World Tree MUSH

    Not so very long ago in the month, the princess of Hyrule had announced to her allies that they would be riding south to Faron Wood. There she seeks the Master Sword, a relic which will return Link to his rightful form and aid in the battle to liberate Hyrule Castle.
    As the rest of Hyrule struggles through a wet autumn, battling against foul weather and the threat of Twilight to harvest sickly crops, Peak Province has already fast-forwarded right through autumn and into an early winter. Nights have been bitter cold, and the snow's been flying in earnest.
    Such weather has made travel difficult, but not impossible. The ragtag band of refugees that had arrived at Snowpeak Garrison are much better equipped and supplied, now. Going downhill instead of uphill has been a help, and this time the party has a wagon of supplies drawn by the party's two horses.
    Tonight's destination is a clearing a ways past the foot of the trail, a place where alpine forest and rocky barrens alternate, as the mountain lowers back down to the open plainsland of Hyrule Field.
    Zelda has been driving the wagon, her own black stallion hitched to its traces. It's too small a wagon for more than one horse, so Link's sorrel mare has been following the wagon on a lead. He'll need a horse when he's able to ride again.
    It's a largely mindless hike through alternating groves of skyward-reaching cedars wreathed in fog, and open rocky barrens where the more timid monsters roam. They watch the party's passing, but they make no move to threaten. It could be they sense Link's presence.
    The princess has been quiet but determined, setting a pace brisk but not grueling. Moving forward seems to be a relief for her. Some of the bleakness and restlessness have left her, and she's been much more receptive to conversation and sociable interaction, even bantering a little with Rydia here and there, matching sarcasm for sarcasm and sass for sass as the snow melts away.
    In all, it's good to be moving forward again.

    Great. Now she's getting sass from both sides.

    Truth be told, Yumi doesn't mind. It's good to see so much life in Zelda. The redhead has been bustling about the past few days, in no small part because she knew that getting things rolling would probably be good for the princess's mental state. And so it has.

    For now, Yumi is quite happy to be in the wagon where she'll be sheltered from the rain of the wetter provinces, should they run into it. The schoolgirl has brought a raincoat to deal with that, as well, but where possible, she plans to stay in the wagon and just 'not get wet'. Of interest is the fact that she's also brought an off-road bicycle, a way for her to make private trips to and from the nearest vine - missing a week of school is probably a bad idea, so she'll be making trips there and back where she can.

    (Sleep? What's sleep? Clearly it's not that important.)

    She's /also/ also brought a few board and card games, not to mention her usual snack bag for the sake of the ragtag little group. She's even brought jerky strips for Link.

The Sacred Beast is present, though he's trailed the wagon at a distance most of the time. His appearance has been an ephemeral thing, sliding in and out of the lands of Twilight relatively unimpeded in his ability to harass the "enemy" in this form. Of course, that doesn't mean he could accomplish anything ELSE like this. Just making patrols disappear on the peripheries, and turning back up in varying states of worse-for-the-wear, only to sleep it off and disappear once again with hardly a goodbye bark.

Sometimes he scratched a message in the dirt, though.

At this exact moment Link is loping up with a shadowy something in his mouth, trailing motes of sickly black something-or-another as it evaporates and disperses into the surroundings.

S'pose this don't... doesn't work. What then? He wonders, at the only one out there who can properly 'hear' him. Link has been trying to 'speak' a little less Country Hick occasionally.

Because she is a-- no, not a witch. A Priest? A Priestess.

Link sniffs at the air audibly, casting a sidelong glance up and down the "caravan". Yep, still a canine. Definitely smells the jerky, even if he's not quite sure where it is yet.

