kasei wanders through the stock-pot inn, wondering how he could get to death mtn.

does anyone in here have a clue how were gonna get past ghoma?

OOC: Kasei, you can't get past Ghoma yet, since the North-South Pass isn't even open yet. Now then, on with Nogare's post...

IC: Seeing Nogare appear suddenly in the doorway of the room, Victor smiled warmly and beckoned him to join them.

"Nogare! I would've never expected you to show up here! Yes, yes, my father is right here..."

Pointing to William, who was still asleep, the Bard brought out the harp once more and showed it to Nogare.

"You see, my father, William, is a Bard like me, and he came to Hyrule to... well, long story short, he got attacked in Parapa Desert and was stabbed with an enchanted dagger, causing a wound which can't be healed by magic. So we brought him here to rest, and he passed his magical harp down to me."

Proudly showing off his gift, Victor quickly plucked at a string to show the magical properties of the instrument. The tick-tocking of a grandfather clock could be heard briefly before the string's vibrations ceased. Smiling, he set the harp down on the nearest table and nodded towards Celine.

"Celine here came by just as Alpha tried to heal my father. She explained the whole situation to us, having heard of something like it before."

Celine smiled and bowed, then the Bard continued.

"So... why the curiosity about my father...?"

Suddenly Nogare thought back to when Vordan and Null were in need of help a while ago... When he looked at who was there...

I wrote...

He looked at who was there. There was the Sheikah he was just talking with, and another, and Four Hylians. Three had staffs, like his, but they were curved at the top. A Sheikah and a Hylian had bows. The Hylian Archerseemed to catch his attention; he had black hair, and still had a smile, even though the times where evil. He looked familiar somehow. Where had he seen him before...?

Nogare fell to the ground, shocked by the sudden pain. He was whipped in the solarplex, where the air was knocked out of him, and he fell to the ground, holding his stomach hard. He could not hear the noise of the battle, and he was uncontuse very quickly. All he could only sense a Hylian approching nearby, about to join the battle; the same one he saw in the Courtyard. But he could not see who it was before he fell into a painful sleep...

He has also seen him in the Tavern in the Caravan Quarter talking to Null and Vordan before him. And seeing them after. He just never learned him name...

"Yeah, I rememeber you! You were the Archer who came to help me in that fight against the Bokoblins just North of here, and helping Kakura, and..." He paused. "Well, I had a father once, and he's mostly all I think about. He was killed almost a month ago now..." Nogare paused, and hesitated to say more.
[/quote]

"Hmm... a month ago, eh? Well... I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you're doing alright."

Victor looked around the room at all his friends, companions, and fellow adventurers. They were all here to help, or at least show some concern. This was what Hyrule was all about, brothership and helping others. He felt very much at home, for the first time in many, many years.

"Y'know you guys, this is really gre-"

CRASH!!!

"What was that?!?" cried Celine, glancing quickly towards the front of the Inn. The sound had come distinctly from that direction, and she stood up to head towards the door.

Victor, on the other hand, had promptly situated himself under his father's bed, trembling and muttering "Duck and cover!" to himself repeatedly. His father, William, was still fast asleep. It looked like what the younger Bard had said before was true. The harp, which might have fallen due to the Inn's shaking after the crash, stood steadfast on the table Victor had just set it on, somehow.

And then Celine was back, pointing frantically out the room's door, as well as the Inn's.

"There seems to be some kind of commotion coming from outside the Inn, in the forest. Let's go, we may be under attack!"

Running out into the hallway, the last anyone could see of Celine was her waving hand, beckoning the rest to follow her. Acting on the girl's command, Victor crawled out from under the bed and grabbed his things with shaking hands, including the harp. With one last look at his sleeping father, he followed the Scholar out into the hall...

OOC: For time's sake, let's say everyone there follows, OK? Alpha, you can go ahead and post that you followed after this. No one else is left.... for now, anyways.

IC: Now gathered in the Inn lobby, the small group peered carefully through the windows. A few others had begun to filter in as well, perhaps to escape, perhaps just to see what all the hubbub was about. Either way, Celine could be seen pointing yet again. Someone should tell her it's rude.

"Look, look at that! It's a boulder, a... a rather giant boulder!"

