Light Up the Sea [Eevachu + Tsubori]

Quest Thread: Light Up the Sea

Rika started to wake up, lifting his body up as he glanced around the room with sleepy eyes. Rubbing his right eye with his left hand, Rika looked over the room he had woken up in for the past few weeks. It was your basic inn room; Rather plain, wooden walls made up the base of the inn, although they looked very fresh and new, as if it had only been built recently. A couple wooden bookshelves sat against the walls, also giving the feel that they had only recently been crafted. Although they were blank upon arrival to the room, Rika had since lined the shelves with books of varying subjects: Books about magic, specific spells and other magical things, to books detailing monster species, various locales in Hyrule, and boats. One thing of note is that for the latter, they seemed to pertain more to the massive pool of water known as the ocean Impa was beside.

Bright sunlight shined through the window in the room, or at least they would have if it wasn't blocked by a curtain. What the Kokiri had been sleeping on was a somewhat small bed, able to hold about one-and-a-half full sized Hylians. Luckily for Rika he was much smaller, so he had more space to himself. At least, he would if it weren't for the chubby Octorok tagging along with him. At the foot of Rika's bed rest a large, round, pink mass, with four small leggings sticking out of the top. If you turned to face the other direction, your eyes would first see one of two things; Either the large cylindrical snout or the long leaf moustache. Yes, a massive leaf moustache, reaching as long as it's belly. A white mask-like pattern covered the top of it's face just above the snout with two smaller eyes resting in this design. The Octorock seemed to still be asleep, although why it was upside down was unclear.

Getting out of bed, Rika got prepared, finishing by putting his hat on. As he instinctively reached at his bedside for his scythe, he remembered he didn't have one anymore. In the fight against Jagon, it had been broken while fighting against a Darknut and Wizzrobe. Luckily, he seemed to be close to getting a new one, but for now he'd have to make due without. Rika rolled the Octorock back on his belly, waking him up in the process. However, it was much preferred to waking up on his back unable to turn himself over. "Alright Wollo, I'm going out today. Try not to get in trouble, alright?"

The Octorock named Wollo seemed rather sleepy, blinking his eyes once or twice. "Uhh. . . Okay. Wollo be good." He communicated back to the Kokiri before snuggling deeper into the bed under the warm blankets Rika was no longer using. Stepping out of the room, Rika headed down the stairs, only to be met with a familiar face. As he reached the parlour, the girl behind the desk's face was met with a smile as she turned to him. "Oh, good morning, Rika! Where is our brave and adventurous hero headed off to today?" Her smile turned into a smirk as she said this, looking to the Kokiri walking over.

Rika couldn't help but smile as he responded. "Well, I was thinking about slaying a few dragons today, maybe head off and find a Moblin outpost or two. You know, nothing that big, wanna take it easy today." She laughed a little bit as he said this, before he added on. "Actually, I'm going to head down to the docks and see about getting a boat. I've freeloading off of you guys for a while so I think it's getting time for me to head out soon. Plus, it's kinda boring for an adventurer to spend his days sitting around." She seemed to have somewhat of an angry frown as she said this. "I've told you, you KNOW you aren't freeloading off of us! You helped save all of us here, letting you stay here is the least we can do, so don't say stuff like that!" She shouted at him, causing Rika to groan slightly. "Alright alright, if it makes you feel better I'll stop saying that! I wouldn't wanna make a pretty girl like you frown anyway, Wendy."

And pretty she was, too. She was rather short, although compared to Rika she had just over a foot on him. She looked to be in her early 20s or so, but Rika never knew for sure. She had golden blonde hair, which descended down to rest on her shoulder blades. A long, brown sundress descended to her ankles, covered by a slightly faded white apron. "Aww, how smooth. It's such a shame you have to leave, my days will be oh so boring without you to talk to. What else will I do without tales of your amazing adventures?" She leaned on the counter as she said this, resting her chin in her palm and looking at Rika. "Wow, laying it on a little thick there, huh? Haha, well, don't worry, I won't be gone forever. Next time I'm in Impa I'll tell you all about my adventures. I don't think I'll be leaving until tomorrow, anyway."

She smiled at the boy as she started unconsciously twirling her hair up with her right index finger, a habit she had picked up since working at the desk at an inn in Hyrule Castle Town, with all of the waiting around she did. With the creation of Impa she took the opportunity to start her own inn here, and so far it had been fairly successful. "You better, or I'll charge you for every night you stayed here! Now get out there and look for a boat." She jokingly barked at the Kokiri as he laughed at what she said, although somewhere in his mind he thought she really would if he went too long without visiting. "Alright, I'm gonna head out. I'll be gone all day, so when you have time, can you do me a favor and bring Wollo some food? He'll probably get hungry and I don't wanna make him wait all day to eat. Thanks!" He quickly responded as he walked out the inn doors, waving at her.

