Walking deep in the forest, the dead of night is shrouded by the near-pitch-black sky. The moon is the only possible source of light, though a few clouds go along way to succumbing the world into total darkness. A meadow, open, free, a beam of light shines through, incandescent in the twilight. It seems to be concentrated on what looks to be a stump. A single leaf breaks free from the imprisoning branches above, falling down in front of you, a wisp of wind steals it and it flies away melding into the ground with not more than a whisper. A few chirps, crickets, out of nowhere, the silence is broken for only a few short moments before the eery silence that accompanies returns. Entering the meadow, your vision slightly increases, the crumple of the grass beneath your feet causes you to look around cautiously. And as you approach it, the non-stumpness becomes apparent. Slight twitches, barely swaying, and tiny breaths. You can judge that it is about two feet tall, and the light reveals a familiar pattern on the visible side. One name comes to mind...

It's that fellow.

En route from here to there, Arco had stopped walking at a seemingly random spot in the forest. Something seemed to say, "Wait." First the Sheikah smoothed out his garments: hair, cloak, trousers--with that receding discoloration of dust as you went upwards.

Then he looked up and... looked. Methodically, the gaze dropped.

Moon, clouds, light, leaf, grass, something alive, something else.

If Arco could have frozen any more, he would have. He watched the almost non-existent rise-and-fall breathing of the wooden individual. And... that.

Black crescent on three triangles.

Without moving, the tiny figure's breathing slows. He's being watched... now where. A whirl, a gust of wind blowing into the faces of both men. He drops his head slightly, still silent, he listens to the wind roll, he listens to hear where it breaks... there. 'Directly behind me,' he thinks, "Hello. What are you doing in the forest at night? It's not safe." His voice comes out very monotonous, almost raspy, totally serious. "I know who you are..." Then the calm silence returns as the wind dies. After a few moments, a trill piercing "HURRRR" twirls from behind you, a sharp sound, almost to the point of flinching and shivers down your spine. The small shape gives off no reaction, and the only movement is a simple slide of his right foot, and that is only minimal.

Grenada.

Arco wonders what the other means by "It's not safe." But there was a question too, one that doesn't ask for urgency. And Arco doesn't give any. A long pause, then a voice in an equal but radically different sort of monotone:

"I am..." The Sheikah hesitates. "Talking to you." Once having digested the last bit of Grenada's inquiry, he adds, "Yes."

Then that sound, that bend in the air. Arco cringes and lurches to the side, looking wildly behind him. Panting, Arco looks to the small figure expectantly.

Eyes behind you, though you do not see them, a flash, now they are moving. Focused on the two beings, the eyes raise into the air, and begin a slow descent, gradually picking up speed, faster. Behind you, is a slight "wuh" though it is extremely hard to hear. "You should watch your back..." and less than two seconds later, the wind is pulling at your robes, it's like a black hole, and then a spinning blur zips past you, wings extend from the sides, as it steadies out, and your robes seems to be going the opposite way now. A loud "HURRR!" the wings steady, silent, and as the bird, which you now recognize as an owl, is finally behind Grenada time seems to slow down. His head still down; a spin, hard, fast and to the left, gets him free from the bird's rushing beak. An arm, extended to it's fullest, reaches out and grabs the owl's wing, and he flips up and onto the back. Taking off into the sky, Grenada gives a loud "Whoohoo!!!" And he can be heard talking to the bird, in a very excited tone. After about two minutes of flying around, he launches himself off from the sky, and comes crashing down beside you. His breathing is loud, almost exaggerated, caused by the thrill of flight. "Sorry about that... Arco, if I heard the name correctly. I was just training with my owl, gotta keep on my toes." He draws the hood off of his head, revealing the ordinary Deku face. And a swooshing wind begins stealing the leaves from the trees, creating a loud, rustling symphony in the background.

Arco turns on his heel towards the prickly feeling at the back of his neck, beginning to breathe loudly. He barely takes a step back before the

Aaack--

gust siezes hold of the Sheikah's loose garments and hurls them the opposite way. He staggers backwards and fumbles for a weapon that isn't there. Arco turns again, shivering for a moment before dropping to his knees to do what he does best.

Soft grass. Strong winds. Dark night. Bird and Deku Scr...

His eyes follow the pair as they slice the clouds and nip at the treetops. His mouth closed, the Vagabond's face stays in an expressionless mold of flitting, twinging awe. The eyes occasionally grow a less pasty grey when the flying wonder is sillouetted against the moonlight.

By Dragonsbane...

But even the deadest light only amplifies the amazement. "Woohoo," repeats Arco under his breath.
-
When the Grenada lands, Arco finds a voice to speak up. "Grenada, you... have tamed an owl?"

He was surprised by the Sheikah's... surprise, not really sure what to say other than "Yeah... I think. Is that good?" He looked almost embarrassed, as the Sheikah had found amazement in this... simple matter. "I, um thought, you know... owl's fly, and that might help me for traveling, quickly, or something like that. Plus, these legs don't get you that far, and then there's fatigue, and all. I love just coasting around, through the clouds listening to them rush by, tearing through. Exhilaration to the max."

He looks up into the sky, having the wind catch the leaves on his head and pull them about wildly. Pushing them down, he opens his arms wide and says "Night is a wonderous time, that's why I chose an owl." Listening to the crinkle of the grass, his eyes are lit by the moon's glow, and he gives off a big smile, gleaming, proud. He sits in wonder of all the noise you truly hear if you take the time to listen.

