OOC: I could explain how the name transition works, but I'd rather not Actually, I thought up Mikhail from a History lesson this year. Last leader of the Soviet Union, he was, so I figured he may as well be one of the last citizens of the city as well But Drejudar? I'll never tell!
IC:

A bottle or jar drops to the floor as Victor shouts into the house, followed by Thespin yelling abut something holy. For a moment there is completer silence. Out of nowhere, Thespin appears in front of Victor and lights his lantern, illuminating the area nearby. There are shards of glass scattered across the floor. Thespin sighs, but can't help but laugh at the humour in the situation. He stifles his laughter and puts on a serious expression, wondering what discovery could possibly constitute the interruption.

Alright, Victor. What did you find that's important enough for you to get hyped up like this?

OOC: Fine! Be that way!

IC: Not bothering to stop his own chuckling, Victor was half laughing at the situation and half out of pure excitement at finding the letter. He shoved the note into Thespins hands and pointed at the text on it.

"Read this!"

Thespin holds the lantern over the letter to see the ancient text, raising an eyebrow hen he sees who the letter is addressed to. His eyes scan the paper, and when the bard has a full understanding of the memo, he does something very unexpected: Thespin shoves the letter into the lantern.

We can't let this letter exist any longer. We're lucky that an Drejudar didn't find it before we did. You probably don't know this, but Drejudar is one of them. He's the only one that was stupid enough to give us his name. He's identified by his black cloak; they all wear different colours in their ranks. And if you remember it, the guy that took the other Stone of Curse from you wore a black cloak as well. That was Drejudar.

We should go back to the second sector now. We know where the stone is, so there's no need to be here.

Victor's eyes grew wide at the explanation of Thespin's actions, and he marvelled at how... normal the letter made Drejudar seem. Nodding as his fellow bard spoke of moving back to the second sector to collect the Stone of Curse, he also began to wonder what this hospital would be like, considering that the letter made it seem like a rather frightening place. The Bard gulped at the thought of going there, but followed Thespin all the same...

Back in the second sector, the fire is still smoldering. An unexplainable breeze whistles through the cavern, sending a smooth shower of dieing embers into the air. Each of them burns out before reaching the ground, save for one, which lands on a flat puddle of blood, presumably of which had been spilled by the force of the Intelligent One's warhammer making contact with Jett's frail human body. A swarm of microscopic insects drones lazily over the red liquid, as if inspecting it in their constant search for a safe place to roost. With all of the Cursed Ones and battles going on throughout the Districts, it is hard for even the parasites to find peace.

Derix and Eyra have yet to return. Thespin sighs as he kneels down to fidget with some loose rubble, adjusting the pieces to form a makeshift seat. He sits on the odd creation and rests his arms on his knees. Then, with the boredom of the wait finally getting to him, he draws a small ocarina from his cloak.

Don't usually play this thing; I'm much better with a guitar. Come on, bard, it may be a while before Derix and Eyra get back. Let's see your musical talents.

OOC: Sorry I've been so lazy, I was just...

*Reads post at 'Beachy Clothes Behind a Desk'*

I MEAN, I didn't want to post before you got back. I was saving it just for you!

IC: Victor shifted uncomfortable at Thespin's request, and he drooped a little. He hadn't really played in a while, and he was still convinced that he wasn't all that good.

"Uhh.... well, OK, I guess. I haven't played in a while, though... We don't all come from musical far away lands, you know..."

At this, the Bard chuckled, and a bit of the uneasiness dissappeared. He reached around to his back and found his harp, bring it out for Thespin to see. Even in the darkness of the cave, the gold shone with a dim brilliance that helped to scatter a few of the sector's shadows. Sighing heavily, Victor stood silent for a few moments, trying to find some feeling to work into his song; for that was all that the harp required: a feeling or thought to transfer into musical notes, with just a little help from the operator's musical talents.

The unexplained breeze brushed softly against the Bard's cheek, and he tried using the wind in his song, plucking two strings to see what came out of it. The first string filled the air with... well, the sound of the wind. The second string emitted the quiet tingling of... wind chimes. Shaking his head and sighing again, Victor realized just how boring his song was, and looked around the sector for some other inspiration. All he could see was the rubble of past buildings and the puddle of Jett's blood. He tried using this in his song, but all he could manage was the terrible sound of bones cracking under the weight of a hammer. He cringed at the sound and, having no where else to turn, looked around at the fallen city once more.

