Your name is Dave Strider, coolest of the cool kids, and you are currently walking through Faron Woods hand-in-hand with your best friend and also girl you're hopelessly in love with but she doesn't know that yet so shhhh.

"It's almost a pity," Jade sighs, stopping in the midst of a small clearing, dotted with flowers here and there, and looking around. You slow to a stop, too, and raise an eyebrow at her.

"What is?"

"That we have to go back now! It's so lovely here, too, and I think another hour would get us near the stream that comes from Faron's Spring, if I remember my geography right," she says, looking up at you with those big expressive and hella pretty green eyes of hers. "It isn't the same as seeing the actual spring, but it still would be neat, don't you think?"

Dammit. You can never say no to her, even when she hasn't technically asked you to do anything—or even when she isn't even fucking aware that she's asked you to do whatever. You look back towards Ordona and think about the lack of packing for tomorrow's trip that you've done, about the amount of rest you're gonna need, and about the fact that you've gotta get up super early, and then you look down at Jade and her bright eyes and bright smile, and you know just what you think of heading back just now.

"Well, I don't think we've gotta be back just yet," you shrug. "I mean, it's only a precaution. We can always go back a little late and hang out at the spring a little less, right? What does it matter, I'm hanging around with you either way." Technically hanging out at the spring would be easier on you both because a, you wouldn't be walking, and b, you wouldn't have a long way to walk back, too, but meh. What's the point of doing anything if you aren't going to look back on it in the morning and wonder what the fuck was wrong with your past self, right?

Jade contemplates this for barely a moment before she beams and nods, twirling around once and clasping her hands together with glee. It's cute as hell. "Okay then! A little longer can't hurt! Let's just keep exploring. Grandpa knows we'll be careful, and besides, nothing bad is over here. Maybe a few monkeys or something, but other than that, it's perfectly safe!"

She sounds like she's trying to reassure herself as much as she is you, but you won't call her out on that. She always likes to follow set plans and rules, you know that, so she's just talking herself into changing those plans, which is fine by you because hey, you get to walk around the woods with her and that's one of the best ways you can think of to spend your day. The only thing better would be walking around the woods with her, after sleeping in a little longer.

Oh, and getting her to figure out when you're trying to fucking flirt with her, that'd be sweet as hell too. But you'll take what you can get.

Honestly you're a little unsure of yourself here, too, unsure whether she seriously is that oblivious—not that you put that past her, because she can definitely be really oblivious—or whether she's just trying to tell you she's ... not interested, albeit in a kinda confusing and roundabout matter. You don't think it's the second one, because frankly that's not her style and you know it, but you doubt yourself so much that you can't help but be a little put off by this. But then she went and kissed your cheek earlier, so...

You figuratively throw your hands up in disgust. Romantic shit is confusing as fuck.

"Dave? Da-ave! Hellooo in there!" Jade waves her hand in front of your face and you blink in surprise as you're snapped out of your thoughts. She laughs.

"Huh?" you say intelligently, and she shakes her head at you, still laughing. "Sorry, I got distracted."

"Really now! I hadn't noticed!" she teases, reaching up to ruffle your hair again. Reflexively you duck slightly because you kind of always blush when she does that and god dammit it's a pain pretending you aren't blushing when you're as pale as you are.

"Yeah, seriously," you say instead, coming to stand next to her and draping your arm around her shoulders. She hums contentedly and leans into your side, and you can't help but grin just a bit. "I don't think you had any idea at all. Damn, Harls, you gotta be more observant!"

Jade lets out a snort at that, looking up at you with raised eyebrows. "'Be more observant', coming from the boy who literally walked into the lake on accident because he didn't notice that he was standing next to a stone that would be super easy to trip over! Or because he didn't notice the lake there, that other time."

Wow, low blow. That was only one—okay, that was only two times! Only twice, ever, in your entire seventeen years of life! That's gotta count for something, even if Jade is known as the girl with the best aim in the village. She might need thick glasses, but she has sharp eyes for motion and things that are out of place. Meanwhile, you sometimes trip over your own feet.

"Let's just forget that ever happened and talk about the time you lost your glasses in the pumpkin patch instead," you suggest as you both start walking again, heading a little deeper into the woods. "That was fucking hilarious."

"Oh no no no, we are not going down this road," she protests, poking you in the side and giggling when you flinch away. (Damn her for knowing where you're ticklish. Damn her.)

"We are so going down this road," you taunt in reply. "'Oh, Dave, help, I can't find my glasses! Now I don't even know which shoe goes on which foot! I'm blind!'" you imitate, making your voice higher pitched and kinda squeaky, and are rewarded with a smack to the shoulder from your companion as you break off, laughing too hard to continue.

"Oh, shut up," she giggles, sliding her arm around your waist. "Jeez, you are such a dork!"

"No, I'm the coolest of the cool," you immediately contradict.

"Dorkiest of the dorks, I think you mean."

"Am not."

"You so are!"

"No I'm not."

"Dork!"

"Shorty!"

