Ears gave a small twitch at the tone to his voice- she trusted him even less, now. Welcome by default did not mean honored guest. She would have no trouble makers in these part of her domain. Impa was the guardian, and with her life she would guard until the end.
“Forgive me if I come to believe our definitions of ‘good’ greatly vary.
… Yes. Land blessed by the goddess- a place of peace and respite for the weary.
You are in Faron Woods.”
“Faron Woods, huh? Back home, I grew up in a wood when I was… Younger.”
Whole would be a better term, actually. The memories the creature carried of that time were the only things that kept him sane within his watery prison – his only remaining tie to that time being the withered, lifeless tree that kept him company. Perhaps it was meant to be some form of comfort, but it only served to mock him as his mind began to rot - to remind him of the world he’d been cruelly torn away from in favour of being sealed away.
He may argue that he despised his youth as a whole being to anyone who asked, but there are small pockets of happiness that he desperately clings to, hoping to relive them once more… But these are not truly his memories to cherish, are they?
How dare he wish for something that was never his to begin with?
“I suppose I should feel right at home here.”
Oh, if only that were the truth. Even in familiar surroundings, he still very much feels like an outcast. He does not belong here - this is not his wood… But even if it were, his friends would never recognise him in this adult form, and even if - by some bizarre stroke of luck - they did recognise him, why in the world would they accept a mere shadow when they could have the real thing?
Why won’t the Goddesses just end him where he stands, already?