At first she was caught off guard by the Octorock, but quickly realized he was just a sweet and harmless animal. In a way, it was kind of cute, too. Wendy looked at the inn entrance with a smile as she went back over to the desk to continue her work.

As Rika exited the inn, he was met with the bright shine of sunlight. Shielding his eyes with his arm as they adjusted to the light, it was quite the beautiful day. A clear, blue sky with the occasional cloud, complete with a beautiful illuminating sun. People were going about their average days; Some were walking towards the docks, others headed to army stations to sign up or provide assistance. Some people greeted Rika with a cheerful smile as he passed by, happy to see him. This had been a recurring trend, although it happened less and less as the days passed since the Jagon event. A lot of people in the town were grateful towards Rika and the others who fought against Jagon's forces. He was offered numerous things, but denied most of them. He didn't even have a means of carrying most of them, and the fact that Impa was prosperous and running was enough for him.

Not to say he didn't get anything from it. Aside from staying at the inn for free, Rika was offered lots of food for free. Of course, while at first he took some of it, Rika started denying it after a while. Not to say he didn't like free stuff, but the whole objective of stopping Jagon was to make sure Impa grew. Him getting everything for free wasn't helping that, and he had more than enough rupees to buy his own food. Speaking of food, Rika was hungry. He'd have to grab a bite to eat soon.

He had something else to do first as he approached a medium sized building. Stepping in the door, the smell of heat wafted around his nose. He banged against the side of the door to get someone's attention. The room was full of various weapons and armor lining the walls and on wooden racks. There was a passageway to the back of the building, heat seeming to pulsate from there. After a few moments of waiting, a man walked through the door.

A large man walked through, wiping his hands off on something as he did. He towered over Rika, as if he was a Goron or Yeti. He had a long, thick beard running down to his chest, and a head full of tangled, unkempt hair, but it didn't look particularly dirty. His body smelled of a sweaty odor, as if he had been doing physical activity for quite some time. The man's face was met with a smile as he saw the Kokiri. "Ah, Rika, my friend! Good to see you!" He enthusiastically said to the Kokiri as he walked over and gave him a big bear hug. Rika felt all of his bones being crushed into one tiny Kokiri pile as he struggled to get out a breath, although the man obviously wasn't squeezing him quite that hard.

Rika managed to slightly pat his side with his hand before being dropped, clinging to the small gasps of fresh air as if they were his last. "It's. . It's good to see you too. . . Johnathan. . . " He choked out in between breaths. "You are here to check on scythe, yes? Is going very good!" The man told the Kokiri, the voice full of pride and confidence.

During the battle with Jagon, Rika's scythe had been broken. As such, he came to this Blacksmith's workshop to see about getting a new one. The blacksmith was enthusiastic to help the one who saved his workshop, saying he'd put all of his skill and effort into it along with adding a little something extra. He wouldn't quite divulge what it was, but Rika was fine with letting it be a surprise. "Oh, that's fantastic! I came to see if you could guess when it'd be done. I'm going to head down to the docks soon and see if I can purchase or obtain a boat, and I'll probably be leaving tomorrow if it's ready by then." The blacksmith seemed to think it over for a moment. "Hmm, yes, tomorrow. It should definitely be ready by then! Why get a boat, though? You going to help the army, too?" He inquired, but Rika simply shook his head.

"No, nothing like that. . . At least, I'm not planning on joining the army, our goals might cross over, however. It's been a long time since I've been to the south, and as you konw my home is there. I haven't heard anything bad, but I wanna go there and visit it myself. Plus, having your own boat is pretty cool, isn't it?" Johnathan seemed to look up and slip into his memories as he responded. "Ahh, yes. I remember my younger days when I was an adventurer. Crafting weapons then letting my steel meet flesh, it was very cool, yes. Riding the waves with my comrades. . . Those days are in the past, though. Now, I just craft the steel and let others bring it to flesh." He finished his monologue, before looking back at the doorway he came from.

"Ah, but you must excuse me! I have quite the workload back here today, especially finishing your scythe!" He interjected as he started heading towards the doorway. "No, it's no problem, I must be going too. I just wanted to stop by and see how progress was going. I'll come by tomorrow and get it then!" Rika waved goodbye to the blacksmith as he exited the workshop. Now he needed to head to the docks and see about that boat, but first thing's first is stopping by one of the many shops and getting something to eat.

