|Fireflies |Link • reader|fem|

001 Secrets

A light breeze brushed through your hair as you strolled through the streets of Kakariko. It was already late afternoon; earlier you had helped bring Cado's chickens to their coop. This was by no means the easiest task. That's why your hair was messy, some branches were hanging out, and your knees were full of scars. But you loved helping out in the village and making yourself useful, since you were currently just a drag in the war against the calamity. However, you wanted to change that.

"Hey there!" called an all-too-familiar voice. It was Tabari, your best friend. "Hello Ari, you're late, how was training?" you asked while giving the sheika boy a quick hug. His chestnut brown eyes lit up as he excitedly showed you his new tricks. "That looks very cool, your skills are improving so fast" you said impressed, this was followed by a sad sigh. You formed a fist "do you think I'll be that good someday?". Tabari put a hand on your shoulder "Of course, let's go to the mountain and I'll teach you everything right away! If you had a good teacher like me, you would already be better than me" he laughed.

After you both went into the small adjacent forest, you knelt down in front of a large stone, you slowly moved it aside and took out the wooden chest hidden under it. Inside was a bow with matching arrows. Impa strictly forbade you to fight or to practice, as well as to leave the village. "Let's see if I can still do it" the you giggled, "in the last few days we never had the chance to practice, we used to do it soon every day".

"And another 10 points for the bow champion" you celebrated cheerfully. Tabari looked annoyed, perhaps because it was the eighteenth time in a row that he had lost. "Let's stop for today and start sword fighting" he suggested and took two sticks of equal length, one he gave to you and the other he kept for himself. "Come on, 18 is a stupid number, 20 would have been much nicer" you rolled her eyes and put yourself in a fighting pose. "One, two and three" the white haired one yelled as he charged, indicating a punch. You saw through the tactic immediately and tripped the boy, but before you could do that you were already on the ground. The tip of the stick scratched at your neck.

"You're good, but way too slow" laughed Tabari, extending a hand to you. You took it gratefully and patted the dirt off your clothes. After stowing the utensils back in the chest him and you slowly walked back to the village. Tabari had his hands clasped behind his head and was chewing on a stalk of grass. "You look like an old billy goat!" you teased him. Before he could say anything back you continued "Sooo it's 1 to 1, so I guess we'll decide the game in a race to see who gets to the pond first!". "That's not fair!" yelled Ari, but you had already started running.

When he arrived, he saw you already leaning against a tree, waiting for him. "You're good but way too slow" you grinned. Out of breath, he just laughed in response and dropped to the ground. It had gotten dark and the warm lights were shining, setting the scene perfectly for the statue, which illustrates an angel. Silence reigned, but it was not at all uncomfortable. Tabari's expression had softened, but there was something on his mind, as if he wanted to say something.

"Hey, what's wrong?" you asked softly. Your e/c observed every little detail of his face. "Nothing" he replied with a little pause. "There is something off about you, don't fool me" yousaid energetically. "It's just..., I'll be gone for a while, I was ordered to deliver a pair of goods to Lurelin Village" he explained. Your pupils widened, you had never seen him like this before. You took his hand and gave it a squeeze, "Can't I come with you?". His voice trembled as he answered her "you know that's not possible".

"Why not?" you protested, "You, Impa and even Paya are hiding something from me, why can't I leave the village? I don't even belong here, who knows, maybe I would find my family". You already regretted your words, but you had wanted to point these things out for a long time. And something in Tabaris tone of voice triggered your feelings towards your inner conflict.

"Your time will come and now you have to go home, Impa is probably worried about where you are" said the boy as he stood up. "No why don't you answer me, why can't I come with you? Am I too weak, tell me!" tears ran down your cheeks as you stood up and looked questioningly at your best friend. He cupped his hand around your cheek and said seriously "You are not too weak Y/n...". Without another word he left her and disappeared into the darkness.

Confused and a little bit angry you walked back home. You climbed up the stairs, step by step, trying to be a quiet as possible. Luckily you made it to your bed without getting in trouble, well for now. "Why are they so secretive about me leaving the village? I mean of course the calamity is dangerous but I can't even go to Hateno. It can't be because I'm too bad at protecting myself, since children that are a way younger than me are joining the travels too" you overthink while looking at your left hand.

You always had wanted to know where you got that sign from, it was a downturned triangle, which was in the center of the back of your hand. You always had to cover it up, when you were outside the house because Impa said so, as a child you would always question it but at sometime you forgot about it.

After not coming up with an answer to all your questions, you decided to sleep. Gently your e/c eyes closed and you fell asleep.
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