Players & Characters: LunarCataphract: Terandra, Charming Necromancer - 1/5/2 - 40 rupees Squishy: Fion Tivan, Lost Twili - 1/4/5 - 40 rupees Electronic Ink: Yetata, Wandering Yeti - 3/4/1 - 40 rupees --- The light underneath the trees was gentle. Fion relished the shadows here, which were far more pleasant to his eyes than the harsh sunlight of the open field. The mossy ground was soft and cold to his bare feet. This deep into the forest, everything was quiet. The wind barely reached through the maze of trees, and even the wildlife barely made a sound, only the occasional rustling of leaves and branches alerted to their presence. The Twili had been wandering the forest for a while now, hearing the occasional rumbling in the sky overhead. Had the sky grown darker? At first he thought he imagined it, but slowly but surely more drops began to fall from the sky. Within minutes, water was pouring from the sky. Fion covered his head with his arms, the rain quickly soaking through his jacket. He started running, startled by a sudden flash of light. There, in the distance! Through the haze of the rain, he could make out an immense treetrunk. Surely there would a place to hide there? Fion was soaked to the bone by the time he made it to the gigantic tree. Fortunately, there appeared to be a large hollow at the base of its trunk, almost forming some sort of cave. With a sigh of relief, the Twili stepped out of the rain, dripping onto the leafy floor of the hollow. Even with his limited knowledge of this place, he knew there was no point in heading back out in this weather. It was hard to see any trace of a path through the rain, and even harder to see which ground was safe to put his feet down on. No, for now, he would wait here.
Dark clouds gathered above. Shrouding the sun and darkening the already en-shadowed Lost Woods. Casually riding through the woods with no sense of urgency was a black horse whom had a equally dark figure upon their back. From the distance this figure looked to be a simple traveler tightly bounded in a set of dark purple robes mounted by a feathered neck-dress; these robes served to keep the rider warm and dry protected from the worse of the encroaching storm. With their head held high the figure looked forward ensuring they stayed on track while occasionally looked down to check a map; the Lost Woods had earned their name after all and the rider was not interested in joining the legion of those whom had become lost in this wood. Throwing back their hood for just a few moments it was revealed that the rider was female possessed of long black hair and fair features almost unnatural in their perfection. Unlike other visitors to this part of the world Terandra was not simply passing through; the Lost Woods were her destination for one reason and that reason was Necromancy. Long had she known those who became lost in the Woods turned into either Stalfos or Stalchilds depending upon their age and like any good seeker of knowledge she wanted to know why. Thanks to a map, knowledge of the locals and using a large tree as a focal point Terandra had managed to stay on track having no real destination in mind; of course thanks to her map and memory she knew exactly how to get back. Terandra pulled her hood back up eager to prevent the weather from ruining her hair of course deep down she knew it was rather futile but that wasn't enough to stop her from trying. Eventually the Necromancer arrived at the start of a short dirt path leading up to the base of the tree. With little idea of where to start her investigation curiosity and instinct lead Terandra to believe this over grown hollowed out tree would be a good place to start her investigation. Riding up towards a hole in the base of the tree her horse began to snort and fidget clearly unnerved by..something. "Hey girl..calm..." Speaking softly Terandra reassuringly caressed the side of her horse's head which seemed to work; Sapphire did indeed calm down obediently walking towards the hole in the tree. "Good girl...stay here okay?" Utterly obvious to the presence of the Twili Terandra climbed down from Sapphire's back taking the reins and leading her inside the tree. It was then that she noticed the Twili and smiled quirking a curious eyebrow. "Oh hello there. My you do seem rather strange don't you?" Curious as to what exactly this strange creature was it never occurred to the Necromancer they spoke different languages. Having found a sturdy piece of wood sticking out from the trunk Terandra tied the reins to it gently nuzzling Sapphire's nose. "Stay here and be a good girl okay Sapphire?" Sapphire snorted and bent down sniffing the ground. Looking back towards the Twili Terandra pulled down her hood but left the thick coat on which covered the revealing outfit she wore beneath.
With growing dread Fion saw someone approach through the rain. The forest had seem deserted earlier that day, what were the chances of anyone else being here? The Twili shrank back, nervously eyeing the newcomer. They could be friendly, perhaps just lost here, he told himself. Not every stranger had to be hostile, he had met quite some people now who hadn't been. And yet... At first the stranger did not seem to have noticed him, obliviously steering her mount into the hollow and climbing off its back. But soon enough she turned to him and spoke. Fion took another step backwards, back pressing against the wood of the tree. From where she stood now, the woman blocked the way out. But she seemed entirely unconcerned with Fion's presence. After a question that had seemingly been directed at him she returned to her mount and tied it to the tree. The Twili took this as a sign she might not have any hostile intentions towards him. Ever so slightly, he relaxed, standing up straighter and looking at the woman. "Hello." Fion started, before growing quiet. Then he frowned. He did not have the words to say much else. He could try speaking in his own language, but he doubted the stranger would understand. Instead he stood back and waited. One day he would figure out how to do more than mutter stray words to people.
At first Tera had the distinct impression that this strange obviously inhuman individual was afraid of her what with how he backed away at least she was assuming he was a he; sexual dimorphism was a weird thing like that. At first while she was acting under the impression this different looking boy was afraid of her Tera was surprise when he stood up straight and approached her a display of confidence she had not been expecting. Standing up straight could easily be interpreted as a display of confidence which perhaps served to indicate relaxation? What confirmed it was when this yellow eyed child spoke up. "Oh? You speak Hylian? Now that is surprising isn't it?" She smiled sweetly but then her joyful expression faded perhaps matching Fion's own frown. Terandra rubbed her chin for a few moments gently tapping the top of her staff against the tree pondering why the Twili was frowning......then it hit her! A light bulb went off inside her head and she snapped her fingers realising something! It was pretty obvious that this boy wasn't human, nor Zora, nor Goron or any other race that actually lived in Hyrule! So perhaps he didn't actually speak much Hylian? "Oooh..I get it...you can't speak Hylian huh? Well I've just the thing! I knew mom's old book would prove useful some day!" She span on her heels turning back to face Sapphire digging through the saddlebag's for something. Moments later Tera turned back to face Fion clutching a large book. "This is the Book, well a Book, of Mudora. It can translate any language thanks to magical enhancements." Terandra scrolled through the book finding the Hylian section as she knew how it worked. Of course I bet you're asking if she knew how it worked why wasn't she opening the thickly bound tome to the Twili section? Well the reason was because she just didn't actually know what Fion's race was nor what his language was. Perhaps he'd be able to scroll through the book and show Terandra his own language? "I'm not sure how much of Hylian you understand...but...feel free to open the book to your language okay? It would make our conversing oh so much easier~" Personally Terandra had to admit she, and yes this was highly unrelated, found the Twili kind of cute in a "d'aww I wanna cuddle the cutie" kind of of way.
The woman continued to speak, and Fion continued not to understand. At least her tone was gentle. The woman exclaimed, suddenly turning around and taking a large tome from her bags. Fion took the book from her when she presented it to him, not quite sure what to with it. Until he opened it. The Twili's eyes widened at the text that flitted across the page as the stranger spoke. Was this like the book Triton had carried with him? Did more exist? Fion flipped through the pages. Yes, there it was! A familiar script shifted over the page, the woman's earlier words already disappearing. But he understood her last words. This would indeed make communicating a lot easier. Fion nodded and handed the book back to the woman, patiently waiting for her to open it to her preferred language before he spoke. And when he spoke, the words appeared on the pages of the book, as if written by an invisible hand. 'I know this book. Or one like it.' He smiled. 'My name is Fion. What's yours?'
