OOC: OK, then.

IC: Suddenly Victor slammed his fist down on the table, and he smiled wildly.

"That's it! Now I remember!"

He then pointed towards the note with one hand, and in the general direction of Ruto Town with the other.

"The guy I talked to said he overheard the group talking a bit. Said the Sheikah's name was Malciore. Now, from what I remember, Malciore was from Noe. And being from Noe, which is another country, makes him foreign!"

The Bard beamed proudly and crossed his arms, looking at the others at the table. He knew that talking to all the townspeople he met would come in handy some day.

"If that's not the solution, then I don't know what is..."

Dogura smiled. "Your mind is a powerful weapon victor. I read your thoughts, and was about to tell them myself, but it seems you are to quick for me! All right then!" Dogura said standing, up. "When do we journey to Newpeaktop?" Dogura grabbed his sword. "Ill be right back, Ive been to newpeaktop before, and its much colder up there, then it is down here. Thats assuming its cloudy. Im going to go buy a jacket. Please excuse me for the moment." With that sentence finished, Dogura dissapeared inside a nearby shop.

Alpha gazes over at Victor, and abruptly brings up his hand to slap his forehead full-force. He does a backflip as a result of the sheer weight behind his self-inflicted punishment. He does manage to land on his feet, fortunately, and shakes his head, disappointed at himself. "How could I forget that! Denning and I were the ones who helped Malciore after that incident...good nightmare, Master was right. I really have been too focused on training lately."

At Dogura's question, Alpha merely replies, "We leave immediately! Let's go!"

He doesn't get to far, however, before a voice rises over the din of the Courtyard. "Keyru!" Alpha turns to see Shada running over to them. She stops once she has reached the group, giving out greetings to all those who have gathered, whether she recognizes them or not.

"Master told me of what's going on. Have you guys figured out the first riddle yet?"

Alpha nods. "We're heading up to Mount Highpeak, close to New Peaktop." Shada shivers at the thought, but she is the first one out of the area nonetheless. Alpha smiles and shakes his head at her enthusiasm, then moves to follow her.

________________________________


High in a tower of North Castle, two figures sat in the cool stone confines. Both stared out the sole window in the small, circular room they currently sat in. Both were watching as Alpha, Shada, and the group slowly made their way towards the north, where the second clue had already been placed.

One of them turned to face the other. "It appears that the plan has worked. They'll be distracted for some time..."

The other simply chuckled. "So it seems. With them no longer snooping around, I can head back without fear of being watched by any of them."

The first one seemed distracted as he nodded in semi-agreement. "I suppose so...but how long do you think it will last?" As he spoke, he stepped out of the shadows the room held and into the sunlight. The face of General Noval looked straight into the eyes of the one in charge. "I tried my best to weave a good set of lies, but I'm not exactly used to that sort of thing. Hylian Knights are taught many traits, honesty being far from the least of them."

The second person exhaled in an amused manner. "You did fine. But if you had so much inner conflict about it, may I ask why you accepted the task?"

Noval straightened, as if offended. "I have always obeyed the orders of King Harkinian II before, and I always shall, unless doing so would be to betray the kingdom of Hyrule. Otherwise his orders are to always be respected and carried out."

"I meant no offense," came the calm reply. "And never fear...they will be distracted long enough. The last clue will tell them where to go to find my final message, but until then there is little - actually, no chance of them discovering me. And even if they do," he said as a grinned formed on his face, "I will already be out of their reach.

"They will be unable to stop me."

Still in the shadows, he nods to Noval. "Thank you for your assistance, General, and thank His Majesty for me." With that, he was gone.


OOC: Oooooooh, the plot thickens!

FYI, there will be a few, incredibly minor uses of my god-modding capabilities throughout the Prelude. Thought you guys deserved a fair warning.

To Clue #2!

OOC: Oooooooh, the plot thickens!

OOC: I think it even deepens, too! Anyway, good job, Victor. The cliff-fall came to memory only after you mentioned it... I guess it didn't pay to keep Arco from Malciore's storylines. Hee hee.

By the way, ZF, just thought I'd let you know... if Dogura ever tries to do that mind-read thing on Arco, he's gonna have a world of a headache.

IC:

As Victor voices the answer, Arco nods sensibly. Or is it cluelessly? All the same. He starts from the unconcious as the others take off, laces up his shoes, and follows...

“Hey...Hey, what do you all think that you are doing? Who the heck are you? Do you know what you have done?” At the sudden burst the running crowd stops and turns around to see a little fairy flying after them. The crowd looks at one another hoping that someone might know what is going on. “You rapscallions woke me up from my nap, and do you even know who I am? I am Trisket the FLYING BALL OF DOOM.” The fairy pauses a seconds for recognition and praise from the group. After a moment of awkward silence the little fairy who must be Trisket the FLYING BALL OF DOOM says, “It’s ok if you don’t know me. I am an up and coming hero and all shall know my name and sing my praises in the future. After you awoke me from under the table I took the liberty to listen to what was going on and decided that I am perfect for the mission you are doing. That being said, hello, how’s it going, and lets go.” Trisket the FLYING BALL OF DOOM then proceeds to fly past the confused group of people and after realizing that they are not follow he stops and turns around and says, “Well, let us go.”


OOC: Hey guys I haven’t been active in a while and Alpha asked if I could join; nice to be with you all again. I would have joined at the beginning but this was the first time I got the chance, sorry.

OOC: Hey, welcome back Razor/Trisket (you are indeed an old member, going all the way back to HA1, so you're especially welcomed ^^)! Actually, the Puzzling Prelude is already complete, so what you'll want to do is start with the big link above and follow the trail of "To Clue #X"'s. You'll soon find where the others are now, in Force of Gold (to which the Puzzling Prelude was a prelude). Join in the fun!