There was a jubilant energy in the air in Hyrule Castle City. Even in the wake of recent murders, many people still go on about their daily lives, making the best they can. The Inner Wall District kept it's cobblestone streets clean as guards patrolled every corner, but there was a smile on their faces, not a glum and gloomy enforcer of the law. Here, it seemed everyone was friends. However this atmosphere in the city was not the result of a utopian society of any kind, today was an annual event that Hylians, Gorons, Zoras, Rito and Gerudo and even marginalized minorities of the kingdom enjoyed, because it was the one even where despite any background, only one thing mattered. Martial skill.

It was time for the annual Hyrule Kingdom Combat Tournament, to determine who was the best warrior in the land that year. The banners strung up all over the Inner Wall District as well as food stalls set up were tells that this event was no mere tournament to those who would not participate. It was a festival. One where people can come together and make merry over food and drink and entertainment.

There was a line of people signing up for the tournament this fine morning, it seems throughout until lunch, they were going to run rapid eliminations to narrow down contestants for the main events between the best out of the selection. There seemed to be a lot of promising contestants this year, among them was a Goron, strapped to his hands is what appeared to be nothing but scrap, a Gerudo in black dancer gear with a giant scimitar strapped to her back, a towering man, based on his attire and weapon, he was a Highlander, and finally a Rito warrior, he had a bow strapped to his back, and a short sword at his side.

Meanwhile not far from there...

The Guard Outpost in the square, the largest in the city had a few guards being dispatched, as soon as another set had returned, they were dispatched again immediately. It seems they were a bit more antsy they usual...

"Ugh... Of all the times for us to get busy... I just wanna watch and enjoy the tournament",

"Yeah, but that smuggling ring's definitely going to take advantage of these crowds. We can't let illegal goods circulate freely, the stuff's banned for a reason you know",

"Y-yeah I know, gotcha captain... But still...",

"Yeah I know, but if the day goes well we're getting a bonus, so that means we go drinking tonight eh?"

"Well that makes me feel a bit better... Well, I guess I'll head out then", the guards waved goodbye as the patrol went on their way. The Captain though was looking at the sheets, between the guards needed at the murder site and the increased patrol in the square, they were still short on hands... In fact if they weren't so occupied, some extra hands to go on the offensive on the smuggling ring would be great too...

"Ugh... If only...", he sighed.

---

"The exact same patterns, and method too, the wounds match the weapon type, a crude bladed weapon. Missing organs, and... Very clean, not a lot of blood, meaning two things. Victim was not awake at time, and whoever did the deep, despite the crude cuts, is very careful...", the golden haired and green garbed knight standing in the mostly untouched bedroom, stood over a corpse he was just describing. Like the others, a young woman also, but he chose not to note that as it was normal.

"Autopsy from the Fountain Knight Scholars tells me this is all related to a dark ritual... Hmmmmm...", Linwood was always a rather proactive individual, but he was a bit stumped on what to do here. He had some leads to follow, but duties at the castle called for him, it wasn't something he could simply ignore either, it was an order from the King himself. Which was why he was waiting here. He got some people assigned and believed it would be quicker to brief them once they got here.

"I hope they come soon... The King is friendly, but I shouldn't stretch his patience...", he sighed.

---

"Okay Ingo, I will send you the supplies as needed. It's been good you could visit us", the hefty man in the rancher attire was speaking to what appeared to be his opposite, a lanky rancher that towered over him, but not quite the width. He was identified as Ingo. The two stood outside the Lon Lon Ranch's residence house which belonged to Talon and his daughter, the fields on this elevated plot of land were rich, the horses galloped happily on the grass, and some part timers were tending to some of the horses too. There were even some knights here looking to obtain their first horse it seemed.

"Hmph. Of course Talon, I'll make the Akkala branch even greater than this one, mark my words, the horses found in Faron are some of the finest", he had lofty ideals, but one could not help there was more he wanted to say about this matter.