    But Zelda... Zelda, Zelda, Zelda... Can one truly match sass with the cruelest of miniature sass engines?
    "So I said... 'Catch me if you can, you crepuscular crapsacks!' and the Twilight bozos started chasing me! Thing is, they had no chance of catching up to Chocobo, here." The last Summoner of Mist recounts her tale, pausing to give her noble avian steed an affectionate pat on the neck for a job well done. "We were in town before they even had a chance to eat our dust."
    The bird seems to perk up, and boy if a chocobo could look smug, Rydia's fits the bill to the letter, holding his head high and preening like a peacock at the praise.
    Needless to say... Finally getting out of that stufy winter garrison has clearly done wonders for morale-- not just Rydia's, but the girl is clearly more than happy to see such life return to the princess of Hyrule, which has doubtless;y led to at least several or more verbal jousts the whole way down the mountain. And these foggy, misty, paths are all too much like home for a girl from the valley of Mist, the thin mist of her eidolon, Whyt hanging closely about the child as she makes no complaints about the hustle of the pace and journey.

    Alongside Yumi, Cecil is ready for anything! Or, at least, armored and with his weapon. His helmet is off, though he has a hood that shadows his face anyway, because he's not supposed to show his face much until later in the storyline is he? He is also listening to the princess and the little girl who has thrust herself into his adventures and nodding.

    A firm grip lands on Yumi's shoulder, and Cecil says in a mild voice, "Endurance of the mind is an important part of being a warrior." Kind of funny coming from a Dark Knight, but... well, his meaning should be clear.

    Cecil can't understand Link, but he's going to give the wolf a slight nod, with a follow of the eyes on what the Hero brought back to try to identify it before it disintegrates. Not his world so he probably can't, but it's something to do.

    A change of scenery is almost never a bad thing and Terra's happy to be a part of it, even if she's about as quiet as ever. The wagon ride is an interesting bit of novelty, allowing the half-esper a marginal bit of room to be slightly more comfortable than if she were astride Zelda's war horse or a war machine. Still, it's a familiar kind of cramped that doesn't really bother her at all.

    Her eyes move from one of the people sharing the ride to the next while she listens to bits and pieces of the conversations. She doesn't really mind not being involved or anything; she's not really ever been especially talkative afterall. Also, with so many people she's comfortable around so close together she's content. They all seem to be doing well enough without her adding something confusing or weird to it all.

    Her eyes swing to watch out the back of the wagon while she contemplates spoiling someone else's animal with a small portion of their food stores.

    Thankfully, the young queen is the model of decorum when she's dealing with anybody else other than Rydia and all her sass. She has all the royal charisma and charm intact now that she's content to be moving forward again.
    Zelda really is full of life when the situation isn't getting her down. She has to be, as the kingdom's designated sovereign.
    For the moment she's content to drive the wagon, partly because her psychotic demon-horse is borderline intractable in the hands of anyone else. Link is the only one he listens to; probably only because of the ever-present threat of being eaten.
    As for Link himself, Zelda hasn't paid much attention. He does his own thing and comes and goes as he pleases, which is fine by her.
    "It will work," she tossed over her shoulder, summer-blue eyes fixing on the Sacred Beast. Her tone is quiet but loud enough to carry. It's the confidence in her tone, the unshakable assurance, that This Mission Will Not Fail. There is, perhaps, just a whisper of something behind that conviction; Hylia's purpose, Hylia's power. She's got this.
    Mostly.
    Never mind that she's winging all of this and scared to death of exactly what the goatherd brings up, which is failure. So, she doesn't allow herself to consider the option.
    "There is no better proof against that which ravages you, Hero, than the Blade of Evil's Bane. Have you not heard the legends? The myths? It was forged by Hylia herself, imbued with Her Grace's essence, and entrusted to the first of those courageous souls chosen by the goddesses." Zelda lifts her chin, gaze hardening. "Even if it is not enough... with my power, it will be. The last time I tore the curse from you, it was so close; so close I could feel it, but my strength alone was not enough. With the Master Sword, it shall be."
    She glances over to the dark green wolf, briefly, just in time to see him turn away and start tracking jerky.
    Zelda sighs, blandly. Yep. Dog.
    She shakes her head, looking to the road before her wagon. "We should be coming down to Hyrule Field, soon. I used to ride here, outside the castle, though never so far north as this. There are monsters, here, but there will also be Twilight. Pray be watchful. My hunters will find me, here."
    "We will meet them head on, if we must, but better to run if we're able." Zelda's eyes flit to the road again. "
    Half a minute passes.
    "Has anyone heard from Miss Branford lately...?"