The fresh, salty air hit Rika's nostrils as he got closer to the docks, his eyes gazing on the wide, endless waters in the distance. Dozens and dozens of tents and shops were set up, merchants standing behind countertops as they showed off their various wares. It was quite the bustling area, as citizens crowded the streets of the Impa marketplace. Many came to visit the various shops spread out, although some might've been there just for the atmosphere. Others, similar to Rika might be heading to the docks, such as to get a boat or assist the military's efforts.

Before that, however, Rika wanted to get something to eat. Sadly for him, most of the food he would find would be different types of fish, something he did not have a taste for. He didn't really have a choice if he wanted to eat, though, now did he? Making his way through the crowds, Rika kept his right hand over his hat, making sure it wouldn't get knocked off and trampled or dirtied. He managed to breach the mass of people, breaking off to the side. He was met with a smaller, tent-like setup. A shorter, bald man stood behind, a smile growing on his face as Rika approached.

"Ahh, hello there, boy! Would you like to purchase some of our delicious grilled fish? We have the Hylian Pike, a famous classic! If you want something a little different though, how about trying a Toona? Or, maybe a Skippyjack for a boy your size." Rika sighed at this. He felt like this guy was doing it intentionally, but he most likely didn't mean anything by it. "I'm. . . I'm not a boy- Look, I'll just take a Hylian Pike. How much is it?" The man nodded as the boy spoke, reaching behind him and grabbing a wooden stick. Impaled on the stick was a slightly charred, cooked fish. "Excellent choice! That'll be 10 rupees." Rika placed two blue rupees on the counter as he took his fish. The man smiled at the boy as he walked away before turning to meet other customers.

After he finished eating, Rika started to head towards the docks. At least, he would be if it weren't for the commotion he heard. "S-stealing from a priestess! That’s low!" Rika's eyes darted towards the crowd as she was two people, a man and a woman running. The woman seemed to be chasing after the man, and judging by what she shouted he had stolen something from her. A priestess, though? That'd have to wait until later, though.

Rika darted after him, trying to run along the sides instead of in the thick of the crowd. There were too many people for him to fling a spell at the man, though. Luckily for him, that wouldn't be a problem for long. The thief stumbled as he broke out of the crowd, reaching an open plaza-like area. It wasn't much different than the rest of the area, aside from the fact that there was much more space available. People weren't bunched up in large amounts, instead much more spread out. "Wait!" Rika shouted to the thief, thrusting his palm forward. An intricate glowing yellow symbol appeared on the ground in front of the thief.

He stumbled to stop, shocked at this. A massive dirt spire launched out of the ground, the thief running into it. Small spire edges sticking out cut at him slightly, but they were nothing more than minor injuries. The thief shook his head and pushed himself off of the spire before continuing to run. However, due to the spire his pursuers were closing in on him, there was far less distance between the two now.

The pursuing woman ran up to the thief, taking her pack back. Strangely enough, instead of getting the guards, she let him go. The man quickly dashed away, not one to make her reconsider. Then, she turned to Rika, introducing herself and thanking him for helping her. "You're just gonna let him go? I mean, I don't really care but- WAIT! I'm not a little kid! Argh!" Rika yelled to himself in a frustrated tone. "I'm a Kokiri! . . . Thanks though, I'm Rika." Phiorra huh? Looking her over, she was fairly cute.

Long blonde hair descended down her chest, about to the beginning of her stomach. She had an extremely clean and fair face. Smooth, light skin and not a single blemish or scar rest on her face. Her skin appeared to be fairly soft and tight, signifying that she wasn't that old, perhaps late teens? More than likely the rest of her skin was like this, too. No, not just light, but pale. He was also met with eyes radiating and shimmering blue, like the oceans nearby. That wasn't the only thing blue, however. A long, blue robe wrapped around her body, gently squeezing as it dropped to her feet. The blue happened to be a lighter shade than her eyes, but were still fairly similar.

Resting in her hair was a pure white lily. It sat in her hair on the left side, resting snugly in between strands of hair. One last thing of note was the massive smile she had on her face. It wasn't just as if she was smiling, but like she was genuinely happy or excited to be where she was. Something that caught Rika offguard was her height. Unlike most people, she wasn't much taller than he was. She still looked to be several inches taller, but compared to most people being almost two feet taller than him, this was a welcome change for the Kokiri. Maybe now someone wouldn't call him short.

Rika quickly caught himself staring at her a bit and shook his head, blushing slightly and trying to change the subject. "So uh, Phiorra, right? I heard you shout that you were a priestess earlier. What're you doing in Impa?"

