An Uneventful Journey's Beginning? (Open)

"Lon Lon Inn"
(Inn of Lon Lon Ranch)
Nicholas Muller (Nicholas Muller)
Datura (Sinistrari)
Faust (Sinistrari)
Erick Marten (MonkeyIslandfan1)
Ryu Clark (Ceptus780)
Mako, Skultula Knight (Skultula)
----​

The sun was setting over Hyrule Field and the veil of twilight was beginning to spread over the land. In the distance Nicholas was walking North towards Castle Town after having parted with a caravan that he had accompanied to traverse Death Mountain. He took another look at his crude map as he continued onward trying to estimate how much further he had left. This particular map had little details of anything aside from major landmarks and villages. After having stared at the map for several minutes, failing to determine his actual distance, Nicholas sighed to himself and put the map away in his satchel. He looked back up to see what looked like a settlement of some sort in the distance.


The sun was completely set by the time Nicholas arrived at the main entrance to Lon Lon Ranch. “This place seems nice enough” Nicholas said to no one in particular. He didn't notice a farmhand nearby and was surprised to hear a response back. “This place is definitely nice enough if you ask me. It's also got a nice inn over there if you need a place to lay your head for the night.” Nicholas thanked the farmhand and quickly made his way over to the inn. Upon entering he saw that it wasn't too crowded and had several empty tables. The bartender was a cute redhead that was cleaning some mugs while a waiter was going from table to table serving drinks and taking orders. Most of the patrons seemed to be farmhands as well from the way they were dressed and the way they acted so casually amongst one another. Although few gave Nicholas a wary eye before returning to their drinks and conversations.


He made his way over to a round table in the corner of the inn and saw that the table was already set to accommodate a small group. Nicholas moved to take a seat and sat his satchel down beside him, quickly pulling out his journal to write down the days events. ‘Or lack of events,’ Nicholas thought to himself as he began writing with his quill. He had a small smile on his face as he began chronicling the days gone by.


“Well, I've finally reached a place to stay for tonight. I'm at a rather large ranch, respectively called Lon Lon Ranch. Not much has happened here so I'll recount the last few days since I've neglected my journal for so long. After skirting along the edges of the Tantari Desert I happened upon a small caravan on the southern side of Death Mountain. They allowed me to join and said they knew a relatively safe passage through. Well, they weren't kidding. Nothing happened. I came out here looking for adventure and so far I've only stubbed my toe on a rock. I guess I shouldn't complain, it's not like I'm much use in a fight. Though they did enjoy my flute playing. It's always nice to hear that others enjoy my music. Though they didn't appreciate when I claimed a boulder ahead was a sleeping Goron that was rumored to be extremely cranky when woken up. The kids in the caravan got a good laugh out of it when I made a roaring noise as the merchants attempted to roll the boulder over. We parted ways once we reached Hyrule Field and they pointed me towards Castle Town. They were a kind group and I hope to run into them again one day. I can only hope they have had just as much trouble in their journey as I've had so far. Which is none, if any clarification was needed.”


Nicholas marked the page, putting his quill and journal away figuring he had written enough for tonight. He looked back up and noticed that the inn had gained a few more patrons. The inn’s atmosphere was lively with the sound of conversations and laughter but Nicholas felt it was lacking something. With this thought he pulled out his flute, leaned back in his chair, and began to play an old song he knew from back home. ‘Hopefully no one will mind.’ Nicholas thought to himself as he closed his eyes and began to lose himself in his music.

Introducing: Datura​

“Is that all?” Teased a sultry voice, thick with a Southern accent. The words and its following brief, warm laugh chimed nearby: close to Nicholas but perhaps not close enough. He was, after all, an artist enraptured in his own little meditation – closed eyes and all.

Lingering and narrowing with sly mirth, vibrant gold eyes peered at the red-head over the rim of her veil, the corners crinkling as a starkly painted smile of crimson curled across her cheeks. She deliberated for a moment and then acted. In one smooth, experienced movement and a jingle of all her exotic golden jewellery, Datura had seated herself very close to the kid. Her chin rested on the soft touch of the back of her hand and she continued to stare, waiting, daring the stranger to notice her presence.

Increased proximity had naturally raised the volume of her voice when the Gerudo spoke again. “Perhaps if you play a little louder we could work together. It’s not a song that I know but that’s no obstacle. In fact, that actually makes the whole thing more tempting.”

-​

Introducing: Faust​

“You’re the doctor?” Boomed an inquiry from the bar. A very robust, almost grotesquely hairy man was busy wiping down some tankards with a scrap of thick linen. His red-haired daughter had adamantly insisted on taking care of the customers directly in order to give him ‘some rest’, but whether his little cutiepie was doing well or not he was far too much of a practical man to simply fidget in some distant corner while his family did all the work. Besides, what if one of these gits makes a move on her? Mind you, a doctor would be a good catch.

The bartender’s father paused and began to scrutinise the stranger’s appearance under a new light. The silver monocle suggested a damaged eye but other than that he was a relatively handsome lad. Tall, fairly lean, he had approached the bar with a subtle limp in one leg but the scars on his deeply tanned, almost chocolate flesh suggested he had seen his fair share of brawls. (Though unbeknownst to the father, most of the marks were leftover reminders of some Bladed Healing.) The doctor looked like he could handle himself and handle himself well enough to protect someone - like his daughter – should the need ever arise. Yet it was the languid intelligence in the man’s habitually sharp stare which left the strongest impression.

