Quest 08

[newmemorywhodis]

i. Healing is terrible

Like many warriors, Link...was…not the best patient.

Sure, he could sometimes be very still, and patient. He’s spent countless hours on guard duty. But that, somehow, was different from being stuck in a bed. At least guard duty was doing something, even if that something was, paradoxically, standing around doing nothing.

Unfortunately, standing all was rather outside of the question, since thanks to Gaurus the Bleeder, Link’s leg was now broken.

Not that this stopped from attempting to flee his assigned bed wherever possible. In fact he was often seen hobbling around the hospital wing - usually by hopping - as he attempted to find some way to do something useful. Can he help sort medicines? Fold bandages? Clean surgical tools? Cook meals for other patients?

Until the medical staff noticed their rogue patient, and ushered Link back to his bed. Where he would begrudging stay - for a while - until once again restlessness took over, and the cycle begins anew.


ii. Looking after Donnie’s garden [Vault]

When Link is - finally! released from the terrible boredom that was being stuck in the hospital wing, he ends up making his way to Donnie’s underground garden, in the Vault.

For a long while he just sits on the ground by Donnie’s patch, crutches tossed to one side while he stares vacantly at the muddlebuds and bombs flowers.

Link should be helping. He wants to help. He’d find a way, broken leg or not. But any suggestion of Link joining the rescue team had been struck down immediately, so instead Link was here. Not helping at all.

…There’s some weeds around the puffshrooms, though. And the bomb flowers are ready for harvest. At least Link can take care of those.

Slowly, Link gets to work.


iii. Angry angry chickens [Flotsam]

Later - when the rescue is over and the Flotsam fleet is coming back together - Link makes his way back to his dorm room. Where he is met with a very, very angry chicken.

“...Sorry,” he tells Pepper the chicken, as she furiously clucks at him. She also pecks him, repeatedly. But since she mostly just gets at the leg that it’s a cast, he doesn’t actually feel anything.

He does feel pretty guilty, though. She hasn’t had any company - or anyone feeding her. And sure, that’s mainly because getting back had been a bit tricky for Link to manage. He still feels bad regardless.

As an apology, Link starts emptying his pack of several chicken-friendly meals.Meals which Pepper immediately descends upon - although this does not do anything to halt her angry clucking at all.

She’s probably going to be mad at him for a while…


iv. Time to get some sweet wheels [Vault]

They’d given him crutches, to get around on. And they were…okay. They did the job.

But Link had Ultrahand now. He could do better.

So just outside the Armory, with Pepper the chicken keeping him company, Link is making himself a vehicle. He doesn’t have any Zonai devices, but he’s still managed to scrounge up some pieces of wood and metal and a small collection of some wheels.

They’re the sort of thing that you usually wouldn’t expect a man with a broken leg to be able to move easily. Except Link doesn’t need to move at all: he just raises his right up, points it at a wheel, and as his arm temporarily changes in appearance a glowing green light connects the wheel and his arm. And the wheel lifts.

Deftly moving it through the air, Link positions the wheel next to the corner of a plank of wood. Then - as the green light disappears and his arm returns to normal - the wood and wheel move towards each other, as a green glue-light substands sticks the two together.

One wheel down! Now, just three more to go…

Comments

[esperbuthuman]

Terra seems to brighten considerably.

"Yes! We just got some fresh fish delivered this morning if you want something heartier!"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums softly. They've let him out now, so yes, Link's definitely doing much better. He's really not a fan of being cooped up.

"Healing is boring."

If only they had some Great Fairy fountains in this world; somewhere that he could just go to and find a fairy to heal him up quickly, without all this irritating recovery process...

[newmemorywhodis]

"What kind?"

Link wonders about the possibilities, as he hobbles along behind Terra. Was it a fish Link had tried before? Or a new fish, one he might want to try cooking himself sometime?

[esperbuthuman]

Terra thinks for a moment.

"I believe we had some trout, some sea bream, and someone caught an octopus that they're trying to figure out what to do with."

[newmemorywhodis]

"...Octopus?" Link, in a tone of voice that very much suggests that he wants to try that one.

He's never eaten octopus before.

[esperbuthuman]

"If you return to your room with me, I'll inform the cook that you want the octopus. How would you like it cooked?"

Terra seems rather delighted to have hit upon something that interests him.

[newmemorywhodis]

"What's the recipe?"

Really, Link wasn't precious about how it was cooked. He liked pretty much everything. But he's always interested to see how other people cook, and if there's anything new he can pick up.

[esperbuthuman]

"Fried, I think?"

Terra remembers the man agonizing over the unfamiliar ingredient, he will certainly be happy to have a taker.

[bearsperminute]

"... Yeah, I get that one. Not much to do but wait for your body to do what it needs to is a pain." She shakes her head. "Combat healers can get you up and running in a pinch, but severe wounds can't turn on a dime."

"Always makes me jumpy, wonder about getting back into condition."

[thunderwarden]

Cid is going to do the lad one better. Once the equipment is moved close enough, he'll set about assembling it himself. He's been a while, too long really, since he's built anything.

He motions to Link's leg as he sets to work, though.

"Tell me you did that doing something heroic, lad."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link makes a wordless noise of approval - he still doesn't know exactly what this meal is going to taste like, but he's definitely keen to find out.

