[IC] Legend of Zelda: Templar Ascension

[ColonelCaboose]

Demoko was by himself in a part of the ruins of the Temple that had been long ago built for the great rulers of Hyrule, but had now been forgotten like all of that from generations past. He stood before a small statue of a king that was cracked and riddled with vines. It was the first king of Hyrule, but to Demoko he was an old friend. One he would never see again, for with his death would come the void, his curse would leave nothing of him left for the after life. In a way he was sadden, but in another he felt perhaps it was best. It would be the only way for his to escape his suffering once and for all.

The group had made it safely down the river to Hyrule Castle Town, well most of them anyway. Nayrin had sustained a broken leg and a few scrapes here and there. Should would make a full recovery, but there was no point in trying to heal her, broken bones were always a chore to heal via magic. He had teleported her to his sacred realm knowing well that Nabooru and Saria would take good care of her.

"I'll be honest with you my friend, the future still looks grim. My death at the hands of Thallus has not changed, and the fate of the world doesn't look too much better. However even with all Hope gone I still have faith, I rather die on my feet knowing that I had tried to the last breath of this mechanical body then stand idly by and watch as the existence of life supersedes to even exist." Demoko said talking to the statue. The room was quiet, only the sound of dripping water could be heard. It was a sound Demoko was all too use to. He had spent much time alone in his life, it was a strange feeling to be part of a group for so long, one he had missed. "However I fear most that I have failed in my life quest to save the world from evil that I have neglected my son beyond repair..." Demoko whispered placing a hand on the shield of the statue and lowering his head.

The others no doubt would be wondering where he had went off to. The ruin of the Temple were underneath Telma's Milk Bar, an ally to those who worshipped the Goddesses and denied the Templars. They had set up base for now in the ruins while they made a plan to rescue the Princess Zelda and keep the Triforce of Wisdom from Thallus' hands.

[Mogtaki]

Link had been struggling for quite some time to get motivation to move again, but having Nayrin forced out of their travels due to injury had thrown him completely off. Despite nearly drowning in the river due to his heavy equipment, it wasn’t a care or concern to him when he was completely stricken by fear over what he had done. He had locked away his very essence and with Nayrin gone nobody else knew his secret. Everybody was completely oblivious and didn’t know anything about the amulet, but that fact probably wouldn’t help him right now when even after being pulled from the river he was still feeling cold and empty.

He didn’t feel like this before, this was a completely new development for him and he didn’t even know if it was that was making him feel worse than he did before. He felt as if he could never warm up and had become numb to most things, a negativity that was building up overtime. He was too afraid to tell the others of what he had done to end up feeling this way, a fear that was only going to have everyone getting suspicious over him. The Hero wasn’t supposed to feel this much fear and worry after a battle, he should feel confident and ready to take on whatever else might block their path. It was everything he was not and all that now lay trapped in an amulet he refused to show others.

Link just wasn’t feeling too good overall. He wanted to sleep but all he would have was dreamless naps that would serve no purpose and deny him the rest he deserved. He couldn’t get the wounds he had sustained healed because he knew if he allowed them to try to heal him that suspicion would only grow when light magic had no effect on him. To say he was bruised on the outside only was saying very little about what he was truly feeling, his muscles definitely having seen better days. Sitting by himself, he felt lonely and empty, wondering whether the destiny he was set to fulfil would still happen if he waited just a little bit longer to open the amulet to let his spirit out.

To open the amulet at the 72 hour mark would probably set the destiny in motion all over again, but to ride on guesses made him wonder if he should even be hesitant about this. To keep it closed and see if his destiny would still come true was incredibly risky compared to opening it and facing up to his fears. All he needed to do was tell someone about this or open it in secret at the 72 hour mark, but he was too cowardly. What a pathetic hero he turned out to be, all scared over the opinions of others who might be worried about him and how pale he looked.

[GambolMuse]

Caelan wasn't too certain what happened after the battle, having been utterly exhausted from the fight. For the most part all he could recall was tumbling into the river below, and grasping blindly for a log to keep himself afloat. They had been in the water for some time too, his legs scraping against rocks and the cold water chilling his exhausted frame. Some unknown amount of time had passed once they finally got to land, with the treasure hunter dragging himself up onto dry land, panting and dripping wet but alive. They were just outside of Hyrule Castle Town, which meant they should be safe from the Templars for the time being. Rolling onto his back, Caelan looked up to the sky silently, watching as a single white cloud floated across the blue canopy, following it with his eyes before letting out a short laugh. They had actually done it, they just defeated that monster Onyx and gotten away alive, he couldn't believe it. Laughing out of pure disbelief he had to stop when he began coughing, spitting out some water that sat in his lungs and sitting up. Was everyone okay though? He had seen Demoko send Nayrin away, but she seemed to be alive before then, hopefully everything was okay.

