I Spy with My Little Eye... [Closed]

*(Here we go. Hope I don't suck at writing Suggestions and pointers are welcome; just PM me.)*

It was mid-afternoon. Trees covered the landscape for miles to the west. The sun was shining brightly above, sending little shafts of light through the treetops across the Kokiri Forest. Small birds chirp above, hidden among the leaves. Off to the east lay the grassy Southern Fields, waving slowly like a golden ocean. Once, the edge of the forest was a peaceful place where young children could climb freely among the trees and parents could relax. Once, it was a chance to meet up with the youthful Kokiri and listen to the beautiful sounds of nature. Once, no one would even imagine a monster being found within miles of this place.

Now, nothing is safe. Though the trees live on and the grass still grows, no birds are found here. The Kokiri never travel out here, far from the Great Deku Tree. No children laughing. Only silence. Unnatural silence. Silence only broken by the snorting of moblin, the screaming of poorly-treated animals, and the unholy destruction of life caused by enemy patrols.

"I'm tellin' ya, I saw a moblin inside the safety zone!"

Adaar awoke from his afternoon nap with a start. As usual, Mike was arguing with Bren. He didn't know why Bren put up with Mike's crap all the time. Everybody knew Bren was the unofficial leader of their group, and his word was law, yet Mike always found one thing to gripe about each day. Today, it was moblins.

"They've never dared go that far into the forest before, why would they start now?" replied Bren.

"Do I look like a moblin to you? How am I suppose to know what goes on in those pig-minds of theirs?"

"Could have fooled me-"

Mike spun around, pointing his knife between Adaar's eyes. "Oh shut up Adaar. Who asked you anyway?" He turned back to Bren, still waving his knife around."Frak! I know what I saw Bren, and I ain't crazy!"

"Nobody said you're crazy Mike, so calm down and put that knife away." Bren rubbed his eyes in frustration. "Look, take Adaar with you tonight and scout around. If your moblin is there, then kill him and be done with it. Just make sure you dump the pig's body somewhere safe; we don't need a patrol snooping around here later lookin' for the guy." He quickly turned and walked away, not wanting to waste another word on Mike. Adaar hopped out of his makeshift tree bed, landing next to the still-fuming Mike.

"Relax, I'm sure we'll find your moblin friend." Adaar smiled, giving his friend a little punch on the arm. "I'll even make a cake!"

Mike shoved Adaar off, sending him a glare of death. "Zip it old man. Just you wait, you'll see I ain't lyin' about this. And when the others back home here about it, I'll get out of this crummy forest and get promoted or somethin."

"Promoted huh? Last time I checked, us hunters don't have ranks." He flashed Mike a quick grin before heading to grab his equipment. "Then again, I could be losing my mind, being so old and all."

"Ha ha, very funny. See you tonight." sneered Mike.

It was midnight before Mike and Adaar set out from camp and started the long walk out of the forest. Mike led the way armed with his short sword, follow by Adaar a few yards back and to the left. Even with their training and hunting experience they still had a hard time seeing through the darkness. Even the crescent moon couldn't pierce the thick tree canopy overhead this deep in the Kokiri Forest. They paced themselves between a fast walk and a jog as they traveled. If they moved to quickly, they risk being too noisy or missing important details around them. Too slow, and they'd never make it to the edge before the sun began to rise. Adaar had his usual supplies, and walked holding a simple wood bow with a single arrow held loosely against the string. While he didn't completely believe Mike, experience taught him to always be ready.

It was two hours later before Mike signaled that they were close to where he spotted the moblin. The trees had thinned out , allowing the moonlight to help improve their view.

"We gotta slow down here," Mike whispered. "I saw 'em here about this time two nights in a row. The sneaky little bugger should be here any minute now." He pointed toward a larger rock a few hundred yards away. "He came around that both times... must use it as a marker."

Adaar squinted at the rock, shrugged, then turned toward his companion. "Alright Mike. I might believe you here, so I'll take the high ground and scout. You stay here and hide." He placed the arrow between his teeth and swung the bow over his shoulder. "Dis be'er not be another one of your tales, or I'll s'oot you myshelf"

"You should stuff things in your mouth more often, makes you sound like you ain't got any teeth," Mike teased as he disappeared into a nearby bush. A few muffled grunts and rustling leaves later, Adaar was set up high in a tree, an arrow ready to launch. First one to hear anything would bird-whistle the appropriate tune according to the direction of the sound. Adaar hoped this whole thing wasn't real.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Mike; he just knew that if it was all true, then they'd be having more problems in the future. The few cave entrances that had been found by enemy patrols were well defended and booby-trapped. The Hylians back home believed that Ganon didn't know just how big the cave network was or he would have pushed harder. Seemed that the moblins, stalfos, and occasional darknut only thought a few hundred people survived in the caves or in the forest. But if the enemy starts patrolling deeper into Western Cave territory, then hunters like himself would have to kill more off... meaning Ganon would get suspicious. If enough patrols went missing without returning any dead hylians to Kakariko, Adaar expected Kakariko to send a large expedition force into the Kokiri Forest. If onl-

Adaar's thoughts were cut short when a 'little bird' spoke of an incoming unknown from the east. He responded in turn, confirming the signal.

