Blank failed to notice the contemptuous scowl aimed at him by Firerova; he was trying to avoid eye contact with her, not to mention trying to keep out of speaking terms. He would continue this tactic until they were at least away from all of the wandering eyes of prying strangers in the tavern. The nomad would probably ask Firerova aside and formally apologize then - at least, in the best way he could. Likely, it would be a series of mumbles, probably “'M sorry,” or “Friends?” followed by a tiny apologetic smile and an awkward trickle of sweat down his forehead that would seek to say “Please, just forgive me already! I'm not a bad person!”

“Oh, you two know each other?” he asked, bewildered as Sabertache approached and greeted Dogura. Blank had always known Dogura to be the type to make friends easily. After all, he was Blank's second acquaintance in Hyrule, and his first true friend in the kingdom. Blank knew that he was not as easy to befriend - take the Firerova issue as an example. Dogura, on the other hand, seemed to know everyone in Hyrule. This put Blank at ease, knowing that the fact added a sense of trustworthiness to the mercenary. Saber would not likely betray a friend like Dogura if offered a higher price by another party. It could be considered a favor as well as a business venture.

It took a moment for Blank to clue in that another man had joined the seven adventurers at the table. In response to his question of “Mind if I take a seat?” was automatically “Only if you buy me a drink,” but he doubted this went within proximity to the man's ears as he kept speaking. The next sentence he processed shocked him a bit. “Onox isn't a mage.” Well how the hell do you know, buddy? he asked mentally, not wanting to outwardly offend a potentially dangerous stranger. “He wields a mace.” Powerful weapon, the mace. But this guy should fear Firerova a lot more than we should fear that. He chuckled suddenly, likely making the others congregated at the table wonder if he had dipped into another flask. “And who are you?” he finally asked, trying to sound polite but also displaying a sense of urgency and exasperation.

The man smiled at Blank's question, glancing over at the nomad. "Ms. Hillmound should know who I am," he replied, turning his gaze back to Rose. "I'm her favorite nephew, and my skeletal minions are her favorite thing to fight."

Rose stared at him blankly. The fact that this man was Onox barely clicked. It was what he had said about skeletal minions that effected her the most. "You," she whispered shakily. "You...BASTARD!" she shouted, abruptly standing up. "YOU'RE THE REASON MY HUSBAND IS DEAD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She lunged towards Onox, but Icerova grabbed her, roughly pulling her back and forcing her to sit down. A large majority of the tavern looked over at the source of the commotion, but a glare from Firerova was enough to make them decide that the music was more important.

Onox laughed as Rose struggled against Icerova's grip. "I think I hit a nerve there," he said, cruel amusement in his tones.

"You shut up," Rose snarled, still struggling against the Gerudo. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did. I swear to the goddesses that I will send you to hell!"

"Come now, Aunt Rose. Isn't it your fault Baris is dead? After all, he wasn't supposed to be traveling with you."

"And we weren't supposed to be attacked by Stalfoses."

"Touché." He reached over to Rose's left sleeve and tugged it up. He let out a chuckle as Rose tried to bite him. Icerova yanked the ranger away from the Draconic General, but all present at the table had the time to clearly see a scar on her upper arm. Such a scar could only be formed from an arrow piercing the skin. “So Stalfoses do have poor aim. Back then it was a pity.”

“What do you mean back then?” Rose snapped. “Surely it must be a pity now as well.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Onox only continued to smile, unaffected by any emotion his aunt was showing, except for his own twisted amusement. “You’d think that, wouldn’t you?”

“Tell us what you’re hinting at, or I’ll let go of Rose,” Icerova demanded.

“Ah, Icerova, the Gerudo witch I tried to control. I’ll have you know that the mage that placed that spell on you was killed. Can’t have him saying he’s me, now can I?”

“Answer the question,” Firerova snapped.

“Relax. I’m getting to it. Now then, where was I?” He stroked his chin as if in thought, smiling as Icerova joined in with Rose’s growls and Firerova cracked her knuckles. “Oh, yes, that’s right. We share a common enemy, and it would do you well to team up with me.”

