This blog has been inactive for some time, but now I'm officially declaring it closed (though I'll be leaving it up, at least for a while). All of my blogging and writing is now done on my company blog: http://quillandinkcompany.blogspot.com/
There, you will find not only information and links to all my current projects (including a Zelda fancomic with Ganondorf as the protagonist), but also my regular updates of poetry and fiction.
The facebook page for my company (leading also to my blog) may be found here: https://www.facebook.com/quillandinkcompany/
Many thanks to anyone and everyone who has looked at or followed this old blog!
And one final note....in regards to the Zelda fan fiction I was doing on here, I've suspended it, but I'm not quitting it entirely. After I finish the current Zelda fancomic I am doing, I plan to rewrite/turn the fan fiction into a new comic, which I plan to hopefully make quite high-quality and enjoyable to read.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Legend of Zelda Deluge: December part 10
The snow crunched underneath with each step, with the same dull
grinding noise each time – soft, but still loud enough to alert any
nearby of their presence. As Link and Coro drew further and further away
from the other hunting parties, surrounded only by the dark trees, the
foliage, and the snow, the sound of their own footsteps grew more and
more pronounced, Coro’s especially. While Link was accustomed to walking
lightly thanks to previous hunting experience, Coro tread down heavily,
snapping cold twigs, shattering ice and frost, and rustling old fall
leaves, all without even noticing.
By the time all other hunting parties had gone away beyond earshot, Link found himself fighting the urge to cringe every time that Coro made an unnecessarily great amount of noise. It wasn't only his clumsy footsteps, but also the fact that he was prone to mumbling nervously to himself, often ironically repeating how much he was not suited to be out in the woods and wished they could go back to town already.
After ten minutes of walking onward through the forest at a steady pace, Link pausing for a moment the several times he gauged their surroundings and made note of landmarks, they were deep in the forest shaded from the midday sun by the bare tree limbs, looming dark gray in the sky above.
Link was about to turn around and tell Coro to be quiet now, otherwise they would not be able to hope for any game, when he heard faint moans from the trees around him. He stopped, listening. After a second of silence, the sound came again, sounding just like the moaning of a wooden building when settling or when abused by unusually strong winds.
“What’s wrong?” Coro was asking, also looking around, clinging onto his crossbow awkwardly. “Are there bears out there? Or Wolfos?”
Link shook his head, saying, “No bears this time of year, and if there were any Wolfos, you would've heard them, too.”
As they continued along, Link let Coro go in front of him, letting some distance grow between them before he asked in a whisper to Truett, who was in his hat, “There's something strange about these trees.”
“Like what?” She answered, her muffled voice barely audible.
“They remind me a lot of the ones in the Forbidden Woods.”
“Oh. Well, they do feel... different than normal woods, I think. These trees, do they look like the ones in Forbidden Woods to you?”
Link hesitated, looking around at the thin, dark, tall trees about him, then slowly nodded. “They're less impressive, I guess, but they are similar.”
“Geographically speaking, do you think that these woods could be connected to the Forbidden Woods?”
Digging up the old maps of the area that he had seen some time ago that were still in his memory, Link shrugged. “It's possible.”
“Maybe, they have the same origin or their related somehow, because for some reason, these trees have fallen asleep only very recently.”
“So, they aren't awake like the ones in the Forbidden Woods?”
“Oh nah, definitely not.”
“They fell asleep very recently....how recently?”
There was a period of silence in which he could barely hear Truett whispering to herself before she answered, “Well, I don't know! Just very recently, just about 500 years or so. How my supposed to know the exact dates? All I know is that there sleep is very light right now, because they're still sleep talking and stuff.”
“Well, I guess that explains the sounds.”
“What sounds?”
Link stopped at the sound of Coro's voice, realizing for the first time that the distance between him and the younger man had greatly lessened as the terrain grew slightly more uneven. Coro was staring at him, frowning uncertainly, looking away wants to glance around the forest nervously before looking back, waiting for an answer.
“Uh, nothing,” Link answered, walking past Coro.
“Do you hear Wolfos or something?” Coro asked, fear creeping back into his voice. “I know you said that I would hear them too, but I've never traveled anywhere where they are...”
“Look...” Link looked back at him, trying for an encouraging smile. “I really don't think we're going to run into any bears or monsters or anything. How about we just concentrate on finding a good kill?” Coro nodded quickly, prompting him to add, “And to get that done, we need you to stop...stomping around.”
Coro stared. “I've been...stomping?”
“That and talking to yourself. We need to be as quiet as possible.”
“What? You were just talking to yourself!”
“That was a mistake. And from here on out, let's be completely quiet unless it's absolutely necessary to speak.”
