~The Legend of Zelda - The Imprisoning War~

[Chanda]

King made an effort to avoid flinching as Orca peppered his speech with various "flourishes" of his bostaff abilities, something that was slightly easier to manage now that the masked thug was expecting it.

"You'd be surprised, but Ganon doesn't actually pay that well. Plus throwing in your lot with the King of Evil can kind of harm your publicity," he sighed, nonchalantly rebuking Orca's remark about King's deeds. Honestly his morality was so often criticized and picked apart that it really didn't phase him anymore. He did noticeably perk up when Orca mentioned he was interested in joining the Resistance.

"Well shucks, farmboy, if you wanted to join, you should've just said so. Adding a Sheikah would be great for staff diversity," he joked. "I can see the pamphlet pictograph now: It'll be you, a Zora, a Hylian woman, a Goron, a Deku, and a guy in a wheelchair pointing at a map and smiling all wide at the camera. 'The Resistance: Where Diversity Is Our Devotion!' Sounds great to me," he chuckled. It would seem that now recruitment was on the table, King was a much more personable guy. This may or may not be because King got a small signing bonus for anyone he recruited to the cause, but he liked to say it was just a warm welcome.

"All joking aside, we could actually use the help right now, as with the aforementioned Inquisitor visit, membership rates are... dropping. Like flies," he added, dryly. "However, on the other hand, we're having a lot of trouble trusting people what with the Inquisitors motivating people to give up our leaders, so I'd have to know you're solid before I let you in. Plus, I've decided that I have to get along with the people I recruit, because the last guy I signed up is just too grave to be around," he punned, for his own amusement.

"So you'd probably have to do a few little side-jobs with me before I could let you in. They pay well, usually, if you're into that," he noted, producing his own hefty wallet from the folds of his cloak and giving it a quick jangle before returning it to its cozy hiding place. "Things'll be a bit dangerous with the Inquisitors about, and if you get caught they might torture you for information you don't have and brutally murder you, but that's just a day in the life, really."

"But hey, being a member of the Resistance pays off. You always have people who look out for you. You flash this card to somebody," he continued, taking out his own gold membership card, "and it can open a lot of doors for you. A lot!" he explained. Perhaps the only completely honest part of his speech was that last statement. The card could get you discounts with certain vendors, free refuge from the law, and even a night's stay at certain inns.

"But if you'd rather take your chances," he sighed, motioning in the direction of his departing goons. "I think you'll need to be concerned about how fast I am, not how fast they are. Isn't it rather foolish to deem a man dishonorable and then put your back to him?" queried King, wryly.

[Captain Jenno]

"I was asking if you though they were fast enough to get here before one of us is bleeding," Orca explained, although, despite the intended threat, his hand wavered and then left the side of his bo staff.
Then, he lifted his hands slowly, a somewhat delayed show that he too had disarmed himself now, "But, there's no need for hostilities now we're on the same track."
Just as slowly as he'd raised them, Orca lowered his hands, and tossed his poncho down from his shoulder, so his bo staff was obscured.
"The money sounds nice, but I'm not in this business for the rupees," he tipped his hat forwards again, bathing his face in shadow, "But if these... side jobs, actually help Kakariko. If you give me something that shows me the resistance is more than just a bunch of petty thieves and murderers? You have my trust, and service."
Orca folded one arm over the other, and narrowed his eyes as he considered all that King had said. Then, he nodded to himself, "And I'm right to presume, if you are part of the resistance, the girl is just for leverage, right? No pay if she's harmed," he threw a final glance towards King's men, before sighing deeply.
"The Inquisitors. I've seen them around Kakariko too, and I haven't heard pleasant things. I'll stay out of their way if I can, and if I can't, I'll make sure I do what I can to ensure they don't get back up when we're finished..." he trailed off.

"Caught between the killers of the innocent and the lesser of two evils. Goddesses have mercy."
The Sheikah hesitated for but a moment, and then extended one hand to King, whilst placing the other against the Eye of Truth stitched into his poncho.
"Alright, King. You've got yourself a deal," he awaited King's handshake to seal the agreement, "I'll join your resistance. But know that my loyalty is to Kakariko and her people, nothing more. I won't sink to the ranks of petty thieves and murderers- Any life you ask me to take, will have to be one that benefits them all."

