Hyrule Adventures 2

OOC: Well, I'm stuck at home with pinkeye today, so I might as well get this post up. Hope it turns out to be a good one.

Also, this post occurs during the event of the Harlot, for those who are confused as to the placement in the JaR timeline.

IC:Sabertache hadn't spoken the entire trip; it had been hours since the small group had left the wood, trekking up the Plateau to Ruto Town for some much needed R&R--at least, needed for Saber. He still walked lightly, trying to avoid putting as much pressure on his legs as he could. With the multiple skirmishes, long stretches of sprinting, and blows from various large weapons he had accumulate in the last fifteen hours or so, the mercenary's extremeties weren't quite in peak condition. His lips were still pressed in the same grim line they had been the entire trip, and his eyes gazed sternly ahead. Though while his physical being was so unfalteringly focused on the goal ahead of him, his spiritual being was somewhere else, running scenarios over and over in his mind, analyzing every action and every word he could recall from the battle at the inn, searching for some kind of slip that may have revealed something useful. Even after hours, he could find none.

Now he reached the outskirts of the town, the streets dotted with a few early risers here and there--the sun had still just barely risen, and it was a day of rest. It took half a minute of walking towards the town's center before the mercenary realized he had reached his destination--his stiff neck began to turn, allowing his eyes to scan the signs for one that indicated an inn. Settling on the first, hopefully seedy and cheap option, he directed his footsteps to carry him to the door. He stopped a few feet from it and turned to his party, wondering how many of them were still there after the long silence. "Well, I'm here." He stated simply, the meaning of the blunt sentence hopefully obvious--if they wanted, they were free to leave.

Aiden and her treasure had stayed with Saber the whole trek. While she was tired and sore she didn't utter a single complaint. All her muscles from dance and the like were working their hardest, but her movements still appeared fluid and effortless. The whole trip she didn't stray from Saber's side and not just because she didn't know the others. Not knowing someone was never a problem; not for Aiden. She stayed beside the mercenary because she was concerned for him. He was quieter than normal and was clearly not feeling his best. All the same, she knew better than to intrude on his thoughts or insult him by offering herself as support, so she walked silently. Her head was held high and her bright gaze glued forward. If Saber was more aware he would probably be amazed by how somber and serious she had become. Not that she was a changed person, a faint smile still rested on her lips as proof. At the start Saber had mentioned music, but had not requested it, so she remained silent.

The closer they got to town the more alert and observant she became, clearly getting a tad antsy. Her fingers itched to play and she swallowed hard. There was a few places she might get some cash flow about. "GEH..?!" She almost walked right into Saber as he stopped and turned. All the sights had been distracting and she had just stopped watching him! Her cheeks flushed and she quickly backed up, moving slightly sideways and out of the way. Her bright eyes stayed glued to the man she had come to look up to.. That was it? Looking to the Inn she bit her lip, looks like she'd be staying here as well...

Saber's steely gaze drifted downward towards Aiden. The Bard hadn't talked the entire trip, he realized--definitely unusual for her. His eyes softened a little. And now she seemed nervous and submissive...was he intimidating her? Perhaps he had gotten carried away. "Aiden, thank you for accompanying me. I'm sorry I've been off, but...you can go now. I'll be fine. In fact--" His assurance was cut off by a sound behind him. A ruckus of some sorts. Turning, his eyes settled on a building just two doors down--The Hyrule Harlot, as it was labeled. His brow furrowed, his long, rounded ears perking a little. What sounded like breaking glass and splintering wood could be heard through the walls, followed by an uproar of voices. He grumbled darkly and turned back around--those sorts of places always had inebriated idiots brawling over something or other. And with the nature of the establishment being what it was, he was more than willing to bet he knew what they were fighting over.

He opened his mouth to finish his debriefing when the noise increased--the door had opened, and a man stormed through it, cursing bitterly and loudly as he stalked down the street. Annoyed at the interruption, Saber whirled around and glared daggers at the man--then stopped dead in his tracks and gasped. For several seconds, he studied the figure--he was clad in a robe, a silk one. It was black, with a red trim...the bald head was blistered red on one side, and his body was lithe. Saber took a hesitant step forward as the man opened a door several hundred feet down the road and disappeared inside. He stared for a bit more, as if thinking something over, then took off in the direction the robed man had gone.

OOC: Okay, now we can combine the people from Hyrule Harlot with the rest of the group...we're almost there, people.

"For the Goddesses' sake... I'm SO bored."

The words were spewed from his lips quickly and without elegance, as the teen stretched his arms wide and placed them under his head, as he continued to gaze to the skies above him with a dull, expression-less face, his eyes nearly closed. He let out a stifled yawn, almost lulling himself to sleep. It's not like there was anything better to do anyways - he'd went around Ruto to see if there were any quests that could reward him some more money to fund his travels or some intriguing clues that could lead him to the truth about the Empire or who his parents really were. And needless to say by his current state that he found nothing he could deem interesting (if you exclude the Cuccoo man who kept loosing his hens, but he had promised never to mess with those avian creatures no more: his head hurt just thinking about it). And so, he was out of interesting things to do. He'd leave Ruto by the morning, but right now, it'd be useless to venture out into the wilds... walking around in monster-infested fields at nighttime would only be calling for trouble. Unneeded one at that. So... yeah. I'm basically stuck in this dull old town with nothing to do and too much free time on my hands. Lovely. He raised his legs up, then bended them over and placed them over his head, displaying his flexibility - probably the only physical ability he possessed - managing to get up using... unconventional methods. But the youth liked to show off anyways, so all was okay.

The boy placed his feet carefully on the floor - if you could even call a rooftop that - while making sure he wouldn't loose his footing and come sprawling down to the floor, and took a good gaze of his surroundings. It was a nice view, although a bit barren for his likes - he preferred the sight of the nocturnal Hyrule Fields and glistening North Castle in the distance from the treetops of Deku Woods. It was always much more... splendorous... then the flat prairies of the Ruto Highlands with the occasional beast and the constant rocky scenario wherever he looked. Still, one had to do the best with what he had. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. The fact that the proverb was incorrectly used was of no importance at all...

...Specially when he had found something uncommon. Well, not uncommon persay - as with what happened daily in the land of Hyrule, nothing could be deemed uncommon nowadays - but it stood out from the tranquility of Ruto. It was a ways off, but it required investigation. Specially seeing the Hylian had nothing better to do. He grabbed his staff, lying on the floor - once again, if you could call a rooftop a floor - besides him, and, spinning his weapon counterclockwise a few times, the glyph of the Arkhana knowledge passed on to him made itself visible, glowing in an azure color as it always did. Placing the peak of the Deku weaponry in its center, the youth needed only speak a few words.

"Elemental Control. Wind."

The words still lingering on the air, the glyph separated into several lines that began to entwine behind the boy's back, forming two different segments attached to his shoulder blades that proceeded in filtering the air around them. They started glowing green in color, and the space between them was soon filled by a transparent glass-like substance with a greenish hue. In true honesty, they could be called a set of wings. And to that purpose they brought him up into the air as he slowly, but gently, floated in the skies of Ruto to yet another rooftop - this one dyed blue - in order to gaze at what was going on from a more... privileged position. And at first, what he saw wasn't anything too much out of the usual routine after all: a young (albeit older than him) Human with blades drawn and pacing in the direction of another building opposite his, a bard of Sheikah heritage standing behind him and, from his point of view, just watching the scene as if waiting for what was going to happen were all he could see from this position. In front of them was a building the boy had never entered seeing it was supposedly for people already of age (an attribute he still hadn't attained by law), though he could probably guess what went in there. A harlot, a place where people went to get drunk and hurt themselves afterwards in stupid fights that, after it was all said and done, the combatants no longer knew why the fight started in the first place. All of a sudden, his interest was lost. He could already tell there was gonna be a battle, and fighting over the other guy having a bigger mug than mine simply didn't seem like an interesting cause to fight for, nor would it provide a rentable amount of income to help him in his travels. With a sigh, he descended to actual ground just besides the Bard, his 'wings' vanishing afterwards. "What's happening here?" - he felt like he should ask out of education, though he had no interest in the answer. If worse came to pass, he could always make some petty profit from healing whoever got injured.

A whisper on the wind is all that carries news of the group's entrance into Ruto Town . . . and not even that can be said of Alpha's own arrival. The Sheikah's years of stealth and silence serve him well as he trails after Saber and his companions, enough so that he isn't forced to rely on Shadowmeld in order to keep up without announcing his presence. Of course, he still uses it often, just to be safe.

