Riding Out

(Role-play continued from here: viewtopic.php?f=53&t=138)

Sitting, slumped against the wall of a certain watchtower on the edge of Castle-Town, Gustav released a heavy yawn. The sun was only now just beginning to rise over the eastern plains... Contrary to what one might expect from a plant who lived upon the star's rays, the Scrub found himself cursing it. Indeed, he had at best only a few minutes of sleep last night. In waiting further for his companion to show up, he leaned his head back against the stone exterior of the tower. His tired mind wandered, soon reflecting over the events of the evening prior...

...It was funny, he was setting out an a journey with someone akin to a stranger--a Hylian Guard, no less. Yet, Ruby had a certain warm quality that was so difficult to come by in places like this, or so he mused. She was the sort one could find oneself trusting easily, and he could only find himself hoping that trust was well-placed.

Regardless, after the two of them parted last night, Gustav had the matter of closing up his shop for quite some time--perhaps even for good. There was little unfinished business of which he needed to take care, but that in of itself was quite time consuming.

As a precaution, a nocturnal sage--a good friend and trusted confidant of his--was hired to construct a magical portal in the back, locked-off area. It was quite pricey... for the first time in his life, this Business Scrub found himself in debt, and dearly hoped it was worth the trouble. Granted, there would yet to exist an opposite end to that portal, but ideally one could be constructed in their destination of Impa. With that last bit handled, the door to the Grimm Emporium was locked, with a mere note on the door reading, "Relocating to Impa." Even now, Gustav found himself wondering if that wording was appropriate.

There was of course the various farewell letters he felt he needed to send out. By the time all was said and done, there would only an hour's time before he would have to set out to the eastern watchtower to meet Ruby... Not only she, but Dirk would be waiting there as well. Might as well be early, he had thought at the time, in the midst of then spinning up his Deku Leaf.

...Now, however, he realized just how valuable that hour of sleep could have been, but it was too bright and too populated for him to sleep here. The drawbridge would be lowering soon... Where were his two companions, bird and lass, Gustav couldn't help but wonder.

With a sigh, Gustav raised his bulbous head and looked to the sky. Right on cue, Dirk the Guay was swooping down from the sky, dutifully returning to its owner. Carried in its talons returned to him with the names of all the lotteries entrants... As he soon found out, altogether, it was a whopping... three individuals. Or four, if Ruby was to be included. He pocketed the mere 4-rupee profit with a bit of a sigh. After which, Gustav proceeded to write the winner's letter with parchment he had carried with him for this very purpose. Though doing so was difficult, he tried for his words to read as cheery as he could given the circumstances. The 36-rupee prize was inserted with the envelope and sent off in the postage system proper, off to whoever this 'Olias Storm' fellow happened to be... Hopefully Mr. Storm's friends would hear the man's tale and be interesting in joining next month's lottery. At least, that was Gustav's desperate hope.

Almost forgetting something, he reached into the pouch at his side, pulling out his last bird-treat. With a flick of his wooden wrist, he tossed it towards Dirk as the reward for a job well-done, and offered a few words of praise as well. The pebble was snatched out of the air and consumed voraciously, and at the same moment Gustav found himself slumping against the wall once more. Only, this time, there was a Guay perched atop his head as well.

Over the minutes which passed, he would find his mind stumbling through the curious area between consciousness and slumber--where one's thoughts were controlled as if by one's subconscious. There he pondered--among the more coherent thoughts--of profits, of Impa, of what he would be losing and what he wound be gaining, of Ruby, and of a horse's hoofbeats... No wait, that actually was a horse's hoofbeats. Gustav shook himself out of it and looked up to see who approached. At first he thought it was just another Guard--they seemed to be the only ones remotely near the watchtower at this insane hour--but it turned out to not be just another Guard, but in fact the very one upon which he was waiting.

"Oh, you're here earlier than I expected," Ruby said with the characteristic warm smile Gustav had come to recognize. After trotting a few yards more, she brought Emerald to a stop, and politely hopped down from the mare.

Simultaneously, Gustav pushed off from the wall and arose to his feet, "Didn't want to keep you waiting." A lie, yes, but at least this one was colored white, was the thought in the back of his mind.

Now that she was in front of him, she couldn't help but notice he looked exactly as he did yesterday, carrying nothing more aside from the... monster on his head. Silently and steadily, her right hand reached towards the hilt of her blade, eyes focused on the tiny beast. "You... do you realize there's a Guay on your head."

"Yes, yes!" The man's eyes widened as he took a cautious step back and held up a hand, beckoning her to cease, "I put a lot of money into training him, don't just kill it!"

"...Oh, that's how it is." Ruby's hand dropped from her sword and moved to uneasily rub the side of her neck, head slightly bowed and gaze averted. "I do apologize about that, Mr. Grimm..."

"No, I should have said something of Dirk earlier," he quickly spurted out, already aware how heavily the guilt she placed on herself could get. "I should be thanking you for asking before striking him down."

"Mm," Ruby gave a bit of a nod unto his words, and her stance returned to its dutiful posture. She managed to put the thought out of her mind, and distract herself with something else... Her eyes traced him up and down, and abruptly, her brow came to furrow. "Are you not taking anything else...? Surely you didn't sell all your wares last night after I left, right?"

"Yes, yes... Don't worry, I have a portal through which I can reach the few items I left behind. You can even use it sometime if you like." Gustav sighed with a bit of a smile. "But--I'll explain that, and Dirk, and any other questions running around in your head after we start out, alright?" He moved towards Emerald, struggling to pull himself up, "Every minute we spend here is a minute later we arrive at Nabooru." As soon as he shoved out the sentence, the Scrub found himself plopping back down onto the ground, right onto his wooden posterior.

"Mm, you're right." Not saying a word of the matter, Ruby's legs bent, she grabbed hold of Gustav, and she then stood and plopped him onto the back of Emerald's saddle. It was a dual-rider saddle, as the guard found herself surprisingly often ferrying around civilians--though this was the first time she would be doing so over such a long distance. "We should head out as soon as possible, right? One day will be spent getting to Nabooru, and the next to Impa..." With him secure, she deftly climbed and plopped onto the front half of the saddle herself. She turned back and gave a little wink to her companion, "...Right?"

"R... right." Gustav looked up at her with slight bewilderment. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that was how Hylians flirted. Tossing that thought aside for the moment, he looked forward to see the gaping entrance to the city completely blocked off by a colossal wall of wood... "The drawbridge will be lowered soon, right?"

"Within the moment," Ruby responded. Giving Emerald a slight nudge, the horse began shuffling forward. With one hand on the reigns, her other arm raised towards the watchtower, "Lower 'er down, Ben!"

Ben, Gustav found himself uttering the name in disgust. The man cheated him out of five well-earned rupees, was the sentiment. Regardless, he leaned around his obscenely-taller-than-him companion to see and hear the mighty bridge coming down... countless chains were needed to heft it... and the duo was far from the only ones waiting for it to open for the day.

Nonetheless, by the time it had come all the way down, Ruby gave her steed a swift kick and made sure they would be the first ones out of there. Hooves beat against the wood as the duo galloped out into an orange dawn, with a Guay soaring along behind them.

As Emerald charged through the open field, her rider gradually brought her gallop down to a mere trot over the following few minutes, knowing she couldn't maintain such a speed all day. Even with a trot, there would have to be periods of rest... but her horse was still their best bet on getting to Nabooru before nightfall, Ruby mused. She turned to the side slightly so Gustav could hear her speak, dutifully, "I looked at a few maps last night. We should be able to get us there in ten to twelve hours, assuming we don't dawdle."

Gustav nodded silently, knowing nothing of horse mechanics, but assumed his companion knew exactly what she was talking about. Ruby wasn't always sure of herself, it seemed, but when she was as she is now, it was easy for him to take her words as facts.

"Now," her tone resumed its warmth, "Didn't you say you were going to explain some things to me?"

"Right." He was holding back through the gallop, as his voice likely could be heard. Let alone the discomfort of talking while bouncing up and down. Now, however, he proceeded to explain his relationship with Dirk, what he was trained to do, the trusted individual who did all the training, and his general personality. It was the sort of thing only someone like Ruby could find all that interesting.

After running out of things to talk about in relation to the guay, the bird as if on cue fluttered down to land upon his head. Laughing softly, he proceeded onto another question she asked earlier, "I'm sure you know us Scrubs need nothing more than sunlight, water, and air, and I already drank plenty this morning. Anything else I would need--rupees and a makeshift weapon--are always carried on my person. Although... after yesterday, I'm also starting to carry around a handkerchief," at which point he elaborated on the events of just before they met, and how he had to reach into the venomous depths of a Chuchu with his empty wallet as a glove.

"Hmm," Ruby mused aloud, "I'm actually quite sure Chuchu jelly isn't venomous unless you consume it raw, though I can understand why you'd be more safe than sorry in that scenario."

"Good to know, good to know--but a handkerchief is still quite useful, isn't it?"

"I would imagine so. You don't wear any kind of clothing, so I'm sure you of all people realize just how useful a bit of cloth can be out in the world."

The conversation continued this back-and-forth for quite a while, both of them speaking if only to fill the air with a sound other than the steady, soft hoofbeats of Emerald. Eventually Gustav elaborated on his newly-constructed portal and how most of his materials were left behind; a new portal could be constructed in Impa that would allow instantaneous travel between the two. As much as one might expect, such a thing was met with excitement and borderline-exclamation from Ruby.

"CAW!" Dirk abruptly bellowed out, interrupting the flow of conversation. Startled, Ruby glanced back over her shoulder. She saw the tiny bird panicked, and her Scrub companion looking cluelessly back at her... all while a monstrous Kargarok was divebombing straight towards them from behind.

"HYA!" Ruby's voice rang out as she gave Emerald a firm kick. The horse reeled back with a neigh, before shooting forward into a full gallop. She ducked down to become more aerodynamic, pushing her stallion as fast as she could go, "Get out your bow! We're being chased!"

Gustav was busy helplessly clinging to her backside, struggling not to be thrown off from the rampant movements of the beast beneath them. Lost in confusion and the moment's adrenaline, he managed to shift his noggin around to see a small swarm of flying beasts pursuing them. One, two... three Kargaroks?! They couldn't have even been halfway south, yet there was already such an aggressive swarm of monsters out in the open?! He couldn't believe it. But at the moment, even a merchant realized he didn't have time to disbelieve.

Turning about to face their pursuers, he managed to brace himself for firmly on the steed. Silently, he thanked the goddesses for the fact Emerald was just barely able to keep up the beastly birds' pace--it seemed he would have plenty of time. With trembling hands, he reached for the bow on his back and pulled it out... Even notching an arrow was difficult, let alone aiming it. "This... this... I can't aim like this! Can't you steady her out a bit more?"

Ruby grunted in mild annoyance. She realized she shouldn't be relying on Gustav, a mere shopkeeper, for something like this... but if she stopped, the birds would inevitably get the first strike. Her mind was racing with thoughts of how to proceed--Emerald wouldn't be able to keep this pace for long at all.

"Hand me the bow!" She reached behind and soon found her hand snatching hold of the merchant's weapon. Eyeing ahead, she made sure there were no possible obstacles for a while. Then, the knightly lass deftly swung around in her saddle, facing backwards as Emerald continued charging forward. Even she had difficulty aiming the bow, not only because of the continuous bouncing, but the sheer miniscule size of the thing--it was obviously not made for Hylian use.

After missing terribly a couple shots, Ruby managed to time the movements of her arms in direct opposition to Emerald's bouncing--steadying out her shots somewhat. By the time the third arrow flew, it slashed into one of the monster's wings, forcing the beast to spin out and crash to the ground. Two more arrows later, the second beast received a shot to its chest, sending it flying back and grounded as well.

But... now, Emerald was beginning to slow. Even as Ruby tried to give her another kick, she realized this was the end of the line. Reaching for the last arrow in her quiver, the maiden took particularly careful aim at the last of the trio... only to have her shot completely evaded. This one wasn't so stupid, or it had learned from the others' mistakes--it had learned the body language of her shots.