[FMAlchemist]

Meelo quietly thanked Shigai. The throbbing in her leg had become somewhat less intense, but putting weight on it was excruciatingly unpleasant. Not to mention, all of the spells she had cast that morning, and in such a short amount of time, were really beginning to wear her down. She hesitated before responding to Shigai's first remark.

"While I would like to show you," she said, "I am not sure I can…." Her voice trailed off pensively and it seemed apparent that she had no intention of elaborating on the topic. Having not obtained her abilities through natural means, she had no idea how to go about teaching someone such a thing....

She didn't know quite what to make of the rest of Shigai's words-- "Bongo Bongo", "Dead Hand", and the "Temple of Shadow" all sounded like such foreign terms. She only nodded silently, mentally taking note of them.

"I am curious to know what Dagg or Tybalt may have planned… If Kakariko is now being threatened by both the Inquisitors and the undead," she sighed with frustration, "This place may no longer be safe for anyone."

Soon, the pair finally reached the windmill-- thankfully managing not to run into any sort of trouble along the way. "I need to rest and take care of my injury," Meelo said, thanking Shigai again for his help, "I also need some time alone to think about some things…."

After leaving Meelo to her own affairs, Shigai would find Dagg and Tybalt in the commons....

[Bad Wolf]

Though Shigai was a little disappointed with Meelo's response, he wasn't going to press the issue. Meelo needed to rest, and so he'd let her. For his part, he was going to speak with Dagg and Tybalt. It was time for him to hear their plan, whether they wanted to tell him or not. If they refused to speak up, Shigai had every intention of leaving. He'd joined this group partially out of anger at the Inquisitors, yes, but also because he felt these people might actually be trying to stop Ganon. If they had no plan for how to do so, then obviously Shigai was just wasting his time here. He'd be better off approaching Teruk and Airyn and trying to convince them to leave their mercenary group to go and do something actually productive. He knew Teruk would come, at least.

He walked through the hideout at a pace that clearly showed he meant business. A man with a mission, as it were, and he stopped upon reaching the commons and seeing both local leaders of the Resistance there. Either one would have sufficed for his purposes, but both was even better.

Without even waiting for them to acknowledge his presence, he sat down across from them and demanded, "What exactly is your plan for dealing with the Evil King?" He was cutting right to the chase, and he didn't really care that he was being a bit rude. Obviously if they'd been in the middle of something, he'd just interrupted them. He wanted to know their plan, and he was determined to hear it.

[Dervish]

"Two hours?" Teruk repeated with a sigh. That was about enough time to make yourself somewhat presentable and maybe sit down to rest for a few moments. The Deku would have preferred just to get the debriefing over with, but such was life. Maybe he'd spend the time patching his somewhat torn and tattered robe, wash out the filth, gathering brewing potions...

"Day's not over yet," Marshy said, breaking through Teruk's thoughts.

"Of course not. None of us have actually died yet, well, except for that one Inquisitor I didn't quite catch the name of, and that Zora kid... but Keeta seems rather intent on running us all to the ground before the day's through. On the plus side, don't we get paid today?" He joked. His delivery was entirely humourless. Teruk kicked a rock, the excitement of the day seeping out of his body. The Deku worried about Sjade; her sudden change of disposition was jarring. The Gerudo may not have realized it, but a lot of the company morale was anchored on her being unflappable. Now, with Airyn out of commission, it left a very small amount of people left in their little group. Kakarico Villiage had taken its toll.

Teruk noticed Marshy's injury, and he moved closer to inspect it. "Oh, that doesn't look good. I can patch you up, if you'd rather go to me than whatever clown the Inquisitors think knows healing salves." he offered, his mind already running through the ingredients he needed. Rose didn't seem to particularly enjoy Teruk's interruption. The Deku was quite aware of how crossing the woman with the giant sword and the bad disposition may be for his health. "Look, just find me when you're ready. I'll have everything ready to go by then. Make you good as new." Teruk said, moving on ahead to camp, leaving Marshy and Rose to their sensitive discussion. He didn't particularly care; he was going to do something productive and helpful instead of take part in the ruthless destruction that seemed to be all the rage in the village since the Inquisitors dragged them here. It was the little victories that counted, right?

