World Tree MUSH

    Creaaaaak. That is the sound of a door opening and closing. By now, those who live here are probably quite familiar with the telltale sound of someone arriving in the library. The footfalls might even give it away as Yumi, stepping lightly and peeking for a moment before entering properly. Someone might be sleeping, after all. "Hallo~?" But in she steps, slinging a loaded duffel bag off one shoulder and setting it down with a satisfied huff. It looks like she's brought something again; specifically, this time the bag looks as if it's full of long-ish, slender boxes, or picture frames or the like.

    Thankfully, the last few days have been relatively quiet. Thankfully. Though a muzzle blast at point blank range was bad enough, everything that came with it left Terra rather sensitive to even the most minor sounds. Still, lately she's feeling quite a bit better and so she's up and about when Yumi slips in. Heading towards the library where visitors are seemingly most likely to wind up, she pauses at the door. "Ah, Yumi, hello. What..." Her eyes go to the duffel bag and the boxes being removed from it. "Have you brought more school work?" She may be talking just a bit on the softer side. Still nursing some injuries but at least she doesn't look like she narrowly escaped an action movie climax anymore.

  Despite all the repairs done to the estate, it still suffers from minor complaints like rusted, squeaking hinges. At least all of the holes have been patched, and the structure has been made completely sound.

  Zelda is here. The princess is sitting cross-legged on her bed, which is pulled nearer to the hearth. That's one luxury she'd made a point of spending her money on -- beds, for everyone who's been staying at Snowpeak. She'd saved the money from building Link's, since there's no real hope of lifting his curse in sight, and it's more economical for him to continue sleeping at the foot of her own bed.

  It's an expense she hasn't regretted for an instant.

  Ankles crossed before her, knees upraised in a sort of half-cross-legged posture, Zelda holds a piece of white cloth in her hands, and very carefully embroiders with white thread on its surface. Her eyes are open wide but fixed wholly on what she's doing, soft summer blue intent in that instant as a hawk. Rise and fall, goes the needle and thread; Zelda's embroidery is steel-true, studied and careful and precise as a machine.

  The thing she's embroidering is a dress -- her ceremonial dress, in fact. White thread on white evokes surreal, mist-like designs; Hyrulean royal symbols juxtaposed with sacred imagery of the goddesses, and prominently featured, the Triforce and the sacred sigils of Din, Farore, and Nayru.

  Her brows quirk and her eyes flick up, though her head doesn't move and her posture never changes. Chestnut brows furrow a little; her greeting dies in her throat as she sees what Yumi's carrying. Sidetracked, she studies the thing for a moment, curious. What is it? And what's in it?

  Counting off and gently tucking her needle sidelong into the thread, Zelda sits up, waving cheerfully to the perfectly normal girl. "Tachibana Yumi," she states, pleased. "I was wondering when you would return. If you had chosen not to come back until after the snowmelt... well, I hardly could have blamed you." Carefully, she lays the embroidery out on her lap to keep it from being wrinkled. Her free hand rises to gesture toward the odd-looking boxes. "What is that you have there...?"

  She's very quiet, most of the time, so it's not much of a surprise that Terra missed her sitting there. Even her bearing is humble and soft; not exactly the sort of personality one could imagine sitting the throne and issuing royal edicts.

    Though Yumi doesn't have the details, she's aware Terra is still on the mend. Her reply is as soft as the half-esper's question, but it comes with a warm smile. "This? No, it's-" Oh! Zelda's here too. In... in a bed. Blink.

    The sight of a bed next to the fire proves incongruous enough that the redhead can't help a little laugh. "I think that's the first time I've seen an honest-to-goodness bed in a library." Her head turns, briefly looking in the general direction of 'the foyer and its stairway'. "Kind of surprised the camp hasn't moved upstairs into the bedrooms, but I guess this has kinda become like a second home."