There were hints of fear and amazement in her voice, and she beckoned the rest to join her at the window. When Victor gazed out, he immediately saw what she was speaking of.

It was, after all, a quarter the size of the Inn.

The rock seemed to have missed by a hair, cracking the earth immediately before the Inn but not damaging the building itself. Of course, a few cracks could be seen in the wall... but that was only due to the shockwave. The Inn was in perfect shape, yet Victor seemed more frightened than ever. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was meant for him somehow.

"GIVE GEO HARP!!!"

The Bard gulped loudly.

So they had come back for the harp, the harp he was now holding. He made a futile attempt to hide it behind him, though he knew it wouldn't help much if whatever had tossed that rock found them huddled here. He glanced at Celine. She seemed shaken as well at the request for the harp, and he caught her glancing at the instrument. Sighing heavily, he turned to her and the others.

"Well... it looks like I'll have to go out there. I can't let whoever that is out there throw another one of those rocks and hurt innocent bystanders. I'll... I'll have to go out... alone?"

With the last word he did not move, however, but stood there with the harp still behind him, looking to his friends with a hangdog look. Celine was the first to give in.

"OK, OK, fine. I'll back you up with a few spells, I suppose!"

Happy but not completely satisfied, Victor mouthed a thanks to Celine and looked to his other friends for more help...

OOC: This thing is starting again, so help me! POST! POST NOW!

Blank was dreaming again. He lay on the comfortable mattress of the inn bed, smiling like a child with candy, sprawled out with the covers messed up and untidy around him. A leg hung off the side of the bed, and his arms twitched in subconscious glee as he succumbed to the strange and mystical dream world.

He was garbed in the Knight uniform that he had worn for eight years of his life. Reality Blank would feel a pang of sadness overwhelm him at the sight of the armor, but Dream Blank carried on as though he was still a Knight of Calatia. He wandered the countryside regally, but alone nonetheless. Perhaps this Blank was a successful mixture of his past and present selves; Knight and nomad, combined into one super-Blank. The thought never even reached him with all of the glorious happenings of the dream.

Already he had slain a band of Moblin thieves, rescued five cats from trees, stormed a fortress to slay a dragon (it's head was in the mail!), and now he was moving towards saving the maiden fair of Vilemount Heights! When this endeavor had been completed, he was being decorated with medals, ribbons and Rupees for his honorable deed.

The maiden was giving a speech on his bravery, muscle, and overall greatness, when suddenly, as though dropped from the heavens, a gigantic boulder came crashing down. Blank stood, jaw agape as the oversized rock crushed the woman out of sight. The Knight was surprised, to say the least, but it wasn't until a large mouth and pair of dark globule eyes formed on the boulder that he stepped back in sheer confusion.

“GIVE GEO HARP!!!” it bellowed at him, knocking him back. He fell to the ground and held up a gauntlet-clad hand as if to say “Wait!” and wondered what was going on. “I... I don't even own a harp!” he stuttered back in reply, panic now overwhelming him. His journey had come to an end. The dream world faded out and Blank found himself upright in bed, eyes wide with fear.

Shaking it off, he hopped out of bed and listened to the commotion outside. Quickly grabbing his sword and bolting out the door, the nomad saw Victor, a fellow Hylian and friend. “Victor!” he shouted as he approached the bard. “What's all the racket? We nomads need our sleep, you know.”

I can't believe this! Not again! Annoyed, the boy opened his eyes and looked towards the ceiling of his room, his face sporting a notable lack of sleep and rather great nuisance. "It's the third time this damned week!" - he muttered, his voice sounding moire than a loathing grunt than actual speech - be it the drowsiness or the irritation he felt that made the comment incomprehensible. Pushing out the sheets that covered his body, the youth got up, still wearing his special sleeping garments - the combination of a silk-woven shirt and trousers of an azure hue that seemed slightly larger than him - thus why his sleeves and pants were bent on the tips - so that his hands and feet weren't inside the clothes themselves. He walked towards the window of the bedroom he had just rented a few hours ago and pushed away the curtains, in order to see what was going on. Unfortunately, his window was in the direction opposite to the entrance, and as such, he was unable to catch anything out of the ordinary. Cursing to himself, he sluggishly walked back to the bed, and, covering himself completely with the sheets as a frail method of keeping out the undesired sound, tried to go back to sleep.