The Bard thought back to when he and Thespin had entered the residential sector, and how he had pictured the sector not as a crumpled, decaying mass of structures, but as a center of activity and happiness in the past. Suddenly it hit him, and he smiled wildly. Victor may not be able to go back in time and see the sector as it once was, but he could try and bring the past back to the old city itself. So, his fingers quivering over the harp strings, he prepared to bring something into the sector that it probably hadn't heard in a long time: happy music.

Victor began by strumming the strings in quick succession, causing the sound of trembling snare drums to pierce the cavern air. A few measures of the beating drums echoed throughout the district before they were followed by blaring trumpets and trombones, playing the intro for what the Bard hoped would sound like a march. A lone snare could still be heard in the background, since he had only sacrificed two strings to the brass section.

As the music continued, the trumpets took up the song's melody; the upbeat, happy-sounding notes of a delightful little march. The trombones backed up the trumpets' blaring with lower notes, and occasionally the trumpets would be silenced so that the trombones could be heard more clearly, echoing the melody in an almost comical fashion. All the while, the percussion kept the rhythm flowing, for Victor was careful to manipulate the snare's string as well as the brass ones.

Caught up in his own personal parade, the Bard himself began to march around the sector, circling the smoldering fire and passing by each mound of rubble and crumbled building, half expecting people to arise from the rubble just to watch his one-man procession. Having made a full circle, Victor stopped in front of Thespin and marched in place. The brass was suddenly silenced, and as he beckoned his fellow Bard to join in the snares could be heard once more, keeping tempo so that the Trinian would be able to jump right in...

OOC: Phew! That sure took me a long time to think up, let alone post. I still don't consider myself too good at making musical posts, though...

OOC: Heh, musical posts look hard.
IC:

An amused grin creeps onto Thespin's face as he watches his fellow bard parade merrily around the District, as if he had never had a care in the world. The Trinian thinks to himself about the world envisioned by the organization. To him, it will be a musical land much like Trinia, but with a blend of every great feature ever imaginable. Musical sunsets and jam sessions by a clear, fresh lake fill his head as Victor plays his triumphant melodies.

That is how the world will be... when we are through here. No cares, no evils, just music and laughter.

Thespin stands with his ocarina as Victor approaches him, his full circle around the sector complete. The archer fits the wind instrument to his mouth, allowing his breath to be carried into the small clay item, and carried out in the form of a beautiful melody. It starts off slow, and very mysterious, just as Thespin had been when he saved Victor from Orias days ago. It remains at a relaxed pace, echoing through the District and accompanying Victor's excellent music. The tune has a deep amount of remorse to it, but at the same time there is a great amount of rejoice in the song. Every minute that the bard plays the sweet melody, it gets louder and louder, and loses its sadness, until it is triumphant in tone and as cheerful as Victor's. The bards' duet lasts for three minutes afterwards, until a voice cuts the melodies and breaks the brilliance of the session. Derix appears beside Thespin, with Eyra following him not far behind.

Glad to see you two are having fun.

OOC: The song that Thespin was playing is the ending theme from A Link To The Past.

OOC: Sure, tell that to the kid who's never beaten ALttP. I looked it up on VG Music, though, so it's all good.

IC: Even when Derix interrupts their little jam session, Victor's fingers lingered over the harp's strings. The sounds of stray trombone blasts and drum beats fill the air as the miniature band slowly ends its march for the time being, as if an invisible band director was waving his arms frantically somewhere to bring th happy melody to a stop. The Bard himself frowned a little at the interruption, and he retorted.

"Glad to see you two took your sweet time getting here..."

As he put away his harp, though, Victor remembered just why Thespin and himself had returned to the sector, and a jovial expression overtook his face.

"That doesn't matter now, anyways. Thespin and I found something!"

Remembering how his fellow Bard had taken the precaution of disposing of the note, Victor lowered his voice so that only Derix and Eyra could hear him, though it was likely that there was no one else around to hear him, anyways.

