A small rodent sat contently on the forest floor, licking its paws and wetting its ears repetitively with an endless supply of energy. Directly underneath it was some freshly upturned soil--the critter had stored another stash of nuts and other nutrients that would probably never be seen again, due to its horrible attention span and long term memory. The mammal's cognitive functions were probably distracted even further from the thoughts of nut gathering by a large object suddenly slamming beside it. The edgy animal squeaked in horror and fled the scene, rising up a tree in seconds. The object was moving rapidly away. This near-catalyst just so happened to be the open-toed shoe on the foot of one Sabertache, mercenary of the Tantari desert. Hair plastered the teen's face as he pushed doggily onward--the sun had already began to rise, and it was filtering through the thick canopy of the forest, casting everything in an eerie green light. He had been pushing forward like a madman, his muscles completely devoid of strength, yet being forced onwards in spite of this handicap. Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide flowed rapidly through his mouth and nostrils, sweat pouring from every pore on his body.

He was chasing.

He had been chasing for a few hours now, engaging his opponent in a footrace that may have been a fool's errand from the start. He had no clue as to which way Lerick had run--or even that Lerick had run at all. Perhaps the assassin was still in the Castle? He knew not. However, Saber knew that Lerick was not in the exact same spot as he, for the mercenary, quite simply, could not see him. That was reason enough to keep moving. However, the mercenary was unaware of what he was about to stumble upon--something far more powerful than an assassin for sure. For that matter, quite a few things stronger than an assassin. Many of these beings came in the form of Rose Hillmound, who, unbeknownst to the mercenary, lay unconscious and beaten in these very woods. Another was the mid-fairy, Natasha, who was also somewhat drained from earlier battle. However, within the forest roamed another...

"I can't...This is as far as I can go..." Saber gasped between deep breaths. How his lungs had managed to get him this far after their feast of smoke, he had no idea. All that he knew was that he was reaching his limit. Supposing he did come upon Lerick now, he would be unable to fight at his best. It didn't help matters that he seemed to have acquired a cut on his calf, and all the injuries from the battle before. He slowed to a light trot, then to a brisk walk, will alone keeping his waist from bending as he firmly pressed onward. "Where...Is he..." He mumbled the phrase that had been on his mind the last few hours, brushing his wet hair aside. To his delight, the now soaked hair stayed out of his eyes this time, being much more manageable when hydrated. That's when he came upon a peculiar sight.

Through the trunks of the trees before him, he saw a few brown threads strewn on the forest floor. Hurrying forward, he soon recognized these threads to be locks of hair; on rounding the trees, he found a head at the base of the hairs. And lo and behold, he discovered an entire body attached to this head. His eyes widened as he saw Sheila spread on the ground, seemingly asleep. He dropped at her side and shook her by the shoulders, too preocuppied with the sight of her persona to look around the woods for anyone else. "Hey...Wake up...Come on..." He was still breathing heavily, but his eyes had taken on a new light--suppose she had seen Lerick? Maybe he had knocked her unconscious? He had to know...

Sheila ached all over, but the bulk of the pain seemed to be concentrated on her stomach and back. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was that faerie telling her to cover her mouth and nose, but however that was supposed to help obviously didn't. Opening her eyes, she noticed the forest background she was in. And then she realized that someone was talking to her. However, he would have to wait.

The young Hylian bolted up. She ignored the pain as she cried, "Uncle!"


Seth struggled to sit up. His back was extremely sore, especially where the twigs he landed on had poked into him. He checked his bow and arrows, which had somehow survived the fall. He then noticed Rose; it looked like she was still out cold.

"Uncle!"

His cousin's voice wasn't too far off. He carefully scooped Rose up into his arms and carried her to Sheila. A man about her age was leaning over her; it looked like he was trying to help her. Still...."Who are you?" he asked, looking at the male Hylian.


The two of them stumbled out of North Forest. "Damn it," Natasha muttered under her breath. "We have to go back in," she said out loud.

Tiberius shook his head. "They'll be fine," he replied. "They'll head back to Ruto Town; we'll just wait for them there."

"But..."

"Look, if we go back in and try to look for them, there's a very good chance we'll keep on missing them. If we go back home, they'll easily find us there."

"Rose wanted to go to North Castle, though."

"We were just attacked up in the highlands. I have no doubt she'll want to know why someone attacked her. We wait back home." The former army man said that last part with enough authority in his voice to make the mid-faerie stop arguing. She sighed and followed the Hylian back towards the Ruto Highlands.

Saber's eyes widened as Sheila responded. This was good, very good! Still, he wondered how she got into this state...However, she seemed to look right past the mercenary, and call out to some relative of hers. Then came an unexpected sight--Two more came into sight--although honestly, they had been in sight the whole time, and the mercenary was just too exhausted to tell. Even more unexpected, however, was the realization that one of them had been in his presence a few hours ago--and now she lay unconcious in the arms of the other. "Rose!" He shouted without thinking, his mind racing. The man she was with seemed to be a knight of some sort. Him and Sheila--were they why Rose had left just before the attack? His eyes paced back and forth over the bodies of all three, observing the ragged condition--as though they had all been beaten recently. Beaten...Could it be? Did he still posess that much strength?

"My name is Sabertache." The mercenary spoke quickly, anxious to get to the point. "Rose came to get you, I presume? What happened here anyways? A man with a katana; did he pass by here? I need to know! What's wrong with Rose? She's not badly hurt, is she?" Lerick could be slipping away as we speak! I need to get moving as fast as possible...But not without knowing where to go in the first place...

So many questions at once. Seth would have decided to go with the last one had the woman in his arms not woke up. "I'm fine, Saber," Rose said, groggily. "Put me down; I think I can stand." Seth did as the Tarm human instructed. She stumbled a bit and grabbed the lieutenant's shoulder for balance. As she transformed her wings away, the druid told the mercenary, "Sorry, I was on my way back with these guys when someone ambushed us up in the air."

"Where's Uncle and that faerie?" Sheila interrupted.

Seth shrugged. "I have no doubt they're fine; Natasha is a cleric after all. Tiberius is going to head back home if he leaves the forest without finding us. We should meet up with him there and then we can investigate where we were initially attacked."

"Sounds like a plan," Rose replied. She turned to the younger of the two male Hylians. "I'm sorry, but I want to know why I was attacked. With luck, I might get done soon and can help you with your investigation."

Sheila shrugged. "Maybe some supreme cosmic being has it so that we end up investigating the same person or group of people."

Seth and Rose looked at her. "Your mom always said you should be a story teller," the bowman said.

OOC: Sorry. I couldn't help breaking the fourth wall.

OOC: Fine, but you're cleaning up all the glass.

IC: Saber's face lit up when Rose took to her own two feet, but soon fell as she spoke. He looked at the ground and gave a weak laugh. "Hah...Yeah...About investigating...That's...Well, that's probably not going to happen anymore...Anyways, tell me more about how you got attacked. I need to know this, tell me everything that's happened!" He looked up with new determination, his mind set on avenging his friends. He lost Lerick. That much was certain. However, he would worry about that later. After all, perhaps the object of his infatuation was correct?

_________________________________

"Are you...?" Came an unsteady voice from behind Natasha and Tiberius. A large Goron lumbered out of the woods. (OOC: Haha. 'Lumber'ed our of the 'wood's!) His hardened, empty eyes roved over the beaten figures. "I believe so...Okay." The figure lifted its weapon--a large, stone mace, splattered with somewhat fresh blood.

OOC:

STATS

Goron Grunt/Mercenary

Level=11

HP:40+20(Exceptional Health)=60
STR:3+3(Race)+3(Goron Strength)+10(Mace) =19
5(Dagger)=14
DEF:3+14(Armor)=17
AGI:2=2
INT:1=1
SPI:1=1
SPL:12

20 Talent Points spent

SKILLS:
L3 Goron Strength=3 TP
L3 Exceptional Health=8 TP
L3 Disarm=6 TP
L2 Dual Wield=3 TP

You can do the first attack, please post their stats again and cut the HP in half due to their beating.

OOC: That's why I'm borrowing the Oompa Loompas from Wonka.

IC:
The Tarm druid went over the attack, helped out by Seth and Sheila. When she was done telling her tale, it dawned on her just how tired she was. "Right now, though, we should rest a bit and recover." The two cousins certainly wasn't going to argue against that; though they had fell off Rose when she was low to the ground, they had still suffered bruises. "What happened after I left, Saber?"

OOC: Assume that they all know each other now? I'm sure Rose would've mentioned Sheila and Seth in her narrative.