Terandra had been too engrossed in her bag and finding the book to actually notice that the Twili's expression was that of confusion. It was when she did hand the book over that she saw just how confused the boy was. Clearly he hadn't understood a single word she said nor had any idea of what to actually do with the book. The Necromancer pouted and rested her cheek against one of her fists pondering this. Her face screwed up in deep thought as she considered a possible solution to this problem. Fortunately it turned out that Terandra did not need to think up a solution as the Twili opened the book up. Surprisingly when he did so the Twili's eyes opened wide in surprise amazed by what he saw inside the book. Tera had no idea what was the reason for this surprised response but that didn't matter at all! The Twili boy had opened it and seemed to understand what exactly the book did! Yay! You figured out how it worked cutie!" Giggling like a little girl, and utterly forgetting the situation, Tera threw her arms around Fion pulling him into a hug in which she ruffled his hair up; it was pretty clear that the Necromancer's excitement had gotten the better of her for a good few moments. "Your called Fion? Cute name~ I'm Terandra! But you can call me Tera for short cutie. I'm..well a Necromancer." Clearly despite how dangerous it was to admit such a thing the female mage showed no fear whatsoever. The reason for her total disregard of the risks involved is that she had no reason to be afraid. Tera had long argued and fought against the foolish belief that only evil people employed Necromancy; it was something she strives for everyday to disprove. To get back on track her lack of fear was because she didn't view herself as in any danger! It's not she was a threat or anything!
Just when Fion started to feel at ease, the woman suddenly reached out, pulling the Twili to her. On instinct, Fion vanished, slipping through the woman's arms, only to reappear a step away from her less than a moment later. He looked startled, shoulders tense. He was not used to people being so... tactile. The last person who had tried to grab him had locked him away in a cage. The Twili swallowed, wary of the woman now. But she continued speaking, rather excitedly even. Fion was not quite sure what to make of it, but decided to let it slip for now. The woman, Or Terandra, as she introduced herself, did not seem to have any ill intent. According to the book she found him... cute? He smoothed down his hair, staring hard at the book. Perhaps it was a good thing the inhabitants of this world were unfamiliar with Twili, as it meant they would probably not notice the darker colour on his cheeks for what it was, if they even noticed it at all. Fion resisted the urge to pout as he spoke. 'Okay, Tera.' He paused, not sure if he caught onto her last sentence. Had the book translated not translated a word? It certainly wasn't one he was familiar with. 'What's a... necromancer?'
Aaaaand he vanished. That was disappointing! Tera's lips curled into a girly immature pout as the Twili vanished into thin air. the young Necromancer had been hoping he'd just let her cuddle him but noooo mister shy cutie was clearly far too cautious for that! When the Twili reappeared it was pretty clear he was now on edge at least that was what his swallowing implied. "Aww..didn't want a hug? Well..fair enough~ I just wanted to snuggle you as oh my you're such a little cutie patootie." She giggled the words appearing upon the Book of Muradora's pages. Part of Terandra wished she spoke Fion's language or he spoke hers but alas such a thing wasn't possible; she didn't even know his race after all! "Hmm..so what exactly are you? I mean I know your name but I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of meeting such an adorably small race as yours." The Necromancer smiled genuinely legitimately believing in every compliment she gave out despite the fact she was merely trying to get a free hug out of Fion. It was at that moment Fion decided to ask a question one which didn't surprise Tera in the slightest. He asked what a necromancer was. "Oh you don't know? Well how about I show you?" She tapped the end of her staff upon the ground releasing a bright green energy into the soil that the great tree had grown from. For a few moments nothing seemed to happen..but then the soil began to shift. The soil seemed to, without any obvious answer, begin to form into a mound similar to an ant hill. Soon the dirt burst open and out reached a skeletal hand! The skeletal hand crawled itself free of the mound of dirt pulling with it an arm then a torso, a skull and ultimately a giant of a Stalfos standing seven feet tall. The undead warrior was...naked at least as naked as a Stalfos could be. Baleful green energy shined from behind its' eyes and the unarmored warrior turned to look at Terandra bowing his head slightly. Bizarrely at the arrival of this Stalfos a warm smile of remembrance spread across the Necromancer's lips. "That's what a Necromancer is. One who summons the undead. A lot of people act like we're evil..but really that's not due to Necromancy. Something I work very hard to prove." She smiled hoping Fion wouldn't be irrational.