So it is that his shade ensnared eyes are peaking out from an alley when the disturbance in the Hyrule Harlot enters the streets. He doesn't get too good a look at the man storming out onto the streets, but he does take note of Saber's reaction to it - he's seen something that he's going to investigate.

Leaping back and forth between the walls, Alpha quickly scales the height of the building and arrives on the roof. Running across the rooftops, he manages to reach the building in question before Saber even does, and begins looking around for a good way to exit without being detected - by either Saber and company or those within.

There he went, running off towards danger without a second thought. In situations like these, a third or fourth thought was recommended as it was. The youth below seemed to be ignoring his wounds and fatigue, instead caught up in the moment of seeing someone who, it seemed, was of some substantial importance.

It was a very good thing that there were scholars such as the cloaked man present should the young mercenary below run into trouble. He clearly did not have the necessary skills to help himself in healing, despite being of Hylian birth. How nice it must have been to be an original man of Hyrule - to have an innate healing ability built into his skill set from the start. The Murkish cleric had no such privilege.

Hobbe stood staring down at the scene not from the rooftops as Tayro and Alpha had chosen, but instead from inside the comfort of the inn. He hadn’t rented a room, but there was really no need to waste energy on stealthy maneuvers right now. When to his own general surprise the boy took off after the seemingly shady figure, the Apostle was quick to act. In an instant he appeared beside Tayro and Aiden, nodding to the latter, all the while his hood still veiled over his face to protect his own identity. He was sure the girl at least remembered his dark outfit and would identify with that. Looking to his left, he was mildly surprised to see that one of his fellows, the young mage named Tayro, had arrived on the scene. No words needed to be spoken between the two at that moment. There were larger issues at hand.

“We would be wise to follow. I fear that the young Sabertache is running into another disaster reminiscent of the incident involving the unstable Goron. Shall we?”

Not waiting for a response from the others, Hobbe began to walk after Saber, albeit at a more relaxed pace. He expected Aiden and Tayro to follow, but could feel a third presence in the area, one of which he and the junior mage both shared a special bond with. The Sheikah’s whereabouts were unknown, but the cleric assumed that his reasons for keeping hidden pertained to some other agenda. It was none of Hobbe’s business – he was simply here to help keep Saber from losing his life prematurely.

OOC: Damn that Goron, Blank. Damn that entire topic. You scarred Saber.

IC: Saber continues running along the street, each building seeming identical to the next. In a way, they were; each structure was up against the rock wall, with barely a few inches' space between each dwelling leaving no alleyways. Indeed, it was obvious that this was the poorer part of the town. When the mercenary reached the door he thought the assassin had gone through, he threw it open once more and ran inside with blade drawn, leaving the door wide open. He took a few rushed steps and froze--the room was almost completely bare, with only a rug and a chair in the corner. On the far side of the room was another door, this one ajar. It seemed to open into a bedroom of some sort, as Saber gathered from the nightstand visible through the portal.

"Another one of you?"

Saber froze. The panicked voice had rang out from the bedroom, and Saber took a few cautious steps forward, saber at the ready.

OOC: Just squeezing this out before I take a short break for Christmas. Doubtless I'll be trying to see a bunch of friends over the next few days now that I've done all the work I need to do. Yes, even most of the dungeon is done, so yell at me on AIM next time you see me and I'll (probably) get you going. I'll probably have to reply to this...oh...five more times before we get to where the dungeon starts in the topic? Yeah, it's unorthodox, but hopefully it'll be effective.

Now then, Merry Christmas! And if you're offended by that, grow a pair!

Despite having walked slowly towards the building, Hobbe appeared right by Saber's side. He placed a gloved hand on the merc's shoulder and whispered a cautious "Shh..." before the boy could react in shock. Already his weapon, a short wooden staff, had appeared in his other hand. He hadn't heard the voice behind the door, and so the Apostle had no idea what the duo was getting themselves into. He looked behind him. Still no signs of the others.

Slowest people... he thought, wondering how Tayro had survived underground if that was the fastest he could move. He reassured himself that the boy was actually quite the accomplished mage.

Hobbe paced forward, only slightly behind and to the side of Sabertache, whom he had decided was more deserving to lead. It was his idea, after all!

"What do you two want?" Hissed the voice again, and an urn flew out from the doorway, breaking against Saber's hand and causing him to swear loudly as the shards covered the floor. Out of the room came a man wielding a standing lamp, swinging it down at the mercenary and Cleric with reckless abandon.