"Also, good luck finding that horse thief of yours. I swear I looked at the stables too as you asked, and there was not a single clue of any break in... Almost as if they'd just disappeared", it had to have been either someone incredibly skilled, or magic. Regardless, after farewells, Ingo was on his way. Soon as he left, the door to the residence opened, walking out was a young beauty, Talon's daughter Malon.

"Oh was that Ingo?",

"Yes it was. He needed some supplies for repairing fences and building more facilities",

"That's the third time he's requisitioned extra supplies though... It must be the highlanders over in Akkala isn't it...? Oh well, no matter... I'll be going to the stable. I'm sure I'll find something on the missing horses there", she seemed quite sure of herself. Even though there was no visual evidence, she was still quite confident... Woman's intuition? Well regardless, Talon had a busy day ahead.

---

"H-hey! Quit it! I'm trapped up here with you too you know!"

"Well maybe if you weren't such a spineless knight you wouldn't be up here too!"

"W-well! I'm just not good with dogs. That's all! Anything else I'm fine, be it dodongo, moblin or- Gah!", the green garbed knight flinched as one of the wolves jumped a bit higher than he expected. Right beside him was a Korok also shivering and holding onto him for dear life. It seems they were in a bit of a tight situation...

"Ah geez, I shouldn't have made camp... But everyone in Ordon is a little suspicious of me",

"I mean to be fair you were here for a very long time, that alone is suspiciouooouuusususs! N-nevermind that's none of my business. Someone help!", the Korok stuttered and halted it's reprimand as another wolf leaped just a few inches too close.

"Now what's going on here?" Luna wondered as she entered into the Hyrule Castle Town, the whole place had a certain celebratory air to it, something that she never felt on her other visits to the area. She brought this question to a guard at the corner of a general goods store, apparently the celebrations were due to some kind of tournament that was taking place in the Inner Wall District. Sparring tournaments, how... Primitive. Luna for one wasn't a Zora who found something like that entertaining in the least and just bid the guard good day before going into the store to resupply on travel items.

After buying the usual essentials of water, food, and replacement camping gear, Luna headed out the store and back out into the district. It seemed that all manner of races were here for this tournament. She couldn't help but shake her head, 'I don't see how some brute display of strength and skill would be entertaining or fun, a simple book can be just as pleasant.' Luna thought as she looked around the town. Strangely enough, despite all the jolliness and celebrations going on, there was an air of seriousness and dread in the guards. Luna shook the thought from her head and continued her look around the district.

The hub of Hyrule Castle City was somehow even more busy than it usually was, people of all races and creeds swarming the streets. Banners covered the streets in advertisements for every possible event, and the numerous merchants with their stalls and whatnot constrained the crowded streets even more. This was an annual thing, unfortunately. It was the Hyrule Kingdom Combat Tournament. Nikou usually tried to avoid coming into the city when it was like this, not one for massive crowds of "unfamiliar" people, but of course the stars had to align and force him: the latest posting for him was to escort a fairly famous Zora merchant-politician into the city. It made sense-- the tournament was a huge attraction to everyone in the kingdom, and the festivities were an ideal way to bolster kinship between parties that can later be used to procure better trade agreements. That didn't mean Nikou couldn't bitch about it still, though, especially when he was effectively baby-sitting one of the newer recruits. Though, while Nikou hesitated to follow along for safety concerns, the politician was apparently nice enough to at least let them alleviate the boredom of such a uneventful job by allowing both Nikou and his junior, Kota, to wonder the town a bit while he was resting.

"C'mon, don't you think I could win?" Kota nudged Nikou in the shoulder while beaming at all the posters and people they passed.

"Not really." Nikou sneered. The last time he had sparred with Kota in practice, all of Kota's tells were far too obvious and the boy seemed to think that spinning around a lot was a good strategy for some reason. Any good fighter would capitalize on that in seconds, and there were a lot of those in a fighting tournament surprisingly. "You'd get curbstomped by the first Goron that walked in there with you."

Kota frowned as he put his hands behind his head. "Then why don't you enter? I've seen you sparring with the other guys. You seem pretty good, man."