    She shakes her head. "A-anyway. To be honest, I'm not sure I expect the snow here to ever melt. /Maybe/ in the middle of summer. But this feels like an enternal winter kind of place, I guess." After shrugging out of her usual outermost layer of winterwear, she bends down to the duffel and starts opening it. "But no, this isn't for me. It's for all of /you/! I figure books can only go so far in chasing away the boredom, and eventually you'll run out of busywork to do, so..."

    Plop. A Shogi board. Plop, a Go board too. A deck of bog-standard Poker cards. Plop plop, a few more boxes, a couple larger, a few smaller, all of them board or tabletop games of some sort. Some more modern ones, too. "Here. Stuff to keep you guys busy."

    Terra, clearly still not at her best, looks up and makes a small noise in the back of her throat. "Ah, sorry. I didn't notice you!" The half-esper edges further into the room. Seems Yumi being here was really distracting as well. She doesn't limp but every movement is deliberate and careful.

    The bed in the library doesn't seem so weird to her. The books are certainly a draw and she's only begun to try and figure out what any of them say. A fireplace is certainly never a bad thing either. Just as well that she doesn't have to traverse too many stairs right now, anyway! "I suppose being as far away from the wind as possible is appealing.

    "Mmh. As long as you're fine in the cold." Wouldn't want anyone catching a cold in the mountain air! "For us...?" The games, the cards... It's all odds and nonsensical ends to her. To her recollection she's never even seen a game. Horrific. "What are they for?" She shoots Zelda a questioning look. Someone smart, please help!

  Those gentle blue eyes slide between the boxes and the approaching half-Esper. They narrow with calm and slow deliberation at the care with which Terra moves, and the way she masks a pained reaction to moving or taking her weight just so. She knows. Oh, yes, she knows. There's no use hiding it.

  One of her most useful skills is to harness her divine heritage and mend the wounds of others. She's made that clear to the rest of the party; even if she doesn't have much use in a direct conflict, she can still bind their wounds and staunch the flow of blood.

  The princess wraps her arms around her knees, eyeing Terra sidelong. The posture seems to take a few years off her face; smooth the crease of worry that so often seems at her brow. "Oh, the library. There is a barracks-room, and the third-floor bedroom, but they are still under repair. This room isn't exposed to the wind."

  Terra's questioning look is met by one slightly bewildered from the princess. She doesn't sit up, but she does shrug her shoulders slightly. I don't know, I don't know...!

  "I haven't seen anything like these. What... are these?" Zelda's dubious gaze slides back to Yumi, studying the girl obliquely from her posture.

    Yumi's grin slides into a more playful sort of look. "They're board games. Well, and a deck of playing cards." She taps her hand on this one or that one. "I've got a couple older ones, a couple newer ones... there's a lot of different games you can play with the cards here... there should be rulebooks for just about everything. They're really good ways to pass the time, depending on how much time you have to pass."

    Is she that obvious? Terra has no clue, she's just trying not to limp and shuffle like she was recently beaten half to death or anything. It was fine, everyone was okay! Still have to apologize for all the damage she caused.

    Anyway, once she's in the room she moves a bit closer to Zelda's side. Closer to the fire as well. Without thinking about whether it's appropriate or not, she sits at the foot of Zelda's bed and sighs softly.

    Still, the games are an incredible source of confusion to the half-Esper. Byproduct of her life as it's been spent so far, she stares rather cluelessly at the spread. "Games?" She looks down, wracking her brain before she shakes her head. "I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before. I'm sorry."

  "Oh." Zelda's eyes slide back over to the boxes as their contents are explained. That makes more sense, although the packaging is still weird. Chess and checkers are known quantities in Hyrule, though the pieces might have different names and characters. "We have kingsmen and checkers, and there are card games the soldiers like to play..." Liked. Zelda doesn't voice her correction, but for a fleeting instant her smile is forced, as she puts her sewing aside on an endtable.

  Instead of dwelling on that, her eyes follow Terra as the half-Esper settles at the foot of her bed. There's no hostility in those soft summer-blue eyes, though. In fact, it doesn't seem to bother the princess at all. She merely watches for a moment before glancing back at Yumi.

  In fact, nothing seems to be bothering her too much, right now, and that might be a product of the shadows under her eyes. There's been a lot of work to do over the past few weeks, and there will be much work to do over the next several.

  Her eyes slowly slide closed.

  It's debatable that she may have been pushing herself just a little too hard over the past few days, but her work is almost complete. Once she's gotten this library catalogued and whipped into shape, the construction ought to be done. Once the construction is done... spring will be here, and travel off the mountain will be possible.

  Then, the time will come to travel down from the mountain, following the long road south to the shadows of Faron Wood. There, they will search for an artifact powerful enough to lift the curse from Link, and an answer to face the evils threatening Hyrule.

  But now, with snow still swirling about Snowpeak's spires, there's still much work to be done.

  Zelda doesn't even notice that the conversation might be continuing around her. Her eyes have slid closed, and the steady rise and fall of her shoulders suggest she's managed to drift off while sitting up like that, cheek pillowed on the top of her knee, arms wrapped around her knees and locked at the wrist for how she has her hands clasped.

  A little extra sleep won't hurt anything. Right?

    Terra is suddenly adorable. Yumi can't help it. Even if the girl is older than her, right now she is feeling a sudden sisterly protectiveness. There's a step, a step and another step, and then a hand plants itself lightly in Terra's hair. Ruffle ruffle. "Hey. Don't apologize for not knowing something. Everyone's gotta see something for the first time in their lives at some point, right? Yours just happens to be now." She looks up, about to say something to Zelda... but the princess is in another castle. One all the way in dreamland.

    She turns her eyes back down to Terra, then puts a finger over her lips. Shh. Speaking more softly, she continues. "We can start with the easy ones. Checkers and Go are both pretty simple, at least to pick up. I brought a rulebook with a bunch of different card games you can play, too."

    While genuinely confused and a bit weary from moving about with so much care, even Terra's canny enough to notice Zelda drifting off. The princess really does work herself hard and she certainly deserves whatever rest she can snatch up. So, rather than risk disturbing her benefactor she opts to move-

    But then Yumi's sidled over and ruffling her hair! She offers only a squeak of protest and, keeping her voice soft, "Alright. So these are for entertainment?" She doesn't look dubious or even uninterested. Just confused! Honestly, she seems to be more than out of her element with the whole premise of being entertained. "Alright. Show me?" She gingerly moves from the bed, glancing to Zelda once more before kneeling beside the heap of games and cards. This ought to be interesting!

    "Yep," comes Yumi's soft-voiced, but cheerful reply. She reaches over to grab the box of checkers, slides it over, and unfolds the board. "I mean, they can be good for training your thinking or social skils, depending on the game. Shogi and Go are really popular for strategic thinking. But for the most part, they're just... fun. A way to pass the time that's pleasant. Or maybe enjoy time with friends."

    Out comes the checkerboard, plus two different bags of checkers, red and black. "So, this one is just one-on-one. We each have these pieces, and the goal is to try to capture all the opponent's pieces. Whoever pulls that off is the winner."

    Okay, so despite this being completely alien to her, Terra seems interested! Interested, perhaps a little intimidated. "Really?" She feels like she could use a great deal of either of those things, so she sets herself to do her best at paying attention. Super serious, this game stuff! "I've enjoyed much of my time with you all so far; you've all been so kind to share things like this with me."

    Oh, and now the checkered board comes out which she's quick to touch but not immediately grasp the importance of. The bags get a look but she waits patiently for that bit of the explanation!

