World Tree MUSH

  It's a long way from Hyrule's nearest Vine to the towering heights of Snowpeak. The famous peak isn't actually a single summit, as the name might imply, but a chain that stretches from the north of Eldin Province all the way to the top of Zora's Domain in a wild jumble of ice and stone. Snowpeak itself just happens to be one of the biggest.

  So vast is Snowpeak's spread that it garners its own province, though it has no associated Light Spirit of its own, and very little population to speak of aside from isolated settlements and transient mining towns here and there. Patches of the Twilight seep into the province where it bleeds over from Eldin Province and Central Province, where Hyrule Castle flounders in Zant's corruption.

  Zelda has studiously avoided these areas, wasting no time in skirting around them.

  The place the caravan finds itself today is just over the border to Peak Province, where the mountains haven't yet given way to ice and snow. They've put in good time without setting too brisk a pace.

  Spring unfolds slowly in these hidden valleys and towering forests. The cold breeze carries with it fresh pine and early wildflowers. Intermittent birdsong echoes between the angular shadows of branches. The sunlight is still weak, but bright.

  The princess had called for a halt to camp, far from the nearest area covered by the Twilight. It's been a long and hard road through high places. A chance to rest is well-earned.

  The princess had purchased a horse on the outskirts of Eldin Province at a bargain for the purpose of carrying supplies; a huge black stallion strong as a Lynel and about as violent-minded. Her purchase had been pity as much as practicality, though. The beast bore signs of past abuse, and white marks where saddles had been pulled too tight over his broad back. He'd taken to her gentle and patient nature, but he hadn't let anyone else near him without threatening violence.

  Thankfully she had kept him from mauling either any of the people or any of the other animals. Rather than ride, she'd loaded him with what supplies she could and walked at his halter, staying close to soothe him every time he pinned his ears back. The princess hadn't uttered a word of complaint about the day-long uphill march.

  Now, up in a high alpine meadow alive with wildflowers, the princess has struck camp. Bedrolls have been laid out, and the tents have been struck, with the help of the resident Dark Knight.

  A campfire has been made in the middle of the clearing, burning brightly. It's no risk; her hunters don't use normal senses to track her. There's no point in denying the warmth of a fire, and it'll keep the mountain's beasts away. White wolfos love the snow, but hunger can drive them below the snowline. Both horses have been tied on opposite sides of the camp and groomed by the princess; she'd hummed to herself absently as she had, mostly to keep the black one from trying to kill someone.

  Now, with her hooded cloak shed and dressed in plain travelling clothes, the princess could almost pass for a commoner as she stands at the outer limits of the camp. The distinct "thock" of an arrow punching into wood can be heard as she practises her aim on a dead tree stump. She's standing a respectable distance away from the stump, and there aren't very many holes. It seems the princess is a pretty good shot. Her bow is almost painfully common, but her quiver is as ornate and royal-looking as her rapier and scabbard. The arrows look plain; hand-made, even, with steel heads and spotted fletching.

  Her eyes stay to the horizon every so often, though, watching for the tell-tale eerie orange of the Twilight; and she keeps a pointed ear out for the shrieks of the Twilight Messengers, Zant's monstrous hunter-trackers.

    While living in Japan ensures one is no stranger to snowy weather, the utterly glacial temperatures up in Snowpeak are of an entirely different breed. Yumi is intensely glad she brought extra bundle-up clothing just in case; in fact, she's chilly enough still that she wishes she'd brought just a smidge more.

    She has also been giving that poor horse looks of concern all day, and has probably made more than one attempt to get in a little closer. She's very patient, however, willing to back off when the poor thing shows its displeasure; if it can recognize Zelda's kindness, it will probably come around in time.

    The young lady is absolutely grateful for the fire, though. She's spent the past little while seated at the fire, warming, reading over some book or other for the homework she'll need to handle when she gets back. But the soft, steady sound of arrows hitting a target eventually draws Yumi's attention, and soon enough, she's wandering up behind the princess, watching quietly.

    Wearing furs both under and over his armor in different ways, Cecil is looking less bishie and more lumbering Dark Knight. Like the armor needed any help making him look threatening! He's been quiet most of the trip, utilizing his * Brood Skill, but at least with Rydia's help he has a mount to help him.

    Sliding off the chocobo he is using, the knight doesn't remove the fur-lined helmet this time, which gives his voice an ominous echoing quality when he finally speaks. "Are you interested in the bow, Miss?" More to Yumi than to Zelda, whom he knows is competent.