"Where's Kiana when I need her," he mumbled quietly. "She still hasn't come back from her midnight food hunting run." He pulled his bowstring a bit tighter... just in case. "Fast draw, fast kill."

Mike sent a second warning signal just as Adaar picked up the sound himself. It was much to loud to be a single moblin, and whatever it was wasn't even trying to be quiet. Adaar spotted it before Mike did. Fire. Fire meant torches, and lots of them. "Frak me! It's a whole group of them."

Six moblin came grunting and squealing through the forest, taking extra care to hack apart everything in sight. To make things worse, a large, armored, club-wielding stalfos was bringing up the rear. Adaar swore again under his breath. "Dangit Mike, why do you have to be right this time?" There was no time for Adaar to get down safely at the speed the group was advancing. He looked down to find Mike, hoping for a signal on what to do next.

It took a few seconds before he finally spotted Mike hiding among the bushes. A quick insect-chirp from Adaar got his attention. "Ambush" whistled Mike, motioning with his hand where he would move and what Adaar was to do. With an affirmative whistle, Adaar prepped to start launching arrows just before Mike started his attack.

Slowly, Mike circled around the dangerously close patrol. They were making so much noise he didn't need to worry about keeping his own noise level down. Adaar pulled the string tight, aiming for the head of the nearest moblin. Something felt off, but he had little time to ponder more; Mike was in place.

"Here goes nothing. At least at this range I'm guaranteed a hit" With a quiet twang he let the arrow fly. A second later, the moblin fell to the ground with a sickening splat-- An arrow sticking out the front of his piggly head. A second arrow followed, nailing another moblin in the chest. They were in a frenzy now, squealing and grunting up a storm while trying to find the source of the attack. Adaar's third arrow finished what the second couldn't... and all too quickly a moblin pointed in Adaar's general direction. "Now would be nice Mike, before they find me!"

An explosion at the feet of the stalfos announced the presence of Mike. He rose up out of a bush, tossing his second (and last) bomb at the stalfos. "Die you undead son of a bi-" The second explosion drowned him out. Adaar watched as the stalfos exploded (the first bomb only knocking it down), Mike charging through the smoke at the nearest of the stunned moblins.

Now that surprise was gone, Adaar could charge up his Wind Enchantment. Concentrating his energy into a newly notched arrow, he watched as little strings of green encircled the arrowhead, slowly widening until it looked like a small octorok was sitting on the end of his arrow. If the moblins didn't know where he was before, they knew now. Fully 'fueled', his arrow shone brighter than a full moon, casting its green light everywhere. Adaar spotted a moblin aiming an arrow in his direction and fired.

Both arrows launched at the same time, both dead on. Adaar rolled backwards off his branch, crashing threw a few more before landing hard on the forest floor. he felt a wave of wind rush over him as he painfully rose up. Badly bruised on his left side, he hoped the adrenalin would keep him in the fight.

Through the bushes came ruffling a six-foot tall glaive, twisting through the turns and rushing straight into the battle. Bursting out from the foliage, came a short figure cloaked in shimmering armor, its face covered by a demonic mask, wielding the glaive which happened to be more than twice its height.

The creature's advance was not halted as her head whipped between the various combatants, quickly identifying sides--at least two Hylians, and only five surviving Moblins. Quickly choosing her side, the miniature warrior rushed towards the nearest beastly swine with her weapon held tautly in her grip.

One Moblin was now rushing towards the archer as he fell, and two more on the bomb-thrower. The last two met Sienna's charge with their own, intercepting her before she could come to the archer's aid. They bore armor of beasts' hide, one wielding a greataxe and brazer, and the other a crude spear. From a safe range, Spear lunged down at the iron maiden with a thrust of its weapon, at simultaneously Axe rushed down further and unleashed a heavy overhead slash from a closer distance.

The thrust was predictable given the beast's body language, and thus Sienna had no problem sidestepping it. Simultaneously, however, the greataxe came down to cleave her helm in two. She dug the butt of her spear straight into the ground and pushed off from it, nimbly leaping upwards towards the Moblin--right under his overhead swing--and pushed off the leather covering his gut.

Time seemed to freeze as the Moblin suddenly realized what happened--the warrior had quickly maneuvered herself between his chest and his outstretched weapon, between the gap in his arms. Before he could properly react, Sienna stabbed her spike-ladden shoulder into the creature's wrists, forcing it to drop its weapons. As it stumbled back, she followed the momentum of pushing off his chest and latched one hand around her glaive as it stuck out of the ground. Landing with the massive weapon now firm in her grip, she deftly spun around once, using all her momentum to unleash a full-body slash of potence upon the unarmed Moblin as it stumbled backwards. The blade on the end of her glaive cleaved viciously into the creature's neck, smashing down partway through his chest and breaking not only his spine but several ribs, before his ribcage ultimately ceased its movement.

Sienna roughly pried out her blade at the same moment Spear was lunging towards her yet again, though his aim was suddenly... askew. Looking away from his weapon and up towards his uncovered face, the miniature warrior quickly realized why--seeing one's companion cleaved across in such a vicious manner was not exactly a pleasant sight.

