World Tree MUSH

    Autumn has come to Hyrule, and the craggy mountains of Eldin Province are its proving grounds. Wind sweeps across the ranges, biting and cold. At night, the voices of white wolfos rise in eerie music at night, no matter the efforts of the Sacred Beast to stamp them all out. Trees display autumn finery and the stars seem especially clear during the crisp nights. Snow lies patchy on the ground.

    Two travellers make their way down the road, towards an open alpine meadow. One rides a great yellow bird; one an enormous black horse. The horseman wears a black hooded cloak with the hood drawn up, and carries a bow and quiver; reining up the horse every so often to cast about as though hunting for something.

    Farther distant, something in the woods gives an unearthly shriek; two more of the sound answer. Some kind of awful creature that probably doesn't belong on this mortal plane, to by the soul-jarring sound. It sounds like they're on the trail of something, but what?

    And the rider in black? The rider is /hunting/ those unearthly things. At the urgency in the creatures' shrieking, the rider hunches forward, clapping boot heels to the war horse's ribs.

    "Rydia!" The rider's voice is perhaps unexpectedly not menacing, but a young woman's clear tones over the thunder of hooves. Somewhere in the span of one breath and the next, the young lady has a bow in hand and an arrow fitted loosely to the string, controlling the horse purely with her knees. "They've found something! Can you see anything yet?"

    Animal hide boots hit the ground running. Both of those legs are moving as quickly as possible but nowhere near the speed of the green and orange paws that are next to them. Either way, the various legs are carrying a pair of likely adventurers at their top speeds in a direction that is not the scary looking things that are behind them.

    "I knew we should've stayed home! Or at least brought Teela!"

    That voice belongs to the blond kid that's running faster every time he looks back over his shoulder to make sure that he's not about to get stabbed in the back by some... whatever those things are.

    "What are those things, anyway?!"

    The green and orange Eternian tiger has his tail tucked and is pouring on the speed, pulling away from the blond royalty that's next to him. There's a fearful whine that's coming from the tiger as he can just /feel/ those things getting closer.

    It is unclear how long these Other Worlders have been running but they are definitely not going to be stopping any time soon. Not if they can help it. Maybe they should've brought weapons. Or magic.

    Wait, they /did/ bring magic. Kinda.

    "Orko!" Halp?

    "I have no idea!" 

    The less than reassuring response comes from the small figure that flies just beside the young man, red robes fluttering as they try to keep ahead of their monstrously creepy pursuers. 

    They sure must have taken a wrong turn somewhere! That seems like forever ago that Orko can't even remember where they'd started out, and when you're chased, every second that isn't without something bearing down behind you seems like an eternity.

    The strange trio are an odd splash of color amidst the limited tones of the autumn landscape, the floating figure all robes and a red hat, throwing a glance over his shoulder to see if they've lost whatever had decided to chase them. He's greatly disappointed to find them still on their tail.

    "O-oh my! They're gaining!" he yelps, putting on as much speed as he can possibly apply, coming up by the blond-haired teenager's side. The kid's shout startles him. "What?!" Beat. "-oh! Yeah, um... I know! Maybe I can blow them away! Let me just..."

Raven was meditating. "Azeroth, metriom, zinthos... azeroth, metrion, zin--"

And then a crash before a strange... blond figure came HURTLING out of the woods. "What in the--" AND THEN DEMON! Her eyes widened and she flew up, hovering in the air and...

"Azeroth metrion ZINTHOS!" she called. The one gaining on the prince(and then falling back and gaining and losing ground...) was suddenly lifted into the air. She didn't know who the prince was... But she could feel these things. They felt like... her father. They felt like...

For a moment she was angry, lifting it up higher, intending to slam the beast into the air.

And failed to notice the second. Its claws raked across her back, drawing a shriek of pain from the girl. She was sent tumbling and rolling, dropping the first to the ground. Her hand reached back to touch where the blood was. The wounds weren't too deep, but they did cover a wide area and drew blood. And there were two of them. Was there a third? Did it really matter?!

"Azeroth m-metrion zinthos... Kalazon endarath...." Her eyes glowed with dark magic as blackness rose out from around her... Only to fizzle out before reaching the two creatures. She tried to step back up... only to crumble back to her knees. "Azeroth metrion zinthos!" she cried, sending a sizeable rock at the nearer one.

Hum. Turns out pacifists aren't the best at like... taking surprise attacks.