Oh, so Tera didn't know what Fion was? He couldn't say he was surprised. Still, it caught him a little off-guard, as his previous company had somehow known of his kind prior to meeting him. 'Twili.' Fion answered Tera's question. Then, he pouted. 'We're not small.' But he quickly forgot the woman's comments on his percieved 'cuteness' when she offered to demonstrate her magic to him. A kind of magic completely unfamiliar to the Twili. Fion wasn't quite sure what to expect at first, when Tera tapped her staff on the ground, which promptly began to rumble. His eyes went wide as he saw a skeletal hand claw its way out of the soft earth, followed by an arm and then the rest of a humongous skeleton. So she summoned the undead? Fion repressed a shudder. Eyes still wide, he turned to Tera. 'Where did he come from?' The huge skeleton was unnerving, so to say. Had it been alive before? Or had it been created by magic? It certainly wasn't a kind of magic he was familiar with. A sudden cry from deeper into the hollow tree nearly made Fion jump from his skin. He flinched, looking into the direction from which the sound had come. It appeared to come from... underground? The Twili peered into the darkness. It did seem like there was a tunnel of some sorts further into the tree. Fion looked back to Tera, unsure. 'Did you hear that?'
A Twili huh? Terandra stroked her chin as her face formed into a scowl. She, as had probably been established by this point, had never once heard of a Twili in her life. She had to disagree with Fion on the argument of Twili not being short. She didn't want to be mean but sadly for Fion being the only Twili Tera had ever encountered it did little to convince her. "Well..not to mean cutie but you're the only one I've ever seen or heard of before. You're not exactly evidencing your argument." She hadn't intended that to be mean, hurtful or degrading but she wasn't going to merely let her voice go unheard; fortunately their was a convenient change of subject in the form of Tera's undead associate. The Necromancer's good mood was doused a little as she observed Fion's shudder. It was disappointing to see something so inhuman apparently physically disturbed by a walking skeleton; it's not like undead were inherently evil at least that was the belief Terandra adhered to. "Oh where did he come from? Well...that's the thing I'm not really sure? Undead, like my Stalfos friend here, are skeletons reanimated by spirits or..so I think. They don't talk so the truth is hard to gleam. Anyway that logically leads one to assume skeletal remains must always be present to summon one..but oddly that isn't the case. I personally believe my magic simply creates the skeleton, puts a soul in it and boom Stalfos." It was annoying that Stalfos can't talk as Terandra really wanted to know the truth. Tera's pondering regarding the place of origin of Stalfos was interrupted by a sudden cry reverberating from the darkness of the tree trunk. The cry was enough to snap Tera out of her thoughts. Her head turned to the depths of the tree hollow before looking back towards Twili eyebrow raised in confusion. "That sounded like a person...female. I'm going to go investigate it!" Without any regard for her own safety, considering the possibility of monsters being present or even stopping to invite Fion Tera ran into the depths of the hollow heading towards the source of the cry. The Stalfos she'd summoned would merely sigh shoulders sagging almost as if her/he/it had come to expect this behaviour from the female Necromancer. The undead walked after Terandra ready to jump to her protection if needs be.
Fion looked back at the skeleton. So it most likely had not been a person before, although Tera did not mention where the soul came from. Perhaps it was created by magic too? Wouldn't the Stalfos show more of an own will or personality if it had been someone else's soul? Fion wasn't quite sure what happened to people here once they died. And not terribly interested to find out. Although he did wonder why Tera had taken up such a school of magic. But the sudden cry had put a halt to all the Twili's thoughts and questions. He hesitated for a moment after Tera took off, the skeleton mutely following in her footsteps. With the rain still pouring down it was foolish to head back out into the forest. The sudden flashes of light and sheets of rain were making it hard to see properly, as his eyes were used to the dark and not this kind of weather. There was another cry, but this time it was accompanied by a faint trace of something. Fion perked up, looking deeper into the hollow, where the sound had come from. He knew that sensation. It was the same feeling he got when he casted magic, or whenever someone did back home. Could it be...? He did not have to think twice about runing after Tera. The hollow ended in a tunnel that steeply descended, ending in a huge carved-out hall. It was dark, faint daylight peeking through the roof where roots had broken through and taken part of the stonework down. Pillars were raised at regular intervals, though none of them quite reached all the way to the top. Fion stepped up next to Tera, eyes scanning the room. Another cry, this time coming from overhead, much closer that it had been before. The Twili's head snapped up, in the direction of a rather large pillar overgrown with vines. An odd creature was perched on top, staring down at the intruders. The creature's eyes were a pale, glowing yellow. Black veins rain across its body where patches of skin showed through thick shaggy grey fur. It looked awfully familiar to Fion and yet at the same time completely alien. This was not, could not, be something from home... Its eyes narrowed the moment it saw the Twili. Fion was too surprised to respond when the monkey threw a flat wooden object at him, hitting him right in the head. The object, an odd curved instrument, flew back to the monkey, which started cackling at the Twili on the ground. Fion yelped and clutched his head, pain making his vision blurry. The monkey cackled and screamed, turning around at the duo down below. It slapped its rear in a rather crude fashion before leaping off and fleeing through an opening in the wall. Its cries grew fainter and fainter as it disappeared deeper within the complex. It grew quiet after it was gone.