Tried, but is lack of success came out obvious when he heard shouting from the corridor and people running towards the exit. Annoyed, he once again walked towards the opening in his room and opened up his window, placing his hands firmly on the balcony. "CAN YOU PEOPLE JUST SHUT UP?!!" - he yelled out, his displeasure noticeable. Not bothering to close it, the boy took of his clothes whilst bathed by the moonlight, switching into his most regular mage attire, the pyjamas being retreated into the cloak's back pocket. Grabbing his staff, he bolted out of the door, in order to take care of this pest personally. First the damned Mad Deku spitting seeds at me, then that bloody fireworks show... maybe I'll just burn this place to ashes to see if I can finally get some silence! - he pondered quietly, as he walked down the corridor towards the entrance, bent on punishing whoever had woken him from his sleep. Painfully.

Reaching the main hall, he spotted a few known travellers - namely Victor the bard and Blank the Nomad - in the midst of other unknown people. That's when he looked outside, and watched a rather... oversized boulder occupying the main square. That wasn't definitely here a few moments ago. He sighed. Sheesh... even when I'm not adventuring, the adventure comes to me. Couldn't it have just waited until morning?! He moved closer to the other adventurers, yet not muttering a word, instead listening in the details. Apparently, the author of this fine piece of work was after Victor's harp. "I'll back you up." - he spoke out, not even bothering with greeting the others. Yet his will to help was not only for the bard's contempt. No... whoever did this made the ruckus. So, that meant that if he went with Victor, he'd get the culprit of waking him up. He grinned, pondering in many maleficent desires. Whoever did this would be taught that it was not wise to wake up the youth when he was desiring to sleep. Not healthy, either.

Alpha leans back against the wall as he takes a quick glance towards Celine again. Well, she'd given a viable reason for her to be there, but . . . he just can't shake the feeling. Probably his own fault, his own natural inclination to not trust people he doesn't know very well. Coupled with the fact that she had come along at an incredibly fortuitous moment . . . suspicion is almost impossible for the Sheikah to avoid. Well, he may not be too terribly comfortable around her, but . . . whatever. He'll just have to figure out someway to deal with it-

Suddenly the entire inn shakes uncontrollably, causing the Sheikah to lose his footing for a few moments. He stumbles forward, catching himself with a hand on the wall and remaining in that way until the rumbling has faded into the distance. Casting a humored look at Victor's newly adopted pose, he swiftly follows Celine out to figure out what the heck just happened. He brushes past her while she informs the rest of the group - '"some kind of commotion coming from outside the Inn"? Yes, Celine, I think that was obvious enough already . . .' - only to have her dart past him with a running start. She sure moves fast . . .

He quickly starts moving at the same speed, finding her pointing towards the enormous boulder darting all over the place. Even Alpha has to raise an eyebrow after finding himself staring at such a monstrous rock . . . one that seems to be alive. 'Give Geo harp? Hm. Is it a boulder . . . or a . . . a Goron?' Well, it's possible . . . legends tell of the Hero of Time receiving a mighty blade from one known as Biggoron, who would've been this size - or maybe even bigger, for all he knows.

Then Victor starts speaking, talking about going after it . . . alone? Alpha chuckles slightly at that sound of the Bard's hinted-at fear, not even bothering to report that he'll be joining the group as well - after all, at this point, if Victor doesn't know that the Sheikah will back him up, then . . . well . . . then that's kinda pathetic.

Hm, then again, it is Victor . . . whatever. He'll be going anyway, so does it really matter if Vic realizes it or not?

OOC: It's so hard to not mess this up and write in something that isn't there (aka godmod)... so this'll be vairyvairy brief until we get more spacial details. *grin* Though... you guys' good examples make me feel like I need to get more introspective with Arco these days...

IC:

He leaned to one side at the peak of a hill, his clean coat flapping about him as he stared into the distance at...
He'd trailed it all the way from the mountains, always making sure to keep an ample distance between himself and his target... even up till--

Errr. That--what just happened--definitely changed things. That is, as soon as Arco saw the huge boulder in the air, he was gone, a memory of a shadow of a blur--in silhouette--taking off down the hill towards the Inn and his quarry.