The man smiled at Blank's question, glancing over at the nomad. "Ms. Hillmound should know who I am," he replied, turning his gaze back to Rose. "I'm her favorite nephew, and my skeletal minions are her favorite thing to fight."

Dogura stared at the man for a moment, until Rose came unglued. Her war-cry was all the motivation that Dogura needed. The samurai shot out of the booth, and placed a hand on the hilt of his blade. As much as he didn't want to cause a scene in the tavern, he didn't want to take any chances with the man. The nephew. The murderer. To spark such a flame within Rose with only his presence made his ascendancy manifest. He was in a greater power than he showed off. Dogura hesitated at drawing his blade, but would do so if any of his team even motioned to him. So this is Onox... He's a murderer. Even if he hasn't killed many, I heard it straight from Ms.Hillmound's mouth that her husband fell victim to an army of Stalfos, most likely under this man's command. Dogura's eyes wandered from Onox, to Rose, to Icerova, and he stopped there. If he shifted his attention any farther, he would be ignoring Onox completely. So he uses a mace... Why would he hand out information like that, unless of course he's extremely confident? "Don't pull anything funny... Unless you would rather be properly aquainted with the edge of my blade..."

Yeah, nothing funny... or, well, what he said!” sneered Blank, gesturing toward the samurai. “Except, well... with both of my swords!” The nomad stood fast, bashing his knees on the table. He winced, but otherwise showed no concern of the fact. He was fearful of the power this man must be privy to, for Rose had come off as a calm and collected woman, and now she had exploded on him like Firerova likely would have on him had he not resolved to appease her. The Hylian made a mental note and placed it in the back of his head: do not, under any circumstances, tamper with Rose's emotions.

“I don't want to make a scene, and I'm sure you don't want to take us all on right now. What are you doing here, Onox? Just come to make us all feel depressed and spur Rose after you even more?” taunted Blank, hoping that his assumption was the correct one. With a title like 'Draconic General,' one could never guess the possibility of an enemy's ability to summon a full suit of amour and mace. That would indeed prove very inconvenient. And Blank was all about convenience.

“I'll just ask you once more, general, what do you want?” He gestured once again to the ever ready vagabond standing at the booth. “We all know this fellow here would love to tear into you, and I wouldn't be surprised if our merc friend here would pass that up, either. Speak!”

“... Please?”

OOC: For those who haven't had a chance to respond yet, I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist after Blank posted. XD

IC:
Onox let out his sinister, amused chuckle at Dogura's and Blank's comment about pulling funny business. "You're puny swords couldn't penetrate my chain mail," he bragged. "And my mace would eat you alive. However, circumstances require that we work together. It will be rather wise of you if you refrain from threatening me, especially if you're unable to carry out those threats."

"I'll threaten you all I want," Rose snarled, still struggling against Icerova's grip.

"Silence, Rose!" the Gerudo hissed. To Onox, she asked, distrust apparent in her voice, "What enemy do we have in common?"

"You're a mage. I trust you know of the obscure legend about Fate and Destiny?"

Firerova let out a small frown. "Something about two supreme deities playing a game of chess with everybody in the known universe for their own amusement, right?" She glanced over at Icerova, who nodded confirmation without taking her eyes off of Onox. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because a deluded mage believes he is Fate, and for some reason he has a rather dangerous interest in my aunt and I. He would be no trouble for me, but he's rather agile for my mace, and his forced draconic heritage makes my own draconic heritage rather useless."

Saber cast a slightly offended glance down at the hot-headed Gerudo after her gripe. Who broke into her house and smashed all the pots...? He was about to say something when he noticed a strange man in chain mail walking towards them with a sinister look on his face...He placed his hand on his hilt, and slowly drew it a few inched. If this man tries to cause trouble....He tried to keep an eye on the man while still listening to the conversation, but it ended soon enough when the armored man butted in.