Taking her weapon back, Sienna aimed to smash the bladded tip of her glaive right into the Moblin's neck--but the monster managed to quickly regain his composure, and before her weapon could make contact, he bated it out of the way with his own. As Sienna was stunned with her glaive's unexpected momentum, the monster four times her size dropped his weapon and lunged for her with his bare hands.

Assuming he aimed to clench her tiny body in his grip, Sienna needed to thick quickly as she dropped her own weapon--knowing she could not maneuver it well enough as he rushed forward. As she predicted, his dominant hand lunged its grasp down towards her. Utilizing the spikes on her forearm, she gave a quick slash across his foolishly-open palm, spraying out blood as the monster reeled back several feet in pain.

It gave Sienna the moment she needed to reach down for her weapon, but as she did so and returned to a proper battle stance, she realized Spear had already regained his composure and quickly done the same... although now blood could be seen trickling down the shaft of his weapon.

In the back of her mind, Sienna hoped the Hylians realized whose side she was on. Instinct told her to glance and make sure they weren't aiming for her, but the preventions of this mask would need her head to turn rather than just her pupils... and that couldn't be done here and now, not with that Moblin staring her down. The second she made the wrong budge, it would lunge without relent. Yet, she would give Spear the same honor should it so much as blink...


(Gah. For some reason my head feels so out of it. I fear this may not be as up to snuff as my usual posts.)

*(No worries. Even on a bad day you still kick my butt in post quality :P)*

Adaar had no idea who the new warrior was, but at the moment he didn't care as long as it was on his side. Or... at least 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' was always nice. Before he could ponder further and the powerful armored midget, he was rushed by the moblin archer. Adaar's reflexes kicked in as he realized the range of the moblin: just far enough for an arrow. In one fluid motion he plucked an arrow from his pack (luckily it was secured properly) and raised his bow with the arrow resting on the string. Yet at the moment he began to pull on the string he knew something was wrong. A large snap confirmed his fears; the bow had broken in his fall.

The moblin, which had paused it's advance upon seeing the bow, now continued it's attack holding an arrow in one hand and a shortsword in the other. Armored with a small helm, a simple chainmail vest, and metal bracers, this moblin was much more prepared than Adaar defensively for a close-quarters fight. The old man's only advantage at this point was Itak, his equally-old shortsword. He threw the useless bow forward (possibly a distraction for the moblin) and gracefully drew Itak from it's sheath.

He charged, calling upon his wind enchantment once again to empower Itak for his first strike. He knew he needed to end the fight quickly; his skill with a sword was definitely not what it use to be. His short sword, now green with power, was held low and to Adaars left. He hoped a uppercut-slice combined with the wind enchantment would be enough to set his foe off-balance. The two met seconds later, the moblin choosing a downward slash to meet Adaar's attack.

The swords met mid-swing and exploded in a blast of green energy. Apparently the moblin archer had forgotten Adaar's previous attack, and was caught completely by surprise as it's blade shot from it's hand into the dark night. By the time it realized what happened, Adaar had pulled Itak back, then thrust it forward with both hands toward the pig's face.

Disappointingly, Adaar's opponent moved it's ugly head slightly and ducked down just in the nick of time. Now that Adaar had allowed the moblin inside his defenses, it retaliated by trying to stab Adaar in the chest with the arrow tightly clenched in it's left hand. Adaar did his best to twist to his right to avoid the attack, managing to slide Itak along the side of the moblin's neck in the prosess. The makeshift dagger stuck deep into Adaar's chest armor, poking through to leave a small scratch before he twisted away. He knew his attack hadn't fared well from the lack of gushing blood, though the moblin now sported a lovely red gash across it's neck and jaw.

Adaar pushed his advantage, continuing his roll and bringing his sword back around on the moblin's right side. Lucky for him, the enemy archer wasn't the most skilled sword fighter either, and Itak found its mark on the moblin's upper arm. With that much momentum, the blade cut through both flesh and bow, severing the arm off in a gush of blood. It's howl of pain was cut short as Adaar jammed the hilt of his blade straight into the moblin's face with a satisfying crunch.

It was only then, as the monster rolled back into a small bush, did Adaar fully realize just how much pain he was in. The buzz of battle slowly faded, giving way for his body's screams of pain. With a long grunt he pushed himself toward a nearby tree (the same one he had fell from) and collapsed against the mossy trunk. He turned his attention to see how Bren had fared in his battle.

******​

Mike watched with satisfaction as the stalfos exploded, sending chunks of bone in all directions. He jumped through the smoke, his sword held high and ready to slash at the nearest moblin.

To his delight, he landed near one moblin who had just finished prying himself off a tree the bomb had sent him into. As he turned around, still too dazed to see straight, Mike hacked his way across the moblin's chest. Blood sprayed across Mike's face as the moblin's chest and belly ripped open. It stared blankly down its bloody front, still to out of it to realize what had just happened. Mike left the beast to its slow and painful death.