    Horses are a part of any caravan, commonplace regardless of their temperament. And then... Then there's the chocobo.
    Rydia's personal steed, a wild chocobo, called at the edge of the Kaipo desert, has served her well. Naturally docile in temperament, the trick to utilizing wild chocobos as mounts is to just hop right on and assert dominance, which means getting Cecil a mount came just as easily. The birds have kept pace easily with the horses, Rydia's bearing his own load consisting of the small summoner and her personal supplies. It was at the outskirts of Eldin that Rydia picked out some much warmer clothes for herself, rather than her usual green tunic, and though not quite so far up the mountain that they are completely required, the Summoner has already layered on several robes for a bit of extra protection from the chilly breezes.
    For her mount's sake, she's kept the chocobo distant from the black stallion, though she has made several attempts of her own to draw nearer to the beast while at camp and show she means no harm, she decides it a prospect best done over a period of time rather than in one go.
    Once the decision was made to make camp she set to the task of handling Cecil's chocobo and her own, before helping with the tents but...
    She pointedly stays far from the fire, regardless of the tempting warmth it may offer, the child gives it a wide berth out of more than simple caution as she busies herself with brushing down the less murderous of the two horses present.

  Despite her attire being simple travelling clothes, the princess does have layers of them to account for the temperature. It'll get even colder once the sun goes down, and she's dressed accordingly.

  Thock.

  Another arrow joins its brethren on the stump, quivering. This one has split the one that came before. The bow she's using isn't particularly long, but it seems what the princess lacks in strength, she makes up for in accuracy.

  Zelda draws another arrow, nocks it to the string, and draws it to her ear, one eye screwing shut. She slowly draws in a deep breath, holds it for two seconds, and then releases the arrow.

  Thock.

  It lands a quarter of an inch away from the split arrows.

  She glances back over a shoulder, to note Rydia brushing down Epona. In the interest of familiarising the Summoner with horses, she had offered her the chance to brush the borrowed horse down, though not without a thorough assessment of Epona's temperament. Turns out the sorrel mare is gentle as a kitten.

  Zelda looks down, flexing the fingers of her right hand and flexing out her arm with a slight grimace. Ow. With that, she walks over to collect her arrows, pulling each one out of the stump with a wrench of the wrist.

  Not one of them is on the ground.

  ...She's probably imagining her target to have Zant's face.

  Another glance is taken toward Rydia, before the princess looks back to Cecil and Yumi. "I can show you how, if you like," Zelda offers to Yumi. "But first, I'd like to check on Rydia." One of the arrows is lifted and sighted down critically. "I don't believe she's ever groomed a horse before."

  Both bow and quiver are left on the stump she'd been using as a shooting point, and she excuses herself from Dark Knight and Perfectly Normal Girl with a gracious nod.

  She's not silent as she pads up behind Rydia, but it's pretty close.

  "How are you two getting on?" Zelda manages a faint smile. "I had always loved horses, even as a little girl. I used to ride daily when I could, as much to spend time with my horses as to spend time away from the palace."

    "Ah, kind of," Yumi replies, tugging her 'cloak' (it's a blanket) around herself a little tighter. "I was more just curious in general." She turns to look directly at Cecil, and offers a bright smile. "I've been meaning to come and talk to you at some point, by the way. Yumi, Tachibana Yumi. Thank you for standing up to that gunman with me." There's a glance Rydia's way for a moment or two, before she adds, "...I kinda got an earful about it," in an embarrassed tone.

    When Zelda offers to show her, though, Yumi goes wide-eyed, and nods. "Ah? I'd like that, yes! Take your time, though." The princess heads off to talk to Rydia, and Yumi turns herself back to Cecil. "How are you holding up? Rydia and Zelda both healed me, that helped a lot. You got it worse than I did, though."

    "Rydia has a mouth on her, yes," Cecil laughs, rubbing at his shoulder... which, in the armor, isn't really effective at all. "It's fine now. I've had plenty of time to recover after a little help. Not something I want to test repeating, though." He levels his eyes at Yumi then, and chuckles deeply.

    "Now is when I would chide you for jumping in front of a bullet while unarmored," he starts... and then shakes his head. "But I get the feeling you weren't thinking about the consequences. We'll just need to train you, because I don't think telling you not to do that will help."

    Rydia has little to fear from such a gentle and docile horse. Already being used to chocobos as she is, the parallels are easy enough to pick out. Aside from the differing leg count, both animals are intelligent prey beasts that respond well to the proper stimulus and training.
    In other words, Rydia and Epona are getting along swimmingly as she runs the brush through the horse's pelt in a warm scrub.
    "Fine. Just fine." She replies, glancing over her shoulder at the approaching princess. "Other than a different leg count they're not too different from chocobos." She does say. "... My mother taught me how to call a chocobo when I was three. I learned how to ride not too long after that.

