"He's late...again." Growled a tall man, garbed in bright red and gold armor. The blond woman next to him, also wearing armor looked over. Relax, and be patient, Ark. He always has a reason for his actions." She said. Ark grunted, unconvinced and turned to survey the massive hall. It was one two-story room, with a balcony that wrapped around three of the walls, and two stairs on the left and right of the room. The space below had several round tables scattered in no particular order with four chairs to each table. The one wall that didn't have the balcony had a slightly raised platform instead that was unmistakably a stage. There was a lot of standing room too, most of which was occupied by the people that had gathered in response to the summons that had been sent out.
Weeks before several posters had apeared on boards, on taverns, even on people's doors. It read "Heroes Wanted!" In large letters across the top. Below, it read; "Hello, there, I don't believe in subtlety, so I will be blunt. I am calling together warriors, merchants, thieves, balcksmiths and anyone else who could be useful or have a useful trade to Do Somthing About the dark threats across the land. I am calling this group the "Hero's Guild" after the Hero of legend who once saved this land. Pretty nifty, huh? You will, if you wish, be paid for the work you do." The poster when on to give a date, time and location for the intersted people to meet. Other than the sheer weirdness of the poster, it seemed incongruous. But certain people would be able to see another message below the first. "To those of you who can see this: congratulations, you could have the blood of heroes. You are who I am truly looking for. A dark evil rises, if you have any attacment to this fair land and its people, Come. Your destiny awaits."
In the hall, there was food piled high on a larger then normal table for anyone to enjoy and refreshments of all types too. Several people had already arrived but still more were coming in. Ark and the woman stood on the balcony, where they had a clear view of the double doors that were propped open to the outside. A few minutes passed and Ark started pacing. A few more minutes dragged by then the woman sighed explosively, "Will you stop? It's not helping, and its rather annoying." Ark stopped and look at her. "Well, Kira what do you suggest? If he doesn't show up soon, they will assume that this was a massive prank and leave." Kira shrugged. "He will show up, when he shows up." She said, philosophically. Ark eyed her. "You are never any help." He said. "Who said I was supposed to be?" She asked with a faint smile. She got off the railing she ahd been leaning on, and turned to the the stairs. "Now then, I will-- oh? Never mind, he's here." She said. Ark looked at the entrance to see the white-haired, masked, young-looking man strolling in, his hands nonchalantly tucked into his pockets and his pace unhurried. "'Bout damn time." Ark muttered, as he and Kira decended the stairs to the stage.
The eccentric looking man weaved his way through the crowd, like a ghost, and stepped up onto the stage. He turned on his heel to face the crowd. His entrance had mostly gone unnoticed, and still only a few saw him on the stage. The masked man removed his white gloved hands from his pockets and held them up. "Your attention, please everyone." He said, his voice deep and melodious. He didn't seem to shout but his voice easily carried over the noise of conversation and everyone turned to face him.
He stood there, Ark on his right, looking intimidating, and Kira on his left, smiling. "Thank you coming everyone, now I know you will have many questions regarding the unusual request that was sent out. I don't intend to answer any of them." He paused to let that sink in, his one visible red eye, watching the faces below. Instead, I will simply introduce the people you should know, and make an announcement. He held out his hand to gesture at Ark. The man on my right, is Ark. He will be the commander of this little operation. On my left, is Kira. She will be in charge of logistics and, if you have any questions or anything to say, trouble her with them and not me. Now, for those of you here to make a little quick cash, please, leave. His eye revolved around the room, glaring at each person in turn. Then he said, cheerfuly "Those of you not willing to carry your own weight and go the extra kilometer, the door is right there. And those of you not willing to suffer and possibly die a painful death," His voice got low and angry. "Get. Out." His voce retured to its cheerful tone, "Thank you." After he said this, he stepped back and Kira stepped forward. "He is right, this is no joke, and it will be extremely dangerous, we will give you some time to consider this offer and I will answer your questions. Think long and hard on this."
In the corner of the massive hall there sat a conspicuous-looking boulder. Not really a boulder, though, since any person worth their salt could tell a boulder from a curled up Goron, and any who couldn't were in for a rude surprise should they have tried to disturb the aforementioned "boulder". This wasn't just any Goron either, not at all. Nearby the Goron a rather famous hammer sat on the floor with it's handle pointed straight up. The Megaton Hammer was one of the more famous weapons the Hero once carried, but nowadays it was once again in the possession of the Goron people, where it rightfully belonged.
Amusingly, there was a small crowd of men around the hammer. They seemed to be taking turns attempting to lift it, but none of them could. Even the biggest and strongest of the men couldn't budge the hammer so much as an inch. This little "show" had started up several minutes ago, when said group of men mocked the idea of a hammer being sacred or magical. It was just a hammer after all, right? "If it's just a hammer, then by all means, take it..." the Goron had said earlier with his deep and powerful voice before dropping the weapon on its current spot on the ground, but added with a grin, "...if you can, that is." and that's how it started. First a couple of the men tried, but when they couldn't move the hammer, others watching gave it a try. At one point several men at once tried to lift the hammer with their combined strength, but still it didn't move.
The Goron knew, of course, that the hammer could never be lifted by such men. The Gorons, having become much less trusting of outsiders after the Hero's turn to evil, had a very special enchantment placed on their sacred hammer so that it could never again fall into the hands of evil. From that day forward, the hammer could only ever be lifted by one with a strong and worthy heart. Anything less, and the hammer would be heavy as a mountain. So really, all these men were only proving that they had weak hearts, not at all hero material as the guild's posters called for.
The Goron, named Argon, curled into a ball out of boredom after a while, but let the gathered men continue trying to lift the hammer. It was a good thing he'd eaten a feast of a breakfast that morning before departing from Death Mountain, because the food offered here at the hall contained absolutely no rocks whatsoever. In fact almost all the food were mostly popular Hylian dishes, indicating the apparent crowd the hosts were expecting. In their defense, none of the posters had been sent to Death Mountain, its trails and cliffs becoming even more dangerous in recent years. It was sheer happenstance that the wind managed to blow a poster far enough up the mountain for one of the Gorons to find it and show it to Argon, their de facto leader. The Goron warrior decided to make the journey to this hall to see just how serious these people were about protecting the land. So far he was not impressed.
