After about an hour of traveling, the cart comes to a halt, and movement can be heard in front. Ichiro appeared around the side of the wagon, and leaned on it's side. "Alright, we're here. Everybody out." He said, clearly a bit annoyed with traveling for an entire hour and a half. Out in front of the caravan, a moderate sized library sits alone on a lot all to itself. It appears to have stopped raining, and is now only lightly drizzling. There are puddles in the street, and the air smells of fresh rain. The lush green grass around reeks with the scent of happiness, and the double doors in the front shine with welcomeness. The letters on the front of the awning read "Rauru Local Library", and a few people could be seen inside through the doors. Ichiro climbs in the front of the cart, and the horses pull the cart down the road, and over the horizon.

- - - - - - - - Inside - - - - - - - -

The library definitely looks bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. The scent of parchment and literature fills the nostrils of all who step into the library, and books lined the shelves, which dotted the library almost as far as the eye could see. No doubt the length of the library, which wasn't visible from the front, made the library famous. A librarian can be seen smiling from behind the counter that lies directly to the left. A Hylian man could also be seen stacking books on a cart, and when he finished, he promptly took the cart, and rolled it into the abyss of shelves.

A Zora man could be seen at a table with a few books, his children close by him. The library was neat and tidy, and the air about it just seemed to burst with organization. Not far from the front counter, A large Goron easily recognizable as Shigure sat at a table made especially for Gorons. He had a large red book in front of him, and was turning pages vigorously. He looked up from the book, and noticed the group. Waving them over, he pointed at the book, and held it in the air. "I've got a directory!" He boomed. The librarian at the counter instantly rushed over to the table, and began scolding him, and lecturing him about library etiquette. "He leaned over her side, and pointed at the eternity of shelves. "Find whatever you can about Dogura!" He called out. "What did I JUST say?!" The woman whispered as loud as she possibly could, and began lecturing him yet again.

OOC: Yes, just search how you'd normally search for a book at the library. Do it in pairs, by yourselves, anything at all! I'm making this as realistic as possible when it comes to library searches.

Saber emerges from the cart sniffling. The moisture in the air was bothering him a little--he was probably starting to come down with something. Oh well. Though he was feeling a little fatigued from the restless night of aniticipation and bumpy ride, he stepped lightly and briskly, eager to do whatever he could to find Dogura. He stepped over as many fo the puddles as he could in his open-toed shoes, shivering at the feel of the cold necklace beneath his tunic as he powerwalked towards the library.

Once inside, his eyes shot open. There were way too many books here. He would never be able to look through them all. Well, he didn't really know what he'd been expecting--maybe a shelf or two with some ten books each or something--but he definitely hadn't grasped just how large a library was. Now that he thought about it, he had never been inside one. He had to admit, it was a bit intimidating--should he knock over a shelf on himself somehow...well, he didn't want to think about it.

Averting his eyes from the massive collection of literature, Saber wandered over to where Shigure was calling them. He wasn't sure what a directory was. Well, direct means point in a direction, right? Maybe it'll have some kind of magical compass pointing towards wherever Dogura is! his smile grew a little--perhaps they wouldn't even need to pull down any other books. However, as Shigure pointed his large figure towards the frightening shelves, it became clear he had different ideas. And one doesn't argue with one three times your size. Especially when he's holding something half your size and very capable of causing a concussion. So, turning around and taking a deep breath, the mercinary walked shakily towards a shelf, reaching an unsteady hand forward and closing the finger around a book with an indigo cover--a color that reminded him, somewhat, of Dogura's hair. It was a comfort thing; he was distraught. Biting his lip, Saber yanked the volume off the shelf in a jerky motion, then skipped backwards, afraid of having the rest of the contents of the shelf fall on him, and at the same time slumping down at the sudden weight his left arm had just taken on itself.

"Remind me why I used the carriage when I could have just used the Void."

