Almost like a Fairytale

[Corporal Light]

Ballad hadn't even gone three feet up the tree when he heard footsteps approaching from behind. It was pretty obvious that the man had decided to follow him to the tree, though his reasoning for doing so was lost on the green-colored gunner. He shook his head in disbelief as his hands gripped a pair of twigs hanging off of the tree; his foot slowly curling up towards a smaller limb a few inches above the one he was already standing on. Despite the young man clearly violating his right to his own personal space, Ballad didn't pay much attention to him. Ballad did, however, keep his surprise safely tucked in his left sleeve as the man advanced.

Ballad climbed back onto his favorite limb: a roughly three to four foot wide branch that stretched ten feet out into the field, swaying every so often when a particularly strong gust passed through the leaves. It was the only one that was even remotely comfortable enough to sleep on and still be large enough to house someone like Ballad. Sleep was looking pretty good actually, especially since Ballad had wasted an entire day traveling through his little nightmare verse. He probably would've gone to sleep if not for the man further annoying him with incessant knocks.

Ballad eventually let out a loud groan, having endured two minutes of the cacophony. He had tried to get some sleep to wait out the night by lying himself against the base of the tree and closing his eyes, pretending the hammering was part of nature's natural audio. After that failed, he then tried to tighten the clasps around his hat to muffle out the noises, turning to his left to face away from the man below. But alas, nothing ground his gears more than a very determined individual who just wouldn't leave him alone.

Ballad decided to satisfy the man and whatever he desired, twisting all the way to his left before peering out from the limb. He easily caught the man leaning against the tree, the twilight casting a large shadow at his position. Now that he was closer, Ballad was able to get a better look at his physical appearance. His form didn't impress Ballad, even though he seemed to have the muscle mass of someone who hit the gym regularly. Ballad simply scoffed at his leather jacket, jeans, and converse shoes. Ballad could only assume the man was trying desperately hard to appear "cool," or at the very least look intimidating. But Ballad had never bowed down to people just because they had flashy or "cool" outfits. If anything, the flashier the outfit, the less of a threat they were to him. And Ballad had already assumed the man wasn't a big threat to begin with. He brushed aside a pair of leaves blocking his vision to glare at the man, finally speaking up.

"What the fuck do you want?" Ballad shouted, an annoyed tone of voice evident with each word.

The man looked up towards the top of the tree, seeing Ballad's glowing eyes poking through the darkness of the leaves. His own violet eyes held no hint of surprise, though Ballad could make a good guess that the man might've been trying to hide some sort of insecurity behind a downright serious stature. It wasn't working too well, but he could appreciate the effort.

"I just want to ask some questions, if you don't mind." the man replied, moving his cupped hand to his mouth to project his voice up to him.

Ballad remained silent, his secret surprise still hidden in the cover of his own coat sleeve. Might as well do it. he thought to himself before shouting back down to the man.

"If it gets you out of my hair, then fine. What do you want?"