World Tree MUSH

  Spring comes late to the highest peaks of Hyrule. The seasons inexorably march forward, though, and eventually warmth has begun to thaw even the most frigid reaches. Meadows steam now in the morning light. Wildflowers lift their heads and tentatively bloom. Birdsong echoes through the woods.

  On the grounds of Snowpeak Garrison, snow lies patchy on the ground, clinging only to the deepest shadows now. Below the manor lies a fallow orchard, and that's where the kingdom's vanished princess can be found. She's got a shovel leaned against a nearby trunk, a few saplings, some miscellaneous lengths of lumber to use as stakes, and a few rolled-up scrolls tucked in her belt.

  Actually, her belt is only a length of rope. Her clothing is just a simple dress that looks better suited to a peasant than a princess. Sleeves rolled up, her hair's tied up with a strip of cloth that looks like it was torn from the hem; boots simple but comfortable.

  The air smells like spring.

  Zelda's keeping an eye out for her ally and friend, but for the most part, she's just waiting -- back against the trunk of a tree, hands folded behind her head, and a faint smile on her lips as she lies with her face tilted up toward the sun. The black hooded mourning robe is hung by its hood from the broken base of a branch; it flutters in the breeze. Nearby, Lynel rolls in the grass, grunting as he thrashes his hooves into the air, obviously enjoying a nice spring day after ridiculous cold and snow.

  That's about where Yumi will find the princess.

    Yumi Tachibana is feeling... well, a bit off.

    She knows why, of course. She pushed herself too hard. Drew out too much of her power as a magical girl. The magic she wields can leave behind a residue on the soul, and after all that power the senshi used in banishing... whatever that thing was, she can feel it, in the back of her mind. But, hopefully, it will go away with time, rather than erupting all at once. In the meantime, there's chores to be done at Snowpeak, and it's the weekend, so Yumi can afford to spend quite a bit of time there!

    By now, the redhead knows the way there, and with a proper offroad bike, the climb isn't a terribly long one. Soon enough, she's parking her bike next to the front door of the garrison, and then heading down to the orchard. "Hallo~!" she calls out, a simple greeting to the princess.

  As soon as Yumi calls out, the princess looks, summer-blue eyes alert and clear. She's quick to climb to her feet and raise her arm in a wave. Lynel lifts his head up with a snort, scattering a puff of bits of clover, dainty ears swiveling toward Yumi's direction.

  Zelda rises to meet her friend, skirt billowing in a warm breeze. It will never be properly hot in summer, this high above Hyrule, but for right now it's pleasant. "I hope the timing isn't an inconvenience, Yumi Tachibana." She gestures toward the orchard. Most of the trees are fallow, dead or dying; the neglect of the ages has proven too much for them in such a climate. "Some traders passed through Goron City. Chief Darbus recognised what they were. Some fruit trees, of a strain that does well in cold and dry climates."

  "It may be a year or two before they begin to yield, but it would be worth the effort if I must remain here on a longer-term basis." Zelda gestures. "Those two are cherries, and that there is a sweet apple."

  She pauses.

  "If you prefer not to dirty your hands, of course, I do not mind if you prefer to watch. Yalai?"

  Where on earth did the Sheikah woman come from? Nowhere, it seems. Her blacker-than-black cloak billows in the breeze as she bows. The movement is strangely articulated; too agile for a human or a Hylian. "Yes?"

  "Will you make sure the perimeter is secure, Yalai? I would prefer not to have any incidents occur while we have a guest."

  Yalai inclines forward in another one of those strange bows. "As you wish, Your Grace." She pauses to cast a flat and unreadable look to Yumi, her eyes almost more animal than human. A swift smile chases across her face, there and gone, and with the turn of a heel the Sheikah woman--

  ...Where did she go?

  Zelda turns away from Yalai's retreat. "The monsters have been more active, lately. I feel an omen on the wind, Yumi Tachibana. I may call my allies soon, and investigate." She looks down, gaze trailing the ground toward the apple tree sapling. Her head shakes, softly. "...I cannot delay confronting the usurper indefinitely."

    "Not at all," Yumi replies as she draws near. "If anything, it was a really good time for it. Nothing planned, and no school for a couple days." She's even dressed for the planned work; a pair of rugged work shoes, denim pants, and a longsleeved work shirt that looks like it's already been used for a few big cleanups here or there. The girl shifts her weight a little, peering at the orchard with a thoughtful look; when Zelda explains just what it is they're here to do, her eyes widen a bit. "Hey, that's... that's really good. Having fruit trees up here would do a lot for balancing out nutrition, and easing supply costs a little at the same time."