“Faust.” The doctor introduced himself clipped and blunt with a brief nod of his head. The Hylian was completely – and blissfully – ignorant of the bartender girl’s father eyeing him up for a marriage match. Which honestly was for the better. “Talon?”

“Aye. Want a pint?”

“Whiskey: straight. Volvagia’s Breath if you have any.”

“Nah. But I got some Bombflower Bile.”

A wry smirk twisted Faust’s lips. “Sounds close enough.”

Settling himself down at the bar on one of the many wooden stools, the doctor was finally able to unbuckle his heavy White Wolfos fur and leather coat, and feel the stinging bliss of relief as his booted feet found rest at last. He exhaled, silently through a small smile. And before his drink could make it to him Faust had already dug around in his pockets and unsheathed another lollipop to feed his addiction: this one a charcoal black and of a peppery, roasted Morth flavour.

“You’ll be staying the night then, I take it?” Talon pressed as he clinked the glass tumbler down on the counter before him.

“Are you paying?” Faust pressed, cocking a brow.

“Aye.”

“Then yes.” The two shared a little chuckle. Well, that is until Faust actually looked at his drink and its minute, stingy beggar contents. “And what the fuck is this?” A disgusted scowl distorted his face as he grabbed the glass in a fist, glaring at it with acute disapproval and examining it with disbelief. “Hey. Even if I happened to drop it there wouldn’t be anything to lose. And you charge how much for this?”

“Five rupees.”

A breathless long hiss of a ‘wow’ trailed from Faust’s mouth. He shook his head and tutted, only to swiftly down the whiskey anyway. “I’m not paying that much.” He stubbornly clarified after the one hard swallow and its delightful, hot burn.

“I gathered.”

The sun was gone, and the moon was rising when Erick got off of a wagon ride from Nabooru and he had a good amount of energy to burn because of a nap he took on the way so he began to wander around town to look for an inn. "Ah what a great night and nice looking ranch," he thought "I wonder if there's an inn here, I wouldn't mind sleeping outside tonight but an inn would be better, maybe that guy knows." Erick walks toward a farmhand, asked for directions, and was pointed in the right direction.

As he entered the Inn he saw that there wasn't many people in the lobby, This made him feel a bit more comfortable, "Okay Let's see what we have here, there's a bar with what's possibly the owner of this place talking with someone, a fair amount of chairs and tables with two waiters taking care of people sitting at them, and what looks like stares to a second floor that might be where the rooms are." Taking another look around the room, Erick looked for anyone who might be willing to talk to him, "Hmm don't see anyone, well I should probably see if they have any food I would like, might even make friends with one of the waiters." He was about to go to a table when someone in the corner caught his eye, "Wait do I know that person, is that, Datura? Hmm she's talking with someone it looks like, and the veil makes it hard to tell that it's her, but I should say hello in case it is her."

Erick made his way towards the two, making sure not to bump into anyone as he did. When he got close enough he knew that it was Datura, and felt a lot better seeing a familiar face, Or in this case familiar jewellery because her veil made it hard to recognize her at first. "Hey Datura," he greeted, "didn't expect to see you here, how have you been and who's your friend here?" Erick said everything with a smile while extending a hand to his friend to shake.

As night fall hits Ryu makes his way to the ranch after looking for Treasure. "Man what a waist of a day" he thought "I should find a job to do. There is bound to be one around here somewhere. Maybe tomorrow I will look." He walks towards the the in. He opens the door and sees all the people and freezes, after a few seconds he closes it and goes to the back of it and sits on a box." There goes getting food" he says.
He looks through the window seeing if he knows anyone at least. "Is that Faust?" He stares thinking back to how he
tried to help his mother get better. He thought about how he used to hate him, but that was a long time ago. Ryu sighs and sits with his back to the wall and pulls out some bread and begins to eat.

A single figure joins the herd of interesting faces that seemed to be converging upon a rather uninteresting location. A male, no older than seventeen strode by himself in the now dark gray evening light. He gave a stranger outside the inn a respectful breadth, as he clearly wanted to be left apart from the commotion of Hylian contact, and his leather boots left silent impressions upon the sod. Seconds after he passed, however, something would scurry above the man's head. Right acrossed the wall, and around the corner out of sight.

If the male, dressed in white, had noticed the odd life form tailing him he didn't seem to mind. Mako opened the door to the inn, illuminating his form.

He did not seem to be battle worn, or scuffed, or grave. In fact, compared to the other non-farming types in the bar, he appeared rather fresh. This assumption would be completely correct. Mako had never even set foot in a bar before this very night.

Just before the door to the outside shut, anyone who's eye was trained on the new arrival would also notice a blur of soft brown tint enter the gap just before it closed. Where it went, however, one could only guess.

"Catch anything good, girl?" Said the teen, almost as a whisper. Whom he was addressing he left anyone who could hear to wonder. He wore a wry smile on his face, along with a white mask that looked unmistakably like the husk of a Skulltula. His hair was sandy brown, his eyes dark and piercingly blue. Mako's only armor he wore was light and leather over his white clothes. On his back hung his sword and shield, roughly the size of his torso.