    Compared to the heavy hoofbeats of the rider in black's warhorse, the golden bird at its side is much lighter in its step- although keeping pace easily. The rider is smaller as well; a child at best, there's no mistaking it, even with the fiercely snarling wolf-like head of her hooded cloak drawn up over her head.
    Her avian steed keeps close, albeit with enough distance to keep out of the warhorse's kicking or biting range, and it looks like the girl's hands aren't even on the reins. She's too busy holding a bow and arrow, giving freedom to the bird, and it follows direction well enough.
    "Well, Sheik... I can see about an inch in front of my face with how big this hood is on me." She quips back at first, her own voice sharp and tense. This IS a hunt after all and she gets more serious much faster.
    "I see... Three and they're chasing something. It looks like a great cat of some kind- but the color is funny. And... It looks like THAT'S being chased by a boy and a Wizzrobe.-- Scratch that. Two Wizzrob... Can there be girl Wizzrobes, Ze- Sheik?" The wolf-cloak clad girl says squinting, "And they're running from our game of the night." Sigh. "We should rescue them shouldn't we." She mutters, knocking an arrow to her bow and lightly nudging her bird to put on speed with one heel.
    "Chocobo, hup! Let's go boy!"
    Oh hey there she goes impetuously charging on ahead.

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> Responding to 'RYDIA WHAT DO YOUR SUMMONER EYES SEE?' ... Also Orko and Raven are now Wizzrobes.

    Athena is not Artemis. So she isn't an expert on the hunt, nor of riding. She's vaguely friendly toward Zelda and Rydia though, so joining in the hunt to clear out some problems is fine with her, when she has some free time... and she did. Doing some kind of fighting clears her head, and there's no moral debate here, is there?

    A rifle is a rifle though, and she can help. Good exercise. She's in lighter armor, meaning it isn't metal plates, instead geared toward keeping her warm. Squinting at the whole mess going on, she says to Shiek there, "Looks like we know what they're hunting, though."

    Athena leaps forward to slide down a short slope, but without a mount of her own tonight, she's just wanting to change positions. Snapping off a quick shot or two, she isn't aiming at anything too close to Adam or Raven. Maybe if she can lase a couple of the others, they'll change targets!

    Thundering forward through the autumn wood, the war horse moves with the power of a rockslide, and about as much subtlety, too. His rider crouches against his neck and stands high in the stirrups like a thoroughbred jockey, black robe whipping behind her. She seems to have no problem seeing in spite of the heavy cloth.

    'Sheik' declines to answer, instead leaning forward and urging the horse into a leap over a fallen log; the animal staggers but throws himself into full stride in short order. They're gaining on their quarry, however slowly.

    "A boy and a Wizzrobe? Are you certain?" The young woman's inflections are clear and cold. Aristocratic, maybe. "And some manner of big cat?" Damn. She should have brought Link along, but the instant she had heard the things shrieking in the woods, she had flown out the door with the light of an avenging goddess in her eyes.

  Right now, though, she's just focused. "Yes, we should rescue them. Draw them off, Rydia, if you would be so kind? I will ready the arrows! /Hyah/!" With the last, she chucks the reins and claps her heels to her steed's ribs, leaning low as the war horse summons up some hidden reserve of speed.

  She'll ponder the confusing issue of girl Wizzrobes later, when she's not busy trying to make sure her quarry doesn't get away. Oh, and rescue those innocents, maybe. Rydia might recognise that the closer they get to the creatures, though, the less tolerant and kind the princess becomes; the more bloodthirsty and willing to do whatever it takes to bag those ugly creatures. They are an affront to Hyrule. The blood of the Goddess is threatening to take over.

  The black war horse bursts through a thicket and into the clearing Raven occupies, coming back to earth with a mighty impact that shudders the earth, and a challenging scream of his own. His rider is silent, standing in the stirrups as the stallion rears to thrash at the sky; calmly taking in the situation.

  One arrow is drawn back and let fly. One for the Twilight Messengers, although it glances off the metal disk that makes up the creature's face with a clang. Two more follow in quick succession, and they shriek in evident rage as the arrows glance off the metal. This is really only going to make them angry.

  It does. One of them is still hell-bent on carving Raven into bite-size chunks, and it advances with a rake of its sharp claws. The second leaps and tumbles back away, looking for all the world like a hound that jumped against a mild electric fence, snarling and shrieking as it veers away -- and heads for Athena.

  The third is still intent on Prince Adam and Orko, and it stalks them with the patience of a glacier. Don't think you've gotten away, there!

    The Prince of Eternia isn't going to stop running without knowing that something is going to help him out here. And that something that he's counting on is Orko and his magic. Which is probably not the best thing to be counting on but he might as well put some confidence into the only mage that he's known as well as he knows Orko. He's known this little guy his entire life and there's a good chance that Orko might come through!

    ... There's also a bigger chance that he won't but let's not talking about that one.

    Adam hangs a left at a tree and plants himself back against it. "Cringer!" It's one of those loud whispers because he's not exactly sure if these things that're chasing them can hear but he's got to get his cat's attention somehow.

    Cringer skids too, his head is turned over his shoulder and spying where Adam has decided to hide... but his feet are still going. Which causes a train reaction of his body still moving, when two of his four feet stop moving and it just becomes a bit of a tumbling tiger mess as he rolls end over end, yeowing his way into some large enough brush that he could be considered hiding. It's just not as smoothly done as Adam's hiding.

    Cringer peeks his head up out of the brush, twigs and leaves sticking out of his fur. Adam raises a finger to his lips to 'SHHHHHH!' silently at the big scaredy cat. "Come on, Orko, show 'em who's boss." Adam whispers to himself.

    He's got his 'I mean magic business' face on! Granted all one can see of his face are his eyes, lost in the shadows of his floppy hat brim. The little sorcerer rolls up his arms, pulling his hands upward as he wiggles his fingers menacingly with his chant. 

    "Monsters who've ruined our day, winds come forth, blow you awa-- huh?"

    Orko draws up short of his spell-casting, his hands and arms still poised for the delivery, but to him it looks like his magic's jumped the gun! ...that never happens. It takes him a moment longer to figure that someone else was responsible for it, not to mention that there are still two more to deal with. 

    ...nope, nope- scratch that, they're all still here and look like they wanna eat someone's face.

    Suddenly they're not alone anymore, the appearance of the great destrier and its rider having Orko zoom over to duck behind Adam where he's found cover. Yellow eyes are wide as he peers over the young man's shoulder. "Look, we're saved!" he gasps, momentarily relieved as the rider atop the horse looks more than capable of dealing with whatever those dark things are! He can feel that confidence waning when the first arrow is deflected. "Oooor...not just yet. Prince Adam, watch out! We've still got company!"

    He points over in the direction of the third Twilight Messenger, catching a glimpse of the dark whorled form between the trees. Looks like he should try again! Everyone else seems busy!

    "Creeper creepering there with ease, become entangled by the trees!" he spouts, thrusting his hands forward, magic glittering at the tips of his fingers. Bark creaks and cracks, leaves fluttering from their place as branches begin to twist and turn, writhing in every direction. Good news, some of it spreads across the monster's path! Bad news-- it's...kinda spreading a liiittle bit everywhere else to boot.

Raven blinked and then... Wait, huh? Arrows? Her eyes were drawn towards the... source. Her eyes fell on sheik.

And widened. She took a step back, looking at the person with just... fear. No. Terror. Instinctual terror. She didn't know what it was. But... whatever that woman was...

Was death. It was pure, undilated death. Wait. No. That boy. That boy was death. Either way! It was... It took her a moment later to realize... that feeling was fading. She still felt uneasy, but... it was like... A part of the woman felt good, and soft and.... Almost reminded her of Azar. But the other half of her wanted to run, and hide, and--

Her thoughts were torn away by another slash of the claws. She was sent flying back.... And then a third slash. "Leave... Me..." Her eyes glowed red as dark energy enveloped her body, cloaking her entirety as a third and fourth glowing red eye appeared where her eyebrows should be. "ALONE!" she screamed.

The creature had charged her. Unfortunately... Her hands reached up as darkness grabbed the nearest rocks...

And a tree, uprooting it.

Crashing them in together. Raven stared at the crushed creature, panting with exertion, as the darkness faded off her body and her eyes returned to normal... And she wobbled back and blinked blearily. Why... was everything starting to seem... fuzzy...