    "She's in the back wagon with Cecil and Yumi." Rydia replies to the princess on the topic of Terra. "She's just being super spooky quiet. She does that sometimes."
    Though she falls silent, regarding the interaction between the princess and the massive green wolf. Rydia purses her lips, having only half a conversation to go on, there, she opts to not butt in. "I'll go check on her." The little Summoner decides, slowing her chocobo down to swing around to the back of the wagon-- and get away from that satanhorse.
    "Hey Yumi, Cecil. Terra's not dead is she?"

Link answers Cecil's nod with a bark, and a nod of his own. It remains rather surreal and awkward for him, but he does it anyway. It comes out as more of a tossing of his head overall, but there's probably nothing for it when it comes to responding while in motion like this.

If y'... He pauses, If you say so. I don't reckon I have much reason to think you wouldn't know what you were talkin' about, but it just seems... too good to be true.

The Sacred Beast pauses his thoughts as Zelda continues the particulars of the Master Sword. He's a hick, but of course he's heard of it. Everybody has heard of it, even if it was just in passing. Which is why... as the things she has to say grow ever longer... he begins to sniff the air more insistently and look around in distraction.

Oh! His attention snapped back, Well if it's not just the sword, you're probably right. I was worried for a bit there. What if it was rusted? Do you think magic can rust out?

In reply to the query surrounding Terra Branford, Link sniffs the air and falls back away from the wagon a little ways. There are conflicting scents weaving through the area-- of course, the one he really wants is RIGHT THERE, but...

But there's a smell out of the back of the wagon. Link barks once, but doesn't think back at Zelda to clarify.

The thing that he had carried in his mouth moments before had an indistinct shape. It was some sort of animal, but not one of this realm-- probably a small predator. It had a lot of limbs. Some kind of shadow spider? Maybe closer to one of the tektites of this world, if he'd ever had a chance to see one.

    Seeing Cecil without his helmet has been something of a curiosity in and of itself. But slowly, Yumi is growing used to it, and for now, the Dark Knight receives a solemn nod of reply. The look seems to silently say, 'I'll be alright'. However, she can hear the sound of paws alongside the wagon outside; that leads to remembering something she'd had in mind, and after shifting a lock of cream-orange hair behind her, she leans down to rustle around in her snack bag briefly.

    Then, there's a call out the side. "Hey, Link, heads up."

    She waits until the wolf is looking her way, then tosses a strip of jerky in an arc that will make it easy to catch. "I brought a bunch, most of it's yours if you want it. Just don't polish it off in one night, it's gotta last us the whole trip."

    Settling back in, she glances out at the sound of Zelda's voice - then to Terra, then to Rydia. "If she is, I want her secret for staying so well-preserved." A cheeky smile for Terra, and then Yumi's settling back in. They're coming out into Hyrule Field soon enough; she wants to relax while she can. The next leg of the trip will be tense.

    Cecil has seen a tektite, though wouldn't be skilled in fighting them yet. It's just practive for him to TRY anyway. It's enough of interest... the wolf is someone he can't talk to, but Zelda seems to trust and he's certainly a capable ally.

    Rydia's call brings his attention back to their discussion. "She's fine," he replies, a little more serious than Yumi about it. Spoilsport. "Just quiet." He tries another of his smiles at Terra, but he's still in the hood for warmth, so uh... that might not go over too well.

    Too much of a sinister aura, Cecil!