Mako's ears were graced with a fine music to his right, and his eyes met a woman whom stood out, unmistakably a Gerudo. She seemed to be fixing to start entertaining the inn's occupants along with the floutist. Another man was apparently trying to get her attention, and another at the bar made up the last noticable figure in the room. All undoubtedly adventurers of various caliber. Mako had a rather good feel for nights like this, when many people of their own rights and ways gathered in one spot. Something worth being in a location so unassuming was going to happen. Even if he had to make it happen.

Lost in his music, Nicholas did not notice the Gerudo woman at first. It was that way until she was near. Very near, in fact. Nicholas heard the woman's offer to play some music with him startlingly close by and opened his eyes to find that the source of the offer came from a beautiful woman right next to him. If he hadn't been leaning against the back of his chair already he would have instinctively jumped back in surprise.


His eyes showed his surprise and remained that way as he took in the woman before him. Her skin was a deep tan color that was very unusual for Hylians, her eyes a gold color that matched much of the jewellery she wore in abundance, and red hair similar to his own. At first glance he was amazed at the woman's natural beauty before realizing this woman must be a Gerudo. Her clothes were very revealing and the way she held herself was exactly how he had heard Gerudo women did. Confident, alluring, and powerful all at the same time.


Nicholas did not realize until after he had reached his conclusions that he had been staring at the woman for a good minute after her proposition. He quickly attempted to recover by coughing into his fist. “I would never turn down the offer to play alongside a fellow musician, especially a beautiful one like yourself.” Nicholas finished with a small smile and decided to take a moment to scan the bar as he hadn't noticed the new crowd of people that seemed to have stumbled in as he played. A rather large man was by the bar but be couldn't make out too much about him from the back of the room. Another new patron was seated in the back, eating while sitting on a lone crate. Nicholas frowned slightly and wondered why someone would choose to sit on a crate alone rather than finding a table with others near by. His attention was diverted suddenly by the voice of someone across the table from him.


Nicholas looked up to see a young man, no older than himself, talking to the woman next to him. The Gerudo woman’s name seemed to be Datura and judging from the offered salutary hand the young man offered her, they seemed to be on good terms. After politely waiting for the two acquaintances to greet one another Nicholas spoke up to introduce himself to both Datura and the young man. “I’m Nicholas, it's nice to meet you both.” He said with a friendly smile.


From another table someone said, “Hey, why did the music stop?!” “Yeah, let's hear another!” These ramblings were slightly slurred as the patrons were in the midst of drinking their alcoholic beverages. “Well, if seems like we have quite the audience. Shall we?” He directed toward Datura before continuing onto the young man. “Do you play?” Nicholas did not notice a new face had entered again and was looking in their direction. Nicholas was excited to play since the patrons seemed to enjoy his playing. These were the adventurous nights he knew he would love writing about in his journal. New acquaintances, a content crowd, and the melodious tunes of his flute.


What Nicholas did not know was that lurking just out of sight of the farm was a gathering of men. These men had been riding for a long time and had heard about the successful and prominent Lon Lon Ranch. These men weren't merely travelers however, they were a ruthless group of bandits that stole what they wanted and burned the rest so no one else could have what they left. They bided their time. Waiting for the right moment to strike hard and fast. They had done this enough to know when people were at their most vulnerable and that happened to be when all workers would be drinking and eating after a hard day's work. So they waited, their bloodlust and greed growing within their hearts.

Erick shook his head. "No, I don't. I never got to hold instruments much when I was younger and in the times that I did it wasn't for very long, but you two have fun - I look forward to the performance."*

Delicious anticipation crinkled Datura’s eyes, her pearly white teeth shining through even her veil as her lips parted in a wide, expressive smile. It was disappointing that the young man couldn’t join their display but she was far more used to performing than cooperating anyway. Like any other time, the thought of lavishing her beauty upon others for appraising stares and loosening wallets made her feel like a girl again. Besides, she wasn’t sure Erick had even been watching her dance back on the ferry! But she’d make certain he took notice this time.

The Gerudo turned her triumphant, excited smile upon her fellow redhead, and leaned a little closer to whisper, as if it were a secret, “Well then, Nicholas, let’s put on a show! Play it a little louder this time.” She graced his thigh with a parting hand and with a silent laugh elegantly chimed onto her feet.

Room…was perhaps a bit of an issue. Her golden eyes skimmed across her environment with a scrutiny that could’ve been better impressed, yet for all that it lacked in dimensions the inn made up for in its contents: the vast majority of the population male, and thus far from immune to her charms. Easy prey. The butterflies giggled in her chest.

After a nod to Nicholas for him to begin, the Gerudo languidly made her way to a nearby clearing with purposeful, curving hips and at a brushing distance to those she passed by – for the full effect of her Aroma Ring. It took a few beats for the music to sink in. As the song was entirely new it needed some initial patience to dissect its melody, her ears opening to every nuance in the falling and rising pitches. But soon - perhaps surprisingly soon to any onlookers - Datura could predict the song’s path. After one last pause, to ensure she was correct in her suspicions, she allowed another cluster of notes to drift on by before the jingle of her golden ornaments stepped in.