    Is she certain?
    "... Iuhuhn?"
    Rydia is nothig if not honest. She was going on assumption when she said Orko was a Wizzrobe, and she was too far away from Raven to make a proper assessment at the time. Now, after charging in with Zelda-- Sheik- the girl in the wolf cloak dips her head in a nod. Draw the Twilight monsters off. Rydia draws a breath...
    And lets out a sharp whistle for attention.
    It's in the same instant that she draws her bowstring and lets fly. She's a good shot, even while mounted, and she looses the arrow at one but doesn't quite care to check on how well her shot strikes, if it does at all. That was to get attention. And if that didn't?
    "HEY! YOU CREPUSCULAR CRAPSACKS SHOULD PICK ON SOMEONE WHO FIGHTS BACK!"
    Little girl has a set of pipes on her that's for sure as she tries to pull attention off Adam, Orko, and the injured Raven-- ... Who ends up uprooting trees in spite of those injuries.
    "... Sheik I don't think she's a Wizzrobe." She says distractedly while her mount twitters and begins working to evade the spreading foliage.
    "HEY. Wizzrobe!" That's to Orko, "Keep that up, but I swear to Ramuh don't even think about using fire!"

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> Rydia used TAUNT.

    Athena sees one of the beasts headed her way, but... well, that was the point. "Split them away from their prey!" She calls out. "So we don't worry about-" She would say more but she has something dangerous bearing down on her right now, doesn't she?

    A snap shot with the rifle is all she can manage, but then she diverolls to the side, dropping the rifle to draw her sidearm. This would all be a smooth and easy maneuver if not for the appearance of the greenery tripping her up, literally, and causing a tumble that makes the creature get much closer, and her shot with the slugthrower go wide!

    "What's a wizzrobe, anyway?" She has the sudden thought to ask, while dealing with the Twilight Beast bearing down on her.

  All indications suggest the Twilight Messengers can neither see nor smell, having no visible eyes or noses. Perhaps they communicate by that godawful shrieking. Neither do they slow or tire, maintaining the same grueling pace whether they run over paved roads or uneven forests.

  The Twilight Messengers lose track of Adam and his entourage when they take their chances hiding in the foliage. In fact, it's almost assured they can't see -- one looks right at Cringer as the tiger peeks from his hiding place, but the Twilight Messenger doesn't react, moving back to its intended target.

  Meanwhile, the hooded rider keeps her formidable horse between Adam's entourage and the Twilight Messengers. The Twilight Messengers sound less than pleased about this development, shrieking discordantly and trying to circle around the horse, only to be shot at with arrows or slashed at by equine hooves and teeth.

  As she keeps her horse prancing in place, she whips the end of her bow up towards the trees in a gesture Adam hopefully understands: Get thee to climbing.

  They're on Raven before she can do anything about it, and then Raven is swinging a tree around. Oh, well, that's interesting. Beneath the hood, 'Sheik' stares, even as the darkness twists around her, riling divine blood up even worse than it already is.

  Even the Twilight Messengers sit up and take notice, acting an awful lot like they'd be staring at her if they had eyes. That's awfully unfortunate for one of them, because it gets swept up in the debris and crushed like a bug. It doesn't even have time to whimper, dissolving into a whirl of bizarre, geometric black motes; lit at their edges like smoldering embers.

  The other two Twilight Messengers shriek and snarl anew, as though enraged by the loss of their companion. Unfortunately, there isn't much she can do about Raven until the other two creatures are taken out of the picture.

  Yanking the reins, 'Sheik' pulls the horse up into a rear, letting its thrashing hooves serve as a deterrent to the Twilight Messengers. "Rydia! Athena! I will keep them from this group -- they are yours to finish!" No matter how much wants to destroy the hated things herself, she has something more important to do, and that's make sure that they don't eat Adam and company.

  "No," 'Sheik' says faintly to her Summoner companion, "I don't think she is."

  It works beautifully, though; snarling and shrieking, the remaining Twilight Messenger turns to Rydia with... well, they don't have hatred in their eyes, because they don't really have /eyes/, but one takes their meaning, all the same.

  The other beelines for Athena, somehow sensing that its prey is down. That just encourages it as it bounds for her, shrieking loudly enough to reverberate the pebbles underfoot.

    Prince Adam motions for Cringer to stay put and while he's pretty sure that the big ol' tiger has no intentions of doing anything but that (especially as he ducks back down into the bushes more), Adam peeks around the corner of the tree to see all the craziness that's going on.

    "... Whoa."

    That's Adam's reaction to the lot of craziness that's going on. And there's definitely a lot of it. It's a combination of heroics, horrorics and general shenanigans that involve a healthy number of personages trying to keep them same from eye-less terror beasts of doom. Things that are definitely not in the Prince of Eternia's wheelhouse.

