"For the last time, I am *not* going into the water with you guys!" Spirit crossed his arms, slapping Wind's outstretched hand away. While the rest of them were all dressed in some sort of swimming attire or on their last layer of clothes (aside from Ghosty), Spirit was still dressed in his uniform. "Aww.. C'mon, you're no fun!" Minish whined, jumping up and down while tugging on his sleeve. The engineer was just a bit nicer to him and gave him a gentle shove off. Twilight rolled his eyes, annoyed at everything as usual. "Honestly.. I don't want to go in the water either. It was Hyrule who forced me to." He nodded to the knight, who gave an innocent look back at Spirit. "Plus," Twilight continues, "If he doesn't want to go in 'cause he's scared, he doesn't have to." "I'M NOT SCARED!" Spirit shot back hastily. He received a couple suspicious stares and creased eyebrows, which he dismissed by clearing his throat. "I- I mean.. I'm not scared of the water.. I just.. Don't wanna get wet. Do you guys even have towels??" Minish gave a simple shrug. "Don't matter. It'll just dry off eventually." He shook his head like a dog, splashing water everywhere. Spirit brushed it off with a frown. "I'm just.. Not going, okay? Leave me alone.." He walks away to the sandier side of the beach. The others shrug it off, but Ghosty looks on with concern. She remembers asking him one day on their adventure, "When we get my body back, do you want to go swimming?" He looked hesitant like now, but he nodded. It seems like he desperately doesn't want to this time. What was different..? While the rest of them splash around on the shallow side of the ocean (some reckless ones like Wind, Wild, or Minish going towards the deep side), Ghosty floats over to where Spirit disappeared. He looked up, catching the sight of a faint blue glow out of the corner of his eye. He felt her hand on his shoulder, despite almost passing through him. "What is it.." Spirit grumbled, pulling his knees up to put his head down. Ghosty ran her fingers through his hair, but she felt nothing. Not the softness or silkiness of it. It felt numb. "I just wanted to know if you were alright," she says softly. "Why don't you want to go into the water?" … . . . H e l p . . . No one told him it was deep, or dangerous.. He was teased, dared to jump off the short cliff and into the water. He wasn't gonna do it. He was older than Joe or any of the other kids on the island. But he couldn't shake off his mocking words, saying he wasn't a real engineer. He jumped. The water was cold. He felt blind as the water stabbed his eyes, refusing to let him open them. He messed up. He took a sharp inhale - a gasp - when he hit the water. It flooded his nose, his mouth.. It only caused him to swallow more, and he coughed, and he swallowed more.. The once bright ocean faded as he sunk deeper, the warm sun feeling as far as the moon. Someone called out his name.. "Link! LINK!!" … Darkness.. … . . . "Spirit? Link!?" Spirit snapped back to reality and flinched. Ghosty was shaking him. Hard. "A-ahhhhh- I'm awake! I'm okay!" His voice vibrated. Ghosty wouldn't stop. "Why didn't you respond!? I was calling your name for the past minute!" "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He said in a slightly irritated tone. His tone softened as he saw that she was just extremely worried for him. And perhaps maybe he even blushed. "I was just..remembering something. I.. I don't like the water. … I can't swim-" He confessed. Ghosty stared at him for a moment, only to burst out laughing a second later. "Everyone knows that already, silly! You're just so stubborn about accepting it that it's funny! We can't help but tease you!" She giggled. Her features changed to a comforting smile, and she rests a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, Spirit. If you don't want to go in the water. I'm a ghost so I can't go in anyways! We can spend some time alone." Ghosty's smile was always contagious. Spirit couldn't help but grin back.
this is goofy ☠️ (I am goofy) 364 points (or 300 if you're not counting the extra 128 left over) ik the art doesnt count im just a perfectionist :sob:
