It's a peaceful night at New Peaktop, a small, chilly breeze drifting through the town, filling an awning over a window for a brief second before floating over to the next house, leaving the fabric to drop lazily back down. It toys with some clothes out on a line, rippling the smooth silk of a rather private piece of lady's garment. Overhead, a pidgeon makes sluggish loops in the sky, enjoying the time alone, letting only the breeze guide it as it wanders through the atmosphere.

Suddenly, a brilliant light blasts from the ground, blazing up just beside the bird and passing it, an immense heat wave causing it to squawk in surprise as it somersaults away, spreading its wings to catch an updraft and right itself. Then came the explosion. The bird hurriedly flapped away, struggling against the wind to vacate the area.

From below came cheering. Standing on top of a stone three-story building, a small mass of figures clad in a myriad of different colored robes. They put their hands together in unison, stretching them apart as a ball of energy built up between the palms. When the magic had become fairly large, they bent over, knelt, and leapt into the air again in one fluid motion, their right hands outstretched as they launched their spells. The balls of energy took off at random angles, arcing through the night sky. One by one, they exploded into a shower of light particles, falling back down to the basin around the cliff for a few seconds before disintegrating. In the middle of the group stood a more familiar face. He lacked the robe of the others, but instead had donned a snazzy new top hat--This one without any holes at all.

"'appy New Year, mates!" Burlo shouted at the top of his lungs, repeating the motion from before as he launched a purple spell into the air--Simulated fireworks. On the edge of the cliff, actual fireworks were mounted on sticks, perfectly spaced one foot apart. Sabertache, the Tantari Mercenary, held a small ball of flame in his left hand. Licking his lips, he ran along the cliff edge, trying to keep his balance as he held the flame down by the fuse of each firework, lighting them as he passed. When he finally reached the end, he held the blazing spell in his hand as he turned to see the fruits of his labor.

One of the twenty-plus fireworks launched off every second, twisting and spiraling as they blazed through the air, before exploding in a brilliant shower of particles, making familiar shapes like a Deku Nut, Sword, and Ocarina. The nomad laughed as he wiped his brow with the back of his left hand, yelping as the tip of his hair lit on fire from the still-held magic. Hurriedly blowing on it, he squeezed the blaze between two fingers and extinguished it, sighing in relief. He looked at the citizens of New Peaktop gathered around the building where the mages had displayed their craft, searching the crowd for any familiar faces.

OOC: Eh, it's a bit late, but happy new year!

OOC: Familiar faces, eh? Too bad. No Sheila for you.

IC:
The noise woke Marisa up. This, of course, irritated her. As the noise continued, she threw off the covers and sat up. It took a moment or two for the Sheikah's feet to find her slippers. She then crossed the room and grabbed her cloak from the closet, slipping it over her pajamas. Before she left the room, she looked over to the other bed. Her sister's soft snoring had caught her attention, but what kept it was the fact that she was still asleep, despite the noise outside. And the fact that Hyneria slept in her undergarments. Without a sheet to cover her.

Balancing on one foot, the swordmistress from Saria Town took off a slipper and threw it at the thief's head. "Wake up!" she yelled.

"I swear I didn't eat your cucco," the younger of the two Sheikah mumbled sleepily as she bolted up right.

Marisa rolled her eyes. "Just give me back my slipper."

Once her slipper was back on her foot, she was on her way outside, where she saw a group of Ritos surrounding a building. She made her way over, slight curiosity getting to her since she had been so rudefully awaken. Perhaps she would have a word with the person responsible.

Of course, her sister always had a way of interfering. Hyneria didn't waste any time in following her favorite older sister out of the inn (she was, of course, dressed in a robe and her own cloak now; her slippers were mis-matched, one pink and fuzzy and the other brown and smooth). "Hey, Saber, is that you?" she shouted over the crowd, jumping up and down as high as she could and waving her hand so that the nomadic mercenary could see her. Of course, how she managed to see him through the crowd is a mystery.