He finally uncurled when a masked man spoke from the stage. This was also enough to disperse the crowd from the Megaton Hammer as well. And as the man spoke, more and more of the men who scoffed at the hammer left the hall until Argon found himself alone at his particular corner of the hall. Finally, a woman spoke, assuring everyone that this was no joke. This got a chuckle from the Goron, who spoke up with his strong, stoic voice, "Not a joke, eh? It better not be. I didn't climb all the way down from Death Mountain just to get a laugh."
Joseph remains standing where he is through the entire thing, looking over the crowd. Goron, Shieka, Garudo, other Hylians...quite the motley assortment we've got here if I say so myself. The Hero's Bow was slung over his shoulder like it normally was when it wasn't in use, with the quiver next to it. He had been against the wall, as far from the gathering as possible, for two reasons. First and foremost was a general distrust of people, simply because he knew that monsters weren't always the most obvious and if one of those people turned out to be a mass murderer or something, or one of the hosts, he had both an easy out and a good shot at pretty much everyone not in front of a Goron.
The second reason was because he wanted to be able to beat the crowd out if it had turned out to be some elaborate prank that some city folk thought would be hilarious. However, as the seriousness showed in the host's voice, he had decided to stay and at least listen to the whole thing. His left hand, because he wasn't holding his bow, rested on the hilt of his sword as he put some thought into the questions posed to them. Joseph was a Hylian Ranger, a man who already dedicated his life to protecting Hyrule from the darkness that the regular army couldn't be bothered to hunt out. From the sounds of it, this would be a larger group effort, and if it meant he got to keep doing his job, then he would stay no matter the number of people.
When the Goron who'd let the group of fools try to lift his hammer spoke, Joseph did as well. "You went to a lot of trouble if the Goron and a Ranger showed up, so if this is a joke, there are going to be a few well placed arrows in knee caps." Joseph's face remained even. "And I don't miss."
Blood colored eyes hid from the world behind pale lids. Long, pointed, ears were pressed flat against his head as Vieru stood, completely still. The wind danced around him, his only, let alone constant, companion in this world. Though unseen, as they were covered by his sleeves, his fingers danced along with the wind, changing it's course and causing it to swirl around him. His pale locks were shifted out of the way of his right eye, where they always rested, then quickly settled back down again as the wind moved on. Vieru was like the wind he controlled, constantly on the move, and never with a home of his own.
Vieru was a demon, a so called dark monster. But in reality, demons were just like the other races, some were good, some were bad. But people seemed to have a harder time seeing the good in creatures like him. He was hunted if he even went close to a town or city. More often than not, the injuries he suffered were from the people he saved, and not from the creatures he hunted. Though a demon, Vieru was responsible for many monster deaths out on the fields, even if people refused to see it, he was one of the good ones. He opened his eyes as the wind died down in his area, moving on to a different place.
Of course he had heard about the flyers, even seen one as the wind carried it elsewhere. He had seen the small writing on the bottom, saying that he may have been a descendant of a hero. But how could he, a demon, possibly be? It didn't matter anyway, the meeting place was in a town, he couldn't have gone even if he wanted to. It was just to take care of the dark threat anyway, something he did his part in doing when he hunted monsters. The towns that hated him so much stayed that much safer because of him. If only they knew what he did. But then again, they wouldn't believe him anyway. People were stubborn when it came to things they thought they knew everything about.
A small sigh escaped Vieru's lips. Perhaps one day he could find a place to settle down. But for now, he constantly moved, just like the wind he wielded. It was a tiring, thankless existence that wore on one both physically and mentally. An existence that would probably kill him, sooner than later. Shaking his head, he reminded himself that he had been still for too long and that it was time to move again. Picking a random direction he started to wander, making sure to stay well out of the way of any civilizations as he did.
Tina Din had traveled the world with the hope of figuring out the exact nature of the approaching darkness and how to stop it from sweeping across the land. She thoroughly searched the whole of Holodrum, delved into the depths of Subrosia, traveled through Labrynna, visited the exotic location of Termina, and even attempted to access the secrets of the dark realm on one of her more impressive attempts to uncover the truth of the approaching darkness but to no avail. Of course all that searching was not in vain, she stopped several monster plots, incinerated dens of evil, and even uncovered mystical secrets but no matter what she did, as an Oracle she could tell a time of darkness was soon approaching.
A few months ago as she was traveling the vast world in search of a way to stop the approaching evil she received an Oracle, well a very distinct dream anyway that appeared to be pointing her toward a trip to Hyrule. As an Oracle it was her duty to follow her instincts and travel to Hyrule to root out the evil. It took her a while to get there as she had been quite far from Hyrule on her quest but as she traveled she came across a particular poster which had a particularly interesting bit at the end. "To those of you who can see this: congratulations, you could have the blood of heroes. You are who I am truly looking for. A dark evil rises, if you have any attachment to this fair land and its people, Come. Your destiny awaits."
A quick investigation of the poster quickly revealed that those last lines were indeed magical in nature, only allowing certain people to read it. Finally she had a decent lead that might lead to her saving the world from evil. She quickly figured out the location and now finally, she was standing in front of the meeting hall. ""About time I finally got here, by Din's Fire its time I did what I was born to do!" With that little self-pep talk she waltzed into the Hero's Guild Hall, paying no real attention to the other occupants except the ones on stage.
With her somewhat eccentric outfit, rather large hat, fire rod, and small statue she certainly made an entrance for herself as she yelled out and pointed toward the stage, "If you have any information on the coming wave of darkness spit it our now! It's my destiny to stop this great calamity as the great Oracle Tina Din!" While lacking in height she had no shortage of self-confidence. Some people in the hall were taken aback from her abrupt entrance, a few just thought she was nuts, others instantly began to wonder about her claim.
"I don't know what the rest of you are here for and frankly I don't give an ember as long as you don't get in my way. Your information better be good or I am going to be very angry at having my valuable time wasted." Her piece said Tina quickly found her way closer to the front and crossed her arms in impatience.
While others seemed to value their time enough to desire inflecting bodily harm on those that wasted it, Ruink quite calmly sat in his seat in the middle of the room and happily munched away on a piece of cooked beef that he had sandwiched between two rather fresh and tasty slices of bread (his fins easily slicing through the bread roll it had been to start with). While there had been seafood present among the selection of food offered to those attending this meeting, Ruink honestly didn't trust its freshness this far inland. Seafood didn't travel overland well after all and besides beef was quite tasty.