“That’ll be easy for you, Mr. Talkative,” Truett whispered in a drawling tone. He ignored her.
Coro briefly pursed his lips unhappily, but he didn't object, and instead nodded quietly. Link nodded back at him and turned, leading him further into the woods, this time ignoring any sounds from the trees as best he could, instead focusing his attentions on any sign of wildlife.
Although the solstice was the following day, winter was still rather new in these woods, which were both in the southernmost region of Hyrule and on low elevation. Not everything had yet settled down for the cold months, despite the constant biting breeze and the snow, and although the woods were indeed largely silent, there were still signs of wildlife and the distant sounds of their presence. Link slowed a little as they passed over a fallen tree, looking to the forest floor, spotting the footprints of winter hares very faintly in the shallow snow. They kept going, and a few times the sound of snow and bare bushes being unsettled by something small came from very close by, so close that even Coro would notice and look around for the source of the noise, yet they never saw any of the actual creatures.
The sun was brighter, now at the midway point between the morning horizon and where it rested slightly off center in the sky above at noon this time of year. Coro, true to his word, had been silent and was clearly taking more care as he walked, though he was still wont to make excess noise, typical for someone unused to hunting.
Only now, as they drew close to a very small, snowy meadow did he speak up in a low voice, asking, “It doesn't seem like there any animals in these woods in the end, are there?”
“No, there are. And there are some places I've seen where I could set up traps, but it's only for small game. We could still find a deer or something.”
“Right, okay,” Coro said. He let out a small, tired sigh and made to catch up with Link, only to stumble on uneven ground, with a cry nearly falling face first onto the ground, only just catching his balance by waving his thin arms wildly.
After he regained his balance, Link suggested a break, to which Coro immediately agreed, nodding enthusiastically, his enormous curls bobbing back and forth. Quickly he Dusted off the nearby, low stone and sat down, putting his crossbow on his lap.
After a moment, he spoke up, asking, “you really seem to know you are doing, huh?”
Link tilted his head slightly, shrugging. “I have some experience.”
“Not from a merchant family, I’m guessing? I sure am. It's not that I don't travel or don't do anything, I'm just not really used it this kind of thing,” he explained, talking quickly without pause, as if to make up for the lost time, continuing, “But I guess this hunt is just part of the tradition, for some reason. But it was never such a big deal until this year, it's got to be the election that's doing it.”
He leaned forward, his round face thoughtful. “I bet it's thanks to that Brian Koru. He's a really smart guy, but a real traditionalist. You think is going to when?” Link barely had time to shrug before Coro went on, “He definitely will, I think. I only just came back to town the other day, but even I know that he has been working like mad for this election. I guess he's just really devoted or something? Well, it sure makes people like him. I mean, like I said, he is smart. Maybe that's what we need, or what the people need here need. I don't know. But I definitely think is going to win. It's like he knows this town inside out, and plus there's the fact that there's all the benefits that go with getting the Mayor's job. But he doesn't seem the type to him for the benefits alone, I think. But they are nice.”
He frowned and leaned back, continuing, “My sister was going on about the Mayor's house and the money and the servants, but it's not like there aren't that many servants, but having just a few more than just a cleaning lady sure is nice. But there's also things like getting into town secrets and something about a old magical medallion the Mayor has to look out for and take care of that has been around for hundreds of years.”
Coro kept talking on about Brian Koru and the Mayorship until Link realized that, if not undeterred, he would never stop, and said he waited for the young man to take a quick breath and interrupted, “We should get going again, I think.”
Coro had opened his mouth to speak on, and stared at him for a moment dumbly before snapping his mouth shut and nodding, standing up, saying, “Yeah, okay. Let's get this over with.”
They crossed the clearing and continued on at a steady pace for another few minutes. The walk was can quiet, and as they continued on into a more hilly, thickly thicketed area of the wood, even the trees themselves began to stop their moaning. The occasional noises of squirrels and hares ceased, and the wind died. Wondering if it was a sign of poor weather on the way, Link slowed, looking up at the sky to see that it remained unchanged, save that the sun was a bit higher.
The silence was broken not by Link or Coro or Truett, but by the close, dry, sharp sound of a deer barking. Coro let out a small, startled cry and froze, looking around wildly. Link stopped beside him, saying," Don't worry, it's just a deer."
Coro stared at him, still clinging with white knuckles to his crossbow." That was a deer? Deer don't sound like that!"
“Well, then, what do they sound like?"
Coro frowned, glaring at the ground, biting his lower lip in concentration as he thought.
After a few moments of this, Link said," That's what dear sound like when they bark. And it's not a monster, because nothing else sounds like that, I think. And it sounded close. Let's go check it down if we can so we can get back to town."