Shada glances back at Alpha as the pair descend from the cart, narrowing her eyes in an admonishing look . . . one which doesn't seem to work. She attributes the failure to the rain. "Because it's too dangerous for you to use that . . . that place! Remember that time in the Ha -"

"Yes, Shada, I remember it quite well," Alpha hastily interrupts. 'Why can't she ever act like she knows how dangerous mentioning the Hakiems Tribe is?' He brushes past her, ignoring her anger as he strides straight to the door of the library.

With a sigh, she shakes her head and moves to follow him inside. Looking around at all the books in the area, she hears that Goron, Shigure, yelling at them, and winces. 'Doesn't he know how to act in a library?' she ponders as she looks around . . . and abruptly realizes that Keyru has disappeared from sight, most likely lost in the aisles already. And who knows, he might not even be looking for information about Dogura; knowing how Keyru acts in these kinds of places, he's probably gone straight for the area detailing spells and how to cast them. 'Ooooh, he can be so selfish!'

Well, she'll find him after she searches around for a bit. Spotting Saber having already drawn a book from one of the shelves, she wanders over to him and gives him a smile as she spares a glance at the book he's chosen.

* * *

Contrary to Shada's intuition, Alpha is not anywhere near the spell section. Since he checked out half of their books on those subjects a few months ago and they're all quite overdue, going to that area probably would not be the best idea. Someone on the staff might recognize him (OOC: ZV, use this any way you want ). No, he's actually committed to this search - that's why he had allowed Shada to drag him over to the cart earlier. It would have been a simple task to elude her - and yes, he could have gotten away from her yesterday too, if he'd needed to - but he is genuinely curious about what might have happened to Dogura, and perhaps even a little concerned.

'The library, though, isn't exactly the best place to investigate these kinds of matters.' Dogura isn't too terribly likely to be in a book of some kind, seeing as how his main contributions to Hyrulian history - as far as Alpha knows - have only come in the past three years. So rather than waste his time looking through tomes, he goes straight to a different kind of information: the area devoted to magazine and newspaper copies.

As he enters the area, his eyes dart about, looking for a staff member to help him narrow down what to search for and how to do it.

Saber's book opens to reveal some information about the anatomy of Gorons. A table is shown labeling all of the organs that a Goron uses, and where they're located. It discusses how Gorons get their minerals directly from the rocks they eat, how sturdy their teeth are, and how powerful a Goron's jaws get from when they were born, to when they blossom into adulthood. In a caption near a picture that displays the layout and anatomy of the Goron mouth, it mentions how dangerous baby Gorons are when teething. Page after page speaks about how Gorons live, common names, weaknesses, etc. Clearly the book Saber had chosen would be of no use when it came to finding their lost friend. However, studying it might be useful information on how to take on a Goron when fighting one.

Alpha, however, has better luck [Eyes+luck+finding bonus=23]VS[Hiding from scary Sheikah + Silence + Sitting still bonus=19] and he spots an employee hiding behind a nearby cart. The boy, probably 19, sweating profusely, stands up from behind the cart, shaking a bit. "Oh! H-hey there! Just shelving books!" He stammers, grabbing for the cart, and missing several times before grasping a book, and placing it on a random shelf. He turns around, and begins shelving again, when he realized the Sheikah isn't leaving. He turns around, and clears his throat. "Can I help you somehow?" He asks, now shaking a bit. A rather large man waddles around the corner at this point. He was wearing a tie, and some pants that seemed like they'd bust at any given moment. He stops, and smiles at Alpha. "I see you've met the rookie! He just moved here, and he's gotten a j-" he stops, and looks harder at the Sheikah. "You... Hey wait..."