[FMAlchemist]

Teruk's jest about getting paid did manage to at least get a half smile out of Marshy. She scoffed and shook her head-- with all the shit that had gone down today, another pay raise sure would be nice. She was somewhat surprised when Teruk offered to treat her arm-- the Deku's willingness to do such things, particularly for her, still struck her as odd and unexpected, but nothing about the past two days had exactly been what she would have considered "normal" and "routine". Nonetheless, she was definitely happy he offered-- going to see Ralph for medical help wasn't something she fancied doing any time soon….

"This can wait, right?" Marshy said, glancing at Rose, not at all very eager to hear about whatever it was Rose likely wished to complain about. "I'd rather get this patched up as soon as p-"

"No," Rose answered, obviously very frustrated, "I want to talk to you. Now."

Marshy sighed irritably, watching Teruk as he rushed ahead towards camp.

"Alright, alright. Geez-- calm down." Glancing around, she casually made sure nobody was nearby or listening in, "I'm all ears."

The sound of the rain on her armor and Marshy's rain-cloak filled the silence as Rose paused, folding her arms and apparently trying to think of how she wanted to word what it was she had to say....

"I'm leaving."

~

Several minutes later, a rather disheveled looking Marshy sat in the mud and silence-- staring, dumbfounded, after Rose's retreating figure through watering eyes while pinching a bloody, albeit thankfully unbroken, nose. Her attempts to desperately dissuade Rose from leaving had not only been in vain, but also ended quite sourly.

"After what I've seen today, nothing you can say will convince me that standing by idly while Keeta and the Inquisitors heartlessly murder innocent people is okay."

Of course, Marshy had taken that challenge, but this time Rose had seemed to be in no mood for words.

"Just-- give it one more night and think it over! We need you! Don't flake out on us like this!" Marshy had cried, becoming desperate near the end of their argument as she grasped Rose's forearm and tried to turn her back in the direction of camp. "Come on, you're overreacting. It wasn't even that bad--" a sharp elbow to the face had served quite effectively as Rose's retort to her shameless desperation, which was now borderlining down right pathetic. Marshy instantly stumbled backwards into the mud, groaning in pain.

"This whole operation is sick," Rose spat, turning just enough to glare back down at her, "I refuse to be a part of it. I've lost enough during my time as a mercenary-- I'm not adding my humanity to the list." With that, she promptly slipped the armband from off her arm and threw it on the ground at Marshy's feet before turning to leave.

Carefully getting back on her feet while trying not to let any more blood drip onto her clothes, she picked up the armband and made her way towards camp-- her mood just as horribly dampened as her hair and clothes by this point. Keeping her head and hat down whilst covering her mouth and nose with one hand, she tried to avoid as many prying eyes as possible as she approached the group's main tent. She ripped the opening flap out of her way as she stepped inside. Her eyes instantly passed over Teruk and fell on the four cots on the far side of the room-- not counting Airyn, that was one fourth of her party gone....

What now? she thought, furrowing her brow in frustration as she jerked off her cloak with one arm and threw it across one of the table chairs.

[Chanda]

Dagg raised an eyebrow as Shigai stormed in unannounced and demanded to know the deepest and most closely kept secrets of the Resistance. Tybalt, who was obviously rather stressed about something already, straight up snapped. Shigai had obviously picked the wrong time to act like an impudent child; both Dagg and Tybalt were under threat of death and torture, and the village they considered to be their only safe haven was currently undergoing military lockdown by the most ruthless and violent branch of the military. Needless to say, they had a lot on their plate as it was, and Shigai, someone who had already made an ENEMY OF THE RESISTANCE and had only been a member FOR A LITTLE OVER A DAY, was really in no position to demand secrets THAT DETERMINED THE FATE OF THEIR ENTIRE ORGANIZATION AND THE IMPRISONING WAR.

"Pardon me, but at what point did you come to believe you were entitled to that information?" he snapped. "Really, who do you think you are? You cut-throats are all the same-"

Dagg interjected at this point, placing a hand on Tybalt's shoulder in an effort to calm him down. He turned to Shigai.

"Listen, Big Man, now's really not the time. We're pretty busy as it is, and-"

The old man roughly shoved the Sheikah aside, obviously not in the mood for any of his talk either.