Kobas and Arrika let out a loud cheer at the explosions, Kobas picking up the light Sheikah and spinning around. "Happy New Year, Arrika!" He called over the noise. "Hey, don't you know that kid?" He said, nodding his head towards Saber.

Arrika grinned. "Hey, Saber!" She jumped up and down and waved excitedly, the festivities giving her a boost of energy even at this late hour. "Saber!"

“WAHHH!!! What a riot!”

Zeze bounded into the scene – well, Laido bounded into the scene, with Zeze on his shoulders. The bard ruffled Laido’s hair, and oohed and ahhed at the fireworks. She leaned down, and pecked Laido on the cheek. She sang sweetly,

“Happy New Year,
Laido dear,
May good health and beer
Follow you all year!”

Laido laughed, his hazel eyes twinkling. Not being so musically talented, or so creative with words himself, he chuckled,

“And you too, Ze.”

Sakiko ignored these two, and glanced around the beautiful scene in front of her. She caught herself from gaping, closing her mouth quickly. She turned, trying to look for anyone she knew. There was Arrika and Kobas – that was no surprise. They were magnets to parties and festivities, after all. And who was this? Saber?

The mage grinned, and waved at the familiar faces.

Zapheta whooped,

“Happy New Year, everyone! Hey, Hey, Arrika!”

Saber heard his name called out among the crowd and smiled as he saw Arrika and Hyneria--Both were only acquaintances, but he was glad to have company other than Burlo. It also helped that they were pretty women, but that wasn't that big of a deal to him. Whatever got him away from a drunken cleric was a welcome sight. He returned the wave, but lost sight of them both in the crowd, and took a small hop to try and see them. "I'm never going to be ever to get to them through this mob..." He said with a wry smile. Burlo was even further, but he knew that the drunk had some...uncanny...abilities that would allow him to easily reach the mercenary. Saber took another jump into the air, this one a bit higher, and finally saw the tip of Arrika's head. However, he landed off balance, and as he stumbled backwards, he toppled over the narrow ridge with a cry of "Meep!"

Burlo, from his perch two stories above, saw his parasitic host of choice fall to a certain demise. Taking a large leap off the top of the building, he soared thirty-something feet past the edge of the mob, waddling over to the edge. As he leaned over to peer into the depths, a Rito arose twenty feet to his left with Saber clutching his legs in a state of panic. He landed in front of the crowd (Which hadn't even noticed he'd fallen because they were too busy with their merrymaking) and Saber let go, shivering from the frightening event that had just taken place. From behind him, he heard Burlo cry out, "I don' sees 'im! 'E's long gone, mates, me poor mate Sabertoosh is swimmin' wit' de fishers! Dat ain't no 'xaggeration, neither, Der's a river at de bottom o' the cliff!" The cleric kneeled by the cliff, sobbing uncontrollably as Saber tried his best to merge with the crowd and escape the cleric's sight forever, unable to penetrate past the wall of celebrators.

Zeze laughed, and hopped off Laido's shoulders. She yelled,

"Oi! Burlo! Saber!"

Zeze fell into yelling familiar people's names, finding nothing to do. Sakiko sighed deeply, already getting irritated at the bard's wild manners. The mage breathed under her breath,

"I'm sure they already know you are here, Zapheta."

Masakazu, who was behind her and pretending to be invisible, muttered in agreement,

"Her New Year's resolution should be to be less so savage."

Sakiko nodded, and continued staring at the fireworks.

An arm shot through the crowd and grabbed the Hylian's arm. "You have really got to be more careful," the Sheikah thief said as she lead Saber through the crowd and back to her sister. Her weaving movements were perfectly executed to avoid any bumps, undoubtedly the result of years of being a thief; if the merc was skilled enough, he could accomplish the same feat.

Once through the crowd, Hyneria let go of the young man's arm and said, "It's been a while, hon. What have you been up to?"

