Hyrule Adventures 2

Baron was on the run again.

It wasn't always easy, being chased from town to town, and often kingdom to kingdom. As a thief he had a sort of mystifying allure to him. He was also a master of disguise, and his mastery of this art had given him the appropriate title of, well, master. Today he sported a simple black tunic, which he was beginning to consider quite the impedance on his getaway. The youth could feel the sun focusing its searing rays on the dark threads and the sweat beneath his garb made him feel as though he had been submerged in a rank, odorous cauldron. To make matters worse, the sweat-drenched tunic now weighed a multiple of what it originally would have had it been dry. The boy seethed as he turned the corner and stopped to catch his breath.

Baron was becoming weary again.

Being so young, his still growing legs could only carry him so far, and the horrendous amounts of physical exertion he had put into his daily scheme was quickly taking its toll on his endurance. Exhausted, sweating, and in dire need of a catnap, the sixteen-year-old male slumped down and panted heavily as he rested his head against the stucco building he had chosen to hide behind. Casting a nervous glance around the corner in the direction he had come from, the boy was surprised to see that none of the castle's policing guards were giving chase. With a sigh he closed his eyes and wiped a hand across his sweaty brow, shaking his head and letting a small peep of laughter escape his lips. And then it struck him like a club to the posterior.

Baron could sense another trap.

Turning his head cautiously back to the alley he had chosen to seek sanctuary in, the youth was prepared for the imminent and obvious danger. Quickly he ducked his head and rolled to his left, narrowly avoiding the sparkling blade of the Hylian Knight who was standing with three others in the alley. Scrambling from his heaped position on the ground, the boy made a dash for the open ground of the courtyard. Much to his dismay, he felt the iron gauntlet of a Hylian Knight grip the back of his tunic, and he felt like white the victim. Poor, wretched Baron, he thought to himself, his shoulders slumping and his eyes filling with tears. But he would not be so easily fooled. Apart from being a self-titled master of disguise, he was also a self-titled master of escape. The boy, now lifted off the ground by the tall Knight, planted his feet on the soldier's breastplate and kicked with every ounce of his energy. Just as he thought the outcome would be, his cheap black tunic tore at the seams and fell to pieces. Now half naked and dusty, the shirtless teen heaved himself up off the alley ground and made a run for it. The Knights, although slightly baffled by what had just happened, gave chase immediately.

The young man was far too quick for the armor-clad Knights. Without the bothersome sweat-soaked tunic weighing him down, Baron was able to make a clean getaway. Dashing behind another shop, the thief used one of his more distinctive skills and scaled the brick exterior, laying flat on the roof and peering down at the guards as they ran about like morons chasing after chickens. Or Cuccoos, as they called them in Hyrule, remembered the boy with a chuckle. When the Knights had finally given up their petty search, he jumped from the roof and entered the store, purchasing a new green jerkin and brown open cloak. He grabbed a a quaint green woodsman's cap just to be safe, and he agreed with the store clerk that he looked nothing like he had upon entering the store. Sauntering casually and gleefully around town, the boy set his sights on new deeds of dastardly dishonesty. Delightful.

Baron had escaped the law yet again.

Scarlett would be proud.

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Scarlett was growing impatient.

Baron had gone off three days before, claiming that he knew all of the best spots in town for looting. The middle-aged thief sat unsteadily in the Bearded Bokoblin pub, fingering the fogged up glass of his favorite beverage - ice water, Hyrule's finest. Years of caring for Baron had left the sage-like veteran of the trade in a paternal loop of concern for the boy. He saw in the child the same qualities that he had possessed in his younger days. Baron was naive, foolish, self-centered, and often ignorant and downright flabbergastingly incompetent. Leave that to the lack of formal education, thought the greying man. It had only been four years since twelve-year old Baron had tried to steal from blind and helpless-looking old Scarlett.

Scarlett, although completely blind and middle-aged, was a thousand times the thief Baron could ever dream of being.

It's not often that a duo like Baron and Scarlett could easily get along. Scarlett, whose deep brown hair had greyed slightly over the past four years (you weren't expecting a man named Scarlett to have red hair, were you?) due to constant exasperation towards his youthful charge. Perhaps it was the challenge, or perhaps it was simply that Scarlett was not all there. And yet one thing was certain: the two were inseparable. Scarlett normally stayed back and did the tactical work of an operation, while Baron was largely responsible for most of the action and physical aspects of the tasks. It was not often that these roles were reversed. One notable instance of such a circumstance arose one summer day when the unofficial third member of the “band,” Melon as the two had named the nameless vagrant, decided it would be interesting for the two to switch jobs. Baron devised an ingenius plan to rob the Royal Family's carriage in the countryside of Calatia, and Scarlett had narrowly avoided execution by decapitation after the plan went horribly wrong. That was also, notably, the last time anyone took any thought produced by Melon with any seriousness whatsoever.

Scarlett began to worry about Baron. He had been gone for nearly half a week to steal various goodies and loose ends from Hyrule Castle Town's upper class. Given Baron's improving rate of success, he should have been back by day two. The middle-aged thief stood and gripped his ash staff in his left hand and marched out of the tavern, throwing a few Rupees in the bartender's direction. Several base and stereotype-reliant drunks found it amusing that a blind man should have any sense of aim. The fools; Scarlett could rob them all blind. Pardon the pun.

As he stepped out into the sun, he collided with a clumsy oaf and immediately felt his concern for Baron slipping away. Stupid lousy fool of a thief was never watching were he was going; at least Scarlett had an excuse for that. He stood to his feet and hauled his charge up off the ground to reprimand him. “Come come now, Baron. What have I told you about watching where you're going?” The boy chuckled and spoke in his outlandish accent a farcical apology. “Sawry old'un. Getcher peepers workin' 'gain an' we won' 'ave such a fuss.” Scarlett dealt the boy a smart rap to the noggin and the two thieves, completely unrecognized, walked together in the streets of the castle town.

Baron and Scarlett had returned to Hyrule.

A young man leaped onto the roof and back down soon after; Arrika had been sitting there the entire time, but he seemed to wrapped up in what he was doing that he didn't seem to have noticed her at all. She peered down to see him reappear moments later with another much older man; odd. He seemed to have changed his clothes as well.

"Who is he, Seth?" The female Sheikah thief asked the green-haired boy next to her.

"Baron. Baron and Scarlett...." The young psychic replied, closing his eyes.

"Looks like he was on the run. He stirred up the Guards some... Where's he going?"

"Hey, Seeing takes a little time, okay? As of now I'm not sure."

"They seem interesting. You wanna follow them?" Arrika suggested, for lack of anything better to do. Without waiting for his response she stood and sprinted across the roof, leaping easily to an adjacent roof so that she was slightly behind Baron and Scarlett. Seth sighed and followed, his white scarf swirling behind him and the wind ruffling his unruly hair. All they could do was hope the older thief wouldn't notice their presence; the younger one seemed a lot less experienced and for as frail as the old man looked his senses were most likely twice as sharp as theirs.

"You shouldn't go around, poking in people's minds uninvited Seth. Its rude, y'know?" A darkly garbed mage next to the two of them said, peering from underneath his hood to smile at the younger of his students. "We came to Hyrule Castle for a reason. The Royal Library has many books on magic I wanted you two to study. We all know that your both not geting much progress in the magical studies with me, so we need some better books." Sovelis said, leaning on his staff and watching the two thieves with his pupils. "They seem like good guys...not the sort that you'd expect to be what they are."

The Tempest sighed and looked away from the newcomers and back to Arrika. "Meet me in about an hour outside the Temple of Nayru. Alright? I've got some other... Buiesness to attend to that I don't want you two involved with. Alright?"

OOC: If this is after the war starts, correct me and i'll have sovelis' head!

But I hope it's not, I want to mess around with Denkou some more.

IC:

Pain. Anguish. Suffering.

Denkou sure was stupid. That was the truth. If not, then he wouldn't have gotten caught peeping in the girls bathroom at the hylian haven inn, and wouldn't have Aria chasing his butt throughout North Castle. The past is the past, though, he realized, as Aria's scythe barely missed him. The girl could sure run.

"Aw, c'mon! It was only a quick look-" He tried to apologize while running. Aria didn't seem to hear him; she was now practically on top of the thief, and had abandoned her scythe for the typical anime-style frying pan, and was whacking away at his head.

The beating was painful, and it caused Denkou to lose energy right in front of Baron and Scarlet. He fell to the ground, bleeding. It was a common sight in north castle to see Aria "Punish" either Denkou, Kasei or Sovelis, so no one came to aid the thief in his head trauma.

Aria just noticed the two newcomers, and turned to Baron and Scarlett. "Hi," She said, ignoring Denkou's moans of pain; she was standing on him, "My name's Aria, who're you?"

"Ah. Yessir," Seth said, waving as they left, and ignoring Sovelis's first comment.

"Hey- isn't that Kasei's granddaughter? The one you were dancing with on Christmas?" Arrika asked, wondering what the two other thieves would do about Denkou. "She looks pretty pissed."

"Maybe," Seth said, trying to keep down the blush that rose to his face when he looked at Aria.

Arrika noticed anyway and laughed. "Not my fault if you want to chase a harpy like that." She observed the younger of the two thieves; he seemed her age or a bit younger. With a sly smile she tried to shove Seth off the roof so he would land right in front of Baron, Scarlett, and especially Aria, but unfortunately the green-haired thief had foreseen her actions a second before and deftly twisted around, pushing her instead. With a small shriek she toppled off the building they'd been spying from, Seth grinning from ear to ear.

Sovelis sighed deeply when Arrika wen't toppling from the roof. Seth!!! he shot at the green-haired theif as he shoved himself after Arrika, bending time just ever so slightly to speed himself up and keep his other pupil from being hurt. He caught her in his arms as she fell Earthwards, and smiled at the expresion on her face at his small feat of speed. "Next time, ask me to shove him. He'll never see it coming at him."

"Since I'm here, I might as well introduce myself before I head off." the Tempest said, setting Arrika on her feet and stnding strait. "I am Sovelis Liadon, the Last Tempest. This young lady is Arrika, the little one on that roof is Seth. Both are students of mine."

“Hi,” although a very calm and efficient way to keep an individual from panicking, was not something the robber duo was expecting to be so quickly assaulted with. The girl who had called herself “Aria” did not appear to be a great threat at the time, but Baron and Scarlett had grown paranoid over the years of pillaging, tomfoolery, and looting. The latter of the two companions had taught the former a very important lesson in the trade of robbery: don't trust anyone. Not even your own mother. In fact, especially not your own mother, for mothers were notorious where Scarlett came from for that maternal treachery some called parenting. The blind man chuckled to himself whenever reminiscing of that priceless scene of his youth; his mother bound and gagged while he stole objects and articles that he later realized were his own properties to begin with.

But there was no time for solemn and aimless reminiscing. As soon as that first “Hi” reached the the ears of each thief, swift action was taken immediately. Appearing in Baron's hand was a palmful of oversized brown pistachio nuts. Er, that is to say, appearing in Baron's hand was a handful of Deku Nuts. The boy had pocketed quite a few from traveling Deku adventurers on the route from the northern coast of Hyrule to the castle. As they had certainly aided the pair a year before, these organic trinkets were famous in Hyrule for helping all manner of brigands escape from binds like these. On the duo's first voyage to the Harkinian's kingdom, Baron had made the simple mistake of ingesting one of the nuts in the thieves' arsenal. It wasn't harmful by any means, but it was certainly an interesting night. The bottom line of the anecdote involves a terrified, half-blind boy running helplessly around a woodland clearing with bright light flashing from every orifice on his body. Scarlett often joked that his own blindness, had it not been caused by a gouging perpetrated by a few devious Miniblins in a frightful torture chamber, would have been inevitable anyway due to half a lifetime of almost daily usage of eye-affecting Deku Nuts.

Without even waiting for Scarlett to give a command, Baron tossed the few Deku Nuts aggressively to the ground, setting off the impulsive, shock-reactive flash that the pair had become so accustomed to over the years. If any of the adventurers who had gathered around to greet or possibly interfere with Baron and Scarlett were familiar with any of the basic elements of Hyrule's rich heritage, they would certainly know exactly what was happening. It was already made quite clear that Baron was a master of escape, and it was made even clearer that Scarlett could one-up Baron on just about every aspect of being a suitable bandit. The thieves, having set themselves up for an almost flawless escape, bolted from the scene of the crime. And by crime, I of course means greeting. Baron and Scarlett bolted from the scene of the greeting, yes. Their rudeness, however unintentional (but don't fret, it was certainly intended. Baron and Scarlett were impartial to just about everyone who wasn't already associated to them on a friendly basis) was accompanied only by a small piece of parchment laying on the ground.

The dog-eared note, inscribed with ink that was clearly not freshly written with, simply read in a basic narrative tone with a hint of irregular scorn:

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• So sorry to give you the informal good-bye, but we really must be on our way. See you never. P.S., thank you for the _____, we shall enjoy them. Remember today not as the day in which we got the better of you, but in which you failed to get the better of us. Splendid.

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• • B&S

The note was one of a few dozen Scarlett kept on hand with him at all times for escapes like these. A simple record of exactly what was stolen and a sly, mischievous poke at the reader's self esteem. Today there no need to fill in the blank, as nothing had been stolen. Quite a disappointment. Normally Baron would at least steal a belt or two.