"Er, a fairy?" Rika had almost forgotten those were a thing. His hat rest snugly back on his head as she sat it back down. "Oh, right, well. . . I don't have one, I never have." She quickly fired more and more comments at him, though. First the fairy, now the clothes? How nosy is this girl? . . . Well, she was a priestess, so maybe she was sheltered when she was young, so she didn't develop a respect for personal space and privacy. She had just lifted up Rika's hat without a care in the world moments ago, after all.

"Erm, well. . . I don't really wanna talk about it right now. What's wrong with my clothes, though? I may be red, but you're really blue! Even your eyes are blue, it stands out a lot! . . . I guess red does stand out a little more. What's wrong with standing out, though?" He didn't really have a problem with standing out like that. Rika loved to be in the spotlight and get attention from all sorts of people, it was something he craved. Speaking of standing out, though, the both of them were. The strange pair had started getting looks from all sorts of people, especially since they were standing right by a giant spike jutting out of the ground.

Some people watched at them like they were some weird magicians who were about to perform another trick. Some others just saw them as maybe a really eccentric couple? They were red and blue, so maybe they were putting on a show! Thoughts similar to these raced through the minds of people watching, their eyes beating on the both of them. It wasn't something that went unnoticed to Rika, either.

"Erm, maybe we should get out of here, we're starting to attract some attention. You said you were looking to cross the sea, right? I was actually going to the docks to try to obtain a boat myself, actually. Let's go to the docks together then." Truth be told, despite her nosiness, Rika enjoyed the company of a joyful and pretty girl. At least she wasn't as cowardly as Sec.

"Er, well, nothing's wrong with blue, I didn't mean it like that! You're just wearing all blue is what I was saying." She grabbed his hand, causing a bit of surprise from a Kokiri as he was dragged to the docks by her. Was she really going on a pilgrimage out in the sea to some tower? She seemed really innocent and oblivious, could she even survive on a ship with a bunch of sailors? Surely it wasn't a dangerous mission, she didn't seem like the type to get involved in battle. On the other hand, she did cast magic earlier. At first, it didn't seem all that strange to Rika, but after talking to her, it felt really odd to him. Oh well, he could think about it later.

Their feet met with stone as they entered the docks, walking on the stone pathway created. Just in front of them was was wood, reaching further out with bridges over the water used to board the ships. Dozens of different ships were in sight, from a few massive galleons, formidable titans of wood that could hold a small army, to the smallest of sailboats that would have trouble holding a grown Hylian man. This continued down the docks farther than the eye could see, countless ships sitting here and even more being built. Resting underneath and behind these boats lied vast amounts of water. An ocean full, in fact! G-Get it because it's an ocean it's a jo-

The bright sunlight reflected off the clear water, creating a glistening effect on top of the waves. Phiorra seemed mesmerized by the wide expanse of water in front of them. Was it really that amazing? I mean, sure, she had probably never seen anything like this living in Castle Town, but it was just the ocean. She must have been sheltered quite a bit, then. . . Well, maybe it's moreso that Rika's just seen too much. Rika then realized they were standing in place holding hands. He looked at her embarrassed, a light shade of pink showing in his cheeks.

Uh. . .I think someone might get the wrong idea here!" Rika said as he snatched his hand away, looking around desperately for something to change the subject. "Er, so, a boat, right? We should probably look for some sort of building along the coastline. If you're looking for sailors, we probably wanna head into a pub of some sort. If there was some sort of official building it might work too. That's where I'd need to go if I was interested in getting a boat, anyway."

Dragged around without knowing where they were going, the two of them ran back and forth around the docks. Eventually, the two managed to locate the pub on the docks. As they headed in, the stench of alcohol wafted around Rika's nose, causing him to instinctively block it with his palm. Perhaps due to his body being eternally small like a child, Rika never developed a taste for alcohol, being disgusted merely by the smell of it. As Phiorra started trying to converse with the sailors, Rika shook his head in disbelief.

Can someone really be this oblivious? [color=#004=8000]"Look, she just needs someone to give her a boat ride somewhere. Can anyone help?"[/color] Another one of the large, gruff men responded. "I have something I'll let her ride on, all right." This was followed by various howls and catcalls in the pub. It didn't seem like the men were going to stop anytime soon.

". . . Yeah, I don't think you're gonna find any help from guys like these, Phiorra. Even if you did, you might not even want the help. We should just go." The Kokiri got a couple glances at what he implied, their eyes seeming to say things along the lines of 'This kid has the balls to say something like that?'. However, most of them went back to drinking moments later, assuming the two kids were going to leave.