Not waiting for an answer, he turned, and began to walk as silent as possible towards the direction where the deer’s bark had come from, Coro following. The path led them up the snowy incline in the uneven forest floor, the dark trees so close together their branches all interlaced above them, all lined with snow. Glancing down as they turned to walk up the steeper area of the incline, climbing at an angle, Link spotted several deer tracks in the snow. He untied his sling from his belt, holding it tightly about his hand as they neared the top of the incline. Coro slipped a few times in the steepest areas, but continued to follow, quiet as he could manage.
Almost at the top the incline, Link looked back and gestured for Coro to stay down. After he nodded in understanding, Link turned back towards the top, crouched down to the frosty ground, and quietly crawled up. Peeking as head over the top the incline, he looked below.
On the other side, the frozen ground cut down sharply, leading to a wide flat area where the trees were much thinner and further apart. They were still silent, and so still was the wind, as if holding their breaths with Link as he spotted, in the sunny area below, a small group of deer. They walked slowly on tall, thin legs, their heads up, their eyes bright with life, health, and youth. There were both stags and does, walking along with a sense of order, circled around the largest of their group.
It was a stag, and yet he was vastly different than the rest of the stags in the group. It stood as tall as a workhorse, with a far heavier, fluffier winter coat and a thicker neck. What stole Link’s breath and even loosened his grip on his sling were the stag’s antlers. They were enormous, broad like a moose’s antlers, yet with a total of sixteen sharp points, a couple of which on each side were longer than his hand and pointed up at an inward arc. Its antlers were laced with snow, frost, and scars.
Yet, although the magnificent stag’s muscles were still full and it's eyes unclouded and sharp, it's red-brown fur was almost completely dull, fading into gray with age, and as it walked, setting the even, slow walking pace for the rest of the deer, it did not have the same spring in its step as the others.
Link reached up and tapped at his hat, poking Truett, who snapped a very low voice," What?! What you want now?"
“Take a look at this," he whispered back.
He could feel Truett’s wings fluttering inside his hat as she moved over to the side of this head that was away from Coro and looked out. After a moment, she whispered in an odd, unsteady voice that Link had not heard her use before," Good gods, he's ancient!"
"Is something wrong?”
Link looked down to see Coro, craning his head up, his expression concerned, whispering," Is there a monster out there? You were whispering to yourself again…"
He looked back to see that the deer were still walking along at the same slow pace, although they had begun to look around more, ears twitching for noise. A moment later, the old, large stag began to walk faster, although only those in front of and beside him hurried keep up with them.
At this point Coro had peeked his head over the ridge, and was gawking at the deer below, thankfully silent. As the old stag and his followers disappeared from the clearing, Link took out a stone and put it into the sling, shifting his weight slightly, getting ready to rise up. Looking at the remaining deer, he selected a young buck that was lingering at the end of the group. After waiting for it to turn its attention to a tall bush, Link sprung up swiftly, slinging the stone once before he let it go, the stone flying away from him as fast as a quarrel from a crossbow.
There was a sharp, sickening crack as the stone hit the buck solidly on its head, sending the other deer fleeing. The young buck fell, and ignoring Coro's surprised stammering, Link immediately hurried over the top of the ravine, sliding down the sharp, snow-covered incline into the clearing, rushing towards the fallen buck, his hand on his hilt, prepared to deliver the killing blow. When he got there however, he found that the creature was already dead, killed instantly by the stone.
Coro stumbled down the ravine behind him, rushing to clumsily, asking," How did you do that so fast? And…" He looked down at the kill, suddenly looking a little pale again, any other words dying on his lips.
"Let's hurry and take this back," Link said, tying his sling back around his waist, retrieving the stone that he had used to kill the buck and putting it back into his pouch. He reached down and tried lifting up the buck's head and chest, finding the animal a manageable weight. “It’s not heavy. We can take turns carrying it." He then grabbed the carcass, hefted it onto his shoulders, shifted its weight, and then headed back the way they came, Coro following.
As they left the heart of the forest and walked through the less uneven, more open outskirts, Coro, who had been silent the whole time save for a short, weak attempt at carrying the carcass, spoke up, asking, "Why didn't you kill that huge stag?"
Link frowned, unsure how to answer. True, such a large, impressive, and usual kill would have been viewed favorably by the townspeople, and might have been something to perhaps boast about, even years later. But something about how different and old and large the stag was made it seem untouchable. Even when Link thought about it now, he could not even imagine himself making the kill.
Realizing that Coro was still waiting for an answer, he said, "I'm not sure. I guess it would have seemed like a waste."