    Unsurprisingly, Yumi reaches up and rolls up her sleeves, beaming. "Count me in."

    She does jump just a bit when Yalai appears. But only a bit! The look is returned with a simple nod of greeting; the senshi is used to those disappearances by now, so she doesn't really react much to it. "You know I'll be there for it," she replies to the princess, already reaching for a shovel for herself. "I can help cull the monsters back, too, if we need to."

  "That was the idea," Zelda replies over her shoulder, at the benefits of restoring the property's old orchard. "The soldiers who were intended to be garrisoned here clearly had plans to sustain themselves with some crops. I'm certain they would have traded through Kakariko Village for anything else they may have needed." Her head shakes. "I still don't know why it was built, though. Only a fool or an idiot would build in such a remote location. The cost in material, and perhaps even lives, during its initial construction must have been unbelievable."

  The Hylian swivels her attention back to Yumi as she picks her way through the greening grass, light-footed as a hind. There is something deer-like in the grace of her stride, deceptively long and swift for her height. "Good. I brought two shovels. I will take whichever one you don't want." She glances sidelong as Yumi jumps a little at Yalai's appearance and disappearance, and the princess grins. "I still jump, too," she confides, quietly. "I've never seen someone so light on their feet, or tread so softly. I have learned how to do the same, to some degree, but I will never move so quietly as Loremaster Yalai."

  Handing Yumi the preferred shovel and raising her own, she sets it to the damp earth and kicks it down to make the first cut. Zelda is stronger than she looks. The shovel bites deep. "I would appreciate that. Kakariko Village is mostly abandoned, but I do not like the idea of them venturing so close. It is still part of my kingdom, and the vermin must be reminded that it does not belong to them."

  "As I will be most pleased to remind the usurper of." Zelda snorts, driving the shovel in again, perhaps a little harsher than she may have intended. "I tire of this cowering and hiding. My people are scattered to the four winds. Hyrule is broken, and dark beneath the pall of the Twilight. And if I do not survive all of this and manage an appropriate marriage that will without a doubt be a political manoeuvre to secure the throne's direct support, I will be the first and only to break a cycle that has continued uninterrupted since the days of the gods."

  Zelda snorts, glaring down at the hole she's begun as though it had personally insulted her somehow.

  She blinks, looks up, and then looks back over to Yumi, a little sheepishly. "Um. Ahem. Sorry. I've been feeling a bit restless, lately. I suppose I'm impatient for spring. It's exhausting to be confined inside all day, day in and day out." She bows, faintly, between blows of the shovel. "I thank you for your support, as ever, Yumi Tachibana. I only wish that I could demonstrate my gratitude more directly. Until I have won back Hyrule Castle, and until the Twili are driven from my kingdom and banished back from whence they came, I may as well be destitude, for all intents and purposes."

    The question of Snowpeak's purpose prompts a thoughtful look from Yumi. "...I can kind of see it, for a few reasons. Mainly so that there's a garrison of soldiers up here that can patrol the mountain; deal with any dangerous monsters, rescue anyone trapped in the snow and bring them back somewhere warm, that kind of thing. Sometimes there's advantages to having a remote garrison, too. Easy place to keep secrets."

    It's always interesting watching Zelda move; she's such a rugged, well-travelled person, entirely unlike what one would expect for a princess. She looks a bit embarrassed when Zelda mentions Yalai's softness of step, but at least it's not just her that loses track of the Sheikah woman sometimes. Once the shovel's in her hand, Yumi joins in the digging immediately... and despite her relatively short stature, she's pretty strong too. She's always been pretty fit and active, after all.

    "Of course," she replies to Zelda between scoops of dirt, with both a nod and a smile. "Sometimes I wonder if I was a Knight-with-a-capital-K before all this. I've sure got the gut instincts for it. Including a gut instinct to tear down the doors and cast out a usurper that's overthrown a just ruler." A faint shake of the head, a sad chuckle.

    "I'm in this to the end, regardless. As far as marriage goes, though, if you ask me, you should get your pick. You'll be the princess who stood up and freed her land from an unjust invader. Who's got any right to gainsay you after that?"

