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 Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 10:36 am
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:13 pm
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════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Lorant ▲═════════════════════════════════════▲ ▲═════════════════════════════════════
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Into the darkness they went, leaving the newly empowered Skull Kid and a few die-hard soldiers from the Lost Forest of Hyrule to square off with Ganondorf and his immortal army. Link was too beaten to protest physically, but his eyes showed wounded pride among other sore feelings. Commander James had to shove him into the cart, climbing on last after fending off attacks to himself and the rations and cargo. There, not moving but hearing, Link laid curled in darkness between crates and satchels.
Ambiance was scooted into the passenger cart of the caravan and told that everything was going to be alright. A few of the knights came along, guarding the outermost ring of the wagon-train, but most of those who were armed wore black suits with smaller plates underneath to protect the most commonly stricken areas. Most of those around her were nobles she would have seen before, but some were just regular old civilians. Apparently the scramble for space had equalised the standings somewhat. Throughout the caravan there were about fifty Hyruleans and one from Labrynna.
Somewhere outside the Lost Woods someone from the back of the train shouted that the Commander was lost. Leave him! said the man at the reigns. By the time they reached the lost woods the horses were tired and all but the guards and mages were beginning to nod off. Sleeping shifts were already being discussed in low chatter as, from a hidden compartment, a stack of firewood was brought out and placed at the foot of a rock in the first clearing they saw after reaching Termina.
The forest there was ruined just like the whole of Hyrule was west of Castle Town. All the trees seemed to be hanging their heads in accordance with the silence of what was death and fear in the fauna all around. Nothing but grey, black, and dirty copper to color the scene. There were small faeries, and if one listened carefully they could hear what could be described as a kind of dirge rising over the poisoned ferns. The horses broke up the silence, clopping around, free of their tethers, and laying down to have their feet fussed over by wagoneers. Link was pulled reluctantly out to sit with the leaders at the fire. He stayed silent.
"What do you suppose we do now?"
"What do you mean? Just have to hope we can make it to Clock Town Tomorrow."
"That's not what I mean! I'm talking about the Commander. What do we do without him?"
"... It can't be helped." Guffaws and growls were the general's answer. He help up a held just inches from his stick with some poor rodent on the end. "He'd make us carry ourselves like good Hylian Knights. The kind they used to tell stories about." He couldn't help chuckling to himself, shaking his head as his eyes caught glints of embers from the fire. "He fancied himself one of those men, who was cool and unshakable in any situation. Poor b*****d. Made himself hold true to that until the end...."
"So we've got to at least be decent." His eyes returned to the one who'd questioned him. "If you want to do anything for Commander James, that's the only thing can be done now."
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 4:50 pm
 Ambiance~
Aura of Peace Oh, if only I could have been there
I'd be a hand for the sinking
Ambiance found that she had very little to say. She felt a strange mix of failed disappointment and that she was still shaking from the surprise and the recurring fear of what she had seen. They just... tore through the armies. Tore through everyone she had been working with, and who had been training... all that time? What was the point of it?
She anxiously took to walking when the caravan finally did stop. She had been sitting too long on the wagon today, and she hadn't been able to disseminate what she had witnessed or how little she felt that she had been able to do in that situation. Of course the commander had to leap into action. She hadn't been able to. She couldn't do anything.
She just watched.
She trembled and turned back again, not caring in the slightest if she was wearing a path in the grass they decided to circle the wagons around. How would this end?
Ambiance didn't know. All she could focus on were the panicked screams of soldiers that tried to fight, and were overwhelmed. The civilians that scrambled for safety...
She didn't know what she could do.
I wish I could protect you here
Oh, please don't cry, now, smile OoC:
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:07 pm
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════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ There was always one who seemed to simply appear in a population like this. In the confusion, diving, swaying, running, falling, the shapeshifter of Castle Town's backalleys spent most of his lives there on the battlefield. Somehow he managed to survive annihilation and made it onto the wagon, clutching the underside of the rig until he could bend himself up into the cargo area.
He remembered be splashed with mud, hating ever moment he made to see filth tough him than death itself. At some point he was greeted with the unfriendly prodding of a solider, wondering how it was that he had gotten on board, why didn't he seek them out and let them know he was there, did he still feel normal, and at this point Mr. Lorant demonstrated his abilities of persuasion and was allowed to join the camp.
After a brief talk with the Hero, Lorant found himself a slice of the view from the campfire and propped himself up on the trunk of an old, sturdy tree.
"Tomorrow we'll meet the Clock Town officials..." the conversation was paced like the popping of the firewood; the men seemed not to be aware of much but trauma disguised as smalltalk.
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:49 pm
Ambiance~
Aura of Peace Oh, if only I could have been there
I'd be a hand for the sinking
Ambiance hoped to eventually convince herself that she was alright. She knew the others had experienced the same thing she did, so in a way, it was comforting not to have to explain what happened. At the same time, they were reacting differently, and even seemed to be calm compared to her anxious pacing.
Then, somehow, Lorant. She stopped and seemed surprised by him. Her expression suggested that she had no idea how he got there, or even who he was at first. As she calmed herself, she saw that he was... generally intact. He had somehow survived, but whether or not he could account for the experience...