"Grow a backbone, red-eye!" snarled Tybalt, throwing out a rather harsh and archaic slur directed towards the Sheikah people. "It's about time you put a goddess-damned leash on your hired muscle for once. I can't believe my scholars have to share the room with your knuckle-dragging, classless mouthbreathers!" he spat, obviously in reference to Shigai. With a wave of his hand Shigai and his chair went flying across the room in a gust of wind, causing the ReDead to tumble to the ground harshly.

"All of you need to learn your place!" exclaimed the old man. "This isn't a smuggling ring or a bandit's den! It's the Resistance! Act like it!"

With that he rose from the table and stormed off into the tombs, obviously quite cross. Dagg sighed, and made his way across the room to where Shigai had landed.

"You do realize you've only been here a day, right? And that King's testament to your usefulness is literally the only reason why you're still alive? Yeah, you picked a pretty awful day to act like a jackass," smirked the Sheikah, offering the ReDead a hand to pull him to his feet.

[Dervish]

A collab between FMAlchemist and Dervish

When Marshy finally returned to the tent without Rose, it didn't take an academic to put two and two together that her bloody nose and clothing was connected to it. Teruk rose carefully to his feet, where he had a mortar and pestle and some of his empty, unbroken veils laid out with the beginnings of a potion settled in a smaller pedal from a Deku flower laid out on a table. He walked over to where Marshy rested, if it could be called that, on a cot and sat across from her.

"I'm going to take a guess and say Rose isn't coming back," he said quietly.

Marshy had been staring fixedly at the armband in her hands before flinging it towards Teruk, allowing him to catch it and see for himself.

"That would be correct," she muttered, sniffing lightly and wiping some of the blood from her mouth with the back of her ungloved hand. At least the bleeding had finally stopped. She sighed, "That potion ready yet?"

Teruk caught the arm band, looking at it. The Eye of Truth glared back at him from the purple field that made out the rest of the band. "Purple really wasn't her colour, anyway," he said, dropping the arm band on the cot next to him. "And yes, give me a second. I'll be right over," he said, hopping down from his perch and returning to his brewing station.

Gathering the thick clear-green liquid by lifting the leaf, Teruk poured it carefully into one of the jars. A scent not unlike bamboo and sugar filled the tent, not an unpleasant smell. With the jar full, save a bit of head space for the air pocket, Teruk put a carved, wide stick into the jar and walked back to Marshy, taking position on the side of the cot with her injured arm.

"Let me see your arm," he said, gently moving it away from her body. He observed it, gently prodding around the wounds. "This may sting a bit, but compared to getting your arm chomped by the undead, it'll be pleasant," he said, taking the applicator and gently applying a base across the wounds.

"Owww," Marshy growled through clenched teeth. Managing not to make any further complaints, however, she grew oddly silent as Teruk finished applying the medicine-- watching pensively as the wounds began to scab over and slowly fade.

"Maybe Sjade's idea of recruiting more people wouldn't be such a bad thing," she thought out loud, starting to sit up and inspect her arm as soon as Teruk moved away, "As long as we're careful we aren't recruiting Resistance members…."

"And there lies the thousand rupee question - hold still, will you? How exactly do we recruit people from a villiage that's being oppressed by two separate groups, where the ones doing public executions and summoning terrors from the public well are the freshest ones in memory?" he asked casually, admiring his handiwork. He began to apply the second coating.

"And as you so elegantly stated, how do we make sure that the people that do get picked up aren't Resistance goons?" He stopped and leaned in closer, his voice low. "And we need to keep an eye on Sjade. Everyone's really strung out right now, and this is the closest I've ever seen her coming to breaking. Airyn's incapacitated, Rose just marched off, and Sjade... I don't know." he leaned back and returned to focusing on Marshy's arm. "So, we're down to three people, tops. Hardly the mercenary outfit we set out to form, hm?"

Marshy groaned, taking off her hat and running her fingers through her sopping wet bangs. "Well, we have to do something," she said, sounding defeated. "There has to be someone in this damned village that would be interested in joining for reasons other than trying to spy…. Our pay is good and the sooner we put a stop to the Resistance, the sooner the executions stop. Not everyone supports these Dagg and Tybalt characters, I'm sure. It could be worth a shot…."

She sighed, "I just don't know how we can be certain we aren't recruiting spies." She leaned back slightly and stared up at the tent's ceiling. "I can't afford to hire anyone who might stab either of you two in the back... literally," she said, actually sounding somewhat sincere.

