001 - If I Keep Looking Forward I Won't Fall Back [Vault]

[purplexing]

I. The Armory
Donnie hasn't talked about the last mission. He hasn't talked much to anyone. Not entirely strange, but then nor is his preoccupation with work. At the moment he's taking a break from fixing up the armors that had been acquired during the taking of Hesaeth, working instead on more personal weapons. Or in this case, repairing them.

His staff is in pieces. Normally it collapses into something discreet enough to carry, but some of those pieces have very obvious indentations, damage sustained from the encounter with Lord Gundhir's son. The turtlekin picks up one of the cylindrical segments, holding it up in closer inspection. Repairing it would be possible although he'd likely have to reforge some pieces, but what good would it be if it would still essentially break under pressure?

...

Pushing aside an errant thought, Donnie sets the piece down, pulling out his notebook and a folded sheet of paper from within, flattening it out. The original designs for his collapsible staff, and extra notations for other additions to it. It still needs to be sturdier, but lighter too, especially if he plans to include more capabilities.

He doesn't look up at whoever approaches, only barely hearing the footsteps thanks to the mufflers he always tends to wear, especially down here where there's just so much noise. "Hey, know if there's any scrap titanium I can use?"


II. Subterranean Farms
Tucked away from the main fields and nestled in a smallish nook along the carved out walls, the little garden can easily be overlooked if one isn't paying attention to the strange, spiraling growth of vines dotted with small purple flowers that have started to crawl along the edges of the rock there. That's as far as Donnie's allowed them to grow, always taking care to trim them back before they can get out of hand.

He's rigged his own little light source here, simultaneously taking advantage of where crevices throw shadows across the space to allow for all kinds of plants to be cultivated. At a glance they're definitely more of a decorative sort than to be used for food, but he wouldn't advise eating most of these anyway. There are many flowers and herbs, and even a few types of fungi that grow within the natural rock 'shelves' of the flanking walls.

The turtlekin can be found tending to his beloved plants, removing any dead leaves, carefully watering the flowerbeds or tilling a patch of dirt in preparation for planting something new.


III. The Library
The library's become as much of a retreat as any, and in particular Donnie liked to hide away here because of how much quieter it is compared to other areas of the Vault.

He had come here to do some research but the peacefulness of the area paired with poor sleep has managed to lull him into an unscheduled naptime. Hopefully you didn't need that book he's currently using as a pillow, but be forewarned; he's a drooler.

Comments

[purplexing]

"Fascinating."

He does have to blink then, brow arching at Link. "Wait, throw them? They don't have to be planted?" Donnie's not sure that it might be a translation error. He's never heard of plants growing after you threw them, after all. "...how long do they glow for?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods again. Donnie didn't mishear Link.

And in fact Link decides to demonstrate - by talking out another brightbloom seed, pulling off his shield, and tossing the seed at it. Immediately the seed bursts into a full glowing green flower, now stuck to the shield. The light it gives off is now enough to brighten the entire space they're in.

But for Donnie's last question...Link's less sure of the answer. He shrugs. "Ages?"

He's not really sure if brightbloom flowers ever stop glowing, actually...

[purplexing]

Huh. So it really is throw. Donnie can't help but stare- or at least briefly as Link demonstrates, because the extra brightness forces him to blink.

"Whoa... That's amazing." If it grows instantly upon contact, would it still grow by normal methods of planting? He turns the seed around in his hand again before once again staring at Link with the answer given then.

"....."

How does that even work???

[newmemorywhodis]

It's a subtle change in expression, but Link beams. They are amazing.

And then while Donnie just stares at Link in silence...Link doesn't say anything. He just pulls out a few more brightbloom seeds from his pack, and holds them out for Donnie. And then waits, content to sit in silence along with Donnie.

[purplexing]

The turtle lad looks a bit stunned at the offering, taking them carefully and being careful not to drop any. He doesn't want them blooming just yet, but more importantly...

"Wait, I can have these?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods.

"I've got lots."

Over 200 of them, actually. Brightbloom seeds were very, very common

[purplexing]

Baffling. No one usually just gives him stuff. Donnie looks down at the seeds, reaching over to pull over a small box so he can put them in.

"...thank you," he says quietly, a soft smile touching his face. Common or not, they're his now, and he's going to take care of them.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link, meanwhile, grows a little pensive. The brightblooms are easy to grow - they grow everywhere, and require absolutely no effort or knowledge.

But he'd gotten more then just his stash of brightblooms, after the raid he and Nephenee did on the merchant house. And everything else was not quite so easy to get more of.

"...Could you grow other things?" he says quietly. "From outlands?"

[purplexing]

Donnie has started to look around his space, wondering where the best spot would be for one of them. He's not sure they'd provide the same light plants needed to grow, that would require testing. But if they could grow on, of all things, a shield then perhaps they shouldn't simply be considered as a plant...

"Huh?" He blinks, looking back at Link. "...I could try? Sometimes it's a lot of trial and error, and if things aren't just right, they might not grow well."

[newmemorywhodis]

Trial and error? Maybe he should keep back a few of the things he only had a very small number of. But if Donnie could help with some of the things Link did have plenty of...

