Chapter Text
A delicate brush cascades over a blank canvas, blending beautiful colors, creating perfect perspective, capturing the light of the sunset shimmering over the glassy surface of Lake Hylia, creating an absolutely perfect-
"Disaster!" Link cried out. He threw his ruined artworwork to the sand and ground the toe of his leather boot into the orange and yellow of his amateur sunset.
"It looks like a child's painting!" he hissed, picking up the filthy canvas and crumpling it up. He shoved the ball of paper into his bag and slung the strap over his shoulder.
"I can never get anything right," he mumbled to himself. He picked up a large rock from the smooth sand of the shore and stared at the little ridges and crags carved into it. He had an artist's eye, able to pick up the tiniest details in the feathers of a cucco from across a field. He was never satisfied with how he portrayed these details, however, and nearly always gave up.
He tossed the rock into the water in his frustration. The satisfying plunk! it made when breaking the tension of the water soothed his anger slightly. He gazed out at the reflection of the sunset on the surface, the ripples made by the rock making it shudder and stretch, as if the water were a fluttering painting in the wind, just one strong breeze away from tearing apart.
Oddly, the ripples seemed to be moving closer to the shore. Link squinted, thinking that it must be a trick of the dim light. He moved closer to the edge of the water to get a better view of the rapidly approaching ripples. He hardly noticed the water lapping at the toes of his boots. The ripples spread out from a rapidly moving shadow that looked only slightly bigger than Link himself. In shock, Link stumbled back from the edge of the water and fell on his rear in the sand. The menacing shadow breached the surface of the lake at the short, splashing Link with water and making him yelp.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot?!" a voice shrilled. Link rubbed his eyes and gaped at the creature crawling onto the shore. Its ruby red eyes were scruched up in frustration, nearly concealing a little scar just below the left one. Its purple lips were pulled back in a scowl to reveal pointed canine teeth. Its long lavender hair cascaded down past its lilac shoulders to its back, which connected to a long, shimmering fish tail. Each scale glittered like a polished amethyst in the dwindling light of the sun.
"Well? Don't just stare at me!" the creature growled. Link nodded absentmindedly and shook himself out of his stupor. "You hit me with a rock, dimwit!"
"S-sorry, mister, um," Link stammered.
"Vaati. My name is Vaati," he said, pulling his long hair across one shoulder and combing his fingers through it.
"Vaati," Link corrected himself. "I'm Link. I didn't mean to hit you. I just got frustrated with my painting, and I lost my temper."
"Painting?" Vaati's scowl faded. "Are you an artist?"
"Not really. Well, I am, but I'm not very good at it."
"Please, please paint me!" Vaati begged, crawling closer to Link with his lightly muscled arms. Link was surprised at the merman's pleading gaze. "I'll do anything for a portrait!"
Link hesitated for a moment. "Sure."
Vaati's teeth shone like pearls as his lips parted into a grin. He crawled through the sand to rest himself in the water, his tail halfway submerged. Link put another paper onto his easel, smoothing out the pure white surface. He sat down and glanced over at the merman who was eagerly awaiting him to begin.
"Can you, uh, pose for me?" Link asked, rinsing off his brush in preparation. Vaati nodded and donned a stoic expression, his head turned parallel to the lake. He tucked his tail behind him and rested one hand on the sand and draped the other across his tail.
"Perfect," Link said. He dipped his brush in his paints and set to work capturing Vaati's beauty. Oddly, painting the merman felt natural to him. The curve of his muscles and the light reflecting off of his shimmering scales melted from the brush onto the canvas. Paint bled from Link's brushstrokes to form Vaati's waterfall of lovely hair, cascading down to the middle of his back. Link meticulously painted on Vaati's blood red eyes- the crown jewel of his lovely feminine face.
"...Finished," Link breathed as soon as he added the last touch to the background. Vaati yawned and stretched out his arms before crawling up to the shore.
"That was faster than I expected," Vaati mused. "I just hope you didn't rush."
"I hope it looks alright to you," Link sighed. He turned the easel to face Vaati, bracing himself for the criticism he was sure to receive.
"I love it! It's beautiful!" Vaati exclaimed, smiling giddily. "It's like a mirror!" He twirled a strand of his lavender hair around his finger as he admired the painting.
"I didn't think it was anything special," Link admitted. "You see, there's a lot of flaws right here in the-"
"Quiet! It's perfect the way it is. Stop being so hard on yourself!" Vaati turned to face Link.
"May I keep it?"
"You can't. The water will ruin the paper."
"Oh..." Vaati looked crestfallen. Link felt a twinge of pity for the pretty merman.
"How about I come by as often as I can so you can look at it? It's yours, but I'll just keep it safe for you."
Vaati perked up, showing off his pearly grin again. "I'd love that! Could you come back tomorrow?"
"Of course, Vaati. Anything for my model."