    Even still, though, not even cowardly Prince Adam can allow one of his oldest friends to fight for him. Not to mention he knows how Orko's magic is sometimes and that's definitely something to be considered. "Hold on, Orko! I'm comin'!" Adam looks around and grabs the biggest stick he can find. It looks sturdy enough to be a club and he gives it a quick twirl. It's not his battle scepter but it'll have to do. Besides, his battle scepter is in the pack on Cringer's side. He didn't want to come off as immediate royalty wherever they ended up, okay?

    "RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGH!"

    Prince Adam comes out from around the tree, tree-stick-club thing in hand and raised above his head like he's about to take on all evil chaser thingies at once. Or maybe this is supposed to be an intimidation tactic. Who knows. Either way, he tries. Poor kid. No fighting skills whatsoever.

    At the moment Orko's not really controlling much of anything. The shout from Rydia has him turn about in midair, pointing at himself. "Who, me?" Why yes, he is a wizard, and yes, he's wearing robes, so understandably one can make such assumptions despite that being just about the strangest abbreviation he's ever heard. "But I'm not--"

    He's cut off by the wild warping of his own spell as another branch skims right past him, nearly dragging him along as it slithers past his robes. And then Adam is shouting his name and coming out of hiding with- is that a stick? 

    Looks like the prince will be fending off against trees more so than whatever those slinky black things are, but at least their rescuers seem to have a better handle upon things than they ever could.

Raven looked around through bleary eyes, two more... there were two more. But the others were fighting. Were taking the creature's down. She didn't have to keep fighting. She relaxed and pulled ba--

And then her eyes locked on Sheik. He was watching her. That destruction. That expunging of... Her demonic nature. She lifted up her hands. She needed to escape. Darkness enshrouded her, as a raven of darkness began to rise from her body.

Only to dissipate a moment later as her consciousness faded. She struggled, clawing at the air as her body began to shut down. "S-stop..." But noooope. Azarathian healing coma, it can suck. Her eyes closed and she collapsed to the ground fully. At least she wasn't bleeding any more.

    She was tripped, but the thing bearing down on her doesn't make Athena lose her cool. It's far more dangerous, but being the goddess of WAR does help in this situation. She snaps off two shots at near point blank, shooting in the... eyes? Wait what? Where are the eyes?

    The report of the pistol blasts loud in the air, twice, and then Athena grunts as she's sent sprawling and bruised. Her opponent might be down, but it hit her hard with the charge. Now, though, she can roll and work toward helping the others, firing off some quick cover fire to see if she can tag any that dodge the wrong way. She isn't even looking, but she doesn't have to. "One's down, get them to safety."

    "No I'm talking to the cat." Rydia replies to Orko. "Yes you!" She further clarifies after her fit of petty sarcasm.
    Okay maybe 'Crepuscular Crapsacks' was a bit much.
    Because as soon as the last of the Twilight Messengers turns its attention to HER Rydia thinks that might have been a bad idea.
    "Oh. Oh crap."
    Not as planned- NOT AS PLANNED.
    Now she takes the reins of her bird and jerks away from the beast, but something catches her eye.
    "--Sheik, that settlement we passed-- I'll meet you there!"
    It's the only warning anything has as she ducks low into her saddle, her chocobo darting under the beast in a sliding skid. Someone else can deal with the final Twilight Messenger as she chooses to evade it, avian mount skidding to a halt by... The fallen Raven. Rydia may be small- but she uses her bird's momentum to help snatch the fallen Titan up into the saddle with her and--
    "YEAH THAT'S RIGHT! YOU CAN'T CATCH THIS YOU GOBSMACKED GLOAMING GORON-BUTT!"
    Oh wow look at her ride off towards that horizon.

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> Taking Raven. BYE!

  With the prince's cowardly hiding, one must wonder if the Prince of Eternia actually has any sort of wheelhouse... but he's doing what he has to do, and he can hardly be faulted for that.

  Astride that massive destrier, the rider's hooded head whips around when Adam staggers out from around the tree, waving a bough and bellowing. It's not much of a bellow. He might catch a glimpse of reflected eyes from within the hood. The bow whips sideways, pointing to the tree. Get back there!

  In the same instant the stallion is whirled back about, unable to help Raven and so ignoring the girl in the midst of the battle. She can worry about her once there aren't any combatants left. "Rydia!" she calls. "The girl!"

  Fortunately, Rydia is a sensible if damaged girl, so she has the same idea. 'Sheik' gives a curt nod before turning to the last remaining Twilight Messenger. She draws her bowstring, but it's mostly to keep the thing from getting near Adam.

