01 - a retired lord commander walks into a bar

[thunderwarden]

01 the market stalls

Freedom tasted sweet, and since the moment he was brought to Flotsam, he got the impression he was going to like it here. Striding through one passage or another, listening to the erratic but somehow melodious sounds of Flotsam, he knew he could find a place here. It was busy, there were parts of it that smelled, but it was free, and it was populated by an eclectic bunch of renegades that reminded him so much of his own it made him homesick.

Which meant ploughing on until he secured his own space to brood in and hopefully acclimate to this place. After months slaving under Imperial lashes working on their machines, being here seemed like something of a miracle, and while he was bone tired, soul tired even, he couldn't very well leave the lot of them to their own devices. That meant he needed to be prepared, he needed to figure out what his role would be in this place, and he needed to meet the locals. So, top of the list? Preparation. The Empire had stripped him of all he'd had on him at the time, and that included his swords. They'd need to be replaced, which meant a trip to the market stalls for gear and armor if he was going to be of any use to these people who'd given him a chance at freedom.

He started at a weapons stall, testing the weight of swords with the skill of a man who'd done so all his life, sighting down the blades, one after another, feeling their weight in his hand. "Fine craftsmanship, mate." He smirked at the vendor, "less, of course, you don't make 'em here, then good eye, I guess. Either way, I'll take it."

He spends a bit more time browsing wares, getting a feel for the place, the sorts of goods that cross the decks of a floating city and the sorts of conversations that are had among the market stalls, finding a blessing by the end of it: a satchel of tobacco and rolling papers. Maybe fate's smiling on him after all.

02 waterlogged row

Taverns the world over, and those from another world he used to call home, shared common threads: people unwound there, they drank some kind of swill, and they talked. Where normally Cid would be taking this as an opportunity to learn ought that was going on around the realm, his knowledge of this world he'd found himself in was still limited to the point that he was just absorbing pieces: geography, politics beyond what little he'd been able to glean from overheard conversations from his captors, and anything else that might be useful.

Or rumors of where he could be useful. By the way he strode into the tavern in question, he knew how to use the swords at his hip, but he wasn't walking in threatening people with them, either. Instead, he makes to prop up the bar, so to speak, lighting a freshly rolled cigarette and ordering whatever's on tap while he keeps an eye out for any interesting individuals who might stride in.

03 wildcard

( ooc: Cid can be found in various places around Flotsam, as he's getting acclimated. I'd be totally down you you setting your own scene, or if you'd me to write a prompt, drop me a line! )

Comments

[thunderwarden]

"Rebuilding?" See, you don't have to use a lot of words, Link. Just the right ones. "Rebuilding from what?" Now if he could just get him to use complete sentences.

[newmemorywhodis]

"The Calamity."

See, that was a complete sentence! Just a very short one. With only two words.

[thunderwarden]

"Ominous, vague, and still doesn't really answer anything." Well, except that his world was most likely in ruin.

"What was the Calamity?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link falls silent, for a moment. How to explain the Calamity?

The only person in Hyrule that had needed it to be explained to them had been him.

"A primal evil. A corruptive force,” he says. He then pauses, thinking some more. "And a gigantic boar monster?”

[thunderwarden]

He frowned, crossing his arms. "All three at once, or are those three different entities?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods his head rapidly. "At once."

That's what made the Calamity so tricky to describe; it wasn't just one thing. It was like a cyclone; there were the winds, but there were also the rains and the floods that came with it.

"The Calamity brings the monsters," he adds.

[thunderwarden]

"At once, you say." Okay, that sounds a bit more like a Calamity.

And not too much like what his world was facing: The Blight, the Akashic, endless war, famine, injustice, all because of Crystals people believed made their lives easier.

"Sorry, lad, sorry you're here instead of there, helping set things to rights. 'Course, this place could use a hand in the same, eh?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. Yes, at once.

The name was most certainly deserved. But Cid is somewhat mistaken on one fact; it's not something that currently threatens his world.

"Calamity's gone now," he says. So really, there wasn't anything pressing back home. Except, of course, for Zelda. Which was really the most important thing of all.

[thunderwarden]

"Gone, is it? That must have been quite the fight." He smirks, though. "Don't reckon you're up for telling the story."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. Yes, it was quite the fight. But as for telling the story, he actually pauses, and considers it.

"The Divine Beasts fired," he says. "Fought Spider-Beast Ganon. Then Dark Beast Ganon. Then Zelda sealed it with Goddess power."

It seems that this is what counts as 'story-telling' when it comes from Link.

[thunderwarden]

"Lad," He reaches out to clap Link on the shoulder. "That wasn't even a report. What were the Divine Beasts? Who's the Ganon and how did he have so many forms? What about Zelda? She a looker at least? Or he? I'm not judging, mate."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link does not say anything in response to this barrage of questions. Instead he just turns to look at Cid with a flat stare.

Apparently, Link did not appreciate that 'was Zelda a looker' comment.

[thunderwarden]

The expression gets a chuckle from the older man. "So she is. Good to know." They were mostly rhetorical questions anyway, meant to demonstrate what was missing from a proper story.

"Who is she? If we're setting a proper scene here, she'll need to be someone of import, not just anyone can wield the Goddess' power, after all. So...she's a queen, aye? Yours? You are a knight, aren't you?"

[newmemorywhodis]

"...Princess," Link says. Although technically, he supposes, she should be Queen. But after 100 years of the Calamity...well, there wasn't really much of a monarchical institution anymore. "Not Queen."

And yes, he's her knight. But Link doesn't really feel the need to confirm that. It's pretty obvious, really.

[thunderwarden]

"Princess, then." He nods. "That fits better anyway, good and proper legend. Beautiful princess with the power of a goddess, served by her loyal knight, maybe in more ways than one."

[newmemorywhodis]

"I make her fruitcake sometimes."

Is this a joke? Hard to tell; Link's face is completely unchanging, and there's no change in his inflection.

Which also makes it utterly impossible to tell if Link's alternate interpretation 'serving' is intentional. He could be innocently naive...or he could absolutely be fucking with Cid.

[thunderwarden]

He laughs at that, deep and rich. "Is that what we're calling it now?"

Cid is always willing to give and take a hard time, so he's assuming this is a joke. The look he'd been shot when he'd mentioned her appearance was enough to infer from, at least for him.

[newmemorywhodis]

A blink from Link.

Then he reaches into the small leather pouch hanging from his belt...and pulls out a fruitcake.

An entire fruitcake.

"...You don't call it fruitcake?" he says.

[thunderwarden]

Alright, all pretense of double entendres are cast to the wayside.

"Lad, do I want to know how you fit an entire sodding fruitcake in your pocket?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Why have a double entendre when you can instead have a single literal fruitcake?

"It's korok-enchanted," Link says. Then he pauses - and well, the fruitcake is already out, so why not? - and then adds, "Want some?"

[thunderwarden]

Cid has no idea what a korok is or how it would go about enchanting a pack, but if it made the thing hold more, he was for it.

He eyes the fruitcake dubiously for a moment before shrugging. "Why not?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's face remains largely blank. He doesn't smile. But something in him still seems to brighten when Cid agrees to eat the cake. Helikes sharing food.

So Link pulls a kitchen knife from the pack - which also looks too big to fit in there - and cuts Cid a nice big slice before handing it over. If Cid dares to take a bite, he'll find that it's actually quite good. Despite having been carried about in a mysteriously magical pack for an untold period of time, it's still fresh.

And then of course he cuts himself another slide, and shoves it into his face.

[thunderwarden]

Cid just won't comment on the fact that most people would toss a kitchen knife in their impossibly roomy packs in some sort of scabbard, because at this point, he's most interested in what else the lad's going to pull out of his bag of tricks.

And of course Cid chances to take a bite. He happens to fear nothing, except not finding tobacco here, but that can wait. It's been weeks, he can hold off a few hours more.

He doesn't even usually like fruitcake.

"Not half bad."

[newmemorywhodis]

Why would Link need a scabbard? He's got his korok-enchanted pack. The only blade he ever bothers to put in a scabbard is the Sword that Seals the Darkness.

The wording of Cid's comment does make him faintly confused for a moment - half bad? But...not? - but the man's tone sounds like a compliment, so Link decides to just roll with it and take it as praise.

With the slices now consumed, Link now returns the kitchen knife and uneaten cake to the pack. It's at this point that he also finally steps over to the shopkeeper, and purchases that shield he was looking at earlier - which also disappears into the pack. Who knows what else he has stashed away in there?