IC:
The Hylian and the mid-faerie turned around. There was no doubt that this Goron was responsible for the sight they witnessed earlier. He looked to be ready for a fight. Unfortunately, Natasha and Tiberius were not.

"Wait, please don't!" the small woman cried out. "I think there was a misunderstanding!"

OOC:
Stats'd

...

Never, ever say that.

Tiberius Sinai
Level 19
Base Class: Grunt
Main Class: Vassal
STR 3 (base) + 3 (Goron STR L3) = 6
DEF 3 (base) + 14 (armor) + 3 (Human DEF L3) + 5 (AGI) = 25
AGI 2 (base) + 3 (Deku AGIL 3) = 5
INT 1 (base) + 3 (racial) = 4
SPI 1 (base) + 2 (Zora SPI L2) = 3
HP 40 (base) + 3 (SPI) + 50 (Exceptional Health L3) = 46 (halved)
MP 19 (level 19 x base 1) + 3 (SPI) = 22
Will 19 (level) + 3 (SPI) = 9 (capped)
Sword Damage 5 (weapon) + 6 (STR) = 11
Exceptional Health L3
Royal Spirit L3 (when under 25% HP, heal for up to 50% max HP)
Leadership L2
Honorable Kill

Name: Natasha
Level: 15
Base Class: Scholar
Main Class: Cleric
STR: 1 (base) = 1
DEF/AC: 2 (base) + 10 (L1 Tunic) + 1 (AGI) + 1 (Human Defense L1) = 14
AGI: 1 (base) = 1
INT: 3 (base) + 3 (racial) + 2 (Hylian Intelligence L2) = 8
SPI: 3 (base) + 1 (Zora Spirit L1) = 4
HP: 20 (base) + 4 (SPI) + 50 (Exceptional Health L3) = 74
SPL: 45 (level x base 3) + 4 (SPI) + 5 (Exceptional Spell L3) = 27 (halved)
Magic Damage: 15 (level) + 3 (base) + 8 (INT) = 26
Temple Services L1 (Costs 10 SPL)
Elemental Burst L2 (Costs 6 SPL)

OOC: Oh, good idea. Are you prepared to meet their demands, though? They've got a tough union.

IC:"Well, it all went to hell." The mercenary sighed, downtrodden by the news of Rose's hardships. "You see, we tried to get the name. The innkeeper went over and started looking over the files, but...Well, he was killed. Just out of nowhere. These assassins came in, there was a fight, and...Well, the place burned down. The inn is completely gone now." He lifted his eyes, observing the wounds his allies had suffered, looking more often at Sheila then the rest, perhaps noticeably. His own wounds now became noticeable to him--he had a cut on his right calf, and a severe bruising along his inner thighs. His arms were nicked and scraped from the ordeal, and his face had streaks of soot from the fire. He looked at Sheila again. "Do you need help dressing any of your wounds? I...I have some poultice and such with me. I can heal it up for you. Or, you know, I can give you some stuff to do it yourself, whatever you're comfortable with..." Deciding he had sufficiently embarrased himself and thankful his blackened face hid the blushing, he turned to Seth, who seemed to be the hardiest fighter of the group.

"I see you have a bow with you...I...Well, I never really learned how to use one, truth be told. It would probably be a handy skill, no?" He sat down where he was and stared at the ground, trying to decide what to do. It was obvious they weren't going anywhere for a while. He may as well make good use of the time. "So then...How exactly do you go about using a bow? I mean, I know you shoot arrows from it, but..." He brushed his hair aside swiftly, trying to think of how to request archery help without seeming a simpleton.

_______________________________

"No...No mistake..."

The Goron approached, cocking his head. He hadn't seen a miniscule lady such as this one before. With wings, too. Weren't fairies supposed to have wings? But fairies were small...Perhaps it was an elaborate costume? "No mistake. The old one was with the girl, they said. You are with him." He hefted his mace, opening his mouth as if to say more while his eyes darting back and forth between the two. He stood there for a few seconds, his mouth twitching a little as he seemed to be thinking something. Suddenly, he leapt forward, swinging his mace across at Tiberius' side, slamming it into his sheath and breaking it off. Had Tiberius not lost his sword earlier, he certainly would have now. (Disarm LVL3=got a 21 for Innate)

Junter--60 HP, 12 SPL

Tiberius--27 HP, 22 SPL
Natasha--37 HP, 54 SPL