OOC: Due to much nagging from KP(basically what he's known for), I'll be jumping into this little thing. You can thank KP and Tyler Heath.

IC:
It was dark. A shadow shot through the dimly lit cavern. Pants were heard, the way being lit before the man. "Left." he commanded, as he and his comrades made a sharp left turn. His senses were attuned to the darkness, and only he could lead his team to victory. The hallway was lit before him, and he then saw a sharp right turn. "Right!" He shouted, as the team took another twist down the hallway. The boy stopped. He stared ahead, and smiled. "Alright, its safe. Go ahead." Light illuminated the hall. Just as the young samurai had said, there were no enemies or competitors ahead. The young Rito next to him had already had a light spell glowing brightly, and the mage to his left had a magical barrier set up in front of them. The young samurai frowned. "Fang... You don't trust me?" The mage turned to him, and smirked. "Just don't want to take chances." Darkin held the light spell carefully in his hands. They were about to advance towards the finish, when a sudden shock went through the dark hallway. Dogura shot up in his bed. He looked around, and pondered where he was. It all came rushing back to him like the memories long passed in the reoccurring dream he's had at every monthly sleep for the past three months.

He couldn't help but wonder what it was trying to tell him... what it was trying to get the man to remember. He shook the puzzling dilemma, and pulled the covers away from him. He placed his feet on the unnecessarily cold wooden floor, and stood up, gaining his center of balance that had been long lost during his sleep. The cold temperature of the inn made every hair on his body stand on end. Covered in goosebumps, the samurai slipped into his robe, and slid into his tabi. Nothing awoke him from that dream until a certain point. For some reason or another, he had awakened from his slumber, and decided to take advantage of the night-life. After all, he was thirsty, and decided to head down to the cafe for a cup of tea- No, Zora wine. He was feeling adventurous and wild, and decided that a little alcohol wouldn't kill him. After grabbing his dagger for some means of protection, and a candle, he grabbed his key, and locked the door behind him as he stepped out of his room, and lit the wick.

He walked down the hallway, and listened to the boards of the inn speak to him in a language that he struggled to understand. The boards seemed to want to put a word in every time he took a step- perhaps a rude comment about his weight. He cursed their words, and decided that maybe he should just stick with a cup of tea. The time was still unknown to the ranger, and he had no idea just who he might be waking. He certainly didn't want any of the guests angry with him. This was his escape from reality. Rauru was a peaceful town with peaceful folk. They didn't see much action, and so the young considered it a rare treat if anything extraordinary happened. He began to hear something that he picked out as his imagination playing tricks on him. A faint murmuring from the lobby caught his ears. He knew for certain that his senses, unless under an enemy's spell or illusion, never deceived him. He began to walk a little faster, as the faint talking grew louder, stronger, and clearer, much like the intentions of the samurai.

He was a curious man of sorts, and always wanted to know every last detail of a situation. His curiosity was most likely the reason he was so intelligent. Whenever he heard a story, of war, of folklore, of peace, of prosperity, he always wanted to possess top knowledge of the tale. This didn't make the samurai's wait any more bearable. He walked a bit faster, until he reached the stairs that lead down into the lobby. He quickly made his way down the steps, and turned the corner to see a good number of people gathered in the room. The samurai stepped into the room, and followed the public's gaze, which lead out the window. Dogura's eyes showed no more signs of sleep after his vision collided with what would seem to be a large... boulder? The murmuring also spoke of the boulder, and so Dogura concluded that it was in fact a boulder of Goron-mining proportions. He stared at it in amazement, and then realized that the boulder must have been aimed at the inn... but who would attack such a peaceful town? This did something that the attacker would regret. It piqued Dogura's curiosity. The samurai looked around the room for a notable source of information. Thats when his field of vision struck something that he was surprised he missed.