After having gotten everyone out of the water the group had made their way into town, to Telma's Milk Bar to catch their breath so to speak. Demoko had disappeared on them almost as soon as they arrived, but Caelan was far too tired to care right now. Everyone was soaked, tired, and in Link's case quite shaken from what had just happened. He wished he could help out somehow, perhaps heal wounds, but as it stood he could barely walk, let alone cast magic. It would probably take until the end of the day at earliest until he felt up to healing anyone, and more likely than not tomorrow to consider patching up any serious wounds. Heck, he had his own to worry about but even those would need to wait for now. Glancing down at the abrasions on his legs and torso he smiled slightly, giving it a little shrug of indifference and glancing out one of the windows. For everything they just went through he'd not really gotten it that badly, and while the fighting had been on a scale he'd never seen he'd managed. His only regret in the entire matter was he'd not managed to grab anything of value, particularly off of Onyx. Shame, he'd probably missed a big haul in screwing that up.

Since it seemed like no one had any real plan in mind, Caelan figured they would just take it easy and relax for now. Unfortunately for him even in his beaten up and tired state simply sitting around wasn't quite something he liked to do; the treasure hunter left home precisely because he loathed sitting around, and even if it was to recover he didn't want to be doing it. Reaching back and using the chair for support, Caelan pushed himself up to his feet, wincing as his left side ached, the abrasions on his abdomen stinging quite a bit. Placing a hand over his soiled shirt he looked over to Link, frowning seeing the other boy sitting all by himself, looking like he was in a pretty miserable state. He could just as soon ignore it and go look around town, but his conscience was prodding him to at least try and speak with him. Letting out a silent, reluctant sigh he shuffled across the room, putting on a smile as he stood behind Link. "Kind of crazy we made it, huh?" he asked, glancing down at his companion, "You guys do this kind of stuff often...?"

[ColonelCaboose]

Demoko came into the room where it was only Link and Caelan. "Indeed, we tend to do this kind of stuff quite often, first is was a demon plant in the Forest Temple due to a certain Twili..." Demoko said with unfriendly tone. Regol emerged from the shadows hands raised up to show his sincereness. Without Nayrin there was no real way to communicate with him unless he wanted to take the time to scribble something down. Demoko could speak Twili, but it did little good since Regol couldn't talk period, only through the shadows could his words be heard. It was a bit odd that he hadn't tried to communicate with Link, but Demoko figured Regol thought it was best to give it a bit more time before he did since only a bit ago Regol had been hunting them.

"Then after that is was a dragon, both enemies were far more easier a match than General Onyx who will return again I feel, but we'll be ready for him. Right now we need to figure out how to get into the Castle. Thallus I can sense is away, not in this realm or any other I can feel which means he is in the space between realms no doubt trying to procure the Tetraforce." He said as circled about the room looking at the old an ancient markings on the walls. Regol used the shadows that kept to the corners of the room to form a misty version of the princess guarded by Fiona. "Yes I am quite aware of the fact that the Princess is guarded by Fiona, Thallus would never leave her unprotected even if knew we were all dead for sure. However if we are ever to stand a chance against Thallus and the Tetraforce we will need to gather what pieces of the Triforce as well as allies we can."

[Mogtaki]

Link had a whole big problem in his hands now and whether he should tell the others about what he did, but it was too difficult to bring such thoughts out into the open and share his concerns. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do as a whole when he could barely fight without the help of his past selves, or at least what the part of him that was inside the amulet. They were already on a pretty busy schedule and couldn’t wait around for something as minor as this. They were low on people now and he knew he had to pull his weight accordingly, but there was no way he could do that until he reconnected with his soul. For everything he had done, this was probably the worst situation he could possibly get himself into even if it wasn’t entirely his fault.

Sighing lightly, Link slowly removed his cap and stared into it, merely contemplating whether he was suited to wear such clothing. His father had gifted it to him on his supposed birthday, probably more of a ‘picked up off the road’-day now that he thought about it. He had seen his past selves in an outfit similar to what he wore and now with this going on he didn’t know if he was worthy for it in the first place. It must’ve been seen as the symbol of a hero, but if his destiny played out like it was supposed to then he wasn’t worthy to wear it. This was definitely the most complicated part of his life, right up there with learning about his shadow magic.

Finding himself staring at his cap for probably too long he gasped when Caelan suddenly spoke up from behind him, turning to look at him quickly before fixing his cap back on again. “Crazy…? Uhh, no! No, I mean…it’s not my destiny to die there”, he spoke quickly, trying to clear his mind again before he let out a sigh, shaking his head. “You probably shouldn’t had come with us if you’re worried about stuff like that. I mean, not that nobody wants you, just…trouble follows me everywhere…” Finding it a little hard to explain himself he gasped when Demoko decided to speak, looking over to him before away again.

He didn’t like how he was talking, acting as if they had to immediately be on their way after all of that. They had just lost a fair chunk of their active team and now they had to go in at it all over again where there was probably more security and much more danger. Slowly folding his arms in quiet defiance he sighed lightly, listening to Demoko’s plan before raising his shoulders. “Oh yeah, gather them so he can find us and take the pieces for himself. Waiting to catch us when our guard’s down”, he spoke, sounding rather bitter suddenly, “You’re so powerful, why don’t you kill him instead of using me as some pathetic pawn? I mean…I didn’t-…I don’t know, you don’t know what’s been going on, anyway…even if you act like it. You don't pay attention to the fact I can't function right now...”