Luck had been on Mike's side, and he knew it. He hoped his luck would continue as he spun to find his next opponent. Between two tree's Mike spotted another moblin... but a new armored warrior drew his attention away for a second. Confused at the new arrival, he didn't notice the second moblin bring a large object to its grimy lips. A loud whistle brought Mike back to reality, realizing what the moblin had just done. Quickly he stabbed the whistle-blower in the chest to silence it. He brought his foot up and kicked, pulling his blade out of the moblin's ribcage as it fell backward. Cursing loudly he jumped on the beast and began slashing and stabbing wildly in a blinding rage. He knew what that whistle meant: Reinforcements.

*(Hopefully their fights don't seem too short compared with Sienna's battle. I'll proof read this after I get some sleep.)*

(Nah. Honestly I felt her battle was unusually long myself. =P)

Sienna's head abruptly averted from her own battle, distracted by the whistle--reinforcements? It gave Spear just the moment he needed to thrust forward, only to realize the slightest turn of her head was a complete feint. The miniature warrior shifted one step to the side and snatched hold of the thrust weapon's shaft and tugged on it forcefully.

Spear helplessly stumbled forward as a glaive was brought towards his gut, slicing through his leather armor--and just barely nicking the fur and flesh that laid beneath. As its body was brought forward, the hulking beast managed to weave his way from Sienna's strike, its massive bulk rising into the air as its entire body flipped heels-over-head and brought down a vicious flipping kick right to the side of his foe's helm.

Even Sienna couldn't withstand such a vicious blow. Her small frame launched several feet before coming to a rolling, skidding stop in the mud and grass which lined the forest floor. Though dazed, she quickly pushed off the ground, discovering not only that her helm was missing weapon was dropped, but the still-fully armored Mobln was charging towards her. Apparently he wasn't too shocked to see his oppressor was a Deku Scrub maiden with a ravaged, fearsome appearance.

In an act of desperation, Sienna launched to her feet and whipped out her adored blade--the wakizashi. Its glowing steel filled one's eyes as the metallic sheen as it was drawn from the sheath filled one's ears. With mud splattered across her face, she glared viciously as Spear launched himself towards her with weapon drawn. The lance launched its tip towards her once more, thinking it would have no time outdoing her range.

With reckless grace, the miniature warrior kicked off the ground, leaping over the spear. She ran three broad steps across its shaft, before the Moblin flicked his weapon upwards in an attempt to whip her off. But it was to no avail, in mid-rising, Sienna had already dislodged her feet and was soaring down towards his face, glaring into his eyes with a malicious, unparalleled avarice to see his blood. The last word from Spear's mouth was a peep, and it heard nothing more than a high-pitched, vicious battlecry as Sienna's blade cleaved clean through its neck.

Nimbly, the miniature warrior tumbled onto the ground. Behind her collapsed the behemoth's body, spurting blood from its neck, closely followed by its head plopping into the mud. Casually, she walked over to the beast. Polishing blood from her blade with the leather interior of her gauntlet, she glared down into the creature's eyes with a sick, twisted grin as the life gradually disappeared from them... the fear... the shock... the horror... It was all she could do to keep from laughing hysterically.

Not wanting her supposed allies to see her like this, however, she quickly dove down to fetch and re-apply her helm, before sheathing her blade and plucking up her freshly mud-drenched glaive. Already, she could hear snorts and growls fill the air, bushes rustling as the reinforcements were on their way.

Wasting no further time, she quickly moved towards the pair of Hylians in preparation, "Are these your only forces? Do you know how many groups of Moblins are rummaging through here?" Formalities and the explanation of why she was so eager to kill monsters would have to be left until later.

Before she could get a proper answer, a beastly swine emerged from the shrubbery, followed by two more and what appeared to be a Stalhound. The apparent leader was wearing a chainmail shirt and faulds, wielding--somewhat strangely--a claymore in one hand. One to the side wore nothing but a green bandana and pants, its longbow already notched with an arrow, and a dagger holstered at each hip. The third and final was charging forward, bearing the more expected leather armor, small steel buckler strapped to its left forearm, and the traditional Moblin spear.

Sienna cursed underbreath as she managed to roll towards the arrow launched her way, tucking under it as she advanced recklessly. She knew all too well that she was the most suited for taking the frontlines, compared to either of her supposed allies...

Mike was just about to reply to the Armored One's question when a new group arrived. They were too far away for him to attack immediately. He watched helplessly as Archer launched an arrow at the small warrior, expecting the worse (for he had yet to witness Sienna in battle). Then Sienna surprised him by dodging the arrow completely. "Well, at least it's agile, whoever it is" he thought to himself. One moblin advanced, leaving the other two and their pet behind. Neither had yet to notice Mike, so he advanced quickly in hopes of surprising the leader with a stab in the back.

The stalhound smelled him out before he even got close. It turned and with a ferocious bark jumped on Mike. He barely managed to slide under the stalhound before it landed, taking a swipe at it's back legs before it could turn. The undead animal howled as it crashed to the ground, its back legs missing past the knees. Mike turned toward the stalhound as he rose, bringing his sword high to chop the stalhound's skull in two. To it's credit, it tried to fight back, but could only manage to snap and claw at the air as he approached.