Saber watched the events unfold curiously, trying to decipher everything that had happened in the past. I really need to stop dropping in on these things. Sometime I'm going to have to see a mission through from the beginning...He thought to himself, sighing mentally. Then the man was revealed as Onox, and Rose leapt at him. I knew it, of course he would cause trouble..He started to draw his saber, but Dogura and Blank beat him to the punch. He listened to the information that Onox provided, trying to digest it and draw a conclusion. What do these deities have to do with anything..?

He saw Rose struggling against her friends' grips and decided to lend a hand. He stepped in front of her to form a barrier between them, and detatched the sheath from his belt, still containing the blade, and held it sideways, ready to draw it in a heartbeat. He spat to the side before addressing the strange General with a leer plastered on his face. "So why should we side with you? Why not use you as bait to set a trap for this deluded mage of yours? Then we would be rid of both problems." Saber didn't know what was going on, but it was clear enough that this man was disliked, no, detested by Rose, and an ally of Dogura's was an ally of his.

(((Alright this post is spanning a lot of time so hang with me please. Sorry it took so long, I love you HNS and the others (not to make you jealous Blank) but I'm a slacker. Here we go. Also, by the way, Firerova was talking about not letting teenagers in, but Pyre is a teenager...... 17 I think (I'll need to check.) Just pointing that out. Maybe you already said that, but I was skimming a lot of posts... ANYWAYS here we go...)))

~Pyre's eyes widened in surprise. Tayro?! A moment later, a smile crossed his face just as fast. A friend, and a good one at that. The resourceful mage could prove useful in their striving against Onyx. He was still a little worried about fighting against too much though. No matter how much he trusted Tayro, numbers did indeed matter.

Soon after the mage's arrival, Blank pointed out a mercenary. The hylian followed along with Blank's thinking, but then something strange happened. He reckonized this guy. "Saber?!" It seemed like too many conicidents in one day. Pyre was glad that so many familiar faces were joining, but at the same time he was apprehensive. Who knows if another coincident might come along. One that wasn't as savory. Too bad for the ranger, for his thoughts were to be prophetic.

After a little bit more conversation about Onyx's abilities, that bad coincident came striding right over to their table. Pyre looked over in surprise at the man's interuption, but when Rose identified him as the very general they were fighting against, his blades were drawn and at the ready. When Icerova steadied his fellow ranger, Pyralin also took his seat agian, but didn't sheath his weapons only tightening his grip on them.

When he heard Onyx's words, he was even more confused. Work together?! There's no way Rose is going to except that. No way in hell! However, the proposition interested him. He could see that Saber was sceptic about the idea, and decided to speak from a different side of the topic and find out as much about what Onyx wanted as he could.

"That's an interesting proposal Saber, but he does have a point. If we have a common interest why not work together?" As soon as the words left his mouth, his eyes locked on Rose's. Family death was a touchy subject. He hoped the ranger wouldn't hate him forever for saying that.

That moment was all the chance he gave her to understand, and turned his gaze back to Onyx. Pyre let a certain hardness seep into his face. The situation was delicate, and giving the general emotion to read and use to his advantage wasn't going to help things progress the way the ranger wanted them too.~

(I meant Onox deep down don't hate.......)

This was far too confusing for his likes.

Firstly, his introduction seemed to be not proper... as Blank, a friend and comrade Nomad had mistaken him for another person. Guess it did prove the rumours that the Hylian used to get drunk a lot... something the teenager hadn't yet seen before, and was now experiencing the true evidence of the fact. He had to restrain a laugh when the Grunt was able to rationalize and understand exactly was going on. A quite humorous situation, understandable only perhaps by the two members involved. He then looked at the side, where another unknown character - this one male - approached the table. Once again, as usual, the man in question was older than him, and, according to Blank's incoherent yelling, a Mercenary at that. The youngster introduced himself again, as 'education is the first gate to well-being', as they said in the Orphanage, and turned to the ladies as the blue Gerudo - unusual colour for her species, though he didn't even mind or consider it much, except as to align her with the element of Water or Ice - specified more about herself and, apparently, her sister. Mages, apparently... and they also remind me of someone, though I can't exactly pinpoint who. That's right! Twinrova, Koume and Kotake, Ganondorf Dragmire's parental guardians! I wonder if these two are related to them somewhat... - he thought, though refrained from asking - it was never nice to be compared with an evil entity. The teenager sure wouldn't like it.