"Not interested." He scoffed. Watching the tournament was going to have to be enough for the kid, 'cause even that was more than enough for Nikou. If he wanted to see a bunch of sweaty people with too much energy wrestle with eachother, he'd just go back to the barracks.

Soon enough, the two Zora guards found themselves in the City Square, one of the biggest hubs in the entire damn kingdom. Hundreds of people flowed through the streets, though Nikou made special note of the large amounts of guards shifting through the masses. While they would of course watch over the crowds in such a buy event, they seemed even busier than that... It seems like they were scrounging every last guard together. Normally they'd be pretty relaxed about everything seeing as even the military had to take time off and unwind, but it was clear there was something they were particularly concerned about. Of course, Nikou knew of the serial murders that had been making their way through the Castle City, but that wasn't something that threatened the celebration as a whole.

Walking up to the guard outpost out of curiosity, Nikou scanned the notices that had been put up. Most of it was pretty mundane stuff, but a few things peaked his interest. First, apparently some relatively underground Zora singer he liked was reported as wanted for illegal drug possession and trafficking. Secondly though, and likely related, there was a series of ID'd wanted posters for several people heavily suspected of smuggling and distributing illegal product. While he hesitated to call crime entertainment, this was a lot more interesting to Nikou than getting drunk and watching some people punch each other in a pit.

Nikou rubbed his chin a bit, before turning back to Kota. "Looks like they have a new crime ring surfacing... I'm going to go ask about this."

"Aww come on, Nikoouu," Kota whined, "I want to go see the tournament."

"Do you need me to hold your hand or something? You can go yourself, Kota."

"Fine, whatever." With that, Kota took off towards the coliseum in a hurry. It was probably for the best, anyway.

With that distraction gone, Nikou peeled off one of the posters and walked over towards the nearby guard captain in the outpost. Holding up the poster, he spoke with confidence. "I'm a guard from Zora's Domain sent to keep peace in the midst of the celebrations. Seeing as you guys seemed to be stretched thin enough already, could you give me some intel on these criminals so that I could pursue my own investigation?"

Tinnun Chordata
Hyrule Castle City, Inner Wall District

A young, pink colored Rito has recently managed to put up her food stall. She had came to this city, spent a night at the inn, and paid the inn to use their kitchen to make food for the event once everyone slept for the night. Tinnun spent a sleepless night cooking and baking goods, but it's going to be well worth it. Especially with various people arriving here to spectate or participate in the tournament, there's a chance that patrons will buy her food and spread word about her culinary skills.

Once she had everything set up, Tinnun placed everything she made on the stall. Few steaks, spiced and covered in thin butter; a large bowl of steaming meat stew with a few smaller bowls next to it to scoop the stew into; a fluffy chocolate souffle; two crepes that are both filled with a strawberry filling and with powdered sugar sprinkled on top; some juicy, fried Hyrule bass; a few buttery baked potatoes; and last but not least, her original but simple dish of roasted pecans in a thin shell of hardened honey that's not unlike a candy. She could smell the aroma of her food and the food of the other stalls mixing to together to overall make a pleasant smelling scent. In all honesty, Tinnun might not stick around for the tournament, as she never understood the sport or the appeal of it, as combat is too scary for her liking.

Rin wandered through castle town, hopelessly lost. He'd never find the house at this rate. He'd grown up in Sheikah village, and the city was as labyrinthian to him as his own forest would be to a citydweller. He had a map, but the crowd only served to confound things further. He sighed as he looked among the stalls, and wished he didn't have to investigate a murder. He'd much rather be carousing and having a good time. He took out the map again, and realized that he'd been holding it upside down. He looked up from it, and noticed a purple zora girl standing amidst the crowd.

"Excuse me." The Sheikah man said, approaching her. He certainly stood out. He was wearing a red kimono, covered in eyes of truth, a fan in hand. "I seem to have lost my way~" He said with a wide grin. He was looking down on her, but not on purpose. The fact of the matter was that he was a tall guy, and had nearly a foot on her.