He stared harder, and harder, before getting a look of disbelief on his face. "Son of a gun!" He says under his breath, as he starts to back away. "You stay RIGHT THERE. Don't you move." He commanded, as he turned and booked down the isle. "You must have overdo books then right?" The rookie asked, smiling now. He seemed to have calmed down, and he shelved another book. "I've only worked here for three years." He rolled his eyes, and shelved another book. "That was Jerry, the manager. He's got short term memory loss, and he's been calling me "the rookie" ever since I applied. The only thing he seems to remember is where books go, what books are overdo, and who rented them out." He shelved a few more books, and continued. "Thats why the original manager left the place to Jerry when he died. He knew he'd take good care of the books. He went to go get security just now, but he'll forget what he was running for in about thirty seconds, and go on lunch break." He leaned on the cart, and looked behind him for a moment. "Sorry about earlier. You looked like... pardon for this, but you looked like you wanted to hurt me. Hahaha..." he faked a laugh, and cleared his throat. "Need help finding anything?"

Victor was next to step into the library, smiling and ready to start a day of intense studying and searching. He cheerfully nodded hello to all his friends, the librarian, and the proprietor of the library as he moved into the deepest reaches of the building, scanning each bookshelf as he passed it for any promising books. One particular shelf, near the back of the library, stood out to him, though, and so he decided to browse the titles found on it. The Bard was quick to notice an old looking book, titled "Histories of Adventure". It seemed like it could contain valuable information related to Dogura, so he picked it from the shelf - except, he didn't pick it, it only tilted forward...

Suddenly, the entire bookshelf swung around to reveal some kind of secret passageway. Victor glanced around behind him to check that no one was watching and stepped in, mindful of any traps he might encounter in the passage. He found none, however, and was soon at the passage's end: a door. A deep breath, and he opened it, revealing... Dogura, in the flesh! His old Ranger friend smiled, and applause erupted from behind - all those who had been recruited to search the library had appeared in the passage, to congratulate Victor for his find. Surely he deserved a medal, said some of them, and they laughed and laughed and-

"Wha... wha?!"

Victor awoke to find himself still in the cart from the private caravan service Shigure had set up for them. It had only been a dream. Suddenly he realized that he had probably overslept, and it was likely that everyone else was already in the library, so he quickly gathered his things and jumped out of the cart and fell to the ground, narrowly missing a rather large puddle. The Bard ran in the direction of the library and skidded to a stop at the doors. With a great amount of force he pushed them wide open, and then realized that he was missing his satchel.

He glanced behind him, and saw that it was lying just before the building's awning. He was just bending to pick the bag back up when the doors slammed shut... and shook the awning.

Now, it was only drizzling, but it had been a rather rainy day nonetheless, and there was certainly a good amount of water gathered on the awning. Very wet water. Very wet water that came rushing down with the slamming doors. Rushing down upon Victor, the Bard who just happened to stoop down right where the water would hit him full-force.

A very wet Hylian was the next person to open the doors. He sputtered, and flung a hand upwards, sending a few droplets flinging into the library. He whispered,

"Does anyone have a towel?"

But did not wait for a response. After all, he was ready. Ready to get his library on. So he moved forward, squishing with every step, into the furthest reaches of the library, hoping to find something fast. He chose a shelf at random, wiped a hand across his cloak in a futile gesture, and wetly picked the first book he saw: eye-level, medium-sized, and plainly bound. Probably nothing. But maybe, something.

The library. One of his least favorite locations in any town or city was this house of public resources. It seemed like such a brilliant creation from the outside. A small building with volumes of useful texts, tomes of archaic magics, and even bibles that seemed to explode with all sorts of clerical nonsense. An excellent idea at its roots.

However, as he stood in the door frame of the structure, its humble exterior an under-exaggeration of its colossal interior, the hooded man remembered why the library was ultimately a failure. With a very silent sigh he sauntered dully towards the nearest employee. He never understood complex filing systems and shelves upon shelves of stacks upon stacks of miscellaneous garbage.