The fact of the matter is that the Divine Beast has not been with the group very much. Where Zelda was keeping a LOOKOUT for twilight beasts, Link was actually out actively hunting them. Occasionally, in the distance, he can be heard tearing one of them apart. The sounds are strangely pitiful, for the great alien beasts are profoundly unused to fighting anything that can match up to them. For all the sorcery and monstrous muscle that fills their monstrous bodies, the Divine Beast is mightier still.

That hasn't been going on for a while now. They're just too far out for anybody, Zant or otherwise, to give a toss that they're anywhere at all. But still, the great wolf can be seen now and again, lurking on the edges of the group. In the last hour or so though, he went off to hunt.

The next time he turns up, Link is dragging a white wolfos around by its throat. It's very, very dead. He meanders right on up to Zelda -- and coincidentally, Rydia, but it's clear he came up to Zelda on purpose because she can actually communicate with him -- and releases the wolfos.

It falls limp to the ground.

I can't prepare this without hands.

Link looks 'round at all the others, and barks a greeting to each of them-- one for Cecil, and Yumi, and Rydia. He wags his tail animatedly to underline the friendliness going on here, because his face is covered in blood.

    At that, Yumi looks even more embarrassed. Fidget. "Eheh... yeah, I'd probably do it again. It's hard to explain. I mean, I /knew/ what I was doing, I knew I didn't have any real way to stop him, just..." She scratches her head. "Can't just sit by and let someone get hurt. I'd be happy for some training, though. I don't want to just be dead weight in a fight." She looks like she's about to say more, but then their wolf decides to say hello.

    "-ah." Yumi turns around with surprise; while the sight of a bloody wolf is a bit alarming the first instant, her brain quickly puts the pieces together, and she actually smiles, waving to the divine beast. "Oh, hello! You must be Link!"

  The princess didn't miss that hint of enthusiasm from the normal girl. While she might have doubts about Yumi's ability to stand there on the front lines with a sword, archery is a little less strenuous. For all she knows, the girl might even have a natural talent for it, too.

  "Hmmm. I can see the resemblances; learning to ride a chocobo should not be too difficult for me, once we've arrived. I would sooner be off the road." Zelda's smile is a little apologetic. "I feel too exposed, out he--/sweet Hylia/."

  She's about to say something else, but the thought is abruptly derailed by a giant bloody wolf hauling an only slightly less giant bloody wolf into camp. At least she knows the giant bloody wolf that's still drawing breath, or this might be a little more dire of a situation. There's still something absurd about this situation, though.

  Especially when he dumps it at her feet like a cat presenting someone with a dead mouse. The monster's head lolls grotesquely as it hits the dust.

  Zelda slowly arches a brow in dubious skepticism.

  "I have never heard of anyone... eating... one of these, but I suppose there's a first time for everything," Zelda tries, diplomatically. "Though, this is far south for a creature like this. White wolfos are beasts of the ice and snow. I have to wonder what drove it down the mountain..."

  The princess finds herself prodding the corpse with the toe of a boot in morbid fascination, apparently unafraid of the bloodied fangs or dead, staring red eyes. "I'm afraid I wouldn't know the first about how to prepare a carcass, though. Does anyone else have some skill in cleaning and skinning? If it can be skinned, all the better; I'm certain that pelt can be used for... well, something, if we can prepare it." Her declaration is a little... dubious.

    "I'll teach you when we get a chance." Rydia replies to Zelda on the topic of Chocobo riding. But the conversation is interrupted.
    Where most girls her age would run screaming from the sight, there's only a sense of mild relief when she spies the green wolf dragging the carcass along with him into camp. "Oh, hello, Link."
    Then she's eyeing the kill. The gift he has brought with him. "This is one of the mountain wolves right?" She asks and Zelda confirm, "That pelt is probably really warm." Rydia muses, already pulling a dagger from her belt and kneeling over the kill. "I'll skin it," she volunteers, "If it's good to eat someone else can cook it, but I imagine it'd be all tough meat."
    Speaking of.
    "Yumi, Cecil, do either of you know how to cook wolf-thing?"

The Divine Beast nods to Yumi. There isn't much more that he can do to communicate, apart from the barking and the wagging. But he seems to appreciate that he's being addressed as a person, and not as merely an incredibly unusual dog.

His reaction to Zelda is a little more articulated, because it can be. Link stares flatly towards the Princess, who at least /looks/ the part of the situation she's in now. Nobody would mistake her what she is, except for the way she talks. The way she talks and moves is still so bourgeois he can practically smell it.

