Over the rocky terrain and the frost-covered hills and mountains, blades of green grass poked through the crevices of rocks. During the Spring, Snowhead still had snow littered here and there, but the weather had a sense of warmth about it- enough to keep warm due to the sun's rays bouncing off surrounding rocks.
Iris, per norm, was over-dressed due to the snow, while Jace was practically shirtless in the sun. He steadily hiked and climbed, watching Iris closely in case she needed help under her thick layers of clothes...
Passed the goron village, they climbed the hillsides, which were almost mountain-like for them. The village was bustling with gorons back and below, but these hillsides had no one atop them today. These vacant hillsides were easy to scale for the rock folk who lived here, their strong arms able to reach far and pull themselves with ease. It was a pretty vertical climb, scary to look down from from up high. For deku scrubs, the climb was... Intimidating. Of course though, Jace had visited here time and time again in the past while hanging with his goron brothers. He was so confident, he didn't even bother buying climbing gear from the gorons, because he knew the least-steep routes. Iris wished he had, and had blatantly voiced her opinions about his decision repeatedly on the way; they weren't nice opinions, either.
Overhead, Skits sighed as he waited for his slow-climbing companions. The bird watched them carefully, them both silently envying his wings. Iris finally groaned aloud, speaking shortly after with no breath. "Jace, how much farther!?"
"We're almost there." he replied. "Just a little further, I promise."
The short-tempered deku girl scoffed. Her leaves flattened against her head in discomfort, when she looked down and saw what a nasty roll and fall it'd be down the hill. With this, she gave a low worried whining-squeak under her breath, making Jace flick a leaf upon hearing- though he didn't look back nor say a peep.
After a few moments, he slapped his hand onto a flat-surfaced rock and smiled "We're here. You can do it. And up here, you can lose those ridiculous coats you're wearing." he smirked. His words were mixed with grunts of effort to pull himself up onto the rock. If he voiced how he felt, his arms were burning from the climb. He sat down, and reached for Iris with one hand, his other supporting himself and keeping him in place when he does pull her up so he doesn't go flying off the hill.
When Iris came to look up and see Jace's hand in her face, she huffed a snort and replied tiredly- "I don't need your help."
His face went blank a moment, before retracting his hand back up to himself and crossing his arms. He looked smug now, though let her climb the rest of the way anyway. She slapped her hand onto the flat surface, but was too tired to lift her whole body up. After trying a few times, she finally succumbed to needing help. "Ugh... Please pull me up, I can't go any further..."
"Certainly, m'lady..." Jace chuckled a reply. He firmly gripped her hand and waited for her to have a good grip on him, before pulling her up. She dropped to her hands and knees, and fell to her side afterward.
"Why!? Now what's so special about this stupid hilltop?" she complained.
Jace replied- "Why, one of the best vacation resorts ever!"
"A vacation wha...?" she looked up, then sat down on her rump roughly. Jace motioned out a ways, and she looked. From where she was, all she saw was flat rock surfaces with steam coming from them. There were a few buildings up here that looked like tiny cottages. She raised a brow at the steaming rock surfaces, before seeing a few gorons actually out and about up here. One walked toward the steam, and then disappeared down into it, as if walking down a flight of stairs. "What the...?" she stood up, and walked on. Upon closer inspection, the entire hilltop was covered in hotsprings. Some out in the open, some located privately around cottages, noticeable from the steam rising from behind cottage side fences.
Jace stretched "This place is great! People will actually come from town to stay a few days here. And it's a good way for the gorons to make a good extra rupees, too. Lucky for us, I'm an official brother of the gorons- which means I can get us in for free." he finished, placing a hand on his hip.
"That's... Actually pretty neat." she commented. Now closer to the springs, she started to realize how warm it was up here. She gave a brief "Whew...", and began taking her coats off. As she finished, Skits came down and landed on her head. "Wow, it's hot up here."
"I know, it's great." the blond boy sighed, taking in a deep breath of the warm, steamy air. The air was so fresh and clean, he couldn't wait to hop into one of the springs. Now only to the pelt pants she was wearing and her purple shirt, she stretched her arms out and into the sun. Her leaves rose as she soaked up some sun now that her leaves weren't covered by a hood. She stood there a moment to get energized, then followed Jace as he approached the springs.