    This is what happens when you get caught not paying enough attention. Someone canny notices and puts you on the spot. Or several someones, as she's sought out for being too quiet!

    The half-esper, catching her name and stirring out of a bit of a mental jaunt, looks around in momentary confusion. Part of Rydia's sass whistles right over her head until the moment Rydia is at the back of the wagon. Dead? "No, I'm fine." So frank. Very terse. Wow. "Just remember to come into the wagon if you get cold." A sincere, concerned note in her voice, then it's time to face a moment of everyone's attention. Oh.

    "I'm sorry, I was just thinking." Momentarily incapable of saying much, she does her best to prop her somber expression up to let everyone know she's fine, nodding with small sound at Yumi despite totally not getting the joke. She slips a hand out of the back of the wagon, perhaps reaching for nothing or perhaps attempting to sneak in an ear rub for Link. "Monsters..." Weird how that doesn't sound terribly bad, to her, especially not compared against other potential threats.

    Willing herself away from another trip into her own thoughts, she looks up once again and does her best to return the smile. Sinister aura? What's that? Her teeth don't get itchy like 'some' people!

    "I thought I'd seen her go back there. She really isn't very sociable." Zelda sighs, although it seems more worried than exasperated. "I spoke to her shortly before we left, but she was quiet as ever. I wonder if I intimidate her, although I suppose there's little to be done about it. Much would seem to intimidate her. Pity."
    The young queen glances sidelong, as Link barks and tosses his head. She cocks a blue eye at him as he corrects his own 'speech,' and tries not to smile a little. Farore might have picked a dumb hick to save Hyrule, but she can't help but appreciate his efforts at sounding at least a little bit educated.
    "I never said I was confident in our chances against Zant, even with the Master Sword," Zelda points out, both to the wolf and the others. "But restoring you to two legs instead of four is a start. You say you don't mind, but I imagine you must be weary of that, on some level." Canting her head slightly, she glances back to Link, as he asks whether the sword might have--
    Zelda throws her head back and laughs. It's not a polite titter behind a hand; it's a silvery laugh of genuine delight. Not quite a guffaw, but as close as the young queen will ever go. She has her dignity to maintain, after all.
    "No." She smiles, though, to take any sting out of the correction. "It will not rust, nor tarnish. It will not lose its magic. It will sleep, and it will wait for its chosen bearer. There we will find it, waiting, in its pedestal deep within Faron Wood. You've nothing to fear of its condition. I know its capabilities."
    There's a flicker of something in her eyes. Autumn-blue, fierce; just a fleeting instant, before the softer, gentler summer-blue is back, as though it had always been.
    She knows, better than anyone else has any right to.
    Tektites, on the other hand, are annoying pests and Zelda manages a disgusted sound at the sight of what's left of it in Link's jaws. "I hope the live ones decide to keep a distance, or we'll have no sleep at all. I'll keep my bow strung..."
    Her teeth are totally itchy, but Cecil has gone above and beyond to prove himself as an exemplary ally, so Zelda has been extra special nice and polite to him. Maybe it's a way of her saying 'yeah, bite me' to her divine blood's instinctive reaction.
    Maybe that's why when they make camp she spends at least half an hour putting arrows in targets. Something to work off the compulsory aggression.

!!!

The Sacred Beast veers off course at once in answer to Yumi, snapping the piece of jerky out of the air easily. Relative to the size of his mouth, it ends up seeming terrible meager on the whole. That's okay, though. He's a dog, and if you gave him the chance he would eat every bit of it.

He barks a reply to Yumi. When they get a chance to settle in he'll reply properly, insofar as he can.

Afterwards he falls back in at the rear wheels of the wagon, loosely interested in the woman in the back of it. Partially because they're moving and partially because Terra is quiet enough that his impression of her is somewhat similar to his initial impression of Rydia, he tolerates the ear rubbing.

At least, that looks like tolerating.

But he does whine questioningly at her.