  At the same instant, she lifts her voice in some kind of bizarre litany of prayer, but the words are strangely archaic; difficult to make out. And that arrow she holds is not an arrow any more but a thing of scathing light; shifting and scintillating. It's as well Raven is gone; that single shaft radiates enough divinity to suggest some manner of deity has touched it directly. Rubbed its cheek all over it, even.

  In a single smooth motion, she draws the arrow back to where her ear would be beneath the hood, sights the string, and releases.

  The arrow strikes the creature square in the middle of the metal disk on its face. Ordinarily, this would be a waste of an arrow; even steel arrowheads only bounce off that strange and shifting alloy.

  But not this one.

  No sooner does the shaft touch the disk than the creature reels back, shrieking and screaming, bursting into brilliant white flames that are almost too bright to look at. It burns for a few seconds, shrieking, and then it's gone. Left in its wake are ashes and those strange, geometric motes. Both whirl away in the alpine breeze.

  Lowering the bow, Zelda turns to regard the princeling and his not-a-Wizzrobe friend. "You two." It's a young woman's voice, not some creepy necromancer, by the look of those weird robes! Huh. She sounds... well, somewhat concerned, if still letting the last of the adrenaline bleed away. "You are not wounded, are you?"

>> GAME >> Zelda spends an Edge for: Arrow of Light, shiny and bright!

    When it becomes as clear as day that the things have been taken care of and that there's no chance in any way that his stick-weapon is going to do anything, Prince Adam kind of just lets it slide out of his hands and to the ground. He immediately attempts to realign his posture and fix himself up as to not look as worried or post-running-for-his-life as he just did.

    "Huh?" Adam snaps his fingers. "Oh! Psh, of course not! Yeah, we were just about to take care of your little uh... shadow beast problem thing, for you!"

    Adam's attempts to save face are probably not going as well as he hopes but no matter. The royal pain leans against the tree he was just hiding behind and crosses his arms as if he's the coolest thing since baked bread. "Ain't that right, Orko?"

    Prince Adam flashes one big ol' grin because he totally had all of this under complete control the entire time.

    The Bush of a Giant Cat is still shaking like mad. The hidden tiger within being to blame for the constant fear-flavored movement.

    Orko had been a bit preoccupied trying to stop the trees from expanding branches any further. It seems to have worked, maybe, or perhaps they'd just stopped on their own. About midway he'd gotten himself a bit caught up between an entwining pair, dangling loosely as he looks on. 

    He's not sure who all these people are but they're definitely amazing! The glow that had settled upon the cloaked rider, the arrow and what happened to the creature, and the shots fired by the other woman- Adam may play the whole thing off as he will, but Orko's glad that they'd run into help. He looks off in the direction that the girl on the giant bird had gone, hoping that her passenger would be all right. But for now...

    "Wha? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine! Just a little stuck, but nothing to worry about! ...I think." The little wizard begins to tug at himself in an effort to dislodge from the branches ensnaring him. "Thank goodness you came when you did!" -oh wait, he didn't get the same script as Adam, apparently.

    Athena climbs to her feet, watching Zelda call upon her divine power with nrrowing of the eyes. So many little details about these worlds that she needs to learn still! She quickly changes the magazine in her sidearm... and then it is too late. Or rather, she doesn't need it any more.

    Her rifle gets grabbed, and she wanders over to meet the newcomers, her ribs stinging still. "Didn't go as planned," she admits, with a quiet curse to her semi-mortal body. But the hidden Princess was there to help, and now they just need to see what these two need.

    "Looks like Rydia took your friend away somewhere safe. I might join her later," Athena says in reply. Zelda is already asking if they're wounded, so she will not repeat the question.

  Reining up the war horse, the hooded rider reaches up to sweep the hood from her face, revealing a young woman of early twenties, indeterminate blonde-brown hair.

  Her eyes are the most arresting feature; warring between paler and darker blue. The deeper shade seems to fade, though, and by the time she looks to Athena, they're gone.

  "Very well. I thank you for your assistance, Athena. You shall have your recompense; if it is not given to you by Rydia of Mist, I shall deliver it personally," she states, with a small half-smile. "You fought well. Go with the Goddesses."

  She turns, then, fixing her regard on Prince Adam, casually leaning against the tree and brushing off the entire incident. The rider narrows her eyes in clear irritation.