Iris had no idea where they were going, but followed till Jace came to a rather scary looking goron. His whole face was covered at the sides with a rocky beard that formed into rocky-hair on his head. He had his arms crossed, as he looked down to the two plant folk. After a moment, his bored frown became a wide chip-toothed grin. "Jacon, hey brother. Been a long time since I've seen you up here."
"Dunite, hey man." Jace replied. "Up top."
The boy raised his hand up, waiting for Dunite to high five. The rock man laughed and added- "More like down low."- given Jace was so short. He was gentle with highfiving Jace. Dunite's whole hand could wrap around Jace's head after all, it was that big. Jace's hands were dwarfed against Dunite's. Jace seemed to interact with these giants like he was literally one of them. Iris on the other hand, was very aware of how tiny she was. And thanks to the goron patriarch giving hugs often, Iris wasn't too fond of affection from gorons. Sure, they were nice, but they didn't always know their own strength.
Dunite smirked at Jace, before glancing at Iris- before redirecting his attention to Jace. "So, what brings you here, Jacon? Finally needed a break, huh?"
"Yup. Was wondering if my girlfriend and I could stay a bit...? You did say I could bring friends for free last time."
As if pondering about when he said such a thing, he stared at Iris- whom gave a low chuckle and ducked her head a slight. Then came Dunite's wide-toothed smile again. "I guess I could allow it."
"Haha, I knew I could count on you." Jace said cooly. Dunite tossed Jace a key with a number on it. After catching it, Jace thanked the goron and began walking off. Iris pattered up next to him and snatched the key from him.
"What's this? Why'd he give us a key?" she pondered.
"For a cottage. Doi. What'd ya think? We were gonna break in?" he gave a calm, light chuckle, before taking the key back.
The hyrulean deku girl's leaves bounced. "Wait, we're, like, staying the night?"
"Why else do you think I had you pack extra this time? We can stay as long as we want! Not like we're paying. It'll be nice spending time away from the swamp."
Iris cut her eyes, her voice sounding flat-toned and low "We're never at the swamp. We're always traveling."
"Oh..." he paused. He then continued, flipping the key back and forth with his finger "Well, it'd be nice not sleeping under a tree or in some dank grotto in the field. Wouldn't you agree? A nice bed, a roof over our heads..."
She stopped to think... It did sound nice. "Okay, I'll agree."
Approaching the cottage, it had an eight on the door, same number as the key. Skits had flown off at this point to perch on it's roof, watching the couple. Jace stood on the tips of his feet and unlocked the door, squeaking it open. Iris was thoroughly surprised by the interior. It was a one-room cottage, but was fixed and finished with a fireplace, neat pelt carpeting, one small couch in front of the fireplace, and a bed at the back right corner of the cottage with a window above it. The walls were stone, with mounted heads of hunted animals. Deer antlers were set up at the door for hanging coats- because gorons knew people came to the mountains covered in layers of clothes, especially during the Winter. As she looked around, she scanned the walls. There were two doors in the cottage- the exit, and a door to the cottage's personal hotspring.
She overlooked that, and kept nosying around. She was startled however when she looked beside herself to see a wolfos head dangling down and staring her in the face.
"O-oh goddesses!" she tripped backward before running to Jace without even giving a second glance. Straight after, Jace guffawed and leaned against her.
"Y-you goob, it's a wolfos pelt mounted on the wall! Haha, it's not alive!"
Her face flushed red and she looked at it again. It's skin laid flat against the wall, nailed at all corners. She shoved Jace off her for laughing, then wiped her clothes off, acting like it never happened. She was quick to change the subject. "... Why'd he send us to such a small cottage? Only one bed and two of us. I mean, I don't mind sharing, but still."
"Small cottage? One bed? You're talking like we're human. At least three deku could sleep on that bed with plenty of elbow room." he responded as he set his rucksack down next to the bed. "Not like we've never shared a bed before."
"I didn't say I was bothered, just a question." she threw her coats up onto the antler-hangers lazily. She then wondered after how she'd get them down, which she expressed with a groan a couple moments after. She then continued. "Eh, forget it, it was a dumb question."
Jace shrugged lightly, though he figured she was changing the subject from the wolfos thing. "Besides, it's a nice place, you gotta admit. Heck, for a deku, this is a dream-home."