Ruink enjoyed having his table to himself; He had accepted early on that no one wanted to sit near the 'weird looking zora' and had thus made the most of it by enjoying a footrest while listening to what was being said and who was saying it. In truth the idea that this was all little more then some sort of strange prank had crossed his mind but when he had set off from his home all he wanted was to have an adventure; If that involved falling victim to a prank like this then so be it. Besides, they offered up some pretty good food for free so as far as he was concerned they had more then made up for the prank in and of itself.
Finishing his sandwich and making sure his blue tunic was on correctly, Ruink took a moment to take a deep breath and calm his nerves. He didn't shout out like the others did; The answers would soon be forth coming, so he might as well wait and see who was left after people had talked and thought things out properly.
Swifty had just left the library, the young boy ran along the streets jumping up he grabbed a ledge and climbed up on to a roof. He'd learned a lot about castle town in the last couple of months, much like home the fastest way to get where you wanted to go was to go over people. With that he rushed and jumped to the next roof, smiling he began to leap between them, he looked down as some of the people below just started at the blonde boy crossing town in such a strange manner. He jumped down entering the inn music flowed through the air as he smiled, Castle town was much livelier than the coastal he'd come from.
Making his way up towards his room he stopped when he spotted a sign, it was about the heroes guild. He read over it once then again, could his bloodline really be that of a hero? It could at least help him figure out who his family is or was, that alone would be worth the trip. Going up to his room he collected his harp and bow, the only two things he really had of any value before grabbing his wallet and quiver. He set off for the guild hall, making his way through the streets quickly hoping this could be the lead he was looking for.
Swifty only paused a moment before entering the hall, he took a seat quiet wondering who he should ask about his powers. Absentmindedly he plucked at his harp, it made a soft medley but he tried to remain focused on finding some he could talk to about summoning arrows. He didn't understand this power and he desperately wanted to, it was his best chance to lean about his family.
Karu was running. It happened far too often, really, he thought, as he ducked a flying object that looked suspiciously like a cat, although he couldn't be sure. Honestly, he thought the villagers would have appreciated his help, but apparently they didn't appreciate decent food. Or maybe it was the so-called 'sacred urn' he knocked over that annoyed them. Honestly, you knock over one holy artefact and suddenly you're the bad guy. Not that it was hard to outrun them, mind you. All he had to do was make it to the river, unless these villagers could breathe underwater.
He had it all planned out. He'd reach the bridge, pause for a second, say some badass but also incredibly witty line and dive into the water. It would have worked too, if he hadn't been smacked in the face with a flying piece of paper and belly-flopped into the river with all the style of a drunken pig. He flailed around for a moment until he remembered how to breathe, and relaxed, allowing himself to flow down the river, berating himself. This wasn't something he'd want added to his legend, and certainly not something he wanted getting back to his family. What kind of prince couldn't make a dramatic exit?
He looked at the piece of paper responsible for this whole mess. He was about to throw it away when he noticed the words 'Heroes Wanted!' and decided to give it a closer look. He skimmed over it. "Dark threats, save the land, ominous secret message... Sounds like what I'm looking for." He mumbled. He didn't bother questioning the "blood of heroes" bit. He was a prince after all, it made sense to him. "Where was it again?"
Checking the location, he found that it wasn't far off, so he swam along the river until he reached an area near enough to run in. He entered the hall just as a huge crowd of people ran out, and some strange guy was on the stage, looking like he'd just finished talking. Karu walked in, brushing a crab off of his shoulder and trying to ignore the fact that he was late, as well as that that several people in the room looked certifiably insane.
Rida had been one of the few who had helped to pass out the fliers. She had her gate floating behind her like it always did. She went nowhere after all without the gate. Some people took them because they thought she was cute, others took the fliers because they thought her cuccos were terrifying. It took a lot of guts after all to raise Cuccos. Soon enough Rida came upon what seemed to be a demon man. She personally didn't care what a person was, looks can be deceiving after all. That was certainly true for her as well.
Henry made her want to approach this man even more however. Henry knew that this man was a descendant after all. The Cucco ran towards the demon man. Soon enough he jumped at the man and attempted to land on his head. "You must be a descendant as well!" Rida said running up to the man. She had a stack of fliers in her hand. "You need to come and join the Guild!" Rida said with a smile. Henry looked quite proud of himself for finding this descendant as well.
A tiny point of light flitted curiously from tree to tree, nearing an unusual sight near the edge of the ancient forest. A boy, by the looks of him, one of the Shadow Folk that took up residence in the forest so long ago. Several generations of their people had lived and died here; the lives of most of these people were mere eyeblinks of time compared to the fairies that were present since the beginning. Some few of them lasted longer – three, maybe four fluttering of eyelashes by the little fey’s reckoning, but they were rare. Long ago the shadow people built their home here, and made it into a place where they constantly trained for a war that never quite happened.
Many battles had come and gone, but apparently not the one for which they trained. Generations upon generations of these industrious (but scary) people fighting, learning, and passing along their knowledge to the next group of kids to come to adulthood in their dark little town, like a brutal, stealthy snowball picking up size and speed, rolling downhill over the course of centuries.
The fairy didn’t much like them. Admittedly, she wanted to know more about them, especially when they did something unexpected, like the boy she came to spy upon. They rarely left the forest, and never alone unless one of the older ones told them to. But no, this one seemed content, even happy, to strike it off on his own. She had been watching him for some time now. He was strange, this one. Seemed nicer than most, but very strange.
On this particular early evening, the boy was sitting cross-legged near the coals of a small fire, his back to a stout tree. A Deku Stick covered in resin lay suspended above the glowing embers, curing in the heat. The features of the shadow person were obscured by the hood of a long brown coat, but she knew them well. He looked like most of his people did; thick, white hair and red eyes, tawny skin, but unlike most of the Shadow Folk, he bore a mark around his left eye – three triangles above and a teardrop below. It was a common symbol among these people, but the fairy had not seen it inscribed ON one of them in a very long time.
The fairy hovered a little closer, out of the protection of the greenery the forest provided. Ever nearer to the Shadowkin boy, she felt compelled to make some kind of actual contact if he was leaving for good. Unsure as to why, the tiny sprite just needed, for whatever reason, to announce her presence.