"Hey!" she exclaims, stopping and turning to frown up at you, one hand going to her hip. She isn't actually mad—even if you didn't already know that because you know her so well, you'd be able to tell because her other arm is still around you.

"I'd be worried you'd punch me, but I don't think you could reach," you shrug loftily, smirking down at her. What's she gonna do—wait wait no, no shit shit

She tackles you with a peal of laughter, and you catch her (of course you catch her) and stumble back as her hands once again find their way to your sides and fuck you are so screwed why the hell are you this ticklish aw fuck!

You lose your balance, stumbling backwards until you trip and fall and Jade lands on top of you, both of you lying in the grass. She's still laughing as you give her your frowniest frown, and that seals the deal—you suddenly spring up and roll, using your own weight as momentum to switch your places so that she's the one lying on the ground pinned beneath you, leaves in her hair and in yours too probably.

"Oh no," she has time to say, right before you exact your revenge until you're both laughing too hard to breathe, and you let her sit up only to have her slump right back against you, still giggling.

"Well," you say sardonically as you loosely clasp your arms around her, "that was fun."

"Weren't we supposed to be walking?" she replies with a grin, raising her head to look up at you. Then one of her hands comes up, brushes your cheek, and gently dusts the leaves out of your hair. "Are you trying to be both fluffy and a leaf collector, Dave?"

You shrug, doing the same to her and wow her hair is soft. Kind of tangly and messy, but it's really soft. Huh. "Dunno. What do you think? Does it match my super cool persona, attract all the ladies?"

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "And you say you aren't a dork."

You let go of her and then get to your feet, Jade standing too. "I'm too cool for that. Wanna keep walking, or head back? Your choice."

"Um..." she looks around. "We didn't really go that far anyway. Maybe a few more minutes, and then we turn back?"

"Twenty more minutes then," you decide. "Which way are we supposed to be going again?"

"Dave," she groans. "Northeast! That's that way. What would you do without me?"

"Huh... get lost, probably," you shrug unconcernedly as you start to walk northeast. "Good thing I'm taking you with me tomorrow then, right?"

"Oh my goddesses," she laughs. "The poor princess would be waiting on you for ages! They'd send someone to find out what happened and they'd find you walking in circles somewhere in Faron."

"What can I say," you shrug. "I have many talents. Map-reading is not one of them."

The look she gives you can only be described as one of fondness or affection as she squeezes your hand. "I know, Dave. Trust me, I know."

You shoot her the cockiest grin you can muster.

A few moments pass in silence as you both just keep walking, hand in hand and smiling ever so slightly. Jade watches the trees and the birds, a look of wonder on her face just like there is every single time you go out walking like this—she can never get enough of how beautiful the world around her is, she's told you before. The late afternoon sunlight filters down through the leaves above you, warm and golden like honey (or apple juice, hell yeah), and frames her in a shower of dappled green and gold that just makes her even more beautiful. Wait, weren't you supposed to be looking at the trees, not Jade? Oops. That sure is one fine-ass maple tree. Would be cooler if it had apples on it, though.

It's kinda nice, out here alone with Jade. She's been your best friend as long as you can remember—her and her grandfather are really the closest thing to family you've ever had. Mayor Gramps tells you that you were just left on the doorstep of a then-abandoned house one day, and no one actually came to claim you. Like, seriously, fuck your parents, right? You're pretty sure this is pretty high on the list of Things You Do Not Do With A Kid If You Want To Be Anything But A Shitty Parent. But whatever. Doesn't matter.

The forest is pretty peaceful. You sure are doing a whole lot of reflection here. But you do that a lot, you guess, especially during these little silences with Jade. That's one thing you really like about being with her—as talkative as both of you can be, when quiet moments do happen they aren't awkward, they're normal and they're nice. Huh, that tree looks kinda nice too. More climbable, at least.

"Have you started packing at all?" Jade asks, breaking the silence between you two. She keeps looking around, though, lightly stepping over a root, and even though she can only see you from her peripheral vision you shrug slightly.

"Not really."

"Why am I not surprised," she sighs, turning to look at you with that kind of exasperation that comes with fondness and a twinkle in her eye. Damn, that was a poetic statement.

"Because you have known me for like... sixteen years now?" you offer in response, and she laughs.

"That's probably got something to do with it." She links her arm through yours and then bumps your hip with hers, giggling. "I still can't believe I'm coming and we're actually leaving and going out there, tomorrow! Just think—by this time in one day, we'll probably be near Faron's Spring! Isn't that exciting?"

"Sure is," you start to say, but then frown. Something's up—there was a twig that just snapped real loud. Like, not normal for any self-respecting forest animal. Or at least, not normal for a small one, and if it's a huge-ass thing like a wolf or a bear, you've gotta be careful.

"Well, aren't you a fountain of enth—" Jade begins, but you press your finger to her lips, looking around. What is that sound? Like, heavy breathing or something, but weird as fuck too. That's no animal, you're pretty sure, so you edge closer to the trees and draw Jade with you, pulling her close to you. "What is it?" she whispers, looking up.