Immediately, Coro nodded. “True, it was so old and... yeah, it would have been a waste."
"Oh," Link slipped out, his eye brows raised." I thought you were disappointed."
“Oh, no." Coro shook his head fervently, his huge mass of curly hair waving wildly. “No, I didn't even want to go hunting in the first place. I just thought that someone who hunts would naturally go after something like that."
Link slowed for a moment, again shifting the carcass on his shoulders, saying, “maybe, if they hunt for trophies. But I never have. And besides,” he added as an afterthought, “something that old wouldn't have exactly been very tasty.”
Turning his attention back to the forest around them, he noticed the slight moaning from the trees had returned. Looking around, he spotted the next landmark he had selected as a guide on their way into the forest, a somewhat twisted tree with a large scar on its side.
Even if this forest is related to the Forbidden Woods, they are a lot easier to navigate, he thought. I never would've gotten out of there if it wasn't for Truett and that Fado leading us...
Recalling the small, smiling, green clad boy who he had talked outside of the Forbidden Woods, he frowned, trying to recall the conversation as he looked for their next landmark. Spotting the next landmark, a bush that looked like it had cleaved in two, he began to remember the request that Fado had made, asking for him to watch out for other forest children possibly lost in Hyrule.
As the trees began to clear and the white fields that led to Laryu and Lake Hylia came into view, he slowed to walk alongside Coro, asking, "Have you ever heard of the children who live in the forbidden woods?"
"Children in the woods?" Coro pursed his lips in thought for a moment, but his expression quickly cleared as he answered, "I think they are part of the legend of the hero. Why do you ask?"
“I just heard that some might be outside of the woods, somewhere in Hyrule."
"I've never heard anything like that, but then again, I live in the western mountains, and they’re pretty far from the Forbidden Woods. They could be around here, maybe, but I have no idea...if anyone knows, it's probably going to be that Brian Koru. Like I said, he's been working so hard to get elected; he knows basically everything that happens around here."
Link nodded slowly, turning his attention back ahead as they walked out from under the shade of the trees. They joined several other hunters leaving the woods with their own kills, all heading towards Laryu, where it lay nestled next to Lake Hylia, its waters that had not frozen over as dark as starless night under the midday sun.
By the time all other hunting parties had gone away beyond earshot, Link found himself fighting the urge to cringe every time that Coro made an unnecessarily great amount of noise. It wasn't only his clumsy footsteps, but also the fact that he was prone to mumbling nervously to himself, often ironically repeating how much he was not suited to be out in the woods and wished they could go back to town already.
After ten minutes of walking onward through the forest at a steady pace, Link pausing for a moment the several times he gauged their surroundings and made note of landmarks, they were deep in the forest shaded from the midday sun by the bare tree limbs, looming dark gray in the sky above.
Link was about to turn around and tell Coro to be quiet now, otherwise they would not be able to hope for any game, when he heard faint moans from the trees around him. He stopped, listening. After a second of silence, the sound came again, sounding just like the moaning of a wooden building when settling or when abused by unusually strong winds.
“What’s wrong?” Coro was asking, also looking around, clinging onto his crossbow awkwardly. “Are there bears out there? Or Wolfos?”
Link shook his head, saying, “No bears this time of year, and if there were any Wolfos, you would've heard them, too.”
As they continued along, Link let Coro go in front of him, letting some distance grow between them before he asked in a whisper to Truett, who was in his hat, “There's something strange about these trees.”
“Like what?” She answered, her muffled voice barely audible.
“They remind me a lot of the ones in the Forbidden Woods.”
“Oh. Well, they do feel... different than normal woods, I think. These trees, do they look like the ones in Forbidden Woods to you?”
Link hesitated, looking around at the thin, dark, tall trees about him, then slowly nodded. “They're less impressive, I guess, but they are similar.”
“Geographically speaking, do you think that these woods could be connected to the Forbidden Woods?”
Digging up the old maps of the area that he had seen some time ago that were still in his memory, Link shrugged. “It's possible.”
“Maybe, they have the same origin or their related somehow, because for some reason, these trees have fallen asleep only very recently.”
“So, they aren't awake like the ones in the Forbidden Woods?”
“Oh nah, definitely not.”
“They fell asleep very recently....how recently?”
There was a period of silence in which he could barely hear Truett whispering to herself before she answered, “Well, I don't know! Just very recently, just about 500 years or so. How my supposed to know the exact dates? All I know is that there sleep is very light right now, because they're still sleep talking and stuff.”
“Well, I guess that explains the sounds.”
“What sounds?”
