Quest 07 (Open + Closed)

[newmemorywhodis]

i. Making new, wolfy friends [Open]
In the wild areas near Elysium, Link’s been exploring. It’s a common activity for him. There’s mushrooms and flowers to pick, game to hunt, monsters to fight…

…Then one day, while he’s up in a tree collecting some bird’s eggs, he spots a wolf. A big wolf. A really, really big wolf. It’s as big as a horse.

And once he makes that mental connection, Link immediately thinks, I could ride that.

Which naturally means Link now has to find out if he can. He pulls out a Sneaky Elixir, and swiftly swallows it - demeaning the sounds of his movements. Silently uses his paraglider to move from tree to tree, getting closer. And then carefully drops down behind the massive, monstrous wolf.

He crouches down. Creeps forward. Slowly, slowly. Until he’s right behind the beast, so close he could reach out and touch its fur.

And then he leaps up onto its back, and grabs on.

The wolf yelps and snarls - but Link’s got a good position, and he doesn’t let it twist back and bite him. He just directs the beast to run, and keeps a good hold.

What do you know, he can ride it!


ii. A retrieval of memories [locked to Shu]
Shu had spoken to the Admiral. They’d tracked down the Imperial Commander who’d been given Link’s Purah Pad.

And then they’d sneaked onto the Commander’s warship and completely trashed his quarters.

Well, Link had trashed his quarters. Shu was a bit too dignified for such wanton destruction, but Link wasn’t. And he didn’t regret it either, since in the process, he’d found the Pad!

Now, their getaway was nearly complete. Here in a small alleyway in Elysium, they were far from the scene of the crime. The Crimson Portal wasn’t far off.

But Link had to pause. He hadn’t had a chance yet, but - he had to see. Were all of his pictures still on the Purah Pad? Were they safe?

He pulls out the Pad, and turns it on. And turns to the photo gallery.


iii. Link has a slide show and he’s gonna make you watch it [semi-closed]
Later, Link thinks of all the new people he’d met. People who’d helped him grow plants from home, or who’d shown interest in things from his home. Shu wasn't the only one who he knew would like to see his pictures.

Before, he hadn't had any way of sharing these images of his home. But…now he could.

So Link tracks those people down. Says, “Hi,” when he finds them. And then shoves the Purah Pad - with a picture from Hyrule that would interest them on the screen - right in their face.

[[ooc: this prompt is for Nephenee, Ilphyll, Donnie, Maomao and Atom - but could be open to others if there's a reason for Link to decide to share]]


iv. Wildcard!
[[if you'd like something not on her, contact me!]]

Comments

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums. It's a sort of half non-committal, half-assent kind of noise.

Really, everyone that knew them well knew they were close. But outside of a close circle of friends, their exact relationship with each other was one they preferred to keep private.

Maybe because they'd been under so much public scrutiny when they were younger. So much of the focus and attention of the royal court had been on them. Why invite more of that, if it wasn't necessary?

[purplexing]

The closest relationships Donnie's ever had have been with family. Aside from the basic distastefulness of his experiences with the nobility here, he otherwise has no idea about all these complications that people bring into such matters when it comes to different sorts of relationships.

With a shrug, he looks back at the picture again.

"Have I ever asked what all it was you did, back where you're from? Like...I don't know, job, I guess? Super-collector?" He's only half-joking about the last. Some kind of fighter, definitely.

[newmemorywhodis]

"Knight," Link says. Although super-collector sounds fun. He wouldn't mind being one of those...

[purplexing]

Link already seems to unofficially be a super-collector, anyway...

"Oh, neat. That's like...the warriors directly serving royalty, was it?" Donnie grins. "No wonder you're good at fighting. And protecting." Given he's had firsthand experience.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums again; this time more definitively in affirmation. Yes, he serves royalty. Yes, he's good at fighting and protecting.

He doesn't bother to add to that; to say that he's the Hylian Champion or the Hero of Hyrule. He'd much rather not mention it at all.

And maybe with that information, Donnie will be able to figure out that 'Princess' must be a royal title.

[purplexing]

It's always very difficult holding conversations with Link, if it can even be called a conversation. But in a way Donnie kind of likes the challenge (sometimes), because he has to think about the questions he wants answers to. And even if he doesn't get all the pieces straightforward, it's like collecting them to make a whole picture, like a puzzle.

Which, okay, can be slightly frustrating too when a few sentences could explain it easily.

"Did you travel a lot together?"

[spacetogrow]

"The Gerudo are desert people?" Ilphyl isn't sure if it's the name for the people who live in that location, or who are a different sort of people. (Ilphyl isn't sure if Link's people are equivalent to elves or something else, but they figure if it's important to Link, it will come up. Link doesn't seem to mind answering questions, but he's not a talker.)

[bearsperminute]

Kanna nods, and once Link has mostly secured himself, shoves off and catches up to the log, taking up a place that hopefully won't lever Link upwards... And then shoves off the floor of the river, catching her shoes amidst the rocks below. Soon enough they're on their way, though the current seems to be...

Pushing them towards a downward sloping wall.

Time to take a deep breath.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. Yes, they travelled a lot together.

Which is not exactly the nice, fully detailed sentence that Donnie would really like. But why bother speaking out a bunch of words when a silent nod would be enough instead?