  "That may be true, but Peak Province is not populated. There are no settlements up here, because they cannot support themselves. The terrain is too harsh; the wilds too remote. It would be a place to consign soldiers to die." Zelda tips one shoulder in a shrug. The gesture is surprisingly dainty in light of what she's doing as she speaks. "More or less."

  "Perhaps you were. How are we to know? In any case, I appreciate your support, Yumi Tachibana. So too does Hyrule. I may be the youngest queen yet to take the throne, and perhaps the first to lay it so low, but Zant will find that does not make me naive or inexperienced." She bares the top of her hand, where the Triforce of Wisdom lies pale against the back of her hand. Her smile is thin and colder than the peaks. "This gives me something of an unfair advantage. He will find I am stronger than he expects, and that I am eager to draw his blood. I would have been willing to parlay if he had not slaughtered his way to the throne." She shakes her head. "For what he has done, I will put Hyrule's sword of state through his heart... and then I will find one of the Sage's Swords of Light, and use that, just to be certain."

  The Hylian puffs a sigh. "Mm. I should like that, myself. We shall see what hand the Author of Law deals. She does not like to reveal it before playing it, and sometimes, the wisdom She provides is... not always precisely clear. I will see. Your point is quite valid. Still. I cannot help but admit to a certain frustration. By this point, I should have been courting worthy suitors, and by this late hour, deciding which of them I am least likely to strangle by old age." Her smile is quick; there and gone, a little sarcastic. "Ah, forgive me. I am cynical, today. I have the memories of my forebears, and they, at least, were happy. It is an annoyance, at times, to be constantly reminded of that which I lack. Ah, well, save perhaps Her Grace," she adds, sobering. "Her ending was not a happy one, I fear."

    "If you ask me," Yumi says in a softer voice, "That's the biggest tragedy in all this. Your normal life. Your citizens' normal lives. Everyone's got a right to just a regular, ordinary life, and the fact Zant has taken that from all of you..." She shakes her head faintly, then slings another shovelful of dirt aside. "...that's kinda why I do what I do. Fight youma. So people don't have to be afraid of dying some death they don't even understand, from a monster they can't even see. It's why I put myself on the line in other worlds, too. I like to think it's what my motivation was when I accepted a raw deal like becoming a senshi."

    Sometimes, to protect people, you need power. Even if the power itself might be a problem.

    Shifting her grip, Yumi digs in again, now seeming to dig with a little more fervor. "There's an old saying from my world I like, about planting trees whose shade you know you'll never bask in. You might not be able to get your normal life back. Maybe none of your subjects will." There's a certain odd tone to her words; a bit of determination setting in, along with a distant look in her eyes. "But you can make sure their kids only know this kind of hardship from stories. And their kids only know it from history texts." Dig. Dig. Dig.

  Zelda tilts her head to listen to Yumi's opinion, royal earrings clinking. They're made simply but with quality, in spite of their common materials, and bear the stamps of royal craftsmen: Simple loops of iron through her long and slender ears; tassels of red tied from them, moving with every subtle motion the princess makes.

  She has a habit of reaching up to tug at one when she's thinking, and she does so now, fingers unconsciously closing around the cool iron. "That he has done, yes." Looking up, summer-blue eyes settle on Yumi, serious. "Your courage is admirable, Yumi Tachibana." Zelda ducks her head, briefly. "Many would have chosen to run the other way."

  "I had thought of that, yes. It is entirely possible that none of this may be fixed in my own lifetime." The Hylian looks a bit green about the gills at that possibility. It plays havoc with ancient prophecies, not to mention... "What a ghastly prospect. The Triforce of Wisdom... it is not just proof of my lineage and rule. It compels me to act as a just and responsible ruler would. It is possible to disobey it, but..." Her tone is so mild it sounds like she's forcing herself to play it cool. "Well. It will drive the unworthy insane." She snaps her fingers. The sound is surprisingly loud, even compared to the bite of the shovels. She swings her own in again. Dig. Dig. "Mine will be a lineage of insane and tormented souls until a means is found to retake the kingdom." Zelda clicks her tongue; smiles grimly. "What a happy prospect, yes? All the more impetus to finish this quickly, and see that these trees are not actually necessary to us."

  Inhaling deeply through her nose, she tilts her head back, sighing as though pleased. "What a nice spring afternoon. Thank you for coming. Ah, that should be deep enough. Let's fetch the tree."

    It is here that it finally starts becoming obvious that something is... off.

