[IC] Bearers of Courage [IceHeart + QueenSei]

[IceHeart]

Kakariko Village

Kakariko Village was a happening place these days. The sound of hammering and sawing resounded throughout the village as craftsmen went about their work, building new houses and facilities by the month. About a decade ago now, Kakariko Village had been but the smallest of hamlets; however that began to change when Impa had decided to open up the village to the common people of Hyrule. What had once been a tribe purely for the Sheikian clan had opened up the gates and the masses had poured in.

What had once been a remote village was now on the cusp of township, due to the massive amounts of Hylians that had decided to settle in the village. As a result the carpentry industry had a massive boom as they worked hard to meet the demands of an ever increasing population. Yulen found himself working part-time at a carpentry business with a rather loud-mouthed boss. He was a large, gruff looking man who knew about hard-labor, but his bark was more of the encouraging type than that of a taskmaster.

"Heads up! Here comes the next plank!" His boss yelled up to Yulen, who was perched up on the top of the frame of a new house.

"I'm ready!" Yulen called down as the plank was hoisted up by the work crew. He quickly caught the plank and guided it into position as they prepared the top for where a roof would be put in eventually.

"That a boy! You'd never think you'd have it in you with those spindly little arms of yours!" His boss joked as Yulen managed to set the plank in place without a sweat.

"No doubt that's why you had me go through that test first before you hired me!"

"You can bet on the Goddesses that's why I made you go through those extra hoops, I'm not about to let some twig join my crew if they're just gonna wimp out on me in a week!"

The extra test being mentioned had been quite a variety of tasks, such as hauling heavy loads, correct handling of tools, and even a physical fitness test just to be considered. Yulen's boss only wanted the best crew he could get which is why he had been hesitant when the boy had first tried to get hired. At this point the boss only wondered why Yulen had never tried to join up full time. It was a shame he couldn't get more out of the boy but even if he tried to sneak in some overtime, Yulen always insisted on only doing what he was required to do. It was really quite vexing.

"Let's make sure all the framing is done correctly and securely before we start putting the rest of the house up! Let's do it before our little skulltula jumps ship!"

Yulen rolled his eyes at the nickname as he prepared to finish up his shift.

[QueenSei]

With the big population boom happening in Kakariko Village, it was only natural that Quinn and her mentor had moved there as well. It seemed like a good idea, with more resources being put into the village, and there having more opportunity to do more than just sit around in the middle of nowhere.

Quinn had to get used to everything first though. Being in the middle of nowhere was something she was used to, but this new environment consisting of much noise and bustling people? Not something she was able to get over in a day. Despite the uncomfortable settlement, Quinn had eventually gotten used to all the noise and chatter after working on the cucco farm that she and her mentor had been living in for a bit now.

The girl had been out feeding the cuccos, throwing feed on the ground for them until she had decided to count them. "Oh no, not again!" She groaned as she found out that there was a few chickens missing. She made the remaining cuccos go into their coop before hopping over the fence and going around the village to look for the missing cuccos. There was probably only three missing, which wouldn't be such a big deal if there wasn't any construction going around. She needed to get them back fast before they caused trouble for the other villagers.

Walking around the village, she found a stray cucco wandering around an empty corner of the village, carrying it back to her home and placing it into the coop with the others, continuing her search. There was was another cucco somewhere, and she could hear it leaving. Frowning to herself, she went on to keep looking, praying to the Goddess that it wasn't wandering around the construction site.

[IceHeart]

"Everything secured up there!" Yulen's boss shouted as Yulen did the final checks of all the nails and attachments.

"It's all good up here! Well I'll just be heading off for the day then!"

"Ya ya, get going ya half-timer!" The boss grunted as he turned his attention to another project.

"Done here for now, I'll need to complete my other chores quickly so I'll have some time too..." Yulen's voice trailed off as he heard some sort of a clucking sound coming from down below. He tried to look below but some of the scaffolding got in the way so it was a bit hard to tell from up above. Yulen quickly shimmied down like a trained acrobat to locate the source. He was quickly able to zero in on the sound and there was one of them.

A cucco was busy inspecting all the boards in the house's frame, probably searching for insects or something while making its usual, annoying sounds. Yulen's eyebrows started to curl in annoyance, as a child he had had a rather...unfortunate encounter with a flock. It had scared him for years and while he was pretty much over it by now, he still harbored a bit of resentment. He crept up on the cucco, determined to make sure it couldn't mess up there work at all.

The white feather ball clucked in happiness or perhaps boredom, as it sniffed around. Yulen crept up from behind a plank, and lunged for the creature. Perhaps sensing his annoyance, the clucker noticed his attempt to grab it and with a cry, bolted for the street. In its mad rush the cucco ran right into the legs of a laborer balancing a bunch of boards, which caused him to trip and collapse in a heap with the boards.