    "Mn!" An affirmative nod from Yumi; she's always quite happy to do things like this. "Okay, so. We start out, with all our pieces lined up on the board like this. We set them out... all on the black squares... like so." She demonstrates as she goes, laying out checkers piece by piece; as she explains, she moves pieces to demonstrate. Diagonal movement, jumping other pieces, promoting a piece to King, Yumi takes it step by step, pausing to make sure the esper understands before moving on. "...and that's the basics of it. It's pretty simple, but there's a lot of strategy and thinking ahead to it. Trying to figure out what the other person will do next, or how to get them to play right into your plans."

    "Right!" Terra's into this, whether it will ever really be important or not! "Oh, only on the one color? What about the other?" Then there's the matter of strategy and thinking ahead. She's got some training relevant to that but it's hard to translate combat to this. She thinks. It's all to do with her perception of fighting and what this game is. Harmless distraction versus hurting people? She's either going to be great at this or suck terribly. All or nothing! "So until you can take the other persons pieces you just move once?"

    "Those aren't used for this game. There's a more complex one that uses all the squares, but I think that one can wait." Pause. "...possibly until I actually learn it myself," Yumi admits.

    "That's right, just once. If you can chain jumps together, though, you can go through as many as there are available. In fact, you have to jump if you can," the younger girl explains. "That's part of the strategy. You could lure an opponent into jumping one of yours, in a way that sets you up to jump two of theirs. Just have to be careful that doesn't set them up for another one."

    She resets the board back to a starting state, and then makes a little 'go ahead' motion. "Tell you what. You go first. It should be easy to fix it in your head once you try it out."

    There's a little 'oh' sound that the half-esper murmurs in answer to further explanation. It's all greek, so to speak! "There must be so many if you don't already know them!" Still, Terra tilts her head as she considers the board further.

    "You- Oh." So many rules and implications for such a simple-looking activity! She then does as directed after everything is reset and she nudges the piece forward as shown, right up the middle. Diagonally, of course! "Is that right? And now you go?"

    "Right, and now I go." Yumi reaches out to move one of her pieces. "And it just goes back and forth like this, until one of us wins. Or we end up in a draw where neither one of us can take the other's last piece, I guess." Her own playstyle is moderate to conservative; she's decent overall, but she does take it easy so as to let Terra start getting a handle on the game.

    Once the pace of the game has picked up just a tad, Terra demonstrates that she was indeed paying attention. Though her technique is either lacking or she's perhaps being a bit too single minded. She's aggressive! Pushing pieces forward and seizing every opportunity to snatch pieces. "This is so strange. Is this what you do when you don't have your work? I hope everything is going well, at least." She scoots another piece, making a little sound of discomfort from the movement. Finally, it seems like trying to be tough and keep everyone else from worrying is starting to get tough.

    "It's one of the things," Yumi confirms. "The girls at school like to sit and talk, or go shopping, or watch shows together, or do karaoke... I do some of that stuff now and then, but I guess I'm not really a very 'girly' girl." She's taking the chance to talk; checkers is easy to talk over, and Terra looks like she could use the distraction. "I read, or I play games, or I go out and volunteer to help with after-school clubs or whatever... I guess I'm just more of an active person. I was kinda tempted to join the Kendo Club, but..." A shrug, and a look around the room. "I wouldn't have enough time to devote to it. I'd feel bad."

    Hearing what other supposedly normal people do and understanding little of it makes Terra fidget somewhat. Sitting and talking seems well enough, at least. "Girly girl?" She reaches for a piece to move, shifts a bit, then relaxes a bit more. "Karaoke? Kendo club? If you're volunteering, though, why would you feel bad? It's your time to use as you like, correct?"

    "Oh, nono, I mean..." Yumi indicates the room again, this time with a gesture of her hand. "I'm offworld so much. Zelda's... pretty much my first friend, and Rydia's my second. If I had to pick between a club and you guys, you'd win every time. But a club is a serious commitment, especially a martial art like Kendo. If you can't make the time, you shouldn't sign up," she declares, in a sage tone.

    Making her own move, the girl adds, "There's a lot of things that're generally thought of as... 'girly' stuff to do. And 'manly' stuff to do. Most of the way I spend my time I guess counts as neither, though. I'd rather be out doing something that matters."

