World Tree MUSH

    Rydia of Mist sure has been spending a lot of time in Kaipo lately. Things had been busy there, since the invasion of the Machine Lifeforms, and a little hectic to boot. But she, along with the help of some others had at least managed to put the Machines on a boat and send them off to be someone else's problem.
    Returning to Snowpeak Garrison is never an easy trek. Even with a convenient vine opening nearby to make the journey more tolerable, going from the intense heat of the desert, to the frigid peaks of the snowy mountainside is a killer shift. Literally killer, for the unprepared, and it has been some time since the girl had returned to the mountain manse.
    That might be why Rydia is bone dead exhausted by the time she does return, making her way for the sleeping chambers, crawling into a bed, and promptly crashing right out for a little while. Though it's not for too long, as the girl starts to stir relatively early on, perhaps troubled by some dream or another.

  The Queen-Regent of Hyrule was the one who had helped her little group of allies win back Snowpeak Garrison, but the queen has been absent for many months; close to a year. She had ascended the mountain one day, claiming she was travelling up to a spring higher up the mountain to pray.

  Zelda had not come back.

  After a few days, her absence could be explained by a supply trip, or a jaunt through the vines into the greater worlds beyond.

  After a few weeks, the chance that explanation was true dwindled.

  After months of absence it seemed likely the princess may have died, somewhere far from her home.

  Then, some time in the night, a robed figure had staggered back down the mountain to the garrison, while the rest of its residents slept. The figure had padded into the barracks some of the others were using as a communal sleeping room, shed the soaking clothing she'd slogged down the mountain in, put something dry on, and collapsed into a cot in the corner, wrapped into the robe, and slept like one dead.

  Now, late into the night, the figure is still there. Rydia's stirring must have hit a particular frequency.

  With a defiant snarl, the figure snaps bolt upright, brandishing a silver knife limned in the yellow of reflected candlelight. Princess Zelda of Hyrule does not look regal, in this moment; she looks wild-eyed and frightened, desperate, chest heaving, eyes wide and unseeing for a moment.

  Wait. When did she get back? And where in the name of the Goddesses has she been?

    Yes, Rydia isn't getting away that easily! Terra is good at tagging along, making sure the little ball of righteous fury doesn't get herself into any more trouble than usual! Also, she feels like she might get lonely sitting alone in the homey little desert town.

    For her, the trek isn't quite so bad. Still exhausting, though she's certainly not drained to the point of crashing! Still, when Rydia beds down it only makes sense that she do so as well. Whether sleep comes or not, she can at least rest and try to be a comforting presence while the small girl tries to alleviate the fatigue of the trek.

    Terra manages to not notice Zelda arrive. That much is true, having nodded off at least briefly. Long enough that such a familiar presence shouldn't really be an issue! Rydia's stirring, however, does rouse her. She rises, only to notice Zelda's figure.

    At first, she doesn't recognize the woman and her first instinct is to lean over to try and shield Rydia's body with her own! Still, she stares and eventually, as her own pulse slowly drops back down to normal, "Sorry, we didn't think to try and anounce ourselves. ... We were tired."

    "Nnh... Nhmnmn...
    Rydia... Is not having a nice dream. That much is bad enough on its own. But she weathers through it with some tossing and turning. Still, it's not restful sleep, and as a result she, too, is easy to wake and susceptible to fits of adrenaline.
    Worried as she has been for the Queen-Regent, other things had come up and distracted the girl, and soon, the princess' status of missing became something of the norm, leaving her to wonder if Zelda had, in fact, died out there somewhere.
    But it's the snarl that wakes Rydia, jade eyes flying open, the child sits bolt upright at the first sign of danger, more awake in a second than she had been for the whole trip up the mountain. A small hand flies under her pillow and in the blink of an eye there's a flash of steel in her grasp as she pulls out the dagger that had been hidden there, already off her cot and trying to push past Terra on sheer fight or flight instinct, her own teeth bared as she uncoils the whip at her hip with her free hand and-... And...
    "... Oh so you're not dead." She says after a beat, chest heaving in a shuddery breath as she tries to control the flow of adrenaline coursing through her system. as she lowers her dagger and whip.
    "So where have you been, anyway? ... I was beginning to think the worst."

  Dressed in a thin shift with eyes wild and half-braided chestnut hair disheveled, Zelda looks less like a regent and more like a peasant who's lost her wits. She stares unseeingly for several longmoments, panting, knife drooping. Slumping, she flings the knife aside with a disgusted sound.

