Aaaaaah...

This is the life.

Nothing's better than this. And I should know, I've seen everything. And even if I haven't, there's still nothing better than this. This is true. 

...

I should try fly fishing again soon. It's been a while since I last gave it a go. Oh, trolling, too. Wonder how trolling feels on a windy day? Now that I'm Down Here, I should try it some time. 

...

Oh, I oughta try out live bait, too. Ah, so many opportunities.

...

Truly, fishing is the best no matter where you go.

...

I wonder if Pops remembers how I got into fishing?

Guess I could ask him when I get back Up There.

...

...

Well... Maybe I don't need to.

I can do that later. I have all the time in the world after all. Literally. 

...

I could hear Bro breathing heavily from behind me, as he took a break from his weird-ass workout or whatever it is he's doing. He sure gets tired easily. It hasn't even been half an hour since his last break. Though, I suppose that makes sense. From what I've heard, he was a few steps away from a shut in until a few days ago. 

Really makes you wonder how a guy like that could do something like that. 

Still, he's been doing pretty good for himself ever since he made the jump. Arguably through merit of luck, but he's held his own on a number of occasions. Though, mostly because of weird magic and Pop's help. 

Still, I am concerned how often he ends up in the line of fire. I know Pops said he's a little tougher than he should be thanks to some weird stuff, but he's still a mortal, and they're like paper, the slightest tear could spell doom.

...

Well, not that I particularly mind, anyways. I mean, it'd be a unfortunate if he died, of course, but it's nothing new. They die all the time. Heck, he's already done it once before.

At any rate, he'd have to be really stupid to manage to die while I'm here. Oh, and when he's with S, too, I guess. 

...

I like fishing.

...

Aaaaah...

"Hello....... Stranger." Said a voice that oddly reminded me of a snake, seemingly from out of nowhere. 

"Ah..." I heard Bro say. "H-hello." 

Can't really tell how Bro feels about this encounter. Never really can, with him. Well, it's not any of my business. I'll just focus on the river until he's done. That's far more interesting than whatever some snake man can spew out, anyways.

Aaaah... 'Tis nice.

"You'llBeStayingInTownFor...... SomeTime...... OrSoI'veHeard...... Stranger." Man, this guy talks weird.

 Hmm... Maybe I should change lures?

"Uh... Y-yeah, I guess." 

I reeled in my fishing rod to check.

Nah, this one's probably fine.

Think I'll keep my line reeled in, just in case this takes a violent turn. Just a precaution. Still, I'll be focusing on the water first and foremost. 

"ISee......InThatCase......IMustAskYouSome......Questions."

What? Where do you get off- No, no. Uh... There's a fishing shop around here somewhere, right? I peeked over towards town, and my eyes just happened to end up looking at the snake dude. Purely by chance. He was tall, a little hunched, and wore all green. Which, strangely, made him even more snake-like, in my eyes.

"Uh... Okay." Bro said, not seeming to mind. 

"YouAreA......Fighter......AreYouNot?" The snake man asked. What's that supposed to mean? Yeah, him and everyone else in this worl- Uh, no, fish. The river sure is nice today. Very serene. Ah. 

I think bro shrugged, or something. I wouldn't know, I wasn't really paying attention, after all.

"YouHoldInYourHand......AToolOfWar......AndYou'vePracticedTheArt......HaveYouNot?" Said snake dude. Yeah, and you probably do too, under that stupid cloak of yours, weirdo. 

..? What's... It sort of feels like there's an engine inside me, like something in my core's rapidly beating and heating up. It felt almost like I was getting irritated, but that couldn't be it, I have no reason to care about some random mortal I've never met, after all. Am I perhaps getting sick? Yeah, that must be it. Do immortals get sick? W-well, they must. Maybe I'm allergic to something down here. Or something that stupid snake bastard's got on him. 

"Well, technically, this a tool for harvesting wheat." Bro quipped. Pfft. Geez, what a dork.

That engine feeling seems like it's cooling down, just a little. Man, being sick is really weird.

"O-okay, uh, y-yeah. It's a weapon." Bro conceded. 

"AndYouHaveFought......Before......IHaveSeenSo." I really don't like this guys accusatory tone. What, think you're better than him? Prick. "AndYetYouAre......NotAFighter?" He added, for some reason feeling the need to add stupid rhetorical bull crap. 

Ahk. That engine feeling seems to be powering up again. Man, somethin' about it just makes me wanna scream...

"A couple loaves of bread doesn't make one a baker, right?" Bro said. HAH! Tell him! Ah, no, I can't pretend, that wasn't very clever at all. Still! Suck it!

"ThatIsFair......You'veNotSeemedTo......HaveMadeManyBreads......SoToSpeak." Ooooh... This guy...

I could feel my core beating faster and faster, getting warmer and warmer...

"AndYetYouHold......InYourHand......TheTools......Why?" Why do you care? Buzz off! 

"Occupational hazards."

"ISee......ISee......" Oh, I bet you do, you friggin... Snake lookin... "IHave......OneLastQuestion." Snake thing said. Ugh, finally. Took you long enough. 

"Shoot."

"ToThisPlace......ToBasenholm......WhoAreYou?" What gives you the right to ask on behalf of the entire town?!

Faster, faster, burning, burning,

"Elaborate."

"AreYou......FriendOrFoe?"

blistering, piping hot,

"F-friend, I guess."

"IDoHopeThatYou......SpeakTruth......Stran-."

God! "Where do you get off asking all these questions, buddy?" I found myself shouting. Not sure why. My face is hot, and my core feels like it could sprout limbs and tear itself out of my chest and break record on a triathlon. Man, s-some sickness, right? 

The snake man bowed his head and said "PleaseForgiveMy......PresumptiousBehavior......IAmQuiteProtective......YouSee.", as if that's an excuse.

I found myself shouting again. "Go be protective somewhere else!" I said. Again, I really can't place why. But I couldn't stop myself, either. 

As I yelled, my core seemed to burn ever brighter and beat ever faster. The snake man didn't say anything, but that didn't help all that much. 

Eventually, I noticed Bro looking at me, so I turned to him, too, and... 

Despite everything, he looked the same as ever. 

My core began to slow and cool down quickly. 

Well, of course he did.

He looked at me with the same cold indifference that he looked at everything with. I knew that he couldn't help it, obviously, that his face just looked like that, but... 

That feeling in my core quickly faded into something else. Or maybe 'nothing else' would be a better descriptor. It felt like there was a hole in the place of whatever else might've been there. Like a vacuum that sucked in every ounce of feeling I might've had, leaving only a terrible mix of vague emotion and increasing confusion in it's wake. 

I have no idea what's going on in there.

Instinctively, I looked away, back at the river, where I could no longer see his face. 

...

After a short while, I thoughtlessly cast my line back into the river.