Making the Journey

Guy nodded slightly between Dante's sentences, though his eyes remained mostly on the road ahead of them. He was beginning to grow mildly frustrated with the Hylians, as if they were traffic clogging up the forest's pathways.

"Hm... Well, then do whatever you think is best for the Great Deku Flying Machine," he practically spat out the last two words, "As that is one thing I have no idea how to help you with. Some of my contacts, however, may be able to aid you somewhat in its construction. In particular there's a Deku lass I know who has a mind for those sorts of intricacies, as well as skill in carving wood..."

"As for your question," the Scrub callously shrugged, "It has something which has been thrown around in my mind time to time. I have known and parted ways with seemingly countless good comrades and contacts, particularly those of the Deku race, strangely. Time and time again I have maintained loose contact with many of them, either if I need their favor in one matter or another, or if--by chance--I ever find myself in need of this 'brigade'..." He paused, if only for a moment, "As long as we're already discussing it, I prefer calling it the 'Deku Brigade.' That title shows our heritage. Both of the leaders and most--if not all--of the members would be Deku Scrubs."

He let out a bit of contented sigh, with a slight smirk in his voice, "For years now I've had a feeling that I would one day need to be a part of some kind of tightly-knit elite force. I did not know when that would occur nor why, until I happened to stumble across you in the mountains, Dante."

Guy peered up ahead, seeing through the slits of the trees what appeared to be some kind of building or buildings, presumably not even a mile or two away. However, he also noticed through those same slits that the sky was already orange, and beginning to grow dark. "...Regardless of anything else, I suppose our first order of business in Nabooru is to find a place to rest for the night." The words were said with melancholy. He doubted any single inn in the entire town had a proper hammock, or even a nice couple of poles from which to hand one. No one ever does, he has come to realize.

"I might end up selling it... or maybe using it for the top half of a hammock." Guy glanced down at his spear, fastened awkwardly towards Gordon's saddle simply so the bulky thing needn't be carried. "It depends if the Cucco's Caw has anything aside from silken beds to sleep on... Best inn in that town, and the keeper owes me one to boot," he boasted.

Just as he was about to continue on the vain subject, the wooden fellow noticed his horse was beginning to decelerate. Examining what laid ahead of them, it was obvious why: the forest's beaten pathway had given way to the suburbs of Nabooru. The seemingly-mandatory wooden sign posted to the path's side greeted all comers to its town. Fittingly enough, there was an arrow lodged through the 'm' in 'welcome.'

Guy had expected more of a mad rush into the town at such close proximity... surely some of them had families to return to. He managed to weave Gordon way through the small crowd, if only because none of them were eager to stand close to a stallion reeking of Moblin. Soon, he approached the apparent leader of the group, as well as Victus... Apparently they had gathered enough to form some sort of reward, which as Guy would expect, the holier-than-thou Scrub was adamantly refusing...

When the ordeal was all said and done, the two more greedy of the three Scrubs would each be forty rupees richer, and the entire trio would quickly become renowned--for one of them even more so--in the town of Nabooru...

...Several dozen minutes later, Gordon and his Deku passengers found themselves before the fabled inn of which Guy spoke. Right on cue, the one in front hopped off and landed into the dirt with a loud plump of his boots. "Alright, just take our steed around to the side and check in. Use my name--if not our valiant act of heroism itself--and you can probably get in free. Or at least at a drastically reduced rate."

The Scrub hefted off his stolen spear from the steed's saddle, and begin to back away, "Right, so I'll go rendezvous with my contacts. As I said, they were counting on me to deliver information tonight... although I can't wait to get back here and crash." He sighed, fantasizing about the inn's silken sheets, "...Anyway, I should be back before dusk. Take care of Gordon." With that said, he preceded to drudge off, his frame already weighed down with all the trekking and combat off the day. A moment later, he vanished into the roaring crowd of the merchant district.


(I have no specific plans about the inn, the innkeeper, or whether Victus is still with Guy & Dante or elsewhere.)

They had finally reached Nabooru, and without any more interruptions from either local wildlife or threats. Once they were safely inside the city and people had time to celebrate their arrival, a group of the Hylians had approached him, rupees in hand and thanking him to no end. Victus shook his head, he had no need for their rupees or the thanks they gave him, but they would not stop. Victus was sort of glad that one of the other Dekus had so kindly come by and taken their attention from him.

As the people went off to visit family and friends, to rest after such a journey, Victus found himself absent-mindedly following the two other Deku Scrubs as they trotted along on their horse towards the local inn. As Guy was leaving, Victus turned to Dante and bowed once more.

"Again, I thank you both for your help. Should you need anything, I'd be glad to help. I'll be at the local Church if you do. May the Goddesses be with you." With that, Victus turned and parted ways with the Deku and wandered through town, trying to avoid people as he stepped foot on the church grounds. Greeted by the kind priest who was currently sweeping the floor, Victus rested on a pew as he took time to pray.

With his prayer done, Victus would head off to the rooms in the back of the church, where there was small and ragged beds where people who needed a place to stay could rest, and he dropped his hammer at the side as he rolled onto the wooden bed as sleep took over.

The sky overhead was beginning to transition to orange, and before long would be completely dark. Right on cue, however, Guy casually strode through the front doors of the establishment--his first sight was Dante sitting at the bar, with other patrons surrounding him, making conversation. His eyes scanned the remainder of the area--a pretty typical pub, and as he already knew, the rooms were upstairs above sound-blocking floors. Even now he recalled how he suggested that particular addition back when this place was being expanded into a full-fledged inn...

Guy weaved his way up through the crowd before clambering up on the barstool adjacent his first mate. With a casual salute, he greeted those surrounding him. In short order, he turned to the Goron barkeeper, a slight smirk in his voice, "How about another round on the heroes, Thangoro?" A spread of rupees was shelled out onto the table--though Thangoro was generous, he knew the man was not that generous.

With a chuckle, "You got it, Guy," the barkeeper launched another shout across the bar for a full round. As much as one would expect, the air was filled with applause and half-drunken woots of gratitude.

Guy gave a few nods towards the seemingly endless string of passerby who already knew him, through either one endeavor or another. Of course, were just as many who despised him... although thankfully most of them were already dead. Within the minute, however, the Scrub leaned in towards his ally and mumbled, "They were counterfeit." Even Guy had no interest in hoarding counterfeits, it seemed. Before this time tomorrow, however, he would bring up the subject again and go on and on about his pathetic contacts and how they attempted to pay him counterfeit and how he needed to find their base of operations and steal everything not nailed to the ground and so forth.

The air was filled with idle chatter, and the tables with drinks and food, for an hour or two more. Throughout the commotion, Guy managed to force out of Dante the exact notes of that Song of Epona, which he would be able to practice himself in the morrow.

Eventually, Guy leaned over the countertop towards Thangoro and brought up the subject of a room for himself and his 'most glorious comrade.' The Goron offered it to him for free, but in truth, the pile of rupees laid out earlier more than paid for the inn and all the drinks. However, the, "I'll even throw in a free hammock for ya," was purely generosity on the part of Thangoro--though his words could have easily been overheard as sarcasm.

The pair of heroic-in-deed-only Scrubs squirmed their way out from the crowd, which only seemed to be growing as the night wore on, and managed to scurry their way up the stairs and into room 202. With a heavy hand, Guy slammed the door behind him and slumped against it with an even heavier sigh. "I hate parties, especially where everyone knows me. We need to get out of here, Dante..."

Guy glanced around the room. It was luxuriously spacious, and held both a pristine, velvet-draped king-size bed around which everything else was centered: nightstand, private bathroom door, oil lamps, closets, a table, chairs, the works. Off in the far corner, however, was a tidy little hammock with a black silken blanket in the corner--tied between a pair of wooden shafts which seemed tailor-made just for him.

"Heh," the Scrub chuckled as he moved towards the hammock, "Thanatos is the fucking man." In short order, he slung himself up onto the makeshift bed, and his orange eyes moved towards Dante. "I don't know about you, but I'm still exhausted from the mountain." His hands proceeded to maneuver the silk sheet, draping it around himself. "We have much to do tomorrow, but for now, shall we rest?"

(Hopefully that wasn't too much god-modding on Dante; if it was, I'll edit. Anyway, quest(s) complete! )