"Die you unholy mutt!" Mike swung with all his might, shattering the skull with his sword. "And stay down!" He grinned with satisfaction, knowing he had single-handedly killed three of Ganon's scouts. He turn around confidently, prepared to take on the next enemy who would cross his path. He had never seen this much action before, nor killed so many so quickly. He looked forward to the chance to tell his buddies all about it... maybe embellishing a little.

He focused on the next threat, and all his confidence fled in an instant as he starred down the shaft of an incoming arrow. Archer Moblin had turned its attention to Mike at the sound of the stalhouds bark. It had waited patiently for Mike to finish the kill, knowing that it would have a perfect headshot after the stalhound's death.

"Dam-"

******​

Adaar had tried to get his best bow, Ahas, from its case at the first sign of reinforcements. By time he had (painfully) removed his pack and taken Ahas from it's case, Mike had started his attack on the stalhound. Precious seconds passed as he notched an arrow and focused in on Archer Moblin. He pulled, willing his bruised muscles to hold out long enough to draw the bow. The world faded out as he took aim at Archer. At that moment, the only thing that existed was Ahas and it's target. With a sigh of relief he released, already feeling that it would hit it's mark. He shifted his eyes to Mike, looking for a sign on their next move... and with horror watched his partner fall to the ground, a feathered shaft sticking out one eye.

Adaar looked back over the entire scene, hoping for a clue on what to do next. The entire recon had gone to hell. He wasn't prepared--It had been too long since a battle like this. He had killed plenty of Ganon's army in his time, but it had been years since something of this scale. The last big fight like this had been on his terms. He had helped plan the attack on a supply wagon, stood beside a dozen warriors in preparation for the ambush, and had pulled off the attack without any problems. This was different; Adaar was the one being ambushed this time, and there was no other support.

Adaar wasn't going out this easy... not now. He grabbed a second arrow and pumped as much energy as he could into the projectile. The armored moblin hadn't moved since entering the battle, as if he was waiting to see who would win. His eyes locked with Adaar's, grinning at the pain Mike's death had caused. Adaar let the arrow fly, aided by the power of the wind. He didn't know if the arrow would pierce the leader's armor, but the enchanted arrow would send out quite a blast when it hit.

*(Just doesn't sound quite right... oh well. )*

Knowing all too well the potential dangers of a sniper in close-quarters skirmishes such as these, Sienna was making a reckless rush straight towards the Moblin archer with glaive outstretched, hoping to take him out before the next arrow was loosed. When she was no more than halfway there, however, the spear-wielding Moblin lunged forth and brought his mighty weapon about in an arc, batting into the tiny warrior with a home-run.

The bluntness of the strike and Sienna's thick, spiked armor on her forearm and side managed to prevent any real damage from the blow, but she was nonetheless sent flying several feet through the air. Unlike before, this time she managed to land onto her feed, skidding across the dirt before coming to a stop. She glanced towards the sniper as it took aim, but had no means of interrupting--delaying not even for a moment, the spear was already lunging towards her. The Moblin realized her potential danger, and as Sienna soon realized, it was cleverly pushing her away from the engaging battle.

Several times metal clashed again metal, wood against wood. This spear-wielder was much more skilled than the last she faced. Her thrusts her parried by his buckler, and her slices blocked by his shaft. Not only that, but his own strikes left so little room to counterattack--he never overreached to the point she could grab his spear, and never pushed too hard when he knew there was a chance of his strike being blocked. The two shared blows and parries at a range of several paces, the shafts of their polearms dancing elegantly.

But that sound rand to her ears--that sound of an arrow being loosened. Her eyes immediately darted towards the archer, realizing she was not his target--no, what she saw instead was one of her allies falling to the ground. Their side's first casualty. In the back of her mind, she hoped the other would be able to survive. However, as she pondered such things, her foe saw his chance. Taking a risk he hadn't before, the beast made a full-forced lunge, intent on using all his strength to run his spear clean through that black gem on her cuirass.

But it seemed fortune would not be on his side today. Sienna moved to dodge at the last possible moment, her body shifting to one side to force the full-out thrust to skid and bounce of the angle of her armor--sparks filled the air as the Moblin quickly realized his error. The miniature warrior snatched hold of his spear's shaft with her left hand and pulled it forth, forcing the beast to stumble forward and impale himself on the glaive thrust forth in her right fist.

After dropping the monster's weapon, and prying her own out of his face, Sienna galloped headlong back towards the center of combat, half-hoping to see her lone ally still alive.

*(Mini-boss? )*

Out of stupidity, overconfidence, or just for the sake of bragging rights, the armored leader took Adaar's wind arrow right in the chest. Wind blasted out from the moblin in all directions, rustling leaves and sending green shockwaves across the grass. Adaar scanned back and forth, but was unable to find his target amidst the dense foliage. Adaar took advantage of the situation to fill in his armored ally. "Keep it short. You still don't know what happened to Big and Ugly."

"This was suppose to be a simple scouting mission. We heard there was a lone moblin out here, and Mike... Mike and I were here to investigate." He glanced momentarily at where Mike had fallen. "Later." He pushed himself off the tree with his good arm, then grabbed Itak and returned it to his side. Holding Ahas loosely in his left he painfully made his way toward Sienna. "It was an ambush," he continued. "The lone moblin was the bait, and we took it. We didn't expect so many to be this far out from Kakariko or Saria."

His hylian sense was still nagging at him, but there was too much evil energy around that he could not pinpoint the source. "Big and Ugly is still out here... I can feel it." He did a quick scan around them before continuing. "Nobody else is coming. Unless..." He quickly (yet gently) rested Ahas against his leg before reaching into his tunic to grab his flute. "I hope you like thunderstorms." he said, before bringing the flute to his lips. It was a simple melody, but one could feel power stirring with each note.

"This should get Bren's attention."

*(It was hard to resist making Spiderman or Star Wars jokes.)*

With her chest heaving with heavy breaths, Sienna half-turned towards the Hylian and listened to his hurried explanation. It answered some of the more important questions she was wondering about, but his abrupt playing of a song and mentioning some Bren person did nothing but bewilder her. "Who exactly is 'Bren'? It seems late for reinforcements, unless you think more Moblins coming." In the back of her mind, she wondered if her high-pitched Deku voice came as much of a surprise.

Now might have been the appropriate time for her to explain herself, she thought, but it's never completely easy explaining to a stranger that you're fighting for them simply because it means you get to kill things. Instead, she peered out from her demonic mask to continuing to scan the surroundings for the last Moblin... "Keep your eyes open, Hylian."

If the beast was intelligent, he would either be escaping, summoning reinforcements, or attempting to launch a sneak attack. Sienna feared the latter, as she was all too aware of what a claymore could do to her if it hit the weaker spots in her armor.

(I have no idea what you seem to be planning; it felt like there wasn't much I could do. )

*(Yay for an anticlimactic ending )*

"Bren is a friend, and I just called a storm in. He'll know its me." Adaar let his flute drop back to his chest, then closed his eyes to better focus on his Sense. Slowly the feeling of imminent threat began to fade, moving off in the general direction of where the moblins had first entered the area. The wind also started to pick up and large clouds began to form, blocking out the moon.

"I think he may have just run off." he said. His shoulders dropped, happy to exit fight-or-flight mode and relax for a moment. "I still don't know how he survived that shot." Adaar took a moment to study the little warrior more closely. It's armor was well designed, and still managed to scare Adaar enough to know not to mess with his new ally.

"Name's Adaar by the way. Adaar Minpro." he held out his hand, not exactly knowing how it would react. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your race?"

Holding her weapon towards the left, Sienna took her right hand and pushed her demonic mask into her helm. Revealed was her wooden face, buried beneath countless cuts and cracks, each injury have its own tale. She rather casually extended the armored hand out and upwards to meet his, and in shaking it she stated the obvious: "Deku Scrub. If you cannot discern my gender either, it is female." For a moment it could be difficult to tell if she was patronizing or mocking him, but her stoic tone and glare made it obvious that she was more serious than death. "The name I was given at birth is Sienna Denzrita."

Her hand withdrew from his, and her orange glare turned to examine the crannies of the forest--double-checking to make sure the Moblin wasn't simply calling in yet more reinforcements. Perhaps he was doing just that, but at the very least, it seemed they wouldn't be here for a while. Her eyes then turned towards the one who had fallen; laid face-down on the ground; dead. She was more angered by the fact someone other than herself spilled his last blood, rather than that it was done at all--upon realizing that, she let out a bit of a mysterious sigh, and withdrew back behind her mask. Her bloodlust had been satisfied, if only for the moment, and so she was once again able to feel such emotions as guilt at sane levels...

"My apologies for your ally," she spoke solemnly, and tried to politely hide the insincerity of her words. After releasing only a slight pause, she tried to move towards a more truthful subject, "For what it's worth, both you and he fought valiantly considering your apparent level of experience." Sienna was somewhat uncharacteristically trying to fill the air with words, attempting to avoid the inevitable question of why. In the saner regions of her mind, she was still busily trying to come up with an excuse.

"Thank you.You fight very well yourself for a Deku Scrub, Sienna." He meant it as praise, but quickly realized it could be taken the other way. "I don't mean to offend. I've just never heard of any Deku Scrub with such amazing skill and power before now." He scratched his head in mild frustration. Quality communication skill was something he lacked. It didn't help that he had a dead comrade to take care of.

Adaar limped over to Mike's lifeless body. He kept his bow and a single arrow clenched in his left hand. "No more surprises my friend." he muttered to Mike, crouching down by his side. "I'm sorry we didn't believe you." Death was never pretty, but it still pained Adaar to see Mike's bloody condition. It looked like Mike had died instantly by the depth of arrow, which was slightly comforting. He closed Mike's good eye before leaving his side.

He began to make his way back to Sienna when a large bird flew down and landed on a branch above his head. The new arrival brought a smile to Adaar's otherwise gloomy expression. "Get over here Kiana." On command, Adaar's osprey glided down to land on his outstretched arm. She held out her leg, pointing out the little bit of parchment tied on. A short message was scribbled sloppily on the parchment; the author was obviously in a hurry.