Covering his head with one arm and grabbing for the lamp with the other, Saber ripped the impromptu weapon out of the man's hands. "Please calm down! We aren't with that man in the robe!"

The stranger stepped back a few paces, green eyes wide, and looked the adventurers up and down. "No, no, I suppose you wouldn't be...you aren't wearing the same ghastly outfit as he was." A slender, well-manicured hand smoothed out the long red hair that seemed to have been upset in whatever struggle had just taken place. He was still in a silk gown, and his moisturized face, free of any creases though he was clearly into his thirties, relaxed. "Really, I just move in here yesterday and suddenly there's a man with a burnt face rushing through the place. I'm Michael. I'm sorry for the rude welcoming, but you obviously are here to assist me."

Saber sheathed his blade, setting the lamp up in a corner and speaking in as calming a tone as he could muster. "Yes, we've been hunting him. Where did he go?"

Bringing an index finger to his lips, Michael chewed the nail thoughtully. "Just right out through the back. Don't know what for, there's just a path up into the cliffs there. If it's important though, I'll accompany you. Just...let me change first." Michael disappeared back into the room, shutting the door. Rustling sounds could be heard, along with his muttering voice. "Knocked the dresser right over...Clothes all acrost the floor. Lout."

Saber turned to Hobbe and looked out through the entrance, wondering if the others were coming. "I can't believe we're this close...I think we've got him cornered. Any thoughts, Hobbe...?"

Roy Hobbe was known for having a more relaxed sense of humor. A smile was creeping into his face from the moment the man began to speak. When the threat of the situation diminished, he let his hood slide off and rest on his back, feeling no need to mask his face from the boy. His kindly blue eyes spoke volumes, but he answered Saber with words nonetheless.

He was perplexed that he had been asked for his opinion on the matter. It made him feel at ease knowing that he wasn't just the boy's personal healer-bodyguard, but he really didn't have any more knowledge of the goings-on in Saber's life than most of the nomad's vaguest of acquaintances.

"I would be lieing to you if I were to say that I knew what you are about to get yourself into, dear Sabertache. However, I do realize that you are going to follow that strange bald man to the end of the earth if necessary, and for the time being I have no pressing matters to attend to. I shall assist you to these cliffs that our friend Michael here spoke of."

Looking behind him as Saber had done, the cloaked Apostle was a little annoyed that the others had not caught up.

<center>That Tayro... always dozing on the job...</center>

Hobbe stifled a laugh as he thought of the young mage slowly making his way, when haste was urgently called for. Perhaps it was his own fault.

<center>I had been moving fairly slowly to begin with...</center>

"I must suggest that we linger here for a moment, to at least let young Tayro and whoever else you've managed to pull to your side to reach us before we depart. And..."

He let his voice trail as his eyes wandered back to the room that the anguished Michael had disappeared into. With a laugh, he pointed to the homeowner's room. "We had best wait for that plucky fellow as well. He may be of some use to us, you know."

The door slammed open, and for all the noise it made it was still done somewhat elegantly. Before the two adventurers came the newly robed Michael--literally robed. He was in an elaborate flowing silk gown, dark blue with a red trim. There were so many decorative swirls it almost seemed like a maze of sorts.

"I suppose you're both ready now, I do hate being kept waiting. Especially when my privacy is on the line, you know! Can't have that."

Saber brushed the hair out of his eye and looked back at the door, sighing. "I suppose they'll have to catch up, Hobbe."

"What, there are more? Do you lot just travel around in such grimy clothing all the time?" Ignoring Saber's indignation, Michael turned on the spot. "This way then!"

They passed through the bedroom, packed seemingly wall to wall with belongings. Several were turned over, other silky garments across the ground. Out through a side door, and now the trio was headed up a rocky path. It wound on for a few minutes, higher up into the cliffs, and then came to an abrupt stop at a cliff face.

"Well, that's certainly baffling."

Michael turned to Hobbe and Saber, shaking his head. "I suppose he just climbed straight up the cliff or something. This really is puzzling. Maybe there's some secret entrance somewhere. I heard of that happening in all these stories and such. Quite nasty, really, they pick the filthiest places to hide."

Saber was already tuning Michael out, searching the ground for footprints. "He passed this way...I don't get it. There's something we're missing."

