Drifting Pollen
Rezod92
Izurich
Lexisheeps
xxjessicaxx
Timemaster
Eviledd1984
pkken
VitaVitaAR
wordcount: 2,674 (+3) (-3 rapport)
Midna: level 9 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (19/110) (+1 bonus pending)
Location:
Warp Charges: 1
Warp Charges: 1
Initially the sight of the falling objects made Ganondorf heave a heavy sigh of exasperation. Could they not go anywhere without some kind of incident happening in their wake? His first assumption was that these were forces being sent by F to hunt them down after his escape back in the Under. As such, the Warlord had summoned his trident to his hand so that he could fight off whatever threat emerged from these mechanical objects. The man was hooded thanks to the shroud of the shade cloak he wore, and this initially hid his visage from view.
One of the pods veered too and fro as its occupant tried to get a hang of the ridiculous contraption. Minda, slapping at the pedals, could see the value of this for speedily being dropped off somewhere by the sneaky ship, but she 100% disagreed with its use when it came to dropping down into a city. What if they hit someone!
Indeed this was part of the reason she was veering, the sunny seaside town not exactly playing well with her vision, and thus making it hard to tell what exactly she was going to be coming down on. As a result, as they closed in on the ground, she ended up sharply veering to the right to avoid what had turned out to be a green painted roof, oversteered to avoid doing so, and ended up slamming into a garden a few doors down from the one Sandalphon had crashed down in in the first place.
When the objects began crashing one after another they of course sent out shockwaves of air and dust that blew his hood back to reveal his face - Ganondorf having chosen to leave his helmet behind in Gerudo Town in favor using the hood from his recently acquired cloak in its place. Naturally, though, when other Seekers around him seemed to recognize some of the people that emerged, this told Ganondorf that these were not actually enemies at all. The fact that they all had no trace of Galeem’s influence was the other big hint about this fact. But Ganondorf had noticed at least one of the falling pods veer off away from the others, and decided to go investigate that one to ensure whoever was inside was unharmed. He got there in time to see the pod open and its occupant emerging.
The pod’s doors opened, and 4 hands gripped its side before an equally rattled and exhilarated Midna pulled herself up and out into the grassy green lawn. There she stretched, and had a look around, taking a moment to admire a little rock garden complete with soothing trickle of water flowing over stone, before glancing around and wondering, in no particular order, how to get out of here, where the others had landed, what on earth the owner of the garden would make of their new disposable drop pod feature, and also if they were about to be upset about her trespassing.
As it turned out, they weren't but someone who was a mysterious hooded figure who’d tracked her down.
”Why did thou descend differently than the others?” He asked the emerging woman, ”Were thou injured? Or ill?”
The final question was unintentionally poignant given what Midna had just been trying to cure herself of before heading to the drop (to moderate success) but it wasn’t what had been the issue, so she simply simplified her out of place in the light world nature with: ”Sun got in my eye is all” rather than go into all the details. After all, there was the question of ”and who might you be? A friend I hope?” on her lips, unable to see his face as she was, nor recognising the garb or voice, even if something about both caused an unexplained spike of unease within her.
”Aye.” Ganondorf confirmed. ”I cometh to this place with thy friends.” He said, presuming she already knew the likes of Bowser and Nadia before adding, ”We were just visiting my tribe in Gerudo Town before we came here. Ganondorf is my name.” He had every reason to think that his name meant absolutely nothing to this woman. He couldn't have been more wrong.
Her response upon hearing that name was entirely reflexive, one moment she was standing there only a mot weary, the next she’d gone wide eyed with fear for a split second, before her face twisted into one of pure hatred as she flicked her hand, crescent moon slashing a blade tipped spear into existence from some other place. It sliced through the top of the nearby hedge as part of the swing, slowing it just enough for him to react before the strike hit him.
Seeing as he still had the trident on his hand, it didn't take much for Ganondorf to sweep it upward in order to catch the incoming slice and deflect it away from him. His expression didn’t change much, other than his eyes narrowing a small bit. In addition he made no moves to strike back despite having been attacked first. ”What is the meaning of this?” He demanded. ”Art thou an ally, or not?” He asked of Midna before adding. ”Or let me guess: I hath committed a crime against thee in some world or timeline that I hath no knowledge of.”