Just like the hot, merciless home of the song’s birth the Gerudo matched her dance accordingly. Her feet pounded, her jewellery rattled, striking a resilient beat under the flute’s melody without error or pause. Once that settled into habitual comfort in came the movements: fluid, almost tribal, exaggerated glides of her limbs. Somewhere between celebrating and practising martial techniques her body bewitched its onlookers with lithe leaps, twirls, kicks and dives, swooping and rising like the dry, scorching air of the Eastern Caves themselves. With each descent her layers of transparent fabric flowed. Where she leapt they bloomed. Where she spun they tugged and twirled, sultry reds and harmonious pinks marking her every movement with fluent trails.

-​

As the sun bled its last, Faust had absent-mindedly noticed the inn begin to swell in its numbers, new faces appearing in the crowd with growing volume and colour. One or two he fancied he knew. Some others he desired to know, if for nothing but to quench his curiosity: like the masked, fresh boy who was talking to himself - apparently. Memories itched at the back of his mind at the lonesome sight of the boy on a distant crate, something about his earlier practices tugged at his heart, a mother, encroaching death and blood, cold blood. But then it was all gone, drowned out by people cluttering his line of sight and the much lighter, more welcome distraction of some performers.

Signalling for a prompt refill, the doctor leaned one elbow onto the bar and turned languidly to fully face the exotic sight prancing about before them all. The song was a new one, previously unheard of, but that was to be expected since he didn’t often frequent places like this: his tolerance for alcohol was built upon a mostly solitary practice. The dancing Gerudo was a feast for the eyes and try as he might, a little ashamed as he was, he couldn’t pull his eyes off of her.

And she noticed.

It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t his imagination or a trick of the light, she blatantly, so obviously noticed him. She shot a wink in his direction and Faust felt his heart simultaneously combust. It took all he had for Faust to break the spell a some long minutes later, his heart still thundering in his bashfully burnt ears as he silently cursed at himself for being such a shy, inexperienced softie and turned sharply away.

“Another.” The doctor managed through a hiss of his teeth, promptly downing his drink and clinking down its now empty vessel. He needed far more alcohol than just this if he was to muster any courage, let alone for a Gerudo.




*Don't worry, I got Monkey's permission to auto his character briefly! I also hope you don't mind me taking liberties with your character starting up the song again, Nicholas. I wanted to get some dancing in just in case you launched the bandits in soon!

After Erick answered Nicholas's question and wished them luck, he sat down in the chair next to Datura's, and noticed a familiar scent. "Huh, there's that smell again, now I know it's her perfume, interesting that I'm just now smelling it but that's not important, for now I'll watch her performance, it's the least I can do for her saving me and everything." The more Erick smelled the Aroma Ring his head started to feel a bit fuzzy. "Huh guess I'm more tired then I thought, but this doesn't feel like my normal fatigue and I don't feel particularly tired... eh whatever it's probably nothing, oh she's starting."

As Erick watched her dance he was impressed with how quickly she recovered and matched up to the tempo of the music, her movements where in sync and moved naturally with the sounds Nicholas was making with his flute, with how well she handled the Big Octorok fight and with her performance here, Erick couldn't help but be impressed by her, how much of this was because of the Aroma Ring or just his normal thought process is anyone's guess.

After the music ended and Datura finished her dancing, applause rang out from the audience and Erick was one of them, Erick proceeded to take out his rupee bag, pulled out two blue rupees, and turned to Nicholas. "You two did good the music was great, here's some rupees." Erick placed them on on the table in front of Nicholas. "So I'm wondering, how did you lern to play the flute, and what song was that?"

Ryu lissens to the music through the wall as he still sits on the box. After awhile he gets up and walks to the horse stable. As he walks he thinks about his old life. Before his mother died. How they did so much just to get some money to buy bread or whatever they could. He even saved up to get his mom flowers every time he could. "Man those where some good old days" He said to himself "But they are long gone" He looks down.

When he gets to the stable he pets some of the horses as he walks his way down to the horse named Luna. He pets he smooth brown skin and clears brass out of her black main. "Maybe one day I can get you out of here." He tells her smiling. He climes up onto her back and looks up though the small missing boards in the roof at the starts and lissens to the crickets and wind blow through the trees. Ryu smiles "This life is not so bad, just missing some friends"

Mako had enjoyed the music, the atmosphere, and the smell. Taking a seat at the bar halfway through the song, he caught a whiff of something heavenly. It was thick and sweet like a french whore, but not quite as strong and overwhelming. He turned in his barstool, following his nose to a dancing enchantress. She was a sight, and it was lucky noone could see Mako`s full expression due to his mask, because it was a tad creepy. His face was smiling wryly at her as she moved, and his eyes were on the verge of hungry. He had never truly been attracted to a woman before now. Never meet anyone who held his interest for more than a second.

It was mere moments after the song ended that Mako tore his sight away from Datura. Her dance ended, he looked at the ground and applauded with the rest of the crowd. Under normal circumstances he would have joined into the music with his Uke, if for no other reason than to show off. What distracted him about this Gerudo he could only guess.

It was then that his brow furrowed. He felt something, strange. It was a feeling he was used to, but never quite ready for. His ears twitched, their piercings jangling with the movement. He felt that something was going to happen tonight. Soon. Something none were prepared for. What it was he could only guess. The downside of this ability, the Sense ability, was that he could Not pinpoint WHAT was about to happen. Only that it would happen. So, Mako did the only thing he could think of to do at the moment.