"Oi, kid, you near gave me a heart attack! I thought I'd have to grow out some wyvern wings and leap on after you," Kobas said heartily, but was relieved that Saber was safe. Arrika clutched at his arm so they wouldn't be separated as they pushed through the crowds to Saber and Hyneria.

Kobas nodded approvingly to Hyneria, saying, "Like attracts like, doesn't it? Also makes you wonder how many other pickpockets have gathered tonight for all the people distracted with partying," he said with a grin, and even cast a look at the merry makers as if considering to make a few extra rupees tonight that way.

"Saber! You scared the hell out of me! Don't you dare ever do that again! You even made that Burlo guy freak out- I bet he still thinks you're dead," Arrika scolded.

"If you want I could help you make the perfect escape from him now. Even provide you with a whole new identity," Kobas said, leaning towards the Tantari mercenary conspiratorially. "I won't charge you too much. We'll have Burlo help arrange the funeral, with no body, of course, and he'll never know..."

Saber was both relieved and mildly frightened when a hand shot out of nowhere and manhandled him, pulling him into the chaos. He felt his arm jerked this way and that as his captor jerked him every which way as she fancifully flew deeper into the crowd. Saber did his best to duck and weave through the masses; He honestly would have been better off going completely limp. At least, the twenty-something people he elbowed in the face would have been better off. When they finally arrived, he was thankfully with two people he knew--Or at least, one. He had met Hyneria before on a mission in Ruto. It was a job he would never forget, if only because he still had the rock-sliding welts on his hind end as a memento.

"I've been working mostly, trying to afford some kind of comfort for the winter. I hadn't planned on winters in the desert being this cold. The booth is freezing--There's not even a full four walls..." He answered to Hyneria's question, before asking, "Now then, who would this be?" He gestured towards the other woman with his head. before hearing his name called out again. He got a glimpse of an ecstatic Zeze--Then again, when did he not? He smiled as he turned back to face Hyneria and her friend, and found himself looking straight at Arrika and Kobas. He hadn't heard Kobas' initial greeting over the roar of the crowd, but he had no problem hearing Arrika as she lectured him. He shrunk back slightly and gave a sheepish smile, trying to appease the girl. "I'll let Burlo know I'm fine soon enough...I'd just like to have this one night unhindered. Thanks for the offer though, Kobas. I'll keep it in mind, in case I need help avoiding anyone...else..." he said emphatically with a small glance towards Arrika.

Kobas wrote:Like attracts like, doesn't it? Also makes you wonder how many other pickpockets have gathered tonight for all the people distracted with partying.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Hyneria asked, temporarily distracted from Saber. "I don't know what you're talking about."

OOC: There's this thing called meta-playing. It's where you make your character know something you know, even if they wouldn't normally know it. I recommend you come up with a way Kobas would know that Hyneria is a thief. And I hate to make this hard for you, but she wouldn't go around bragging and/or advertising that she's a thief. Good luck!

IC:
The younger Sheikah turned her attention back to the Hylian merc. "This is my older sister, Marisa" she replied. "Marisa, this is Saber. I worked with him once a while back."

"Fascinating," the swordmaster said, not at all sounding fascinated. Her voice took on an irate tone as she asked, "Are you responsible for all of this noise?"

Hyneria rolled her eyes. "God of the Shadows, lighten up," she muttered in Sheikan; Marisa merely ignored this and continued to look expectantly at Saber.

"Your name's Marisa?" Kobas asked, an interested expression on his face as he gazed at the female swordmaster. Her occupation and name were familiar and he was inwardly debating whether her hair would also be considered purple or not. After all, he'd spent at least 3 years in Magvel... "Would you happen to know a mercenary named Gerik?"

Arrika heard Hyneria's mumblings and grinned. Kobas spoke before she could scold Saber any further. "I know a thief when I see one. Don't worry, you're surrounded by vagabonds at the moment anyway. Not like we're going to turn any of our kind in any time soon," he added brightly. Hyneria's instinctive smooth movements and ease at navigating through the masses of people had let him know she was some sort of rogue as well.