  But her eyes flutter closed, and she draws in a deep breath through her nose, exhaling softly through her mouth. "You are confident." It's a statement, not a question, spoken softly and almost gently. "I will not say that I admire that, for courage without wisdom is recklessness. Yet you are not of Hyrule, I think, yes?" She tilts her head, studying him with those sharp blue eyes and reining in her restless destrier.

  Orko is stuck, though, and Zelda turns her horse, tapping her heels to its sides to walk over to to the branch. She studies it before pulling a knife from her belt -- one given her by Rydia -- and stands in the stirrups to saw at the branches trapping him. Those sharp blue eyes study Orko curiously as she does. "You, however, I am less certain of. You look like a Wizzrobe. A monster that inhabits these lands, rare though they may be. Yet you are not; I am, as with your friend, reasonably certain you are not of Hyrule."

  "You are welcome." 'Sheik' reserves a smile for Orko. At least he has the decency to express gratitude for saving his life! Right? "Who are you, travellers? These roads... they are not safe." The last is spoken almost regretfully.

    "Hy-what-now?"

    Prince Adam pushes off the tree and heads over in the general direction of the Bush of Hiding. "Oh! Right, yeah, no, we're not exactly from around here." Adam keeps on smiling, adding a bit more confident pep to his step as he gets closer to the Bush of Hiding.

    "I am Adam." Prince Adam offers a quick salute towards those that assisted him in defeating those creatures. "That's Orko." A nod is given towards the Non-Wizzrobe. "And this..."

    Adam has to reach fully into the brush, grabbing something by the tail and pulls. Not painfully hard but more along the lines of the comical. "... is..." As Adam pulls, claws can be seen digging into the ground as if there were no other hope at not being revealed to the dark creatures of death swooping upon them! "... this is Cringer." The huge green tiger immediately buries his face in his paws the moment he's no longer allowed to hide under the bush. "... my fearless friend."

    Prince Adam once again turns to both Sheik and Athena, still looking as though he's been calm this entire time. "We're from Eternia. We were just passing through on our way home and thought we'd give you a hand. I mean, who better to make these roads safer than the Eternian Three."

    Oh man. Did he just... did he just give himself and his friends an entire legacy that doesn't exist?

    The not-wizzrobe stares a bit at Zelda once she's lowered her hood. Not only excellent with a bow but beautiful! He just might be blushing behind that scarf of his.

    Once the offending branch has been cut, Orko tumbles over, righting himself to hover in the air. He dusts himself off. "Thanks again!" he says, nodding at Zelda and then at Athena before he goes to drift over towards Adam to see if the prince is really all right. He looks all right, at least.

    As the prince offers introductions, the floating wizard gives a bow. He taps his fingers against each other as Adam more or less explains their reasons for being here. It certainly sounds better than the excuse of taking the wrong turn, which Orko had been about to answer with. As Adam speaks, Orko glances back towards the two women, wondering if they're buying this.

    As everyone gets together and Orko is freed, Athena shakes her head. "The rest is on the house. I'd feel bad taking payment for handling it this way." She doesn't say exactly why, but there's an undercurrent of dissatisfction there.

    "Maybe something for the ammo," she amends, grumpily aware of how she does NOT have a lot of funds to throw around.

    "Nice to meet you. Athena. I'm not local either, if the gear didn't give it away. Eternia hmm?" She looks the trio up and down, then chuckles. If she isn't buying it, she doesn't say so. Athena isn't great on the 'tact' thing, but this also isn't her home region, it's Shiek's.

  Easing back down to the saddle, Zelda replaces her knife at her belt beneath the robe, brushing a few errant bits of bark and chips of wood aside.

  The Hylian inspects her bow as Prince Adam introduces his friends and makes great showmanship about the foes he had just conquered single-handedly, although her eyes linger on each of them as they're introduced. She sights critically down the length of its limbs, as though checking to ensure she hadn't damaged it, giving the bowstring an experimental pull with a hooked, gloved finger. She releases the string gently before shouldering the weapon, one hand idly adjusting the lay of the robe about her shoulders.

  "Well met," she offers, inclining her head graciously to each of them. "Adam. Orko. And Cringer. I am sorry your introduction to Hyrule is not a positive one. It is a beautiful land of peace and prosperity -- under ordinary circumstances. It has been a troubled kingdom, of late." She rubs her palms on her thighs, before taking up the reins again with one hand.

  Cringer is eyed for a moment. Will he be alright? Nobody's acting like this is particularly unusual, though, so she doesn't inquire after the cowardly cat.