Link stopped at the sound of Coro's voice, realizing for the first time that the distance between him and the younger man had greatly lessened as the terrain grew slightly more uneven. Coro was staring at him, frowning uncertainly, looking away wants to glance around the forest nervously before looking back, waiting for an answer.
“Uh, nothing,” Link answered, walking past Coro.
“Do you hear Wolfos or something?” Coro asked, fear creeping back into his voice. “I know you said that I would hear them too, but I've never traveled anywhere where they are...”
“Look...” Link looked back at him, trying for an encouraging smile. “I really don't think we're going to run into any bears or monsters or anything. How about we just concentrate on finding a good kill?” Coro nodded quickly, prompting him to add, “And to get that done, we need you to stop...stomping around.”
Coro stared. “I've been...stomping?”
“That and talking to yourself. We need to be as quiet as possible.”
“What? You were just talking to yourself!”
“That was a mistake. And from here on out, let's be completely quiet unless it's absolutely necessary to speak.”
“That’ll be easy for you, Mr. Talkative,” Truett whispered in a drawling tone. He ignored her.
Coro briefly pursed his lips unhappily, but he didn't object, and instead nodded quietly. Link nodded back at him and turned, leading him further into the woods, this time ignoring any sounds from the trees as best he could, instead focusing his attentions on any sign of wildlife.
Although the solstice was the following day, winter was still rather new in these woods, which were both in the southernmost region of Hyrule and on low elevation. Not everything had yet settled down for the cold months, despite the constant biting breeze and the snow, and although the woods were indeed largely silent, there were still signs of wildlife and the distant sounds of their presence. Link slowed a little as they passed over a fallen tree, looking to the forest floor, spotting the footprints of winter hares very faintly in the shallow snow. They kept going, and a few times the sound of snow and bare bushes being unsettled by something small came from very close by, so close that even Coro would notice and look around for the source of the noise, yet they never saw any of the actual creatures.
The sun was brighter, now at the midway point between the morning horizon and where it rested slightly off center in the sky above at noon this time of year. Coro, true to his word, had been silent and was clearly taking more care as he walked, though he was still wont to make excess noise, typical for someone unused to hunting.
Only now, as they drew close to a very small, snowy meadow did he speak up in a low voice, asking, “It doesn't seem like there any animals in these woods in the end, are there?”
“No, there are. And there are some places I've seen where I could set up traps, but it's only for small game. We could still find a deer or something.”
“Right, okay,” Coro said. He let out a small, tired sigh and made to catch up with Link, only to stumble on uneven ground, with a cry nearly falling face first onto the ground, only just catching his balance by waving his thin arms wildly.
After he regained his balance, Link suggested a break, to which Coro immediately agreed, nodding enthusiastically, his enormous curls bobbing back and forth. Quickly he Dusted off the nearby, low stone and sat down, putting his crossbow on his lap.
After a moment, he spoke up, asking, “you really seem to know you are doing, huh?”
Link tilted his head slightly, shrugging. “I have some experience.”
“Not from a merchant family, I’m guessing? I sure am. It's not that I don't travel or don't do anything, I'm just not really used it this kind of thing,” he explained, talking quickly without pause, as if to make up for the lost time, continuing, “But I guess this hunt is just part of the tradition, for some reason. But it was never such a big deal until this year, it's got to be the election that's doing it.”
He leaned forward, his round face thoughtful. “I bet it's thanks to that Brian Koru. He's a really smart guy, but a real traditionalist. You think is going to when?” Link barely had time to shrug before Coro went on, “He definitely will, I think. I only just came back to town the other day, but even I know that he has been working like mad for this election. I guess he's just really devoted or something? Well, it sure makes people like him. I mean, like I said, he is smart. Maybe that's what we need, or what the people need here need. I don't know. But I definitely think is going to win. It's like he knows this town inside out, and plus there's the fact that there's all the benefits that go with getting the Mayor's job. But he doesn't seem the type to him for the benefits alone, I think. But they are nice.”
He frowned and leaned back, continuing, “My sister was going on about the Mayor's house and the money and the servants, but it's not like there aren't that many servants, but having just a few more than just a cleaning lady sure is nice. But there's also things like getting into town secrets and something about a old magical medallion the Mayor has to look out for and take care of that has been around for hundreds of years.”
Coro kept talking on about Brian Koru and the Mayorship until Link realized that, if not undeterred, he would never stop, and said he waited for the young man to take a quick breath and interrupted, “We should get going again, I think.”
Coro had opened his mouth to speak on, and stared at him for a moment dumbly before snapping his mouth shut and nodding, standing up, saying, “Yeah, okay. Let's get this over with.”