"You need to understand, not everyone will see it that way," Teruk said gently. "All the population sees is their peace being disrupted and strange, unnatural things happening that both levelled their marketplace and their village center, as well as strangely garbed men pulling children aside to hang them. Trying to spin pay towards those people is insulting, Marshy. You're basically saying," he changed his voice to a deeper pitch and exaggerated his head bobbing around as he spoke, "'Join the Black Marsh Company! We pay you to destroy your homes and kill your neighbors! Sign up now, and we'll even unleash some undead hellbeast on that woman that steals your petunias!'"

He came up short and blinked when Marshy mentioned she couldn't afford to lose Sjade or himself. It was an oddly sentimental sentiment from the young Hylian girl, although Teruk suspected it was likely due to the fact she didn't want to replace more bodies due to the hassel involved. Plus, it's hard to say you're a mercenary group when there's only one person. "That's the problem; we can't afford to recruit anyone from the village. It's not safe," he paused, finishing tending to Marshy's arm. He put the stick back in the jar and left it on the ground next to Marshy for future use.

"We need to look outside of Kakarico, it's the only way to be sure we can find someone who's genuinely not caught up in the politics here."

"And how do you propose we do that, then, Teruk?!" she hissed angrily, all of her frustration suddenly boiling over her ability to conceal it, "We can't leave now! I can't send one of you two to go recruit more people! We've got missions this afternoon and most likely tomorrow as well-- we can't afford it! And Goddess knows what Keeta is going to say about Rose just up and leaving!!" her voice was growing gradually louder, but as she finished her last sentence, her eyes seemed to fill with fear.

"If we lose Keeta's support now, do you have any idea how dead we are, Teruk? I don't know if we'll be able to run away from Kakariko fast enough," she buried her face in her hands and rubbed her temples. If they were going to back out of this, now would be the time to try. They'd made too many enemies-- powerful enemies.

She glared at Teruk as she propped her elbows up on her hands and knees, waiting for a response. As frustrated and stressed as she was about the situation-- even starting to inwardly blame Teruk again for ever joining the military in the first place-- she was secretly very hopeful that Teruk would have some worthwhile advice to offer. Anything that could potentially get them out of the mess they were currently in.

[Bad Wolf]

Shigai figured out rather quickly that he'd messed up. Regardless, he was deeply insulted by the things Tybalt was saying about the "cutthroats" Dagg hired. Shigai did not consider himself to be one of them, and the fact that he was being lumped in with the murderers and thieves who were just out for money and the perks the Resistance offered highly offended him.

He hadn't expected to be thrown across the room like that, but the tumble didn't really hurt all that much. The most pain it caused was to places which had already been wounded. His shoulder in particular was displeased with the rough treatment, and he was obviously favoring it as he accepted Dagg's hand to help him get back up. Under normal circumstances he likely wouldn't have accepted such help, but he felt he needed to improve his situation somewhat. Rejecting help from someone who could easily kill him at the moment seemed like a bad idea.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "I realize I was being rude, and I apologize." With that said, he continued, "I know it is unreasonable for me to demand to know your plans, but I feel like I am not being put to the right use here. It is further...concerning...that creatures like Bongo Bongo and Dead Hand are rearing their ugly heads again when I was quite certain that the Hero of Time had destroyed at least one of them."

He looked and sounded tense, and he continued, "I offered to join the Resistance in the first place because I feel it is a personal duty of mine to see to the Evil King's demise. I care for the people of Kakariko and I hate what the Inquisitors are doing, but the Evil King remains my enemy and I seek to destroy him. The benefits you offer your people do not matter to me. The pay does not matter to me. My main concern is, and will always be Ganon. I doubt most of the 'knuckle-dragging, classless mouthbreathers' around here can say the same."

To finish off this throat-hurting speech, he concluded, "I can likely help translate some of those old books those scholars were reading here before. Tybalt underestimates me. I can say with absolute certainty that I am unique among your members." He wasn't quite sure if he should reveal what he was to Dagg, so he kept his silence about that for now. As it was, his voice had been getting gradually less human-sounding as he spoke. He'd been doing so much of that lately that his throat just wasn't handling it anymore. Not a good thing. Marshy and King knew what Shigai was. Though he'd be willing to let a few other choice people in on the secret, he definitely didn't want a bunch of people to find that out. Especially considering all of the undead things causing trouble.