibility. It made him anxious.
The responsibility of saving Hyrule was big, yes, but he was meant to do that. He would have felt worse if he hadn't done it. Yes, he did break down several times along the way, but the wolf helped him. It helped him get back up onto his feet, if only for a little bit.
The odd thing was, after a particularly bad day, he would always wake up to find a meal made for him, a blanket, and the wolf curled up next to him. It was like someone was watching over him. And that was on his journey, too. Before he saved Zelda. There was no one else with him, except the wolf, of course.
Since he had saved Zelda, he hadn't had one of those days, which was kind of suprising. Sure, he had had moderately bad days, but not a really bad one. He was grateful for that, but he was still worried. He didn't even know why he was worried. He just was.
He took the Sheikah Slate out and looked at the pictures. Looking at them helped him calm down and worry less. He also liked looking at the map. It was interesting to examine it.
Orginally, he had give the slate to Zelda, but she gave it back after realizing that he worried less with it. He was glad that she had given it back.
He thought back to the conversation he had been having, if you could even call it that.
"What are you planning to do, now that you've beaten the Calamity?"
"I don't know," he whispered. His voice was hoarse from lack of use. He really didn't talk much. He mostly just signed everything. He woke up knowing how to do it, so he assumed that he must have done the same thing before. He rested his forehead on his hands.
"I really don't know how I- how we're going to do this. It's so much..."
He shook his head.
"I need to stop."
His thoughts kept going after he stopped talking, though.
"What kind of knight talks to himself? I thought the princess's personal knight had to be sane." He shook his head again, harder this time.
He stood up and went to find Zelda. He hoped that she would be able to distract him.
When he found her, she asked, "Is everything alright? You look stressed."
In response, he signed, "I always look stressed."
"That's because you are."
He shrugged at that statement. It was pretty true, but he didn't want to admit it. He didn't like it when people worried about him. It made him feel like he was a burden.
"Where are we going next?"
"Don't change the subject!"
"I thought that part of the conversation was over."
"Well you thought wrong. What's wrong?"
He hesitated before signing, "Some guy kept asking me stupid questions." "Is that it? What was he asking you? I don't want people bothering you."
"It was fine, honestly. He just kept asking about our plans."
"Again? Hylia, people don't seem to understand the concept of something not being their business. It's our plans, not theirs. And why do they insist on asking you? You're my knight. If they want to ask someone, they should ask me..."
He let her rant, not paying attention to what she was saying. He just listened to her voice. It was soothing. The wolf padded up to him, and he started running his hand through its fur. It was soft.
The calming experience was shortlived. Zelda finished her rant and started walking. She gently pulled him along with her, telling him their immediate plans. She saved that for right before they did the thing, since that didn't stress him out as much.
"Jeez, stop holding my hand so tight. Your fingernails are cutting right through my skin!"
He immediately loosened his grip on Zelda's hand, not wanting to hurt her.
"So anyways, we'll leave tomorrow. It's getting late, so we should get some rest so we can leave early."
They went into the stable, got into their beds, and fell asleep.
●●●
"Come on, get up."
He pulled the blankets over his head instead of getting up.
"Come on, we need to leave."
"Why do I need to get up..."
"I just told you. We need to get going."
"I really don't feel like getting up right now... Can it wait?"
"Fine, 5 minutes. But after that, we're leaving."
"Thanks."
●●●
"Okay, time to get up. It's been fine minutes."
"Ugh..."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, good enough."
"Good enough?"
"Okay, not my best, but I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He took the blanket off his head and sat up. He got ready, then signed to Zelda, "Let's go."
They climbed onto their horses, with Zelda in the lead.
"Wow, these bokoblins are really annoying. I wish they wouldn't follow us and-"
"Stop. Just shut up."
"What?"
He then realized what he had said, and quickly signed an apology.
"Shoot, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it-"
"Stop, it's fine. I know you didn't mean it."
"You're right, I should stop," he signed. "I'm probably bothering you, huh?"
"No, you aren... oh, whatever. Hesnogonnalisenayway..." Zelda trailed off and muttered something to herself. She looked ahead and kept going.
*sigh*
"What is it?"
"Nothing," he signed.
"Alright. If you're sure."
●●●
Finally they reached their destination, Zora's Domain. For him, though, it didn't feel like they really got anywhere. It just felt like he had sat on a horse for ages, and that was all.
"Okay, come on."
He then realized that Zelda had gotten off her horse, and he hadn't. He slid off the horse and turned towards his wolf to pet it.
He recognized this feeling, the feeling of being unmotivated, of not accomplishing anything. He had had days like this before, and it made it hard to do anything. The wolf helped, as usual. This was the first time it had happened since he had saved Zelda. He had thought that it wouldn't happen again, but he knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up.