Emerald was in a mere trot now, and the final bird was closing fast, before abruptly entering a divebomb with talons outstretched. With wide eyes, Gustav shreiked in terror before leaping off the horse and scurrying away to hide behind it, now that it was fully stopped. Ruby lacked such luxury--her foots were caught in the stirrups. With a grunt, she flung the tiny weapon aside and managed to brandish her longsword--its metallic sheen echoing through the air.

As the bird lunged recklessly, it soon found a heavy-handed blade tearing deep through its hide... but not without gashing at Ruby's exposed neck. As it tumbled and fell through the air, struggling to grip something to keep from falling, its talons raked across Emerald's hide and it ultimately crashed into the ground right at Gustav's feet. Rather unexpectedly, the merchant abruptly proceeded to stop and smash his wooden foot barbarically into the creature's face--killing it quite thoroughly and splattering the grass with blood. All the while, his face was riddled with disgust, as if a housewife was forced to do combat with a big, disgusting skulltula.

In mild panic, he scurried over towards Emerald's side--jumping into the air and having his Deku Leaf bring him up the rest of the way to make eye contact with Ruby. "Did it get you?! Are you alright...?"

With one hand gripping the side of her neck, the maiden hissed at the pain, but ultimately managed to subdue it. "It's... it didn't get deep. My jugular is fine. The bleeding should stop soon enough. I'll survive just fine... But of course I would forget to bring my stupid helmet," she chuckled, almost forcing it if only to comfort her ally.

"Well..." Gustav squirmed uneasily, completely unaware of what to do in situations like these, "Dirk and I are fine. Emerald took a hit, but I think she's better off than you are... We should stop to rest."

Ruby held up a hand, "That isn't--"

"It's lunch time anyway, right?"

After a slight pause, the guard glanced up to see the sun high overhead. The hours had all passed without her even realizing it... With a bit of a smirk, she nodded. "Alright, but let's fine some shade, first... It's hot out here in all this armor."

"Gotcha," Gustav replied with a slight smirk. He floated through the air a bit more before returning properly to his seat behind Ruby, with Dirk swooping down to return to his head once more.

With the slightest move of Emerald's reigns, Ruby pushed her forward at the slowest possible pace, "There's a couple oaks up there, it looks like..."

(...so, there goes seven months.)

A few minutes would pass before Emerald inched her way into the shade of the twin oaks. After delivering a soft pat to her head, Ruby dismounted the mare and let her lay in the shade for a well-deserved rest. The journey in of itself would have been taxing, let alone with that unexpected, desperate charge. With a sigh, the knight reached a hand to her fresh wound... wondering if it was even in their best interest to push her so hard.

Perhaps she should have dismounted and tried to fight them from the ground. Then, Gustav could have had an easier time making a clear shot... No... if she took the time to stop, the beasts would have inflicted more wounds than a mere cut to the neck. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Ruby pulled her hand back from her wound, relieved to find only tiny amounts of blood on her palm. In Nabooru, she considered the fact she would need bandages. Magically healing would at the moment would be an unnecessary expense. With a heavy exhale, she leaned into the tree's bark, before sliding down to rest her posterior into the grass.

As Ruby lowered her eyes down several levels, she found them on par with Gustav's, who was standing at relative attention a few feet away. As was the case with Scrubs, he lacked much of an expression, but she already knew him well enough to discern he was worried. Who wouldn't be, considering the distressed look on her face? Truly, she was making mountains out of molehills.

"I... wish I could have been of greater help," he muttered with unease, voice filled with guilt. He couldn't even used a bow, and hid like a coward as the monster injured his comrade who had sacrificed her well-being for his aid.

With an endearing smile, Ruby just looked at him for a moment. "I hope you aren't expecting to slay monsters anytime soon, Gustav." She joked with a soft chuckle, "Truly, to see one of your profession, with your level combat experience to do so much as bring a weapon... let alone draw it in the face of an enemy. I did not expect that. I was impressed."