He glanced over at the young mercenary, which seemed to be having trouble with an unruly stack avalanche and even even more unruly and well-weighted text... Upon closer inspection, it seemed Saber had turned up a rather in-depth look at Gorons and all Goron-related articles. It would come in handy of this Shigure fellow turned out to be foe rather than friend. That is, if the merc could interpret even a few of the words.

<center>Assuming the kid can read that... Is he illiterate or just really “unejimacated?” ...</center>

Approaching the “rookie,” he prepared to make an attempt at communication. It would be difficult. Very difficult. This was the only way he would ever find anything or even remote interest. Tapping the employee lightly on the shoulder, much as he had done the same to catch Shigure's attention before.

He spread his arms wide, gesturing to the stacks of books all around him. This should have been an obvious signal.

<center>I'm looking for a book....</center>

He looked around. Spotting Alpha, he immediately whipped his left hand in the direction of the Sheikah who he had associated the next signal with many a time in the past.

<center>Shadow...</center>

Finally, he lifted a gloved hand and curved his index finger, giving it an abnormal and almost deformed look. He mimicked a scratching action with it. He did this several times, as though it was difficult to get the point across. To the clerk, he must have looked quite silly. His intention should have been obvious enough, however.

<center>Claw...</center>

His message, although choppy and without any vocals whatsoever, was complete.

<center>I'm looking for a book on “Shadowclaw.”</center>

Victor's book opened and revealed it's text to him. It would seem to be a book about magics. The table of contents read:

Table of Contents
What is magic? ....................... pg.2
Basics of magic ...................... pg.4
Elemental Weaknesses ............. pg.14
Types of spells ....................... pg.18
Light magic .......................... pg.25
Shadow magic ....................... pg.46
Nature magic ........................ pg.68
Fire magic ............................ pg.80
Water magic ........................ pg.103
Earth magic ......................... pg.130
Mervin Madrid ...................... pg.163
Melvin Madrid ........................ pg.203
Special magics ....................... pg.270
The basics of Special magics ...... pg.294
Affinities and Adepts ............... pg.305
The one who mastered all magics . pg.322
Mervin Madrid's second law ........ pg.324
Tomes and their uses ............... pg.357
Forbidden Spells ..................... pg.383
Evil magics ........................... pg.433
Glossary .............................. pg.500

It didn't look like it had anything to do with Dogura. But then, what are the odds of finding something useful on a random try?

The employee noticed the hooded man, and stared for a moment, following his gestures. Aww... poor guy must be mute. He thought, before beginning to guess. "You're looking for a book... Sheikah? Tall? Shadow? Shadow!..." He guessed, squinting, and scratching his head. "...Hook? Monster? Nail?... Claw? CLAW!" He finished. Putting it together in his head, he leaned on the book cart. "Ah! You're looking for a book on Shadowclaw! Why- I haven't had anyone coming in here looking for a book on Shadowclaw in ages!" He smiled.

"Always good to have a fan of the classics." He motioned for the hooded stranger to follow him, and made a few turns, following some of the isles. Finally, he stopped, and backed up a bit, nearly running into the stranger. He looked up, and moved his index finger along the book shelf. "Ah! There it is!" He said, as he jogged down the isle, and returned with a sliding ladder. He pushed the ladder into place, and began ascending it to almost the top before he stopped, and grabbed a large black book from it's place. It read "SHADOWCLAW AND IT'S LEGENDS" in gold lettering across the top. He climbed down the ladder, and handed it to the man. "There we are. Enjoy the book!" He left the isle, mumbling about how he doesn't get payed enough.

Victor scanned the Table of Contents briefly. Nothing, it would seem. Nothing pointing to Dogura, that is. There was obviously something. A lot of something. At least 500 pages of something. But, likely nothing on Dogura. Meh, win some, lose some, it would seem. He shut the book tightly - imprinting dark, watery fingerprints on the front and back covers - and lifted it to replace it onto the--

Wait. Where did it go, again? The Bard didn't see any vacancies on the shelf before him. He... he hadn't been paying close enough attention to know where the book was before. Uh... Oh. Well, hmm. Quite the pickle. He glanced to the left, then to the right. No one around. He could just... slide it on top of some of the books on the shelf. No harm done, one of the employees would fix it, it was their job after all, they got paid for the messes he made, and he certainly wasn't being paid to tidy up after...