"It is." she replied, though lowly as she glanced at the mounted wolfos pelt again. She was just glad the beast was dead, though that in itself still seemed to disturb her a bit. Jace walked over to it and flicked it's nose, before looking to Iris. She hadn't even seen him get towels from a drawr on the side of the bed earlier. He was currently holding one, before tossing it at Iris, which she caught... And by that, it caught her by surprise and landed and dangled from her snout.
"We gonna go hop in a spring or what? You have to try it, it's great." he smiled through his eyes. "You'd definitely love it!"
"H-huh?" she pulled the towel off her snout, looking it over. A few moments of looking at the towel, before fixating her eyes on Jace as he took off his vest and gear, and began changing into a pair of raggy looking pants. She rubbed her shoulder lightly, as if realizing something. "U-ummm... Wait! So, uh..."
"Hm?" he stopped to look at her "What? You okay?" he almost tripped and fell over, but caught himself and had taken the green piece of his pants off. Iris never quite understood his reasoning for wearing it, other than looks... It did nothing, and was just a large loin cloth sewn together at the sides, which he wore on his pants. Made it look like he was wearing a half-tunic usually or a furry kilt.
"Y'know, I'm not gonna change, erm... Right now..." Iris muttered. "You go on ahead, I'll meet you out there."
He blinked, before shrugging. "Alright. If you say so." he finished plainly. He finished changing, then threw a towel around him and went outside. Iris peaked through a window and watched Jace walk off, before scurrying to his rucksack and digging through it. When they left home, all he said was they may be going to a place where you can sit in water. Given Iris has never been the swimming type, she had actually never cared enough about whether she had things to swim in or not. Jace and her had gotten her some swim clothes quite a while back once for when they went to Great Bay, though. They weren't fancy and nice, much like she preferred, and was simple. It was dyed blue pelts, and was actually made from a cut up tribal dress with some add ons... She was questioning wearing it or not. The day they went to Great Bay, she chickened out of getting in the water- thus, never wore the swim clothes. She changed out of her hiking clothes and into the makeshift swim suit. They were comfy, she'd admit.
"Hmm..." she moved around in it, though felt weird to say she was wearing a swim suit... Not that it really was one, but that was the intent. After a moment, she smiled, deeming the suit a comfy, perfect fit. She reached into the rucksack, grabbing a ponytail from it's depths, and she began pulling her long leafy-hair up. Upon moving her leaves, a chill hit her exposed back since the suit was low in the back, and she shivered. Though as if she stepped out into the snow, she froze right there. Her eyes slowly widened and her hands lowered slowly. "Oh..." she muttered. Right then and there, her mind changed, and she took off her swim suit and changed back into her hiking clothes. For reasons, she suddenly just felt uncomfortable wearing it, and couldn't make herself step outside in it. She felt uncomfortable wearing it now...
Her leaves kinda drooped a bit. She knew Jace was gonna ask why, but she just decided she wouldn't get in a spring. Maybe hang out at the cottage? If she did get in, she'd get in the private one at the side of the cottage. Still, seemed like a crappy thing to do since Jace brought them here- he was probably hoping to enjoy it with her.
"... He's gonna have to live with it, I guess." she sighed. She threw her towel onto the bed lazily, then stepped outside- Skits flying down by her instantly. She stood there for a minute, before seeing Jace's gaudy blond head poking up from a spring vaguely with a few gorons. With a deep breath of the steamy air, she continued on. Iris approached the spring and stepped down near it. It was in a lowered indention in the rocky ground- almost crater-like. Surrounding the spring water itself, one could sit on the sides without actually getting in. And the rocks were warm and nice, so just that felt great. She sat down on a rock with Skits sitting next to her, catching Jace's attention from the corner of his eyes. He was about to speak, when he noticed that she was dressed in her hiking clothes.
"Iris? You not getting in...?" he asked, turning completely toward her and tilting his head to the side slightly.
Her spirit-lit orbs turned from the water to him, before answering his question. "Uh... Well... Nah, not right now. M-maybe later." she blatantly lied. So long as Jace or anyone else was around, she wasn't going to.
"C'mon little sister-"
"Yeah, it's really nice! And it's good for deku scrubs!"
"You wont regret it!"
Several gorons in the spring tried to talk her to get in, and she waved her hands at them sheepishly. "N-no, I don't think so. Besides, I'm in my hiking clothes..."
"Our clothes stink, they need to be washed anyway." Jace replied, raising an eyebrow and smiling. Iris froze on that, before slowly raising her arm and sniffing it... Then added "Yeah, and? We can wash them later, they're not for swimming in."