    Until now, Yumi had been listening attentively, even with all the digging she was doing. Her pace had been steady, but not particularly fast. When Zelda complements her on her courage, though, she doesn't even so much as look up, cream orange hair hanging down around her face. She starts to put her back into it a little more, to dig a little faster, to sling the dirt a little harder.

    She doesn't even so much as look at the snap. That shovel just keeps plunging into the ground.

    Even when the princess gives the order to stop, Yumi keeps digging. If anything, she's still ramping up, slowly and steadily. Still digging downward. Scoop, sling. Scoop, sling. On closer inspection, there's a peculiar look in her eyes; distant, determined, almost manic. It's not quite "angry", but it's definitely agitated, and her grip on that shovel is tight. Far too tight.

  Zelda stands there for a second or two, blinking a little as Yumi... doesn't appear to hear her at all, digging with a fervor that is, now that the princess looks closer, entirely too unsettling.

  She doesn't lose her cool. She simply stands there for a moment, those summer-blue eyes the only thing that move, flicking as she studies the magical girl. Zelda shifts until she's slowly circling around the front of Yumi, choosing her moment carefully--

  CLACK.

  --plunges her shovel in to catch at Yumi's, baring her teeth as she attempts to wrest aside Yumi's shovel; a manoeuvre clearly meant to disarm the girl. Maybe she could have reached to try and stop Yumi's arm, but apparently she knows she'd lose that contest of strength. Better to redirect that force instead.

  "Yumi Tachibana."

  Successful or not, the Hylian's voice is a commanding thundercrack. It isn't meant harshly, but Zelda is definitely using her Royal Authority Voice, the one meant to grab a person's attention and wrench it around by brute force.

  Zelda doesn't raise her voice, otherwise. She doesn't yell. She doesn't even look particularly angry or offended, even. Instead, she simply says, clearly and not quite forcefully, "That is quite enough digging for today." One delicate brow lifts. When she speaks again, her voice is deceptively quiet; calm and gentle. "I appear to have struck an uncharacteristic nerve. Something on your mind, my friend...?"

    The disarming attempt succeeds - which, in and of itself, probably says quite a great deal. Yumi's skill in melee combat is such that an attempt like that shouldn't have been able to pry loose her 'weapon' unless she wanted it to. There's a bewildered look-around from the girl, cream-orange hair whipping to and fro for a moment, and then her eyes settle on Zelda at the sharp sound of the princess asserting herself vocally.

    It's not a look that has any place on Yumi Tachibana's face. Distant, a little unhinged. Like she's looking right through Zelda.

    "Zant. I'm done. He's done. I have to stop him. I have to free all of you." Without a further word, she turns and just starts... marching. A steady, stiff-legged, 'I am going to walk right down there and have some words with the manager' gait. She's headed in the direction of the garrison... or rather, the road down. As she walks over a patch of snow, a droplet or two of crimson appears on the otherwise-pure white. Drops of blood are dripping down from her hands.

    If Zelda looks back at the now-forgotten shovel again, the bloody handprints are fairly obvious. She was gripping that shovel far too hard.

  With every word from Yumi Tachibana, Zelda backs a pace, circling around quickly to trot along at a safe distance from Yumi's side. She casts a quick look back at the tree, vaguely apologetic, before reaching up and wrenching a branch off from its crook with a sharp crack and a shower of splinters. It's all in the wrist.

  Thus armed, because said sword of state is up in the garrison itself, and her bow is across the orchard leaned against the base of a tree, Zelda wields the branch as she would a fencing sword. She doesn't miss the blood, either. Sticking two fingers to her lips, she shrills a whistle; with a low grunt, Lynel comes barreling. Zelda swings herself aboard his saddle, and seems unperturbed by the fact that his bridle is hanging from a stump back in the orchard.

  Lynel picks up the pace, dinner plate-sized hooves leaving broad prints in the slush.

  "No. You are not." Zelda steers the massive stallion aside to stand directly in Yumi's path. He drops his head and backs his ears; chances are he doesn't like so direct an approach, and there's no doubt he can sense there's something wrong about the girl. So does his mistress. Zelda's beginning to look unsettled.