Oh, forget it. Victor knew that he couldn't do something as terrible as leaving a book out of place. Not consciously, anyways. He swore softly. What would he do? Maybe... maybe if he checked the book out, he could return it. Yes! And then one of the employees would have to put it back. And no one would be the wiser.

Victor glanced around again. Well, as long as he had the book he might as well take a look inside. He opened it again - more fingerprints on the covers. Scanning the Table of Contents again, he noticed the chapter called "The one who mastered all magics". Probably an interesting section. He turned page after page, stopped, found himself on page 374. Flipped back. 240. More cursing. Finally he landed on page 322, and began to read intently...

Saber's eyes stare down at the book before him. He had simply opened it to a random page, and now he was being stared down by a Goron for not the first time in his life. He almost yelped at the sudden glare before realizing it was simply an illustration and therefore not harmful to him in the slightest--unless a certain Scribe happened to be in the area. A bit of fear creeping into the mercenary's mind he looked around hastily, not seeing the wordmancer. However, he felt his heart thump especially hard when his eyes landed on a Goron at the table, before realizing that it was Shigure, the person he was helping in the first place--and therefore not a threat either. Turning back slowly to the book, he flipped a few pages, before stopping and reading a passage:

Rocks and minerals make up the staple diet for most every Goron tribe.

Once translated by the mercenary's limited reading ability, said passage was this:

Rooks and mine rolls make up the stay pal deity for moss eating Goron tribe.

He blinked a few times. He had learned a lot--first off, there was apparently a group of Gorons that lived solely off of moss. Imagine that! Secondly, they appeared to be pals with some kind of deity, which he had heard was a powerful God of sorts, made of black birds and...mine rolls, whatever those were. Probably some biscuit the miners eat when they're gone for a long time. It made sense. His interest piqued, he flipped a few more pages, stopping when he read the word 'weakness' near the top. He knew that word well. His mind flashed back to about a year ago, one rainy day on the Ruto plateau, when he had ended up fighting a very...irate Goron. He felt a twinge in his heel just thinking about it.

Knowing how to handle a situation like that if he ever wound up in it again would definitely be helpful...he sniffed a bit, and rolled his shoulder back to work out a kink, when he felt it touch something. He spun around and yelped, jumping backwards as his mind's eye painted a rather large and very hygiene-resistant Goron before him. Soon, however, the image faded, and he saw instead a very shapely and hygiene-friendly woman before him--he wasn't sure he could remember her name, though he had an odd feeling he'd met her before somewhere. Smiling sheepishly and trying to laugh off the incident with a kind of high-pitched bark, he looked immediately down at the page on the weaknesses of Gorons and turned away.

OOC: Good job Blank, you gave Saber Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

OOC: That's what I'm here for

IC:

The mute was indeed perplexed by the book he had been handed. As the employee walked off and complained about his financial difficulties, the hooded man simply shook his head in amusement.

<center>Try living the life of a nomad. There is no pay, and I'll wager it's a little harder than library work.</center>

He felt the brilliant golden lettering on the ancient volume, allowing himself to get a feel for the importance of its existence. Never had he known that there were legends of Shadowclaw, and so even holding an enormous wealth of information all on just that topic was quite overwhelming. He opened the book and flipped to a random page, making certain that he was as gentle as possible with its old pages. He had never heard of the kingdom of Shadowclaw. As he leafed through the pages in search of a familiar name he became aware that perhaps there was more to his old samurai chum than he had expected in the past.

<center>There has to be something in here about Dogura's whereabouts...</center>

He looked around at his fellow researchers.