A sudden rustling in the leaves nearby caught her attention, right off to her side. It was just a fat squirrel, doing fat squirrel things around the base of a nearby tree. It was hardly worth the head turn, but being this close to one of the Shadow Folk made her a little jumpy. Her gaze rolled back to the boy in the brown coat, just in time to see a triangle of sharpened steel dangerously dart past her. The movement to throw the weapon didn’t even register with the fairy; it was as if it flew from somewhere in his coat of its own accord.
A sickeningly short squealing sound issued from where the squirrel used to be. In place of a happy, fat woodland creature, there swung a lifeless sack of fur and meat, pinned to a tree by a kunai dagger. Its death was mercifully quick, despite its bushy tail continuing to spasm a few times more before finally relaxing and joining the rest of its body in motionless defeat.
Shocked that some outcast kid from the Shadow Folk would be so cavalier with hurling a knife near her, the gossamer winged fey buzzed right between he and his kill, put hands to hips, and shouted,
“Hey! Listen!”
The kid in the brown coat was already on his feet to recover the squirrel. Hearing what the diminutive creature of magic said to him, he paused, furrowed his brow, and gave her an otherwise blank expression. Since the time of the Hero (when he was still a Hero), a fairy saying that to one of the larger folk could be considered quite insulting, depending upon presentation.
Of course he saw the fairy before he threw his kunai. He’d have to be completely oblivious not to. She had just been trying so very hard to stay hidden, he didn’t want her to feel discouraged. This was his first time seeing a fairy so close up, and he marveled at her tiny, delicate features.
Even if she did seem livid with him.
Her fury at the upstart youth faded almost instantly upon looking at his face. He was in awe of her. A broad, warm smile upswept his features, melting away the jagged, dangerous opinion she had of the boy. Something else, too – this was no child. Youth, perhaps. She had been following the young man around for a while now and never realized this. It was all the same to her, though; all of these people were kids compared to her. Even the ones that outlived the rest of their kind. Yeah, she would keep referring to him as a boy.
The fairy’s face must have softened, because instantly the young Shadow had darted around her before she was aware. The kid was fast. Alarmingly so. He recovered his kill and ran back to his little fire. In a flash, he had skinned and gutted the woodland appetizer, much to the disgust of the fey lady, still hovering in the same spot as before. He waved her over with bloodstained fingers, and threw the carcass onto a cooler spot of the coals with a bit of sweet grass.
She shook her head and flew closer. “You’re Cricket, aren’t you?”
The youth nodded, still smiling as he poked his supper around the coals with a stick.
“You’re that weird Sheikah who talks to bugs.” she continued flatly, even as Cricket raised an eyebrow and assumed a faux bemused look. “Can you show me?”
Perhaps the fairy wasn’t trying to be rude. If so, she was demonstrating measured success in the attempt. But, this was Cricket’s first discussion with a fairy, such as it was. He would remain civil. He sighed, and briefly shook his head. Pointing at the sun, sinking slowly toward the horizon, he wagged his fingers separately and lowered his hand until it came level with hills in the distance. The fairy understood.
“When it’s dark? You’ll show me when it gets dark? Ok!” She seemed a little too excited by this.
Cricket flipped over his squirrel, inspected the still-curing Deku Stick over the coals, and began cleaning his knife. After another quarter hour, he removed his squirrel from the heat and set it on a flat rock along the edge of his fire pit. Cricket’s casual gesture, offering some of the squirrel to his dinner guest was answered swiftly as the fairy rushed her tiny hands to her mouth in hopes of preventing vomit from falling earthward. Cricket shrugged, wiggled out of his coat, and took a big bite.
As the last light of the day caressed the trees on the edge of the Great Forest, Cricket picked up his freshly cured Deku Stick and gave it a twirl. The resin, activated by heat, had osmosed into the light, fibrous wood of his new staff, giving it amazing tensile strength and flexibility. Enough to use as a walking stick or martial tool, it was versatile, strong, and if necessary, disposable. He easily spun it in his hands, making the air around him perilous with his practiced movements. No mere stick anymore, this was a proper Deku Staff.
Not that he really needed another weapon, mind you. He already possessed several knives, two flat and single-edged kodachi short swords, and (most surprisingly) a deep red boomerang of ancient design, familiar to the fairy. She gasped, audibly. She knew exactly what it was AND what it meant, but kept quiet. It cemented a decision for her, when she saw it. Whomever this kid is and wherever he was going, she was going, too.
Day slowly turned to night as the young Sheikah reached into a case and removed a masterfully constructed violin. He raised the bow to the strings, cycled a breath, and readied himself for the upcoming symphony. Before he could begin, the mischievous sprite lighted upon the neck of his instrument, and said in a very matter-of-factly tone,
“You’re Cricket. I’m Faye. Of course Faye isn’t my real name, but Cricket isn’t yours, either, is it?”
Cricket shrugged and nodded in agreement. Faye continued, “You’re about to make a big mistake tomorrow, aren’t you? No one’s supposed to leave the forest without permission, and no kid is supposed to go without a fairy. Now, I know you’re not a Kokiri, but the last kid that left like this wasn’t either, and believe you me, he really needed a fairy.”
Her face darkened, as if remembering something tragic. “Ok, so he isn’t the best example. Look, I know things about the bigger world, kid. You need me. And I was asked to keep an eye on you. I’m coming with, and that’s that!”
Cricket smiled and nodded his consent, then shooed Faye off of his violin and began to play. The light of the big, white moon through the trees and soft red of the still-glowing embers before him played little tricks on the eyes of would-be observers of the scene. Not that there were any, except for Faye and the occasional nocturnal bird.
Crisp sharp notes sprang from the enchanting instrument, nimble fingers guiding short, fluid strokes of horsehair across silvery strings. Rhythmic chirps on the highest register of the violin greeted the night air, matching pitch and tempo with the crickets native to the area. His efforts immediately bore fruit.
The sound of the little black insects grew louder as they moved closer, beginning to chirp in unison. Soon, the sound threatened to overpower that of the Sheikah’s music, until he staggered his own notes between the new cadence of the crickets. A good third of the assembled insects switched to match his notes again. The alternating sound of cricket and cricket made for a powerful natural percussion as he began to play in earnest.
