On the Run

Towards his comrade's words, Guy simply nodded at first. He could understand well Dante's retirement; such seemed the destiny of all young adventurers, himself excluded.

As his friend went on however, Guy's movements were steady, solemn, and respectful. Normally he was blind to the troubles of others, but when the name of Scytale was mentioned... the name of an adoptive son... he could not help but think of Petal. What if Petal, pray the two of them had never parted, died in his arms? What if he perished due to Guy's own negligence? Asking himself such questions, it was all too easy to understand the motivation behind Dante's quest.

"...I have my own reasons for doing so," the Scrub mumbled, his voice a bit gruff, "But you have my assistance on your endeavor, comrade, whenever you need it, whether that means now or in the future."

Quickly, trying to avoid words of gratitude or anything of the sort, he changed the subject, "I assume the lot of you are headed to Nabooru as well?" His voice was thrown forward towards the still-nameless mace-wielding Scrub walking ahead of them, as if expecting some sort of response.

"Yes, we are heading to Nabooru. If you wish to go there as well, feel free to stay with the group," Victus called back to the Deku Scrub, focusing more on his surroundings. While he was still unfamiliar with the two, he felt that the second one was more understanding on things then his more hotblooded companion. Though, if the first's battle skill as any note on the strength of the second, the group will be very well protected.

Moving back through the group towards the Deku by slowing his pace, Victus turned slightly to the two and glanced over them again, taking in simple physical details as to easily identify them later on. "As it would be rude otherwise and I like to know who I am travelling with, my name is Victus Natura, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Guy nodded a bit, "Then, I might as well stay with the lot of you for now," and shoved his free hand into one of his pants pockets as the lot of them trudged onwards. Thinking silently to himself, however, he made it a clear point that he had never claimed he would protect the group should monsters ambush again... at least not unless they expected to reimburse him somehow for his labor. The last thing he wanted was to become a wanted man of yet another sufficiently powerful organization.

His eyes had watched those of Victus enough to know that the question of name seemed directed towards Dante as much as himself; much to his surprise, it seemed the two of them hadn't actually been travelling together as much as he expected. It seemed Dante was more in need of allies than initially assumed.

Nonetheless, he responded simply and bluntly, "Guy. Guy Denzrita." He glanced towards Victus for a moment, mid-stride, and gave something of a salute using the spear held in his right hand.

Guy's head tilted at this suggestion. He had trained others in the art of personal combat before, to some extent, but it was always in the form of a mentor-pupil relationship... What Dante seemed to be suggesting seemed to be more of one teacher to a crowd of individuals. He certainly didn't believe that to be as effective method of teaching, but it would certainly be more lucrative, he imagined.

"I'll give it a try if there's enough rupees to be had." He shrugged, only half-open to the abrupt proposal, "I'm not the greatest teacher and not the strongest warrior, but if there's one thing that makes me a good fighter, it's my knowledge of techniques and tactics... which I suppose is the best thing a combat trainer could have, eh?" Guy shot a glance towards Dante, gesturing a bit with his shoulders.

It was then that he noticed that the group's feet have been tracking in snow for several minutes now... and the ground was no longer visible, hidden beneath layers of fog. He glanced up, eying what seemed to be the peak in the far distance, perhaps 60% of the way up the mountain now. If his calculations were correct, and he hoped they were, Nabooru would be just on the other side of this...

...As the air grew colder, he wrapped his scarf partway around his torso and arms, silently wishing he had the foresight to bring a proper jacket... or for that matter, even a shirt.

Guy quickly snatched away the blanket handed his way and wrapped it over his shoulders, holding the two opposite flaps together over his chest with his free hand, while his free one extended out from the gap to continue carrying the spear along, pounding the butt ofdown with every other step. He began to wonder, however, if it was really worth it. There better be a merchant willing to pay a pretty rupee for this, he thought to himself.

In a moment, his shuddering from the cold managed to subside, somewhat. He gave a slight nod towards Dante in gratitude, while contrarily grumbling at a level practically no one could hear, "Men don't need shirts."

Towards his comrade's question, Guy raised his voice to a more audible level to repeat the calculations he had just moments ago made in his head, adding, "It's not too bad of a hill. We've probably only got a couple more hours to go... and after that, there's the forest south of Nabooru which might take a few hours to navigate as well..." He glanced up towards the sky, noting the time to be early afternoon, "So long as there isn't a major hitch or two, we should get there by dusk, I would assume.."

"Actually," in response to Dante's inquiry, "It's working well for me as a walking stick." For a moment his eyes glanced up towards what still laid ahead, then back down towards the uneven ground--continuously searching for the best placement of his next step. "On the contrary, I'm surprised you aren't using one, seeing as your legs are even shorter than mine."

He sighed heavily for a moment, letting his breath form a small cloud in front of his face, before dissipating into the surrounding air. "No matter how much I travel, I'll never get used to these long stretches of doing little to nothing..." His hand pulled the blanket tighter around him. "...Although it certainly gives one pause for thought."

Indeed, Guy found himself thinking about the future: how his report would be laid out to his contacts back in Nabooru, the pitch he would give on this 'invaluable weapon of Ganon's forces' to some trader, how he could regain some of the combat skills he had forgotten, and among other things, "How do you suppose we go about training those Hylians, anyway? What is the exact scheme?"

Guy mused to himself that walking sticks were the epitome of masculinity, and formed what in his own opinion a very reasonable and solid argument in their favor... But when Dante started hacking up a lung on the cold air, he just softly chuckled instead, almost completely forgetting the whole thing.

"Yes, I think Hylians would have a natural aptitude for spears, given their size... One of my sisters would definitely disagree, but I think they make excellent weapons for those with strength or size but no idea how to properly use it." He jabbed his stolen spear towards the air, "Pretty much just stab before you get too close, and try to block and counter if you get within the range of their weapon..." Obviously, he was oversimplifying things, but hoped the general idea of his point was made.

After a couple steps, he saw Dante come to an abrupt stop, and Guy himself would realize why in a moment. He too, halted on what seemed to be the absolute peak... glancing down at Victus at the Hylians ahead of them who, too, seemed in awe of the sight. The entire lot seemed to be hidden in bits of thin cloud, giving the entire area a mystical appeal, but yet the fog was still thin enough that miles upon miles of Northern Hyrule could be seen ahead of them. Not least of which was the sight of a certain city somewhere between eight and twelve miles ahead, intermingled with the forest itself.

It was... peculiar. From this distance, even, Guy could make our the rough shape of the town... guessing where certain locales had been... the pub he used to work was probably on the west side...

He took one final, deep breath of the icy mountain air, before he began to head back down the opposite slope. "The hard part should be behind us now, assuming we don't get ambushed again," he sighed mid-stride, "But we still have a long way to keep going." In short order he found himself ahead of Victus and the Hylians, who themselves had yet to resume the pace.

(Continued here: viewtopic.php?f=53&t=154)