He was starting to have a hard time to remain dedicated and at least somewhat positive about his new job.
A very hard time.
He felt empty as Zelda threw a book at him in a fit of rage. He felt empty. The best way he could describe it as a hollow feeling slightly below the pit of his throat. A feeling of tiredness throughout his entire body. A pulsing headache behind his eyes and nose that refused to go away. The emotion of feeling like he should care, but he was far too tired to even attempt caring
"I hate you!"
Yeah, he was starting to hate himself for being the Hero. Even more so because of moments like this. At least he wasn't alone in that aspect. In the aspect of hatred.
The books corner hit his temple, and he couldn't bring himself to care. He flinched when it hit him but kept on standing there.
He wanted to cry when he felt something, most likely blood, dripping down his face.
The unwanted burden of being the Hero, along with everything else that came with the title, was a lot. And with the way the princess was reminding him how annoying she found him every day, it was starting to get to be too much.
"Get out! GET! OUT!" Her chest was heaving up and down, tears brimming her eyes out of frustration and anger.
He wanted to cry too. The burning behind his eyes was starting to become too much. He wanted to cry from stress and the never-ending headache was not helping.
As she glared daggers into his eyes, he showed his first sign of weakness in his months of service to her.
He averted his eyes, and she blinked in surprise. It was understandable, since in all of their months together, he had never backed down in such a way.
He almost curled in on himself, he turned away from her. Zelda just watched as her knight rose his hand to his head, only to pull it away with blood on his fingers.
Horror set in, when she realized that she had drawn blood from her attack with her book. She immediately regretted her actions.
Without a single word of apology or forgiveness between the two. Link let out what almost sounded like a sniffle, before quickly leaving the room.
She truly felt horrible when she heard another sniffle on the other side of the door, she didn't feel any better when she heard the sound of rapidly departing footsteps.
"Wait!" She lunged for the door, truly intending to apologize for her terrible behavior," Link!"
It only took her less than two seconds for her to open the door, to throw herself into the hallway to stop her knight, a boy the same age as her, from running off.
It was empty.
She cursed under her breath.
He missed his home.
He missed the times when he could wake up in his own bed, in his home where his parents lived, where his sisters were sharing a room right next door.
He missed waking up to the sound of his family sleeping around him. To his father's snores that almost made the house shake, the sound of his mother telling him to shut up and stop snoring so loud. The tired and sleepy sleep talking of his sisters.
The way he was slightly breathless after yelling his farewell to the entire house right before leaving for training. The sound of the members of his family wishing for his safety as they woke up for the day.
He wanted to go home.
The vibrations of someone knocking on his door made his back vibrate. He was curled up in a small ball, his back leaning against his door. The object of his hatred was as far away as it could be. Firmly embedded in wood of the dresser.
"Link?" The princesses worried voice came from the other side of the door.
He didn't move.
He didn't lift his head from between his knees, nor did he feel it in him to even move his lips to acknowledge her.
She sounded regretful," Link, please?"
When he felt the feeling of the wood being pulled away from his back, he grabbed on firmly onto the doorknob and slammed the door back closed.
He didn't care if he hurt her feelings.
She may have been the princess, but with the way everyone treated him, he was almost as important.
If she could throw items at him, and tell him about her hatred for him, the least he could do was keep her out of his room. In his only place of sanctuary.
…He wanted to go home.
"Hero." The voice was full of loathing and mockery," Ha! What a joke!" Link tried his best to ignore the human sized bird as he watched over the princess. It was another meeting between the champions, and while Urbosa, Daruk, Mipha and the princess were having a polite discussion. Revali decided to wonder over to the dedicated guard by the doorway, just to mock him," You can't even be near her without making her uncomfortable. What's wrong? Confessed to a girl out of your league?"
He let out a huff of annoyance as discreetly as he could.
No. That would be due to the fact that he slammed his bedroom door in her face. Not letting her apologize for throwing a book at his head, drawing blood, and for being the one who caused his tears.
Then showing up the next morning like absolutely nothing had happened. Well almost like nothing happen.
This time, he was following her three paces behind rule religiously. And he seems to have fallen back onto the rule of you must not make eye contact with royalty unless ordered to. To make matters worse, it's not like Link listened to orders like that, so he kept on avoiding eye contact with her like his life depended on it.