"Could you tell me where this house is? I've never been to a city before. It's beautiful, if a bit overwhelming." He said, pointing to the location on the map. It was the house where someone had been murdered, of course. He was twirling a lock of his long, white hair, and seemed to be just a clueless tourist.
@Darkmoon Angel

As he wandered through the city, Armostos soon found himself to be lost. He'd walked through dungeons with ease, but somehow he always got lost in cities, such was the curse of a traveler, after all. Regardless, it was a beautiful town with lots of pretty little stalls and beautiful...women--such was a traveler's blessing, of course. He'd mainly gotten lost because he stopped at almost every corner to flirt with a female shopkeeper, but now, he should really head to the tournament, now. Luckily, he soon saw a young Zora woman just across the street. Thanking the gods for the encounter with yet another pretty lady, Armostos swiftly hobbled over.

"Hey there, little miss! Little miss Zora! Could you perhaps help me? I may or may not be a little lost...Okay, I'm totally lost here. Could you perhaps point me the way to the tournament's grounds?

He asked his question loudly, and with a silly smile. The matter of him being loud aside, the way his helmet leaned on the back of his head, instead of covering it only added to the silliness. Regardless, Armostos walked around with a certain confidence.

Luna was just checking a few of the stalls that were around the district when a rather confused man holding a map walked up to her. "Could you tell me where this house is? I've never been to a city before. It's beautiful, if a bit overwhelming." Looking at the man it was clear why he was so confused, he didn't look like he was from around here and that it was his first time even being in the Castle Town. The fact that his map was upside-down spoke volumes of his lack of knowledge. Nevertheless, Luna wasn't one for turning down someone in need of directions, though the next stranger that popped up quickly changed her mindset.

"Hey there, little miss! Little miss Zora! Could you perhaps help me? I may or may not be a little lost...Okay, I'm totally lost here. Could you perhaps point me the way to the tournament's grounds?" Just as loud as any goron, Luna's expression quickly turned dark. She never was fond of gorons, compared to Ritos and Zoras they always stood out to her as brutes with rocks for brains, come to think of it they might actually have rocks for brains. Luna sighed in annoyance but quickly took a more calm disposition, she didn't want to start something in the middle of a district. "I may have seen that house once or twice, I could take you there if need be." She said to the kimono garbed man. "And unfortunately for you but I couldn't care less about some tournament so your going have to ask someone else for directions." She tried to sound as non-hostile to the goron as possible but the dark look in her eyes said it all. The fact that both strangers were both judging her height ticked her off even more, it's not her fault that she was born short.

@Ryougu@HeroicSociopath

Gorn stepped into castle town and breathed deeply. The smell of foods of all kinds permeated the air. He was planning on having a taste of as many as he could stomach. He walked at a slow pace, taking in the sights, sounds and smells. There was no rush. Life was to be enjoyed in the moment. Gorn was well practiced in that.

The tournament brought all kinds of good business and Gorn planned on capitalizing on it. Working for the Steel Boulder Company gave him a feeling of officiality that he'd never had before. He would certainly become one of their top sellers, he was sure of it! Smith's needed the precious ores that only Gorn could offer.

As he started to set up a stand in one of the best spots he noticed a rito speaking to a large goron in clanking armor. He spoke quietly to his friend,"New faces, huh? This should be an interesting celebration." Throughout their many years of travelling together, Gorn and Confliti knew the in's and out's of every major city and town in all of Hyrule. Living in Gorn's case, for hundreds of years and Confliti's for thousands might do that if you were paying attention.

Tinnun Chordata
Hyrule Castle City, Inner Wall District

Business was a little slow for the pink Rito. One patron came and bought one of her strawberry crepes, but that was it. Though Tinnun guessed it was because she set up her food stall a bit further away than where most people would come here at. All it will have to take is a little patience.