To Zelda he thinks: The body ain't too bad, but the not talking gets to you after a while. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with a squirrel? Because I have, and they're impossible. Deer are even worse, and rabbits stress themselves to death if I look at 'em.

I did see a weird glowy rabbit once that seemed to have its head screwed on halfway straight, but it disappeared pretty quick so I think I might have just dreamed it.

Can't say I ever heard of a sword sleepin' before, though.

Once they have made camp, Link mostly settles in. He takes a moment to scratch out a barely-legible THANKS in the ground, and then HIDE THEM. This takes him long enough that he doesn't try to clarify himself. It might be confusing at first, but he means the jerky of course.

    "You realize you intimidate everyone who isn't me, right?" Rydia calls back to Zelda.
    "And maybe Link, but he's harder for me to read than ancient Hylian." The Summoner jabs. "Geeze though, I saw Raven recently and she looked ready to piss herself, wondering if you were nearby when I rode up on her."
    But Rydia has her answer. Terra isn't dead and Cecil is still a stick in the mud. At least Yumi cracked a light joke, but Rydia does consider Terra's suggestion, tugging the fur of her wolfos-hide cloak around herself a little more tightly as she steers her chocobo one-handed until camp time, where she settles into various minor but necessary chores.

    "That's not true," comes the immediate reply to Rydia. "She doesn't intimidate me!" No, she doesn't intimidate you, Yumi, you just have to keep fighting the occasional urge to refer to her as 'milady' and swear your non-existent blade to her service. That's not weird at all.

    Yumi is quite the busybody about helping set up camp for the night, though. She'll help with this, and she'll help with that, and she'll even stop to give Link a thumbs-up in reply to the message. She's not sure whether he wants her to hide it so other people don't get at it, or so that /he/ doesn't get at it, but that's not particularly important; it's getting tucked away again, this time a little deeper in the snack bag. And in a ziplock, besides, both to help preserve it, and to keep the smell from drawing anything in. The same will go for all unwrapped snacks, of course.

    No comment on the ear rubbing, or the jerky, Cecil isn't a wolf and he's decided that's something he can't understand. Whatever works. He chuckles, very faintly, then lets Rydia sass her way into the whole camping thing.

    Zelda might be practicing arrows, but Cecil has other things in mind. Loosening his cloak a little, he moves to help set up, but that isn't what's on his thoughts right now. "Yumi, it's a good thing we have this Wagon. You should be ready to stretch your legs with a little sword practice, right?" He stretches arms over head. "Maybe Terra can keep you on your feet by giving me a hand."

    Looks like Yumi will be sleeping sound, tonight.

    From the edge of the camp-in-progress, the TWANG of Rydia's bow can be heard, followed by the whizz of an arrow through the air and something squeaking sharply.
    "Hey guys! I shot this weird rabbit thing! ... It got away but... Whoah it dropped like twenty rupees! FINDERS KEEPERS!"

    "I imagine so," she answers Link, though her eyes remain forward on the road.
    The wagon bounces and jolts ahead one plodding step at a time. It's a really uncomfortable way to move from pace to place, but it is dry, and not as cold as being exposed outside. She wears her mourning cloak over her riding clothes; it's thick, and warm, especially sitting in the driver's seat.
    He's never heard of a sword sleeping, before. Zelda sighs. "Link, you're scarcely familiar with the most common rites, or even the most common legends. I would hardly expect you to have heard of anything except the Master Sword's existence in and of itself."
    Zelda's eyes slide sidelong at Rydia, though, and regard the Summoner blandly. Her expression grows even more bland at the mention of Raven. "Because that girl seethes in darkness much worse than Sir Harvey ever has, and seems to have very little ability to control herself. That, I fear, is a dangerous combination, for herself as much as others."
    "Still... I've not actually threatened her directly. Her reaction is out of proportion to the forces at play."
    Zelda meanwhile rolls her gaze back at Yumi, just as blandly. Nope. The totally normal girl who throws herself at danger without any regard for her own safety or survival is not weird at all.
    Camp is struck, though, eventually; Zelda steers the wagon for a place that isn't too exposed to the elements, and a location on reasonably high ground, where they can defend and see.
    Zelda proceeds to set up her archery practise, and soon the regular 'thock' of arrows striking targets can be heard. She doesn't precisely ignore everyone else, but they're free to seek her out and talk if they want. Otherwise, she'll put arrows in stumps until it's time to fix dinner. (As it turns out, she's not half bad at cooking, despite being royalty.)
    Oh. Rydia found a blupee. Zelda smiles between shots, but she doesn't comment.