He then turned to Lady Rose Hillmound as she proceeded in explaining all about her past. She spoke of different and intriguing things, like dimension travelling, saying that she came from another Hyrule. Had he not learned by now that this land hid many secrets, like his travels had proven so far - Nightmares, for example - he'd think that Ms. Hillmound had hit her head somewhere. Then she told about her family, something that inflicted shock on the young mage. Veran and Onox... two other dark celebrities that had worked alongside Twinrova, and had been defeated by Link, the Hero... though he had never seen them as mother and son. Perhaps lovers, husband and wife, brother and sister... but not as descendants. If the boy didn't believe in the different dimension theory, this would also be quite strange... though like this, it wasn't too hard to believe. Specially if his friends agreed with the saying. The mage apprentice shrugged. Guess there's nothing normal like a casual stay at the bar these days.

And people just keep coming! - he added, noticing the man who had just joined in... one with information about Rose's nephew. Tayro sneered. All the info the man had just given them was one the young scholar knew... much like any person who had read the Hyrulian Chronicles, Holodrum and Labrynna volumes. Sure, there was always the possibility that being a different dimension would mean that Onox was also different but... as his man proved, it was no such case. And then... he said he was Onox, the General of Darkness himself. That was strange. He saw the main bad guys as those types of people who would send others to do their dirty work. Seems like the rules changed between dimensions, too. He smirked at his own inner comment, while Rose started an unknown fit. He didn't quite get the whole of it, but it seemed that the General had been the culprit of the death of something dear to the female. Then, everyone started to madly launch threats, a lot of glares and hisses... while the youngster just stood there, absorbing everything. Then this whole Fate and Destiny thing came, and then everyone started voicing their opinions, though Tayro got a chair and just remained sitting there, hearing everyone's reasons. He had just joined here, and knew not exactly what was going on so it wouldn't be right of him to make a stand now - he knew not of the past events, so he wouldn't be able to evaluate this clearly. He just stood there as they settled this.

OOC: Okay, time to wrap this up and move on to the next part.

IC:
Onox laughed. “Why set a trap when he’s coming to us anyway? Besides, this mage is more of a nuisance than a danger. It is his henchman we need to worry about. A Goron mage, if you’re willing to believe it.”

“So we’ll just head out to an area where people won’t get harm,” Icerova said. “And once we get rid of him, we can get rid of you.”

“Well, we’ll worry about your demise after we get rid of Fate,” Onox replied with a sinister grin plastered on his face.

“SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU BASTARD! I’LL KILL YOU FIRST! I SWEAR I’LL KILL YOU FIRST!”

Icerova moved her left hand up to Rose’s mouth; during the hand’s absence, the ranger lurched forward, but the Gerudo was able to restrain her once again. “Rose, quiet down!” she hissed. “Your shouting isn’t helping anything.”

“Indeed it isn’t,” Onox said with a malicious grin, which widened as he heard a muffled “Shut up!” from Rose.

The Goron bartender came over. “Icerrrova, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask that you leave now,” he said, regret in his voice. Apparently, the Gerudo was a favorite customer of his.

“Understood, Bart,” the ice mage replied. “It won’t happen again,” she said with acid in her voice, glaring at the Draconic General.

Bartholomew also glanced over at Onox with an angry look. In a voice just as angry, he said to him, “And I don’t everrr won’t to see you in my taverrrn again.”

Onox continued grinning as he replied, “I’ll consider it.”

“OUT!” the Goron bellowed, thrusting his finger towards the door.

The man only smiled and left, and that seemed worse than anything he could’ve said. “Come on, everyone,” Icerova ordered. “We’re heading to the Stock Pot Inn for the night.” She maneuvered around Saber, a task made hard by restraining Rose. “I want you all to keep on eye on Onox. If he really does need our help, then he won’t do anything....Well, he won’t do anything that’ll kill us, or at least yet he won’t. But I still don’t trust him.” She then led the group out of the inn, still holding the ranger.