"I found a note addressed to Drejudar in one of the houses. It spoke of one of the Stones of Curse, and it said that we could find it in one of the rooms over at the Hospital. In Drejudar's mother's room in the asylum. The best part is, it didn't seem like Drejudar had ever gotten around to reading the note! Lucky find, eh?"

Smiling wildly now, Victor waited for the information to sink in, and expected a reactino similar to his own from the other two...

A surprised look hangs on the faces of both the Rosylian and the Kokiri as they absorb the information. It is replaced by separate reactions, however. Derix portrays excitement and awe towards the incredible discovery, whereas Eyra crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow skeptically.

A trap, perhaps?

Derix believes that it is merely luck, and that the Intelligent Ones are not planning anything surrounding this mystery. He returns Eyra's suspicious frown with a sarcastic and excited grin.

C'mon, if they really wanted to harm us, they would have done it by now. Why go to all the trouble of luring us into the hospital and then killing us, when they could just do it easily right now? This is just a coincidence. A fortunate one, too, because we found absolutely nothing in the fourth sector.

Thespin stares at his ocarina, disappointed in the interruption, but glad that the mission could resume. He agrees with Derix and adds to the notion of the searching the specified hospital room.

We'll have to check it out sometime anyway, so even if it is a trap there's no way to avoid it. There's a high chance that we've finally been given a stroke of luck, and I for one do not want to waste it.

Eyra holds strong to her caution, not wanting to lose another member of the expedition. It was enough to lose Jett and Kessler, and the Kokiri girl would not be able to accept the loss of another comrade. She turns to Victor and sighs, asking the bard for his opinion on the matter.

Well, Victor? What do you think?

"I think that it's too good an opportunity to waste."

Sitting off to the side and leaning up against a pile of building debris is the black caped Sheikah, hood drawn so as to not attract the group's attention. Slowly he stands, drawing his cape around him as he walks towards the firelight where the group stands. "You people talk far too loudly - of course, it may just seem that way to me due to Sheikah senses. Regardless, if we have some idea where these Stones of Curse are we have to look for them."

Alpha brushes back his cape to its normal position behind his shoulders and lowers his hood, giving Victor a nod. For the past night he has meditated on Meridel's offer, weighing both sides of the argument. A decade ago, heck, even a year ago, the choice would have been simple. The fact that he had trouble deciding proved to himself that he had changed much in the past year since he returned to Hyrule. After reviewing that fact and the main reason behind his trouble in making the decision, the answer to Meridel's offer had become more and more blantantly obvious. He knew what his response was to be, and actually almost looked forward to her appearance so he could give it to her.

That, of course, meant he needed to travel about in the areas that the Intelligent Ones frequented. And that had led him here. Looking straight at the one who had organized the group, Alpha calmly said, "Victor, I noticed you lost two people earlier. I'd like it if you would consider me something of a replacement, even though I'm not nearly as strong as they are."

Another frown appeared on Victor's face as Eyra asked him to speak his mind; it seemed he had been frowning a lot more since he joined the organization. He hated making decisions, especially when they could mean life or death. Still, he pondered the possibilities for a few seconds, then gave his point of view slowly, choosing his words very carefully.

"Well, I think that it would be best if we give it a shot. It is our mission to gather these stones, after all, and this is the only lead we have right now. Besides, Thespin was telling me how you guys knew Drejudar's name, and that he was one of the dumber Intelligent Ones..."

He blinked, and then chuckled a bit.

"Heh, well, that sure is an oxymoron. But, anyways, like I said, it didn't seem like anyone had touched the letter for years, and I don't think that Drejudar would be wise enough to set us up for a trap if he was dumb enough to give out his name. Still..."

Victor unsheathed his dagger.

"... if we go, we should definitely proceed with caution..."

EDIT:: OOC: HOLY CWAP! ALPHA! What are you doing here?! Great, now I have to edit my post. Thanks a lot, Alpha. Oh well, I'll just add on to it. [Jedi Mind trick] Alpha did not post before me...[/Jedi Mind trick]

IC: As Alpha suddenly appeared from the shadows, however, Victor jumped. He hadn't expected his Sheikah comrade to appear in the middle of their mission, and he voiced his surprise accordingly.

