World Tree MUSH

    With the Master Sword procured and that leg of the quest complete, it's back to the biting chill and wintry cold of Frostpeak hold. Despite the blustry wind and biting cold, Rydia of Mist can be found jsut outside the fortress' walled off yard, her chocobo tied within for its own safety.
    Because once again, the littlest Summoner is trying to deal with that damned Wolfos.
    It would seem she has managed to at least keep it from eating her, but that's as far as she's gotten, judging from how she's locked staring it dead in the eyes, whip in one hand, dagger in the other, growling low in her throat in a clear assertation of dominance, the thin mist of her dragon, Whyt, lingers around her protectively as the Wolfos dares take a step forward, only to be met with a resounding crack of the child's whip.
    "Don't even try it, you fleabitten sack of ice cubes. I'm sick of your attitude!"

  Snowpeak Garrison might be on official maps, somewhere in a dusty shelf of the royal archives, but it isn't on anything the average resident might use. Maps of active trails and routes wouldn't show it. It's a dead end on top of a dead end; a place so remote and so inimical to life, both humanoid and otherwise, that nobody goes there.

  It's the perfect place to hide. The weather is inconvenient and certainly dangerous, but the cold and snow can be mitigated. In some ways, it's even pleasant; almost like home.

  Almost.

  The gate swings open, and out steps the deposed monarch herself, wrapped in that black robe like a blanket. It's rather like one. Perfect for the post-winter, pre-spring chill in the air. She's astride that huge monstrous beast she calls a horse, one hand resting lightly on the reins. Out hunting, maybe; her quarry's either something for the stewpot, or she's off to scout for the Twilight monstrs so she can pre-emptively put arrows in them.

  The Hylian studies the tableau for a moment.

  "Are you even getting anywhere with that sack of fleas," Zelda inquires, languidly, "or have you just been posturing at each other all morning...?"

    Enter the princess.
    The gates opening immediately has the two dividing their attention dangerously, the monstrous wolfos practically salivating at the sight of that demon horse, only to be brought back to attention with another crack of the lash from Rydia, making the beast snap its jaws angrily at the air.
    The question goes unanswered for a long moment as jade eyes lock onto those baleful red eyes, glowing like hate-filled coals.
    Another crack of the lash and the beast... Backs down. Rydia steps towards it and snarls, before motioning for the mountains.
    "Get out of my sight!"
    The beast hesitates, as though wondering to itself 'why am I taking orders from a snack?' before the whip belts it across the nose and sends it turning about and loping off into the horizon.
    Shoulders sag as the last Summoner drops her weapons and brushes emerald hair out of her eyes.
    "He's not an easy one at all." She complains. "He comes and goes when I call and that's it. Any control I have over him is minimal at best. He just keeps attacking everything in sight when I call him out for anything."
    A pause.
    "And I was not posturing, I was asserting my dominance!"

  At about the same time the lupine predator's attention turns toward the horse, the horse swivels its ears back and shows its teeth. No docile riding pony, this. Zelda apparently notices the two subtly threatening each other; she lays a hand on the horse's neck as she listens.

  The war-horse doesn't so much as flinch when the beast's teeth snap shut over empty air, thin ropes of saliva sent flying from its jaws.

  Zelda shifts her weight in the saddle and looks between the sullen predator and the equally determined Summoner. And then the beast is slashed across the nose by the whip, driving it off into the proverbial sunset. For now.

  Turning in the saddle, Zelda watches the beast lope away.

  "Some dominance. You've been working with this fleabitten cur for months, now, and it doesn't look like you have much to show for it." Zelda reaches up, sweeping the hood back and scratching at the back of her neck with a sigh. "Maybe you're better at working with beasts from your own world? Or maybe that cur's too stupid to learn. How much longer are you going to keep trying?" She pauses, as though just thinking of something. "And how fares that unicorn you had tamed, anyway? Is that one any more tractable?"

    Hands go on hips, and the Summoner shoots the princess a look somewhere between indignant and insulted. On her it seems more pouty than anything else.
    "You said yourself, I'm the first person in like all of ever to tame a Wolfos. For what definition of taming I've got down so far. I'm determined to see this through." Comes Rydia's reply with a huff. "It's just small steps for now. The fact that he comes and goes on my call is a good start. It means the pact is binding. I just... Need to... I don't know."
    There's a frustrated huff from the child, breath steaming in the wintry cold as she wraps up tighter in the folds of her wolfos fur cloak, no longer warmed by pumping blood and adrenaline of being face to face with a drooling monster that could snap her in half.
    "The unicorn listens to me a lot better, but he's just as dangerous in his own, different, way. His goals usually align with mine when I call him so he hasn't been a problem. Yet. But." But he could be, she leaves unsaid.

