Leave a "Haunt Me" in my ask, and I'll write a drabble about my character watching over yours [as a ghost, watching from a distance, or otherwise, feel free to specify.]
A while ago, I wrote a drabble for this for Link. It didn't really relate to the prompt, so I decided to retry it today. I hope this is more satisfactory! If not, just let me know.
**Please note this is not my usual Dark Link**
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I stumbled upon a boy today. Many people from the town and village visited the lake now and then, but something seemed different about this one, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it; he was fairly plain – blonde hair, green clothes. Maybe I could learn why he seemed familiar by watching him a while longer.
Not wanting to accidentally scare him off like some of the others, I decided to peek over from a bundle of bushes nearby. As embarrassing as it was, the spot was fairly effective for what was wanted.
As he started to take something out of his pouch, and I noticed it was a long pole that couldn’t have possibly fit in there, I realized this boy had the same sort of magical pouch as me. That was interesting, to say the least, since no one else who visited the lake had such magic. How did he have some?
Shifting from an uncomfortable crouch to a nice sitting position, I watched as the blonde fiddled with the end of a string attached to the stick. Maybe he was tying it to a rock or something? No it wasn’t that, it was something metal that glistened in the sunlight as he threw it behind him.
With a firm grip on the pole, he then threw the small piece of attached metal over his shoulder and into the water. I couldn’t fathom why he did that, and it was even weirder that he didn’t do a single thing after that.
I yawned with boredom as the minutes passed by without much movement or change. The only thing that would happen was the occasional check-up on the tiny hook. If this was all he was going to do all day, not even my curiosity was worth sticking around.
But just as I made to get up, something in the water stirred, and almost immediately the pole bent down. Finally, something new! Green lunged to grab the pole before it could slip away, and a tug-of-war ensued with some mysterious force from the lake.
I silently rooted for the boy to win, and he did with ease, pulling a fish free from the water. It thrashed, flicking water at the boy’s face as I stared. Why would he hurt the loach like that? Had it wronged him, and he was attacking it? Or maybe he was taking a revenge of sorts and suffocating it?
My confusion grew when he unhooked the loach and tossed it back into the water, letting it swim back to its peaceful life. It sounded ridiculous to do such harm to a fish, especially with the intention to let it go so quickly, but it seemed so normal to the boy; he didn’t appear effected by the catch at all.
Actually, he seemed calm. Very calm. The sort of peaceful relaxation I feel when listening to the river flowing at night or the crickets chirping in the field.
It was so desirable that I couldn’t stop myself from stepping out of my hiding spot. As long as I didn’t sneak up on him, maybe he’d allow me to join him.
And I still needed to know why he was so familiar.
Unfortunately, despite the obvious and innocent entrance I made walking over, the blonde was overly startled at the sight of me. “What are you doing here?” he asked with clear caution.
Holding my hands up and keeping my voice casual, I responded, “I was hoping I could sit with you and watch.” My gaze fell upon the pole, and so did his before we looked back to each other. “I’ve never seen anyone do that to a fish before. Did it do something to provoke you?”
He blinked in response, clearly confused by what I had said. Perhaps the activity was more complicated than I had thought, and he wondered why I didn’t have more knowledge of it. “Uh…” He didn’t seem keen to the idea of me staying, and I fully expected him to give me the cold shoulder I’d grown accustomed to.
But to my surprise, he patted the patch of grass next to him. I sat and got comfortable, but I could tell he was very wary of my presence. I couldn’t care less, though; I was just glad someone finally let me stay with them.
Before continuing with his relaxation, he stared me down with unease for another minute, and I took this opportunity to look over his features. Big bangs parted in the middle, green clothes that smelled like the forest, a hat and tunic that was so similar to mine it was uncanny, and eyes I could swear were a richer blue than the sky. Even his untrusting expression seemed soft, as though some inner goodness was peeking through.
Wait. It couldn’t be, could it..? No, surely I would have recognized him immediately if it was the hero, if it was “…Link?”