Perhaps the tallest Sheikah he had ever laid eyes on; and menacing at that. Of course, the people in the lobby were sure to stay clear of the shady one. Always. Many a man would sooner stand on a Moblin's foot before he would stand a foot from the power-house mage Dogura had come to know as Alpha. The samurai thought back to the first time he had come to meet the mage. It was somewhere in Parapa if he recalled correctly, and he had been uneasy around him. Alpha was normally not one to cause trouble, rather, he did all he could to avoid it. But if you were ever on the receiving end of an Alpha empowered elemental burst, you wouldn't likely walk away from it with a chipper melody. The samurai had also come to know him as a friend. An ally. Dogura nodded to Alpha in a silent greeting, and approached Blank, who ironically, had stayed the night in Rauru as well. Alpha wasn't a man of many words, but Blank, one of Dogura's closest friends in North Hyrule, was a man of too many. Dogura saw that his companion was still showing signs of grogginess, and decided not to shock him.

The samurai stood before his friend, and smiled. "I see you've stayed the night here as well. Odd. Alpha and I somehow stayed here the very night you did!" He gestured to Alpha's location with a slight flick of his head, and then stood next to Blank, staring again out the window. "I would guess this was an attack. What motives could anyone have for attacking one of my favorite retreats?" He stared out at the boulder once more, and shifted his eyes across the room. He licked his index finger, and thumb, and put out the flame that was eating away at the wick of his candle. It was lit in the room, and he no longer needed the light from the candle that he was provided with upon booking a room. He placed it on the counter behind him, and stretched a little bit. His legs felt marvelous as they stretched to their full potential. All he needed was a good night's sleep, and the inn never failed him! He had apparently forgotten why he had come down to the lobby in the first place, as he took no interest in the cafe. It wouldn't have mattered much anyways, there was nobody at the concession. Whoever had been working there must have been among them, staring at the spectacle that was the boulder.

Dogura began to think of the issue at hand in all angles. He would be jumping to conclusions if he had just proclaimed it an attack. Accidents happen, like it or not. But one thing stuck to his mind like a chu-chu to jelly. While it didn't make sense for a large boulder to just drop from the sky, the samurai wouldn't expect it to. It was extremely close to the inn, and it was possible; neigh, probable that if it had struck the inn, it would have killed the samurai, along with most of the people staying at the inn. An attack on the inn certainly wouldn't mean a good business pull factor. And so Dogura immediately knew that even if an employee knew anything about it being an attack, they would have been forced to keep silent. Dogura pondered, as he awaited someone to take action. Should nobody step forward in the coming minutes, he himself would say something.

OOC: Good to be back. Thanks for the nagging KP, it felt good to write this.

OOC: Alright, well, I'm going to just go ahead and end this topic with this post. My story will continue, fear not, but since most of the people here aren't around anymore to respond I'm taking this topic into my own hands. Don't worry, it actually turns out just fine.

IC: Sensing a general feeling of agreement throughout the group, Victor figured they would all join him outside as backup against... whatever creature enjoys tossing boulders at Inns. Still, he grasped his harp a bit tighter. Whatever it was wanted his instrument. He almost felt that he should leave it inside the Inn, if only because the unseen enemy would have a harder time getting at it that way. But then it would probably get stolen, or damaged, or taken to the lost and found and never seen again, and the Bard simply could not stand that idea. So instead he tightened the strap holding the harp on his back and unsheathed his dagger, motioning with his head towards the Inn entrance and taking a few careful steps in its direction.

Outside was a large Goron. Or, rather, an extremely large Goron clad in black robes, with sinister-looking scars across his exposed face and another ridiculously large boulder held above his head via his two, equally ridiculous and also large arms. Some Inn patrons who had perhaps exited the Inn looking for a relaxing stroll in the forest were running around, panicking, flailing their arms, or some combination of the three. The Goron calmly snarled in the direction of the Inn's doorway, which framed the slender, trembling figure of a Hylian Bard.

"Eek," he squeaked softly, as if the Goron had not yet noticed him standing in plain view.

But at that very moment, a group of adventurers began to exit the Inn behind him. Celine had a spell already glowing in her hands, itching to be fired at its target, and all manner of swords, shields, staves, and weapons were readied in the other adventurers' hands. Victor glanced backwards a few times towards this ragtag group of comrades, and he eased up a bit. No matter how powerful this Goron was, they still had numbers on their side. Of course, they would need it, for it seemed no one man would be capable of defeating this particular Goron. A new air of quasi-confidence instilled in the Bard, he lifted his dagger in the direction of the new enemy and opened his mouth to deliver a rousing battle cry that would spur the team to victory against this behemoth, and would go down in history as "Victor Yell", and would be heard mimicked in the voices of children who were, in their imaginations, the legendary hero Bard called Victor.