    "Oh. I feel the same way, then. I don't remember anyone else from before," she lies, omitting something rather unpleasant. "I suppose that makes all of you my first friends, as well." She makes a move, though it's a bit distractedly. "Kendo is a martial art?" She knows how to fight but she's unsure how comfortable she is doing it, still.

    "I don't think that's a bad thing. I don't think I'm very girly or anything either. I suppose I'm not sure what it means to be anyway." So again, she decides that she feels the same way. Doing something that matters. Hm. She can't help, at that moment, to feel like her pain and discomfort from what she did on Peach's boat is worth it.

    Yumi nod-nods. "Yeah, though... well, it grew out of Japanese styles of sword fighting, but it's so formalized that it's more like a competitive sport than a proper fighting style these days. Everyone wears padding, and uses a special kind of bamboo stick called a shinai. There's a system for scoring hits and everything. These days it's more about self-betterment, sportsmanship and the spirit of competition." Completely failing to realize how adult she sounds for a moment, Yumi reaches out to the board, and...

    ...Oh. Terra seems to have left herself wide open. The redhead feels bad, but... jump. Jump jump. "King me."

    Sword fighting... Terra remains somewhat distracted while sliding pieces about the board, inadvertantly setting herself up for a fall. "It sounds interesting! I suppose in a way it's like a game as well?" Just a bit more skill and physical activity involved. "I think it would suit you. If you had the time."

    Then she looks on, rapt, as her disorganized army of pieces is laid waste and can't help but squeak out a little laugh. She covers her mouth, trying to stifle the sound. As if that might stop the twinge of her aching ribs. "W-well done!" She takes one of the previously claimed pieces, reaches over and places it atop Yumi's head. Like a crown. Okay so maybe she missed a thing or two.

    Blink. Blink blink.

    Yumi's hands go up to her mouth, stifling the giggling fit that threatens to erupt. "N-no, not- not me, the-" Pfff. Oh goodness, that's entirely too adorable for words. It takes a minute for her to recover herself; then she reaches up to pluck the piece off her head and set it down atop her piece instead. "Th-thank you for the vote of confidence, though," she adds, biting back the last of the giggles. "I feel like I could do the sword thing, I guess. Cecil says I've got really good form already. So if I was gonna do a club, that'd probably be the one. Your move, by the way."

    Maybe it's the seeming randomness of her act! Or the totally earnest way she carries it out. Still, Terra looks on seemingly perplexed as Yumi struggles with her mirth. Then, ohhhh right that's what the king part was about. She misunderstood! She taps one of her knees and nods, "Right. I could show you a little, though I don't remember being trained I know how to use a sword." She's hardly a genius with her sword but she's certainly capable. "Oh, right, sorry." She scoots a piece forward, "Oh, that must be the person Rydia speaks of. He must be nice." For someone tough like Rydia to get along with? They certainly must be something!

    "Cecil? He's a good man," Yumi agrees. "He's been meaning to give me some lessons with a blade, too. I wouldn't mind it from both of you, though!" Never hurts to have a bit of diversity in training. She looks over the pieces for a moment, thoughtful. Then, she reaches out, and slides her king back towards her - putting it in a good position to mess with Terra's pieces from within their own lines. "That feeling's weird, though, isn't it? Knowing how to do something, but not knowing how you know..."

    Terra keeps singlemindedly pressing forward, doing damage in the process but probably not effectively. "Mmmh. I've met so many people that have all been very kind. I suppose I'm lucky." She could have met that man in the armor first. His words do kind of pain her though she says nothing on that. "I- yes. Those machines..." She shakes her head, not wanting to dwell on that either. "As well, my ability to use magic. All I know is that I'm different somehow."