They crossed the clearing and continued on at a steady pace for another few minutes. The walk was can quiet, and as they continued on into a more hilly, thickly thicketed area of the wood, even the trees themselves began to stop their moaning. The occasional noises of squirrels and hares ceased, and the wind died. Wondering if it was a sign of poor weather on the way, Link slowed, looking up at the sky to see that it remained unchanged, save that the sun was a bit higher.
The silence was broken not by Link or Coro or Truett, but by the close, dry, sharp sound of a deer barking. Coro let out a small, startled cry and froze, looking around wildly. Link stopped beside him, saying," Don't worry, it's just a deer."
Coro stared at him, still clinging with white knuckles to his crossbow." That was a deer? Deer don't sound like that!"
“Well, then, what do they sound like?"
Coro frowned, glaring at the ground, biting his lower lip in concentration as he thought.
After a few moments of this, Link said," That's what dear sound like when they bark. And it's not a monster, because nothing else sounds like that, I think. And it sounded close. Let's go check it down if we can so we can get back to town."
Not waiting for an answer, he turned, and began to walk as silent as possible towards the direction where the deer’s bark had come from, Coro following. The path led them up the snowy incline in the uneven forest floor, the dark trees so close together their branches all interlaced above them, all lined with snow. Glancing down as they turned to walk up the steeper area of the incline, climbing at an angle, Link spotted several deer tracks in the snow. He untied his sling from his belt, holding it tightly about his hand as they neared the top of the incline. Coro slipped a few times in the steepest areas, but continued to follow, quiet as he could manage.
Almost at the top the incline, Link looked back and gestured for Coro to stay down. After he nodded in understanding, Link turned back towards the top, crouched down to the frosty ground, and quietly crawled up. Peeking as head over the top the incline, he looked below.
On the other side, the frozen ground cut down sharply, leading to a wide flat area where the trees were much thinner and further apart. They were still silent, and so still was the wind, as if holding their breaths with Link as he spotted, in the sunny area below, a small group of deer. They walked slowly on tall, thin legs, their heads up, their eyes bright with life, health, and youth. There were both stags and does, walking along with a sense of order, circled around the largest of their group.
It was a stag, and yet he was vastly different than the rest of the stags in the group. It stood as tall as a workhorse, with a far heavier, fluffier winter coat and a thicker neck. What stole Link’s breath and even loosened his grip on his sling were the stag’s antlers. They were enormous, broad like a moose’s antlers, yet with a total of sixteen sharp points, a couple of which on each side were longer than his hand and pointed up at an inward arc. Its antlers were laced with snow, frost, and scars.
Yet, although the magnificent stag’s muscles were still full and it's eyes unclouded and sharp, it's red-brown fur was almost completely dull, fading into gray with age, and as it walked, setting the even, slow walking pace for the rest of the deer, it did not have the same spring in its step as the others.
Link reached up and tapped at his hat, poking Truett, who snapped a very low voice," What?! What you want now?"
“Take a look at this," he whispered back.
He could feel Truett’s wings fluttering inside his hat as she moved over to the side of this head that was away from Coro and looked out. After a moment, she whispered in an odd, unsteady voice that Link had not heard her use before," Good gods, he's ancient!"
"Is something wrong?”
Link looked down to see Coro, craning his head up, his expression concerned, whispering," Is there a monster out there? You were whispering to yourself again…"
He looked back to see that the deer were still walking along at the same slow pace, although they had begun to look around more, ears twitching for noise. A moment later, the old, large stag began to walk faster, although only those in front of and beside him hurried keep up with them.
At this point Coro had peeked his head over the ridge, and was gawking at the deer below, thankfully silent. As the old stag and his followers disappeared from the clearing, Link took out a stone and put it into the sling, shifting his weight slightly, getting ready to rise up. Looking at the remaining deer, he selected a young buck that was lingering at the end of the group. After waiting for it to turn its attention to a tall bush, Link sprung up swiftly, slinging the stone once before he let it go, the stone flying away from him as fast as a quarrel from a crossbow.
There was a sharp, sickening crack as the stone hit the buck solidly on its head, sending the other deer fleeing. The young buck fell, and ignoring Coro's surprised stammering, Link immediately hurried over the top of the ravine, sliding down the sharp, snow-covered incline into the clearing, rushing towards the fallen buck, his hand on his hilt, prepared to deliver the killing blow. When he got there however, he found that the creature was already dead, killed instantly by the stone.
Coro stumbled down the ravine behind him, rushing to clumsily, asking," How did you do that so fast? And…" He looked down at the kill, suddenly looking a little pale again, any other words dying on his lips.