Tinnun has been place to place for about six years and she has seen all sorts of people, but this is one of those rare moments when she could see all races of Hyrule together. Sure, it was a reason she did not care for, but it's still a pleasant surprise to see. With the tournament, Tinnun could make more food for the spectators. After all, she supposed it will be less fun to watch the tournament on an empty stomach, and if the folks behind the tournament will permit it, she can take it as another opportunity to make more people aware of her cooking services.

Armostos was a little surprised by her reaction at first, especially when he saw the look in the young woman's eyes, what had he done to her to deserve such a look? Before long, he realized she'd adressed someone else, as well, so he decided to pay some attention to them. Long hair...Frilly clothes... Armostos thought, yet her couldn't shrug off the feeling that something was off here... And then it hit him, this wasn't another lady, it was a man. His thoughts rambled on, completely in the wrong direction. So if there's a girl...and a man...and they're going somewhere together...and the woman doesn't want any other man to interrupt... Armostos came to the conclusion, that he'd been an 'ill-mannered knave' and that he'd interrupted their date. A little emberassed he started an apology.

"Ah, I'm sorry, little miss. I should've known better... I'll just ask someone else to show me the way, then. Once more, so sorry for interrupting, have fun on your date!"

During his last sentence, Armostos had already started to head off, looking over his shoulder as he spoke. He had no time to spend on someone who couldn't help him on his way to the tournament, anymore. You couldn't be late on the road to success, after all. Wandering around a bit more, he wondered why it was that he couldn't navigate in a city, like everyone else. Luckily, he soon found his way to the tournament's grounds and even managed to find where to sign up. So, sign up, he did. He was in it, to win it.

If one were to walk through the various food stalls and people selling souvenirs to oblivious tourists, they may chance upon a lone Rito wearing a silly outfit drawing circles on the ground. If said person were to stick around they would see him making various theatrical movements with his staff finally crying out, "Wazahhh!" as the circles out up in a shower of flower like snowflakes. If that person was kind enough to donate some money to the bucket in from of the Rito, they would receive a vigorous handshake and a smile as the Rito thanked him.

"What a beautiful town full of such beautiful people!" Kibbe clapped his hands together and spread them apart, revealing a string of snowflakes between his wings/palms. The small crowd applauded and a little girl deposited a few Rupees into the bucket that Kibbe had set in front of his performance area. Truly a beautiful day to work in Hyrule Castle City.

Atop the left shoulder of Gorn the goron merchant sat a small creature resembling an anthropomorphic mouse. Shirtless and carrying a (for his size) greatsword, the little creature listened and observed to all the people roaming around the city. Of course, they'd never know he was watching them for he was invisible to all but the most well behaved of children. Such was the most distinguishing trait of the minish people. Well, there was one exception. Gorn, the very man that carried the minish around, could see and hear his little friend. Together Gorn and the minish Confliti had journeyed to Hyrule Castle Town for the celebrations. As an entrepreneur, it was in the merchant's best interests to go where the money was. Confliti had far less concern for money. It was of no consequence to his people, after all, but he always accompanied Gorn anywhere.

Today might have to be an exception, however, as there was soon to be a tournament of fighters and warriors. Gorn was interested in selling his wares and making business deals. Not so for the shirtless minish, who fancied himself a mighty warrior, trained in the combat styles of the Watchdogs. He knew it was a longshot, but participation was what he had his eyes set on. That's when the voice of his friend pulled Confliti from his fantasies.

"Lots of new faces, but it always feels that way to me. The people of this world rarely live very long, it feels like." It wasn't a judgment, merely an observation from the sprite-like creature. He quickly decided to change topics of conversation to something a bit less morbid, calling as loudly into Gorn's ear as he could to overcome both his own diminutive size and the large crowd around them. "I know you have your heart set on making some rupees today, but do you think we can go sign me up for the tournament? Those pens are so hard for me to write with."

@Darkmoon Angel@Ryougu

Rin glanced over his shoulder, and there was a hulking creature, covered in armor. A goron! He'd never seen one before. "Well met!" He said, a sunny smile on his face as he waved to Armostos. "Whoooooaaaa. You're huge!" He said, gazing upon him in awe before catching himself. "O-oh, sorry. I've just never seen a Goron before. Um." He looked at the map, as Armostos revealed he needed directions. The zora woman couldn't help, but it just so happened he'd seen it.