"Ah, well, yes. That's fantastic! I didn't know that people could..."

Well, 'people.' Are we talking Gorons or Fairies?

Arco nods. He falls silent and watches the other person, following the Deku Scrub's gaze to the treetops and back to the grass. Silence, but then again not silence. Music in the wind, songs in the stars. The Sheikah's fingers twitch involuntarily.

"How did you do it?" asks Arco at last. "How did you manage it?"

He lowers his gaze, waits for a few moments and using a somber voice "After an... unfortunate incident," he pauses, sighs, and looks around. "I... exiled myself from my village. But every once in a while I wanted to go visit my parents, and friends. Now I just couldn't walk through the village. I couldn't face many of the people, because if word got out," He shakes his head. "I wouldn't be here now..."

He waits listening to the sounds of twilight as he regained his composure enough to go on. "So anyway, I found this owl. And that's when it hit me. Owls fly in the night, so I could get in and out sneakily. I spent about a week and a half studying it, watching it's habits, and every day I got a little bit closer. Now of course the owl realized, but I'm not the most frightening person, so it was probably curious. Then one day, after it left, I climbed the tree and sat one branch higher than it did. Laying there, I waited for it to return. And when it did, It saw me and began to fly away. So I jumped and caught it by the wing. Dragging it down to the ground, I accidentally broke the wing. Now it couldn't fly away, so I helped it back to health and in that time, it began to trust me. After it began flying again, it eventually let me fly on it's back."

Arco stares in complete silence, with his own polite variant of locking his eyes on a single target. It's hard to tell what's spinning in his mind, but...

He exiled himself?

A flicker--no, more of a twinge--of light in the grey eyes.

From what history? And now "Hyrule's Greatest Mercenary"?

Synchronized with Grenada's pause, Arco--slowly--nods. Encouragingly. The story that follows seems strange to Arco, but he listens as well as he can. His mind, drifting in and out of threads of conversation, sifts through what he hears and stores some of it away in the subconcious for later.

Battles of wisdom, patience, knack... trust. Is this the mercenary or the exiled?

When Grenada finishes, so does Arco. "'es," says the Sheikah.

' 'es, eh? Arco really is one of them thinkers.' Grenada was thinking as he looked into the sky. The darkness was fading to light, but just barely as the stars had enough will to stay put for the time being, but he noticed they would soon have no choice but join the sun in it's daily conquest of the world. He finally thought of something to say, and he twisted his head so he could look toward Arco's face "What do you think I should call it?" A loud "HURRR" pierces through the early dawn light, and the owl takes it's leave from the world, diving toward the forest, and entering a hole in a tree. Almost as if vowing that it would not permit the sun the privilege of blinding it that day.

Quite visibly, Arco begins to fret. His mouth opens to half-mast as he blinks in difficulty and moves his hands about as if shaping the dough of his thoughts.

Wha? He asked me? I mean, what, I mean... a name for a, for a...

Ever so gradually, he decrescendos to relaxation and regains his "don't-mind-me-I'm-just-staring-at-you" composure. Inevitably, his mind continues to spin--how about "Emji"? Or, "Shiva"? No, I don't know if he'd like the sound of that... though...

Finally, Arco speaks, as tactfully as possible. "Well... what would you name the mount of Hyrule's Greatest Mercenary?" he asks earnestly (or desperately). Taking a pause, the Sheikah turns his head slightly to follow the path of the departing owl. As the pause is lengthened, Arco gasps a few words under his breath.

"'Emji', 'Shiva'... from where did I get those?"

Grenada sighs, not exactly the response he was looking for. But inside he's smiling, Hyrule's Greatest Mercenary. He doesn't show it on the outside, except for a slight blue flash of his eye, but he likes the title, especially when someone else uses it. "I don't know yet, I was just asking for ideas" he says, before noticing the rapid approach of daylight, "It's getting light, twilight fades consumed by it's evil nemesis, the sun. It's a constant struggle. None shall win, neither will allow it's spirit to be broken... pushing and giving, it's an amazing cyclic pattern if you really think about it."

"Yes," says Arco.

Opposing yet complementary forces; one expanding and separating while the other contracts and assimilates; construction and destruction, masculine and feminine, nonviolence and violence, circle and straight line, soft and hard...

He turns to watch the sunrise as well. The breaking grey of dawn offsets the grey of the Sheikah's eyes and changes their hue subtly. An tired smile creeps to his eyes.

"I wouldn't readily call the sunlight an evil nemesis, though." Arco's mouth falls into a smile to match his eyes after the words enter the strata of the morning air. The man then turns to look Grenada, in a motion that begs for eye contact. The question is simple, like a "Yes."

"Have you visited your hometown yet, Grenada?"

"You're right, not so much an evil nemesis, but truly opposite enough to be the nemesis." Looking at the sunlight, he wonders thinking

Have you been home recently... "Not recently, my home is in Southern Hyrule, below Death Mountain. There's a whole village, it's rather small though, so not much happens. Without flying, I can't get there, so I figure I'll just wait. It's best to be there as little as possible, anyway." He gives a sheepish, small smile, accented by the growing sunlight. "How 'bout you?"