It was not so much that Cricket plied his talent, more than he seemed to open an unseen gate that allowed the dulcet, magical tones to flow in an ever changing yet perfectly blending stream of emotion-inspiring melody. He played with no particular song in mind, allowing the music to go as it seemed to need. Free-flowing sweetness, ethereal, like cold starlight through a strand of pouring honey, a piece of his soul made audible. Frightening at times, but beautiful beyond imagining, his song continued.
Faye could not believe what she was witnessing. In a life as long as hers, she had personally seen only two other events which affected her in this manner. It seemed to pull raw emotion from her tiny heart and splay it open for her to see, uncovered and honest, without reservation and without barrier. She hovered where she was, mouth agape, blinking away tears of forgotten feelings and glowing faintly in the young night.
From deeper in the woods, fireflies signaled again and again, a swirl of visual beauty and confusion that echoed Faye’s thoughts. How dare this child, this child of a race that hunts and kills under orders or their own dubious reasons, this unfit, unspeaking outcast make her feel anything this strongly? And what under Nayru’s sky gave him the right to play such music that would stay with her until the day her light was extinguished? She understood now, with no small amount of annoyance, that she was bound to the Shadow Folk youth.
Cricket’s concert was quite done before Faye realized that the music has stopped. Like a flavor lingering long after the fruit was finished, the experience of this music kept moving in her mind, fading slowly, bit by bit until she realized that most of the crickets had gone and the night was still again.
Most, not all of the crickets were gone. In the gloom, the fairy’s sharp eyes caught the outline of her new companion, bent down with his arm extended. Tiny chirps sang from his arm, indicating more than one of the little black bugs had decided to remain with him. He nodded, again presenting an engaging smile. The masterful manipulator of music and emotion was gone, replaced by the cordial (if strangely quiet) Woodland Sheikah.
Fading into the darkness of the woods about them, Cricket gathered a few more sticks for the fire. When satisfied with the rejuvenated blaze, he scrambled up the nearest tree and settled comfortably onto the crook of a large branch, confident that any unwanted visitors would be drawn to the light and unaware of his presence until he deemed it necessary. If it needed to be deemed with something sharp, Cricket was prepared.
He settled into a light sleep, the occasional chirp of his new cricket friends helping him drift off into dreamless respite. Faye, now committed to her charge as the Sheikah’s companion, dimmed her light and flew carefully up the tree. It would be a first for her, sharing lodging (of sorts) with a Shadow kid and a couple of insects. She had a feeling she would be in for many other firsts before this chapter of her life was over.
In the morning, Cricket slowly opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the cold, grey light of the dawn before committing his body to any attention-drawing large motion. Confident that his surroundings were safe, Cricket slowly stretched and lowered himself to the ground. While admittedly more comfortable moving about in the dark, he was preparing for overland travel. Crossing the plains of Hyrule at night had always been perilous, even moreso in recent years. This day needed to start early and end early, hopefully with the red-eyed youth locating appropriate shelter, or at least a good, stout tree to climb before the sun surrendered to the dusk yet again.
Some force, unknown and constant, compelled Cricket forward. Silent certainty filled him; this is where his destiny lay. His first steps in his new journey took him out of the Kokiri Forest and into Hyrule Field at a jog, pacing himself for the long road to come. New friends, or at least new companions, joined the determined Sheikah as he moved ever forward to whatever fate, or the Goddesses, had in store for him.
For once, the Sheikah youth tried to be open and non-secretive with new people in an unfamiliar setting. It wasn't going very well for him. He felt exposed. He could feel the eyes of others linger on him; judgemental eyes, curious, some even fearful. He shrugged off his insecurities as best he could and made a move for the pile of food.
The sheer variety of people present made it rather difficult to melt into the background, so he didn't bother trying to blend in. To attempt to do so would, paradoxically, merely serve to draw attention to himself. Taking the opposite route, the shadow kid leaned his deku staff against a chair to reserve it, ran to the gigantic table of delicacies, and loaded up a plate as high as it would go without causing a foodalanche.
When he returned to his seat, he proceeded to inhale everything in short order. New foods were always interesting, especially rich, city fare. Having lived off of roots and small, open pit roasted field mammals for the last few days, the change was welcome.
There was one tiny concession that he allowed of himself, owing to his "skittish out in the open" nature: he selected a seat near a wall and a window - affording a vantage point from which to observe people as well as a potential exit if the scene got ugly. He didn't know any of these people, and while he was trying to put himself out there (achieve his destiny, and all that), he didn't want to make a stupid mistake by ignoring his instincts.
Were a person to take special note of his smaller movements, one may notice the youth pausing his rapid consumption and tilting his head to one side, as if listening to a tiny voice only he could hear. This was immediately followed by his shiny, red eyes locking on one or another of the guests with a studious, inquisitive glare. This repeated every so often, generally only directed at those who had actual Heroic relics. Every so often he would nod, occasionally smile, or shake his head as if he were mid-conversation.
He also noted the drama with some disdain. Whether or not these people were well-versed in warcraft, he was certain that when it mattered, they would provide an excellent distraction. Distraction was important; it allowed him to use his own talents more efficiently. Still, with everyone acting the part of the blustery adventurer, he didn't want to look like a pushover, or worse yet, something's meal in the near future.
In an attempt to stave off this perception, he pushed his chair back and reclined somewhat as the vocal intonations of the people with really valuable time reached a crescendo. He unbuttoned his long, brown coat, letting it fall open at his sides. His open garment revealed sleek, black attire, adorned at regular intervals with a myriad of short, stabbing implements. Setting a cheshire grin across his face, the shadowkin youth leaned forward and began drumming his fingers together.
From somewhere in the room, there issued the soft sound of crickets chirping.
He was tired, it had been days since he had last gotten a good night's sleep. Or, good day's sleep. Vieru travelled mostly by night, when people were much less likely to see him. Day or night, it didn't make much of a difference to him, he could see just fine either way. Perhaps that was why the demon didn't notice the little, feathered, creature until it was jumping at his head. Startled, Vieru quickly sent a small breeze at the little bird, sending it's path away from his head. Catching it lightly in his arms, he held it away from him and stared for a moment. It was a Cucco, the only thing people feared more than demons. "What are you doing out here little guy?" He asked, confusion obvious in his voice. It wasn't common to see Cuccos wandering alone, out in the fields they usually travelled in flocks.