"Saw storm. Following Kiana on horses" he read allowed. Even on horseback, it would still take some time for them to arrive. He gave Kiana a nod in thanks before sending her out as a guide. Even after all their time together, he was always amazed that she could always find him.

"That's Kiana." He added, looking to Sienna for some sort of response. It was impossible to read the Deku Scrub through all the armor, but he figured she might ask.

Sienna simply stood quietly, listening as the man bumbled over his words, gave a final goodbye to his friend, and introduced... what she assumed to be a trained bird of some sort. Yes, this man was definitely a Hylian, given the way he was acting. From where exactly is what she could not figure out...

She glanced up at him through her mask, the eyeholes alight with a faint orange flow. "I feel the need to ask something. Clearly you're not with the Castle Guard, so what fighting force are you aligned with? Being a Hylian, why are you out so far as Kokiri Forest?" The miniature warrior let out a bit of a sigh, and the grip on her glaive loosened. At once she realized she was inviting the same question, but managed to come up with a decent excuse by now. "I ask because for the past several months, I've been wandering across Hyrule nigh-aimlessly. And, not to sound arrogant, but from what I've seen here today, it seems like you could use a fighter like me on your side in the upcoming battle... or battles. I doubt Ganon's forces would come only in such small numbers, and in all likelihood, that Moblin is returning to his encampment to form a full-out assault force rather than a simple reconnaissance unit."

Her head turned, thinking she heard the sound of hoofbeats in the distance. Hopefully they were Adaar's allies and not the Moblin reinforcements. "At the very least, it would be nice to have a place to repair my armor and weapons... assuming you have an encampment around here and the necessary tools... as they've become quite worn." Sienna considered adding 'though not only from that battle,' but figured the fact she did something like this on a practical daily basis would be better left unmentioned for now.

Adaar gave a little chuckle. "Straight to the point, I like that." He paused and turned his head, a rumbling drawing his attention to the West. It sounded like... yes, horses. "We have a camp," he continued, slightly distracted. "Can't tell you where yet though. Not this close the the Southern Fields." He armed his bow and held hit horizontal, aiming in the general direction of the approaching horses. He was pretty confident it was Bren, but after tonight he didn't want to take any chances.

"Everything you need, we've got." He noticed Sienna shift into a better battle stance. "This should be my friends," He added quickly. "So don't kill anybody right away." The first being to enter his vision was Kiana, followed shortly by Bren and a dozen other riders armed to the teeth and ready for a fight. Adaar shifted his bow to his right hand and held it up high. He didn't want to be mistaken for an enemy or get run over.

Bren pulled up next to Adaar, his horse almost skidding to a halt in the loose soil. Bren gracefully dismounted of his steed and landed with a muffled thump. Adaar hadn't seen his friend this armed and armored in years. "Damn good to see you alive Adaar. What happened? Where's Mike?" he got straight to the point, so serious he almost forgot to greet his friend.

Adaar reached out and shook his leader's hand. He ripped through is report to be efficient with time, yet dreading to reach last bit. "Safe for now, but don't know how long. Mike was right, there were moblin out here. We got ambushed by almost a dozen, one got away. They were expecting us Bren. Wouldn't have made it without Sienna here." He stepped aside, allowing Bren to see the Deku Scrub. Bren gave a brief nod, then called for the other riders to fan out in a defensive screen.

"I see... but where's Mike?" Adaar sensed the impatience in Bren's voice. He didn't like his questions unanswered. It all drained away upon seeing Adaar's reaction. "Where?" His shoulders dropped, sadness in his eyes. Adaar pointed him over to Mike's body, but let Bren go alone to see.

"We'll be out of here soon Sieanna, sorry for the wait." he said over his shoulder. Bren didn't take long, though, knowing how serious the situation was. Grieving could be done later. He jogged back to Adaar, wiping his face with his sleeve. Bren cleared his throat before continuing. "We'll take it from here then Adaar." A short whistle from Bren brought two horses over. "Get back to camp... both of you. Take Mike with you." he jumped back on his horse and gave a nod. "Adaar, Sienna. Until later then."

*(I have a hard time making conversations not sound so forced. Meh. You can have us ride back to camp if you want.)*

Sienna gave a slight nod towards Adaar, and proceeded to... stare at the horse bestowed her for a moment, pondering how she could possible climb atop the beast of burden. With a bit of a sigh, shoved her polearm deep into the ground adjacent to the creature, using so much force that it almost startled the beast into a gallop. The iron maiden then proceeded to shimmy her way up the glaive, then leap onto the steed, giving it a bit of a startle and unintentionally urging it forward. With mild difficulty, she steered the stallion back towards her glaive and pried it from the ground mid-trot with her free hand.

By the time this had all finished, she turned to see Bren and the others had already galloped off in the direction she presumed camp to be. Considering there were going full-gallop, she could rather safely assume it wasn't too far off, and that she wouldn't need directions. But, nonetheless, she silently turned towards Adaar, and gave him a bit of a salute with her glaive. "Lead the way."