And with that, Baron and Scarlett, the (semi) master thieves, escaped communal and social interaction yet again. Who knew when they might reappear? And a better question: Who really cared? Certainly not you, for you have better things to do with your time then fret over two outcast brigands with only three quarters of a brain between them, yes?

(Aside): Hello, Hyrule Adventures 2ers. This is the beginning of an either brief or semi-drawn out phase of your game: the phase in which Baron and Scarlett plague the lovely streets of Hyrule. There will be mayhem, I suppose, and perhaps a few laughs. But, in the long run, I'm not here forever. Just until I get bored with these characters and move on with my life. But it'll be a good time while it lasts, I trust. And this is my slack-jawed intro. Hope you liked it

OOC:.....I....i'm not gonna reply IC.


I think we found the next RPer of the month!
Splendid job! A perfect read! I wanna see more!

And I lied.

IC: Aria's golden hair swished in the wind. The two she had just taken the time to greet warmly had vanished using Deku Nuts. Now, Aria was a little dazed, was slightly dissapointed by the pair's leaving, and had forgotten what she was doing prior.

"Groan."

Oh, that's right, she was hitting Denkou.

No sooner had the shiekah realized this when everyone fell from the sky, including Sovelis. Aria turned to face him now, and gave him a murder stare. She also took the time out to notice Seth with him. Neverless, she faced Sovelis. "I assume you were at a bar, weren't you?" She accused the Tempest.

"No. I've been laying off on the drinking Aria. Its Kasei you need to worry about being at a bar. I've been busy with... prior obligations that are none of your concern." Sovelis said, raising his hands up defensivly at his first tudent in Hyrule. "And what may I ask did Denoku do to have you beat him so badly, if you don't mind me asking about it?" he said, looking past Aria and at the bloody and beaten theif behind her. "If he needs it, I might be kind enough to heal him... If your not going to kill him after I finish of coarse."

OoC: Welcome to HA2, B&S!!! We look forward to the mistchief and mayhem! Just watch out for any black-robed mages when you try to pic their pockets. Last person to do that ended up with glass in her foot, and a new teacher!

Aria stared at Sovelis for a bit. "Previous obligations? You mean you're going on a date with Worru's mom, aren't you?" She said, then turned to Denkou. "No. if this miserable little turd has the guts to peep, then he can lay in the streets and bleed to death for all I care." She said.

At the same time, Kasei had appeared behind Sovelis. "Oi!" He said joyfully. "What's this I hear about you 'n Labufa?" He asked mischeiviously.

OOC: I take it, then, that this is about right before you turn evil and fight Kasei. (Get to the topic and reply, or get that little freind of your's to break you out of the cage!!!)

"Wha-?!? NO! I am not going on a date with Labufa! I simply...Bah! Nevermind... I don't have to explain myself or my plans to the rest of the world." Sovelis spoke angerliy, a sneer showing from under the hood of his cloak. "Like I said before...I have Prior Obligations to deal with. Excuse me, but I must take my leave. Good day to you all..."

Sovelis makes a small, mock bow and vanished into a cloud of some sort of shadows that apeared behind him and disapeared just as quickly as it apeared...

Meanwhile, in an office only a few blocks down from the sight of the disappearance, Orpheous was deep at work. The office actually looked more like a study, with books strewn about everywhere. It had been a slow day for the Inkweaver, he was looking through a combination of ancient folklore and tedious law books. Actually, he read the folklore during his breaks to keep his mind off of the tedious law books. Suddenly, an intern (which the PFH seemed to have lots of) burst in swiftly.

"Sir," addressed the intern. The intern was in his mid-twenties, and his name was Craig. He typically ran messages from office to office, but in his spare time, he studied human psychology. He had light black hair that went down to the bottom of his neck, and his bangs went down to his steely gray eyes. His hair was layered, which seemed to suit him perfectly. He stood roughly six feet and four inches. He wore gray cotton pants and a fiery red tunic. He had an awkward disposition about himself, and seemed to doubt even his own skill. Despite the fact he was only an intern, he had worked his way into Orpheous circle of friends (not to be mistaken as his inner circle of friends). His accent was what Americans would call mid-western, but like anyone in Hyrule would know what that was.

"Hyrule knights have just let a thief slip in-between their grasp. This thief was later seen meeting up with somebody else, probably his partner in crime. Sadly, not much can be said about the two. However, some of us are beginning to theorize that they are extremely skilled. They seemed to have orchestrated the thievery almost perfectly. They could be what we need on the next mission."

"They could indeed," responded Orpheous happily. He was wearing his usual cloak and he had finally decided to submit to the cotton pants trend. He was bare foot, but his sandals were nearby. The Terminain watch glistened in the sun. "Tell me if they resurface as soon as they do, and start researching them. Also brief Simon and Stephan. We needed these two thieves yesterday."

"Understood," statted Craig, who briskly walked out. He later informed Simon and Stephan, and prepared those two to leave as soon as the thieves showed back up. They wouldn't escape a second time.

OOC: Welcome to HA2. Shame you won't be staying long B&S, you type very well, and your story line could be easily developed. Perhaps we could persuade you to put more thought into joining the HA2 cast and crew. Also, you can call me Orph or Matt. Once again, enjoy your stay.

"Oh, that was so unpolite of him." Kasei said, apparently not noticing his freind Denkou on the verge of death. Instead, he faced Aria. "Go and do whatever you were up to, okay?" He requested, and his grandaughter smiled and turned to face Denkou with "REVENGE" printed all over her face.

In the meantime, Kasei turned his head a bit to look around. "Last time I checked, a PFH base was nearby, Orph might be there...." He said to himself, ignoring the moans of pain Denkou was giving off. He turned south, and headed to the office. When he got there, he pushed the doors open, and walked in. "Anyone here?" The blue-haired shiekah asked.

Meanwhile, Aria had left Denkou, who now lay, 2/3rds of his blood lost, on the ground. why does noone help me????

OoC: Yes she did ^^

IC: Arrika picked up the note and made a face as she scanned it quickly. "They've got some nerve," she mumbled as she balled it in her hands and tossed it away carelessly. "Wait, what's this about you and Worru's mom?" The thief asked Sovelis suspiciously, raising her eyebrows, but the Tempest had already disappeared. "Damn him," she mumbled.

"We'll be seeing loads more of them later..." Seth called to no one in particular from his spot on the roof, avoiding looking at Aria completely. He leaped down nimbly, and went over to the half-dead Denkou, whom everyone seemed to have forgotten. "You okay, mate?"

OOC: B&S better come back. This was starting to get fun.

IC: When Kasei burst into the facility that belonged to the People’s Front of Hyrule, he would have most likely noticed something. The PFH building was kept immaculately clean. Even should someone track mud onto the floor, the moment that the mud touched the ground, it would be vaporized. Same would go with dust, dirt, or other unwanted stains. The room was fairly large. A few decorations from Ryan’s house sparkled up the already mansion like interior. They were buying out land grants, and even as Kasei was getting acquainted with the building, construction was occurring near the back of the building to make it larger. The PFH was a very rapidly growing organization. Statues ranging from deadly foes and monstrous beasts to famous heroes and divine beings stood majestically in the three story room. Two three story staircases, which were, like most of the main room, covered with silver carpeting, reached to the top floor. Along the way, they stopped at a 2nd story hallway and a 3rd story hallway, both of which partially over looked the main room. There were doors leading everywhere. Training rooms, the offices of lower official’s, labs (which were fairly low tech), studies, small libraries, a few relaxation rooms, and much more, lay behind these doors. By now, though, Kasei should have noticed the desk in the middle of the room. One person sat at it, but since it was a lot of work, the desk people tended to work in shifts. There were large stacks of papers, and a handful of calendars. Should somebody contact the desk worker either through magic (which was easy to do, almost like calling somewhere with a phone, but there are no phones) or though coming up to them physically, the desk person’s job would be to get them an appointment, or put their name on a list or something. It was a very tedious job, and as soon as Orpheous figured out the spell to do it by magic, he would happily give the desk workers a better job. As for now though, there was no other option.

The person working at the desk might have been familiar to Kasei. His name was Bob. He first started helping out Orpheous during those skirmishes with Roronek, and then he later played a minor part in Montagomey. As soon as Orpheous founded the PFH, he nabbed the roll of a lower official, and even though he didn’t have to, he was volunteering to work at the desk. He wanted to give the rookies a break. He stood roughly six feet and two inches, and he had short red hair. His irises were a shade of dark hazel. He wore a simple brown tunic, cotton pants, and sandals. He had a faint Scottish accent, not that anybody besides Orpheous and a few others new about Scotland. Overall, his accent was more Mid Western American. He noticed Kasei and wanted to stand up in the presence of such a high up official in the PFH, not that he had to. However with all the papers around him, that might not have been the best idea. Instead he offered a wave and a smile.

“Hello there, Mr. D. Gobi,” he greeted, ending the wave. “What can I do for you today?”