In fact, he's keen enough that - for the first time in Link's hospital stay - he doesn't attempt to find another task to complete, or wonder off in the middle of the way back. He even hops right over to his bed and sits on it.

[newmemorywhodis]

"I'll be fine."

Link wasn't worried about getting back into condition. He'd been through far, far worse. The limb wasn't infected with gloom. He wasn't dead.

By those standards, this was nothing. It was just irritating.

[newmemorywhodis]

Cid might soon run into some challenges when attempting to assemble it himself - namely, the fact that Link hasn't got any tools or connecting hardware. No axels, no screws, no hammers - just wheels and unadorned pieces of wood.

It's bare bones to the extend that Link shouldn't be able to make anything. And yet when Link releases the wheel, it sticks right to the plank.

As for Cid's question...well, he had gotten this fighting Gaurus the Bleeder. Something most people would call heroic. And yet Link doesn't mention that.

"Fell off a building," Link says instead, with a completely straight face.

Looking after Donnie’s garden

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl is involved in the rescue, but they also are feeling pretty useless. Because so many things require hands or talking to people. And they are saving their time fighting the curse for things only they can do (like caring for the lizards in their houseboat, or moving their lodgings to a remote cove when Flotsam broke up).

But Link is a good person to be around when you can't talk, because Link is very good at understanding without speaking, and he doesn't particularly speak either. So Link is getting Ilphyl's cat form watching the weeding.

[thunderwarden]

And he is infinitely confused at the fact that there's nothing to apparently attach anything else to, no tools, no bolts, just-

"Falling off of buildings isn't the best way to spend a Tuesday, lad." He grunts at the offending plant and wheels. "Let me guess: that shiny hand of yours is doing the holding when you should be using nuts and bolts to build whatever it is you're workin' on here."

He crosses his arms and turns to Link more fully. "What are you trying to build? A means of moving about with a bum leg?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link does indeed happily sit in silence with Ilphyl as he weeds. But even if there's no words, there's still a kind of communication happening.

Like when Link finds one particularly interesting-looking weed that's got a funny little patten on it. Upon discovery, it immediately gets brought over for Ilphyl to look at.

See? It's got a face!

[newmemorywhodis]

Link shrugs. He's fine with how his Tuesday went. Gaurus is dead. It's a good result, even if the recovery is irritating.

But as for his current project...

"Don't need nuts and bolts." Why would he bother with those, when he's got Ultrahand? (Although Ultrahand constructions are, admittedly, rather less...durable...than those more traditionally made. Most tended to fall apart after a period of time.)

Then he pauses. Shrugs. Sure, this is meant to be a means of moving about. But it's not, strictly speaking, necessary. Link's got crutches. But there's reasons other than mobility for making a wheeled card.

"More fun than crutches."

[thunderwarden]

"Like hell you don't, lad. The minute that magic hand power of yours fails, this collapses. I'll rig up something for you that'll last."

And he meant it, already thinking through plans.

"Aye, I reckon it would be." He motions toward Link again. "I know you've got a gift of the gab, but how about you tell me how you came to fall of a building?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Well, yeah. That absolutely happens. All of the time.

"I live dangerously."

Apparently the constant possibility of sudden and complete collapse is, in fact, part of the fun. After all, then Link gets to construct a different abomination of a machine.

As for the building...Link thinks about it for a moment. Cocks his head to one side. Thinks about it some more.

"...Blood magic," he concludes. Yup. That was what did it, really; blood magic.

[blessmefather]

"Hopping around on one leg?" Matt raises a brow. Link just happened to run into one of the harder people to deceive. If Link is in any way a terrible patient for the same reasons Matt has been before, this could be more than simple boredom.

"I understand feeling restless, but there's an entire army of Corsairs keeping an eye on the Imps. They will let you know when they need you. Better heal until then so you're ready." Matt waves towards down the hall where he's guessing Link might have come from. "Besides, you don't want to miss room service when they bring lunch."

[spacetogrow]

Cats can't laugh or really smile, but Ilphyl can give Link a gentle head-butt as a 'okay, that is cute'.

[thunderwarden]

"That can be said of all of us, mate."

That much was true, at least. Anyone willing to sign on with the lot of them had a death wish, or at least a reckless streak a mile wide.

"But I'm still making you something." Something with axles and the lot.

"Blood magic?" But he does hold the plank steady while Link does his thing, whatever that is.

[esperbuthuman]

Terra soon returns, bearing a tray with a somewhat odd dish. It appears as if the octopus has been baked into balls of dough. Each individual piece looks to have a bit of tentacle protruding, and the balls have additionally been seasoned with ginger and a generous helping of sauce.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link stares back, unashamed of his blatant pretense. He stands by what he said. Even if reality contradicts it.

(Although it does occur to Link that since Matt can't see, his blank, expressionless stares might not have quite the same effect as usual. Doesn't stop him doing it anyway, though. Maybe Matt will still get the vibe, anyway.)

"...Lunch isn't due yet."

Because while lunch was a very effective motivator with Link, he had also paid close enough attention to the usual timings to know how far he could push it. And right now? He still had time to push it.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link gives Ilphyl a quick scratch behind the ears, before the weed promptly disappears into Link's bottomless pack.

In fact, that's where all the weeds are disappearing to. Although what - if anything - Link actually plans to do with them is a bit of a mystery.