"HOLY GODDESSES! ALPHA! What are you doing here?!"

As the Sheikah spoke, however, Victor nodded slowly and smiled.

"Sure, why not. I don't see why you shouldn't join in... After all, we could use all the help we can get if this does end up being a trap of some sort."

The Bard then looked around at the others in the group and realized something.

"Actually, now that Jett is... gone, we don't have a mage on our team. So, your skills could prove quite valuable in the long run..."

He then faced the others and questioned them, even though he already knew what their answers would probably be.

"Any objections?"

Derix, Eyra and Thespin appear to be surprised at first, drawing their weapons as the black cloaked Sheikah approaches them. However, they are able to relax when the mage and bard engage in friendly conversation. Eyra is the first to speak to the newcomer.

You are Alpha, correct? The newest addition to our small faction. I am called Eyra, and these two are Derix and Thespin. Although you are a newcomer and have yet to be tested for your skills, we would be happy to have you along. Victor is correct; our only mage is now gone, and so we have very little magical advantage now.

This being said, the Kokiri's skeptical frown fades away and is replaced by a cheerful grin. She draws her plain dagger and points northwards, indicating the direction of the hospital.

Alright then, let's go. Oh, Alpha, why exactly were you wandering about in this District anyway?

OOC: Oh, well...sorry Victor. You just gotta learn to post faster. Or at least check before you press the 'Submit' button.

IC:
Alpha chuckles to himself. "Very well then, one mage at your service." He bows before the group in a dramatic fashion before resuming his normally serious stance. He nods at the various members of the organization as Eyra introduces them, and upon her completion of the roster adds, "A pleasure to meet you all."

At Eyra's question, he rubs his chin as he tries to figure out the best way to answer it. Being that he is so new to this underground area, he had needed some sort of anchor to the place, something that he could sense that would allow him to open a portal from the Void to the correct location. So, he had used Victor's distinctive life force in order to return, and had wound up reappearing amidst the rubble in the area just as Victor was beginning his musical number with Thespin.

"It's kind of difficult to explain, but basically...I used a special...teleportation ability...I have. I needed some help finding this place again, so I targeted Victor's life force to serve as my anchor to this place." He shrugs. "It's a lot more complicated than that. But hopefully, you'll never have to known any of the specific details. Trying to transport anyone else with my ability would probably end up killing them."

Eyra can't help but to renew her suspicious expression, but decides to cease the interrogation and continue with the task at hand. Alpha's business was not hers, and she felt obliged to keep herself from prodding the Sheikah into revealing any unnecessary information.

Very well, Alpha. Right then, shall we?

The group marches out of the gloomy sector, leaving the scene of Jett's surprise death behind and advancing towards their goal: The Stone of Curse that is waiting for them in the hospital.

In the final sector of the Hospitality District is a wide plaza which is mostly empty, save for one enormous structure at the very end. This is the hospital that the Stone is rumoured to be held in. Inside there will no doubt be countless quantities of corpses, Cursed Ones and infectious medical equipment. The party's first objective will be to find the asylum for the psychologically challenged clientele, and then to find some sort of patient record; a file that contains the words "Drejudar" or "Mikhail". This will lead them to their desired destination.

Under the balcony of the hospital's second floor, there is a man. He is not garbed in a mysterious cloak or anything of the sort, but is instead wearing what appear to be ordinary garments. He turns around as he hears the cloaked ones approaching, giving a sigh and disappearing in an white and olive colored mist. He reappears on the balcony of the third floor, gazing down on the men and woman below him.

OOC: When was this posted?! Stupid non-working email notifications...
Also, I'm guessing that we don't "see" this man, but I'll let Alpha with his "Sheikah senses" determine that.

IC: Gazing up at the large building, Victor couldn't help but wonder why the hospital had avoided the untimely fate that most of the other buildings in the district seem to have suffered. He then realized what would probably be inside the hospital; dead things and needles. The Bard shuddered and wondered why he hadn't sided with Eyra on the matter. (OOC: Just for good measure...) Not noticing the strange man on the balcony, he chuckled uneasily and broke the silence.

"To think, we're worried about being attacked in the very place where citizens were probably saved everyday..."