As the two of them exited the bar, Phiorra seemed rather disappointed she couldn't get a boat ride. At this rate, Rika would have to end up taking her himself with the boat he was trying to get. . . He better get paid for this. The girl proceeded to shoot Rika a couple questions, which he wasn't really sure what to say to. "No, nothing like that. I mean, I'm pretty good at reading people, but there's no ability. Most Kokiri would probably act the same as you did, actually. The reason I said that was, well. . ." He wasn't really sure if he should explain it to her. She was so innocent he felt like she would be horrified if he explained the truth to her. Hell, he wasn't sure if she'd even understand what he meant.

"You see," Rika continued. "They wanted to have their way with you on the ship." Would she even get what that meant? "What that means is- Just- Nevermind, I'm going to go look to buy a ship, you can come along if you want." He said in a panicked tone, not really sure how to explain this to the girl. He hoped she did understand, as he really didn't want to have to explain it to her.

Now that was what Rika wanted to hear. Not to say he wanted to head off alone, but he wanted to get paid for doing stuff. Where would one buy a ship though? "That I'm not entirely sure of, we'll just have to look around. There are numerous options though. Because of the war there's been a lot of ship building recently, so surely someone's built ships just to sell or might be willing to sell or trade one. The military has a lot of ships too, so perhaps we can purchase one from them." He responded while looking around.

"Well, guess we've just gotta start looking around." The two of them headed around the docks Scooby-Doo style, although no wacky music was heard. They searched and asked around for about an hour, sadly to no avail. Soon, however, they came across the army. A tall, broad man in light armor stood in front of three or so men in chainmail, seemingly barking orders at them. They all gave a unified salute before running off as a group. The man let out a weary sigh and rubbed his temples with his fingers, giving quite the distressed look. I wonder what was wrong?

Rika's eyes lit up as a light sparked in his mind. This was a great opportunity for him. He had to know more. "Monster? What kind of monster?" The captain seemed to shrug as he looked at the strange boy. "I probably shouldn't be telling this to a boy, but ah, what the hell, it doesn't matter. We don't really know what kind of monster, but it's been randomly assaulting ships at the docks and destroying them. We haven't been able to react since it's caught us off guard, and since we're busy preparing to head to the south, we can't afford to station enough soldiers to be ready to take it down."

Rika nodded as he talked, a smile that was sure of itself showing up on his face. "Sound like a problem for sure. . . Maybe I can help you, and you can return the favor. See, I'm not a Hylian boy as you may think, I'm a Kokiri. I've also had my fair share of battles. You know what a Kokiri is, right? And, see, I've been looking ALL OVER for a ship, but it's just so hard to find one. You understand, right?" A small smile crept on the captain's face, but he attempted to hold it back. He let out a small, although somewhat saddening laugh or two at the boy. "I see, that does sound like a problem." He quickly responded before the Kokiri continued.

"And, I know the military has quite a few available ships, some of which they may be. . . willing to part with. So I'll just say it frankly. I'll take care of the monster problem for you, if you can help me out with my ship problem." The captain seemed to look at the Kokiri for a moment before letting out a small laugh, which soon developed into a hearty, bellowing laugh.

"Hahaha, kid, if you can take care of this monster I'll happily give you a ship. It's well worth the price of getting the morale of my men back." Rika's face lit up as he heard this, it was great! He'd finally be able to get a ship.

"Alright, great! I'm gonna need a little info on him though. Where does he appear, and any particular time?" The captain's laugh seemed to fade as the Kokiri said this. "Well. . .That's the problem we've had, there isn't one. He attacks randomly and we're not sure why. I can tell you where he's attacked previously, but beyond that you'll have to wait until he attacks again." Rika nodded as he said this, still excited about the plan. He got to fight a supposedly strong monster AND get his ship? It was the best of both worlds!

As they walked away from the captain, Rika considered what to do. "Well, we don't need to head out to sea. It was attacking docked ships, so we should be fine on the docks. Plus we're sitting ducks on the boat, at least here we can move around. We just need to wait, but for now we can go to the spots it's attacked and see if we can gather any info. Otherwise, we just wait until something happens." Rika responded as he ran the information the captain had given him through his mind. Then, he looked over to Phiorra. . . Wait, Phiorra. Could she even fight? Sure, she was a Light Priestess, and as shown earlier had access to magic. That didn't mean she was combat ready, though.

"Wait, Phiorra. . . You CAN fight, right?" It hadn't occurred to him until just then, but if she couldn't, it might be best if she doesn't tag along. Rika would have his hands full with the monster, he didn't need to worry about her too.