"I think you're chickening out again, and is just afraid of the water..." the blond boy teased. "Well, if you're so against swimming in your clothes, why not just change?
"..." she blinked and stared for only a second, before answering him with another straight-forward lie. "It ripped." she shrugged. "Guess it got snagged on something in your rucksack."
"I-..." he paused his comment. "... Oh darn. Guess I owe you a new one..."
Iris hadn't bothered to add onto it, given she'd already smeared the lie enough. She went quiet and shrugged, before changing the subject. "How's it feel?"
"You've never been in a hotspring before? It is great!" he leaned his back against the warm rock wall and sank a little "Always nice to just sit... This is paradise."
"Haha, yeah..." Iris finished quietly. She watched Jace as he talked to the gorons, actually envying how open he was to visiting with them. She wasn't much of a conversationalist, and preferred listening over talking to strangers. Jace could just get out there and interact, regardless of what race or species you were. Humans especially never bothered him, or any large races. Iris didn't hate gorons, she actually liked them, but she never knew how to talk to them- and some were scary looking.
She saw some gorons walking around with hunting gear strapped to them. They often provided the food for people who stayed here, so it made sense. Or they provided the hunting trophies in the cottages. And these weren't your typical run of the mill gorons- they were all different shapes and sizes, and all seemed to cater for the hotspring resort alone. As interesting and neat as it was, she wasn't fond of being around hunting crossbows and whatnot... One was laid against the wall next to her. Being an animal, Skits could sense Iris' discomfort, and knew why. He purred sadly at Iris, and she petted him straight after. After watching Jace a while and seeing that he had company, she stood, and spoke in a rather unintended melancholic tone- "Hey Jace? I'm gonna go... Look around."
"Oh, okay..." he smiled, though looking a bit concerned for her tone. He watched her walk away and up the spring steps. Just the position of her leaves said she wasn't feeling well. In turn, Jace's leaves drooped over his eyes a bit and others flattened atop his head. "Did I upset her for not talking to her? She could've hung out with us, even if she wasn't in the spring..."
A goron replied "I'm sure she's okay. Maybe she's just sad her suit is ripped?"
This earned a disbelieving glance from Jace. "Pft... Please... She hated that thing anyway. She probably lied about it because she didn't want to get in." he was onto her like guay's on rupees. It wouldn't be the first time she lied about something stupid. "Besides, that'd just be dumb. I dunno, just feel like she's not telling me something."
~~~
Having walked around the little resort to clear her mind, Iris found herself mulling over more things than she intended. Iris looked down at Skits when he cooed at her.
"It's fine, Skits. I'm still enjoying myself, really." she gave a deku smile. "I mean, I don't need a hotspring to have fun. And Jace is happy enough. Right?"
Skits cut his eyes at her, then gave a worried scolding caw at her. This surprised her, but was nice with her reply. "I know he'll know eventually, I'm just not ready to tell him yet. It's not gonna kill him not knowing, anyway."
Skits shook his head and gave a murmuring caw... He flew up onto her head, and sighed. She of course, didn't mind. She ventured, but there really wasn't much else for her to do. She stopped at a little shack and got a cup of tea before heading back over toward the cottage. She was surprised when she saw Jace coming over. Though he was riding on the shoulder of a goron.
She stopped, and the goron stopped, just a couple feet from each other. "Iris!" Jace called "We're heading back down to the village, I'm gonna help them with a few things. Wanna come? It's neat watching them mine."
"No thank you. You go on ahead." she responded "I'm just gonna hang back here."
"Aww... Well, okay..." he added, sounding a bit let down. He and the goron continued on, as Iris got back to walking back to the cottage. Skits looked at her rather angrily, though she hadn't directed her attention at him to see it. Skits actually knew Jace planned to bring her here, so it was plain to see that Jace was a little sad that Iris wasn't quite having as much fun as he thought she would. That, and she's been avoiding him like the plague since the spring... Not the nicest thank you.
Entering the cottage, Skits came in with her this time and she flopped down on the bed. "... I wonder how long he'll be gone?" she wondered. Skits landed on a bed post and perched there, watching Iris silently.
It wasn't surprising that she was getting increasingly bored. After dozing off, she woke up and stared at the ceiling a bit. She was sleepy-eyed at this point. She finally voiced it "Wow, I'm bored... Maybe I should've gone with him?"