"Ah, going to that? Not my cup of tea, but best of luck! It just so happens I passed it on my way here. It's that way." He said, pointing in the general direction, before turning back to Luna. "I appreciate it, miss...? Oh, I'm Rin Utoh, by the way." He said, as he followed her to the house...Only for his ears to twitch.

"You're nice and all, but I should tell you that this isn't a date." He said, as they headed for the house. "I can't imagine the site of a murder is very romantic, though I guess I could buy you dinner after." He said, with a grin on his face that was simply not appropriate for a man about to investigate a murder to have. Was he being serious?

Gorn looked over to his friend with an amused grin,"And assuming I am able to sign for another, how do you think you will even be able to participate? They cannot see you, old friend."Gorn paused setting up his stand and had a thought. All these years Confliti had allowed Gorn to set up shop without being able to join the many tournaments. What kind of friend wouldn't try and help him participate? Being a minish or not, everybody should have the chance to join a deadly combat tournament with no guarantee of survival. Violence should not discriminate!

After what seemed a lot longer than should have been Gorn spoke up from his wandering thoughts,"You know what? Let's do it, together." At the last word of "together" Gorn winked at Confliti and repacked his things. After a few minutes he started marching over to the sign up section of the tournament. There he saw the same clanking Goron.

As they neared the line, Gorn whispered,"We'll call ourselves the 'Minish Manhunter'. You can do the attacking, I'll do the defending. We can also use our secret techniques if required." Gorn chuckled to his friend, thinking himself quite clever. To any listening observers around, it would have appeared that Gorn was talking to himself. A strange sight to say the least.

If Confliti agreed to the name and tactics they would be on their way to championships! If found out they would be thrown out as cheaters. But what other way could Gorn's best friend participate?

Tinnun Chordata
Hyrule Castle City, Inner Wall District

At this point, Tinnun made up her mind. Even if she wasn't interested in tournaments, she's going to volunteer to cook food for the spectators. Though getting the food she pre-cooked there is going to be a struggle. The Rito decided to leave the stew, the fish, and the honey-coated roasted pecans behind for those who are hungry and cannot afford food. She placed down a sign saying: Will be back much later, enjoy the free food!

She balanced the rest of the dishes on her wings to the best of her ability. Tinnun will have to be careful lest she drops the food, and therefore ruin it. One foot forward, and the other foot forward, nice and steady. Eventually, she made progress towards where the tournament is being held. Slow, but progress nonetheless.

Dan came to Hyrule, as it was practically impossible to ignore the lure of so many things going on. A short Deku, carrying nothing on him wandered through the city. A few people moved to the side, and a couple others stared at the odd sight. Dekus don't normally go this far from their forest and are seldom meaning well to others. Dan wasn't feeling too great being surrounded by such a large crowd. Every turn just had more people, the roar of the crowd deafening to him. It was better from how much space he was given, allowing him almost a free pass around the area. Vendors lined the sides of the street, with enticing food and decadent smells. Naturally, he was broke and had a basic understanding of how money works. Eventually after a long time of wandering, and trying to understand a mental map of the place, he stumbled across a stall that had a sign placed on it. It was free food, and no one to stop him from taking it.

With a stroke of good luck, he took looked over the food that was left out. Greedily, he took the entire plate, balancing it on his head. He had food to eat on the go now, and it tasted great. He almost looked like a waiter passing out food as he went. The distant crowds grew thicker, as he approached the main event. A tournament for fighters to gather and prove who was the strongest. He had no interest in fighting fair, but it looked to be something worth watching for a while. Gorons, Hylians, pretty much everyone was trying to fight. He had pecans to eat, and time. It was a sunny day, and life was pretty good.