[ColonelCaboose]

Demoko would have frowned if he had a face to do so. The recent events no doubt had taken a toll on Link like everyone else, but most certainly what little confidence he had with him. "Thallus will be very cautious if we have two piece of the Triforce. Thallus is a man of having the higher ground, he will not fight on level ground until he is pushed to. If we save the princess, he won't come after us directly, he'll bide his time until his hand is forced." He said as he turn to face Link. He walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, he predicted Link would pull away from him very soon, but he had to do his best to provide him with as much confidence as he could. "My powers dwindle in comparison to your full potential. And having said that, Thallus and I may have been on even playing ground at one point, but that was millennia ago. If I could have carried this burden alone for you well being I would have. Thallus is my responsibility more than anyone else, I should have sensed the darkness in his heart long ago and ended it before all of this could have ever come to past." Demoko said in a lowly tone, he was ashamed of his ignorance. He ignored his brother and his intentions, was in denial that Thallus could ever turn so evil. Now many had suffered because of him.

"You are not a pawn, you are far greater and more valuable than you can imagine. I understand that you can't function right now, we are all tired, beaten, and exhausted. I may have gotten some shiny new armor and gear, but all it does is hide how low on energy I am right now. We will have time to rest, there is much planning and preparation we must do before we even attempt to rescue the princess. Most of which I plan to take care of myself as best I can." Demoko had overlooked what Link had meant when he wasn't able to function, but with the Hero's Courage locked away inside the amulet it had done something that to the Time and Space continuum that threw off Demoko being able to sense such a disturbance. To Demoko Link was still the Hero and had his powers, perhaps the amulet was more power than Link had first anticipated when he took the offer.

[GambolMuse]

"Er... That's one way to look at it, I suppose," Caelan remarked, furrowing his brow as he gave Link a funny look, "You... Know what I did before this, right? I'm a treasure hunter, I've had more than enough trouble come my way. If you think some fighting is going to make me miss what could be the biggest haul ever then you're wrong." Something had to come of this journey, there was no way he'd go through this entire thing and not make some sort of a profit. Who knows, maybe for playing a part in helping to settle this mess he'd even be rewarded by the royal family, now that would make it worthwhile. Kind of forgetting Demoko was with them, Caelan glanced at the older man curiously as he began going on, recounting all they had done and would do. Sheesh, wasn't there a way to go about this that didn't involve fighting all the most dangerous of beasts?

Things got a touch awkward there for a moment when Link began getting snippy, something unusual in his experience. All of them were exhausted from that ordeal, his own body felt like there were several rocks tied to it and weighing it down, but he wasn't going to have a fit over it. Then again he wasn't being tasked with saving the world either, so that pressure wasn't felt on his end. The fact they were going to make an attempt at rescuing the princess sounded like a suicide mission right now, what with their exhausted states and reduced numbers. Even if they were at full strength though he was hard pressed to see it happen; Onyx had barely been defeated, how were they supposed to beat whoever else awaited them? The fact they needed pieces of the Triforce of all things told him just how dangerous this business was, and it was almost enough to make Caelan back out then and there. If he did though then he may lose out on one heck of an adventure, not to mention whatever goods might be lying in wait.

"If you're going to go do that, then Link and I should rest for a bit," Caelan suggested, "I mean, we're basically the group for now, right? There's no way we're getting anything done like this, so we might as well call it a day here." That aside, there wasn't any chance Link was doing much of anything right now, he could tell that much. Their best chance was to relax for the day, maybe once he got enough strength back he could heal them up, and then and ONLY then should they be on their way. Giving himself one last shake to try and get rid of some water, the mage let out a sigh and ruffled his damp hair, looking up stream and wondering just how many people had ended up falling today. A bit of a grim thought, but that had been a mother of a battle and he'd not seen anyone walk away. "At any rate... I don't think we really have any plan, so nothing to do other than sit back and take a load off for the day. You two got any idea where the nearest town is? I could go and buy us some supplies, looks like we need them."

[Mogtaki]

Link looked between Demoko and Caelan before letting out a heavy groan, slowly rubbing his head. They both had so much confidence that it was almost annoying him, stemming from the fact he had little himself and didn’t have a choice on any of these matters to begin with. Caelan could go and be done with it, but Demoko was going to try and drag him away to his doom just to see out his destiny. He couldn’t see how he had any say in the matter of whether they should go and get the Princess or leave her where she is where she’s probably confident she has everything under control anyway. Getting angry was the only way he could vent his frustration, but that certainly didn’t help the fact that he was getting overly frustrated with the fact he struggled to tell them about the amulet. Almost reaching into his tunic to pull it out he eventually sighed and decided against it, shaking his head.