Skits rolled his eyes, then cawed. Her head flew up "Wait, what!?"- he then cawed again, repeating himself. "I was asleep!? Oh geez, how long was I out!?"
With a caw, Iris caught it as "About an hour or so."
"I thought I just dozed off for a few seconds... I didn't mean to sleep for no hour..." She rubbed her head. Just felt like she closed her eyes and opened them, didn't feel like she slept. She stood up and stretched, and looked to Skits "Is Jace back?"
The bird shook his head no.
"Huh... He must still be helping the gorons." she started to feel a bit guilty. And she was bored, but wasn't brave enough to climb down the hillside by herself. Mulling things over in her head for things to do, she figured since Jace was gone... Maybe now was a good time to go sit in a hotspring? The cottage did have a private one. She glanced over at her swimsuit that was still sitting where she left it before... Making up her mind, she began changing. "Hey Skits, caw if you see him, okay?"
The bird, nonchalantly, cawed and waved a wing in response.
She went out the cottage's side door, and came to face a miniscule version of the giant spring Jace was in before. For gorons, probably only two could fit in it- and it would be a close tight fit. For a deku though, it was perfect. The whole spring was squared into a fence that went around the cottage's side, allowing privacy for those who didn't feel like mingling with other people at the large spring outside. It was convenient.
She paused, fidgeting with her hands. She wasn't afraid of shallow water at all like Jace thought. She only feared deep water. She threw her towel down on the rock floor, and dipped her foot into the water. Instantly, her leaves flattened down in a relaxed manner and she sighed. She soon found herself sinking into the water and laid back against the warm wall.
"Wow... This is nice..." she commented quietly. She looked up, the sky getting dark. It was a nice time to get in, and she enjoyed the clear view of the sky from there. She moved her hand around the top of the water and felt heavy-eyed. The feeling of the warm water against her fleshy wooden skin felt great. And while she felt heavy eyed, she still felt energized from soaking in the water. She shut her eyes and relaxed, listening to the sloshing of the water and the wind blow lightly against the fence. Not much else was going on, though... Not until she thought she heard a door open... She froze and sat up straight. Her leaves flew up, alert to sounds. She flicked a leaf when she heard something else, and she got ready to fly out of the spring. Just a few moments passed, and Jace peaked through the side door to the spring. He cut his eyes lightly, looking smug for knowing Iris had, indeed, lied about her suit and all she had said... Though, was thoroughly surprised to see her sitting in the spring, he thought she was just scared of water...
"Couldn't help it, huh?" he spoke out finally.
Iris shouted, and turned her back away from Jace as soon as those words left him. She awkwardly held her hair behind herself and waded through the spring to the other side so she was facing him.
"J-JACE! You're back! ... I... Didn't know..." she glared through the door and peered over at Skits on the bed, who just gave her a sarcastic "Oops" look. Iris muttered under her breath- "That turd..."
"Yeah, I'm back." he leaned in the doorway with his arms crossed. "What possessed you to get in, hm?"
"I was... Cold..." she cleared her throat. "I was just about to get out though, I've been in here for a while, haha..." she chuckled sheepishly. "So if you could just, uh... Go, I'll be out in a bit."
His expression fell and he uncrossed his arms to fall to his side as he straightened his posture. He sighed softly, and raised a brow at her. "You haven't been in here long. I heard you get in as I was passing by earlier."
"Eh-? You were listening in on me!?"
He placed his face to his hand "No, Iris. I got back a bit ago, just haven't been back to the cottage. I went down to help the gorons gather rocks for the gorons who work here. I walked by earlier though when I got back and heard you."
"Oh..." Iris sunk down into the water a bit. "..."
"What's going on? Why are you avoiding me? And lying to me?" Jace suddenly asked. "Did I... I don't know, do something to upset you earlier today? If you don't want to be here, we can leave."
She flew out of the water a bit and waved her hands at him "N-no, no, I like it here-! I was just-..." she paused "... I don't know. Just me."
"Just you...?" he tilted his head like a confused pup. "... Well, I been lifting rocks for the last hour, I'd like to sit with you a bit and relax, if that's not too much to ask?"