"Come back here you feathered fiend!" Yulen gave chase to the fleeing poultry, determined to lock it up in its pen, wherever that was. Into the streets he chased after the cucco which had the advantage of being small and able to dart around people and objects to foil his attempts. Soon his focus was entirely on catching the blasted bird to prevent it from fowling up even more people's days. Soon everything else started to fade into the background as he grew tunnel vision in his quest as the bird was proving to be quite the adept runner.

[QueenSei]

Quinn had been walking around, trying to look through every small space to see if the cucco was anywhere near there. After a while of searching, she was almost about to give up when she heard a commotion coming from the construction sites. Groaning loudly, she sprinted towards the source of the noise, soon finding Yulen running after the cucco that had escaped.

"H-Hey, Yulen, wait!" She cried out, when another cucco had started running away too. Quinn squeaked at the sudden flurry of white, but immediately ran after the cucco. "Get back here! You can't be running around here, it's too dangerous!!" She shouted at the stray cucco, who was still running as fast as its short legs will allow. She ran after it, trying to be mindful of the workers and trying to get the cucco to steer away from them, until eventually, the cucco had gotten distracted and ran straight into a wall, falling flat on its back. Quinn gasped, swiftly running over and scooped it up.

"Okay, now to get the other one.." She sighed, running over to find Yulen and the last cucco. She vaguely knew of Yulen's beef with the cuccos, but it became more prevalent as she saw the boy running after the last cucco at full speed, seeming to not pay any attention to his surroundings. "Yulen!" She tried to get his attention, running after the two in a chase.

[IceHeart]

Despite his tunnel vision he was doing a remarkable job of not running into people or things. That said, he still was so close to actually touching them in some cases that he freaked a few people out. At least one lady fell backwards and one kid rolled out of the way, just in case. All the while he had yet to notice Quinn trying to get his attention.

Before long though the beast decided on what it hoped was an effective escape route. The Cucco bolted for a small ledge that would be enough of a drop that could potentially hurt someone if they jumped off, but a feathered friend would be just fine. Yulen quickly saw through its scheme however.

"Oh no you don't!" With a burst of speed he reached out and grabbed the chicken wanna-be by the leg as it tried to jump off. The Cucco flapped furiously to try and escape but Yulen held on firmly, not about to let the escapee get away. With all the energy in the thing though as it tried to break free, Yulen could feel he was dangerously close to slipping off the edge and taking a tumble.

---

While all this commotion was transpiring, some of the townsfolk had gotten together to share stories and rumors.

"I don't think I've seen a single Goron even on the Death Mountain Trail for around four months now. Sure they usually just stick to themselves but it's just strange."

"Come to think of it I haven't seen that one guy who likes to visit from time to time. Can't remember his name...or are Gorons its?"

"I'm more concerned about the trails recently, I occasionally like to find rare plants or barter for ore but a lot of skulltulas, tektites have popped up recently. I'm getting too scared to try and climb up the mountain anymore!"

"Whatever happened to that man who went up a few months ago anyway?"

"Who?"

"You know that big fellow with that striking red hair!"

"Oh him? Don't know but I think someone saw him head back down soon after. Certainly was a unique looking fellow."

The townspeople chattered about their new troubles, and anything interesting that was going on in the village or in Hyrule. Though at the moment it was mostly discussions of things rather close to home.

[QueenSei]

Quinn watched in awe as Yulen was finally able to catch the cucco, even if it was only by the leg. She then realized that they were on a ledge and Yulen could be severely hurt if the cucco kept trying to fly out of his grasp with how energetic it was. The girl quickly ran over to where Yulen was, before remembering she still had a cucco in her arms.

"Oh come on!" She cried out, running back to where some people were gathering, going to another farmhand, a young boy who was a few years younger than Quinn. "Hey kid, make yourself useful and help me take care of this cucco!" She exclaimed, handing him the cucco. The boy nodded and held on tightly to the bird, watching the girl run back to where Yulen was. Once she got close enough, she jumped over Yulen and grabbed the cucco, but overestimated her leap, and ended up slipping and falling over the edge with the cucco.

Quinn screamed, but stopped once she heard the cucco freak out as well. Thinking fast, she grabbed onto the cucco's legs and held it over her head. With the cucco freaking out, it was flapping its wings like crazy, which slowed down their fall dramatically. Quinn let out a sigh of relief, looking up at Yulen. "Thanks for the help Yulen!" She called out on the way down. It took a few minutes, but eventually she made it down safely with the cucco.

Once they had touched the ground, Quinn growled and started scolding the cucco. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?! I'M NEVER LETTING YOU OUT!" She shouted at the cucco, who shrunk back into itself out of fear. "Once we get home, you are DEFINITELY in trouble!"