Had she not had the revelation about how she had wrongly slain Urbosa because of her hatred of this man she would have tried to run him through regardless of these words and deeds, but as it was, she hesitated. Then, still holding the spear between her and him, she practically growled at him ”It doesn't matter where in time you come from, I’ve seen it all. You never change. Time and time again you bring ruin to everything you touch. To me and my Kingdom. To Hyrule over and over. To time itself” she told him before demanding ”so give me one good reason not to run you through before you do the same thing here”
Ganondorf listened with a look of bemusement on his face. It was obvious they were brought here from the same world. She would not have known the Kingdom of Hyrule otherwise. Of course, the things she spoke of were things he had no knowledge of. Her Kingdom she mentioned? He had no recollection of such a place nor of conquering it. And the notion that he apparently invaded Hyrule not just once, but multiple times? By now Ganondorf recalled the existence of the prophesied Hero, and even stood alongside one of his incarnations against Galeem. He also knew that this woman’s vitriol against him would be a liability unless it was dealt with here and now.
”I shall give thee three reasons.” He said, even holding up three fingers for emphasis. ”One, Princess Zelda and her precious Champion were both willing to stand with me against Galeem when he first appeared, so what is thine excuse?” Ganondorf counted down one finger and continued. ”Two, my sights are on Galeem and his Consuls, as should thine.” He counted down another finger and finally said. ”And three, thou art from the same world as I and as such, whatever grudge that thou have against me can be settled once we hath been returned to our world from whence we came.”
Midna’s eye showed indignation at the first, begrudging acceptance of the second and then a searching look for the third before she caught herself doing so and forced one of contemplation in its place. He could well be deceiving her with that last, but she was pretty confident his team, or at least he, didn’t know there was an intermediate step between his last two points, and that was one very worth keeping him in the dark about.
She shifted back to the first, saying ”Link’s a heroic idiot and Zelda a self sacrificing fool” unable to keep the affection from her tone as she insulted the pair before pointing out ”plus, we have a million worlds worth of heroes to recruit now, only a fool who knew nothing about you would free you over one of them”
”Zelda was wise enough to know that we stood more of a chance with all three bearers of the Triforce.” Ganondorf countered. ”As was her Hero. But perhaps thou art correct in calling them fools.” After this he held up one finger, ”So here is reason number four: I have already been instrumental in the defeat of two Consuls, including one’s death. As well as the destruction of one of their pet Guardians. And after that I alone was able to secure an alliance with the Gerudo Tribe of Gerudo Town, and we hath discovered the source of the Consuls’ power. And I have already begun to formulate a plan for how we shall destroy them. Can you say the same?”
”Yes actually” the princess replied with a spiky toothed grin ”one Consul and one guardian dead, plus two beaten back, and an invisible flying ships worth of people free from the light allied with” while pointedly not adding the bit of info she'd considered to be on par or greater than the Consul’s power source. That and how ⅖ of the victories she was claiming had been Dante’s, and how C hadn’t been going all out.
By that point the dust had settled from the impact of Midna’s hellpod, leaving two dangerous-looking, heavily-armed, darkness-aspected warriors squabbling in someone’s backyard. While the inhabitants of the nearby house stayed inside, quailing in fear, the commotion was attracting attention. Even if Ganondorf of all people advocated for a ceasefire to begin with, the tension still hung heavy in the air, and with the two now competing against one another it was only a matter of time before the sparks flying from this clash of egos would ignite another brawl.
Sandalphon pursed her lips, her gaze -and her aim- steady despite the nagging winds at this altitude. With her Eye of Sol equipped so that she could peer through its scope, the archangel currently hunkered down atop Carnival Town’s biggest, most impressive structure, the Gold Saucer. Claiming a vantage point up here had been the other reason for her redeployment, since after discovering the hellpod’s manual controls too late during her first drop, she’d used the second to steer herself toward this towering structure so that she could literally scope out the city herself. From here it hadn’t taken long for her to notice a handful of people making a beeline for her allies’ landing site, their directionality juxtaposed against the more random movements of the general populace. Not recognizing any of them, she assumed them to be some sort of local defense force, which would make sense given that arrival via hellpod wasn’t exactly subtle. Although mildly alarmed, she held her fire and watched, waiting to see what would happen when the two sides collided. While first impressions were positive, Sandalphon’s vigilance meant that she noticed the conflict brewing between Ganondorf and Midna. Even from here, she could tell that negotiations weren’t going well.