Her cheeks flushed red- though it was more so out of nervousness rather than embarrassment. Seeing her blush though was hard because of the glow of her already red eyes. She put her hands together and started fidgeting. "..." Skits was peering at her from inside. She was being selfish for a reason she wasn't willing to say. Jace however, patiently waited for her approval or decline. She sighed, pressing her back and leaves firmly against the wall. "S-sure..."
He could hear the hesitation in her tone, and still knew something was wrong. Usually when something was wrong, she'd eventually tell him on her own impulse, so didn't pry. So long as he had her approval, that's all he wanted to hear right now. He stepped in, and Iris tensed up, wanting to move away. However, she didn't. The closer he got, the more her leaves stood on end. By the time he'd sat down by her, she looked like she was part cactus. He only chuckled at this, but made no direct comment, knowing she'd wig out in trying to hide it.
The deku boy laid back and took a deep breath. Iris watched him, and he spoke- "My back hurts, haha... Sometimes I wish I was bigger. Lifting things wouldn't be such a hassle."
When Iris pictured him lifting things, she had the mental image of Jace standing in a line of gorons. Him holding an itty bitty rock, and gorons holding boulders bigger than them. To say the least, it was a funny image.
"Well, at least you didn't hurt yourself." Iris replied.
"Ha, I don't think." he sat up straight and popped his back, giving a slight jump and a tiny "Ow."
She just shook her head at him. Though she still seemed to be jumpy and on edge, him popping his back made her jump. She then moved away when it looked like Jace was reaching for her. Turned out he was only placing his hand up on land. From here on, they were pretty quiet, and just enjoyed the water. Jace though, wanted to cheer Iris up. He wasn't sure what was wrong, but it was bugging the leaves off him. He scooted closer to her, though she hadn't noticed. She was staring off at the sky, her eyes partially closed. She looked to be in thought.
He smiled softly, and slowly slipped his hand behind her leaves in hopes to hold her near himself, as he'd casually done many times in the past. As soon as his arm brushed her exposed back though, her eyes flew open. She flung around and smacked him without thought, the light of her eyes flaring more wildly than normal. Her leaves bristled, and she took a momentary defensive stance away from him like she was gonna spit a nut- as if she was trying to protect herself from something.
"OW! Whoa, Iris, no, stop!" he backed off, nearly falling backward in the water when he moved away. He rubbed the side of his face where she smacked him, and he looked legit startled. "Don't shoot, what're you doing!?"
She huffed a few times, one with a squeak, before her flaring angry eyes calmed. Her yellow and white pupils went from large chaotic burning balls of light back to her standard pupil shape, almost as if she'd become a cornered mad scrub for a second. It didn't occur to her that she smacked him and almost shot at him till now. She even had a deku nut at ready. She turned and spat it at the fence, before looking back at him. His eyes were wide as dinner plates, wondering what he did. "I-Iris..."
Her leaves flattened against her head. "I'm s-so sorry... I didn't mean to-... I mean, I didn't realize I-..." she shook her head, before lowering it slightly, her bangs hung guiltily over her eyes. "I thought you were- or you reminded me-... Oh shoot..."
He stood up straight again, before finally confronting her. "Did you just go all instinctive-attack-mode on me!?" he sounded more scared than angry. "W-what just happened? Why did you do that...?"
She hunkered over at this point, holding her leaves and fidgeting with them. "... I don't know... You scared me..."
"I scared you? If I was human, I'd have soiled myself, gees!" he placed his hand to his forehead and sighed. He'd never seen her do something like that. He's... Only seen mad scrubs do that.
"Are you hurt...?" she asked.
"No... I mean, my face hurts, but it's not like, terrible..." he rubbed his shoulder, before walking toward her. "You're not gonna do that again, are you...?"
The fact that Jace sounded scared and questioned whether she'd hurt him or not hurt her feelings, but she understood. She sat down in the water and gazed down. "No, I'd never turn on you on purpose."
He knew she was pretty good with defending herself, but had never seen her just lose it.
"I've seen you fight and kinda open a can of whup when cornered or scared, but you've never done that. That wasn't Cornered by a dragalfos and forced to fight let loose, it was Oh my crap, I'm gonna die if I don't shoot the brains out of something let loose. Some kind of instinct made you do that. What'd I do to trigger it? I know you know..."
She sighed "You touched my back." she shrugged.
"I... Touched... Your back? I've touched your back before, and you never flipped the crazy switch then."
"My bare back, I mean..." she cleared her throat. "I have been hiding from you today because I didn't want you seeing it. And this blasted swim suit has a low-cut back, so I just decided not to wear it around you or anyone else. I actually have it burned into my mind to not expose my back to people, period."
"Why? Not like I'd stab it or something..."
She finally looked at him, him being able to see her eyes and how sorry she looked "I know you wouldn't... But in Hyrule, it was wise not to expose your weakspots. I want to show you why... C-c'mere..."
He sat down by her and waited. She was hesitant, but turned her back to him and moved her leaves. What he saw actually horrified him a bit. A strange scar-like pattern on her back was present. It covered her whole upper-back, over her shoulder-blades, and between. It wasn't one either, it was a sporadically placed few that zig-zagged across each other with multiple tiny scars around them. And now that he was aware of the scars, he looked at her shoulders to see a familiar few scars which he'd noticed before. But he never asked about them, he just assumed she got it during the dragalfos fights before, and they're so small and easy to overlook. But it almost looked like something had been wrapped around her upper body, like something barbed and jagged.
He reached, though stopped when thinking of what happened a few moments ago "Can I...?"
She glanced back, before nodding. He placed his hand gently against the mess of scars, their rough mutilated surfaces obvious to touch. Strange, he never noticed before, they should be able to be felt even through her clothes. The wood on her upper back was too damaged to heal over with thick skin, and the scars had run deep and permanent. Anything around the scars that weren't damaged still felt like young deku skin rather than thick like the rest of her. That meaning, someone could pierce her back easier than anywhere else on her body if they knew better. Between the shoulders no less. He was reminded of his birthmark and how he hid it from her in the past. But this, this was a literal scar. He felt his heart drop, and felt her shaking against him.
"I was a kid when this happened." she spoke. Jace looked up at her from her back, though his hand still massaged gently between her shoulder blades. "Some hunters set up deku traps in the woods those many years ago. Their dogs had me on the run, and I dove into a flower to escape. They'd rigged the flower with sharp wires with barbs, designed to keep deku scrubs from escaping. My skin was developing it's thickness at that point. My back was still soft though. I got tangled in the barbs, and actually experienced my first instinctive loss of control that day."
Jace couldn't believe what he was hearing. Iris was staring, her eyes wide at the water, as if vividly reliving the story she was telling in her mind- and she was. "I remember how much pain I was in, I'd have rather burned alive at that point than squirm in that flower for as long as I did. Dogs were barking in at me, snapping at my leaves. Above and below, it was trouble. I had sunk the barbs in and across my back trying to get out. By then, I was seeing blurred and was panicking. I couldn't even speak, I was squeaking and screaming for help, but no one came. When I finally did get out of the flower, I bursted out and shot everything in sight and ran without a second thought."
When hearing Iris explain in detail of what happened, it was so hard to listen to, that Jace's back hurt just hearing it. Iris finally turned back to look at him, the scarring memories having obviously gotten to her. "I was scared... I knew I wouldn't be the same since that day, and never have been. I still look at deku flowers and think, what could be in there? What if my death is in one? A deku scrub's natural safe haven, turned into a living nightmare- a torture device. Why would any living being think that's right...?" she paused, shaking her head. "I never expose my back to people, and don't like people touching it. I'm paranoid of being hurt, and I've always had that little spark of instinct to kick in when my mind tells me someone has breached that safety bubble. I haven't had it happen in... Years, though. I just feel bad it was almost you. I was afraid of you seeing how screwed up my back was, or what you'd think."
"Iris, I... I don't know what to say." Jace murmured.
Iris took a deep breath, and leaned her back against Jace's hand when she sat up straighter. He looked up at her, caressing the spot assuringly. When he finally stopped, he leaned forward and held her from behind, placing his snout next to her face and wrapping his arm around her shoulder for his hand to meet her other shoulder, his other arm repeating in the opposite direction. "Well... I know it's hard... But you can let it all go now. There aren't people here that can hurt you like that, I'll always have your back and protect you."
Her leaves perked up slightly, and she wiped a welled-up tear from her eye. He shut his eyes and nuzzled his cheek and snout against the side of her face, and rocked gently with her back and forth. His face was buried somewhat in her leaves, but he didn't care.
"Scars don't always heal physically, but I'm here to help heal you where I can, at least." he murmured passionately, sincerity in his tone. She turned her face back to him more, their snouts touching at the sides. He gave a soft smile through his eyes when he opened them, nuzzling his snout with hers.