"Bartender! I'll have a glass of whatever that red liquid is, please." Absolutely nothing.

Nicholas nodded in understanding and gave a parting smile to Erick before following the beautiful Gerudo woman to where she planned to dance. He had noticed the gentle touch she had given his thigh and a blush quickly appeared on his face. He stood a few feet away from her as he began to play the same song from before. The song itself was a lively and upbeat, allowing Datura to easily dance to it. Nicholas wasn't usually one for perfumes but he couldn't help but notice Datura's as he breathed through his nose during the performance. While he was focused on the song his eyes often wandered her curves. Nicholas felt ashamed somewhere deep down as he never eyed women lustily but for some reason that shame was easily buried with each new breath of the perfume. Any sense of impending danger was easily ignored due to the influence the strange aroma had on him.


The song ended too soon in his opinion, but all good things did come to an end and he returned to his seat. Nicholas was glad at the applause but he had a feeling a majority of it was for Datura's dance and not his flute playing. When he saw Erick slide the two blue rupees toward him his eyes widened in surprise before he quickly pushed them back toward Erick. "I don't play for money, I play because I love music and how it brings people together." He said with a genuine smile. "I learned from playing horribly as a child. Music was a sort of escape for me growing up in the Western Caves. We had lost a lot when we lost our home town but we never lost our love for music. It brought everyone together, you know? As for the song, it's one of the many we play back home. Though I do know of one that is quite special." He added before leaning back in his chair again.


Nicholas noticed that the boy on the crate was gone and frowned again at the sight. He hadn't noticed him leave. Everyone else looked the same to him, though it was once again hard to see anyone who happened to be sitting away from him at the bar.

It was a rather brief performance but impatience was an underrated virtue. Short and sweet it packed one potent punch to her enraptured audience, over far sooner than many would've liked. They fawned and she smiled. They fell deeper and she caught their savings on the way down. Datura had no objections to receiving their gifts when they assaulted her from all directions in a burst of tides, from the pretty little gems that served as currency to the hungry grins and leering stares. In truth, she loved it. They thought she was theirs. Ha. On the contrary they were all hers.

The vibrant, dazzling smile of content pride was still creasing dimples in the Gerudo's cheeks when she turned back to her fellow musician and her young friend. She was just finishing up tightly packing her fresh wealth into the purse tied to her upper thigh's garter when her stare caught sight of Erick's own little gift. To claim that too? Nicholas certainly showed no interest. Indeed, if only a few more moments passed the opportunity might be gone altogether!

"Then don't mind if I do."

With that sultry, indulgent confession, Datura leaned forwards and snatched the two blue rupees. Her sleek hand moved like a Keaton's paw, sweeping the treasure off the table and between her breasts in the blink of an eye. There was a taunting mirth to her raised eyebrow as she looked between the two boys: one that said, 'if you're that bothered, then come take it back'. But somehow, she doubted they would dare.

She did feel perhaps just a little bit guilty for preying on the kids though. Even for her it felt somewhat-....dare she admit it, wrong? They weren't that much older than her beloved Remei at the end of the day!

But still, to have such influence over even the young ones is flattering. Datura bit down on her lower lip to stop the laugh.

“Drinks?” She offered. “Perhaps then Nicholas can tell us some more stories of back home and you Erick, can confess to what you’ve been up to since I last saw you!”

From under her veil she flashed a grin that evidently wasn’t taking no for an answer. Indeed, scarcely a few moments later she was off wading through the rather intimately clustered crowd to the bar, leaving nothing behind but the fading trail of her Aroma Ring and a few glimmers of her jewels as they were swallowed behind the strangers.

“A round of three please, Sir!” She called out, clear and bright.

Forget decorum, Datura weaved her own way through the growing queue, squeezing in between one admittedly rather handsome monocle-clad man to the left and a strangely masked arachnid type on the right. Peculiar strangers, but buff enough for her to not at all mind when elbows and shoulders brushed as she forced her way in against the bar.

-​

Faust’s face blazed and he nearly lost his life, right there and right then, to a vicious fit of coughs as he promptly choked on his drink. Caught somewhere between intense embarrassment and flustered surprise it took all he had for the doctor to try and rebuild his composure after many silently suffocating attempts; the warmth of the nearby dancer sending all sorts of thoughts tingling through his head with crimson shame. As soon as he forced that rough mouthful down he swiftly downed another.

When he set the glass tumbler down, it landed hard, striking the wooden top with a sloppy grip and then fidgeting fingers. He scratched the back of his neck with his other hand. Coughed. Then averted his eyes in a direction completely opposite to the Gerudo with blatant awkwardness. The much more sombre thoughts on the young man who’d been pulling at his memories and just left to the stables were long gone. Whether it was the dancer’s perfume or his drink, he was most certainly intoxicated with one thing or another.

Being a respectable man was difficult. Sensibility told him that he should follow the blue-haired kid to uncover the mystery but the rest of his mind, body and soul defiantly denied such orders. He scarcely even dared breathe in case it prompted the Gerudo lean off him.

Any second now his heart was going to explode, and Datura could feel it.