"Let's hurry and take this back," Link said, tying his sling back around his waist, retrieving the stone that he had used to kill the buck and putting it back into his pouch. He reached down and tried lifting up the buck's head and chest, finding the animal a manageable weight. “It’s not heavy. We can take turns carrying it." He then grabbed the carcass, hefted it onto his shoulders, shifted its weight, and then headed back the way they came, Coro following.
As they left the heart of the forest and walked through the less uneven, more open outskirts, Coro, who had been silent the whole time save for a short, weak attempt at carrying the carcass, spoke up, asking, "Why didn't you kill that huge stag?"
Link frowned, unsure how to answer. True, such a large, impressive, and usual kill would have been viewed favorably by the townspeople, and might have been something to perhaps boast about, even years later. But something about how different and old and large the stag was made it seem untouchable. Even when Link thought about it now, he could not even imagine himself making the kill.
Realizing that Coro was still waiting for an answer, he said, "I'm not sure. I guess it would have seemed like a waste."
Immediately, Coro nodded. “True, it was so old and... yeah, it would have been a waste."
"Oh," Link slipped out, his eye brows raised." I thought you were disappointed."
“Oh, no." Coro shook his head fervently, his huge mass of curly hair waving wildly. “No, I didn't even want to go hunting in the first place. I just thought that someone who hunts would naturally go after something like that."
Link slowed for a moment, again shifting the carcass on his shoulders, saying, “maybe, if they hunt for trophies. But I never have. And besides,” he added as an afterthought, “something that old wouldn't have exactly been very tasty.”
Turning his attention back to the forest around them, he noticed the slight moaning from the trees had returned. Looking around, he spotted the next landmark he had selected as a guide on their way into the forest, a somewhat twisted tree with a large scar on its side.
Even if this forest is related to the Forbidden Woods, they are a lot easier to navigate, he thought. I never would've gotten out of there if it wasn't for Truett and that Fado leading us...
Recalling the small, smiling, green clad boy who he had talked outside of the Forbidden Woods, he frowned, trying to recall the conversation as he looked for their next landmark. Spotting the next landmark, a bush that looked like it had cleaved in two, he began to remember the request that Fado had made, asking for him to watch out for other forest children possibly lost in Hyrule.
As the trees began to clear and the white fields that led to Laryu and Lake Hylia came into view, he slowed to walk alongside Coro, asking, "Have you ever heard of the children who live in the forbidden woods?"
"Children in the woods?" Coro pursed his lips in thought for a moment, but his expression quickly cleared as he answered, "I think they are part of the legend of the hero. Why do you ask?"
“I just heard that some might be outside of the woods, somewhere in Hyrule."
"I've never heard anything like that, but then again, I live in the western mountains, and they’re pretty far from the Forbidden Woods. They could be around here, maybe, but I have no idea...if anyone knows, it's probably going to be that Brian Koru. Like I said, he's been working so hard to get elected; he knows basically everything that happens around here."
Link nodded slowly, turning his attention back ahead as they walked out from under the shade of the trees. They joined several other hunters leaving the woods with their own kills, all heading towards Laryu, where it lay nestled next to Lake Hylia, its waters that had not frozen over as dark as starless night under the midday sun.
The Legend of Zelda and characters copyright Nintendo
"The Legend of Zelda: Deluge" writing and original concepts and characters copyright Mahira / Mahira-chan
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Legend of Zelda Deluge: December part 9
After leaving the main square, Link and Hena went through the noisy,
gossiping crowds, finding their way to a small, well-lit, warm
restaurant that was less crowded than the outdoor food booths. The
restaurant had several high tables with no seats, so they stood as they
ate a quick dinner of soup in hollowed bowls of bread.
"So, you saw the candidates together," Hena spoke up when she was nearly finished with her soup. "What do you think of them? My uncle sure can go on, can't he?"
"He was very friendly," Link replied, then gulping down the rest of his soup and biting into the bread bowl.
"Yeah, he's always been like that." Hena's smile was a little crooked. "He's really popular with just about everyone in town thanks to that. But, as an outsider who just met them, who do you think will win?"
After considering for a moment, absentmindedly tearing off a large piece of the bread, Link answered slowly, "It depends on what the people in town are looking for in a Mayor."
"Yeah, yeah." Hena nodded. "It depends if people want someone official and fancy or somebody… well, like my uncle. And as I said last night, people are leaning towards fancy. Not that Brian Koru won't do a good job."
They finished in silence. After paying, they headed outside, where a twilight sky loomed above them, a pale, washed out orange to the west that faded into a dark blue, partially hidden behind dark clouds that were thickest to the north. Link took a long breath and smelled snow on the chilled northern wind.