The strange person in line was a Goron talking to himself. He knew Gorons weren't bright, but this was a bit much. Should be fun to mess with this guy for a while. He focused on the area around the Gorn, using his magic. Shortly after a few seconds, two small bushes, going up to the Gorn's waist in height, appeared around him. With a short chuckle, Dan held back a laugh. That should start the fun, and maybe some chaos.

"Ah, I'm sorry, little miss. I should've known better... I'll just ask someone else to show me the way, then. Once more, so sorry for interrupting, have fun on your date!" Date!? Were it not for the fact she was in public she would've shot an ice shard into the goron's rocky back. The goron left without another word, good riddance too, Luna was losing her patience.

"I appreciate it, miss...? Oh, I'm Rin Utoh, by the way." Luna gave a slight nod to the man before leading him to the house in question. "You're nice and all, but I should tell you that this isn't a date. I can't imagine the site of a murder is very romantic, though I guess I could buy you dinner after." Luna was getting annoyed, all because of that goron's loud mouth. "Just shut it on the whole date and romance stuff... And did you say something about a murder?" The thought suddenly struck Luna, was she leading this guy to a crime scene or something? Why in the world would anyone be interested in that!?

@HeroicSociopath

The entire square was being used for the tournament, there were two stages, Stage A and Stage B, one on each side of the fountain in the middle, with a statue depicting the Goddess Hylia. Looking at it from the front with Hyrule Castle behind the fountain, the stages were set on the left and right side, while an announcement platform was set up against the fountain, with a bigger balcony on the front where a majority of the crowds would gather. Currently everyone's attention was focused on that announcement platform.

"Welcome Hylians and all, to the first set of the Hyrule Combat Tournament! Today here in Hyrule Castle City the jewel capital of the kingdom itself, we will find out who is the strongest warrior within the region of Hylia! That's right, the strongest in this region! But we won't be stopping there, after this we'll find out the strongest in Eldin, Faron, Lanayru, Gerudo, Akkala, and even Snowpeak! And when that is all said and done, we'll return here again for the Grand Finals! Featuring the strongest from every region to find out Who. Is. The Strongest. IN ALL OF HYRULE!", the crowd's cheers were deafening as the MC introduced the tournament to everyone. It was roughly the same every year though, but the energy never waned regardless.

"Rrrright now our contestants are getting up on stage! From now to two clicks past noon, we will be running qualifying matches! We have a lot of contestants so this time around we're running this tournament in two sets. The Preliminaries, where all the contestants will be matched against each other in a rapid elimination to narrow down for our notorious Eliminations round. Yes the one you've all been waiting for! The Eliminations will be done in a traditional tournament fashion where contestants are pitted against one another, fighting to climb to the top!", the crowd cheered once more, but ended rather quickly as he continued.

"Throughout the Preliminaries however, new contestants are allowed to sign up, however do not be too late, otherwise we may have to reject your entry because it'd simply be too late. I will return to announce the Eliminations when they start, so everyone, please enjoy this year's entrants, look at them, size them up, and place your bets when you feel confident in a certain fighter!", and with that, the flashy-coated man left the stage, letting festivities resume.

Sure enough, anyone who registered was walking towards any of the two stages. It was as said, the organizers would tell who was up, and then the two would briefly fight. Considering these were just preliminaries, it became quite apparent who was going to make it to the Eliminations, as those contestants defeated their opposition with little trouble, if not effortlessly.

---

@Sen

"Huh? We didn't hear anything about-... Hmmm", the guard captain took a moment as if considering. Sure enough the attire that the Zora wore was that of the guards in Zora's Domain, but that wasn't his concern right now. The Zora was offering to help. He straightened up over the table and stepped out from the counter.

"Alright, yes you're right, we're stretched pretty thin and could use all the help we can get. Times are tough since the Cult of Ganon began to become popular again as of late, so the Templars are out witch hunting rather than focusing their efforts here in the city, so it's become easier for criminals to move around", he began.

