OOC:

Hi no Seijin wrote:OOC: What? You wanted us to use an awareness check? After spending a year in FoG III using them? ( )

YES!!! Didn't you know? The sole purpose of FoG III was simply to get you guys used to using Awareness Checks! *



IC:
Rose's Awareness Check works like a charm (20+3[Roll+INT] vs. 15). On the other side of the street, piled on top of one of the roofs, lies a mountain of precariously perched barrels. Judging from the way they move in the rather light breeze coming in from the desert, it looks like any extra force would be enough to make the pile collapse. In a loud, resounding crash at that.

OOC:
* - Posted by a proud member of Sarcasm to the Extreme (ATM [almost trademarked])

OOC: Don't hold back, do you, Alf?

IC: Rose reaches down to her belt and slides her boomerang out, keeping her eyes on the barrels. Goddesses, don't let the Gerudos see the boomerang, she prays as she fliks her wrist, sending her boomerang flying towards the barrels.

OOC: It's not in my nature to be nice, HNS. At least, not often.

IC:
The boomerang smashes against the barrels, and as the projectile returns to Rose the barrels fall in a resounding CRASH!!! The guards patrolling the area immediately rush over to the alley which the barrels have fallen into, spears already drawn and ready to jab into whoever might be foolish enough to be breaking the curfew.

Koura gives Rose an approving nod. "Good work." As soon as the last of the guards have disappeared around the corner, the Gerudo leaps up and charges across the street. Enici stumbles along behind her, having a little trouble keeping up.

Rose follows Koura and Enici. Luck seems to be on her side tonight. First coming across Elissa, then facing drunk guards, and now the guards they had come across not noticing her boomerang. The things I do for other people, she thinks. For all of this trouble we're going through, we better save Calla.

'Twice in a row. Maybe she's getting the hang of being stealthly.' Raven then realises that he said that out loud and tries to avoid Rose's gaze,l at least until they get to the realtive safety of Enici's house.

Luckily for Raven, Rose is too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice his statement.

OOC: Trying to get beat up, are you, Red Fury?

Raven stands in the little darkness that remains until they can enter the Doc's house. Just in case the Gerudo come back.

OOC: Not at all. He's just speaking his mind (although unintentionally).

Entering Doc Enici's home, the group is instantly struck by how small the first room is, containing only a pair of chairs and a sofa. Enici leads them towards a door on the far wall, which when opened reveals a large work room that would be the envy of most doctors around the world. Countless tubes lie scattered about the several tables and benches. Large cabinets filled to the brim with all types of herbs and medicine line the walls.

Enici nods to the others. "Let me work back here; you all wait in the first room. The guards won't bother us as long as we're inside, so Koura, you should be safe. It shouldn't take me more than half an hour to work up this medicine, leaving you all plenty of time to get back to your home and administer it." Stepping into his workspace, he gives them a grin and pushes the door closed.

Rose sits down on the sofa. "Have those barrels always been up on the roofs?" she asks. She has a feeling that the answer is going to make her feel stupid.

Koura shrugs her shoulders. "How should I know? I've been exiled for years; haven't stepped foot in the village for a long time...well, I wasn't supposed to, anyway." A sly grin appears on her face, obviously recalling memories of times when she returned.

After another few moments, Koura sits in one of the chairs and rests her chin on her hand. "I do have one thing I've been wondering about..." She pauses, unsure if she should continue, but quickly decides to do so. "Alpha and Calla...how did they end up in such horrible shape? I mean, Parapa sandstorms are rare enough, but most of the time you can see them coming with plenty of time to spare. And then there was that worm he had...that thing isn't natural...

"What I'm asking is, well, what happened to them?"

Rose quickly explains how Alpha and Shada had met at a campfire and were then captured by Hakiems. She told the Gerudo of their escape out of their cells and their search for Alpha. She finishes by telling how Alpha opened up a hole...to something...so they could escape from Zaboorak and the Hakiems. "As for the worm, I don't know about that," Rose concludes. "But it doesn't look like it did Alf any good."

OOC: Hey, Alpha, you're right. I love doing that.

OOC: Yeah, I know. Great, isn't it?

IC:
Koura sits back in her chair after Rose's long explanation. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out exactly what she's thinking about: after all, Rose has just unloaded a mountain -full of information on her. The Hakiems, a long trek and battle through the assassins' base, the Void...all of it is probably overwhelming to anyone who had no prior knowledge of Alpha's history. It's still probably overwhelming to those that do know his history.

Finally, though, she sits up and nods to herself. "Well, sounds like he could certainly use some help against the Hakiems...I might have a way of helping him..." she mutters.

Rose opens her mouth to ask how the Gerudo could help the Sheikah, but then she closes it. Her curiosity can wait until they are with Alpha and have healed Calla. Then she opens her mouth again to ask, "Shouldn't Enici be done by now? Surely it's been half an hour."

OOC: Especially seeing as how that explanation should take, what, five hours to read?

OOC: Yeah, but I needed someone else to post first. Took you long enough.

IC:
As if on cue, the door to Enici's laboratory flies open. "Alright," he says calmly...yet somehow with an air of hurry about him. "Here's the medicine; it should be more than enough to get this young Rito of yours back to full health in a matter of hours. And I even made it grape-flavored!" He gives the group a wide grin at that prospect, then hands Koura a large vial containing a purplish liquid.

Quickly, the Gerudo turns and hands it over to Rose...probably because, with her sparse clothing, there's no place for her to put it. The doctor nods, then motions them through the door to his lab. "I have a side door connected to my lab; it will let you out into an alleyway that's pretty close to the edge of town. You should have no problem escaping unseen."

Koura nods her thanks, then turns and rushes out the door, pulling her cloak on as she does so and wrapping it around her.

* * *

The man had certainly taken his precious time. But, at last, he stood in front of the leaders. The dark room, filled with shadows for the sole purpose of protecting those in charge from sight, made him feel more at home. As was expected. He thrived in the darkness, as his predecessor had done.

"I have slain the assassins, as you requested."

Even though he couldn't see them, he knew from past encounters that they were nodding their thanks. As was expected. At last, he heard one voice coming out of the nothingness, the one of their spokesperson. As was expected. "We have received reports that agree with this. The money you requested is yours." A large bag flew into the soft lighting that encased his cloaked form, and as it touched down on the flooring its sound confirmed that it was indeed filled with rupees. Judging by the crumple that he had heard, he knew them to be golden rupees, his favored kind. As was always expected.

Even though they could not see his grin, his quick motion at snatching the bag from the ground told them he was pleased. As was expected. But they did not expect for him to speak again. "I believe it would be in your best interest to know that an exile of yours returned to this area last night. A woman by the name of...Koura."

They gasped. As he had expected. He had not expected the flurry of voices that suddenly rose up, even though he was still present. "Why would she return?" "We cast her out years ago?" "She and that teacher Nyra of hers were always trouble!" "I can't believe she managed to slip past our guards!" Then came the one he had been waiting to hear: "We have to punish her for this transgression!"

"I can help with that," he said calmly. All conversation ceased again. As expected. "Normally I would charge a considerable fee for catching her, but there is something about her that intrigues me. Consider this job to be done out of my own...good will, as the saying goes." He almost laughed; they all knew his will was not 'good'.

"Very well," the spokeswoman said after a few moments. "Go and find Koura, then bring her here so we may think of an appropriate way of execution." He bowed and turned away, leaving the leaders of Parapa Village to talk amongst themselves once again...as was expected.

OOC: Grape flavored?

Hey, I had a Bio 151 class, went to dinner, and hung out in my friend's dorm for a while. I do do other things beside post in HA2.

IC: Rose takes the vial from Koura and stows it carefully into an inside pocket of her cloak. She bows to Enici. "Thank you," she says, and then she is out of the door, following the Gerudo into the dawn.

OOC: It is dawn now, right?