Saber had the wrong idea; Dogura was not a Goron.
Victor was on a potential lead; Dogura had always been a mysteriously magical fellow.
Alpha... had not chosen a book yet.

The silent man stomped his foot loudly to get the attention of the others, expecting a “Shh!” to follow-up instantly. He pointed at his book, then showed the front cover. If they showed any interest in his lucky find, they were welcome to inquire. Independently he scanned the text, knowing that something in the large 'classic' had to hold some sort of significance.

Victor landed on the page that read "Darkin Madrarito" at the top in bold letters. In a caption next to his name, it read "The one who mastered all magics." There were paragraphs, upon paragraphs, and pictures of a Rito man. The pictures captured his gold-like feathers gleaming in the light. The pictures were illustrated by Mekrid Dralvone, one of the most renowned artists in the South. The Goron artist was known for his precision, and it ensured that these pictures were deadly accurate.

"Darkin Madrarito was a Rito mage who was born in the small, but powerful empire of Shadowclaw. Like many famous mages, Darkin displayed his extraordinary talents by traveling with a group around the South. People were amazed to see that he'd mastered all the elements of magic. Darkin Madrarito was most adept, however, in Light and Shadow magic. Though polar opposites, Darkin could control each as if they were his affinities. Darkin was said to be pushed to his limits by sparring with the most talented warrior in Shadowclaw at the time. He sparred daily with Dogura Shadowclaw, prince of Shadowclaw. Because of this, it is said that he unlocked a part of his mind only accessible by those with a strong will to overcome an obstacle, coupled with his rigorous training, and brain draining studies."

A few pictures dotted the spaces between that paragraph and the next. The pictures depicted A Rito(Darkin) standing next to a man with blue hair, and red and black armor. The caption next to the picture read, "Darkin and the prince were good friends, until they mysteriously disappeared from Shadowclaw to head Northward for unexplained reasons." The next paragraph went into detail about how Darkin trained, and what he did for a living before he left for the North. It would take about a half hour to read all the text on the page. Best to share your discoveries with the others.

OOC: KP, you found the information you needed to, go ahead and return to Shigure's table.

Flipping through the pages, the hooded man stopped on a certain page that read "The Eighth Prince of Shadowclaw: Dogura Shadowclaw". The page went on to tell more.

"Dogura was far too young to rule when it came time for him to rise to power. Because of this, the next in line to rule would be Dogura's uncle, Tybalt. While Dogura never actually ruled before he went missing, he provided a lot of helpful ideas as to how to help the economy. When he finally came of age to rule, he, as mysteriously as his father, went missing on a journey to the North. Its said that Shadowclaw's greatest mage, Darkin Madrarito, also journeyed to the North to follow the samurai who went before him. He was never seen after that point anywhere near Shadowclaw, or the Southern continent at all for that matter. He'll forever be remembered as the prince who deserted his kingdom."

OOC: Blank, you've gotten your information now as well. You can head back to the table.

It would seem that the book was written a decade ago, and nothing would be known about his current predicament. However, the information could still be extremely valuable. Best to share any discoveries with Shigure.

OOC: Now Alpha and Saber have yet to find their information yet. Hurry up and get on it guys.

Hmm.... Darkin, Darkin. Victor could swear he'd heard the name before. Probably met him during one of his adventures with Dogura. Certainly weren't many Rito flying about to confuse him with. He... vaguely associated the name with Eximius. Huh, small world. Eh, either way, it seemed he had struck gold. After all, the book seemed to make Darkin out as one of Dogura's most trusted friends.

Shigure would probably put the book to good use, anyways. It was a lucky find. The Bard dog-eared the page with Darkin's information and tucked the book under his arm. Looks like someone would be checking it out after all. He chuckled, turned back to the Goron's table, began walking over. Maybe he'd check something out for himself, afterwards. It... it seemed strange that he had never noticed this library before. Ah, well, what would he do with books right now, anyways?