He didn't answer Revali and continued with his guard duty.
Evidently, the human sized bird did not like his silence, and continued his goading.
"What's wrong?" He had a fake pouting tone in his voice as he bent at the waist to mock him," Have I struck a chord? And you are supposed to be the Hero Who Seals Away the Darkness? We are utterly doomed. "
Logically, he knew that Revali was just trying to get a rise out of him. To make the ever so emotionless teenager just show some sort of emotion.
It had happened plenty of times before, he was already a quiet person. He had plenty of experiences with his fellow squires and knights trying to scare him or anger him. Now that he was the Hero, he had become even quieter, even more impassive.
But his mental state was not the best at the moment. It hadn't been the best in a long time.
Revali started to think he went too far when Link averted his eyes. And he definitely knew that he went too far when Link picked up and shoved the master sword to his chest. Shoving him away and making him stumble a few feet in the process.
The squawk of surprise and the sound of impact that resulted made everyone turn and look at the two of them. It was a sight. To see the Rito stumbling backward, the master sword in his arms, as Link looked at the stone floor with a glare. It was the most expressive they had seen him.
"Little guy?" Daruk was the only one who called out to Link," What's wrong?"
Revali was stammering at the unexpected reaction, almost fumbling with his newly acquired sword.
Link looked at all of them. They just realized just how dull his blue eyes looked. He looked at all of them for just a few seconds before averting his eyes again.
Just as fast as he gave away his sword, he exited the room just as fast. The door closed behind him quietly, and just like yesterday, they heard the sound of footsteps leaving rather quickly.
Zelda was the first one who reacted," Wait! No!" She ran to the door, ripping it open as she chased after him, calling his name as she did so.
Revali kept on looking between the sword and the door.
"Did he just quit?"
They all looked at the sword their fellow champion was holding.
Oh shit.
His body felt oddly light as he approached the lit-up home.
He felt much lighter now that he had taken off the armor that was part of his uniform. His shoulders were lighter now that he left the champions tunic in his bedroom in the castle.
With his rucksack hanging over his shoulder, his heart fluttered when he approached the door.
He didn't know what his family was going to say. To be quite honest, he was just happy to be away from the castle.
Twisting the doorknob at just the right way, he entered the home.
His home.
It was warm. It smelled like fresh bread, and the smell of freshly molten metal was coming from outside.
He could smell the distinct, flowery smell of his mother's homemade perfume. The smell of the products his sister used for their curls. The sharp smell of burnt oil from his father's crafting.
It smelled like home.
Itza and Litza were in the living room, taking care of their curls just as their mother had taught them. Despite their young age, they were diligent about caring for their curly hair. Hair that Link had not inherited from their father, but his mother instead.
They perked up when they saw him walking through the door, and despite their pre-teen age, they squealed in excitement before throwing themselves at him.
Link caught them with a bright smile, quickly kneeling to hold onto them as tight as he could.
But despite the joy that he felt, there was something about seeing his sisters that made him break down.
He couldn't stop the tears from escaping, nor the quiet sobs as he held onto them. His dear sisters noticed his tears and started to console their older brother. Their soft voices asking and comforting him as they tried to find out what was wrong.
It didn't take long before the soft, but firm hands of his mother pulled him away from his sisters and pulled him into her grasp.
The familiar feeling of his mother stroking his hair, her quiet shushing and slight rocking side to side that she did made him cry even harder. His suppressed emotions finally coming out all in one go.
The stress of leaving home, training endlessly, protecting a scornful girl, and being taunted by a rude Rito with no rest was far too much for the young man. It was too much for a young man who wanted nothing more but to live quietly with his family again.
He just wanted to live in peace again.
He wanted to still be a squire, when he wasn't required to go through the rough training that full grown men did. When he could have fun with his fellow squires, laugh with them, sneak around with them, and practice his recipes on them.
He wanted to be a kid again.
He didn't even wanted to be a knight at his age, when he was still young enough to be a squire for a few more years. As soon as everyone found out that he was the Hero, every one seemed to forget that he was just 14 years old, younger than the princess herself, who was supposedly the youngest in the castle.
A large hand landed on top of his head, and he immediately knew whose hand it was. He felt his father's arms encompass both he and his mother.
He cried even harder.
He hates being the 'Hero'.