    A piece lost here, a piece lost there - for the moment, Yumi is content to keep her king out of direct trouble, and skirmish by moving other pieces forward. "...we have that in common, huh," Yumi replies, her smile growing a little sad. "No idea who we are, but we know we're different somehow. I'd love to know what it means that I can sense... one, particular, single type of magic..." Yumi pauses. Looks at the board. Yet another moment where it feels mean to move, but... jump jump jump. That king was in just the right spot. Yumi looks apologetic.

    "Mmh. I'm sure we'll find out someday. I'll be happy to do whatever I can to help!" Terra offers a comforting smile, putting aside her own fears and doubts about herself. She at least has a lead, some inkling of what to do. Then she makes a soft squeak as she watches another epic chain jump. She's down a fair number of pieces and only just now getting a tab in range of your side of the board. "Oh! I should be more careful. Mm." She rests back on her haunches, watching the board with interest.

    Yumi's smile returns, and she nods firmly. "Likewise. Anything I can do to help, I will." She knows that's not much, but at this point, she's glad of any way she can return the favor for people who've helped her. She looks at the board, thinking for a moment. "If I can offer some help, it can be good to think of things from your opponent's perspective. For example, if I were to, say... move this piece here," she points, "I think you'd probably move /that/ piece right there, right? But then I could move this one here, and... see how that sets up another jump?"

    The redhead reaches down to move the indicated piece. "See if you can think of a way out of this one."

    There's some serious staring at the board at Terra's end of things. She watches the proposed moves and hums softly. She waits for her turn, then goes on the attack. Tap tap. "King me!" She's back in the running! But probably not really. "Ah! I see. Was that the correct move?" Or something totally unforseen!? Either way, she shifts and leans back against the bed, still favoring one side heavily. "Are all of the, ah, games for two people?" Ohooo curious.

    "-ah." Blink blink. For a second, Yumi looks flabbergasted. "I... I didn't even see that move. I expected you to make another one entirely." There's an embarrassed chuckle. "There you go. You're getting the hang of it, I think." She taps her chin for a few seconds, considering her options, and then reaches out to make another move. "Hm? Oh, no, some of them are for several people. There's even a card game you can play alone, called Solitaire. I think this one, Shogi and Go are the only ones that are strictly two-person. I even brought a game that's more talk-y."

    "Ah! Sorry! I thought-" Well, okay, Terra might not have operated as she was being directed but it seems like another minor success! "I'm sure we'll have time to get to all of them eventually. I wonder if Rydia will like these." This seems like the kind of thing you could do to entertain someone so young. "Ah? A... Talky?" Oh no. A game that requires talking. A terrifying prospect, to be sure!

    Nod nod! "The idea on that one is that everyone is playing a member of a resistance against an evil government, except one or two people are secretly spies for the government," Yumi explains, making another move almost without thinking. "And the only way to figure out who's a mole is by watching how people vote each round, and talking it out. I've never played it, but it sounded like a lot of fun."

    "Huh? That..." Sounds uncomfortably familiar! Terra nods, though, "I'm not sure I would be very good at that." Might still try it with a little coaxing! She answers that move with one more of her own. The field of pieces has really thinned out by now! "It's strange. I'm not sure if I've ever had fun before meeting you all." Aww.

    That is a very sad thing to hear. Yumi bites her lips for a moment, and then nods firmly. "Alright. Then we clearly /both/ have to make up for lost time. We'll have a game night this week or something. We'll make Zelda and Cecil and Rydia join too. And then maybe some time soon I'll have you out to Natsuto, and show you some of the fun stuff to do there."

    Terra doesn't really feel sad about it. It is, like everything else about her, a mystery. She offers a smile, trying to offer a bit of a comforting facade. "Certainly. And thank you. For this- For all of this. I'm sure the others will enjoy it as well." The very thought of getting someone as serious-but-kind like Zelda to do something like this makes the corners of her mouth quiver. It's a daunting thought but not unamusing! "I'd like that as well." Going out and seeing more than just these two worlds has been... Harrowing at times. Hopefully the third time will be a charm?