When he reached Shigure, he tossed the book on his table and said,

"Here ya go, Shiggy! Found some info on a friend of Dogura's in there; a Rito named Darkin, supposedly a great Mage. Anyways, the page is marked, see for yourself."

Victor then looked for a chair to sit in, joining the Goron. Checking out books could wait anyways, he was on a quest now!

Alpha's pulse races for more than a few seconds as the apparent manager of the library strides into the area, noting him at once and quickly seeming to recognize him. 'Din's Fire, guess I'll have to get out of here -' Having turned away to go find a shadowy corner to morph into a Void portal, he only stops when 'the rookie' explains Jerry's wacky sense of memory. A sheepish grin on his face, he turns back and reaches up with his hands, lowering his hood so the boy could see his face . . . and while the scar might be a bit of a shocker, the kind look he gives (forced as it is) should be enough to set him at ease.

"More than a few books overdue, actually . . . Anyway, I'm looking for some information on a friend who went missing about a year ago, a Hylian samurai from the South named Dogura Shadowclaw. Haven't heard from him in a while, so a bunch of his friends and allies got together the other day and decided to try finding stuff out. I don't suppose you'd know where to find any newspaper or magazine articles that might have information on his disappearance, would you? Or maybe just information on him; either one would be very helpful."

He stops there, doing his best to control his breathing rate. That's probably the most words he's spoken in a row in some time, and it's got him completely out of breath!

* * *

Seeing Saber choosing a book on Gorons - strange choice, as Shada doesn't remember Dogura ever associating himself with their kind, at least not in the time she's known him - the female Sheikah decides to let him be and wanders over to another bookcase, one which none of the others have touched yet. Victor's already running back over to Shigure, Saber is continuing his own studies of Gorons, and the mute seems to be conversing - as best he can - with an attendant. And Keyru is nowhere in sight - little does she know that if she were to go stand by the hooded man Alpha would be in plain sight.

At any rate, her eyes scan over the tomes scattered across the shelf, searching for anything that might be useful. More than once, she grabs a book and turns to the table of contents, hoping that something will catch her attention. But time after time she fails in this regard . . . yet she does not give up hope. She keeps on plucking away at them, waiting to either find something at last or be called back by the group.

As Victor had walked up to the table, the woman was just finishing up her scolding on the Goron, and walked away promptly. Shigure took his hands away from his ears, and opened his eyes. A book sat in front of him that read "The Big Book of Magics", and Victor was sitting across the table.

"Here ya go, Shiggy! Found some info on a friend of Dogura's in there; a Rito named Darkin, supposedly a great Mage. Anyways, the page is marked, see for yourself."

Shigure looked up abruptly, and stared at Victor with cold unwavering eyes. They held a hint of shock, and panic, as he slowly opened the book. "Victor... Where did you hear that nickname?" He questioned, slowly turning his attention to the book. As he read through, his eyes brightened up, and he'd probably completely forgotten about Victor's more recent statement. It was improbable that Victor knew anything about "Shiggy the Shank", or any of the stories anyways. "Darkin Madrarito eh?" He asked, nodding, and stroking his small Goronic beard. "I see... We'll begin searching for him now as well." He stated, smiling. "Nice work Victor! This is definitely a lead, assuming we can find him." He leafed through the pages concerning Darkin once more. "Hmmm... Any idea where we could find a lead on where Darkin lives?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The employee watched Alpha lower his hood, and felt a bit better about the Sheikah now. The scar made him cringe a bit, and while he wanted eagerly to question about it, he refrained, and listened to the man's next words.

"Anyway, I'm looking for some information on a friend who went missing about a year ago, a Hylian samurai from the South named Dogura Shadowclaw. Haven't heard from him in a while, so a bunch of his friends and allies got together the other day and decided to try finding stuff out. I don't suppose you'd know where to find any newspaper or magazine articles that might have information on his disappearance, would you? Or maybe just information on him; either one would be very helpful."

