TaliPaendrag

[Still Seeking Players] The Legend of Zelda: The White Triforce

I went ahead and posted. :3 I hope it's okay that I've been introducing NPC's. Let me know if I need to fix anything.

[Still Seeking Players] The Legend of Zelda: The White Triforce

”So, this is the marketplace, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now,” Jair said, gesturing widely at the mass of people before them. ”It’s pretty much the center of the city, which makes it a nice landmark if you end up getting turned around in the alleys or something.” Soli nodded periodically to indicate to her guide that she was listening, trying hard to ignore the sense of awe that filled her at seeing so many people in one place.

”The front gate, are that way, but that’s about it. So we’re not going to waste our time heading there,” Jair continued, pointing to their right as they stood in the entrance of the alleyway they had been in. He gave Soli a few more moments to take in the sights and sounds of the bustling marketplace before he began leading the way towards their left, making sure to keep to the perimeter of the plaza. After walking a bit, the buildings that formed the perimeter parted to reveal a broad roadway that was somewhat less crowded than the plaza behind them.

Without hesitating, Jair began walking down the road. ”Up this way is the richer part of the city. It’s where the King’s palace and the houses of the rich people are located, he said as they walked, dodging the occasional passersby. ”Obviously, the people who live in this part of the city won’t tolerate people like us hanging around for very long, but we might be able to see the palace before we have to leave.”

”Like us?” Soli asked, redirecting her attention to her guide and frowning slightly in confusion.

”Yeah, y’know, street rats, urchins, or whatever else you want to call us. Kids on their own with no one to rely on but each other,” he replied with a shrug, not entirely surprised that Soli hadn’t known what he had meant. Though he didn’t know her story, and knew better than to ask, it was likely that she hadn’t been an urchin for very long. And even if she had been, the city had a tendency to treat the members of the lower class a bit differently than in the other towns in the empire.

”Oh, okay. I get it now,” Soli responded, keeping close to Jair as he started weaving through the crowd of people. After a few moments of dodging people who seemed either didn’t see her or couldn’t be bothered to look where they were going, Soli emerged from the crowd into a space that was pretty clear of people, stepping over to stand next to Jair. The road continued on through a gate that was being monitored by stern-faced guards that didn’t seem to be too happy with their presence. Following Jair’s finger as he pointed, Soli could make out the palace in the distance beyond the gate, the beautiful structure gleaming brightly in the sun.

After Soli had taken in the view for a few moments, Jair grabbed her arm gently and began leading her away, saying ”We should probably get out of here soon. Those guards aren’t going to let us stick around for much longer. And trust me, you do not want to deal with the guards. They aren’t afraid to be a little… rough.” Nodding, Soli allowed him to lead her down a side street that connected with the main roadway.

”There’s not really all that much more to show you that’s all that interesting. It’s mostly just shops and homes,” Jair explained as they walked out of the upper-class section of the city, the buildings becoming noticeably less ornate and fanciful. ”But, I figured that I’d introduce you to my friends and show you where we crash.”

Soli nodded to show that she understood, feeling that it couldn’t hurt to meet some other people. Heck, it could even help her remain in cover by giving helping her blend into the city. She wouldn’t just be a new face anymore, but a street urchin. While it wasn’t really an upgrade in terms of lifestyle, with the way that the people of the city looked down upon those of the lower class, of which she was now a part, it was unlikely that anyone would be investigating her closely enough to determine that something about her story didn’t quite add up.

The rest of the walk passed by relatively quickly, though Jair still made sure to point out the shops that he thought were cool as they passed them. Their destination, as it turned out, was a small building that looked virtually identical to the others in the area, apart from the fact that it was clearly abandoned and in need of repair. After pausing for a moment to let Soli take it in, Jair lead the way up the narrow, cracked set of stairs to the entrance of the building. Procuring a key from somewhere, he opened the door and slipped inside, gently pulling Soli along. Once they were both inside, he closed the door and locked it again.