(There may be people who would argue with Link about what counted as 'enough'.)

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. Yes, the Gerudo were a people.

In fact, he taps at the Purah Pad's screen a few times, until he's found a few images in his gallery - there's a picture of Isha outside her shop, another of several Gerudo in the town square at night, and a portrait of Riju.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's eyes are wide as he sits on the log. But they go wider when the wall appears.

At that point, Link crouches down on the log, wrapping his arms around it tightly so he won't get separated.

And then takes a deep breath, right before the current pulls them all under the rock.

[purplexing]

Well, so much for that, although the response is well within Donnie's expectations from Link by this point.

"Do you have a favorite place in any of those?" he asks.

1/2

[bearsperminute]

Holding her breath and keeping her head from slamming into the ceiling occupies enough of Kanna's attention that she barely manages to hold on to the log as it tumbles awkwardly in the narrow tunnel.

There's a small touch of air trapped by the water, and it's foul and fixed, but it's breathable enough for the split second the log rises to the surface before the two of them are dumped back into the water, until, at last, fresh air and a small ride to a much more placid pool.

Kanna's soaked, her gi is slightly torn, and she lays back on the stony shore gasping for air--

2/2

[bearsperminute]

-- And then, she starts laughing. "Well. Guess we found something, yeah?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link is, similarly, also utterly drenched. But he's full of adrenaline and doesn't care, because that was great.

More than that, they have found something. Because while it's almost completely dark in this new, calmer space, it's not completely dark. Because there, off in the distance - there's sunlight coming in from somewhere.

And if sunlight can get in, there must be somewhere for them to go out to.

"Over there," he whispers to Kanna, giving her a chance to see the sunlight before tossing out another Brightbloom to give some visibility to their immediate surroundings. They're on the bank of the underground river in a small cavern just to the side. The river continues on - heading towards that hint of sunlight.

[bearsperminute]

She turns her head to see it, and sits up. The adrenaline jangles her nerves and tingles her teeth and she loves it, laughing again.

"Well, dang, so we did. Wonder how far we've gone?" Can't have been too long underwater, but that current was swift.

She looks around and rescues the log from where it threatened to drift out of reach.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link thinks about it a moment. Nods. And then taps at the Pad again.

What he reveals to Donnie is a picture of a tree with pink-leaves on the top of a mountain, distant cliffs and swirling clouds in the distance.

"Satori Mountain," Link says.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link shrugs; he didn't have a clue how far they'd gone.

As Kanna grabs the log, Link wades into the water behind it; looking at her and cocking his head to one side in an unspoken question. Would she like him to push this time?

[bearsperminute]

"... Normally I'd let the adrenaline pass, but you're right, probably a bad idea given we're wet in January." So, having caught her breath, she hangs on to the log and then gives the thumbs up.

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl notices that based on the clothing, the Gerudo apparently have the opposite reaction to Ilphyl does about the sun. Ilphyl can't imagine wandering around in those clothing styles except at night.

(Also, why are they are so good-looking? Is this what humans see when they look at elves?)

"What other animals do they have?" They figure Link might find it easier to just read from the Compendium.

[purplexing]

"Ohhh..."

Sure, pink isn't his color but this tree makes it mysteriously alluring, like it's marking some special place. Or maybe it's what makes the mountain special. Donnie's not really too crazy about hiking up mountains but he thinks he might do it to get a better look at such a tree, and take in what must be a spectacular view.

"It's beautiful..."

[newmemorywhodis]

Eh, the water's not icy cold. So it's not great, sure, but it could be worse. When they get out though, Link might grab some Spicy Elixirs to help warm them up.

Right now though, he pushes on the log. The water carries them along, as the light becomes brighter, and brighter.

Until finally, the cavernous space opens up to the sky - and before them is a massive lake, filling in the valley where three mountains converge.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link thinks about it a moment, and then brings up the entry for a small canine.

"Wasteland coyote," he reads. "This contentious beast is native to the Gerudo region. It makes its home in the desert, so it doesn't have a problem with hot, arid climates. They do hunt other beasts and small animals but more often turn their sights on people. They're a threat to anyone travelling through the desert."

Then he taps at the screen again, before bringing up a very different creature.

"Sand Sparrow," he says. "This desert-dwelling breed of sparrow has adapted to withstand the heat in the arid climate of the Gerudo region. Sometimes they can be spotted half-buried in the sand, holding perfectly still as a means of evading predators."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums in agreement; Satori Mountain was beautiful. That's why he liked it so much.

Though he also liked it for another reason.

"Lots of things to find there," he says. "Hearty radishes, swift carrots, golden apples, rushrooms, truffles..."

[bearsperminute]

As Kanna looks around, emerging from the cave, she knows only one thing for sure: "... Iiiii have no idea where we are."

Still, as she orients herself, briefly, to the sun, she muses to herself that this is a pretty similar situation to when her dad would take her out on survival training. "Well. it's not like we're in a super amount of trouble-- we're both experienced in this sort of thing."

She hadn't packed for an extended trip like this, but then, neither had Dad, and she tests a few of the reeds by the water. ... good for a makeshift shelter, if it came to it, but she'd prefer other methods if she had them.