We're fixing that when I have my body back.

And yes, you have, it's called tavern stew.

Meat is preferable to not-meat, even when you don't quite know what exactly the meat is, evidently.

But when it's Rydia who offers to skin the Wolfos, Link looks at her and tilts his head, whining slightly. She's got a good sense of things, and there's nothing wrong with it exactly, but... he wishes she didn't have to.

The great wolf turns his head and barks at Cecil. It might be a greeting. He might be telling the Dark Knight to do it instead. Who knows, he can't actually clarify.

    Cecil laughs, patting Yumi on the back with a companionable manner that is much more relaxed than his stuffy noble bit. "I'd be happy to show you a few things, or one of the others that we seem to have collected in Kaipo can do it. We'll have to see what you're talented with. You have good reflexes, so-"

    He stops when the wolf appears and drops that carcass. Actually, Cecil is moving toward it when Rydia is already there, slicing in and getting to work. This surprises him... just a little. "Hm. Well, I can give her a hand with it, but I think she has this. I'd better get ready for the cooking part. Thank you, Link. Warm meat tonight in a stew will help with the cold."

    Looks like installing Frostfall wasn't a terrible idea after all.

  The princess doesn't exactly shy away from the wolfos, and in fact seems to be eyeing it somewhat calculatingly, as though trying to gauge what the length and the width of the pelt might be once it's been cut free from the body.

  If it's wide enough, she might be able to make a cloak of it; embroidery and sewing were one of the things she could do that /didn't/ arouse controversy in the aristocracy, and she still remembers her way around needle and thread. It would fit Rydia nicely, she decides, blue eyes flicking over to gauge Rydia's height. A little long, maybe, but that could be fixed--

  "Wolfos," she offers, to Rydia. "They are... a little like wolves, but much larger, on the whole, and much more aggressive. They've been known to hunt travellers in the mountains, which might explain why Peak Province is so scarcely populated." Zelda gestures non-committally. "I would guess this one to be average size, at least with Link as scale. My father once killed one about Link's size."

  And he wore it as a cloak, too. Too bad that cloak's long gone. It was a nice cloak.

  Ahem.

  "My royal father had the wolfos he'd killed made into a cloak, since there was little other use for it. I remember begging him to borrow it, once, in the midst of winter. It was very warm." The princess drops onto her haunches, pulling out one slightly bloody paw and examining it. "Hm. These claws might prove useful for something, too. Very sharp, still. And the fangs. I've no tools to pull them with, though..."

  Zelda pauses. "Um?" Did Rydia just say she'd skin it? Well, it makes sense, since she said she came from a very small village. Everyone would have to be self-sufficient in a place like that; her wisdom tells her that much. She would expect the same out of a small backwater village in Hyrule, too.

  Speaking of which...

  I'm not very convincing, am I? It's both amusement and sheepishness that colours her tone. Then, somewhat chagrined, I would appreciate it. What's that? She's had wolfos before, in tavern stew? Fair enough. It wasn't half bad, the last time I had something like it. It was a bit on the tough and stringy side, but stewing it helps.

  The princess looks the giant wolf over, tilting her head curiously. "I trust that's mostly his blood on you, and none of your own?"

  Honestly, if anyone else saw her, they'd think she's crazy, talking to an overgrown dog like that. She's always addressed him like he's a person cognizant of what she's saying, though. She knows who and what he is. Changing his physical form doesn't change the nature of what's inside. It may colour it, but it cannot hide it.

  She stands, wiping what little blood she'd gotten on her hand off on the thigh of her breeches. The wolfos is regarded thoughtfully. "I can see about stitching together a cloak for you once the hide is cured. It isn't too badly mangled, so I believe I can work around the worst of it."

    Rydia did, in fact, say she would skin it. In fact as soon as she has her dagger in hand she sets to the task of separating the wolfos' skin from layers of fat and muscle after a few choice nicks and cuts into the fur where she wants to start the process. She focuses on her work, grunting at several points from a difficult patch here or there, but it looks like by and large she can handle the process on her own without help
    "Mn? What is it?" She does ask, shooting the Divine Beast a puzzled look when he tilts his head and whines at her. But she's a self-sufficient girl with a strong independent streak. She'd probably shoo Cecil off if he *tried* to help her. "It might be tough, but if it's edible it'll be better than nothing." She asides to the dark knight while listnening to Zelda.
    There's a pause. Just long enough to look up from the carcass and her blood-soaked arms to look up at Link. Then back down to the wolfos as Zelda tells of the one her father slew.
    "Link is pretty big." She mutters, "I'm going to try and *not* think about one of these as big as him now." Something like that could snap her in two without even trying.
    "If I could beat one in combat, I might be able to try and bind it, but that's a pretty big if. Not sure I want to try it." She says amid tearing flesh from muscle with another grunt.
    "This... Would probably make a good cloak for the cold." She agrees at the thought of Zelda stitching it for her.