Just how was he supposed to say anything about it? Contemplating it for a moment he gasped slightly when Demoko placed a hand on his shoulder, his eyes going straight to it before he stared up at Demoko. There he was overestimating his strength again, as usual. His ‘full potential’ was when he eventually did transform into the destroyer he was predicted to become so that was hardly a very fair comparison. Having the slight hope that Demoko would ask why he felt he couldn’t function he was disappointed when he took that as a sign of tiredness over what power he had, frowning as he looked away again. “Sure, sure…of course…just tired or whatever. Absolutely nothing else…”

Moving away a little he soon let out a loud sigh and threw his arms up as he decided to get up, walking a few steps away. What agony this was and it could be completely prevented if he could just open his mouth and say, but then again with Demoko not giving any hints that he might know about it already he wondered what exactly the amulet hid. Demoko was supposed to know a whole lot about the future and he should surely know about this from that, but he didn’t appear to have any knowledge. Looking back as Caelan spoke up again he lowered his head, feeling it was best as well to not continue on for now. It would give him time to wait for the amulet to be ready and for all this guilt to go away. Slowly rubbing his chest, he turned around at the suggestion of supplies, not seeing that as a particularly good idea. “You’re probably going to be hunted too! What if you don’t come back? You could get captured and tortured and killed…and then what? You’ll be gone and then I’ll be alone with-…I just-…it’s dangerous to go alone and there’s nothing and nobody you can take to help”.

[GambolMuse]

Link was stressing out, anyone with a decent pair of eyes could see that much. Though Caelan was feeling quite a lot too he wasn't going to break down like that, it was just something you couldn't be doing out here. He'd spent a fair share of his earlier days freaking out whenever he and his companions at the time hit a roadblock, and all it did was waste time and make everything harder. Best to just swallow your worries and deal with it later, far as he was concerned. That was what he'd like to say, but somehow he figured it wasn't exactly going to sit too well with Link; the other boy needed some kind of reassurance most likely and that was something well outside of his expertise. There seemed to be some kind of loss of translation between Link and Demoko as well, causing the former even more grief than he already had. Caelan wasn't too sure what he was on about either, but at least he recognized there was more to it than simply being tired, you only had to listen to the kid to figure that much out.

With their numbers seriously reduced and both him and Link exhausted, Caelan couldn't see any recourse other than taking a break. Trying to travel now was going to be hell, and they weren't even sure where it was they were heading yet. The banks of a river ought to be as good a place to rest as any too, as they'd have water and perhaps a place to catch fish, if they were lucky. Getting food here wasn't their only cause for concern however, as they also had nothing on them for the road; if anyone had supplies then they were exhausted or gone in the currents, and as things stood there was nothing. They could get water from his waterskin to be fair, but that didn't help their case unless fish came in it too. Maybe then heading to the nearest town was their best course of action, just to get some supplies and get some bearings on where they were heading. Like seemingly everything today however it had triggered an uneasy response in Link.

"It's not the first time I'll have sneaked into a town, and it won't be the last," Caelan remarked confidently, smirking as he removed his shirt and squeezed a little excess water out before slipping it back on. "If you're worried about me going alone then come with me. Depending on where we are I might know someone who can help, and even if not I'll find a way to get us in unseen. Also I don't know what you mean by nobody, you're here aren't you?" Man, this kid had zero confidence didn't he? Rubbing at his head he looked over to Demoko, hoping the old man might be able to give them a hand here. "You know we need supplies too, don't you? If you can just tell us which direction the nearest town is then Link and I can head there tomorrow. We won't last very long if we don't have any food for the trip." Being captured and killed was a possibility, sure, especially after defeating Onyx and a few dozen soldiers; if they didn't do anything though then starvation was a possibility too, unless they were lucky and found food every time they needed it. Meals out in the wild were unpredictable, he'd rather have something in tow just in case they struck out.

[ColonelCaboose]

"Well this may be somewhat of a surprise for you, but we are directly under Castle Town. The city was built over this temple in an age long forgotten to many. There are very many secret passages that lead to the upper city all controlled to sympathizers of our cause." Demoko said pulling out a map of the temple and laying it down on a broken slab of rock. It had dozens of highlighted routes that led to Castle Town up above. There was even one passage that led to Hyrule Castle. He also pulled some rings and laid them on the table. "I know tricks never usually work twice in a row, but I think there is definitely an exception to that rule. These rings will change your features enough to be unrecognizable. I figure that with us being inside the city already, I highly doubt they will have as many people on the lookout for us. Thallus would never leave the Castle unguarded, but his armies are stretched out across this land as well as the surrounding ones."

It was for sure a risky move to use the rings again, but they also weren't trying to make it through a checkpoint with someone looking them over head to toe, as well as two of Father Thallus' two greatest warriors being present for the inspection. Regol moved next to Demoko and the others and created out of the shadows in the room a 3D layout of Castle Town as well as where the passages connect to the surface. He highlighted one that came up into the Market place which is where they needed to go if they were on the lookout for supplies.

[Mogtaki]

Link couldn’t tell them anything and that was killing him, making him feel absolutely terrible for hiding a secret from them both that could just end with them losing everything. He still couldn’t understand how Demoko wasn’t noticing his obvious lack of soul and Caelan was just an unlucky man getting all mixed up in this mess. He wanted to make it all better by getting rid of the amulet and breaking it open, but he had to wait just a little bit longer before he could do that and even then he would probably have to do it in secret in case there was some light show. They were never going to succeed with him having this disadvantage, especially when he could barely lift a sword nevermind fight the forces of evil.