Tera ran through the tree hollow that was oddly shaped like a corridor ultimately finding herself in a wide room. Her eyes scanned the scenery first noticing the pillars arranged in a pattern, the gap in the roof that sunshine crept in through and lastly her gaze descended upon the source of the cry from before. Much to the Necromancer's surprise the source of the cry was not a young girl. Instead it was a large baboon like primate standing atop a pillar clutching a boomerang. Teranadra looked towards her Twili confusion and curiosity drawn across her face. She had never once seen a creature like this least of all not one covered in white fur and yellow veins. "An Albino...strange." It was possible that members of this primate's species were all white with these strange yellow veins but sadly Tera didn't know that; she was merely acting upon her initial assumptions. "Hey there!" Smiling widely she waved at the primate on the pillar well aware he might be hostile but that wasn't good enough justification to avoid being polite. The Necromancer herself championed the cause of Necromancy not making one evil so who was she to assume hostility based upon appearances? Sadly her attempts to be diplomatic and friendly were not met with the same response. The Baboon like Primate threw the wooden boomerang through the air and it hurtled towards Fion not Terandra. The Necromancer saw what was happening and slammed her staff upon the ground. The sound, and magic she channelled through her staff, promoted her Stalfos employee to action. It, or would that be he?, ran towards Fion fully intending to grab the boomerang out of the air. The Stalfos attempted to pull Fion to the side and grab the boomerang yet alas he wasn't fast enough (having no muscles was kind of responsible for that) to do so. The wooden weapon bonked Fion's head before flying back to the Primate. The Albino Baboon like animal cackled in amusement at Fion which really annoyed Tera. "OI! Monkey butt! Let's see how you like it!" She pointed the crystal of her staff at the monkey and fired a bolt of blue magical energy from it. The bolt of energy flew through the air swiftly approaching the primate but sadly it wasn't fast enough. The cackling baboon took his leave jumping from pillar to pillar before escaping via that hole in the ceiling. "Ooooh I'll get that cheeky monkey and turn him into a rug!" Angered more by the fact the Primate had spanked his butt at her the Necromancer had vengeance in her eyes and fully intended to see her promise of payback through! But for now she had a much more important thing to worry about. Grateful she'd grabbed her translation book before she ran off Tera walked over to Fion. "Hey..you okay?" She smiled sweetly, rested the book of Muradora on the ground open at the Twili page before bending down next to Fion. She extended a hand to help him sit up before taking a look at his forehead. She was no doctor that was true but even she could tell if their was a bruise or if the Twili's head was bleeding. Sadly she was interrupted by an ominous rumble as rocks fell from the ceiling "Phew...was worried we'd be trapped here." it was indeed fortunate those rocks didn't block the only exit.
The yeti in the woods moaned in misery as the rain poured. It wasn't nice, cold rain, either. Hot, gluggy drops that pelted her and soaked her cloak. Yeteta sniffed and pulled her hat lower on her head, pushing Scoop, stored under the hat, closer. Her gray feet stomped over twigs and roots, toughened from years of stomping over ice. Yeteta mumbled as she spotted a hollow in a tree, plodding towards it. She had just reached it when she realised she wasn't alone. A great black horse stood nearby; Yeteta let out a squeal of terror and stumbled backwards, tripping over a literal stick in the mud. She rolled onto her back and kept right on rolling, down the tunnel. She squealed as she rolled, faster and faster and out of control, her white cloak becoming mossy and dirty as she finally hit a rock, soared into the air and landed with a plop in front of two figures. Yeteta stumbled to her feet, searching around frantically for Scoop and happily finding her safe, if a bit tumbled, under her hat. The yeti only then spotted the two figures and yelped in surprise. "Hilyan!" she yowled in her broken Hyrulean.