It was clear almost immediately that the building had been a shop at one point, with counters and shelves that were used to display products taking up the majority of the space in the room that they had entered. The shelves and counters themselves were empty apart from a few odds and ends that more than likely belonged to Jair and his friends, leaving no hint as to what had been stocked in the store before it had been abandoned. All in all, however, the interior was in significantly better shape than the exterior, with only the fading and chipping of the paint on the wall to indicate that the fact that the building was in disrepair.

”Hey, Jair,” a blonde-haired girl said as she stepped into the room from one of the doors towards the back, another boy following shortly. Both of them stopped in their tracks when they noticed Soli’s presence, directing a questioning glance towards her guide. ”Who’s this? You know that the gangs won’t like it if it looks like we’re ‘recruiting.’” the girl continued, folding her arms across her chest. The boy that had had followed her into the room nodded along with what the girl was saying, though he didn’t speak up himself.

”I know, Yulia, I know,” Jair replied defensively, raising his hands as he stepped forward. ”But you couldn’t expect me to leave her all alone out there. Especially not when she appeared out of thin air right in front of me after she nearly knocked me over.” The girl known as Yulia rolled her eyes, clearly not believing that Jair was telling the truth about their encounter.

”Is he telling the truth, kid?” the boy said suddenly, cutting of Yulia. After a moment’s hesitation, Soli nodded. ”Can you show us then?”

”I’ll try,” she replied with a shrug. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and focused, attempting to grasp the threads of natural energy that surrounded them all. Still somewhat attuned to the hum of the energy around her from earlier that day, it didn’t take quite as long for Soli to grab ahold of enough strands to weave into the invisibility spell and make herself vanish from view.

”How the…! Yulia exclaimed with a gasp as Soli shimmered and disappeared. A short poke in the leg startled her and caused her to jump a little while Soli reappeared a little to the left of where she had been standing, giggling a bit. ”You little-” Yulia started to say before she was cut off by the other boy.

”Well, I’m convinced,” he said, nodding once. ”I say she can stay. What about you, Yulia?”

After a few moments, Yulia nodded. ”I guess I’ll show you around since you’ll be sleeping with me,” she said, motioning Soli to follow as she went through the doorway by which she had entered the room in the first place. Obediently, Soli followed after.

[Still Seeking Players] The Legend of Zelda: The White Triforce

@Nevis I'm just about finished. Sorry for the wait.

Institute for the Exceptionally Gifted

I'm interested! :3

[Still Seeking Players] The Legend of Zelda: The White Triforce

@Nevis Thanks! I can make that work. :3

[Still Seeking Players] The Legend of Zelda: The White Triforce

@Nevis I'm still working on a post, but I had a question. Is it common enough for refugees from the areas afflicted by the resistance to enter the city that it would work as a valid cover story for Soli? Thanks in advance! :3

[Still Seeking Players] The Legend of Zelda: The White Triforce

I'm working on it. I've just had a pretty busy weekend is all. :3 Sorry for not saying something sooner though.

[Still Seeking Players] The Legend of Zelda: The White Triforce

I would, but I'm not sure that it would make a whole lot of sense for the gang to involve an unaffiliated group of street urchins in their war. :p

But I am open to ideas. :3

[Still Seeking Players] The Legend of Zelda: The White Triforce

Seated among the thick bushes that she had chosen as a makeshift campsite the night before, Soli absently picked at her meager breakfast of nuts and berries as she stifled another yawn. In addition to sleeping rather poorly the night before, the journey from the Lost Woods, though relatively easy, had been rather tiring for someone who wasn’t used to walking so much. The necessity of avoiding the major settlements and roads along the way, so as not to attract undue attention, had only made the journey that much longer.

Her exhaustion, however, was no match for the excitement that continued to build at the thought of finishing the journey and entering the city below. Of course, there was more to her mission than just reaching Castle City, but she pushed that to the back of her mind to be dealt with later. In the meantime, she could focus on actually getting into the city itself and enjoying the fact that she was almost done with her journey.

Unfortunately, there was one obstacle in her way: the City Guard. From her vantage point atop the hill outside the city, she could see the seemingly endless procession of people starting and stopping as they crossed the drawbridge that led to the gates of the city, which was clear evidence of the guards checking everyone and everything that entered the city. While this wouldn’t be a problem for most people, even if they were Resistance spies, it was a bit problematic for Soli due to her childlike appearance. A man or woman wouldn’t draw more than a passing glance trying to enter the city alone, but a child was another story, and Soli couldn’t afford to have people paying a lot of attention to her.