In truth, Sienna was concerned with the fact an armor-clad creature wielding a glaive charging into camp on a horse she could barely control... would provoke unnecessary attack. She doubted it would be possibly for her to take down an entire camp of individuals intent on taking down Ganon, as enticing as it might seem to attempt it. Considering that, it was better for the local to head in first.

"Direct me to the blacksmith as soon as we get there," she said boldly. After giving that demand, her head abruptly shifted away from eye contact and looked down the trail the others took, "Being in damaged armor, I feel like a wealthy merchant forced to wear rags..."

(I'm planning to consider this quest complete as soon as we get there and Sienna has a chance to smith some mail; probably my next post.)

One hunter searched all the bodies for anything useful and handed it all to Adaar in a bag. Then the two carefully wrapped Mike's body in a blanket before securing the bundle to Adaar's horse. After everything was packed up and ready to go, Adaar turned to Sienna... and was surprised to see she had already mounted the horse. She was definitely full of surprises.

"Will do." he said, replying to her request. With a little kick, the two began the quick trip back to camp. Even at a full gallop, he still managed to rummage through the loot-sack given to him earlier. Most of it was the standard stuff: arrowheads, knives, spear tips, various types of armor, metal buckles, etc. They needed all the supplies they could get, and every little piece counted. The unofficial rules of scouting say that all who take part in the attack get first dibs at the spoils before they're taken back at camp.

Two items in particular caught his eye. One was a mask of some sort that reminded him of Kiana. The other, a bag of deku nuts. It wasn't like moblins to carry useless items around with them, especially when on the attack. He could see the usefulness of deku nuts, but the mask? Obviously the little mask was more important than it looked, and he sensed something strange about the deku nut bag. Now wasn't the best time to examine these things; He'd investigate it more fully back at camp.

~~~~

A short while later the group arrived at camp. It was rather large, home of a hundred people, and hidden deep in the Kokiri Forest. The camp served two purposes: as a staging area for hunting and raiding parties for the Western Cave Refugees, and the decoy in case Ganon decides to extend his borders. The hope was that Ganon's soldiers would find the camp and assume that it was the only refugee base out here, thereby saving the Western Caves.

A few had gathered near the entrance, the look on their faces told Adaar why they were here. He jumped off his horse and walked it toward the group. Few words were exchanged as they took Mike's body from the horse. Adaar didn't know any of them, and they him. An elderly man, possibly Mike's father, thanked Adaar for bring Mike back, and they left.

"No point in dwelling on it further. Mourning wont bring back the dead." It may seem cold to some, but Adaar learned to let these things go before they ripped one apart from the inside.

"Sienna, the blacksmith is down that road a hundred yards or so." He pointed out the smoke rising off to the side of the entrance as he walked toward her horse, now holding the heavy loot-bag loosely by his side "You get your pick of the loot, whatever you want." He quickly retrieved his two items and left the bag on the ground. "If you aren't too busy, could you make some armor for me after you're finished? This fight made me realize I'm lacking in the armor department." He stood there, somewhat awkwardly, wondering if the warrior would accept help dismounting.

Sienna watched in silence as the proceedings went on within the camp. A warrior had died, and the culture unique to this encampment unfolded before her eyes. She found their tone strangely... admirable. There was respect among Adaar and the others, yet also utilitarianism. This was the sort of society she could have some hope of understanding.

When her companion of sorts turned towards her and began to speak of the blacksmith, she simply gave a silent but firm nod. Shifting her weight to the side of the horse opposite him, she slid off the steed. A moment later her sandals hit ground with a heavy thud, her armor clanging around noisily as her glaive sheared the air--she made sure the blade didn't behead any innocent bystanders in the process.

She then shifted around towards him, and glanced at the bag he left. As she did so, she could see from the corner of her eye a Hylian from the encampment leading off the horse she borrowed--presumably towards some central stable. It was a well-trained steed.

Her glowing gaze turned towards the general direction of the blacksmith as she spoke, "Thank you. Come by in no less than two hours, and I'll take your measurements and your preferences into consideration." As one might expect by now, her words were gruff and without sentiment--it was made obvious she expected no response.

With that said, she turned towards the sack of spoils at her feet. Using only the butt of her glaive, she proceeded to sift through some of the items within. Of particular value was a rare feather she was surprised to see--perhaps Adaar hadn't even noticed it, presuming it to be useless. Aside from that valuable item, she only claimed a metallic brazer worn by one of the slain Moblins. The rest was left behind as she wordlessly started towards the blacksmith pointed out to her.

...Coincidentally, the next hour or two of Sienna's life would be spent filling in the cracks of her cuirass and reshaping the spikes of her spaulders and gauntlets. The next hour or two of the local blacksmiths' time, however, would be spent... outside the blacksmith. The reasons they gave ranged from 'she's terrifying' to 'she's evil' to 'she demanded we leave our own workshop while I right was in the middle of making a new claymore; what the dark world is up with that?'

(Mission complete. She'll be taking Roc's Feather (20r) and Mailsmith Lv3 (30r).)