Making the Journey

(Continued from here: viewtopic.php?f=54&t=75&start=30 )

Dante walked closely next to Guy, trying to keep pace without a walking implement. It was difficult, but he managed, with an odd sort of hop through the snow. "I guess we should follow you or Victus." Dante said to Guy, but seeing as Guy had already taken the lead, Dante guessed that they would now be following Guy. Dante looked behind them, saw that the peak had already gotten smaller. The Hylians were beginning to trail after them now, if at a slow pace. Dante looked through the crowd, looked for the other Deku in their midst. He couldn't see between the taller Hylians; Dante assumed that Victus was somewhere in the middle of the group, probably helping the wounded and infirm as they made their way to Nabooru.

Dante sighed. It wasn't like him to suffer pangs of guilt. Maybe it was something the other Deku had said, something about the way he carried himself, believed every word that he said. Maybe Dante was reminded a little of himself, when he looked at Victus, when he had been very very young. Dante shook his head. What had gotten over him lately? He was as moody as a goddess forsaken pubescent Hylian. "Jeez..." Dante rubbed the sides of his head with his hands, trying to massage away his headache. Letting out another sigh, Dante looked over at Guy, who seemed to be faring well, despite the snow. "Maybe I should get a walking stick." If Dante could have, he would have grinned. As it were, being a Deku, the only thing he could manage was a strange look on his face and a snort.

"So, I take it you've been to Nabooru already?" Dante asked Guy, looking down towards the city, through the veil of cloud and snow.

Dante nodded, placing his hand where his chin was approximately located, on his round face. Using Victus' spell would definitely help them reach the bottom safely. However, there were a few problems; the wind was beginning to pick up, and it would only be worse further into the gorge. The refugees would be blown pell-mell, and would be unable to control themselves, and prevent themselves from being slammed into the cliff face. Additionally, the wind might throw some refugees away from the main group, either losing them completely, or forcing the main group to search for the lost party after landing. Dante shook his head. "We will have to use that spell, Victus, but this wind poses too much of a danger to the refugees. There's no telling where it would take you."

Dante closed his eyes, thinking to himself, trying to think of a plan. Dante's eyes fluttered as he went through the catalog of his mind. His eyes opened fully, and he looked between Guy and Victus. He spoke to Victus first. "Do you have a rope? Or do the refugees have some rope? I will need quite a lot, so much that we might have to tie some ropes together. if that doesn't work, we can use old clothes, that people have no need for. As long as we have something that's long enough to make it to the bottom." Dante pointed to the valley floor below them. Then he looked to Guy.

"Guy, I'm going to make a special arrow, and tie whatever rope we can manage to it. Any chance that you remember that wall-walking trick of yours? We're going to need someone to get to the bottom, and secure the rope, as well as help people off as they float down." Dante asked Guy, crossing his fingers. It had been years, but Guy was not the type to let his skills get too rusty. Without waiting for an answer from either Deku, Dante ran over the a tree, pulling out his Kukri and hacking off a large branch. Dante sat on a nearby boulder and began his work. Hitting the ancillary branches off with his Kukri first, he pulled out his smaller knife, that was paired with his Kukri, and began shaving off splinters of wood.

Dante looked at the rope made of clothing ad actual rope, let out a sigh. It wasn't the sturdiest thing, but it looked like Victus knew how to tie a good knot; as long as the knots did not come unraveled, they would be fine. Whittling at the arrow, as Victus made the rope, Dante wondered if it would all work out well. He supposed that he could easily leave them at the gorge, and simply go off on his own, but that did not seem right to him. It felt as if he had invested himself into the refugees, and now had to see them safely to Nabooru. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt this way, only that he felt like a parent, responsible for their child. Dante cringed at the thought of a child, his child. The wound still festered it seemed.

Banishing such thoughts from his head, he returned to work. With each pass of the knife, the arrow began to take form. The blade hissed as tiny slivers of wood fell away, revealing the true form of the wood. It felt as if Dante were merely carving away the excess, revealing this wood's true purpose, as he created the arrow. The limb was good; it was straight, without knots. The grain of the wood was not resistant to Dante's shaping, flowed easily as he turned the knife over it again and again. He did not have to fight it, the wood's spirit working in tandem with him. Thank you... He nodded towards the tree. It seemed that even nature itself wanted to see the Hylian's safely across.