A sudden voice literally caused him to jump, he really did have his guard down if he allowed someone to sneak up on him. Usually he was excellent at staying out of sight. Taking advantage of his leap, Vieru shifted the Cucco to one hand and tucked it close against his body, his now free hand conjured up a breeze that caught him and carried him into the air. Putting well out of range of most projectile weapons, not to mention close range ones. His grip on the Cucco was very careful, it was gentle enough not to aggravate the bird, but firm enough that it hopefully felt safe enough to not rip his face off. Maybe if he was lucky, he'd survive this without injury.
With the wind still swirling around him both protectively and simple keeping him up, it left him free to do other things. Vieru pressed his long ears back against his head and let out a menacing snarl, hoping to simply scare the person off. Which, considering he was holding a fluffy bird, would be kind of difficult to do. He had only heard a portion of what the person said, as he had been thinking more about getting away than anything. They had said something about descendants and some kind of guild. Ah, that's right, that flyer said the same things. Whatever, he was still a demon, it was impossible for him to be descended from a hero. The only demons in Hyrule's history were evil.
If he couldn't scare the person off, then it would come to him either fleeing or being forced to fight. Right now Vieru didn't want either one of those. What he really wanted was to find a nice, quiet, safe, spot and maybe get some sleep. "Get away from me human!" Vieru hissed, "If you don't, then you may not be leaving this place at all!" A major bluff, he wouldn't really go around killing people, but they didn't know that. The only things he hunted and killed were monsters. If people actually had proof that he killed people, well then he would be hunted constantly. Never again getting a moment of peace.
Rima nervously slipped into the building just as the very important man was starting his speech, and he looked around the very much filled room. Taking a deep swallow, he half turned and shoved his dominion rod further down into his pack so it couldn't bee seen. He had brought in in hopes that someone would be able to dig up some kind of old lore or something on it. That was sounding less and less likely.
Refocusing his attention back on the speech, Rima would look more nervous as the speech went towards 'if you're not willing to die painfully, leave.' It was very difficult for the young scholar not to do just that, but he managed to get over himself enough to get out of the doorway so as to let those who did want to leave to leave. Why did everything interesting have to be deadly and dangerous. While he wouldn't be joining those leaving, he couldn't keep himself from murmuring under his breath.
"P-personally, I'm not the go out and get in fights... I prefer just reading about them..." He didn't say this loud enough for anyone to really hear, but his anxiety would be clear to any onlooker. His hands would be fidgeting with his belt buckles, the nine arrows in the crappy makeshift quiver he had on his belt, the strap that held his hommade bow to his back. He was clearly no ranger, but he looked as if he might be able to handle himself in the woods alone. If he had a book that told him which berries he should eat.
Ever since Kagumo saw the poster, she knew it would help her getting all 3 goddess treasures she wanted, so she headed to where the gathering was going to be. She noticed the writing that was on the bottom of the paper, but was too focused on the possible rewards.
When she got to the hall, she saw many other people gathered here and food set out everywhere. She didn't expect this many people to be here, but wasn't entirely surprised, considering the rewards they could obtain. Kagumo had never seen half the food that was here, so she started to eat it. Eventually a man appeared on the stage wearing a mask. After he had got everyone's attention and to be quiet, he did a speech about why he had all these people gathered. Kagumo sort of paid attention to the person that was talking. Introducing who the other people on stage were. Than the man mentioned how if people were here to make a quick buck, they should leave. This didn't make much sense to Kagumo. "Of course everyone here is to make a quick buck or reward. Why else would anyone show up?", Kagumo thought to herself. The masked man then mentioned how the people would have to deal with danger that could result in death. Kagumo had dealt with that possibility her whole life, even coming close a few times. Yet Kagumo knew she'd be able to deal with whatever dangers could arise, especially with the Roc's Cape she had stolen long ago. It had become invaluable in her adventures.
Rida watched as the demon man flew into the sky with Henry with him. When he threatened her though things started to change. Her gate of souls started to activate at this. Her face changed to that of a rather sinister looking grin as well. "You really don't want to pick a fight with me. Also I'm not leaving without Henry there." Rida said pointing up to Henry.
At this point Henry was quite angry after this main threatened his owner. His eyes almost seemed to turn red with anger. With a loud "Bwak!" Henry started to peck at the man with great ferocity. "Now you come with me calmly, or I throw more Cuccos at you. Your choice!" With this Rida changed back to a rather innocent looking face. Though her threat was all too real as the Gate of Souls was now starting to spill out Cuccos, one at a time.
Vieru really didn't want to pick a fight. He just wanted to be left alone, that's why he had tried to scare the girl off. But apparently she was too stupid to notice the fact that a demon had just threatened her. Henry? Who was that? Was she talking about the bird? She must have been because the thing started pecking at him. Great, now even the Cuccos hated him. This was exactly the type of thing he had wanted to avoid. People attacking him needlessly. With a frustrated huff, Vieru dropped the bird, no longer caring about it's safety. And now the girl was threatening him, with Cuccos, which were coming out of some kind of portal near her.
"Leave me alone human!" Vieru hissed, angry about the situation. Mostly angry at himself for letting his guard down. Calling up his magic, he prepared a wave of razor, sharp, wind to throw at the girl and her birds. If she wanted a fight, she'd certainly get one. A very short one as he was more interested in leaving than anything else. In matching with his more aggressive wind magic, the breeze holding him up became stronger, swirling around him quickly. As always, his only friend was at his side, ready to help.
A rustle came from a nearby thicket of bushes, and out stepped a teenage girl wearing a medium sized burlap backpack with various trinkets and items haning from it's sides. At the sight of the brawl that was about to happen, she let out a large gasp, "Rida! What are you doing!" Mari shouted, reaching for a peculiar purple mask hanging very close to her arm.
Rida could tell that this was just going to turn into a fight if she kept going. And now that she noticed Mari there as well she took a step back. "I guess I should have started with the selling tactic huh?" She asked Mari before looking back up at the demon. At this point all of her Cuccos were next to her. Each of them looked up at Vieru with the cutest look they could muster. Rida then followed with even more of a cuter look on her face.