"So, you saw the candidates together," Hena spoke up when she was nearly finished with her soup. "What do you think of them? My uncle sure can go on, can't he?"
"He was very friendly," Link replied, then gulping down the rest of his soup and biting into the bread bowl.
"Yeah, he's always been like that." Hena's smile was a little crooked. "He's really popular with just about everyone in town thanks to that. But, as an outsider who just met them, who do you think will win?"
After considering for a moment, absentmindedly tearing off a large piece of the bread, Link answered slowly, "It depends on what the people in town are looking for in a Mayor."
"Yeah, yeah." Hena nodded. "It depends if people want someone official and fancy or somebody… well, like my uncle. And as I said last night, people are leaning towards fancy. Not that Brian Koru won't do a good job."
They finished in silence. After paying, they headed outside, where a twilight sky loomed above them, a pale, washed out orange to the west that faded into a dark blue, partially hidden behind dark clouds that were thickest to the north. Link took a long breath and smelled snow on the chilled northern wind.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Legend of Zelda Deluge: December part 8
The next couple hours flew by as Link wandered around the lakeside
town, only able to observe a small fraction of the variety of booths,
games, and other festivities stands and events occurring through the
town. As the afternoon began to wear on, the crowds started to gather
around the gate of the city, waiting, talking up a din so loud that the
noise and beat of their chattering and laughing could be heard clearly
on the other side of town. Eventually Link joined them, getting into a
crowd further from the gate, waiting along the decorated main street of
the town, which mounted town guards were trying to clear of the crowds,
that led to the immense main square where the crowd wrapped around the
large, raised stone dais in the center, which had wooden poles erected
at the corners, covered in ivy, topped with lanterns, and connected by
ropes with small, colored flags. There was a small group on the dais,
but Link only spotted them a second before several people taller than
him blocked his view.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Legend of Zelda Deluge: December part 7
Link opened his
eyes to pitch darkness all around him. After staring blankly for a moment, he
rolled over, looking at the fireplace. The unattended fire had burnt low overnight,
leaving only lingering embers behind. In its absence, the chill from outside had
crept in, its claws gripping the room. Slowly Link rose up into the cold,
noticing that his neck had gone stiff. Yawning, he rubbed his neck methodically,
and reached around blindly for his shoes until he realized he was wearing them.
He stoked the fire
for a while, slowly remembering all that had happened last night. Recalling his
disorientation from the mulled wine, he noted with relief that he only had the
slightest traces of a headache. After the fire was stable, he got a spare piece
of wood and lit it, using it as a makeshift torch as he rose, searching the
room for the oil lanterns and lighting them.
The light swept
the shadows away, revealing that the entire interior of the small building was
a single room, separated into two parts by neatly stacked wooden crates. The
larger section had a long wooden counter, with large drawers built into its far
side, several of them locked. Behind the counter was an assortment of clean,
though clearly not new, fishing equipment, including sealed bait. On the
opposite side of the room was the door, and again it's the far wall between
door and counter was an empty glass tank, spotlessly clean, though still
bearing a strong smell of fish.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Legend of Zelda Deluge: December part 6
“Here?” Link looked down from the edge of the plateau of Hyrule
Field. Beyond the long, steep descent below, the land sharply leveled
off and curved around an enormous lake, Lake Hylia. It seemed to stretch
on, flat and dark, with no end in sight. Nestled next to the lake was
Laryu, the only lakeside town. Even from this distance its considerable
size was clear; it could easily boast a population of over two thousand.
Where it was not bordered by the black lake, it was wrapped by a tall,
thin wall. Inside the very buildings seemed glow in gold warmth, spotted
frequently with white and yellow lights.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
6: Faith and 9: Heaven and Earth
Wound up using this song: http://a-single-thread.tumblr.com/post/47673963820/oh-small-fragment-of-hope-left-behind-in-this-hand
Doing this picture and Colette and Tales of Symphonia to respond to this prompt just...felt so right. The themes of faith, hope, and love in this game are absolutely stellar and heartbreaking, and while they're simpler than in other Tales titles that followed, they're also more clear, and penetrate the characters and the plot in ways that are easier to recognize and appreciate, as its less clouded by obscurity or half-heartedness.
This game is really beautiful, because it keeps capturing true tragedy and true goodness in its story and characters over and over and over.
I couldn't have even tried to chose a better story to grow up with.
I have more mixed feelings on this one, but both were largely experimental, so I don't mind really.
For some reason, when it comes to the very concepts of the meeting of Heaven and Earth in the material but-very-pretty-and-feels-mystic-to-me sense, I keep leaning towards Asian-ish styles. Not sure why, though I'm sure it has to do with the music prompt for this.
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