Staring at Caelan who remained fairly persistent with his plans he raised his shoulders, slowly looking away with little response. He knew he could go and get some supplies, but he would be seen and probably pulled out of the crowd quicker than Caelan could realise he was gone. He didn’t exactly blend in with the crowd and he was wanted, so that was going to be very risky either way. Sighing lightly, he glanced at Caelan again before towards Demoko who decided to give up the little secret to their location. “What? That’s the worst place to be!” he gasped, grabbing hold of his ears momentarily before looking back to Demoko, “The rings barely worked a first time! We were still ambushed and everybody ended up battered and broken…it’s a disaster!”

Link really couldn’t support this decision, but it wasn’t as if he was going to have a choice in the matter when it came to plans and what might happen in the future. Looking tired and defeated he lowered his hands to his side, looking to Regol in some distaste before to the model he was creating. He still didn’t agree with this, at least not until he was himself again. He wondered if Regol knew he was missing his own powers, but then again the guy couldn’t even speak so that was a plus. Looking towards Caelan he frowned, slumping his shoulders. “I guess…we should go and find supplies. Only for a little bit! I-I’m still…not feeling completely myself. Everyone I know got hurt, I got hurt. Fighting just now seems like it’ll just kill me over anything else. How are we supposed to do anything when we have this many people…?”

[GambolMuse]

Shapeshifting rings, huh? Demoko certainly had no shortage of unique treasures it seemed, it made Caelan a little jealous. If he had managed to find even half of what the man was carrying on him then he'd have unimaginable wealth by now, not to mention the notoriety it would bring. He'd be one of the greatest treasure hunters of all time, and only shy of finding a piece of the Triforce could outdo his haul. The rings seemed to be a sound plan to him, yet Link clearly did not agree. Surprised by his outright panic over the notion, the treasure hunter glanced over at the jewelry confused. Failed, huh? Weird, how could shapeshifting fail like that? It was magic well beyond him but he understood the basics, and to think someone could figure it out so easily was strange. Hearing that they were ambushed, and having been a part of it, told him it was more someone had seen beforehand rather than seeing through their disguises. Maybe he was mistaken there, but this was really their only option.

Caelan's eyebrows raised slightly at the map being produced, impressed by how in-depth it was. Again, something he'd loved to have had before, it would have made spelunking so much easier. Maybe once this nonsense was through he could make use of some of these talents, albeit that meant somehow finding a way to buy the help of these men. For the time being however he couldn't worry about treasure hunting, they had a much more immediate concern in the form of their shortage of supplies. "It's fine, we won't have to fight anyways," Caelan answered in a certain tone, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. He'd find a way to get them around without being seen, seeing as Link was so nervous when it came to the rings. If they doubled down, changed their appearance and kept to the shadows then certainly they would have nothing to worry about.

"What? You think two or three people is a handicap?" the mage asked, smirking as he addressed Link, "In my line of work this is all we ever go with, and sometimes not even that. If everyone who's involved knows what they're doing, you don't need half a dozen people to pull something off." It wasn't like they were raiding a lost temple or anything here either, they were going into town to buy some goods... Or steal them, he wasn't completely opposed to that. Demoko had mentioned sympathizers being in the town above, chances were they could get whatever was needed without much fuss, he hoped. "Have a bit more faith, will you? Jeez, it's like you think every step we take is going to be our last..." Reaching out and grabbing the rings from the table, Caelan handed one to Link before slipping on his own, taking the form again of a brown haired, freckled young man. "Just keep calm and stay close to me, it's not my first time sneaking around and it won't be my last. We'll be fine if you just stick to what I tell you, got me?"

[ColonelCaboose]

"I'll stay here and figure a plan of how to rescue the Princess. If you run into any trouble, which you shouldn't, but if YOU do, those rings will allow me to track you, see." Demoko said as the two popped up on the 3D map as two yellow blimps. "Things should be quiet in Castle Town, majority of the people are oblivious to what is happening in the world around them, due mostly because whatever Thallus tells them they believe without a second thought of their own. Another bonus, most of the Templar guards that patrol Castle Town are pretty relaxed themselves and quite frankly probably the most morally conscious people in Thallus Templar army. If people are to believe that everything is okay in the world, you can't really have giant, brutal, menacing soldiers patrolling the city. So you shouldn't have any problems with them as long as you don't pick a fight with them." Demoko said as he wrote on a scrap of parchment with some glowing purple ink. He had to admit that Thallus was indeed a strategic genius on how he ran things. Without the peoples support Thallus knew his plans would crumble, being a political mastermind meant nothing if he couldn't get anyone to follow him out of respect, but everyone knows that ruling by fear is a dangerous game.

"Here is a list of supplies to get and the locations of our allies you can get them from. The ink is invisible, but with just a little extra heat it will appear to you. Feel free to grab anything else you like, I only wrote down the essentials, but even I plead guilty to forgetting a few things every now and again." He said as he handed the seemingly blank piece of parchment to Calean. Regol grabbed one of the rings and put it on his finger and was surprised that it had worked on him. His body couldn't exist in the Light Realm without the special mask he wore to keep him solid, and even so he had to cover every inch of his skin to keep it from burning. He would have figured that the ring and mask with be incompatible. He had transformed into what appeared to be a monk that was bad with only a few wrinkles on his pale face, with a brown robe. He appeared to be look like your typical middle age man. "I suppose Regol will be accompanying you as well... If anyone asks why he can't talk, tell them he took a vow of silence in the name of the church. Highly doubt anyone will second guess that explantation."