Vieru's heart was pounding in his chest as he tried to think of a way to take out this many Cuccos, at least long enough to fly the hell out of there. Now another person was showing up, another girl who seemed to know the first. Warnings were going off in his head, he needed to get out of here, now. But then, everything changed. Instead of attacking him, the Cuccos just stared up at him, not moving, or blinking, or anything. Then the girl joined in. He was very confused. They had suddenly gone from threatening...To cute. The demon bit his lip, a sharp fang digging in hard enough to draw blood.
Vieru's brain overloaded for a moment and the wind stopped swirling around him. Thankfully he snapped out of it before hitting the ground, instead staying a few feet up, so he could still escape if needed. "What do you want?" He demanded, crossing his arms and trying to keep some control over the situation. "And why are you looking at me like that?" He couldn't believe that he was talking to a human. All of them just seemed to want to kill him, not to chat.
Mari looked at the technique that she had taught Rida to sell items more efficiently, a smug grin on her face. Somethimes they had posed as sisters to bring in more bussiness since her eyes could convince a Goron to swim. After a moment Mari realized why Rida would be doing this and looked over at the demon who floated there in the air, "Rida, did Henry think he was a decendant?" she calmly asked, trying her hardest not to be shocked.
Rida smiled back at Mari. "He did! Henry flew right for his head!" Rida said with a smile. "And I want him to join us!" Rida added making sure that Vieru heard.
Mari looked back to the man who floated in the air and tilted her head, "You dont see people much do you? Poor guys probably scared out of his mind. Here, have some Red Potion on the house!" Mari ripped one of the bottles that dangled from her bag off its hook and tossed it upward at Vieru, the red liquid sloshing inside.
There was all that stuff about descendants again. Vieru still had no idea what any of that meant. And now the two girls were talking to each other and not directly at him. Even though he had asked questions. The demon pinched the bridge of his nose, this was starting to become a major headache. The second girl started talking to him. It wasn't that he didn't see people much, it was that whenever he did, they wanted him dead. He was in fact scared out of his mind though, but certainly wasn't going to show that. He growled when something was thrown at him, and caught it on a breeze. He examined it before letting it drop into his hand. Usually when things were thrown at him, they were dangerous. "Why would I even consider joining you when I don't know what you want me to join?" He asked, ignoring the potion for now.
Rida smiled at Vieru. "We want you to join the new Guild! You must have seen the fliers right? We could certainly use more friends like you! I bet your fun once we get to know you!" Rida added with a smile as she approached him. The portal was still moving around behind her, but it seemed to be a sort of sleep mode where it didn't do much. "So what do you say mister? Will you join our cause to save the world?" Rida added. The Cuccos were still giving him the adorable look as before. It was hard to say no the them and Rida.
It seemed that everything was coming back to that new guild. The one he had seen the flyer for. The one that once again talked about descendants and saving the world. The same things this girl was talking about. Her and the birds were still staring at her in a confusing manner. With a tired sigh, Vieru finally let the breeze holding him up move on, and he dropped those last few feet to the ground. By this point he was semi-certain that these girls weren't going to hurt him. Though, as the one tried to approach him, he stepped back. He wasn't that certain yet. "I would but... Do you really think they'd let a demon near town, let alone be okay with working with one?" He said, his voice much less menacing and much more human than before.
"Of course, if youre with us you should have nothing to worry about. We are two of the most respected people in these parts." Mari intentionally avoided mentioning Ark and the others because of their Black and White opinion on morals. Last thing she needed was Ark hunting this guy down to Terminia to find him. Her strategy would be to introduce him as a human first, then one he proved himself, she could reveal that he was a demon. Ark might be clever but not as clever as her thats for sure! Mari sat down and swung her bag around infront of her. "Either of you hungry? I, for one, have been passing out those stupid flyers all day!" she said, pulling out a small pile of sandwitches with a side of Octorok calamari.
Oryx had traveled far to attend this supposed "hero's guild meeting", from the far outer boundaries of the land to the dense city of Castle Town. He had lived alone on the outskirts of Hyrule due to his unique situation. From a distance and even close up Oryx seemed like any other clad knight, perhaps a bit scarier in part to all the skulls that adorn his armor. However once one had exchanged a few words with the hollowed knight mixed with the dark aura that radiated off of him like a keese on fire, it became very apparent that he was not a man whatsoever but a monster. Word had gotten around about the undead knight and several had come searching to slay the monster, but Oryx easily thwarted them or avoided them all together. He had bigger things to worry about than fighting wannabe heroes. When a flyer had slipped out of one of his opponents armor he was quick to his feet in hopes of making it to the guild. The flyer had something extra at the bottom, but it was too feint and garbled for him to read it, either way it probably wasn't important. Darkness was coming, he had felt it for a while now, but it grew stronger with everyday. And undead or alive he would help stop it.
He had arrived late, walking through the door, hand on the hilt of his sword he took in his surroundings. He knew his new presence would alarm many. Death, darkness, torture surrounded him like vultures to a carcass and it was slowly filling the air. However to the veterans they would be able to detect the sliver of light that hung on by a thread. He took a seat in the corner of the room not daring to take of his helmet. Regardless people scurried away from him to other places of the room.
The lady had just finished up saying something about it being dangerous and about dying switch got a small chattering chuckle from Oryx. "I must say... there are worse things then death in this world... Death is cynical reward I'd happily accept if it would so grace me with such a kindness..." Oryx said softly to no one in particular but loud enough for anyone listening to hear clearly. The room was filled with a large assortment of "heroes" if you could even call them that. However who was he to judge? He was in worse shape than many if not all of the others who showed up so far.
The Sheikah youth looked about at his surroundings, confident at this time that all those who would arrive had arrived, and all those who would leave had left. An extended silence passed over the remaining sentients in the guild hall. Maybe they were waiting on something. Maybe they were merely sizing each other up. The uncomfortable stillness in the air amid people staring at each other was tangible.
Without drawing much attention to himself, the knife-covered kid buckled closed his long brown coat and produced a secure looking case. Opening the case, he withdrew an exquisitely crafted violin, set it to his chin, and drew a matching bow across its strings.
Sweet, soulful notes flew from the instrument, but only a few. It was the first handful of notes from the song associated with the old Legend of the Princess Zelda, played in a manner inspiring hope, the same way it was said to have been played when the Hero of Time was still a Hero.