Once more, Link reaches into his back. Except this time, instead of brightbloom seeds, he ends up pulling out all sorts of other things. Like wildberries, brightcaps, stambulbs, splash fruit, skyshrooms, cool safflina...

And as Donnie may notice - there's far more of all these than could possibly fit into the small pack at Link's waist.

[purplexing]

There is no feasible way for Link to be pulling such things out without them being horribly crushed. Donnie is staring again, his curiosity torn between the wonderful things that Link brings out of his pack and the feat of the pack itself.

"How are you doing that?" he asks as he picks up the weird berry. "...and how can you just stuff them in there? You don't use flasks and bottles..?" That seems important for many specimens, as well as a means to keep from cross-contamination.

[newmemorywhodis]

"Korok-enchanted," Link says promptly. As far as Link knows, there's no koroks in this world - or a local word for them. So Link just says koroks, and leaves it at that.

And then, just to demonstrate the wonders of his korok-enchanted pack, Link picks up his shield. And puts it in the pack. Attached brightbloom seed and all.

It shouldn't fit. It shouldn't even be able to get inside, being far bigger than the opening of the bag. And yet, somehow...it does.

[purplexing]

Ah. Magic. No magic Donnie's ever seen, but then he's only seen so much personally, and given that Link's from another world, the limitations are nonexistent. It's kind of maddening to think about, really. What couldn't someone do?

"How do you know you're pulling out what you want to pull out?" That seems like the next most obvious thing to ask.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link shrugs. "I pull what I want."

He doesn't really know how the korok-enchanted pack works. He just knows that it does. And by now, it's second nature to use.

[purplexing]

"....."

That is not by any means a satisfactory answer for Donnie. "And what if someone else tried to pull something out of it?" he asks. "Can I try?" He has no idea what's in that pack, but there's clearly something in it, so will he feel anything like a shield or a seed, or...would it be nothing?

[newmemorywhodis]

Once again, Link...shrugs. The only person other than him that he ever let take things out of it was Zelda. And she was often tended to already know the sorts of things he had in there anyway.

Right now though, he eyes Donnie. He hasn't said no to Donnie trying, but...he hasn't said yes either. It's not that he minds, really. It's just...that's his pack. With his things.

(Okay, so...maybe he does mind.)

[purplexing]

Okay, shrugs are not any better an answer than being told there isn't any certain one. Donnie looks back at Link expectantly. Without a clear yes or no, the turtle teen gives a meaningful tilt of his head before prompting verbally: "Well..?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Another long pause. Link's fingers fiddle with the flap of the bag.

"...I don't want you to."

[purplexing]

This...clearly isn't the answer Donnie wanted, but it's one he realizes he's more or less expected. He's not sure why it stings to hear it, more than it probably should. It's not that he ever asks for much, and back home with his family he'd hardly heard a flat-out rejection, but that was mostly due to the fact that their father more or less let them do much of their own thing and when it comes to brothers, sometimes you just had to help yourself.

"...o-oh. Okay," the turtlekin says quietly, shoulders hunching up like he'd tuck his head into his shell, had he the ability to do so. He pokes at the things Link had pulled earlier from his pack.

[newmemorywhodis]

Perhaps it would have been different, if Donnie was someone Link knew better. Someone he could call a friend, someone he trusted. But he'd only met Donnie once before. Link didn't really know Donnie, not yet.

But he feels like maybe he owes...something. An explanation, maybe.

"...Empire took it," he says softly. "Just got it back. Most my things were gone."

Inside it still had about half of his materials. But all of his weapons, his armours, his paraglider - the Sword that Seals the Darkness - was gone.

[purplexing]

That's a point Donnie really can't argue, and neither is the explanation given once Link thinks to say something more.

The turtle's expression darkens considerably, and while there's a complicated mix of emotions there on his face, it's clear what he thinks of the Empire. He can't really be surprised when the Empire's involved. They take everything.

"That's unfortunate," he says carefully, frowning.

[newmemorywhodis]

"I'll get them back," Link says. There's an unwavering determination to how he says it - like he won't hesitate to fight the entire Empire if he has to. No matter what, Link is getting what was taken from him back.

Although it's...probably going to take a while.

[purplexing]

That confidence is certainly something to note. Donnie blinks, nodding then as he's not sure how else to respond.

Fighting the Empire for one's belongings might seem a trivial reason, but is it really that much different from anything else? The Empire has taken something from the people here, whether it be belongings or freedom or something else.

[newmemorywhodis]

It's not the only reason. Link would have fought the empire anyway. But it does give a little extra vindictiveness.

"Can't get more from home," he says, suddenly switching back to their previous conversation. As he does so, he starts pulling out more items. It's like Link has a near endless supply of ingredients in there, and he's bringing all of them out.

Including what seems to be...flowers shaped like bombs?

"...But they're useful," he continues.

[purplexing]

"Oh. Yeah, that would be a problem..." Seeing as how the only way 'home' for those who weren't from Esthere was apparently the gate that the Empire had created, and Donnie had only heard about it. It still sounds hard to believe, even when surrounded by people who tended to drop strange words now and then, or talk about unknown places. And yet Donnie couldn't really say that they can't have been talking about anywhere on Esthere when he's only seen so much for himself.

Naturally he's fascinated by the...wait, is it a flower or..? Donnie reaches out to pick it up.