Hyrule Adventures 2

Alex was listening carefully, there was something strange there, something that was out of place
Victor, what was your father doing in this almost desserted peninsula?
What if it was a trap all the time? what if the thieves draged him here somehow?
They were bound to have an elaborated plan to have him here almost alone.
Wouldn't this mean they're much than amateurs; or someone was giving them instructions.Of course, your father would have surely die if it wasn't for Celine...
"Wait! what was Celine doing here?an experimented scholar seems to have no bussines here" Suddenly, Alex's trust in Celine saw to fade a little."At least until I find what she is realy up to"

Victor laughed a hearty laugh that surprised everyone around. Then, wiping the tears from his face, he spoke:

"Good one, Alex. 'Elaborate plan.' That's classic!"

Still in a good mood, Victor took the letter from Celine and read it aloud once more.

"William:

You are to come to the north-east peninsula of Parapa Desert. Bring your harp.
You will play facing the ocean; you will not see me, but I will be listening. Once
you have finished playing, you will wait there for the rupees.

P.S.: Come alone."

When he had finished, Victor handed the letter back to Celine.

"This was their sorry idea of a plan: ride the gullibility train all the way to William-ville. All they did was offer my father a huge sum of rupees to lure him here. I don't know about Alpha, Arco, or my father himself, but I suspected a trap all along. I mean, 'Come alone' doesn't imply much safety, y'know? Why else would I be here in the first place? I've heard my father play more than anyone else; my trip here was strictly an act of protecting my father..."

Celine spoke up:

"Such a poor plan of action couldn't have been forumlated by an experienced crime group. True: it is strange that this group would know about William's gullibility, but even so. A well-thought-out plan would have included Victor himself, as they would have realized that he was here in Hyrule."

Celine then smiled a little:

"And you flatter me, Alex. William wouldn't have died even if I hadn't been around. Like I said: the enchantment on this dagger can only hinder the healing of the wound. Nothing more..."

Footprints. Like the ones detectives follow, fresh and clean, dark in the ground, the dirt, the sand. Medium-sized male feet, shallow-tread footwear...

Well, the footprints are a little too fresh, a little too clean, a little too... coming towards you. They're appearing before your very eyes--growing out of the sand like the shadows of tiny, foot-shaped leevers. And speaking of shadows...

One life-size shadow is cast over William, and a moment later, the host appears. Eclisping the sun, Arco stands stiffly, a little out of place and a little dazed.

He stares at the older Bard's hand for a minute, then looks up at the others with a face that says, "What happened to him?" and "Who are you?" and "What are we doing?" and... a lot of things. Things that can be asked without saying anything...

Victor beamed an ear-to-ear smile at Arco's appearance.

"Arco! Great to see you!"

Then, realizing that the Sheikah was obviously confused, Victor explained the situation:

"Well, my father was attacked. Someone caused a sand storm and tackled him, trying to take the harp. The sand storm settled too quickly, though, so my father managed to save his harp. But not before the fiend could stab him through the hand..."

Victor pointed to the dagger laying on the floor.

"...with that dagger! The dagger was enchanted, though, so when Alpha tried a Life spell, my father was hurt rather than healed. Luckily, Celine came to help."

Victor pointed to Hylian mage, who promptly courtsied. Then, standing up, she spoke:

"Yes....Arco, was it? Victor has spoken of you once or twice. It's nice to finally meet you!"

Her previous smile suddenly transformed into a frown:

"Victor's right about the dagger, but he failed to say everything. You see, we linked an enblem engraved on the dagger to an emblem on the letter that William recieved. We've guessed at quite a few possible meanings. The emblem is a rock with wings and a sprout growing out of the top. Pretty strange for a symbol, so we have a lot of ideas as to the meaning. One is that the wings represent the Rito, the rock represents the Gorons and the sprout represents the Deku. Another idea was that the rock symbolized strength and the sprout symbolized youth. Tell me, do you happen to have any ideas as to the meaning of the symbol?"

Victor spoke up again:

"We're also trying to guess what kind of enemies we're up against. Y'know, if they're weak or powerful, new or old. So...yeah...any ideas?"

Alex saw the Sheikah that appeared ( as usual) out of nowhere and after Victor put him to date Alex gave his opinion...
It's called psychology, to make you do something that you think your enemy doesn't want you to do, doing exactly what he wants (Alex thought:gesundheit)
Like they wanted you to come here with your father, or somebody else...
But now we know that William is connected to his harp, couldn't his own son be connected too.
turning to Victor to look him in the eyes he asked
Victor, is it possible that the attackers had any reason for you to come along with your father?Do you have something that the attackers would also want?
Throwing a look like he wanted to pierce through Victor's eyes, Alex awaited his answer

Victor put on a sceptical look:

"Psychology? No, I don't think so. I mean, why would they offer my father money if they could just bend him to their will? As for my possible connection with the harp... well, I don't know. I guess it's possible, but..."

Celine took hold of the conversation again:

"It is very possible, Victor. William's blood runs through your veins. In magic, anyways, this would be perfectly normal. Why not in the harp?"

William stayed oddly quiet throughout this discussion. He seemed to be thinking deeply, a rarity for him. Making difficult decisions was not his gusto. Victor did not notice, however:

"Well, OK then... if you say so. But I don't think that the attackers would want anything with me..."