[IceHeart]

The struggle was real as Yulen stubbornly held on to the cucco as it tried to escape but he was having none of that. He held on was tightly as he could, until he suddenly saw a shadow fall upon him. He looked up just in time to see someone literally jumping over him.

"W-What?" He said in surprise and lost his grip on the bird which attempted to 'fly' away, but the person managed to grab the bird...and then fall off the ledge. Yulen fell on his butt when he let out of the bird and watched in horror as he watched the girl, who he know recognized as Quinn, a fairly new arrival to the expanding town, disappear over the edge.

"Quinn!" He shouted as he scrambled over to the edge to see what had become of her, fearing the worst. As soon as he managed to look down though, he noticed Quinn gently descending down to the ground with a screaming cucco, shedding its feathers like crazy as it flapped like a headless chicken. Yulen gave a dry chuckle and a sign of relief as she touched down safely and looked back up him to thank him.

"By the Goddesses, don't scare me like that." Yulen grumbled but couldn't help but smile as she started to scold the stupid bird. "That's what you get you stupid bird, I hope you get fried for supper."

That complaint out of the way he decided it was best to go down and at least make sure she was alright. He wouldn't be able to spend too much time as he had other things to do, but well, it was kind of his fault he supposed that she had fallen over the ledge in the first place, even if she was the one to jump. Yulen, not wanting to make the extra effort, descended the ledge which was easy enough to do since he was no longer holding on to a feathered beast.

"So that's your bird is it? Glad you've managed to wrangle the bugger in, still, do you like falling off ledges as a hobby?" Yulen joked as he tried to see if she was hurt at all. "That was rather reckless considering where we were."

[QueenSei]

Quinn was holding onto the cucco, making sure that it was good in her grip. She was still scolding it, walking a bit as she made her way back, when she saw Yulen approach her. She smiled nervously. "Sorry about that. All the cuccos I was taking care of had escaped their fenced off area." Quinn explained, before laughing a bit at Yulen's question about falling over ledges.

"Well, not like that, no. Especially with ledges. I overestimated how far I would actually jump right there. But hey, I figured out how not to get hurt, so that counts for something right? I'm smart sometimes!" Quinn gave him a big smile. "Thanks for helping me by the way. These cuccos can be a real handful sometimes." She sighed, patting the cucco she had on the head.

"Were you just done with your construction job? I hope this bird didn't pull you out of work." Quinn said with a pout. "I've heard you were really good with construction. Is that true?" She asked curiously. She didn't really know Yulen that well, and he seemed like an interesting enough person that she would love to talk to more. Quinn was bored in her daily life to begin with, so being in a growing town definitely had its perks.

"I won't take much out of your time though, I'm sure you're busy with things." She sighed eventually, looking over at the crowd that was quickly dispersing, with the boy still holding onto the other cucco. "I have to make sure all these cuccos are in their coop. Wouldn't want them getting out again."

[IceHeart]

Yulen had to marvel a little about just how unfazed Quinn was about the whole ordeal. Despite the fall she seemed completely fine and wasn't even shaken up a bit, she must have nerves of steel, or perhaps ignorance. Well, everything was well so that was good.

"Glad you weren't hurt at all. While I do have things I must get to, I can at least help you transport these ruffians to their holding cells." Yulen joked, referring to the Cuccos as criminals. "I'll take the other one for you. Here kid, hand that one over to me." The kid happily deposited the bird in his arms and then ran away to do whatever it was he wanted to do. Yulen looked menacing down at the bird but thankfully the bird had given up to its fate at this point.

As they walked the birds to their pens, Yulen got to talking with the rather energetic Quinn.

"Yep, I had just finished work for the day. While I am good enough to have the boss beg me to start full time, I have other duties to attend to which I can't ignore. I'm good at climbing, and good with tools so carpentry is rather easy for me but it will be never more than a side-job for me."

Yulen looked at Quinn as they walked. She was a rather, fresh-faced individual who looked rather young, even child-like. She was a bit rounded but with strong, gray eyes and soft freckles that made her look like a picture of innocence. His first impressions of her was that she was honest and hearty, a kind but rambunctious soul. She was certainly someone who would add some color to the traditionally drab Kakariko Village.

"You're fairly new around here, aren't you Quinn? What made you decide to move all the way out to our drab little village? Well, at least it was a drab little village years ago. Guess I can't really say that about this place anymore with all the new people moving in. I guess only a few years more before we become a bustling place on par with Castle Town."

[QueenSei]

"Oh, thanks for the help!" Quinn told Yulen happily as he took the other remaining cucco. She began to walk with him back to the pen where all the other cuccos were, listening to what Yulen had to say about his current job.