With his work finished, he hopped down from the boulder, joined Victus. The arrow showed fine craftsmanship, despite being such a simple item. It was smooth, lacking any imperfection in the wood or of the maker. The tip was strange, had three hooks, instead of a point. Dante fingered them with his forefinger, withdrew it as he felt a tip almost break his first layer of bark. His fingers ran down to the other end, where instead of notches for a feather, Dante had instead left a wider portion at the end, a disc through which a hole had been carved. The ring was good too, appeared to be sturdy. Tying one end of the rope through the ring, Dante tightened the knot. He nodded in satisfaction when he heard the creak of wood. The knot would hold.

"I can shoot this across the gorge, where you can fasten it to something, maybe a tree or something. Speaking of which." Dante took the other end of the rope, tied it to the tree that he had taken the wood for the arrow from. He wrapped it around a few times, fastened it around the trunk. He pulled it taught, then walked back over to Guy and Victus. "That way, you only have to concentrate on getting up that cliff, without worrying about lugging this rope and arrow with you. You should probably leave that spear with me. I can carry it across, when I go." Dante held out his hand to receive Guy's spear.

Dante watched, none too surprised as Guy made is way down the canyon wall, and then up the opposite wall. It was an impressive show, as usual, but Dante had gotten used to Guy performing above and beyond. He chuckled, watching the wonder on the faces of the Hylians. This was something that Dante used to see often, if almost every day. Shaking his head, he unslung the case from his shoulder, set it on the ground. He hated to bring his bow out where it would have a chance to get wet; being a composite bow, it did not deal well with moisture, and ran the risk of coming apart. However, the snow was a light, dry sort of snow, not heavy and wet. Crossing his fingers, hoping that his bow would be alright, he opened the leather case, slid the bow out gingerly.

Holding up the bow, stringing it one swift motion, he pulled on the cord, testing its tension. Satisfied by it, he grabbed the arrow, walked closer to the edge of the gorge. He let out a heavy sigh. With the conflicting winds, he wasn't sure how far he would be able to shoot the arrow, or even make it to the other side. Still, he had to try. Placing his left foot forward, he balanced his weight between his too legs, spreading them about shoulders length. He raised the bow up, knocked the arrow. As he lowered the bow, he pulled back on the string at the same time. "Farore, guide my hand..." He whispered quietly to himself. Memories flooded his mind, memories of a time when the wind had been an ally, had parted at his command. His left arm was shaking now, with the strain as he kept the arrow knocked to the bow. He squinted, and in a heartbeat it seemed as if everything had stopped.

I am the arrow, swift as the wind, indomitable as nature itself. Nothing will stand in my way. Unbidden words came to his mind, like an incantation. Green energy surged forth in tendrils from his right hand, strangling the well crafted arrow. Dante's eyes snapped open wide, letting the arrow fly. It whistled by his face, nearly left its mark. But without even looking, Dante knew that the arrow flew true. It pierced through the wind, the blasting gusts insignificant to the arrow's flight. The shaft fell right at Guy's feet. With a smile, he unstrung his bow and returned it to its case, then slung it back over his shoulder.

"Victus, allow me to go first. That way, I can show the refugees the proper way of crossing over, as well as help people down." Dante asked the other scrub. "We will want that spell on every person here, if you can, in order to safeguard people against falling. However, for so many people... That may be difficult. If we have to, we should get the children and elderly safely across first." Dante pondered, looking over the refugees. Though there were a few that were wounded, or sickly, it didn't seem like any would be completely unable to cross over. If they had anyone that couldn't... well, Dante wasn't sure what they would be able to do for them. He let out a sigh, hoping everything went off without a hitch. As he walked towards the rope, he felt the magical energies wash over him. Muttering his thanks to Victus, Dante turned around, so that his back was facing the gorge.

"Listen up!" He yelled out, his voice surprisingly loud for such a tiny body. "I'm going to demonstrate how you will want to make your way across this here rope." Dante took the spear Guy had handed to him, placed it on top of the rope, and grasped the side to the left of the rope with one hand, and the right side with the other hand. "You will use your hands to hold this rope, or some other sturdy instrument, like a belt strap. Next, you will bring your legs up to the rope." Dante pulled his body up, wrapped his legs around the rope. "Finally, you will shimmy across slowly. Do not look behind you. Take only what you need." With that, Dante was off, wiggling his way across the rope and to the other side.

Though it was cold, Dante was sweating, more out of nervousness than anything. Of everyone, he was the one taking the greatest risk, because he was testing the rope's integrity. Dante grunted, decidedly ignoring his fears of falling from the rope, though the spell would keep him from falling to his doom. Before he knew it, the trip was over, and he was hovering over the ground on the other side. He let himself down, wiped his face of the moisture that had formed. Dante looked at Guy, shook his head, then made a feeble attempt at a grin. "Why do we do it, huh?"