    Zelda is a bit intimidating, it's true, but Terra feels comfortable around her! Comfortable enough that she isn't exactly fearful of the hylian royal's intensity! She just doesn't really know what to say much of the time!

    Should she try harder to be more sociable? Or just keep (not) working at being bearable and useful enough to warrant her presence. Is that a selfish thought? She wonders at that while making sure Rydia does at least make an attempt to better secure herself against the cold. She spends the remainder of the day's traveling content at that, at least.

    At camp, she's at a bit of a loss at first but she has enough basic knowhow to help with tasks here and there, including a fire should it be deemed necessary, though she's more than prepared to keep it low or omit it entirely for the sake of discretion and Rydia's, ah, disposition against it. Then she's brought up again!

    "Huh? Me?" Oh, instructing Yumi? She feels just a bit on the spot but does manage to nod, once. She can at least try and it won't risk offense! Rydia's windfall gets a glance but she's not sure what to make of it exactly.

Link nods firmly towards Yumi, to confirm that this is in fact what he actually intended. He seems to be settling in to just observe the various going-ons around camp when the twang-and-whistle of a bow and arrow that aren't Zelda's draw his attention. He blinks over towards Rydia, and the distant flickering of a light.

He is utterly uncomprehending of the creature dropping a multitude of rupees. But it does make him wonder whether or not that's why you find rupees lying around in grass all the time, anyway. It can't be people dropping it every time, can it?

In reply to Zelda's statements of his ignorance, the Sacred Beast nods firmly but replies, I don't reckon I need to know much more than to leave a bit of milk and cheese as offering. Guess I'll work on that if you want me to. Probably woulda... wouldve... been useful to know more about the Master Sword anyhow.

The idea of the smell alone must be horrifying.

After a little while, the great wolf decides to settle down. But he does bark at Terra in reply to her questioning-- as if to say, Yes, you.

It's some strange timing, but he doesn't have words to use for himself, so sometimes he has to take advantage of those of others.

    As the prep work goes on, Yumi finds herself joined by the resident swordsman - who has an interesting proposition. She can't help grinning, just a little. "That's not a bad idea for passing the time," she agrees with a nod. "But I don't know about two on one. I'm still pretty sure you could put me on my backside if you got a little serious." She's only got two arms and her skills, after all - and while she might be fit for her frame, Cecil pretty definitely has a size, strength and reach advantage on her. "Maybe both of us against you, though..." There's a glance Terra's way, a playful wink. 'Instructing' might not be the right word for it...

    Terra glances from Cecil to Yumi, then to Link as he barks. Oh. So, she stands, uncertain of what's expected of her and crosses the camp to join the two. She could probably use the practice herself; she's hardly a novice but she probably doesn't grasp why why's and how's of her own swordplay. She just knows how, somehow!

    "I haven't met this Raven," Cecil says as he gets out the practice swords. "Perhaps I should. Though perhaps my own experience is not the best to use as an example..." He shakes his head, and when she's ready, tosses Yumi a wooden replica.

    "Terra has skill of her own," he says. "And learning to react against multiple opponents is good practice. Your reflexes are already surprisingly good, I'm curious to see how you do, and it's good for parry training. We'll move on to something more standard later."