Link barks at the explanation of what a Wolfos is, as if to agree. He circles 'round the edge of the camp, settling a small way away and lying down to start cleaning his muzzle. He really doesn't like having the smell of blood clinging to him as harshly as it is right now, and his nose is plenty strong enough to get offended by so much of it. He glances between Zelda, Rydia, and the Wolfos. A heavy sigh leaves him.

He just nods assent at Cecil, evidently perfectly content with the dark knight to pick things up at the "actually cook it" stage. He makes a mental note to go out and find something a little bit more fresh. There's enough of them to pick over this one without factoring him in.

Didn't know you'd eaten it. Just assumed you'd heard of it. Most folks don't want you knowin' what they put in their tavern stew.

The Sacred Beast rolls his eyes in answer to Zelda's concern, fixing her with a flat look. He's exactly physically talented enough to assert that, no, the giant other-wolf he killed couldn't possibly have hurt him. He's wrong of course, but it didn't hurt him THIS time.

He tosses his head towards Rydia as she works.

Watch.

Link glances between Rydia and the Wolfos, a strange not-at-all-wolflike vocalization leaving him. It seems like he's trying to express something like nuh-uh. A discouragement-- don't do that, maybe.

    While Cecil, having seen what Rydia is capable of, is less worried for her health... he also knows she lacks real battle experience. He doesn't know exactly what Link is saying, but he can guess it's discouragement. Rather than just say no, he wisely chooses to couch it differently. "If they are like wolves, they likely travel in packs. It would be best to avoid them unless in a group."

    Even then, he'd prefer to avoid the pack altogether, but hey, let Rydia keep her pride. To Zelda, he turns his attention toward her, and murmurs, "If these are the creatures we'll run into here... this could be a long trek."

  While Rydia busies herself with taking a knife to the big wolf-monster, the princess edges a little closer, looking on in apparent interest. The cleaning and skinning of the beast doesn't seem to repulse her in the least. It's dead; what would it actually be able to do to her that would be threatening? Besides...

  Waste not, want not.

  Every so often she shifts around Rydia to bend and peer more closely, keeping her hair out of the way by pinning the braid (it's rather long) at the crook of an elbow. She's still halfway paying attention to the conversation, though.

  "They can be," she answers, to Rydia. "Not always. I would say ones that large are a little rare... most of the time, they're about this one's size. The size is enough to know it isn't a normal wolf, and they're well and away more aggressive than an ordinary wolf." She toes at one of the large, tufted, snowshoe-like paws. "They normally stay close to snow and ice, where they can hide better."

  It would be murderously hard to spot something like that against the drifts, except for those red eyes, and the wide slash of its grin. Most normal things don't have a mouth that opens that absurdly wide.

  The princess folds her arms, leaning to the other side to watch as Rydia makes another cut. "The only way I would recommend killing one of these is from a distance, and with the element of surrpise," Zelda says, warily, in response to Rydia's musing on whether she could take one down or not.

  "An excellent cloak," she observes, toeing at one of the paws again. "Very warm. Not as good as a bearskin, but no one in their right mind goes hunting for bear. Not in the mountains in winter."

  What do you think my father had done with the carcass? Zelda shrugs, in response to Link. It wasn't half bad, aside from the toughness. A stew only improved that so far. If we cook this, we'll need to keep that in mind, and let it go a little longer than we might some other type of meat.

  In other words, let it go long enough to actually be halfway palatable. Most people don't hunt carnivores for a reason. They're too lean, too stringy, and mostly unsuitable to eating. Their prey, on the other hand...

  Those blue eyes rake over the Sacred Beast, and the princess frowns at his dismissal. When she answers him again, there is something stirring behind her words that might even be anger.

  /Enough/.

  It crackles behind her words; both royal command and just a hint of something less mortal. It's almost overwhelming. Fortunately, it simmers back down to normal quickly.

  You have responded to my every effort with either sarcasm, scorn, or dismissal. I have reached the limits of my tolerance. You are still my subject, and I am still, technically, your queen. I have tried to be patient with you, but I am reaching the end of that tolerance. Do not dismiss my efforts to see to your well-being. If we are careless, this mountain will kill us. If it is not the mountain, it will be Zant. Do I make myself clear?