"Ah yeah I read about what happened back home it sounds like things where pretty bad there, I've been considering weather or not to travel to that area, it sounds scary but if i do go there I might find out why I... well I need more experience exploring before I ever go there so why I want to go isn't important right now. Oh and it's fine that you don't want payment I just give ten ruppes as a courtesy for performances that don't ask me for anything."

When Datura took the ruppes, and offered them drinks Erick gave her a nod. "Yeah that sounds good thanks, and you can keep the ruppes as payment for the performance." As Datura went to get the drinks, Erick fiddled with his Nayru pin. "My first drink huh, this should be an interesting experience but something feels off here, it's a feeling I've had back on Windfall and...somewhere, the boat? Eh it's probably nothing." As they waited Erick took out his water damaged book and looked though it thinking of all the things he could have learned from it.

Meanwhile , at the ranch entrance, a man in a purple mask stood. "Hmm so bandits are going to try and rob the ranch, let's see how well you handle fighting something that isn't mindless Erick, stupid maybe but... well we'll see their intelligence soon enough." Chuckling the man waited to see if the bandits will succeed or fail.

As Ryu lays on the horse Luna, he looks back and can see how people are having fun in the Inn. They are all drinking dancing and having a jolly old time it looks like. "To bad there are to manny people in there" He sighs thinking on how stupid it is to freeze up around a lot of people.

Then he thinks about how he saw Faust in the Inn."I wonder how Faust is doing. Hope he is a better doctor now then he was back when he tried to help my mom and I out. He seems better just by looking at him." He says with a slight smile as he listens to the owls in the distance and just gazes up at the stars getting lost in thought.

Mako had never been one to freeze up around people. He had a smooth and excitable demeanor. In fact, to be struck speechless by any woman was quite a feat. He took it simply for her charm. It was intoxicating. In reality, if it weren't for her ring, she would just be another pretty woman. Now, however, he felt the need to impress her. Get her attention. That was, until she began coming his way. He averted his gaze as she sauntered up to the bar. She almost seemed to, enjoy her position between Faust and Mako, if he wasn't mistaken. Mako kept his position, sitting up straight and swirling his drink in it's glass. Acting utterly aloof as if he didn't notice her brushing up against him, and as he liked to think, she was doing it on purpose. He took a sip and dared a glance in her direction just as she slipped away, and he could swear she smiled at him. A slight toothed grin that played with her eyes as much as with Mako's heart rate. He returned it before she turned away from him.

That's when Mako turned and noticed the man a seat away from him at the bar was looking his way as well. Faust's brow seemed to furrow slightly as he busied himself with his own drink. Mako looked down at the wood of the bar and spoke.
"Fine night, eh friend? You and i seem to share a... common interest, no?" His eyes scanned upward through his mask back to Faust's face.

*Disclamer: Sinistrari gave me permission to use her character for a few seconds to initiate conversation. All is well :P*

Nicholas was surprised to see the rupees suddenly taken by Datura and would have objected to her rude behaviour. However his mind was still somewhat hazy due to the Aroma Ring and he simply stared at where she placed the rupees, between her breast. His face once again grew hot as he could see her silently challenging them to do something about it. Nicholas quickly looked away before all the blood in his body rushed to his head. His gaze went to the bar and he wondered if a cool glass of milk could help him calm down. This was a ranch after all and he was sure he had heard talk of Lon Lon milk being quite the delicacy.


Datura seemed to read his mind as she offered them drinks and was off before Nicholas could even tell her what he wanted. “I really hope she doesn't bring back anything alcoholic for me. I'd really not have my first drink with someone like her.” Nicholas muttered under his breath. As if her flagrant flirting wasn't enough to make Nicholas uncomfortable but if he were to get drunk around her, well he actually wouldn't know what would happen. Nicholas turned back to Erick and merely nodded in response. He didn't want to talk about his family's past in any more detail than he had already mentioned. He wasn't one for pity and would rather focus on the now. With this he turned toward Erick to initiate a new conversation but saw him looking thoughtfully at a book. From what he could see the book was heavily damaged by water and made him immediately wonder about how he could ensure his journal didn't suffer the same fate one day. He saw the melancholy look on his face and decided to change the topic.


“So, I take it you knew Datura before today? How did you meet someone so…” Nicholas paused as he tried to think of a word that fit her but wasn't offensive. “Exotic?” He supposed the word worked well enough and figured it didn't hold enough of a negative connotation as to anger Erick if he did have a good relationship with Datura. “I mean, don't get me wrong she seems friendly enough but something about being around her just seems to make me jumpy. One second I can't keep my eyes off her and the next I can't stop staring at the floor.” Nicholas said while observing Datura between two men at the bar waiting for the drinks she promised.


Nicholas didn't recognize one of them but the other large man had been there for a while if his memory served him right. Behind the bar the bartender had emerged some time after he arrived because he wasn't there when he first came into the inn. Then again maybe he was too focused on who he assumed is the bartenders daughter, the flaming redhead running the bar herself. She seemed to be around Nicholas's age and was very pretty. Nicholas was a sucker for redheads with fair skin. He was always reminded of a girl back home he never had the courage to ask out. “So, honest question between men. We may be young but we are men. No?” Nicholas said and motioned back and forth between himself and Erick in a comedic fashion. “Who do you think is more attractive? Datura or that young red head behind the bar?” Nicholas asked with a mischievous smirk on his face. He wanted to see what Erick’s reaction would be and hoped to catch him lightly off guard.