  "Maybe so, although after a certain point it seems more a point of pride than practicality," Zelda points out. She does concede with a shrug, though, folding one hand over the reins as her horse shifts its weight. "Suit yourself, I suppose, although it seems to me like the beast is never going to be tractable. In fact, every time I've seen him, he seems more sullen and resentful than the last."

  Pity there aren't any more Summoners left to learn from. That seems the saddest part of all; not just the trauma of loss for Rydia, but also the end of an entire way of life.

  The Kingdom of Baron is definitely going to be worth looking in on, she decides, once the timing is right. Something suspicious is going on, there, although she hasn't had the proper attention to devote to the problem.

  Zelda's eyes flick back to the dwindling form of the wolfos, considering. She returns her arrow to the quiver, and shrugs the bow back onto her shoulder. Thoughtfully, she taps her chin with a forefinger. "Well, at least he shows up when you call him. He wasn't, for a while, as I recall."

  She lifts a brow, tilting her head. "How so? I seem to recall an explanation involving that one basically roaming in search of corruption, for a very broad definition of 'corruption.' Or does it likewise attempt to bash its face against whatever it finds when it's been summoned?"

    Nose scrunches and Rydia jsut flat out glowers.
    Oh yeah that's her pride stepping in there. "I'll get there. Like I just said, small steps. I have a foothold at least."
    But that's all she has. A foothold. Her own meager knowledge, barely anything to go off except the basic training of her now-dead mother, and indeed no other Summoners to learn from. She's on her own in this endeavor and she knows it. It could very well be Do Or Die.
    The wolfos is almost completely out of sight now, and Rydia heaves a sigh, plopping herself to lay in the snow right then and there in a sprawl. "Fwah..." It's true. At least he comes when called now.
    "That's it. That's exactly what it is about the unicorn. He wants to destroy evil and corruption and stuff, but if there's none around when I call him, he might just start broadening his view dangerously about what is and isn't evil. I've gotta keep him... What are those things from Yumi's world? Lasers? I gotta keep him laser focused." A pause.
    "Of course he bashes his face against things, he's a unicorn, that's what the horn is for."

  "My point is, if it becomes too much of a burden, it may be better to cut your losses and focus your attention on the beasts you know that you can control." Zelda shrugs one shoulder, nonchalant, although her eyes are on the path where the wolfos had loped off. "The more you invest in a thing, the more difficult it becomes to abandon it, even when abandonment would be wiser."

  The smile she shows is easy; lopsided and half-hearted. "It is my curse to view all things with logic and rationality, even when it would be better not to. Especially when it would be better not to. Simply a reminder to keep that in mind, in your dealings with that beast. Your resources may be needed elsewhere, in time, and if that becomes the case..."

  The young monarch shrugs.

  She looks down as Rydia plops down into the snow. Evidently deeming the scene less dangerous and therefore less worthy of his time, the war-horse settles for nosing about in the snow, looking for any evidence of fresh growth. Zelda ignores him.

  "Really? I would have expected it to behave like a destrier. The hooves are just as dangerous as the teeth." Settling in the saddle with a creak of leather, she leans over to look down at Rydia. "What a strange creature, choosing morality, and defining it by its whims."

    "Mn." Rydia's response on the topid of cutting off her pet misbehaving Wolfos is a non-committal one. At first. "I'll... Keep that in mind." Uttered sullenly at the thought of a potential failure in taming the wild beast.
    "If that becomes the case, I'll be done with him and that's it. But, for now, my resources aren't needed elsewhere, are they?" A pointed question as she eyes the young monarch, before sitting herself up in the snow.
    "Well yeah, he hits things with his hooves, and tramples, too. But that horn is the holiest part of the beast's body. When something evil needs dead, that's what it's going to use." Seh says before she shrugs.
    "Would you expect anything less from a fey creature? They're practically whim elementals."
    But that's enough time plopped down, and with a sigh, Rydia picks herself up. "It's about time to start working on supper. You wanna come inside out of the cold? I'll stable that monster you call a horse, for you."

  "No. But it's something to keep in mind if it should ever be," Zelda chides, gently. "I would not attach yourself to those beasts overmuch. Whyt is different, but the others are no better than monsters, and I expect both would turn on you if they ever thought they could get away with it."

  She looks back, turning in the saddle to regard the walls. Everything's been holding up quite nicely since the renovations. Even the unseasonable spring snowfall hasn't done any damage.

  Dinner, and an offer to stable that monster she calls a horse. "I'd just left, but I suppose I can ride patrol later, in the morning light. If you like. Mind the teeth. I've taken to calling him 'Lynel,'" she observes, patting the beast on the neck before sliding off the saddle and heading for the keep. "Meet you in the kitchen, then? I'll help," she throws over her shoulder, before retreating into the gate.

  ...At least it's not Wolfos Soup again.