  Her smile is just a little forced. Something's on her mind. But she shakes her head, forcibly returning her attention to the others and quietly drawing in a deep, calming breath.

  I am making the best of a difficult situation. We are stuck in this situation together. I would advise you to do the same... Link.

  She pauses, leaning over Rydia to point. "The cut, here. Is it better to level the knife, or to come in at an angle for separating the hide from the fat?" So, she is paying attention. She glances over her shoulder at Cecil.

  "They do travel in packs," she confirms to the Dark Knight. "That's what makes them so dangerous. Three of them can do by far more damage than five or six wolves." Her returning smile to his comment is tight and somewhat forced. "Yes. It will be. You see now why I said Snowpeak was such a danger? It is not only the mountain itself, though that too is dangerous."

    It's not a matter of Rydia's pride, it was just an idle musing. Still, it's an idle musing that is shot down thoroughly between Link and Cecil. The very un-wolf-like sound is almost eerie and it makes the girl look up from her task to stare at the Divine Beast for a long moment, before she returns to tearing the Wolfos' skin from its body.
    "... Alright, I get it you two. No challenging giant wolves to combat. It's not like I was gonna, anyway."
    The internal exchange between Zelda and Link is not one she's privy to, but the princess' expression- distant and with forced smile prevents the girl from returning to her work as she follows blue eyes toward the massive green wolf.
    "... Zelda? Is something wrong?" There's a touch of concern there, but she swallows it down when the princess questions her on her skinning technique. "-oh... I like to come in at an angle. But that's because I can't manage a lot of strength, so I have to leverage the blade a bit differently depending on where I'm cutting." She murmurs before giving a few last cuts and one last grunting tug.
    "Cecil, it's ready for you." She calls to the Dark Knight, leaving the freshly skinned wolfos for Cecil to turn into the evening's meal while wiping her bloodied hands off on an already dirty part of her robes. That will need washing later but... Something dawns on her.
    She had occasionally heard a bit of Link's fighting on the way up, but it never dawned on her to ask until now. "Link, was this one alone... Or did you handle a whole pack by yourself?"

The Sacred Beast's earks perk, aligning themselves towards Cecil and Zelda in particular. He turns his head in their direction and barks, giving a shake of his head, and baring his fangs for a moment. The meaning is clear-- don't worry about it, I can take care of things.

Link blinks as Zelda revs up. He stares at her for a few long moments, his ears standing up straight. Not that it's /necessary/, she's not speaking to him through his ears at all. He seems to consider that for a moment and then, slowly, a strange noise starts to bubble up out of his throat. It has the quality of a very young dog -- a puppy -- whining, and then builds to a high, repetitive noise that can only be described as laughter. It might be comical, although the overall effect is not.

It's not hard to imagine a much bigger wolf-god, cackling in their midst.

Awright, awright. You're right, I reckon that was pretty unfair of me. To give ya a straighter answer, I'm just fine. Ain't no single Wolfos gonna give ME problems. But Queenie, I don't reckon I know how to treat a Queen, but I'll try not to go so hard on you.

The Queen thing though, He tilted his head to one side quizzically, you don't gotta lean on that. If you feel like you ain't being treated right, just say you don't feel like you're being treated right. Shouldn't matter that you're Queen, or Princess, or what-have-you. You don't gotta be those things to deserve to be treated right.

Link sighs heavily, his eyes drooping a little.

    Yumi had other things to take care of. They're taken care of now. Oblivious to a brief moment of divine presence, the girl wanders back over, tugging her blanket back around herself and looking at the rest of the group. "How's it coming? Anything I can he..." Here she trails off briefly, getting a glance at Rydia. But, quickly, she marshals her composure and continues. "Help with?"

    Cecil eyes Rydia, then glances at Zelda. He has no idea what her and the wolf are saying, and it makes him uneasy. Not that he doesn't think Zelda is on the up and up... she seems pretty much so. It just makes him uncertain what the end plan is. And Rydia all covered in blood is not a pleasant sight, even if it isn't from a slaughter.

    "I'll see what I can do about flavor," he says. "I'm not an excellent cook, and we don't have much in the way of spices, but I should make it edible." They have salt, that should be a decent start, and if he can work it into a stew...

    Sigh. "This is going to be a long trip."

  "I am fine." Zelda's voice is soft, almost dangerously soft, and her eyes are fixed so hard on the grisly task at hand that she is probably not fine. "Link and I are having a slight difference of opinion. I can speak with him." She raises a hand, tapping at the crest on the back of her right hand. "Through this."