The rookie cocked his head, and his face twisted up in confusion. "Huh." He said, looking up at the ceiling. "The first name doesn't ring a bell. Not sure I know a Dogura... but the name Shadowclaw implies that he's of royal descent of the kingdom of Shadowclaw, which lies down South." He extended his arm in a North-Eastern direction, his index finger extended. "The popular Hyrule magazines and news paper articles all lie on the far wall in that direction." He grabbed another armful of books off of the cart, and continued shelving them. "We don't get the popular "ZoraZine" anymore though, because it was getting too expensive to import. He tossed a book back into the cart, before speaking again. "We carry just about every other magazine and newspaper though, so feel free to check out whatever you have to. You can only check out 3 magazines at a time though. Don't ask me." He removed some eye glasses from his pocket, and pushed them onto his face. "Store policy." He added, before reading the small letters on a turquoise book he was holding. "If you need anything else, ask Tessie. She manages that department, and her desk is close by the newspaper rack."

The man disguised in hood and cloak beamed as he landed on a page pertaining to precisely what he was after. He read the text in his head and followed along with a gloved finger. Everything was beginning to make sense, and the vocally challenged man began to put the pieces of this new puzzle together.

<center>“Dogura was far too young to rule when it came time for him to rise to power. Because of this, the next in line to rule would be Dogura's uncle, Tybalt.” ... Dogura? Rising to power? No...</center>

He knew very little about his old friend, it seemed. The name Tybalt meant nothing to him. He may as well have been named Romeo, or something silly like that, because the mute could not even begin to wonder who uncle Tybalt was in relation to Dogura Shadowclaw. Also, the very idea that Dogura was a prince baffled him to no end. The samurai was an excellent character - a real noble sort of man. But princeliness was not something that he had ever seemed to show. The enigmatic Dogura became even more of an enigma.

<center>“While Dogura never actually ruled before he went missing, he provided a lot of helpful ideas as to how to help the economy.” ... ... ...</center>

Dogura, a master of economics? He had never seemed the sort to be readily able to offer anything to the government and stability of a kingdom. The man began to question just how good of friends he and the ranger had been. Dogura, it seemed, was an expert in the field of hiding his past and keeping secrets. The hooded man envied him for this.

<center>“When he finally came of age to rule, he, as mysteriously as his father, went missing on a journey to the North.” ... This must be where I came into the picture. So, his presence in Northern Hyrule was the result of a journey away from his real home. Seems reasonable enough.</center>

He remembered the day he had met Dogura. It was a hazy memory. The two did not become friends until a few days later. That had been a long time ago. Just two simple adventurers. One a castaway, the other on a personal journey. Things were beginning to click in.

<center>“Its said that Shadowclaw's greatest mage, Darkin Madrarito, also journeyed to the North to follow the samurai who went before him.” ... The name is familiar. Darkin. The Rito.</center>

He had met Darkin once or twice, and the two could be considered friends. Not quite so well as he and Dogura, of course. Darkin Madrarito. He remembered the name. The Rito had never seemed to be anything formidable as a mage. Shadowclaw's greatest mage, though? He never would have guessed. What kinds of power had that bag of feathers been stowing away...

<center>“He was never seen after that point anywhere near Shadowclaw, or the Southern continent at all for that matter. He'll forever be remembered as the prince who deserted his kingdom.” ... This is all that's written...</center>

He had read enough. Dogura had deserted the kingdom of Shadowclaw, further South. The mute could not recall ever having heard of the land in his travels. He paced quietly over to the Goron and pointed to the small blurb of text he had found, indicating that he had indeed been successful in his library search. Quickly, he grabbed a chair, leaving a space between himself and Victor. He wondered if it was obvious that he was making an attempt at avoiding confrontations with the bard.