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

Re: Wildcard

[newmemorywhodis]

Perhaps it's not an intent to kill, but it's a sensation that reminds Link all too much of the Yiga. He almost half expects to spot a bunch of bananas nearby.

He can't see any bananas, but Link knows better than to disregard the danger. He pulls his shield from his back, as his eyes scan his surroundings. What is the source of the sensation?

Re: Wildcard

[straykitty]

"Well. Here you are."

Renne is sitting daintily on some nearby rigging, gazing down at Link. Her voice drips with venomed honey.

[newmemorywhodis]

Ah. He remembers her from the mission. But this meeting feels…strange.

“…Hi,” he says. And then just waits, and stares.

Maybe she does like bananas. She’s reveal it soon enough, if she does.

[straykitty]

"I believe I said we'd speak later on your appalling lack of communicative detail." Her eyes look dangerous. "We shall speak now."

And that definitely wasn't a request.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's not a very expressive person; his face tends to look largely blank most of the time, leaving just subtle body language and micro-expressions to show what he's feeling.

But at Renne's request, what little expressiveness there is in Link shutters. All traces of emotion disappear. His body language shifts to that of a soldier at attention. And there is nothing that can be read on him at all. He is utterly and completely unreadable.

You shouldn't have said anything, whispers that voice from inside.

Link does not respond.

[straykitty]

"Tell me. What do you think is an appropriate amount of detail for a high-risk event such as a fire during an operation?"

If she notices his response, she isn't acknowledging it at this point.

[newmemorywhodis]

An...appropriate amount of detail?

Whatever Link says, the answer will be wrong. He knows this, deep down into his bones. It will be wrong and everyone will know it.

(He doesn't think like this, not anymore! He knows that too, and yet somehow the way she's looking at him, the way she's talking...it's like he's gone back to the time before the Calamity. When the worst thing Link could ever do was speak, and reveal to everyone just how in over his head he was.)

Link still does not respond.

[straykitty]

She watches Link carefully, noticing him seizing up. She seems to remember something as she sighs deeply, and jumps down to face him.

"You're not much of a talker are you?"

Her tone is considerably more neutral.

[newmemorywhodis]

There's a long pause. He just looks at her, with that blank expression.

And then he shakes his head, ever so softly. This question is okay. He doesn't have to speak to answer it.

No, he's not much of a talker.

[straykitty]

Renne sighs again.

"Very well. In that case I'll need to teach you to signal more precisely when you must convey information. Are you comfortable using your ENC?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Perhaps she should have been a bit more specific, about what she meant by comfortable. Did she mean comfortable with the technology? Link was definitely that. It wasn't that different from the Sheikah Slate or Purah Pad - and he'd figured out how to use it to take selfies soon enough.

But if she meant comfortable talking over it...well, that was a bit different. Link didn't talk on the network any more than he did in person. In fact, there were plenty of times were he read or listened to someone else's message, took note of everything that was said, and then just...did not reply.

Whatever she meant, Link took it to be the former, and nodded. He knew how to use it, that counted as 'comfortable', right?

[straykitty]

"Excellent, we can work with that."

She puts her hand to her chin for a moment.

"If I were to send you a program with a collection of different danger tones, do you think that might work? That way you can send an alert sound that varies in severity and immediacy when you need to inform your team of a problem."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's eyes widen, just a fraction. It's the first sign of any kind of expression that his face has shown for a while.

He could have...danger tones? Noises he could just make with the press of a button? Noises that would mean he wouldn't have to talk to anyone?

Link had never considered the possibility of such a thing. But now that he'd learned of it, it wanted it.

He nods his head.

[straykitty]

Renne smiles a bit in spite of herself.

"I've been working on a few programs on the side, so I suppose now's a good time to start distributing some. May I borrow your ENC for a moment?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link pauses. Looks at his device.

He's still not speaking, but there's a bit more emotion in his expression now. And if she's very good at reading people, she might notice traces of...hesitation.

He can be a bit possessive about his things, you see. The important things. Sure, he'll hand over an entire stash of crickets without issue, but...his communicator? Which he only has one of?

...Well, he does also have his Purah Pad now. Which is obviously much better than the communicator. It's got all his pictures on it. And the Compendium.

Link hands the device over.

[straykitty]

Renne fully understands, after all she would be in much the same state with her own ENC.

"Here, let's sit at this table. You can watch what I'm doing."

She sets the two down at an open-air table, facing opposite each other and withdraws a small cord. Her own ENC appears to have been heavily modified - Link might recall her using it in the fight to directly cast magic. She plugs the cord into both ENCs and begins typing on her own.

"The program I'm giving you is one of my own design - it will allow you to easily ping connected allies with a variety of alerts. Things like 'caution', 'emergency', 'need assistance', 'warning', 'retreat', and the like. It's quite versatile and adding new commands is pretty easy."

As she speaks, Link will see the program quickly transfer itself into his own ENC.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link watches everything she does with an intense, unwavering focus. Is he fascinated by what she's doing, or is he just making real sure that she doesn't run off with his device?

Maybe it's both.

He ends up learning over to stare at the screen, practically getting in her space, by the time she ends her explanation. His eyes are still wide.

He's never going to have to talk to anyone on a mission ever again!

[straykitty]

"You WILL let me know how this works so I can make improvements, yes?"

Renne is watching his reaction carefully. She's glad he seems to like it, but she also hopes she's not enabling total silence.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's fingers closely slowly around his device, as he gives her a slow, sideways look.

He does talk, sometimes. When he wants to. But right now any thought of talking to Renne just makes him want to snap his jaw shut. They haven't gotten off on a good foot, and Link has not yet shed that feeling that she's...judging him.

In short, she's really not someone he wants to talk to. So in response, he just...shrugs.

[straykitty]

Renne shrugs in return.

"I'll accept written feedback."

[newmemorywhodis]

Well. Link could do that, he supposes. Although Renne might be disappointed to find that Link didn't tend to use many more words in written communication than he did in spoken.

But he nods. And mentally adds "Use Danger Tones And Write To Renne About Them" to his list of tasks.