  She shakes her head, though, watching as Rydia demonstrates with the bloody knife. "That makes sense. I doubt I have much more in the way of physical strength, so I will try that method." Once Rydia finishes pulling the hide free from the carcass, Zelda carefully grips it where it isn't a complete bloody mess, snapping it out and over a fallen log to air out a bit.

  "I will let this cure whenever we stop, and when it is ready I will prepare it for you." One hand runs through the coarse, almost stiff fur, brushing it against the grain and smoothing it out again. "These beasts have a thick undercoat, so it should be warm enough for where we are--"

  Something twitches near her right eye.

  Respect, she snaps back immediately. That is all I want out of you, even if it may be too much to ask. Perhaps your status is the fault of my actions, but I will not tolerate being mocked or disparaged.

  The look Zelda shoots the overgrown mutt could probably curdle milk, but it fades.

  When he gives that crestfallen big dog sigh, she heaves a sigh of her own. Aw, nobody can resist a big dog moping. Even if it's a giant wolf that outsizes basically any dog ever.

  Oh... don't sound so forlorn. Provided he doesn't show his teeth, she'll reach out and stroke one of those giant ears with the hand that isn't bloody. Her hand moves slowly, carefully, and deliberately; as though to soothe the growling and fussing she knows he might do. Try to have a little respect and understanding. That's all I ask. I may be an ignorant royal, but the Goddesses know I'm trying my best, just as I know that you are. We can support each other through this... if you will let me. Keeping you whole and unbroken is one of the few things that I can do, so... let me, please. I do not ask you to offend your pride or imply you are not capable. I ask out of concern.

  Witdrawing her hand, she considers the pelt, and then looks to Rydia. "I think that should fit you quite well. Before I cut the hide, though, I will need to take some measurements... it will not be the finest-crafted garment, but it will keep you warm." She manages a smile that isn't forced. "Shall I leave the head on? Perhaps it might lend you a fearsome appearance that even Whyt would be jealous of."

  Oh look, there's Yumi. Zelda waves her over. She's a little bloody about the hands. "Do not worry. Link brought a gift back for us; Rydia was merely preparing it." See? Nobody's keeling over. "It will make a halfway decent stew, and its hide can be used as a cloak for Rydia. I am not certain it would fit you... but perhaps, if I prepare this carefully, I might manage two smaller cloaks?" she muses, eyeing the pelt thoughtfully. "Hm."

  "Oh. Here. Let me help you with that." She turns, ducking into a rucksack and rummaging around, producing a strip of cloth and offering it to Rydia. "There is a stream a little east of here. I have no doubt the water is frigid, but it will serve to wash the blood off. It is in earshot, so call for us if anything is amiss."

  Her eyes flick back to Cecil, studying him for a moment, and her half-smile suggests she's grateful, not for the first time, that he knows his way around preparing food that doesn't suck. Her culinary skills aren't terrible, but they still leave much to be desired. "Excellent. Please do let me know if I can help in any way." The smile fades. "Yes. It is. It will take us a week to reach Snowpeak. Longer, if the weather turns against us, which it may do. Midwinter on the mountain is quite possibly the worst time to be there, and we have been lucky so far."

  Turning, the princess looks toward the jagged chain of the peaks, visible even over the treeline. "I will continue to pray to the goddesses that that remain so."

    Rydia looks down at her hands. Her arms are bloody up to the elbow and for a long moment she just stares at her hands like that. But she is listening. "That sounds handy. It's too bad he can't talk to the rest of us like that. The best I can do is badly read his body language."
    It's not easy, trying to read into the humanity inserted into body language that would be completely unnatural for any other lupine beast. But Rydia accepts the cloth and tries to get as much of the mess off as she can before heading to the indicated stream. "Huh... The head could make for a good hood." She does consider, much to the swirling chagrin of the thin mist presently following the party. But Whyt remains in that vaporous form for now- following after Rydia as she starts off for the stream. "I'll try to be fast. Whyt will be with me so don't worry too much." She says, disappearing through the trees.
    It's not long after that a sharp yelp can be heard though.
    "That's COLD!"
    She can't complain though. She had been warned.
    It's going to be a long trip indeed.

Link rises from where he's laying down, meandering over to where Cecil is looking on in uncertainty. He lets out a pointed whine, moves a couple of paces away, and then begins to scratch at the dirt. At first glance he doesn't seem to be doing much of anything, and even when it begins to take shape what he's doing is almost incoherent chickenscratch-- but hylian letters come out of it slowly. He assumes that Cecil is just as capable of reading them as Rydia was.