Alex reconsidered his ideas, and thought throughfully before saying anything
About the attackers, they created a sandstorm, right?OK, now, what if it was a Rito with his wings? Or it could have been a mage, a very powerful wind mage...But I don't know of any wizard so powerful...
Alex looked at the sea, lost in his own mind,"William still knows something about his harp that we don't, or he still doesn't know all about his own instrument...
And turning to William he asked
William, is there any special way to make the harp work, or you just have to play it?
Does it's original owner have to play it?
Rather not to force William's answer, he looked back at the sea

Arco listens intently--maybe a little too intently, like someone looks when they're not actually listening but rather keeping their eyes open and making sure to nod, trying to stay awake and overall spending all of their energy making sure that they look like they're listening. Only the slight... ah, what is it? change in color? loss of light? Something in his eyes, which shows that something behind them is moving, is working, is thinking.

Sandstorm, harp, dagger, stabbed, Celine, emblem...

An exhale is barely shaped around a quiet, "Nice to meet... you..." as you see Arco staring downwards, into a perfectly normal patch of sand. One finger oustretched, he draws the image of the engraving in his mind.

Sprout over rock with wings. Wings with rock under sprout. Wings of rock with sprout. Rock of sprout, flying. Wings, grounded, growing. Sprout held down, flying. Sprout with rock with wings? Wings with sprout... Wings and sprout and rock, and sprout and wings... all of the above. But, the harp, the blood...

"Could..." A breath. "Could it be a symbol of all races unified? A large group, accepting anyone who will join them, without regard to origin or person or race? The rock, as the earth, the wings, as the sky, and the sprout, as... representing everything in between?"

He breathes again, then snaps his mouth shut. His eyes setting a little, he rests in thought...

OOC: Sorry for the delay. I didn't intend to let posts pile up like this, but I was swamped with homework Monday and Tuesday.

IC: Celine turned to Alex.

"The sand storm could have been caused by a Rito, but I hardly doubt that such a storm could be confined to such a small area with the use of wings. And besides, we would've seen the Rito standing out in the open. No, I don't think it was a Rito. And I've never seen a mage conjure up a sandstorm; in fact, I don't even think wind mages exist. But I suppose it's possible..."

Then, William looked at the Zora.

"Well, the harp can be played by anyone it is given to; that is, as long as it is given to them at my own will. As for playing the harp... all that you need is some kind of experience in music to play it."

While William spoke with Alex, Celine answered Arco's question.

"Yes, the symbol could symbolize all races, though it would be more likely for the emblem to signify the Rito, Deku, and Goron races. But... perhaps it has a double meaning? I mean, you can look at it one way and understand only three races; view it from another angle, and you have a huge group of different races. Perhaps we are dealing with underlings to an even greater evil? I don't know... I'm gonna stick to the Goron, Deku, Rito symbol and pray that I'm right."

Victor nodded his head in agreement.

"I have to go with Celine on this one. I mean, why would a powerful group make a symbol that fits perfectly with a group of inexperienced thugs? No; it must be the Deku, Goron, Rito thing. Remember, we dealt with amatuers before, not a skilled, organized group..."

Alpha slowly turns away from the group and walks towards the ocean. 'This is going nowhere fast...and I'm not exactly trusting Celine anymore.' He gazes out over the water and simply continues to think. A glance back shows the others conversing, but judging by their looks it seems that they aren't getting anywhere either. With a sigh, he lies down in the sand and just attempts to relax his mind...and waits for the meaning of the symbol to come to him.

Deku, Goron, and Rito? Why would it be Deku, Goron, and...

Arco breaks from his trance as he hears Alpha leaves. For a moment he remains with the larger group, then fades slightly and moves off after the other Sheikah, all the while thinking...

Why would they give this symbol anyway? Are we supposed to follow them? And why that symbol? Is it really just Death Mountain, the Woods, and Peaktop? But then...

Seeing the group begin to disperse, Victor looked to his father and Celine.

"Well, it would seem that our little meeting has come to an end. It would be best to get my father somewhere safe. Somewhere he can rest..."

Celine smiled and spoke:

"I hear the Stock Pot Inn is really good!"

Victor smiled:

"Then onwards to the Stock Pot Inn!"

Before leaving, Victor looked to Alex.

"Thanks for your help, Alex. If the others return, tell them I said goodbye, and that we're taking my father to the Stock Pot."

Then, with a quick wave goodbye at the other, smaller group, Victor, Celine, and William left for the Stock Pot Inn...

OOC: OK, everybody! That's it for this topic. Feel free to post some goodbyes and such, but don't expect a reply from me. My next topic concerning William and Victor will be at the Stock Pot Inn, but I'm also gonna make a topic...somewhere else. I'll let you guys find it. But be warned: you won't be able to reply to it. It's strictly informative, and I a little funny even (I hope).

So, until next time!

Alex got out of his trance, when Victor, and company, prepared to leave
...He stood up and after hearing where his group was going, he told Victor: "That means where going different ways; I'll be going to Tantari Desert, there is so much more I wanna see"Then he walked towards the sea and said "It would be much more faster if I swim, you take care of yourselves"
And with that, he ran acroos the beach and jumped into the water, heading west...

OOC: Erk! Sorry if I screwed up your topic by starting the sister thread next to it, Victor--I failed to realize at the time that three of the people in the conversation (William/Victor/Celine) are controlled by you ><.

But as for the symbol, are you at liberty to tell us if it's the Goron/Deku/Rito thing or not? ^^ Either way, looking forward to seeing you in the next thread.