"I'm not sure what it's like in Zora's Domain, and by protocol I'm not even supposed to let you help us as we're meant to treat you like civilians, but if anyone asks it'll be 'international cooperation', and you're also from the guard in Zora's Domain right? I hope that's true because that'd make the excuse easier", the guard captain seemed an easygoing guy, though he kept a firm stance. He reached over behind the counter and grabbed a few papers and began reading.

"So... Basically we got a lead. Big operation is going down today, seems they're also all meeting up to review their plan. We only know this because one of their rats were squeezed hard enough to speak. We don't know where though, only their leaders know. We only know of two leaders, 'Gaunt Grant' and 'Sewer Steve', I'm not sure who comes up with these names but they sound like really terrible superheroes. I have dossiers on them, but I can't give them to you. I'll ask someone to get the documents out and you can read them over on the table there", he said, clicking his fingers as a guard standing by at the door behind him entered what seemed to be the room with all the files. Shortly after he emerged with very few files.

"See to them as you like. We don't actually have much on them, so take in what information you can", and with that the guard captain went back to his seat by the counter, reviewing some other documents. As Nikou would pass it seems like the standard permissions and complaints, as well as patrol routes and reports.

As Nikou would peruse through the documents, the most information came up for Gaunt Grant. The guy was old so this was natural, more or less it was more suspected involvement, but there's a lot of evidence that suggests he is in the smuggling ring. The more solid lead though is Sewer Steve. The note says that the one they interrogated on this was one of his underlings too... All the interrogation details are here, but nothing points to a location. Looks like he might have to do some hunting. His name is 'Sewer Steve', so maybe his nickname is related...? As for Gaunt Grant, he seemed a little untouchable right now, no tells of his location or what he did.

Tinnun Chordata
Hyrule Castle City, Inner Wall District

A Rito carrying around a lot of food on her wings and stumbling forwards while doing so seemed to be quite a sight to behold, Tinnun had thought to herself. Indeed, she felt a little silly doing so. Not helping is the constant feeling that she's being gawked at, regardless if someone is staring at her or not.

She eventually reached the square where the tournament is being held. She didn't know why they decided to put the stages and the platform near the fountain. Dramatic effect, the woman guessed. Tinnun couldn't help but feel a bit hyped up by the MC, the energy was very contagious. However, Tinnun has to look for the person to talk to to ask them if she could volunteer in cooking for the crowd, and search out this person she did.

"I can participate by myself! It's my right as a citizen of Hyrule, isn't it? Hardly my fault all these people's eyes are disabled." Confliti pouted a bit, which was normal anytime Gorn brought up his inability to properly interact with the rest of the world. Most minish didn't mind, and even thrived on it. Confliti had... Different opinions. He mumbled to himself, something Gorn wouldn't have a chance of hearing between the minish's size and the expansive crowd around them. Turning his head to give his old friend the proverbial cold shoulder, Confliti caught sight of others in the area. One in particular caught his attention. A small deku scrub moving in behind them. Now that was peculiar. Confliti had seen many unusual creatures in larger metro areas before, including the elusive koroks, but a scrub? Ill tempered and usually defensively paranoid, they were not one to venture out from their forests, and attacked most people they came into contact with.

Confliti decided to observe this scrub as Gorn brought them to register for the tournament, together. Wait, where did that scrub get all that food? That was way too much for one little scrub! "Don't go too far, Gorn! I'm going to grab a quick bite!" With that he jumped off from Gorn's shoulder and gently floated to the platter of treats using a leaf. Ah, this smelled good! Confliti picked up a berry and began to eat it like a melon.

Then something bizarre happened. Shrubs sprouted up around Gorn! The minish narrowed his eyes up at the deku. Forest magic. How dare he pick on Gorn like that? "Go on, get us registered! I'll deal with this ner'do'well!" Confliti lifted his berry with one hand and hurled it at the deku's face in a surprise attack! Not even bothering to ensure it struck its mark, thet minish warrior grabbed more food and chucked it all! Every crumb, every leaf, berry, roll, and whatever else sat on the plate hurled through the air in a crazy fit. To the onlookers it would appear some invisible force had possessed the food and now had it in for the poor deku...