"Wow, you are lucky to be able to have a job that fits what you're good at!" Quinn exclaimed happily. "I hope I can find something I can do easily and get paid for it. Taking care of cuccos isn't really what I want to do anyway." She explained, eyeing the cucco she was holding with a sigh.

After Yulen asked about her, Quinn thought for a moment. "Well, I moved to Kakariko with my mentor for just more opportunities. We couldn't do much in the countryside, since it's literally just us in a farm for a bunch of miles until you find civilization again. My mentor thought this would be a good learning experience for me. Or something like that anyway." Quinn got to the pen, opening the gate and lead Yulen to the pen where all the other cuccos were, already sitting in their nests. She placed the cucco she had in the pen, then took Yulen's cucco and placed it inside too.

"Anyways, that's really all we're doing here. Just more opportunity. I'm learning a lot about being here, so it's working!" She said with a bright smile. "I haven't seen this many people in one place before. This is much more different than back at the ranch I used to live in. I can't wait to do more things once we get more settled." Quinn closed the pen, making sure it was properly closed so that the cuccos wouldn't get out again.

"Well, thank you again for helping me. I hope I didn't take too much of your time. You've got stuff to do after this, don't you? What kind of stuff are you doing anyway?" Quinn asked Yulen with genuine curiosity. She didn't mean to intrude, but curiosity really did get the best of her at times.

[IceHeart]

Yulen listened as Quinn talked about her own life and how she had arrived with her mentor, which probably meant she was not living with relatives. Yulen couldn't help but think a little about his own mentor who he only got to see every few months. Of course he highly doubted their mentors were anything alike, in fact there was no way in Hyrule they were remotely similar.

He was happy when Quinn took the Cucco from him, no longer would he have to feel its vile feathers in his arms. The Cucco did give him one last, evil glare, before proudly being placed in the pen. Soon enough, Quinn thanked him for his help and asked him another question.

"Oh it was really no bother, happy to capture an escaped convict." He joked and took a last look at the Cucco, which merely ruffled its feathers and started cleaning itself. Looking away form the fowl, he thought about what he had to do after his part-time job. It wasn't something he was really supposed to talk about, but he could at least give her some basics.

"What kind of stuff indeed, well let's just say I'm being trained in the family business, which is why I'm only a part-timer. I'd say what I do after work is about three times more tiring than my paid time! Unfortunately I just really be going-" Yulen was about to say his goodbyes when a large yell could be heard from the entrance to the village on the Death Mountain side.

"PLEASE HELP ME! I'M SO HUNGRY! I NEED SOME ROCK SIRLOIN OR I'M GOING TO DIE!" Yulen turned toward the voice and the concerned voices of the guards floated in the air.

"By the Goddess it's a goron! The first one to show up in four months!"

"That is the skinniest goron I've ever seen, could he actually be starving?"

"Don't they eat rocks? How could he be starving?"

"I'm pretty sure not just any rock will do, crap he just collapsed, hurry and get a stretcher!"

"What are you stupid!? Gorons are literally rock people, he's snap a stretcher like a twig with his weight alone! We'll need to get him on a sled or even just drag him with ropes if we have to!"

What was a starving goron doing here? What in the world was happening on Death Mountain? Yulen cupped one of his ears to try and get a better read on the situation. He'd probably get in trouble for being late but this was something he couldn't ignore.

"Well it was nice meeting you Quinn, I'm going to check out what's going on before I head to my training." With his piece said, Yulen headed over to the gate where the guards were trying to help get the goron into the village. Quite a bit was happening all of a sudden, things were certainly getting more interesting around the village.

[QueenSei]

Quinn laughed at what Yulen called the cucco, grinning. “Yeah, thanks for that!” She exclaimed, before she listened to him curiously as he explained vaguely about his plans after work. She pouted a bit with the vagueness, but ended up shrugging it off. It didn’t seem too interesting anyway. “Right, sounds kinda important when you put it that way.” Quinn then stretched, saying, “Well, I guess I should let you go-”

The girl was soon startled by the sudden yelling. “H-Huh?! What’s going on??” She asked, turning to where she heard the voices. Confused, Quinn blinked a few times before she grew more confused and worried. “What is a Goron?” She questioned, listening into the conversation a bit more to get some more information on this species. A rock person? A starving one? What even is a rock sirloin?? Quinn only grew more confused, even more so as Yulen said his goodbye quickly before joining with the others to help the so-called Goron.

“H-Hey! Wait up!” Quinn called out after Yulen. If something was happening around here, she would like to go help as well. It wasn’t like she was busy anyway.

Going over to the group, Quinn reached to the gate as well and did her best to help everyone with the Goron. Wow, they really weren’t kidding when they said this Goron could snap the stretcher! Grunting a bit, Quinn carried a bit of the Goron’s weight. “How did this happen? How are we supposed to feed this goron?” She asked through gritted teeth.