  She doesn't want to live like that, but circumstance has shaped her over the past years.

  "Not dead." The words are thin, reedy. When she sits up, it's clear she's not okay. She's holding her left arm, and she looks too pale and thin. Must have been a rough trek back down the mountain. She looks Rydia over critically.

  A cursory effort is made to try and straighten out her hair; aware, perhaps on some level, that she looks frightful. Something flickers through her blue eyes, though, something troubled and almost confused. "What?" The question seems to take her off her guard in its mundanity.

  "No. Not dead. But that might be a kindness." Zelda sighs, reaching up and rubbing at her face with her right hand. "Up the mountain. To look for signs. To appeal the Goddesses for a sign. How long was I gone, Rydia?" The question has an edge; she sounds almot worried about hearing the answer. "It felt long, but I thought that was just winter. I felt Her Grace whispering to me, but I could not hear what she had to say..."

  "How long was I gone...?"

    What should she do? She doesn't really feel like it's necessary to be aggressive at the person in the darkness. Her night vision isn't exceptional but her training isn't suggesting some kind of imminent threat. At least, so long as she can stop Rydia from trying to wade into combat like a mini berserker. "No, wait-"

    When it really becomes clear, though, that we're dealing with Zelda, that she's actually back and nothing tragic happened... Or rather, nothing deadly? It's tough to think about something like that happening, so she tries to stick with thinking a bit more positive. "Ah, sorry, we weren't sure what happened. It's..." She looks down. How will it feel for Zelda if she just says it? If she doesn't, Rydia certainly will. So, mustering her reserved of not particularly impressive will, she anounces, "It's been months. We... I'm sorry we didn't look harder for you." She drops her head, uncertain what else to say on the matter. Rydia might have more to add, of course.

    Regardless, she moves to cup her hand around one of the candles, shielding it from view as she uses a meager puff of magic to grant at least a scant bit of light to the scene. Hopefull, she worries silently, Rydia won't be terribly bothered by it. "Should I gather more blankets?" Unoccupied stonework forts in this climate? They're gonna be cold.

    A slow breath and Rydia remembers to lower her own dagger and start slowly coiling her whip back up as she listens to Zelda explain just where in the nine hells she had been.
    "Months." Rydia answers. "Four, near five." She confirms Terra's assessment, wiping her brow with the back of her wrist. "... I think I turned eight." She realizes dimly.
    "I didn't even know where you had gone..." She murmurs, sheathing her blade and shaking her head. "No, no more blankets. I'm up now." Decided as she plops back on her cot with a huff. "Things have been so crazy, I lost track of time, myself."

  It takes a second or two for the princess to process what's going on in front of her. She notes Rydia brandishing weaponry like the little berserker she is, and Terra doing her best to hold the smaller girl back from throwing herself into the fray.

  One slim hand flicks in weary acquiesce to Terra's question. That's fine. More blankets probably wouldn't hurt. There isn't a fire in the hearth right now, so extra warmth is always a good thing. It's also something constructive for Terra to do.

  "What...?" Only after Terra speaks does Zelda stare at the half-Esper, before shaking her head. "No. This is your home, too. You don't need to announce yourself, or ask."

  Rydia's observation earns a stare, too, but this time it's almost one of horror. Four //months?//

  "I don't... I only intended..." The statements are quiet, so quiet, stammered almost uncertainly. Gone is the familiar royal confidence and pride. Zelda drops her face into her hands, rubbing at it as she tries to fit the pieces into the puzzle. She had only intended to be up there for a few days, not an entire four and a half months.

  Zelda picks herself up, fights her way out of her mourning cloak, tosses it aside, and plops down next to Rydia. An arm curls around the Summoner, and the princess leans on the Summoner. She feels a little cold still. "I intended to come back in a few days. Not..." Not four and a half months. "I'm sorry, Rydia. Terra." This, much quieter. "I'm sorry." Even quieter.

    Must use hands. Terra still feels best when she's doing something! She brings the candle somewhere handy and sets it down and moves away to gather up a few blankets. She could start a fire but that might be a chore for later. So.

    Despite Rydia's dismissal, she brings an armfull of blankets back to the conversation and without asking helpfully drapes one around Rydia and Zelda. With nothing to say in the face of Zelda's apology, at least right off, she sets another blanket down by the two, then sits across from them with a blanket over her own shoulders. Maybe she's not so terribly bothered by the cold but it seems the thing to do.