Of course, this epic cry never actually left his lips. For, just as he was about to deliver it, another was heard above their heads.

Out from the treetops, or the Inn roof, or some unknown high place came the source of this other yell, a dashing young Sheikah glad in gold-plated armor and a green, feathered hat and swinging on a rope towards the very menace Victor and his group were about to confront. The Bard glanced up at this man, his mouth still open but his dagger now drooping, and recognized him to be Eximius Validus. He frowned.

But Ex smiled confidently as he swung down upon the now-confused Goron. The Vassal wasted no time in pulling out his hand-crafted hammer, beautiful in all its wooden glory with its iron heads gleaming in the moonlight. Celine quietly swooned and, hearing this, Victor's frown grew downwards. Eximius did not notice any of this, however, for he was concentrating on the boulder above the Goron's head. The Sheikah waited until the peak of his swing to release the rope and tumble through the air as smoothly as a Rito. Then, just as he reached the front of the boulder, he lifted his hammer, cracked a wide smile, and shouted,

"Only those without sin should be throwing stones!"

And, without further hesitation, brought his hammer squarely down upon the top of the Goron's boulder. Eximius fell to the ground but landed on his feet, only to look straight into the eyes of the Goron, his smile never faltering. For a few moments there was only stunned silence; then a quiet crackling sound could be heard. A few of the panicking patrons (who had now stopped to witness a spectacle they would recite to their children and their children's children) looked suddenly towards the Inn, thinking that it was caving in on itself. But in reality, the crackling came from the boulder that had yet to be thrown. This crackling turned to cracking sounds, which were mirrored in the thin veins spreading down the boulder from the top. These veins quickly turned to small fault lines in the rock, until the cracking sounds were replaced by a loud snap as the boulder fell away as mere rocks in the Goron's very hands.

As these stones tumbled to the ground a look of equal parts shock and awe could be seen on the behemoth's face. Eximius merely smirked. Victor gaped unabatedly as his dagger fell to the ground with a weak clang. The Inn patrons shared the Bard's response, until it happened. The Goron, which had threatened the very wellbeing of an entire building only moments before, took off down the forest road with a squeal. Then the patrons began to cheer frantically, gathering around Eximius and showing their gratitude in the form of shrieks and chants. Eximius tried for at least five full minutes to wave them down before successfully quieting them, only to reply,

"Well, it looks like I got here right on time."

"He obviously doesn't see the other huge boulder inches away from the Inn," Victor thought, though his mouth remained open. Eximius continued,

"I came for Victor Vir, the one who owns the Harp this Goron was after. He around?"

Glancing through the crowd, Ex found Victor by the soft glint of the pure gold that could be seen behind his back. He chuckled at the expression on the Bard's face and spoke to him.

"We have matters to discuss. When you come to your senses, look for me in the fields. I think I might be able to help you..."

And with that, Eximius Validus slipped his hammer into the harness on his back and walked away from the Inn, never looking back, but still displaying the same confident grin on his face.

---

After another ten minutes passed, Celine threw a worried look in the direction of Victor's face. His mouth still hung agape, some spittle forming at the corners. She waved a hand before his eyes, but he didn't snap out of it until she quietly spoke.

"Um... maybe we should follow him?"

Still a bit dazed, the Bard closed his mouth and wiped his lips with a sleeve. He glanced around to get his bearings, as though he had left at some point, but found he was still in the frame of the Inn's doorway. He did hear Celine, though, so he answered,

"Yeah, sure. I suppose."

He looked back at his group, then, and with an almost apologetic look on his face he said,

"I... I guess I didn't need your help after all. I think we're going to try and find this Eximius guy next, so if anyone's interested... just look for us in the fields sometime too."

With that, he picked up his dagger, sheathed it, and began to stagger down the forest road, Celine right beside him, neither of them quite sure what had just happened, but both of them sure they had just found a powerful ally.

OOC: There! This topic is DONE! But feel free to post reactions to the events that occurred. Next topic will go up soon if all goes well. Let's get this thing started up again, eh?!