With the first few notes still heavy in the air, the musician paused, bright red eyes twinkling above a cheerful smile. He looked expectantly at the others he noticed carrying musical instruments, and repeated the first notes of the song. In turn, he locked eyes with his potential bandmates. Again, slowly, deliberately - he drew his bow across his violin, producing the same epic notes, hoping his new comrades would catch on.
Music always seemed to bring people together back home, he hoped it would here as well.
Swifty looked around the place, the people seemed strange and varied yet all of them drew back. He knew many heroes in the past had fought alone against great evils, he wondered if they were simply trying to be like their ancestors. He wanted to show them his power, to ask about but he worried they would know nothing or worse if it wasn't a heroes power all. The young man sighed looking towards the people in the center, most were older than him, yet others looked amazingly strong yet here he was standing with them. That's when a Sheikah boy entered, Swifty stared a bit, fascinated and in awe. Sheikah were a rarity and rather famous in legends as guards of the royal family.
Swifty looked at the boy who had begun to play, the music was familiar in a way though perhaps had simply heard it in a tavern before. He began to pluck the strings of harp gently as he got up, falling into rhythm with the violinist, he smiled. Moving to stand by him he began to play along, letting the music drift through the hall he almost felt like dancing of he wouldn't that would just be embarrassing to do here. Still he smiled enjoying playing music with the other boy. He got the feeling they would be fast friends, or at least understand each other.
On the stage, Kira watched the chaos the gathering had started to degenerate to. Several of them were doing what people do best. Showing off. She turned to The Warden, who was watching uncaringly, his mask hiding any expression on his face. "Should we continue? They seem to be growing restless." He shrugged. "Acting so casually, without a care in the world even though everything they know will soon end. Lord, what fools these mortals can be." He said. He then nodded. "As you must."
Kira stepped forward as Ark banged his spear on the floor to get everyone's attention. "Judging by your apparent lack of focus, I believe it is time to get your answers. Leave or stay the choice is yours."
At these words, many in the room got up and left. There were so many, it took several minutes for everybody to leave. Finaly, when it was certain everyone who would leave had left, Ark took a head count. "Ten here, including the three of us, and the two that are conspicuously absent, that makes fifteen." He said. The Warden sighed. "More than I expected. A good sign or a bad one, which it is remains to be seen." He, Ark, and Kira walked off the stage and stopped in the middle of the room. "Gather 'round." He said. When everyone had, he spoke again. Well, you stayed. That makes your brave or foolish, depending on whether you survive or not. Our first mission has already been decided. Follow me." With that he started towards the door. Kira sighed. "Aren't you forgetting something?" She said. The Warden turn around, his visible eye looked thoughtful. "Hmm... gather suckers, excuse me, recruits, brief 'em, and send them into battle....Nope, don't think so." He said, cheerfuly. "You haven't even told them your name." Ark rumbled. The Warden placed his fist in his palm. "Thats right, a name. Call me The Warden, or Warden. He said. "Now lets be off." He spun on a heel and walked away. Kira pressed her fingers to her forhead. "That man..." She muttered. Ark slipped off somewhere. "Lets talk as we walk, we have a lot of ground to cover. Don't be fooled by his appearnt lack of care, he has put a lot of though and effort into this. Yes, there will be fighting, but Ark and I will be assessing your fighting ability and training those of you who lack it. Our first destination is the foothills of the Death Mountain Range, a place some of you might feel at home at." She looked at each in turn.
Joseph followed the others, it taking every once of will power he had not to draw his bow and put an arrow into the three, soon two, who'd been on stage. Damn paranoia. Not everything and everyone is out to kill me. I hope. Sighing at his own pessimism, he almost misses the destination, which is the Death Mountain Foothills, a place he'd been but two or three weeks prior. "Yeah, I just cleared the foothills three weeks ago at most. There isn't a strong enough monster population for that kind of test yet, so what are we fighting then?" Knowing they had a destination in mind made it easier to relax slightly, and to help him further relax, he pulled the Hero's Bow off his back and began looking over the string, trying to see if any of it needed replaced.
The interruption to the music could not be overlooked; one does not simply stop a good song, at least not so flippantly. Particularly when said song opened the first non-hostile interaction the interior of the Heroes' Guild Hall had seen since discussion began. Must be a personality trait common to outsiders.
He hoped that it was probably for the best. The lack of information thusfar was surprising. Back home, everything that was needed for a mission was organized, intelligence about an area or target passed along fluidly without need for speech. If something changed on the run, a few hand and facial gestures were returned with similar, passing along that which was required to make the mission work. Perhaps his own shortcomings in the regard of communication would be a greater hindrance than earlier anticipated.
Regardless, the slender Sheikah wanted to see where this led. So far, he had followed instinct and gut feelings to this place. Ego and pretentiousness of potential colleagues shouldn't keep him from sorting out the riddle to his existence.
Holding his arms out wide, violin in hand, he bowed to the Hylian(?) with the harp who had joined him. With graceful reverence for his instrument, the Sheikah youth nestled it into its case and tucked it back away.
The group was filing out now, the remaining ones, and he needed to get ready for a long trek. Again. A note of mild irritation crossed his face as he realized that, just an hour after reaching his destination, he needed to pack up and travel. Such was destiny, very likely. At the very least, he was becoming more familiar with the lands around Hyrule firsthand.
He hung back, hovering around the mounded table of food. Unsure as to when another opportunity to eat things he didn't kill himself, he hoarded a few choice goodies, preserved or preservable, into his pack and pockets. When fairly sure the group was far enough out, the young man scratched his coat three times, as if signaling.
From inside one of his exterior coat pockets, a tiny creature emerged. It was a fairy; a companion commonly associated with the Kokiri. This one kept her light dim, and her clothing dark. Different from most. She stretched her wings and buzzed around the thick, white hair of her charge before settling down on his shoulder. Were one to observe very carefully, one could see her dainty face mouthing words and twisted into an expression of annoyance, as if she were scolding him for something or another.
The Shadow Folk merely smiled an infectious, cheerful grin. He shouldered his pack, adjusted his blades, and took up his staff. Smoothly, he moved to follow the group, staying to the rear right flank of the procession. Tactical positioning, observant, maintaining a clean line of sight on three sides while making himself an unlikely first target.
The second before he exited the building, however, he made sure to grab the drumstick of a large bird and a fruit pastry.