  Her eyes sweep back to Adam, the self-professed leader of this little group. There is a coldness and intensity in her gaze that might be unsettling.

  "You will be given your recompense in full," 'Sheik' comments, to Athena. "You still risked your life. I cannot ignore that. While I do possess skills that are useful against these creatures, it does not make them any less dangerous, to myself or to others."

  To Adam she looks again, and those eyes slightly, almost imperceptibly narrow.

  Nope. She's probably not buying it.

  "If you are wandering heroes, I am the Queen of Hyrule." Her tone is soft, almost gentle, and yet somehow scathing. Holding up a gloved hand to forestall any argument, she shakes her head, not quite glaring. "It is one thing to be saved at the mercy of another, but it is another entirely to all but take credit when you are hopelessly out of your depth."

  She eyes Adam, tilting her head. "Would you like to try again, Sir Adam?" Summer-blue eyes turn sidelong, to Orko. "Or perhaps you, Sir Orko?" You look reasonable. Reasonable is good.

  ...Yeah she's definitely not buying it.

    Adam is in the middle of trying to scritch Cringer into calming down when his entire spot is blown up by the worst enemy he's faced since he's become a person that travels to other worlds in search of exploration and adventure...

    Logic.

    "Ah, well, Your Majesty..." Yes, Adam can throw a little sarcasm in with his ability to re-spin his saving face attempts. "... /I/ never said that we, the Eternian Three, saved anyone from anything. We were /going/ to but you all seemed to be capable enough to not need our help. However! You have spoken of these roads in this land being... in need of great heroes? Then you shall need to look no further!" Adam might as well have a shovel attached to his jaw at this point. "For generations untold there have always been a mighty trip of Eternian heroes poised with the strength, skill and roguish good looks to lend a hand wherever they may be needed."

    Adam stands up a little straighter and puffs out what little bit of chest he has. It's not looking too good, probably.

    "We are those Three. We offer our hand of assistance in whatever troubles this land of Hyrule as evidence of our greatness."

    Oh boy.

    "O-oh! The Queen?" Orko stammers, quickly moving to bow. He looks more than a little flustered as it becomes clear to him that Adam's story isn't holding water, even more so when Zelda turns her gaze towards him. The little wizard flails some at the unwanted attention. Pretty she is, but she's also kind of imposing! 

    "We kinda got lost! There was this path through the woods that we figured would be a shortcut back to the palace, but then--" 

    His words go rambling right along with Adam's effort to keep up the hero front, a jumbled story definitely at odds with the prince's suave attempt.

    "-and those things came out and were all 'raaaar!' and we were all like 'aaaah! Run!'--" He gets rather animated as he goes on, zipping from one side to the other as he acts out the beasties that had followed them and then switches to their end, darting around a tree. 

    Yeah, that doesn't look so much like greatness right there.

  "We can dispense with titles," the young woman says, both scathing and soft at the same time. "I am not the queen. My name is Sheik, and I was a servant of Hyrule's royal family."

  Those blue eyes level on Adam again, and this time it's clear she's Absolutely Not Buying It. She's not angry, but the intensity in those eyes might be mistaken for such. No, she's just studying Adam, and very intently. This boy is some kind of disgrace.

  She stares flatly all through Adam's inspiring speech, in fact.

  "...Your cat hid in a bush," she points out calmly, "you spent the battle hiding behind a tree, and your companion's runaway spell very nearly evened the odds for the creatures."

  Flat, cold, unblinking. "Have a care, Master Adam. For you know not what you blindly challenge. You reach beyond your means. I will choose to ignore such an offer, for the time being, for your sake."

  Palace? She raises a brow, very slowly. It would fit with the image the boy is presenting, at least up until now.

  Those blue eyes rake the assembled Eternian Three, as though she were trying to decide what to do with the lot of them. What should she do with the lot of them? It would be rude to just send them along on their way; courtesy dictates that she should escort them to the nearest village.

  Zelda screws her eyes shut, reaches up with a gloved hand, and kneads at the bridge of her nose in a silent bid for patience.

  "Let not Hyrule's needs trouble you for the moment. Hyrule is well and capable of looking after herself for a time. I will take you to a village further down the road; there will doubtless be an inn you will be made welcome at. Athena and Rydia are staying there already." Making beckoning motions with her hands, the rider motions the Eternian Three to walk in front of her. "Off with you. Come, be quick about it. It is not safe to linger on the roads, and I've business with Athena..."