So, Soli had decided that the easiest way to enter the city unseen would be to make it so that they couldn’t see her at all. Figuring that she had waited around long enough, Soli scarfed down the rest of her breakfast, lest her fairy scold her later for not eating it all, and focused on summoning her magic. Inwardly, she reached out to grasp at the threads of energy that surrounded her so that she could reshape them as she saw fit. The threads, however, were not so easy to grab onto. They stretched and shifted in a chaotic rhythm that made it hard to predict where they would be from moment to moment.

Eventually, she managed to grab ahold of a few threads and began weaving them into the form that would render her invisible. Once the magic was in place, she crawled out of the bushes and stood, stretching for a moment to alleviate the stiffness that had settled in her limbs from sitting still for too long. As Soli began making her way towards the drawbridge below, her fairy slipped into a small pocket on the inside of her raggedy blue tunic, slightly tickling her Kokiri charge in the process.

Before too much longer, she began making her way across the drawbridge, being careful to avoid bumping into the people around her as she walked. Though her spell didn’t inherently mask any sound that she made, the general murmur that always accompanied crowds like this easily drowned out the faint sounds of her passage. All in all, Soli was feeling fairly confident that she would make it across without incident, blended as she was by her magic and the crowd around her.

At least, she was until a stern-faced guard called out, “Hey! Hold up a second!” and began making his way over towards her. Immediately, she began sprinting to the gate, completely ignorant of the fact that the guard never reacted to her running away. A little ways after she passed through the gate, she turned down a narrow alleyway and kept running. Every so often, she would take another turn down a different little alleyway, working her way deeper into the city a little at a time as she tried to escape her imaginary pursuers.

Her flight, however, was cut short when she turned around the eleventh corner and slammed into another person, one who happened to be a fair bit larger than her. As she bounced off the other individual and landed on her back, she lost control of her invisibility spell and popped back into sight, the threads of energy slipping from her grasp and slowly beginning to untangle themselves. ”Hey! What’s the bi-” the other person said, trailing off as they watched Soli seemingly appear out of thin air.

”S-sorry,” Soli mumbled as she forced herself to sit up, still a little dazed from the collisions. When her vision came back into focus, she saw the stranger looking at her with open curiosity. Soli could see now that the stranger was a young male, probably a teenager, with a lanky build and a mess of dark hair on his head. His clothing, consisting primarily of dark colors and styled in the typical Hyrulean fashion, was fairly dirty and ragged, which marked him as a member of the lower class to those familiar with life in the capital city of the empire.

”You new ‘round these parts?” he said suddenly, breaking the relative silence in the alleway. After a moment of hesitation, Soli nodded, feeling that it wouldn’t hurt to reveal such a little detail. Satisfied with her answer, the boy continued, a small smile slipping onto his face. ”Well then, how about I take you under my wing, so to speak? Y’know, show you around and what not? Maybe introduce you to some of my friends?”

”O-okay,” Soli responded, speaking only marginally louder than before, still a little overwhelmed by all that had happened thus far. While she was concerned about the possibility of blowing her cover or revealing too much, she had to admit that it would be nice to have someone show her the ropes. And being associated with the boy would probably help her blend in, an aspect of espionage whose importance had been stressed time and again during her preparation for the mission.

”Glad to hear it!” the boy exclaimed, reaching out a hand and hauling the small girl to her feet when she took it. Once she was steady on her feet, he began leading the way towards the end of the alleyway, introducing himself as Jair as he walked. In response, Soli mumbled her own name, earning a simple nod from the boy as they reached the end of the alleyway, which opened out into a large marketplace that was packed with people and stalls, the shrill call of hawkers peddling their wares rising above the general murmur every so often. And thus, the tour began.

[Still Seeking Players] The Legend of Zelda: The White Triforce

I'm going to have to post tomorrow guys, sorry. I've been dealing with writer's block for most the day, and it's taken longer than I thought to get past it. :/