Splintered Heart

The Realization

Aye, this a continuation of a book No Other Shade Of Blue Than You by Kaizen liyueharbor. I am so inspired by it and becuz it ended on a cliffhanger I wanna do my own version to get this out of my system. So please, read their work first before reading mine to avoid total confusion and to support the original author ^^)

It was an uneventful walk heading outside the forest, Odie took a look on his phone to check any missed calls he might have gotten while venturing around the area. He wondered if he wasn't taking that long for his mother to make a call checking if he was doing ok, he checked the time just to double check. Normally his mother would call within half an hour if he goes on a little adventure during their travels all across Teyvat. It was already an hour since he left the bay.

Nope. No missed calls. But..

"... No signal..." Odie groaned as he placed his phone back in his pockets on the thick winter suit he was wearing.

"Seems like someone is going to have an earful when we get back." The fisherman let out a soft chuckle.

"Yeah, whatever." Odie ignored his gaze. "What brings you to fish in the middle of nowhere, mister?"

"Ice fishing is one of my hobbies, kid, it gives me room to think and enjoy the peace."

"You don't mind getting frostbites over there? Frozen lakes are really cold."

"Kid, I grew up from this kind of weather. The cold never bothers me anyway."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Elsa."

Childe just simply lets out an airy laugh in response, "Is it your first time here?"

He paused his tracks waiting for the poor man to catch up with him. In each step, he cautiously walks with his crutch with a blanket of dried leaves, possibly hiding a small pebble that can potentially out-balance him. Once he caught up, Odie lowered his pace to match his.

"Well.. yeah, mom didn't really like the idea of coming here but she had to."

"Why so?"

"I... don't really know. But the place looks really beautiful, I like it here. I would like to see more cool places that Snezhnaya has to offer."

"Well in that case.." the man gave some great tourist spots suggestions to Odie which he took a careful mental note of. They talked as if they already knew each other for a long time. But Odie still has this curiosity that he wants to ask.

"You know, I still don't know your name, mister." Odie tried one more time, he didn't give his name earlier and it's kinda embarrassing to force someone to tell them their name.

"Why would you want to know? I'm merely a stranger that just walks by. Maybe the next time we meet I might give you my name." A faint smile curled to his lips without even giving Odie a glance.

"Whatever."

Given the opportunity, Odie examined the man from head to toe. Ginger hair, light blue eyes, and with a hint of freckles that are barely visible due to the shade given by the forest canopy. If he thinks about it... the man looks exactly like him. But some kids looked like him too so he shook his head off the thought.

Oblivious, the teen didn't notice a snake was lurking in the bushes, ready to pounce at him. It crawled faster than the man lumping over his foot every step it made.

Once the snake leaped from the bushes the fisherman was fast to react, a lot of happened in a slit second. Pulling the boy on his right arm whilst successfully grabbing the snake with the other.