I apologise for the constant length >.< ... It is basically two posts in one so I get carried away... Hopefully it's not that boring to read!


Faust took one look at the boy and his peculiar choice of mask and knew instantly how this meeting was going to go. Defensive, aggravated, the doctor's eyes narrowed like shards of black glass as a wry smirk was felt thinning his lips. He didn't like masks. He didn't like arrogant kids either. The combination was an unfortunate one, rubbing his icy nerves right up the wrong way after it had sank in that the dancer lavished her sultry looks on any and every creature.

"Are you even old enough for that?" Faust snickered with a perk of one eyebrow. Covered as the cocky stranger's face was his voice was hint enough nonetheless. Women may...perhaps...scare him a just a teeny tiny little minute bit, but growing up with almost too many brothers to count on both hands did a few things to his confidence in other areas. "I don't think our interests are at all the same, kid."

He allowed his demeaning snigger to linger and settle in for a few long moments before downing what remained of his own drink: and motioning for another before the glass had scarcely settled its dust on the counter.

"Goddesses be damned, doctor. You're gonna drink us all dry 'ere." Guffawed the barkeep: insisting that he served the invited guest himself when his redhead daughter at first answered Faust's call.

"That would be because of your stingy, child-sized portions." He bluntly replied. "I have to drink five to feel like even one proper one has hit me."

"And here I was thinking docs were all uptight, prim and proper."

"Nah. I'm the fine and dandy type, Talon." Faust joked sarcastically with an ever so glorious flick of his hair and wiggle of one eyebrow. "Didn't you notice?" They shared a prompt burst of laughter: the more robust of the two booming his fill while the other buried his chuckles into the echo of his glass.

“You ‘lright there, lad?” The moustached barkeep began, still trying to calm his laughter as his attention settled on Mako. “Drink not to yer likin’?”

“Of course not.” Faust interrupted snidely. “Maybe some orange juice would be more appropriate, Talon. He is just a young one after all.”

-​

As flawlessly sly and intruding as Datura could manage without appearing distracted or obvious, the Gerudo eavesdropped with scarcely restrained delight on the young lads’ conversation behind her: taking the longest and hardest way around through the crowd. She bit one lip to hold down her humoured grin, her golden eyes flashing with laughter. Honestly, she really shouldn’t feel so happy about the chaos she’d just sparked but…it was rather satisfying. Empowering, even. Besides, what was an evening bar without a few sparks? If anything she just started it all a little earlier! I’m innocent really.

Yet, her entertainment was short-lived. Of course this had to happen at some point tonight too.

For before Datura had even savoured her amusement to her full liking a sudden tight grasp of her right wrist yanked her back to the present. Her eyes shot up to a crooked, leering grin that was practically salivating. She didn’t have to look at his beady, ravenous eyes to understand what was going on here.

“Alright, lass?” The wolf cackled. With an almost startling gushing slosh of her carried beverages, he wrenched the woman close enough to see all the details of his rancid, yellow teeth - and smell his fetid breath in heaves. “I was just wonderin’ if you and your fine ass could keep me company for the night. Whad’ya say, huh?”

As if he’d take no for an answer.

Datura tried hard not to knee him in the crotch right there and then, and even harder to not make any belittling, crude remarks about said lacking crotch. Violence was sometimes the worst answer in a situation like this, and she wasn’t exactly the usual Gerudo with all the warrior princess prowess to back it up with success. Besides, an interesting scenario had just played out in her head.

“That’s a little tight, don’t you think?” Datura complained; face hardening with a pained frown. It wasn’t all play: it did actually hurt. His grimy fingers wouldn’t be leaving just sweat behind on her wrist at this rate.

“Oh?” The beast snickered. “You don’t like that?”

“I said, that hurts.” The Gerudo repeated, stern, strong, bringing volume to her voice that could carry it across all corners of the establishment if anyone cared to listen. In fact she was intending for someone to listen.

She attempted to tug her wrist free but with a gasp was flung back against his chest, one of the drinks about to crash on the floor if one of his friends hadn’t nimbly caught it for his own swift consumption. Well then. Datura gritted her teeth behind sealed, rouge lips. If there are any knights here I’d much appreciate your help and I’ll be bitterly disappointed if none of you show.

To be fair, it wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence for this sort of thing to happen. In fact you could probably call her a veteran. But if men got me into this then men can get me out. And if they didn’t? I’ll remember these bastards faces, names, and even how many holes there are in their undergarments, then get my sweet, sweet revenge when they least expect it. I have quite the connections, you know. The Gerudo held back a toxic smile in favour of an expression far more vulnerable and frightened - for her own benefit.

The wolf leaned in and her gut curdled with violent, loathsome disgust. “How ‘bout we try something’ else then hrm, babe? In private?”

Erick thought for a bit about Nicholas's first question before turning to answer. "Well she and I met on a boat that left from Windfall, I first saw her when she started to preform on the deck and I smelled her perfume, I think it's the same one that she has on here, I had a lot on my mind at the moment so I decided to look out at the sea to sort it all out. Shortly after her performance a giant Octorok attacked the ship, and as it emerged, Datura pulled me from the edge of the boat and saved me, but took a lot of damage because of it. Despite her injuries she stood up and fought the monster with me and a zora named Yuku, and we all where able to take it down." Erick smiled "I wonder how Yuku is doing" He pondered.