    Finally, she shakes her head. "I don't think it could have been helped." It was perhaps a little bit gloomier without Zelda around but far be it from her to want to complain in the face of someone's grief. "We're glad you're here now, at least."

    Four months. Four months, indeed, and once Zelda settles at her side, Rydia glances up. No sooner than that arm goes around her side, her own go around Zelda's waist, burying her face in the princess' side. It's as though the child were unsure that if she were to let go, Zelda might vanish again, at the sound of that apology.
    It couldn't have been helped, Terra says, but one hand comes up and Rydia is wiping at her eyes. "You disappeared. We waited for days, you didn't even send word or anything." Days turned to months, and yet now here they are, Rydia's fingers curl, gripping tightly into Zelda's garments as she heaves a shuddering sigh beneath the blanket draped over her shoulders.
    But she doesn't cry. Rydia of Mist does not cry. She's shed all her tears. And it takes her a moment, but she recovers with another shuddery breath and she slowly lets go.
    "Well. ... At least we can continue your chocobo lessons now."

  Those summer-blue eyes watch every move as Terra gathers up blankets and begins distributing them. She receives the one draped over herself and Rydia with a faint nod, pulling it a little tighter over her shoulders. It is, if nothing else, much warmer than the thin shift she's wearing.

  A small face is buried into her side, and Zelda reaches around to fold both arms around the Summoner of Mist. She doesn't comment on how shaky Rydia's breath sounds. She just holds her with the same kind of tightness, as though all of Snowpeak might disappear like a dream if she let go.

  The princess even smells the same. The soap she favours, incense and spices, a touch of cinnamon and ginger.

  "I did not know. Time..." She breathes in and lets it go in a sigh, troubled. "I think that time flowed differently for me. It has been known to happen, in Hyrule, though not in my lifetime. I thought I was only gone for some days; a week..."

  She sounds pained; tightens her arms around the Summoner before Rydia lets go.

  "I am not leaving again."

  The words are velvet wrapped around steel.

  "We have work to do. We are going to Zora's Domain, and we are discovering the reason for Queen Rutela's silence. Then, we are going to Death Mountain, and recruiting the help of the Gorons. When we have united Hyrule's honoured allies, we will march on Hyrule Castle, and we will throw that wretched cur from my throne, and you will all be given the opportunity to see my home for what it really is."

  She exhales, softly, pulling her side of the blanket tight around herself. "I spent my several days communing with the goddesses. I laid offerings to the Author of Law and beseeched Her for Her guidance. I laid offerings to Her Grace, and spoke with her on what we must do next. So. My absence has not been entirely in vain."

  There's silence as she lets Rydia straighten, and she makes a soft, thoughtful sound low in her throat.

  "I should be disappointed if you did not continue those lessons, Rydia." She smiles, faintly. "Those birds are strangely endearing."

    Seeing Rydia like this, Terra does her best not to frown overmuch. She reaches out to offer a comforting touch through the blanket, at least, though she's confident the little summoner can tough through it even without her.

    Her own reckoning of mild panic upon Zelda's failure to return, she feels, doesn't add a great deal to the conversation. Rydia speaks for them both as far as she's concerned so best to leave it at that. We're moving on to other matters.

    Chocobos and more of Zelda's allies. "If you need help with chocobos I can help as well." Something she actually has some experience with!

    As for establishing contact with Zelda's allies, she edges closer. She doesn't need to say again that she'll help with that, right? Still, she stands and moves to sit, loosely sandwiching Rydia between herself and Zelda.

    "I'll help." More for her own benefit, perhaps but the wods at least felt good to say. Though, as her eyes scan the gloom she wonders aloud, "Are we going to try to sleep first?" Suddenly, she's wondering if she shouldn't get up and go thaw out the firewood. Or perhaps warming the masonry of the fireplace would be enough?

    That familiar scent makes the moment both easier and harder. But all it takes is for Zelda to say she won't be leaving again for the girl to rally. All it takes is a quick dab at her eyes. Because Zelda says there is much to be done.
    "We've got things to do on my world, too. We still need to go to Damcyan before Baron can get to them and their crystal." She points out. But for now baby steps. Finding Zelda's allies and dealing with Baron can come later though. For now the girl lightly leans her weight against the princess, ignoring her status as Queen-regent in favor of just leaning against a friend.
    "Mn. Let's deal with all that when we get to it later, though. I don't think any of us have had a good night's sleep in way too long."