Her golden sigil appeared next to Midna’s head. “Princess, please stand down,” she suggested, her voice audible to Ganondorf as well. “This is neither the time or the place to address such grievances. We have enough enemies without making them of prospective allies. It would reflect poorly on you if your impulsiveness undermines our odds of success.”
”He’s the one that’s going to undermine our success” the princess replied, refusing to be shamed into submission, before asking ”Where are you anyway?” backing up and glancing towards the skyline to see where she was being seen from
“From here, it appears that hasty assumptions are leading you to imprudent conclusions,” Sandalphon responded sharply. She did not deign to answer Midna’s question. While the Golden Saucer stood out as a logical vantage point, it was unlikely that anyone could see her from this distance. “Even if your conjecture holds water, let me remind you that ruination -of the World of Light- is in fact our current goal. If any ally betrays us to Moebius, we can mete out punishment, but not before. All prior grievances are irrelevant to our situation in the Endless Now.”
It was what came after that was her real concern, and given that Sandalphon wanted to trust anyone and everyone it seemed, she might as well play the card herself ”The organization claimed that when we do end Galeem, things won’t just snap back to the way they were. A hand needs to wields that power to remake reality”
She let that little revelation hang in the air for a moment, and all the implications it involved, and then asked Ganondorf rather plainly ”Can you swear to me you won’t make a grab for it?”
”If this be some kind of jest,” Ganondorf said with no trace of amusement. ”then it is not a funny one.” The warlord was rapidly running out of patience for this impudent princess and it began to reflect in his tone of voice. ”And if thou truly believe that I am the one and only “evil” individual among this company of yours, then thou would be wise to reconsider the allies and friends that thou hast placed in thy company already.” Though despite his waning patience, he actually made his weapon vanish from his hand - a sign, not of anger, but of boredom and dismissal.
”What were thy words again?” Ganondorf asked, ”’A million worlds’ worth of heroes’, was it? If such a force is truly incapable of stopping me should I try something, then they are far too pathetic for me to even consider fighting alongside to begin with. Or do thou simply have that little faith in those whom you claim are your friends?”
Midna glared at him, preparing to bite back about how she could even begin to work with him if he couldn’t even pretend to swear for that, before having a thought, grinning with vicious malice even as she conceded ”You know what. You have a point”
Saying that she spun her spear up, planted the butt to the ground, letting him be free of its warding tip once more as she told him that ”You do always lose in the end after all”
And this time, Ganondorf finally let himself smile. ”That’s more like it.” He replied with a satisfactory tone. ”And so this, I shall give thee for free. The Consuls get their power from devices known as Flame Clocks. The life of everyone in this world is connected to one of those clocks, and by sacrificing them the clocks can be fueled and used by the Consuls to extend their own lives beyond their limits. So I intend to find a way to destroy them and cut the Consuls off from their source of power and alleged immortality. They shall be ripe for the vanquishing after that, I think.”
”Now.” Ganondorf then sharply said as he turned around away from the Twilight Princess. ”If we’re done here, there are other things I wish to occupy my time with besides debating with thee.”
”What are you even doing in a place called Carnival Town anyway?” Midna asked from the roof of the building whose garden they were in, having shadow stepped up to it. She wasn’t looking at him while asking this but instead waving to Roxas, who’d landed a few doors down.
”T’was the cat lady’s idea.” Ganondorf said in response. ”Not mine.”
He glanced over at the boy she was waving to. Yet another would-be hero of light. He may have dressed somewhat darkly but Ganondorf could practically smell the stench of Light within him from here. Wonderful. Oh well, it couldn’t be any worse than Zelda and her Champion, could it?
Only time would tell, for the princess, who had already gone to link up with the others and find out who else was with Miss Fortune most certainly wouldn't be.