When he was asked the second question he was caught off guard and had to process what was asked for a bit. "...Oh, w-well they are attractive but I've never had a girlfriend before. I mean I've thought some girls were cute back on the island, but I'm a shy person, if you were with someone I didn't know or I had never met Datura, I probably would have just sat alone in the corner. Anyway about your question... er well I guess I'd say Datura, I don't know can we please not say anything about this conversation when she gets back with the drinks? This conversation is awkward for me as it is."

Erick was about to bury his head in his book out of embarrassment when he heard Datura's "that hurts.", turning his head in the direction of the bar he saw a man holding her arm, something that she clearly didn't appreciate, and what he didn't appreciate was someone hurting his friend or anyone in general. Erick got up, took a cape out of his bag and wrapped it around his neck. (Backshift Cape equipped) As he walked toward them he saw the drink fall and when he heard how the person talked to her, needless to say, Erick was starting to get annoyed by this guy. However he was somewhat confused about one thing, "Why is she not decking this guy in the face or, better yet, kicking him in the groin? She took out two eyes on that giant Octorok, so this jerk shouldn't be a problem. Hmm..." Cutting his thoughts short as he got to them he first tried the nice guy approach, hoping that this person will ultimately do the right thing. "Excuse me, you're hurting my friend, and she doesn't seem to like that you've grabbed her arm, so I'm gonna have to ask you to let her go and when you do we can go our separate ways. Sound good?"

After some time Ryu hops of of Luna and starts to wander back to the Inn, on his way he gives the horses some extra straw to eat. On his way back he peers through the window into the bar. There where a lot more people but that's not what caught his eye at first. He saw a Gerudo getting grabbed by a Wolf. "Well some relationships can be that strange" Ryu thought. Then he looked closer and saw she did not enjoy it to much.

He stood there and watched for a minute and then started to walk back to the crate he once sat on and leaned agents it. He turns to look though the window and looks at a boy (Mako). Ryu could have sworn he had seen him before but could not quite put his finger on who he was. It was no surprise due to how many people he has seen. Even though about half of them do not like him. Ryu shrugged and watched the stars twinkle above him.

Mako only smiled at Faust's prickly demeanor. Of course it was expected. The "kid" comment was just as roughly taken. The knight let the two men before him have their fun and simply sipped his own drink.

"You wound me, doctor Faust, is it? Here I was wanting to make a new friend over some common ground, and you had to go and ruin it." Mako's grin had not left his face, and his voice was just as pompous as ever. That was the game they both knew they were playing. He had already planned five quips of his own to choose from before his thoughts were interrupted. Half of the room grew awkwardly quiet while the rest of the farm hands attempted to ignore what was happening with their own conversations. Mako's grin didn't fade with this. On the contrary, it seemed to grow.

"That Hurts."

"You know what, I don't think orange juice is going to help me get our girl, eh Faust? But this might." In one swift motion Mako snatched Faust's next drink just as the bartender finished pouring and downed it in a gulp. Before either could protest Mako was more than three yards into the crowd. He wove and turned through the stifled sea of farmers until he was just behind the man named Erick, just before he finished attempting to be civil with the, let's face it, monster before him. Mako put his hand on Erick's shoulder.

"That's very... political, of you friend. May I offer my input?" Mako was removing his mask with his other hand as he spoke. It was as if in a blur that he placed it in his backpack beneath his shield and spinning around Erick. He hopped slightly into the air and his momentum brought his elbow into the wolf's nose. It spray a jet of crimson from each nostril, and the shock brought his hands to his face and off the gerudo's wrist just as she wanted. In all truth, Datura's perfume had no hold over what Mako was doing now. This had nothing to do with his attraction to her dancing or tempting mannerisms. This was a mixture of his pride and thirst for a fight. It's a tad saddistic, as he knew beating up a couple of ill mannered farm hands was really nothing fair, and a tad sadistic depending on how you looked at it, but damn if it wouldn't be fun for a while.

The predator's friend stood in his spot, shocked, Datura's glass still in his hand. The larger man gave a drunken growl and a fast clumsy swing toward Mako's face, which was now unmasked. The skultula knight ducked as swiftly as anyone could have predicted, and he rolled around to the man's back easily even in their limited space. He shot upwards as his opponent turned around, and grabbed an empty chair from a nearby table. By this time everyone was watching. The farm men closest had given them some breadth to brawl. Mako spun around and smacked the man acrossed the chest with his blunt seating arrangement. It may have knocked the wind from his lungs, but did little in the way of damage. The wolf grabbed the chair with both arms and spun around with Mako still holding his grip in the time span of a thought. He was knocked to the ground in front of the wolf's partner, whom brought up a foot to stomp on Mako's chest. The skultula knight caught the attack with a parry using his forearm, and with his right foot he kicked the bottom of the glass in the man's hand. Now, I don't know if you've ever been hi tin the face with a glass cup without it breaking, but that smarts. Indeed it did on the bottom of the fighter's chin. This caused him to stumble, and one could swear that just as Mako landed this blow he sent an ever so subtle glance back at Faust.