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 pauses. Looks at the picture.

It's one of the ones taken after the defeat of the Demon Dragon. When Zelda had first returned to the school at Hateno. She'd been swarmed by the children, and the pictures they'd drawn of her - pictures on which they'd wrote about how much they missed her.

In the picture she stands in front of the wall with the pictures. Her eyes are misty, and she's near tears - but she is smiling.

"...Princess Zelda," Link says softly.

[purplexing]

A princess? A title, he guesses. He's not very brushed up on titles, or the hierarchies they belong to outside of the ones more commonly held by nobles. But it seems this is someone important. Donnie's not all that great about reading people, but there's just something in the way Link says her name that makes it seem that way.

Zelda's expression is almost contradictory, but she seems happy despite looking like she's about to cry. "Did something happen?" he asks, head tilting as he tries to puzzle out whatever might have been happening in this picture.

[newmemorywhodis]

There's a long, silent pause from Link.

"...She was gone a while," he says. "The children missed her. She was happy to see them."

She'd been so touched by their pictures. By their drawings, the little notes about how much they wanted her to come back. They'd been happy tears.

[purplexing]

"Oh..."

Putting it in that perspective certainly helps Donnie understand it a lot more. Sort of. It didn't quite explain the tears, at least not to Donnie, who associated such with more negative emotions. But maybe it's because she'd missed them too?

Would his brothers cry for him if he ever saw them again? Maybe Mikey, he was always the most open with emotions.

[newmemorywhodis]

For a moment Link just lets the silence hang. As Donnie thinks of his own family, and Link looks at the picture of Zelda. But eventually, he does break it.

"She'd like you," he says. "She loves research. And experiments."

Didn't matter if it was science, or history, or anything else. Zelda liked figuring things out, learning things.

[purplexing]

"Yeah?" Donnie smiles a little at that. Such things only appeal to certain people, he supposes. It's nice to know even in other worlds there might be kindred spirits of a sort.

"Are you two close?" At a glance he could almost think them related, this Princess Zelda and Link. Or maybe that's just the common traits of their people. But it's clear Link respects her at the very least.

[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?"

[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'.)

[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.

[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.

[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]

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..."

[purplexing]

Yeah, that sounds like a more Link-appropriate reason. Donnie can't help it; he laughs.

[newmemorywhodis]

As usual, Link's not the most expressive of people. Even as Donnie laughs, his face doesn't change that much.

But there is the hint of a quirk of his lips.

"It is useful," he admits. "But...mostly it's pretty. And calm."

[purplexing]

It's a good laugh, even if it is a bit at Link's expense, but it feels good. He's needed it. Donnie wipes an imaginary tear from his eye as he glances back at the pad.

"Well, no reason why it can't be both a nice place to visit and a useful place to find resources," he says. He thinks if ever there was a chance, that would be somewhere he'd like to see in person.

"Thanks for sharing these with me."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums softly. You're welcome, Donnie.

[[ooc: shall we wrap up here?]]