"Thank you, Jace." she sniffled. She placed a hand on his arms which were still wrapped around her. His arms moved to her waist and continued to hug her. "You're welcome...~ You don't need to be afraid of being you around me. I don't think anything of those scars other than how strong they made you."
Iris smiled at Jace, before turning and looking inside the cottage. From in the cottage, Skits had been watching the whole time, smiling to himself for Iris being honest. The best healing she could be given was to open up and tell someone. And Skits, by now, knew Jace was what she needed. Maybe now, she wont be so scared anymore. Iris leaned her weight back against Jace soothingly, which surprised him a bit. But he accepted her lean against him openly, and kept his face by hers.
"Jace." she said softly. "Ugh, I just... I feel terrible for what I did earlier."
"You're fine, It made sense... I triggered a defense mechanism, when I probably should have told you what I was doing before I did it. Especially since you didn't want me to do it..."
She nodded, though decided that she wouldn't hide anymore. She sighed, then spoke "I really love you, Jace..."
"I know you do. And I love you, too." the boy replied with kindly grin in his eyes. After some silence, Jace spoke up. "So... You don't mind sitting out here with me?"
"No. I... I actually really want you to stay here with me." she got situated to where she could be comfortable yet allowing him to stay where he was.
He chuckled "Well that wont be a problem then."
With traumatic problems out of the way and Jace having comforted Iris, the rest of the night had been spent hanging out and joking around. Iris dropped the subject of her scars, deeming them as something that brought her and Jace a little closer tonight. Those memories will always be with her, but she knows she wouldn't be who she is today without her trials. As night carried on, and they talked, visited, and even rough-housed a bit, they finally got out and went inside. Throughout the night, Iris had felt nearer to Jace than normal, a piece of her boundaries having been torn down. She felt... lighter. There wasn't so much weight on her back and mind anymore. And normally, she wasn't too cuddly. But as they went to bed, Jace was surprised- though enlightened, when Iris had fallen sleep with her arm around him and her snout nuzzled up under and against his own. She was normally shy about sleeping close with him. But as everything else, he accepted it, and held her in his arms in return. He'd always wanted to...
~~~
A few days had passed, and they enjoyed their mini-vacation at the goron-owned resort. It was the perfect getaway compared to their "Sleeping in a grotto" nights... Or staying at a typical room at the inn in Clocktown. Whether they helped the gorons gather supplies, rough-housed in one of the famous springs, or sat and hung out with nothing to do, they always kept themselves busy with each other's or other people's company. And Jace knew, that it was well-needed and that since their first day, it made them a little closer.
"We need to totally come back again." Iris commented as they made their way from the goron village to the Snowhead lake. They were walking across one of the bridges, Skits soaring high above. Jace held her hand as they walked.
"Yeah, I agree. Next time, we'll go in Autumn. Always best to go as the weather's getting cold, if that's fine by you?"
"Hey, so long as I'm able to move, I say heck yeah." she scoffed lightly. She looked down at the lake, watching their upside-down reflections on the water. "I say for now though, we head home."
"Mm-hmm... Y'know... I noticed you've been closer with me since the first night." he finally commented. He'd never actually voiced it till now, but he loved it.
Iris gazed intently at him, flicking a leaf. "Yeah, well... I was... Enlightened, that night. I don't quite know how to say what changed, though."
"Cuddling me in your sleep like I was a giant teddy bear, that's what changed." he snickered "You were so cute! Am I really as huggable as you made me seem?"
She gave a blank look and a roll of her eyes "I'm about to shove you off in the lake."
"I'm just messing with you... Though, uhhh... Please don't change." he coughed with his please don't change, to purposely mask it.
She glanced at him. "Alright, I wont..." she looked off, before shoving Jace jokingly near the railing of the bridge, startling him. The railing went above them, and he could easily fall through. "WHOA- WHOA, WAIT, NO!"- though in his pleading, she kept ahold of his vest and quickly yanked him back before he could actually fall, and she smacked a kiss to his snout thoroughly, then pulled away and gave him a teasing look.
"You dork." she said simply, before walking on. His heart was racing and his face was red, but he wasn't sure if it was because how sudden that was, or if he was still scared crapless. Or both. After some thought, he said to himself- "Whoooaa, whiplashhh..." with a dorky grin only another deku would notice, before catching up with her.