  "Come to your senses, Yumi Tachibana." That note of authority creeps back into Zelda's tone. She is not the affable princess in commoners' clothing; this is the young woman who has been on the front lines and in the trenches, and who is not afraid to bellow her commands across a very chaotic battlefield. "Stand down. I do not have the authority to order you, but take it as a very strong suggestion. The time is not right, and you do not know what you may potentially set in motion by meddling." The further she goes, the more her words gain steel, but she's still calm; still rational, even if her mouth is dry and her hands are cold. "We agreed that there would be a plan, one that all of us here at Snowpeak agree upon."

  Lynel shifts his weight, huge hooves pashing into the snow, and Zelda settles herself more solidly into the saddle. Her next statement sounds more like a plea.

  "...Yumi Tachibana, please stop. You are beginning to scare me. I do not want to call on my powers to stop you, but know that I will, if I or the Triforce deem you a threat to my people. Please stop!"

    It's like she doesn't hear a word Zelda is saying. For a second or two, she stops dead in her tracks, brought to a halt by the massive horse and its Hylian rider; but the look she gives Zelda is almost uncomprehending, like she's looking at an obstacle that just dropped down in her way. Then the senshi turns and starts to walk in a different direction, simply aiming to step herself around Lynel entirely. Nothing more than a hazard to be stepped around. At this distance, she might even be able to hear a soft muttering along the lines of, "Have to stop him. It's gone on too long."

    It's the pleading tone that finally seems to give Yumi pause, but even then, she only stops to give Zelda a confused look. But that's as far as it goes, not even a reply, just a look of bafflement that lasts only a second or so. She turns again, fully intending to walk around the huge horse and march right down the mountain...

    ...but the final, desperate 'please stop' seems to hit her like a brick. She stops in her tracks, absolutely freezing up; Zelda can practically see the sense filter back into her eyes, like someone's flipped a switch and turned Yumi's higher reasoning back on. The magical girl does stand stock-still for a second or two more, but only because that's the time it takes for realization to set in. "...a... ah... oh god..."

    Then she stumbles back a step or two and falls right on her backside, looking utterly haunted.

  The princess stares for a second or two, mind rapidly flitting through potential angles of attack. How can she get through this haze that's settled over Yumi? Clearly the magical girl is not herself at all. It seems like she can't even hear her.

  "Yumi Tachibana." Awareness and sense slowly fill back into the other. Zelda can practically watch it happen. "Welcome back to Hyrule."

  It's meant as a play-it-cool jest, but Zelda sounds genuinely scared.

  "Care to explain what just happened? I've no idea where you went, but you were most certainly not here." The princess kneels beside Yumi, offering a hand. It's deceptively strong for its apparent delicacy. The gesture is sincere. Zelda seems to hold none of it against Yumi. "Where did you go?"

    It takes a few seconds for Yumi to actually respond. She doesn't look confused; on the contrary, after a second or two, she draws her legs up and hugs them, in a way that suggests she knows exactly what's going on. It's probably the most vulnerable Zelda's ever seen her look. The most shaken. "...into my own head," she finally replies, resting her chin on her knees; she can't even bring herself to look up at the princess. "...You remember when Vulpes explained Fallout? That was Fallout. That's the price I pay."

    It had shaken her back then, too. When she'd come back to Zora's Domain after her battle with Ifrit, talking of out-of-control emotions. It was what finally prompted her to put her foot down and demand a meeting with Vulpes ex Machina. She wanted explanations. They got them.

    "I... I pushed myself pretty hard, a few days back. Went to help Shirou Emiya deal with some weird... magical corruption event, thing. Ended up fighting at my absolute limits, and using my absolute strongest attack. Built up a lot of Overcharge." There's a tiny, tiny little shake of her head, and a faint, bitter chuckle. "...sure don't have any now."

  The princess blinks several times in rapid succession, owlishly, as Yumi seems to shrink and fold in on herself. Zelda eases herself to the ground beside her, offering to throw an arm around her shoulders. "I see. I had wondered what the hidden price would be. Such things are never without cost." A turn of her wrist bares the Triforce, momentarily. "Never."

  "You should rest, in that case." With the flat of her hand she tries to pat Yumi's shoulder, if she's permitted to, before standing up and dusting off her skirt. "Let's go back. I'll put the kettle on. Those trees can wait until later; Yalai may decide plant them herself, just to have something to do."

  "Stay here the night if you like. The roads are still dangerous once the sun sets, but the hearths are still burning. I would welcome the company." A hand flicks to indicate Yumi. "Let's get you back to the kitchen. I wouldn't mind a little something to eat and tea, myself."