The Scrub just shook his head at her, as if in disbelief that she was trying to comfort him after what just happened. The lass always looked for the good, and always seemed to find it. There was warmth in his voice, "Sometimes, I'm envious of you, Ruby... and the strength you have as a person." With that said, he plopped down next to his companion to rest alongside her.

Wordlessly, Ruby reached a hand to pat his head with a smile, before leaning back against the oak and taking a breather.

Over the next hour, Ruby partook of the lunch she was smart enough to pack... various nuts and a few dried vegetables. It was far from luxurious, but the lass enjoyed it nonetheless. It was her typical midday meal, one with balanced vitamins and nutrients, according to her studies of Hylian health in grade school. All the same, it was versatile and could last for days.

Meanwhile, Gustav just stared at it... wondering how Hylians could bear to shove such big, solid chunks of plants into their mouths and call it sustenance. He shuddered, and ended up looking away from her and into the open field for the duration of her so-called 'meal.'

"I think..." Ruby began, "We should try to walk on our own the rest of the way there. Most of the journey has already been made, but I don't want to push Emerald any more than I already have."

Gustav gave a glance over towards the mare, already asleep in the shade, breathing softly with steady snores. He gave a slight nod, and chuckled, "I could use the exercise, honestly."

The lass smirked at him for a moment, before looking back into the open field which stole the gaze of both of them. "If we leave within the next few minutes, we should still make it there around evening time... Before nightfall, and before the plains become even more dangerous."

Giving his grassy propeller a quick spin, the Scrub used the upward momentum to leap onto his feet, an uncharacteristically spry move. "I'm ready whenever you are, milady." He turned to her, wooden snout forming something akin to a friendly grin... Although, he couldn't help but notice him standing and her sitting put their eyes amusingly on the same level. 'How symbolic,' he muttered in the back of his mind.

The remainder of the evening passed with a trio walking alongside one another in the grassy fields, accompanied by a fourth participant flying along on tiny wings. Aside from Gustav stumbling on one or two grass knots, the remainder of the journey was made without incident. The hours passed as usual with idle conversation... discussion of culture, history, personal tales... alongside numerous games of "Dozen Inquiries."

After wading through the forest, the Hylian, Scrub, horse, and bird finally reached their destination... It was but a humble town nestled in the woods, a far cry from the throngs and insanity that flooded the streets of Castle-Town. Both Ruby and Gustav felt at once both relief and accomplishment. It took a great deal to get here... and from the warm welcome the Goron guards at the gates gave them, it was already beginning to feel like a vacation. That was, until Gustav brought up the fact that, "Tomorrow, we'll have to head out for Impa... We don't want them finishing the town before we even get there."

"Wait." Ruby pressed her words uncharacteristically hard, "Do you really think we should leave so soon, given Emerald's injuries?"

As they trotted down a dirt path through the village, Gustav turned to her cheerfully in mid-step. "This isn't my first time in Nabooru, you know. I know a sage or two who who would be happy to boost our spirits with a little magical healing..."

Ruby's eyes widened slightly, and she found herself turning away for a moment, flushed with sudden embarrassment. "I'm... surprised there would be such skilled healers all the way out here."

He lent her a shrug, and stepped forward to lead the way. "Normally they charge for that sort of thing, but... let's just say one of those sages owes me a favor."

The lass raised an eyebrow, "Is there any particular reason you're not telling me the details, Gus...?"

Gustav let loose a slight sigh. "I have at times an unfortunate tendency to be generous as a merchant, if you know what I mean... a little wheeling, a little dealing... maybe it's a bit shady, but it's perfectly legal. It comes with my line of work, Ruby."

She released a sigh, and crossed her arms, "Very well... Realize, however, that I'm getting to know you well enough to know you cannot always be trusted."

He just chuckled a little bit, "I'm glad you can realize that and still consider me a good person." For a moment he considered adding on, 'There's something to be said about deception,' only to abruptly zip his snout. It seemed best to not push any harder. In their getting to know one another, it seemed all too easy for him to forget that she was a loyal member of the Hyrule Guard... and quite proud of it. He was quite surprised she even accepted him to this point.