[Mogtaki]

While it would protect his identity, Link did not like the idea of having to use the rings once again and was already feeling worried that everything was going to spill over like it did before. There was no way that whole attack wouldn’t had happened if their disguises weren’t completely seen through and obvious to the enemy, even if he didn’t understand how it could possibly be. He was not sure what he would do if they did get caught when he had no way to defend himself or attack back considering his abilities weren’t working. He couldn’t simply rely on Caelan to help him when a whole swarm of soldiers would probably descend upon them in no time flat. It wasn’t himself he was worried over, but rather others getting hurt because of his stupid decisions.

Finding it incredibly hard to keep up the act he kept quiet for now while Demoko was readily giving Caelan what they needed with hope that they’ll be alright in their time out at the market. He was certain they were going to do fine, even if Link didn’t think so, so that was certainly going alright for him. Frowning as he looked away for a moment, he pressed his fingers together in contemplation as Caelan only questioned his excuses, even if they were perfectly reasonable to him. Of course it would help if everyone knew what they were doing, but right now it was only Caelan who did. He wasn’t wrong with him thinking every breath was going to be their last though, he certainly couldn’t turn away from that thought process when the world felt like it was crashing down before him. Letting out a nervous laugh he sighed when he was handed the ring, staring at it before slipping it on his finger.

He was once again in the form of a young boy of fair skin, brown eyes and dark hair, as regular as he could get when compared to how he normally looked. He was always fascinated with how his skin looked, but it probably wasn’t best to focus on what could’ve been if he was just a normal kid. Looking up to Caelan he simply nodded and looked away, staring at the ring before his attention was taken back to Demoko who was quite readily telling them what had to be done. Staring at the strange map he narrowed his gaze at the details but found the plan to be probably something they shouldn’t be considering thinking about such as the lack of larger soldiers. Maybe they should be thinking about possible magicians who might see through their disguises and where they might be instead.

Rubbing his arm, he hummed a little as Caelan was handed a piece of parchment but frowned when he noticed Regol was planning on going along too seeing how he took a ring. That was probably going to be the worst part of this after all, knowing the man who once wanted him dead was going to be able to hang around with them even more while out in the town. The change he took on was a little alarming, not being very used to wandering around with someone who looked like one of those people from the church. Those people freaked him out somewhat, but then again he was supposed to be naturally against their beliefs when he knew the truth about the Goddesses over their made up one. Groaning at the decision made he eventually sighed, shrugging. “I guess…but if he gets us in trouble, I’m not going to fight”, he spoke, looking away as he tensed up, “I-It would increase their suspicions of me if my illusion went away. If he gets captured, they don’t have any way to hold him, anyway…what with his shadow powers…” He was a little sour over it, but he had no idea why. It was out of character for him to be feeling this way and he knew it, he just didn’t know how to make him shut up for one second and think through his rather bitter thoughts.

[ColonelCaboose]

After traveling through the old ruins underneath Castle Town, Caelan, Regol, and Link popped up in an alleyway. The air was filled with loud sounds of talking, dogs barking, and music, just like any other normal day in Castle Town. After exiting the alley way they found themselves in a somewhat larger alleyway surrounded by large circus tents and performers. Many people surrounded the area in funny looking costumes, children ran about and giggled and adults shared chuckles between groups. Things were indeed very lively for how much stuff was happening surrounding the Templar's, but then again it was all happening outside the walls and Thallus had more than likely installed safety barriers to keep any info of what was going on in the world outside the walls. A brilliant tactic nonetheless, if people were happy then there was no need to use force, a tyrant who came off as a loving ruler.

Regol pulled out a piece of paper that showed where they had to go to meet fellow sympathizers to get supplies. It seemed if he was reading the map correctly it was somewhat across town, in the Southeast part of Castle Town's markets. The Southeast markets were a hub for traveling merchants of all kinds, weapons, potions, armor, even enchanted items if you visited the market at the right time. Seems like the shop they were going to sold masks, masks of all kinds and welcomed all to bring and trade masks of their own.

[GambolMuse]

It was no secret that Link wasn't thrilled to be doing this, but like it or not this was their path. Caelan could speak until he was hoarse trying to convince the other boy it would be fine and still not get anywhere, so he figured best to just get moving and let him sort it out himself. The fact that this Regol guy was coming along didn't much bother him, though he was strange; why didn't he speak? Was it one of those weird things some monks did, refusing to speak? Or was there some other reason? Whatever it was it didn't much matter, it actually made this easier as it was one less voice to have to silence, should things turn sour. "He won't have to escape and you won't have to fight, because we're never going to be caught," the water mage added, seeming to exude confidence as he spoke, "Look, I've been doing this sort of thing for a while Link, okay? Some towns they let my kind of people come and go freely, other places we're treated like criminals. So the whole sneaking around isn't new to me, I know how to get us around safely." And they had these disguises, that was something he had never had before. Maybe when this business with them was done he could 'borrow' one of the rings, it sure would make his life a heck of a lot easier.

