Chapter Text
The day was bright and sunny as it usually was in Summer. However, Four didn’t want to be in the brightness of his season. So, he slipped on a thin hoodie, packed himself some snacks and books and headed into spring.
The slight chill of the season was refreshing on his skin. As much as he loved his season and the warmth of it, he just needed some time to chill.
Four wandered deeper into the Spring until he reached the border between it and Winter, pulling out a novel before leaning on a tree to read.
A few minutes of reading pass before he hears the sound of crunching next to him, coming from Winter. He looked up and marked his book before walking towards the snow.
A short boy, about his height and dark skin with speckles of lighter skin, jet-black hair with violet streaks in a messy bob-cut, wearing a thin hoodie and leggings as well as tall boots was walking to the border, yet away from him. He didn’t seem to notice Four, either.
Curiously, Four set his book down and spied on the boy as he wandered closer to the spring border.
The boy cautiously looked around, side to side and behind him, before removing his jacket. Suddenly, he shoved an arm into spring, causing his fingertips to melt and drip onto the grass.
“Stop! Don’t do that!” Four shouted suddenly before realizing what he just did.
The boy jumped backwards in surprise, yelping as he fell into the snow.
“O-Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!”
Four reached out to help the boy up, only to recoil in pain as his hand froze. The ice didn’t melt, either.
“Dun w’rry about it.” The boy said. “Ya can’t come over anyway.”
He pushed himself up with slight struggle and brushed the snow off of him. Then, he placed his hands on his hips and smirked cockily.
“I’m Shadow! What’s yours?” The boy, Shadow, said, sticking his hand out again into the spring side.
Four pushed his hand back, sticking his tongue out at the feeling of the melting fingers.
“My name’s Link but I prefer to go by Four.”
“A number? You like math or somethin’?”
Four snorted with slight indignance at the assumption.
“How dare you!” He exclaimed, somewhat dramatically while holding back his shivers. “I’ll have you know that although it may seem I enjoy such a horrid subject, I prefer to indulge in literacy instead-”
He coughed dryly, the cold of Spring as well as the ice on his hand attacking him and freezing him up.
“I-I think I’d better he-head back now….” He said, shivering and brushing off the concern of the other.
“You’ll be back tomorrow, right?”
“Of-f course! B-but I h-have to go n...now… S-see ya, Shade!”
Four left and gathered his things as quickly as he could, his movements slowed by the cold. The ice creeped up his hand, making him unable to move it at all. He huffed out, able to see his breath. He needed to leave now.
He pulled his hoodie closer to him, wishing he had brought a bigger one, and gripped his basket tightly before bolting through the fields of flowers. Bees buzzed around, annoyed and surprised by the sudden thumping of feet. Birds, beetles and other creatures skittered and flew away in fear of being stomped.
The warmth of the border neared and Four’s heart skipped a beat as he ran faster and faster until finally he reached it.
He collapsed onto the grass, feeling the dripping of the ice go down from his hand. His breathing was laboured and his body still felt cold, despite being in the warmth of his home. However, he was alright and that’s what mattered.
Once he completely warmed up, Four began his trek to his home, wincing, not only in pain, but also at what his grandfather is going to say about him freezing his hand. Afterall, it isn’t easy taking care of an injury such as this in secret.
He knocked on his door before entering the house, trying to cover up his hand as much as possible. Maybe he can at least get it covered up by some gloves-.
“Ah, there ya are, pipsqueak! Where’ve ya been?”
Four quickly put his hands behind his back, trying his best to hide his injury from his granddad.
Unfortunately, the old man was more perceptive than he looked.
“Son, what’s that behind your back?”
“Uhhhh…. Nothin’ Smithy!”
His grandfather trudged up to him and, without even asking, pulled out both of Four’s hands while eyeing them with concern.
“Boy, why do you have these burn scars?”
Four felt sweat beading on his forehead as anxiety bubbled in his stomach.
“How’d you get them, Link?”
“I…”
“Link! Tell me how you got these scars, young man! Or I swear to the goddesses-”
“TherewasthisboyatthewinterborderandhestuckhishandoutintoSpringbutthenhestartedmeltingsoIsaid-”
“Woah, woah, son, slow down!”
Four shut his mouth, taking several deep breaths after spouting his story, despite it not being complete. It’s a shame. He wanted to tell it all in one go so that he didn’t have to face his grandad’s anger if he found out he let himself go cold.
“Now tell me: What happened to your arm?”
Four took a deep inhale and exhale before looking at his grandfather’s eyes, only to look away not a few moments after.
“I went to Spring to get a bit of alone time and I got near the Winter border,” He explained. “Then I saw this one boy from Winter and he went up to the border and stuck his hand out and it started melting so I told him to stop.”
“He got surprised and fell over so I tried to help him but I got frozen. We talked for a bit and then stuff started getting worse and… You already know how it goes.”
Grandpa Smith patted Four’s head, sighing in exasperation. However, instead of lecturing him, he simply told him to soak it in warm water and put some medicine on it.
Four was surprised. He expected something worse like an argument, maybe a grounding. Maybe even have him be forbidden from going to Spring for the rest of his life. But a simple...take care of it?
‘Well, it’s better than nothing I suppose…’
Deciding better than to go against what his Grandpa said, he simply gave a small “Okay” and went to the bathroom, in which he filled the sink with warm water, soaking his arm in the water to allow it to heat up. With his other, free hand, he opened the glass cabinet and pulled out a tube of medicine for when his arm finished warming up.
A few minutes passed before the water cooled down and he had to remove his arm. He dried his arm with a towel and uncapped the ointment before rubbing it onto his wound. Once finished, he wrapped it so that it wouldn’t stick onto his clothes and went downstairs.
“You’re heading out again?” Smith asked as Four slipped on his shoes.
“Yeah, I wanted to visit Zelda,” He told the old man. “I promise I won’t go beyond the border and that I’ll be back soon. Bye, pops!”
“Stay safe!”