Just as Hobbe had finished voicing his thoughts, the odd fellow named Michael had reappeared in a very... eccentric attire. The hooded cleric knew his own getup wasn't quite fitting with contemporary styles, but this was ridiculous!

He was worried that by leaving the others behind, the trio would undoubtedly face much greater perils towards their destination - wherever that may be. Hobbe looked at his own gloved hands and checked his cloak as the impolite homeowner made his remark on their cleanliness. At least the holy man kept his clothing grime and lint-free; how Saber chose to dress was his own concern. The boy had seen hard times.

As the small neared the cliffs, Hobbe concluded that something was amiss. Faced by the tall cliffs of the northern mountains, they seemed to have lost their prey.

"Your bald friend either disappeared into this rocky wall," he exclaimed in disbelief. "Or grew a pair of wings and became airborne."

The cleric began to pat the surface of the cliffs, trying to locate some sort of mechanism. Michael had spoken the truth; there was always some sort of trick to dead ends like these.

"You must know more about this person than I do, young Saber. I'm afraid I'm as stumped as you have found yourself."

"Well..." Saber wasn't really sure what to say. He really didn't know this man at all--in fact, pretty much everything he attached to the robed assassin was pure speculation and assumption.

"I believe...he's connected to a string of murders. There are victims with...well, how to explain it..." The mercenary sat up from the set of prints he had found, brushing his hair aside. "They are all killed in a very professional fashion, usually found long after the murder takes place, even if it's in a crowded area. And they've all got this mark, on the back of their necks. It's like a rabbit's foot. In blood."

"Why would you even bother chasing after such a nasty man as that, anyhow?" Michael said, irritably. He was still standing a ways off, watching the two work and incessantly picking at little flecks of dirt and dust in his hair. "Sounds like a death wish, honestly. And a messy one, at that. Blood, on your neck? How unneccessary. And--if I may say so myself, which I certainly can--off-putting."

"I have reason to follow them." The mercenary mumbled, standing and looking about.

As Hobbe's fingers searched the wall, they slipped into a groove. While this wouldn't normally be strange in a rock wall that was filled with crevices, this groove had clean-cut edges, and was shaped almost like an oval, but bent in the middle.

Those on her back could not see from this height, but Rose had the eyes of the dragon to help her, eyes that could pick out a line of ants marching towards food to bring back to their colony from a couple thousand feet up. And though she couldn't make out the words, the Tarmian heard Saber's voice drift up into the air.

Hopefully the two Hylians had a good grip on her back, for Rose entered a sudden dive, bringing her wings in to gather more speed; she had become an expert on diving. Sheila was certainly surprised, as she could barely heard the woman scream as it was whipped away by the wind. As she came to within a hundred yards of the ground, she flared out her wings to act as a parachute. Dragon Rose brought her rear end down to land first, not too far from where Sabertache stood with the two men. She released Burlo from her front paw, and she felt Seth and Sheila hastily scramble down.

"Oh, goddesses, I don't ever want to do that again," Sheila said in a rather higher pitched voice than usual.

Rose grinned as she resumed her human form, keeping the wings for a few moments before reluctantly withdrawing them back into her body. She then looked over at Saber, expecting to see a shocked look on his and his companions' faces. "Hey, Saber," she said apologetically. "Sorry I'm late, but I finally got those reinforcements."

OOC: Okay. So I'm going to retcon HNS' arrival...godmode a little bit...and we should be good.

IC: "Nice work, Hobbe." Sabertache slipped in next to the Cleric, examining the wall himself. That shape seemed oddly familiar...

"Aiden, may I see the box in your hand?" Though he asked, it was merely a formality. He grabbed the object as he spoke, working himself into a feverish pace as he clawed at the box, lifting off the top and looking upon that sickening symbol. Controlling his desire to lash out, he crammed the elliptical stamp into the groove none too gently.

A section of the rock several feet away simply fell in. It was abundantly clear that the rock had been cut from the inside and attached to a spring, letting it fall open and rise up again without any giveaway hinges on the side.

"I'll bet there are spiders and things in there." Saber cast a cold glare at Michael, but the prissypants just stuck his nose up higher. "Well, enter if you wish. It's your hygiene."

"Aiden, stay here." Mincing words wasn't worth his time. He was through the door in a flash, leaving the Bard and the Ginger behind.

Would the others follow...?