The gang managed to make it to Relma's. It wasn't an easy trip across town, what with the swarming masses of mad Hyruleans thristy for war.
It was quiet, the only sounds that were made were afraid to be as loud as they could, as if they were winter fish swimming beneath the shell of dormancy. There in the dusty darkness those who called themselves Link's friends curled into shadows and watched for silhouettes with baited breath.
"Where is he..." Lorant whispered, finally breaking the silence by voicing everyone's thought. "Link should be here by now." He should have. Nearly an hour had passed this way, but nothing. Finally the Wizard spoke up.
"His is a spirit more free than the sky." The others didn't seem to enjoy his poetry this time, and aimed to interrupt him before he interrupted those interjections. "Nothing will stop him from doing what he wants. That is the meaning of his kind of freedom." And just as the words faded out into the emerging stars of night, peeking out at the excitement below as debates turned to war chants and marches, so went the hours until it was approaching morning.
It was a rhythm: drink, story, curl, and finally send one brave one out to check the front door. It was like this the entire wait, taking turns on the hour. The one who checked the front door was in charge of seeing Link in, if he so happened to be coming, and to warn the others if it was mobs of hysterical Hylians. There was no warning, however, for a strong knock on the old door.
"CASTLE TOWN PATROL." They all froze. Furious whispers.
"What do we do?" "Who is it?" "The ******** do we do about that!" A second knock. Relma nudged Ambiance with her elbow.
Oh, if only I could have been there I'd be a hand for the sinking
Within Relma's establishment, Ambaince couldn't feel safe and worried that the rising concerns of the people were justified. They were terrified. She understood their terror. When there were threats and dangers that surfaced, things that people couldn't adapt to or protect themselves from, fear did its damage long before any physical evidence would come.
Panicked people responded impulsively. Ambiance had only the stories to confirm what she thought. She knew too well what the people feared. She saw for herself the danger that spilled into Gerudo's borders. She knew that the possibility remained for that very same threat to spread here to Hyrule. It was a ticking time bomb. If local dangers such as neighboring kingdom's weren't already a concern... everything compounded and added onto itself. Fears multiplied.
Then, the door knocked. Heavy pounds of a fist against a door. Inexplicably, Ambiance felt her heart catch in place. She was already terrified. She was scared of what she knew. She was terrified of the things she didn't know. There was so much of this world that she didn't know. Like who exactly was pounding at the door, or what it was they were looking for.
Castle Town Patrol. But searching for who?
Relma nudged Ambiance, and startled her to reality. She looked to the woman but her mind struggled still to decide between answering the door and trying to run. Logic suggested that she had nothing to fear from the guards. Even so, this was not her home or building. It wasn't her place to answer the door. She swallowed and did as Relma encouraged.
I wish I could protect you here Oh, please don't cry, now, smile
And as she pulled the door open the face which sprung out at her wasn't that of an angry, pitchfork-wielding mob member, but rather a familiarly piercing stare which belonged to Commander James.
"Good evening, Miss Yuna." His eyes were the tips of topaz rapiers, lunging through the fog of dust kicked up by the excitement downtown, crushing uncertainty by blasting clean through the sawhorse of hesitation in anyone who met his gaze. His hand warmed the door at Ambiance's side as he pressed a foot into the doorway. "I'm so glad you and your friends made it out alright."
"You're not welcome here, Commander," said Relma with authority from the other side of the main room. "And unless you have a--"
"Oh, but I do, dear Relma." He hardly looked at her, taking another step as he scanned the room. A grimace slid over his face and stole his steely confidence shut with a quiet determination as he spotted the Wizard. Their eyes burned a hole in the air in the middle of the room for a moment before James broke.
"I suppose I'll just skip to the chase then, mm?" Half of his armor was darkened out of sight. "In light of recent events the Royal Court has declared a draft for anyone able. All of you meet different criteria," he continued, holding a hand up so he could finish, "be it standard infantry, research and intel, or--" and here his eyes seemed to flicker with moonlight-- "magic."
"That's ridiculous!" Lorant and the others were standing. "I object! We're peaceful here; we can't just simply go out and expect to kill Geru--"
"I understand your concern," interrupted the Commander, "but we're not about to start playing the ethics card. Not when so many more lives are at stake if we all do nothing." Snarls. "And think of it from your point of view. Only one came to your door tonight." He stepped back, starting to fade into a bad memory.
"Oh, and Miss Yuna," he said, turning around. "You've been selected for a very special position. Speak with me tomorrow about it. And as for the rest of you..."
"..."
"Get your rest. Your country needs you first thing in the morning." And just like that, the door closed quietly and loudly. Now there was only night.
"Pigs!" Relma spat. "What do they want with some untrained bar-hoppers anyway?" She gestured sharply to Ambiance. "And what could they possible want with you! Such a delicate young thing." Finally she threw her hands up and stamped off to the back.
"Looks like we're in deep," said Lorant blankly, not believing it himself. "Come on," he said getting up, "there are beds in the back."
Oh, if only I could have been there I'd be a hand for the sinking
Oddly, there was something handsome about the sharp countenance that seemed so determined and focused on his work. However, that brief realization did break as he made his way into the building. She stepped aside enough for the commander to move inside. He was on a mission, certainly, and he would have come in whether or not she resisted. She suspected that it was more sensible to comply as the likelihood of being crushed was also possible.
"Good evening, sir." She answered, but she was silent for the conversation that followed. Conscription was being called upon. Ambiance felt that this order extended to more than this place of merriment and friends. It would be an order extended through the city and for the defense of the country. The other cities in the kingdom would also be called on with the same parameters to be met. There would only be some exceptions, likely because of illness or ineptitude.
Ambiance felt a deeper worry with the worry of war on top of the threat that she knew had inspired all of these hostilities. They were to go to their posts the next morning....
When the commander concluded, he shut the door with all the energy he had knocked with. When he was gone, the silence did not last long. Dread settled on the room and onto Ambiance. She was known, now. She still wasn't sure how to address the entire thing. What could she be wanted for? She had little technical skill and very little skill with a blade. Her main experience came when she followed Link to the mountain, and even then, all that gave her was knowledge of how to fight wolfos.
She shook her head slowly at Relma's question. It worried her that she didn't know what she was wanted for. Who had requested her presence? The king? Had it been her voice or opinion? Insight, perhaps? Because she was an eyewitness? Or was she going to be a scapegoat? Anything could happen in court... and she was a stranger here. She was not a citizen. She certainly didn't have family. Her only connections were here, in this building. She moved her fingers through her hair.
She hated feeling so worried. She shook her head again, hoping to clear her head. Maybe she would feel more sturdy in the morning.
I wish I could protect you here Oh, please don't cry, now, smile
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