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

II. Subterranean Farms

[newmemorywhodis]

Donnie's little farm hasn't gone completely unnoticed. As he works, Link comes up beside him. Crouches down, so he can get a closer look.

Not a vegetable garden, he can tell - though of course, Link still wonders if any of these plants might be useful for an elixir or as a nice little seasoning...there's lots of ways that plants can be useful.

But these are nice. He likes the little purple flowers, and reaches out to touch one.

"Pretty," he says.

[purplexing]

"Careful with those," Donnie says, not even glancing over. Not that they're poisonous or anything, he knows better than to plant something potentially toxic where people might get too nosy, but the moment Link touches one, the flower slowly folds in upon itself as though it were closing up for the evening.

The turtlekin tosses the dead leaves he's collected into a box to add to a compost heap, finally looking over at his visitor. Oh, this guy.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link makes a noise of acknowledgement, but doesn't shy away from the flower. He does retract his hand slightly however, giving it a little space to open up again.

Then Link glances up, seeing the light source Donnie's rigged up. Is it just for Donnie, or for the plants?

If it's just light he needed, maybe Link can help.

"You want [brightblooms]?" he asks, using the Hylian name for the flower as he reaches into his pack. He pulls out a small faintly glowing seed, holding it out so Donnie can see.

[purplexing]

The turtlekin tilts his head at that. He's still learning a lot of the more common names for plants rather than the things he and his brothers have called them, not knowing otherwise, but there's always something about foreign words that just make them more...obvious? Whatever, it's not a thought he dwells on for long, not when Link is showing him some wondrous thing!

"Wow...." he marvels, eyes widening as he shifts around to have a proper look. If Link's allowing him to, Donnie picks the seed from his hand for closer inspection. "Do they still glow like that when they sprout?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link allows Donnie to take the seed, and nods.

"Brighter," he says. "They bloom when you throw them."

Which made them very useful when exploring dark, lightless caves. All Link had to do was toss a seed, and he'd be able to see properly again.

[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."

ii

[singlemilletgrain]

At some point as he tends to his plants, a shadow thrown by the artificial lights momentarily falls over his flowerbeds. Shu has approached soundlessly with a hefty plastic bucket held steady with both hands, dressed once again in a pair of work overalls. ...Absent the bloodstains.

"Fertilizer."

The contents of the bucket are largely unspeakable and also, frankly, do not smell very appetizing. But nose blindness works wonders, and if he can tolerate it for a minute or two, the passage of time will lessen its offensiveness. If questioned, she will murmur something about waste, bone and blood meal, nitrogen, and phosphates. If unquestioned, she will simply kneel down with a trowel and begin to apply the mixture evenly.

[purplexing]

Hands freeze for just a brief second before being prompted to resume what they'd been doing. Donnie seems hesitant about it at first, but he does eventually turn to look up at Shu.

She at least looks well, and while seeing her dressed as she is does poke at the embers of the last mission's memories, it's hard to ignore fertilizer. At least the scent isn't something he's unaccustomed to, a necessary evil, but for the wonders it does for plants. His snout still wrinkles at the first whiff, effectively chasing off the worse stench of bad memories, and he obligingly scoots over to allow Shu space.

[singlemilletgrain]

Her movements are slow. One could call them leisurely, and whether this is because she is feeling some stiffness from the wound or if this is her usual work demeanor is unclear. Speed aside, her hands are precise and practiced. The dirt is turned over expertly as the fertilizer is applied in rows alongside the plants. There seems to be a sort of internal algorithm for determining the correct amount to apply depending on the size of the plant, the relative health, the height, the fruiting, but she never hesitates, maintaining the same pace throughout.

It is obvious she is in her element, and for some time, she works in comfortable silence. ...At least, she is comfortable.

A fair number of minutes pass.

"The woman I lived with. Shennong."

She doesn't mind speaking that name here. It would mean nothing to Donnie.

"She was a sort of plant genius. While others struggled to grow enough to feed themselves, she was coaxing crops out of bare rock. She dedicated her whole life to the people of her land, dreaming of a world where everyone would be fed.

"This was what she always used for her personal gardens. There's a secret ingredient."

[purplexing]

While Shu works, Donnie watches. A lot of what he's learned about plants and cultivating them has been things he's picked up on his own, and it's only when he'd been taken in by the Corsairs that he'd learned so much more. He still helps with the farming sometimes, always eager to soak in the expertise of others. It's the same now, even if it's just watching something that looks so simple as the application of fertilizer.

It's...a tentative comfort. Among plants in his garden is his preferred space to find peace when there's no water to dive beneath, where the boundaries between worlds seem so much more defined and he can believe that nothing can touch him. It's not quite the same in the garden, but the plants don't complain and don't demand or have expectations of him. Sharing that space isn't something he's used to, as even back home his brothers had no interest in plants and left him much to his own devices.

When Shu speaks up again, the turtlekin lifts his head, at attention although part of him wishes for the silence. But he listens while Shu goes on. He frowns just the tiniest bit; what could possibly be a secret in fertilizer? Some specific type of mineral? A particular plant protein once it's been broken down?

"What?" he asks, because surely it can't be a secret if Shu's using the same formula, and Donnie makes knowing things his business.

[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.)