"You hear that?" you breathe in reply. "I don't know what it is, but—" Before you finish, Jade nods once and then slips out of your arms in the blink of an eye. In the blink of the other eye, she's scampering up the nearest tree, her green clothes doing her a favor here as she looks around. You hold your breath and hope to fucking god that whatever it is that's making that noise doesn't notice her.

She turns around again and starts climbing back down, very, very slowly, and you can't help but notice how pale she looks. Without really thinking about it you wrap your arms around her almost protectively and draw her close against your chest, stroking through her hair as soothingly as you can as she presses herself against you.

"Dave," she whispers. "We have to get out of here. There's—there's Bulbins, three of them, wandering around just barely a few yards away!"

Your eyes widen of their own accord. Bulbins? Here, in South Faron? What the fuck are they doing this close to your home? If they get into Ordona, shit's going down. Like, big time. Who in Ordon Village even knows much fighting? There's you, there's Rusl, there's Mayor Gramps, there's Jade, and there's Beth to a degree—she's learning, at least, but you'd rather she stay away from these shitheads. There's only three though, right? They're probably scouts. If you kill them now and they don't make it back to the main army—

Jade must have guessed what you were thinking, because her grasp on your arm tightens like a vice. "Dave, come on, let's go," she hisses. "Don't try to fight them off! We're outnumbered—"

"If we take one down by surprise, it's evenly matched before the fight even starts," you whisper back, edging out from behind the tree. Honestly it's some kind of goddamn miracle that they didn't notice you earlier, when you were both casually walking around and talking and nearly blundered right into their little spot over there—now that you know where to look, you can see them milling about, almost like they're waiting for something.

Jade pokes her head out next to you, still denying this idea. "No, bad idea. Look," she points with one slender finger, hidden mostly behind the trunk, and you follow her gaze to the three of them. What are you supposed to be looking for—oh.

Well, that changes things.

Each of them has a horn tied to his belt. You have no doubt that two of them would whip it out and blow it in a heartbeat if the third fell down dead.

"I told you you need to be more observant," she whispers. "If any one of them blows those horns and they get reinforcements, we're dead! Especially because," she adds, looking down at herself, "I'm unarmed."

Well, shit. It's a good thing you didn't decide to play the hero. But hey it fits, right? You aren't a hero anyway. Time to get back and warn everyone.

"Let's go home," you whisper back, and she nods, looking over her shoulder at the Bulbins once more.

"This is making me nervous," she murmurs as you draw closer to Ordona, almost to the Spring. "Like, really nervous. I can't help but feel like something bad is about to happen."

You can't help but agree, to be frank. When was the last time Bulbins were seen in south Faron Woods? What are they even doing here? They never mean anything good, especially these days. The Bulbins are a nomadic race all loosely tied to the authority of their king, and King Bulbin in this generation is a fucking piece of shit. Apparently he's pretty much agreed to make his people all sellswords to the highest bidder, and he's said some racist as hell things as well, according to the occasional news you get from travelers. Which is funny, considering that the Bulbins aren't the people native to this region, but whatever dude, if you say so.

But you do not like them being this close to your home, and that is a grade-A, one hundred percent true and verifiable fact. It gives you a bad feeling, too. It might not mean anything in particular, but you're still kinda nervous about it, or you guess you would be if people as cool as you got nervous.

Nah fuck that, you're nervous. This doesn't sit well with you. Maybe you're making a big deal out of nothing, but it's better to be safe than sorry, you guess.

As you and Jade approach the Spirit's Spring, you both let out audible sighs of relief, as if just by being closer to home you're suddenly way safer. At least you feel safer. You can hear the kids splashing around in the water, too—going by the voices you can hear, you'd guess it's Jen, Beth, Colin, Malo, and Talo. Usually, Jen is a quiet girl and keeps to herself, but you've heard from Jade that Talo has a big crush on her, so he probably badgered her into leaving the library and coming out here today. Good on them, she needs to get out some anyway. Kids shouldn't be as pale as you. It's just weird.

"Looks like we'll be okay," Jade murmurs, voicing the thoughts you've just been having. "Let's go find Grandpa, though, just to be on the safe side. Is he here?"

"Yeah," you agree, stepping through the gate to the spring with her. "He might be, let's look."

"Jade! Dave!" Colin jumps up and runs to greet you, a little smile appearing on his tiny face. Damn, children are short. "I heard you're both leaving tomorrow. I'm going to miss you..."

"It's okay! We'll be back soon, before you even know it!" Jade reassures him, smiling fondly and patting his shoulder. "And we can play with you today, if you want. I mean, we were planning to come sit here for a while anyway! Just as soon as we go find my grandfather. Is he around here?"

"No," Colin shakes his head.

"Oh," Jade sighs. "I guess we'd better go—"

There's a crashing sound and a roar. Beth screams.

That's when you realize that amid all the laughter and splashes, you didn't hear any of the hoofbeats coming south, from Faron Wood.


AN: Oh gosh, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, for your support and well-wishes! :D Here's the next bit, where we're actually starting to get into the plot. I mean, I couldn't leave it just fluffy forever, right? :P

Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing! You people, keep on being awesome. :D