The dirtscribbles say: PERSONAL PROBLEM

The wolf moves, starts another line.

BE FINE

Then he circles 'round, and lies down just below BE FINE.

I reckon you should tell the knight what's goin' on, he's sharp enough to tell somethin' is wrong. But all that's fine and dandy by me. Sorry fer the trouble.

The Sacred Beast barks once-- it's relatively quiet, to call attention to himself. He curls in on himself, and shuts his eyes. By that, he probably means he's turning in. There's a good reason for it, too-- if he's not going to be out doing something, there's no sense in him moving around much. He's too big and his body is too energy-intensive.

... But he'll probably wake up to eat something just as soon as it's ready, like any good canine.

    "Ah, don't worry about me," Yumi replies to Zelda, with a little shake of her head. "I'm alright during the day, and then at night I can just huddle up close to the fire, or my bedroll." As Rydia heads off to get herself cleaned up, she adds softly, "I think she needs it more than me." Taking her own advice, she hunkers down next to the fire, burrowing a little deeper into her blanket-and-winter-clothes cocoon, and turns her eyes out on the landscape. "I think... I think if I do train in a weapon," she says over her shoulder towards Cecil, "I'd actually like something... well, maybe not a club, but something with a similar heft to the bat I had. It felt" Here she falters. "...Not right, but somewhere in the neighborhood of it."

    There's a pause, as the girl stares into the fire. "If I'd been thinking, I'd have brought some packaged snacks for everyone. They keep pretty well." A keen ear can hear her stomach rumble.

    Wincing at Rydia's yelp, Cecil shakes his head. He pauses when he sees the writing, working it out despite the bad ha- paw-writing. That lets him nod though, "I'm sure she'll let us know if something arises." And he resists the urge to scratch Link's ears. Especially with gauntlets on. It'd not work out for either.

    Before he gets fully involved in laying the meat out to sizzle, Cecil looks back at Yumi. "A sword of some kind, perhaps. Or an axe. I'm not sure how the bat is weighted, but it would likely be closer to an axe. We'll try you out on a few different weapons... see what feels right. You might have a natural talent."

  "It's a drawback," Zelda agrees, with a slightly disappointed look. "I have not yet had a chance to study the curse that binds him, but it is an evil and terrible magic. I can sense that much. When we reach Snowpeak, I will see if there is anything I can do for him, if he wishes." She eyes the wolf thoughtfully. "I have a few ideas, otherwise, but... they are by far more dangerous."

  Her attention turns back to the Summoner. "It would. I believe it's broad enough to fit you... take your time. I will take first watch through the night. Perhaps I can gentle that horse... I suppose he'll be needing a name, too. I can't keep calling him 'horse.'"

  She glances back to the Sacred Beast, watching as he starts scratching letters in the dirt. It's rough, but passable and mostly legible Hylian. Mostly. If you account for the fact that its author lacks opposable thumbs, it's a pretty great effort, actually! His paw-eye coordination is splendid.

  "He's correct." She reaches up to tap a temple with a forefinger. "My abilities allow me to speak to a person telepathically, and it is the only way I can sense any meaning from Link. I offered to serve as a translator, of sorts, but he prefers not to have his words filtered through another, which I suppose I understand. That had happened for a time, and the one doing the 'translating' took some..." Zelda smiles, a little sardonically. "Liberties, you could say."

  Oh, Midna. Never change.

  "We simply had a... slight difference of opinion. It has been settled." She glances over as he says his lupine good-night and curls up in a ball. "Rest. I will wake you when the food is ready," she adds to Link, for his benefit. "If you don't smell it first."

  Dogs seem to have radar for ready food. He probably does, too.

  As Yumi gives her explanation to Cecil, Zelda tilts her head, thoughtfully, eyeing the girl appraisingly. A bat? "Hm. So a mace, then, perhaps. That makes some sense."

  Packaged snacks? The princess shakes her head. "Check my horse's saddlebag. It is on the tree; you will not need to draw too near to him. There should be some dried fruit. Kaipo's market had more than I expected it to have... there are dried figs and slices of dried date palm fruit in there. That should tide you until the stew is ready."

  She's not completely unprepared.

  Plucking her hooded robe from the branch it had been hanging on, Zelda wraps it around herself, settling down in front of the fire next to Yumi. "Wake me when the food is ready, if you please. I will try to rest until then."

  She walked the entire way, through rough roads and mostly uphill. She's exhausted, and it's starting to show. Blue eyes slide closed, and unless anyone else talks to her, she'll slowly lean sideways.

  Yumi may or may not have the princess' head on her shoulder after a few minutes of warm fire.