For five years straight, King Harkinian has maintained that the Grand Celebration was meant to honor the adventurers who fought for Hyrule's freedom. The parades, the fireworks, the multitudes of cheering women and children--all of this was for the warriors who battled evil, right?

WRONG

Everybody knew it was for one thing and one thing only. Cake. Every year, Tingle the unfairly despised fairy crafted a masterpiece of frosting, sugar, and other stimulants of a questionable legality. And, once again, there he was, serving spade in hand as he batted at the street urchins who employed every trick in the book to try and make off with the entire ten-story confection.

At the top of a ladder was Quartermaster Hithos, using one of his largest swords to chop massive chunks out of the top tier and lower them down on a pulley system his knights had constructed. Handing out the treats was a lady who sneezed every ten seconds, on the dot. "I'm sorry...I recently got some new Cucco, and it turns out I'm allergic...here...have the cake." She says, with a sudden sneeze giving it an extra flavor.

IC: Leth took a walk through the once again lively streets of Castle Town. He recalled that a few months ago, he had been wandering these same streets, with not a single person around. Well... not exactly the same streets. It was close enough. The sheer wonder of being in a busy, bustling town awed Leth as he wandered through the yearly Grand Celebration. His thoughts were focused on the livelihood of this annual festival, but deep in the corner of his brain he knew he was here for The Cake. The strange fairy man's wondrous concoction of sweets always seemed to invigorate him with gigantic amounts of strength, giving him the ability to do things he had never been able to do the year before.
If this keeps up, I'll be invincible by the time I'm eighty. Thought Leth with a wry smile. And then he saw it. The Cake was as massive, as green, and as delicious as it always looked. He tenderly reached out his hand to take a piece from the lady serving it and was appalled to see her sneeze directly on his piece of cake. Nevertheless, he thanked her for it, and walked away without touching it.
"Fantastic." He mumbled. "If I eat The Cake, I'm eating old lady snot, but get my ability boost. If I don't eat The Cake, I will probably avoid getting sick and dying, but I will loose my chance at my yearly steroid intake."

He stared at the cake for a long time, then closed his eyes, screwed up his nose, and shoved the whole thing in his mouth at once.

Taint was giddy with excitement. The massive cake was a sight to behold, especially to the young Zora's ambitious eyes. What he was also looking forward to was the chance to speak with the beautiful woman who was serving said cake.

He was next in line, and tried to speak to her, but began stuttering uncontrollably. No!! Curses!! I forgot I can't talk to beautiful women!!! He sheepishly took the cake without saying another word- that is until she sneezed on it. Taint's eyes glowed with arousal as he accepted the newly seasoned morsel.

He retreated to a dark ally where he could do all sorts of weird things to the slice of cake. He returned from the darkness licking his lips. It had been the best tasting cake he'd ever... eaten... He called to Lilly, who was busy throwing up in the corner over what she'd just witnessed. "C'mon, let's get going!"

A scholar indeed. In the last year, he had matured a lot. His name was Simon Grendel, and he was currently on a short leave from the Southern Crusades. They were his calling. Ever since Orpheous had been injured after the fight with Gohma, Simon had taken his place in fighting for the liberation of the South.

For him, fighting for the sake of the South was a deeply personal tribute. After all, his parents were murdered in a village under control of a Tyrant, and that was here in the North. He would still be fighting down there, but he had promised he would see his mentor during the Grand Celebration, and take a break from all that violence. Simon also understood this. He should not get too caught up in his own concepts of justice, or he might get carried away in an unjust vendetta and hurt those he cared for the most.

He caught the cake piece from the Cucco lady, though raised an eyebrow after she sneezed on it. He took it off to Orpheous, with whom he would split it.

The murmurs that traveled the depths of his stomach traversed the myriad passage ways of a goron's tempered stature. They climbed cascades of blood vessels and moved with a meticulous perseverance as they moved farther and farther skywards. They met his heart and his lungs and the cilia that laced his esophagus to meet his tongue lapping against his gnashed teeth like waves. They sailed those waves and ebbed outwards in slow articulate lines as Rosen murmured that he would like a taste of that cake despite the seasoning that just had crowned its countenance.

OoC: Another happy birthday to HA2. Glad there are more people than just myself coming back now. Right on time, it seems.

IC:

"How dreadfully unsanitary!" exclaimed a shady looking character to a woman standing next to him. "The others seem to be gobbling it down easily enough. The Grand Celebration chefs did a wonderful job, as always... This cake is known to send a tingling sensation through the bodies of the consumer, you know. They say it grants wisdom, power, and courage to whoever tastes it... I wonder what that extra umph adds?"