At long last they were able to get moving, following the lead of Regol as he had been given the map to work with. Caelan wouldn't even begin to claim to know this area and didn't want to have the responsibility of navigating, yet the silent man seemed perfectly happy to take that duty. Through musty old tunnels, ruined sections of the town and eerie ruins they finally emerged, evidently in the middle of some sort of festival. Were they not here on such strict terms he might want to enjoy this, but they had to get supplies and prepare to move again, not dilly dally and enjoy the festivities. Not that they were staying here anyways, as a peak at Regol's sheet might attest; the Southeastern part of town was where they had to go for their supplies, it would figure not any old store would do. "So we're heading to the black markets then...? Been a while since I went to one of those," Caelan mused aloud, smiling as he followed after the mute man. Glancing at Link he reached over and nudged the other boy in the side, nodding ahead to Regol's back. "So what's the deal with you two...? Why do you hate him?"

[Mogtaki]

Upon heading up to the surface, the thought of dread and worry was soon replaced by a sense of child-like excitement again as the sounds and air of the town filled his senses. He was brought back to memories of his father taking him to the town while he traded and having days where they went for the festivals, all pleasant and happy days when things were fairly normal. He was able to get away from the bullies in the village and even though there was sometimes people looking at him because of his skin colour he in return had little care for that when the whole day was often filled with happiness. He got to dress up sometimes, he bought his first instrument and got to eat the local food whenever he had spare rupees; however, even with all this happiness everywhere he was not allowed to take part in any of it. Even if he went to the stalls he usually visited when he was in the town, nobody would recognise him. Other times he would be happy he was not being looked at, but to be unable to talk to people he knew or interact with anyone could only make him feel depressed as he wondered when he wouldn’t be considered ‘wanted’ anymore.

It was kind of sad, really. Every other incarnation of him before had probably been praised by the people for standing up for them and fighting against the evil that plagued their land, but the people here knew no better. Even if he was normal and talked to people he knew there was no doubt that they would get nervous, tell him to run and hide or possibly turn him in. Looking around briefly as they walked along, he was desperately looking for any signs of his father just in case he happened to be here today, but sadly there was nothing. He wouldn’t mind going back to Kakariko Village to see him, but unfortunately they had other pressing matters to get to and personal visits wasn’t one of them.

As they made their way along with Regol taking the lead he kept his head low whenever there was nobody around, only looking up at what he wished he could interact with. It was a rather depressing state of existence, but Caelan seemed happy enough to go along and give his positive input. Looking up to him with a rather sorry expression he frowned, looking away with a shake of his head. “He tried to kill me several times. He’s just here to benefit himself”, he muttered, sighing lightly, “Not that I shouldn’t be surprised. Everyone wants to kill me. I’m just here to be targeted and to play out some sort of destiny I have no control over…well, I thought I had control over, but…now…hmm, I don’t want it. This control isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when it means I can’t help anyone or do anything while I have it”.

[ColonelCaboose]

Regol couldn't do much to defend himself, it was very true that it had been his mission to kill Link and capture Demoko. However sometimes being hit by your own masters hand is enough to change one's view of them. Fiona had practically killed him within inches of completing his mission, if it hadn't been for Nayrin in the Trials his existence would still be somewhere else. Regol was a man who believed in a life debt as well as honor. He could tell Link wasn't one for apologizes, or really anything, he was a bit surprised that the boy was so whiny and pathetic, he had never noticed it when he was on the other side of things.

He turned every bit to show Caelan and Link the map showing where they were so they wouldn't think he was leading them somewhere else. Eventually they hit a dead end alleyway out of sight from the main market. Regol approached the wall while looking at the map, he pressed a combination of 3 bricks and a small doorway opened in the wall and closed behind them. They had entered the black markets. a thriving small community that sold exotic materials. There were Gorons, Dekus Scrubs, Zoras, as well as merchants from far away lands. Regol looked across the stands of artifacts, weapons, potions, and everything in-between and saw a small shop that read "Unique Masks from unique places! Mask Shop!". That's where they needed to go according to Demoko and the map.

[GambolMuse]

So Regol sounded like he was a rotten guy, that was unfortunate. Caelan had no personal issues with him however, and was far more inclined to live-and-let-live, even if Link had a bone to pick. Unless the man went and tried stabbing them in the back he wasn't going to worry too much about who their company was; when you looted tombs and dungeons for a living you often had unsavory partners, that was just his line of work. Hearing out the other boy's complaints all the same, Caelan smiled amused when Link brought up the attempts on his life, even if he knew he really ought not be smiling.

"Look, people will go after each other for any reason you can think of, that's just nature for you. If you were pushed enough you'd probably kill me, and I'm fine with that. But right now you're not trying to kill me, so I'm not going to worry about that crap. And right now Regol isn't trying to kill you either, so what's the big deal? Let the past be the past." Harboring some kind of animosity was so tiring, he didn't bother getting sour with old partners anymore. Sure, there were some he'd just as soon never see again, but he'd try being pleasant if they ever met up again. Money made a lot of people pretty seedy, yet Caelan understood too some decent people did bad things sometimes, it didn't make them a bad person, case and point himself.