Fion gingerly pressed his fingers to the rapidly swelling bump on his forehead. That was going to become a very big bruise, he feared. 'I'm fine.' The Twili winced, blinking away a few tears. As long as he didn't touch his head or focus on it, it wasn't so bad. But why had the creature attacked...? Fion had noticed how it had narrowed its eyes as soon as it laid eyes on him, but the reason for it was a mystery to him. It had looked and felt so familiar to him, and yet... He only then realised he actually felt disappointed that it had only been that stupid creature. 'But that creature... Odd.' But Fion did not get much time to dwell on it, as something approached form the tunnel behind them. Something making a lot of noise. A white blur came rolling at them, soaring gracefully through the sky before hitting the ground with a thud. It appeared to be some kind of creature, but one completely unknown to Fion. Was it another monkey? No... it's fur and shape were completely different. The Twili frowned, not sure what to make of the creature. It struggled to its feet, revealing a heart-shaped face with large, docile eyes. It took a moment for the creature to notice the duo, as it rummaged under its large hat and straightened its clothes. Was it some kind of civilised creature, then? His encounter with Triton had made it very clear the people of this world looked drastically different from each other. What he thought to be a simple creature could very well be a person. Nonetheless, once the creature did notice them, it yelled out something unintelligeble in surprise. Fion looked at Terandra, tilting his head.
Sapphire had just absently minded stared at the rather strange Yeti girl before snorting and returning to munching on grass that grew inside the tree trunk. Despite the pitch black steed's nonchalant attitude towards the Yeti it seemed Yeteta had been spooked and fled rolling away into the depths of the grand tree; if Sapphire could talk she would surely make some sort of quip regarding how weird the Yeti's response was but alas she was merely a house. Sapphire merely continued to munch her grass with no fear in her heart of the dark beasts that lived in the tree; after all she served a Necromancer loyally so fear of "evil monsters" was something she got over. Back in the depths of the tree hollow were she had been accosted by a cheeky monkey Terandra blinked staring at the small bundle of fur and clothes which had fallen into the room. It was an odd entry way to enter the stage but Tera had long been familiar with the stranger parts of the world. Smiling sweetly the Necromancer walked towards Yeteta and bent down hand extended in friendship hoping to assist the Yeti back to her feet. Such a thing was proven to be pointless as the Yeti pulled herself up to her feet and frantically searched for something before finally lifting her hat up revealing a rather grotesque looking doll...not that Tera had any right to judge. "Hello there! You speak Hylian? Well that's great!" Tera's expression remained a bright beaming expression of pure positivity; hopefully one that would serve to help break the ice between herself and this new arrival. It was at this moment Tera realised her other associate Fion had fallen to the ground as well! The Necromancer really did need to stop getting distracted by new things. Wheeling around on her heels she turned back to Fion standing in front of him as she looked at the nasty egg that had formed atop his head. She grimaced and sighed at the sight of Fion's injury. "That's going to bruise...we'll get you to a doctor once we're out of here okay? Which is going to be right now in fact!" Luckily enough Tera's book of Muradora would serve its' purpose rapidly translating every single sentence she uttered As much as Tera wanted to remain here and continue her investigation of the tree hollow she knew Fion would need medical treatment and given how he seemed very young the Necromancer was worried for his safety. Another factor in this decision to leave was that violently aggressive monkey! Tera knew that if she were to carry out her investigation of this hollow and the surrounding woods she would need to stop that monkey from being a threat through hopefully peaceful means.
Yeteta peered at Tera. "Yeti tough!" she said proudly. "Don't need doctaw! My name Yeteta. You?" She looked at Fion, befuddled. "You is spotty, Hilyan," she said, tilting her round head. "All spotsy. Like moo cow. Spotsy Hilyan!"