The woman had left him in mid-sentence. Maverick did not particularly care. He walked slowly to the lady handing out the delicacies, and gave the usual thanks-you're-welcome exchange before following the others in downing the regal dessert. A surprise belch escaped his mouth as he licked his lips in satisfaction, brushing crumbs of the delicious cake from his clothing.

He may not have been welcome in Hyrule, but that wasn't going to stop him from enjoying the festivities.

As Darilan took a piece of cake, he said to the others, "I was once told not to eat the cake. Instead, I should realize that there is no cake, then I'll see that it is not the cake that gets eaten, it is only myself...

"Wait..."

The adventurers who braved the perilous journey through the crowd to reach the cake were well rewarded for their efforts. As the delectable baked good slides down their throats, they are filled with an incredibly sense of power. It is clear that, like all its predecessors, this cake is filled with mass loads of TINGLE-Juice, or whatever that crazy dude puts in his cooking.

Hithos smiles warmly as they devour it. "Good, huh? Powerful stuff, that."

Powerful stuff indeed, powerful enough to make the defenders of Hyrule that much more formidable as they begin a new year of defending the Kingdom from those that would wreck it.

Leth, Taint, Simon, Rosen, Maverick, and Darilan have gained 1 TP.

Arrika wrinkled her nose at the woman with allergies. Well, she wasn't exactly fresh and healthy herself. She took a piece of cake- the thing looked saturated with sugar.

Seth eyed the piece of cake pointedly. Arrika took a small bite and grimaced- the thing was far too sweet for her tastes. "Take it," she said flatly, thrusting it at Seth. "We eat this every year and I seem to like it less and less every time."

Kasei passed by rather oddly, spying the cake several times before he finally gave in to his sweet tooth, and wandered over to the icing-laden delight. He gladly accepted a slice and downed it in what would have to be the fastest bite in recorded history. "Mfg gewd." He muttered as he rushed off.

As Hithos hands down another piece of cake, a flash of black slices between him and the sneezing girl, cutting her off from ruining another piece with whatever sickness she might be carrying. The cake goes with this flash, being grabbed from Hithos mid-handoff, and only when it lands can all see that it is Alpha, having appeared from nowhere, who has claimed the slice. He rises back to his feet and slowly walks off again -- who's to say that he has only appeared for this brief period, and is intending to simply wander off into the unknown darkness after obtaining this treat?

Nevertheless, any who catch his face will see why he bothered to come back: his eyes light up for a brief second as he takes his first bite. A smile flutters across his lips before he can regain control of his emotions and return to his normally stoic disposition. He only looks back once before fading into the crowd again, eyeing the sneezing girl with an annoyed crimson eye.

He'll take his cake without germs, thank you very much.

The adventurers who braved the perilous journey through the crowd to reach the cake were well rewarded for their efforts. As the delectable baked good slides down their throats, they are filled with an incredibly sense of power. It is clear that, like all its predecessors, this cake is filled with mass loads of TINGLE-Juice, or whatever that crazy dude puts in his cooking.

Hithos smiles warmly as they devour it. "Good, huh? Powerful stuff, that."

Powerful stuff indeed, powerful enough to make the defenders of Hyrule that much more formidable as they begin a new year of defending the Kingdom from those that would wreck it.

Arrika, Kasei and Alpha have gained 1 TP.

OOC: Hey it's an RG! HELLO RG!!

IC: Nogare looked around. Fireworks... joy, an absence of evil. He wasn't here to celebrate any of it. Hyrule's birthday meant nothing to him. Over the years of his time in Hyrule, he realized that these sort of things were becoming less and less worth celebrating. The King could be spending these props on things more important things than THESE... All that was granted to him, fame, fortune, hope... Illusions. The king was likely even deluding himself in believing that all was well. Lies. A Sheikah would know better. Sheikahs deserved the throne considering their understanding of Truth and their own loyalty to Hyrule... but the last thing he wanted was treason. But his personal friendship with Harkinian was all but gone now, obliterated by an absence of action.

And for pity's sake, THEIR action. The ones who were making a difference in Hyrule while Link did whatever it was he was doing in Calatia. THEY were the ones who were deciding Hyrule's fate. Not this man under a crown of lies. ... Keeping Zelda safe has been successful for all these years, she's always been safely either in the keep or in the Temple Quarter, but none have been able to capture her. Maybe if she WAS captured there would be some hope of seeing Link come back. ... He had given up waiting for that 'hero'. As far as he was concerned, he was the traitor to his own country. Hyrule thought Nogare was the replacement. He pitied them in just how wrong they were. Link wasn't what he had become.

"And now, I'd like to call up Nogare Blade, who hasn't been here in quite some time, who would like to share a few words with us now."