As if professing his reluctance over Regol wasn't enough, Link made it seem like the whole world was out to get him. To that Caelan had to let out a groan, fighting a serious urge to tell Link to just man up and get over it. "Look... Just because someone gave you some fate or destiny or whatever doesn't mean you have to follow it," the water mage said, grinning before pointing at himself with his thumb, "My parents had a ton planned for me, and yet here I am years later, hunting for treasure and fighting in some crazy war. I didn't exactly go along with whatever fate they had for me now did I? My point is, it can be the Goddesses, or your parents, whatever, but no one else can say what your destiny is. You make your destiny." Then, letting out a sigh he folded his hands on the back of his head, a smirk crossing his lips as he glanced over at Link once more. "Unless you're fine with someone else telling you what you're going to be and do, then I guess you really don't have control."

There had been a handful of black markets that Caelan had visited, but none were ever hidden behind a false wall like this. Such an assortment of goods, though he was sure most were probably common junk elsewhere and being marked up for being rare here. It was helpful knowing a bit about how these places worked, it kept you from blowing a small fortune on something that was an everyday item halfway across the country. Still though... There were some mighty nice looking tools and weapons, yet they didn't have the time or money to appreciate them. Following Regol closely they made their way into some strange looking Mask Shop, for reasons Caelan couldn't even begin to guess. This had to be where they were meeting their friend or whatever this person was to them, but why here? Upon seeing the place absolutely void of any life he could take a guess why, though that in of itself presented a problem.

"So where is this person we're meeting...? Weren't they supposed to be here?" It was a tiny enough shop, yet there was clearly no signs of anyone else here. Taking a glance at the numerous masks along the walls, Caelan let out a sigh and rubbed at his forehead impatiently. He just wanted to get this meeting over with, and the fact this person wasn't even present at the moment annoyed him. Walking over to the front counter he looked behind it before rolling his eyes, reaching out and hitting the bell resting on top several times over. "Hellooooo? Anyone here?"

[Mogtaki]

Link was probably more annoyed at the fact he was having to walk around with this man with someone who would never understand why he had so many problems with him in the first place. It was not easy to explain why they were suddenly allies, but the past wasn’t going to disappear that easily even if he was to stop talking about it completely. He was sure there was going to be a betrayal involving this guy, but probably nobody would believe him because they weren’t the ones in any danger. Regol couldn’t defend himself right now against such accusations, but that didn’t mean it was going to be making Link feel guilty. It wasn’t as if Regol had tried to make it up to him anyway, considering it was his life that was on the line whenever he attacked.

Listening to Caelan he frowned as he made it sound as if even he wasn’t going to be understanding of his situation, making him out to be the bad guy here. He should probably remind him of what he just said about Regol, but that was probably not going to get through to him as well if was so supportive of Regol being all redeemed and all that. “You don’t understand. It’s just-…it’s just always happened and backstabs happen all the time too. It’s hard to trust those who wanted you dead and would do anything to cause great pain to you, especially when they can’t even talk or show they are truly going to leave me be”. Maybe he would never understand because he had been fine for most of his life, or at least it appeared to be that way. Caelan didn’t appear to have any problems and even took up the life he wanted to, but problems always followed him around and he always found it hard to cope.

Hearing Caelan groan at his plight made him feel a little hurt immediately, his eyes quickly darting away as he was proceeded to be told off for believing in fate. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say to that and was just finding it hard to defend himself, especially when the fate that was told to him was one that came from Demoko. Caelan’s idea of fate was completely different to what his fate was supposed to be, it sounded like he was getting wishes mixed up with fate which was something that was completely out of his control. Letting out a groan as he stared at the ground he slowly shook his head, disliking how weak he was making him sound to other people’s decisions. “But-…but-…look, the problem I have…I-I have been trying to take it into my own hands, but turns out I can’t change the future”, he spoke, finding it hard to explain himself without giving too much away, “Demoko still sees the future being out of my control. I don’t want all this to happen, but he says it’s going to anyway. He can see into the future. I don’t even think you can understand what is in my destiny to say all that to me…”

To Link it felt as if Caelan was becoming fed up with his problems, like he might end up getting slapped for being like this. It was hard not to worry over the future when he had been previously told he wasn’t going to be able to control what happened and was going to end up becoming a god of calamity anyway, just like his past incarnate. All people probably saw of him was a whiny brat who was just complaining for the sake of complaining, but so much stress was resting on his shoulders and with no outlet he was just going to keep talking about all the bad things that was eventually going to happen. He didn’t have Nayrin to help him through it anymore, she had become too injured to continue with them and even though she could recover he didn’t want to drag her further into messes she didn’t have to be a part of.

Upon arriving at their destination Link was feeling particularly jaded about his quest to come here, staring at it at first before sighing and heading in after the others. The number of masks surprised him quite a bit, but why there were so many of them he couldn’t guess. Slowly heading over to one of the walls he stared at the masks, looking through them before picking one off the wall as Caelan tried to call attention to someone who might own the shop. These masks were strange, especially the one he had picked up. It looked like a fox-like creature but had no visible eyeholes. He was certainly interested in these things, but he couldn’t figure out how they were a good way of making money to help support this shop.