"Greetings, Marisa." Saber said with a smile and a nod. "No, I'm not responsible for all of this. Although I'm not exactly complaining about it either." He looked curiously at his new acquaintance--Did she really disapprove of the joyous occasion? "Everyone needs a day to relax, you know? I spend most of my time climbing through the mountains and walking through the desert, it's nice to have one night where all I have to do is run half a mile and set off some fireworks." Almost as if to emphasize the final word in his explanation, another round of magical missiles was fired from the group of mages as he said 'fireworks'. He turned to see them explode, this time in the shape of the Sheikahn eye symbol.

"Most of this was Burlo's idea, to be honest. I wasn't in on any of the planning whatsoever. He just came to me and asked if I would help." He turned to glance at the cleric, and saw him conversing with a man in a nightgown. The drunk's mouth dropped, and he began to look about wildly--Apparently, he had just been told of his 'mate's' miraculous escape from the jaws of death.

Marisa had been too intent on Saber's answer to listen to Kobas (her little sister, however, did nod, satisfied with his explanation). And after hearing the merc's answer, she went to the drunken cleric; or she would've if Hyneria hadn't grabbed the back of her cloak. "You'll have to excuse my sister, Saber," the thief smirked. "She's a grumpy person who doesn't know how to relax. And no, she doesn't know anyone named Gerik." She looked over at the man she didn't know. "What kind of name is that?"

"Didn't think so," Kobas mumbled. "It's like Edward said... there's a lot of familiar faces wherever you go..." He smiled politely. "Sorry, just thought I recognized you for a second. Ooh, kid, I'd make your getaway now if I were you. The drunk's spotted you," He added brightly. "I've got a couple of flashing deku nuts, perfect for momentary blindness."

"What's wrong with Gerik's name?" Arrika said, a little protectively, not wanting the heroes of Kobas's stories to be taken lightly. "What kind of a name is Hyneria, then?"

"Oh, c'mon Arrika. Don't be rude," Kobas scolded, almost parentlike.

Saber opened his mouth, trying to calm down any future catfights, when he was interrupted by a series of explosions behind him--Fireworks again, but real ones this time. Turning around he saw they were coming from the center of town, and there seemed to be a loud roaring emanating from the general direction. A Rito, shaking with excitement descended on a building above the crowd, looking down as if filled with a desire to be somewhere else. "The Arena! They've reopened it! Renovations finished early! They're holding celebratory matches! Anyone can sign up!" After spewing these anxious sentences to the crowd below, he took off yet again, this time followed by a mass migration. Those who could fly, did, and those who couldn't were content to knock each other over in a mad sprint to the magnificent building at the center of town.

Saber stared at the receding crowd blankly, wondering what exactly was going on, when He was suddenly besieged by a familiar figure. "MATE!" Burlo cried as he wrapped two sausagy arms around the mercenary's neck in an overenthusiastic greeting. "I knew ye'd come through!" He released the gasping youth and looked at the group in general. "Who's up fer a celerbertory game o' Reeterbowl?" He pointed at each of the people in turn as he continued to describe his plans. "You three ladies and the lads--" He said, gesturing towards Arrika, Sakiko, Zapheta, Laido, and Kobas in turn, and his expression noticeably tightening when he saw the last. "Ye can be on de same team. Me, Saber, and dese fine ladies 'ere--" He pointed at Hyneria and Marisa. "We'll form a team o' our own! We'll need ta fine a few odders to fill in de gaps, but...Whattuya t'ink?" He looked around at the group again with wide eyes.

Saber, still trying to catch his breath, smiled weakly. "I hate to admit it, but it actually doesn't sound like that bad of an idea..."

OOC: HNS, you can godmode Burlo and Saber's movements, seeing as how you'll be the captain and I'll be the GM. Arrika, Sakiko, you two need to work out who the Captain will be.