Nogare withdrew his conciousness from the man's mind, letting him control his own actions again, and approached the front of the front of the stage of the party. He didn't need to clear his throat or prepare for the speech. He spoke from the heart, and spoke loudly and clearly:

"HYRLE!!!! Some of you know who I am, and some of you do not! I am Nogare, the son of one of Hyrule's greatest fighters, Grayblade, who died some time before Link arrived upon the shores of our land to save our princess Zelda. I came here from self-exile to fulfill a destiny that today I believe is not true. I believed that, as Link vanished from Hyrule to his homeland, I could carry on his legacy. I joined your king's ranks, and sought to rid evil from Hyrule once and for all, as your hero had nine years ago! I believed that I could save your, and carry on my father's legacy as one of your silent protectors. In arrogance, I made my name known, and some even worshiped me and hailed me as something that I am not. I am not your saviour. My own endeavours over the years have driven me away from the possibilities of your salvation. Never again do I want to hear myself be called a Hero. There is no single Hero! You say Link is your true Hero? Tell me;WHERE IS HE NOW?! Over FIVE years he's been gone in Calatia, while he saved Hyrule in less than a single year. No word has come from his to the common people such as yourselves. Do you think our princess appreciates his absence, or has tried to escape her duty to try to be with him? And now, with our enemies surrounding us and preparing to strike, we WAIT. WAIT for fate to find us, and let the innocent among us suffer the errors of our ignorance? We are awaitng fate, instead of searching our destiny, my fellow Hyruleans. The time has come. There is a Hero in every one of you. There is a need in each of you to fight for the very thing we celebrate on this day of glory. Which of you is going to stand up for us and fight for salvation, not for a crown, not for Hyrule, but for your families and friends. For your companions, your allies, all that you hold closely, for if you don't stand up for them, they will die and rot as you stand there, wishing you had acted now! So, the choice is before you. Do what you can. Or be victim to the Exiles that even now spy and stand among us in this very courtyard! That is who we are to be. Protectors of the peace. Saviours of the innocent. We are adventurers! And we are will be as such, until the day we die in combat or until we stand here again, celebrating the true end of this war, and begin to truly live! Mingle amongst yourselves and decide your own destiny. But I have my own mission that contributes, and I cannot be a part of this military, as I thought once before I could be. Please, let the will of the goddesses guide you, and steer you from corruption and evil. Greed is your enemy, and peace is your dream that needs to be awoken! Let us begin to search our destinies, and not rest until it has been found!!!!"

Nogare didn't await and applause, for he turned from the stage, Belegcam his spear held firmly and steadily in his hand, and he departed into the shadows, and was not seen by the public eye for a long, long time.

OOC: That speech contributes both in character and out of character. Enough people are talking about how they've been around waiting for someone to post. Then start posting and let's get these stories going! There has only been one true Event, FoG III. We want more of such glory in HA2. What are we waiting for! Let's go!! Realize what Jack wanted HA2 to be, what he dreamed it to be, and honour what he worked so hard to create for us. Let's got! We have some Exiles to fight, and Talent Points to earn, rupees to gain, levels to 'up', and legends to be made. This is your platform for what your dreams are in the real world. This is your practice zone for being a writer, which I know most of you want to be (I know I do). There is no better place. Here there is feedback, practice, and a tone of your cyber buds who miss you all. Where to. The Crazy Seer needs to speak up!

A black fairy came forth from the crowd and hovered in front of the woman at eye level. "Hey, it's a party!" He shouted before flying round the woman's head in circles. "This cake smells delicious, can I have a piece? Why, it seems like just last week there was a similar festival. How's the food? I hear it's delicious..." He chattered on and on.

While the woman was busy dealing with the overly hyperactive fairy Luna made her way out of the crowd, snagging a slice of yet-to-be-touched cake before slinking back into the confusion.

"Well, hope you get over your allergies!" The fairy concluded before dissapearing himself. Mission accomplished.

Sakiko took the cake, surprised at having the pastry almost forcefully given to her. She was about to drop it on the ground and leave it, but then that wouldn't be so polite...besides, the others were enjoying it. Although she really didn't care if she stuck out like a sore thumb - heck, she was always a sore thumb, no matter where she was - she decided that a little festivity now and then doesn't hurt. Sakiko reluctantly bit into the cake, then decided to drop it on the ground...

...she whipped around, suddenly noticing a man talking loudly. She stared at him, surprised to find herself agreeing.

Yes, it was time for adventure.

Ooc: Arrika and I are continuing the party topic in Ruto - it's not necessarily a party anymore, but...yeah. You could go post there if you would like..it's a semi fun, semi adventure plot. And also, Aureliano is coming back and he and I are planning another story plot pretty soon so...^__^ I'm hoping that this summer, we'll get a lot of adventuring done! haha