Once at the inn, it became apparent that Onox had beaten them to it by the look on the woman’s face. She looked horrified, and her voice shook as she said, “F-first t-t-two rooms on y-your right. O-o-on the house.” She then let out a small squeal of fright and ran off, possibly to the kitchen.

Both Gerudo women let out a sigh. Icerova went upstairs, dragging Rose along with her. Upon hearing snoring from the first room, Icerova moved on to the second room, this time, pushing against the human to get to the door. She struggled to get inside, and finally received some help when Firerova came up from apologizing to the woman that was behind the counter and paying for the rooms.

Inside the room, Icerova forced Rose to sit down on the bed, a task where she had to remove her hand from the ranger’s mouth. “Let me kill him!” she immediately snarled, lurching forward and nearly knocking the Gerudo to her butt. It took both sisters to get her to sit again, but it was not easy work. Finally, Icerova slapped Rose across the face. The shock finally made Rose sit still.

“I’m sorry,” Icerova said her tone heavy, sitting down next to Rose. “I don’t like the situation either, but if there is a deluded mage after you, then we have no choice but to work with Onox. I swear, once we’re done with this Fate person, we can avenge your husband.”

Rose nodded her head, and then burst into tears. Icerova pulled her into a hug, whispering words of comfort into the ranger’s ears. The sobbing was eventually replaced by deep breathing. The Gerudo mage gently laid Rose down, removing her boots and covering the human with a blanket.

“I’ll let you keep an eye on her,” Firerova said quietly. “I’ll keep a watch outside the room.”

Icerova nodded, not taking her eyes off of Rose. Despite the tears, she finally looked peaceful. Just as Firerova closed the door behind her, the ice witch whispered in Gerudic, “I promise to help you find peace again, no matter what it takes.”

OOC: And cut! Take five, everyone! As always, feel free to leave a final post, but just know that I won’t be answering any questions you may have (at least here). I’ll try to get Fighting Fate up soon, but I do have family visiting, and I promised MagmarFire that after I posted this, I would work on my fanfic some.

The samurai watched the madness unfold. Seeing Rose lose her temper like that made him want to follow suit. Every word the man spoke just angered him more and more. "Why you..." Before he could mutter anything else, the large Goron bar tender nearly knocked him over. It would seem as though he had heard Rose's screams(who hadn't at this point), and had decided to kick them out of the tavern. Onox got up, and was the first to leave. The threat gone(somewhat), Dogura sheathed his sword, and closed his eyes. Just perfect... Another place in Hyrule that I can never show my face. Icerova had done her best to keep Rose restrained but had failed miserably in the end. Dogura followed the girls out of the tavern, resting a hand on Rose's shoulder.

"You needn't worry... He'll not be harming anyone any time soon. Whats best for you at the moment is a good rest. You've been through a lot today." As if the sisters had read his mind, they continued straight into the Stock Pot Inn. Dogura understood what had to be done. He had recently slept anyways, and was running on full steam. Sleeping only once per month, he was prepared to stay awake all night to keep an eye on the monster(he didn't seem fit for the title of man).

Booking the room, Dogura entered, only to find Onox fast asleep, and turned in the other direction. Standing there for a moment, the samurai set his pack down on the table, and removed a pen... Setting it aside, he removed a lanturn, and then finally a small red book. There was a bright blue book-mark hanging out from the top, and over the side of the caver. In golden letters on the front, it read:

Taiyn wrote: Shadowclaw Myths and Legends
by: Taiyn Maverick
Take a trip into the mystical land of Shadowclaw with Tain, and learn about popular legends...

Dogura took the book in his hand, and sat cross legged on the nearest bed, facing Onox. He stared distastefully at the sleeping murderer. It would be so much easier to just kill him right now while he's asleep... but then I would never be able to safely return to Rauru town or this inn. Damn... I've got to be as clean as I can... I already can't show my face in North Castle without suspicion. The samurai removed his armor plates, and set them beside him. Opening the book, he began reading, keeping his ears open for any noise that would waken his sleeping enemy...