He must have been aware enough, if he was there and part of this caravan. He was a master of disguise, so maybe that was it and she hadn't recognized him at first.
"Hi," she started to say, only to realize that she had only whispered and said nothing. She cleared her throat to try again. "Hey. Are you alright?"
I wish I could protect you here
Oh, please don't cry, now, smile OoC:
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 8:54 pm
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Of course, the chameleon saw her coming. He was shaken up as well, but seemed to show it not with any kind of langor but with, "Oh, sure!" --a flick of the wrist and upturned snout--with sarcasm, as good as any coping mechanism.
... But...
Damnit! He couldn't be that callous. His shoulders pumped out a huff of a sigh. "I almost didn't make it... I'm glad at least you're alright."
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:09 pm
Ambiance~
Aura of Peace Oh, if only I could have been there
I'd be a hand for the sinking
Ambiance nodded slowly. Yeah, it would figure. He looked alright. She moved closer and sat down not too far away, finally forcing herself to stop moving. She folded her legs and braced herself on her knees. Her hands folded in front of her, perhaps more tightly than she should have, but...
She took a slow breath in and then exhaled again. "I.. was... I'm not as... knowledgeable. Was the king of the Gerudians always so terrifying?"
And not just him... but his armies... He commanded armies. First it was the beasts of the twilight realm... and now..? How much could any of them outrun?
I wish I could protect you here
Oh, please don't cry, now, smile OoC:
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:25 pm
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"I almost forget you're not one of us," mused the chameleon lightly as he sat nest to her, allowing their shoulders to touch softly. A short pause; Lorant fumbled something, maybe grass, in his fingers before answering this question seriously.
"... Yes." His head bowed just a bit, angling his line of sight at the tips of their toes. "Whenever there is a king among them, there is violence against the Hylians. That's just how it goes--he is, after all, the king of thieves." Something in the way this sentence seemed to sour in his throat. "--And thieves always strike fear into the state."
He lifted his head and permitted a smile to surface from the gloomy mask there that formed over him, looking into the edge of the canopy. "I hear we keep their race alive," he said, laughing. "The king is only king because he is the only male born every hundred years--the gerudo are not long-lived; some Hylians simply are more tan than others..."
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:35 pm
Ambiance~
Aura of Peace Oh, if only I could have been there
I'd be a hand for the sinking
There was some attempt at humor there, but at the moment, Ambiance couldn't focus on the possibility of intermarrying or interbreeding between one race and another. What she saw, and what she felt, still... was that there had been a great battle and that it had been very violent... and also that it hadn't seemed likely to stop.
She looked to Lorant and tried to find stability in the smile that he offered. His support and the information he shared helped her understand more. This was normal? Or... was the matter of course every hundred years?
"Why does he bring war..? Why is there such contention between Hyrule and the Gerudians?" And how much could she believe? Thieves did not mass in force and slaughter... they preferred to raid, didn't they?
I wish I could protect you here
Oh, please don't cry, now, smile OoC:
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:13 pm
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"Not sure." Really it was nearly impossible to say. Sure, the history books said some things, but... "Some believe the Gerudo feel cheated, oppressed. That we're the bad guys." He shook his head. Admittedly the laugh that followed was forced, as he turned his attention to the ground again, but it was the ridiculousness that kept people like him entertained. The shame he felt that his dark wishes were granted... Unbearable.
"I'm no historian," admitted the chameleon, "but if I've learned anything it's that Ganondorf always remains a thief, hidden, unassuming, until it's time to strike."
"Of course, we're all taught that the legend is something we have to live with now. Once Zelda is born, there must be a Hero named Link and a terrible king called Ganondorf. We've been trying to make nice with the Gerudo because of that, but..."
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:30 pm
Ambiance~
Aura of Peace Oh, if only I could have been there
I'd be a hand for the sinking
Ambiance took in this information, and hearing the feelings woven into the expressed words, she looked to his face. He was laughing, but there was despondency in his expression and in his demeanor. It was in his eyes, mostly.
The legend was something they had to live with. As long as there was Zelda, there would have to be Link. If link, then Ganondorf. And despite all attempts to make things fair between them all, war came and swamped their efforts. ... Indeed... it felt like a flood to them, overtaking without discretion.
Perhaps, then, she was glad that the terrifying king had given her little more than a glance and took no interest in her. She rarely felt so small, despite her determination to carry herself in a way that would make her ancestors proud. Could she have tried to prevent a war? Could there have possibly been anything she could have done?
Logically, no. Emotionally... she agonized over what she couldn't do.
"... How does it usually end?"
I wish I could protect you here
Oh, please don't cry, now, smile OoC:
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Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:02 pm
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"Depends," said the Hylian.
"Whenever a hero wins, Hyrule thrives. Whenever he loses..." He shook his head.
He didn't need to say all that. More than anything he was just talking to himself. "--There were two times when the Hero's loss was felt especially hard."
"But... At least the next Hero will come along and correct things." He offered a weak shrug and smile, patting Ambiance's shoulder on the way up. Lorant seemed tired. He didn't so much bounce off like a lithe alleycat like he normally did; instead he slunk away heavily into the dark sepia woods.
In the morning they would leave for Clock town,
arriving around noon. Link was no quick to avoid conversation...
[exit]
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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