Dante stood close to the edge of the cliff, helping people down as they dropped their legs down and to solid ground. "I suppose you're right." Dante said with a grunt, making sure the Hylian child made it to the ground without event. The child giggled, ran off behind the tree. "At this point, I can't remember anymore, what life was like when I had been retired. It was quiet. But it was empty, too. Maybe I was deluding myself that entire time." Dante shrugged, waited for another Hylian to cross the rope. It seemed that things were going well. "I suppose people like you and I were never meant to settle down." Dante sighed. Though he enjoyed leading a life of adventure, it was kind of sad, too.

"Hey, so, what are we going to do about the horse, anyways? I don't think it would be all that great, when it comes to crossing our rope." Dante snorted, looking at the chestnut mare that was milling around on the other side. The boy with the flute giggled, hoped down from where he was perched on the tree. He walked up to Dante, began to whisper in his ear. "Really!" Dante laughed out, listening carefully to the boy's words. The small boy began to play on his flute, soft, sweet music flowing from his instrument. A large gust of wind buffeted against Dante, flew past him. Miraculously, the wind didn't seem to affect the rope. The wind, instead, hit the horse, lifted into the air, began to drag it towards their side of the gorge. The horse's eyes widened in fear, its arms and legs flailing like wet noodles. Then it looked down. It seemed that the magical wind might drop the horse, as the boy's song faltered from distraction by the increased thrashing of the horse. But, the horse made it safely across, its hooves stopping their movement when they hit the ground. The horse trotted over next to Guy, and sat down.

"I stole it from a moblin, actually. You should have seen it then. He looks much better now." Dante watched as Guy made an effort to comfort the horse. Strange, that Guy was show compassion to something usually considered to be a work animal. But, in retrospect, it was odd that Dante thought that way. It seemed he had forgotten that Guy had a compassionate side, though it wasn't something he displayed often. He laughed at himself quietly. "You should give him a name. He seems to like you." The horse nuzzled Guy's hand, sniffing the the Deku. "There are some apples in the side pouch on that horse, there. He likes them a lot." Dante helped an elderly woman off the rope, who had made it across surprisingly well. Dante felt relieved, if a little bit sheepish for the thought, that these Hylians were malnutritioned. He wasn't sure if someone that was overweight would have been able to make it across. As it were, all the Hylians were terribly skinny.

Seeing now that there were only the adults left on the other side, excluding the elderly or the sick, Dante judged that his job was done. He figured that they would no longer need his help. As such, he walked over to the tiny boy, taking off his celestial harp. He began to pluck a few notes, and every so often a sour note would come out, but the Hylian boy would quickly correct him with a note from his flute. "Yeah, I'll teach this to you when I get the chance, Guy." Dante yelled over. The Hylians were making quite a ruckus on their side. Dante supposed it was the trauma of crossing the gorge, or some other similar reason.

"Uh. Okay. Sure, yeah, I guess Gordon is a pretty good name for a horse." Dante gave Guy a strange look. Guy was acting awfully strange. And Dante didn't miss the glimmer in Guy's eyes, the sparkle that meant that he really wanted something. Judging from the way he was lustily looking at the horse, Dante figured that he wanted Gordon, and badly. He always got the same look whenever rupees were involved. Dante covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. He was going to let Guy stew things over, for it seemed that he wasn't entirely sure what to do with the horse. I'll let him wonder about it. Dante tossed his head from side to side, shaking it at Guy's antics. His comrade never ceased to amuse him.

By this time, Dante had already gotten the notes of the song, apparently named Epona's Song, memorized. He couldn't help but wonder what an Epona was. Sounded like some, old lady-hermit's name or something. Or is it a hermetta? He wondered to himself, scratching the side of his head. He was just about to ask Guy, or a nearby Hylian the same question, until he realized that the ruckus was only getting louder. Looking around, the small Deku could only wonder what was going on; they were surrounded by much taller folk, and Dante felt like a bush among trees. "Blasted Hylians, and their long legs..." He gripped quietly, making sure no one heard him. Climbing on top of a Hylian, without so much as a first date before clamoring over a woman's ample bosom, Dante perched atop a Hylian's head and shoulders. The unfortunate Hylian woman could not move, due to the crowd around her, and as such had to suffer Dante's antics. Luckily, he wasn't terribly heavy. He looked around, saw Victus, but nothing out of the ordinary.

By then, all of the Hylians had made it across without event, and now only Victus was left. Still, something seemed odd. Hurry up, Victus! Dante was beginning to get antsy. Something was wrong, and it seemed that only the Hylian's good senses were able to pick it up.

(I don't actually know what's up. Someone feel free to add whatever in. CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE )