The Silent Woods - Autumn, Guardian of the lost Woods (2/2/5 Hylian) [Blonde Panther] Reward: Magic Boomerang, -10 Rupees - Amayla Ashdown, Thief of the Lost Woods (2/2/3 Hylian) [AnimeLuxray25] Reward: +50 Rupees Discussion Autumn leapt over a log that had fallen over and blocked the road, her feet producing an audible thud on the ground. Normally, she wouldn’t even take note of the sound her feet produced, but today was different. Wolfos followed behind her, running around the log as well as it could. It, too, made a shuffling noise that was a lot more audible than it was supposed to be. The Guardian was incredibly unsettled, as shown by the way she had stuck her arm through her bowstring and held on to the wood with her left hand, ready to spin the weapon on its axis and shoot off the arrow she held in her other hand. Today was very unsettling for her. All day, the forest had been completely silent. Now, the area of the Lost Woods that fell under her jurisdiction was naturally a lot more quiet than the area surrounding, say, the fortress of thieves, but today was different. Not the crackling of the Warlock’s fire, not the chirping of birds, not the howling of the Wolfos, not the occasional giggle of a Skull Kid or the shuffling of Deku and Kikwi feet… Not even the wind through the canopy of the woods. The Lost Woods were more silent than the corpses they made. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Autumn hadn’t heard anything of the Forest Spirits all day. She had sought them out, hoping to get an explanation for the silence in the forest, but they weren’t in the Spirits’ Glade… She’d realized that she had no idea where to find her guardians if they didn’t approach her and if they weren’t in the Glade, so she had started to run through the words relatively aimlessly, aside from avoiding the paths that would lead even her into certain death and waiting for the limping Wolfos to catch up from time to time. Relying on her Sense to keep her safe, she rounded a tree and hit the emergency brakes. She could not read, but she recognized the symbols on the sign in front of her and considered turning around. After all, there was no way she would find her guardians in the Fortress of Thieves that she knew to be a little ways beyond this sign.
Amayla plunged from the treetops onto the elderly man's back, a sadistic laugh sounding from her mouth upon hearing his seventy year-old back pop. "Give me all your possessions, old man! Refuse, and I will have my dog kill you in a heartbeat, and then I'll take your things!" Amayla glanced over at the large black dog barking and snarling only a few feet away. Of course she really wasn't going to sic her dog on the guy—*Autumn was only for scare, and blackmail. "Oh, I would like to give you all my stuff but I'm afraid you've broken my back...ugh...I can't move..." He moaned. Amayla rolled the old man over with her foot and slammed her boot down on his chest, making him cough up some blood. "Ugh, how annoying." Amayla growled, and with that she tore open the man's green robe, taking the bottles, money, and potions he had tied to his belt. Amayla stored them in her purse before standing up. "You'll be dead by midnight, hopefully." She spat on his face before disappearing into the bushes. Strangely, when Amayla crashed through the shrubbery then, she noticed that they made little to no noise at all. Amayla turned around to look at Autumn, who was several feet behind her. When Autumn walked through the bushes, they made no audible sound either. Amayla experimentally kicked her boot against a boulder. There was not even a thud. "That's unusual..." She whispered. She looked up at the trees. Although she saw them swaying in the wind, their leaves did not make any rustling noise as they scratched against each other. * - the dog, Autumn
Just as Autumn was about to turn around, her Sense alerted her. Wolfos froze, and she herself felt a nasty jab at the side of her head- although her skin was untouched. Autumn hung her bow over her shoulder, leapt up at the nearest tree and pulled herself into its branches. Unsurprisingly, there was no sound whatsoever- all sounds that she would have made were now muffled out as though by magic, too. Below, Wolfos fled into the lower foliage to hide, while Autumn took her bow to hand and notched an arrow. She saw a young girl, black-haired and followed by a canine, walking by, looking up at the trees. Knowing where she must have come from, Autumn forewent aim, instead hiding deeper into the canopy of the tree and this time actually grateful for the silence of the leaves. The ease with which this girl moved through the forest meant that she could only be like herself, or from the Fortress of Thieves. She was pretty sure the Forest Spirits would have told her if they had raised a second Guardian, a thief was a threat to her personally but required no attention until she approached the Spirits' Glade. Worst-case scenario, she was a protegée of the Poes... but Autumn doubted that. Then again, she had not seen any Forest Spirits so she could not have been warned...
Amayla picked up a rock and tossed it at a tree trunk. As expected, it made absolutely zero sound. *Autumn splashed around in some water that had gathered in a wide hole. Again, it was soundless. Amayla sighed in annoyance. Although she normally hated having too much sound, this was too much. "This is bull. Where did all the noise go?" She shouted to no one. *Autumn began barking at the base of a tree. "Now isn't the time to catch squirrels, girl. We have more important things to do. Let's report back to the fortress." *Autumn frantically whined in reply, raising up on the tree trunk and looking back at her master. Amayla rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever, you can play for a--" *Autumn started barking loudly at the tree. Amayla finally looked at the treetop to vaguely spot a person perched in them. "Huh? That's what she wanted me to look at, isn't it?"
That damnable beast! Did it not know to stay far away from all those who could kill it with a single well-aimed arrow? Autumn could tell even from this distance that the thief had seen her, and she briefly considered shooting. However, this close to the Fortress the girl could easily get help if the first shot did not kill her. And even if it did, the risk of her screaming and being heard by her allies at the Fortress was too big. Autumn chose the other option available to her. Exerting force on the branch she had stood on, she leapt from this tree to the next. Knowing that Wolfos would either follow at a safe distance or wander into the woods and catch up with her later, Autumn jumped from tree to tree until she felt safe jumping down to the ground. Five trees and a hard landing, and still she did not make a single sound. Involuntarily shaking her head at no one in particular, she noted that she would never grow used to this silence and then ran off. If Wolfos was any indicator, the dog would not be stopped by the silence of the forest and instead use its nose to track her down. That being the case, she had to lure the girl to a clearing far from the fortress so that she had a clear shot... but it couldn't be the Spirits' Glade. Fortunately Autumn knew of a clearing just far enough from here. She could head there, and if she didn't shake the dog by that time, well... she hadn't been raised as Guardian for nothing.
*Autumn reared up on her hind legs and let out a few threatening barks before giving chase to something Amayla couldn't see. "*Autumn, get your mongrel butt back here, NOW!" Amayla darted after the animal. "Heel, I said HEEL!" Not a single sound came from their hammering footsteps. As Amayla slowed down she threw her head to the sky where she spied a flock of birds flying overhead. Usually when birds flew they chirped and squawked in unison, but not this time. "This soundlessness is really getting on my nerves..." She murmured as she stopped to take a break. When Amayla sat down to pant, *Autumn finally returned to her side. Amayla looked —or rather glared, up at the dog. "Bad girl! No running off! You hear me?" Amayla gave *Autumn a gentle smack across the face. When Amayla regained her energy two minutes later, she checked her surroundings. They were in a wide clearing. By no means did being out in the open make Amayla feel comfortable, in fact, the moment Amayla realized where they were located did her Sense activate. Amayla abruptly stood up and began jogging away.
Reaching the clearing, Autumn hid off the side of the treeline, sitting down behind a tree and waiting for the dog and its owner to show up. However, her mind was only half set on watching the clearing. The other half was preoccupied wondering why she had not run into anything on her way here. She was certain a family of Kikwi lived in the large, hollowed-out tree that she had passed. And yet she had not heard their voices. She'd clearly heard the dog barking before, as well as the girl talking, so she assumed that if the Kikwi had talked amongst themselves, she should have heard them... Ah! There was the girl, now. And she was soon followed by her dog. Apparently the girl was not aggressively inclined, for when she stood up, she ran away immediately. But that was strange... the girl had not been within Autumn's range of Sense, so Autumn should not have been in hers, either. Unless the girl had a more finely tuned Sense with a bigger range, she shouldn't have been- the Guardian flinched when she felt something enter her head. Go after her, a voice eerily similar to her own said. Find her. Kill her. She stood up, clutching her bow with one hand and touching the other hand to her forehead. She then turned and took off after the girl, using the unnatural silence of the Lost Woods to her advantage as she rushed through the thick foliage at the side of the road, which hid her from sight. Finally, she stopped ahead of the girl, notching an arrow and taking aim at a certain tree. She definitely sensed something powerful... something strong enough that its presence had made itself known past the normal distance she could sense evil. As though it were making its presence known on its own... She had a duty to carry out. When the girl came into sight, Autumn released her arrow, the projectile embedding itself into the trunk of a tree less than an inch away from the girl's face. "Not another step!" Autumn called out, "You'll be in danger beyond there!"
Amayla instinctively back-flipped away from a tree that had been shot with an arrow right in front of her face. She swung her head toward a girl wearing a dress, boots, and wielding a bow standing a yard or so away. "Not another step! You'll be in danger beyond there!" Amayla heard. The thief crossed her arms. "Really, says who?" Amayla said. "Also, if you ever almost-shoot-me again to grab my attention, I might punch you." Staggering closer toward the stranger, this time not caring that she didn't make any noise, she said, "Well, who said so? I would like to know so I know whether to obey it or not. Hurry up, too. I want to get back to the fortress and drink some booze. I'm sick of this suddenly-so-quiet place for the day." She blew a drooping piece of hair out of her face.
If Autumn had had any doubts whatsoever about the girl's origins, they would have been settled after her outburst. Only the brutes residing within the Fortress of Thieves would address her with such venom and such a complete lack of courtesy, especially after she had issued a warning. Not to mention that the foolish lass utterly ignored Autumn's warning, closing in on the Guardian instead of turning around as she had decreed. Autumn quickly saw that the girl had no intention of stopping before coming so close her bow would be useless, and so she decided to unsheathe her sword and point it at her instead. "I recommend against it," she said. Her swordplay was very far below mediocre when compared to her archery, but she was confident she could hold her own against the girl. Then, the girl said something about the silence. "So I am not the only one who has noticed," Autumn whispered to herself. "This is grave..." she turned back to the girl, strengthening the arm with which she held her sword. "It would be wise for you to return home, but you must find a different path. Beyond me lies danger- more than you and your kind are used to of these woods." ---- Unbeknownst to Autumn and Amayla, they were being observed by a small, pale boy, his grin toothy and face-wide as he witnessed the women bickering. Next to him, in the branches of the highest tree in the direct vicinity, hung a wooden marionette-like thing. "Not yet," he whispered, inaudible to the women, "That ghost said we had to wait until she's alone, and then we can play with her..."
[[I'm busy and this post was somewhat rushed. sorry about that...]] Amayla thought for a second. "Fine, if ya insist. I'm not about to argue." She showed the stranger her back. "Besides, I have alcohol waitin' for me. See ya!" Amayla began to walk, then jog, then sprint away, her dog not too far behind. But she didn't keep it up for long and slowed down within forty seconds. When she stopped to rest she purposely stomped her boots against the ground, only to still be answered with quietness. "Still refusin' to give me sounds, eh? Welp, screw you too, forest." She chuckled and pat a tree branch. "I wonder who that girl that might have been." Amayla mused when she was running once more. "Some kind of deity or something? Meh. Oh well. Maybe the sound will be back tomorrow." The girl thirsted for a taste in her mouth. She licked her lips as she neared the fortress walls.
Finally, the girl turned around and left. Autumn lowered and sheathed her sword, looking to her side when she felt a snout touching her leg. "Hey, Wolfos..." She bent her knees, petting the monster that had finally caught up with her. "I'm sorry. Now... what do you think?" She looked behind her, into the darkness that the trees created. "Do we go in?" "Yeeees!" She whirled around and leapt back, narrowly avoiding a spike of wood that came up from the ground in an attempt to skewer her. When she looked up, she saw that a small, childish figure came tumbling to the ground. Her first thought was that Stjarnstill had caught up to her and that was what she had been sensing, but then she saw the wooden thing that followed the kid and she realized that it was something different entirely. The child straightened his straw hat and struck a pose, pointing one finger at the Guardian. "Are YOU," he said, with his high-pitched voice and not mincing volume, "The self-proclaimed Guardian of the Lost Woods, going by the name of Autumn?!" He almost screamed her name, much to her frustration. She knew Skull Kids were whimsical, but that he knew her name and title was unsettling. "I am," she said. "And who might you be?" She didn't expect an answer. However, she didn't expect the puppet attacking her either. It came crashing at her with an insane speed, leaving her little time to draw her sword and fend it off.
She stood hesitantly at the Fortress gates, mentally debating on whether to go in or not. Suddenly she no longer thirsted for mouthfuls of alcohol. She felt something...wrong. She knew her Sense wasn't making her feel this way. Her Sense was finely honed but whenever it activated it gave her a far more powerful feeling in her gut than this one. This feeling just felt like the natural feeling everyone got when they knew something wasn't right. Amayla faced the forest and strained her ears, trying to get every noise the forest produced. After many suspenseful minutes, finally! Something came from the woods, but it wasn't a sound the forest itself would make. It sounded like a distant clanging noise, like a sword. "That girl had a sword! Could she be fighting someone? Is she in danger?" Amayla thought. Usually Amalya didn't give a rat's backside about anybody but herself and her dog's, but she had a sick feeling in her stomach. She had to check on her! After ordering her dog to stay behind, she bolted back into the woods, ignoring the otherworldly quietness and hopping over every obstacle that tried to stop her. She was traveling at a great pace until she toppled over something that sent her tumbling.
The sword and the claws of the puppet met with a loud CLANK noise, and Autumn skidded back. However, she had been successful in repelling the puppet, which was sent flying into the woods. The Skull Kid held up his hand and a small leaf appeared above it. Autumn knew the puppet had been dispelled, but that did mean the diabolical child could break out any trick he wanted at any given time. Raising her sword, she waited until he would move, first, starting to grow annoyed with his ceaseless giggling. In the meanwhile, Wolfos had limped away from the fight. It had recognized the scent of the dog that had accompanied the girl from before, and in its monstrous instincts it knew that Autumn would be better off with someone's help. Thieves had never been nice to the blonde, but hey! this one had taken off when she had asked it! So she couldn't be all bad, right? Finding the dog, Wolfos saw that the girl was with it. Strolling over to where she was laying face-down on the ground, it stopped a few feet away from her and lowered its head, starting to loudly and repeatedly bark at her. While Wolfos tried to convince the girl to get up, the Skull Kid finally stopped giggling, but still fiddled with the leaf. "That was awesome!" he cried out. "That ghost was right about you!" "Ghost?" Autumn was immediately interested. "What ghost?" "I'm. not. Telling!" the Skull Kid said, in an almost singing tone of voice. "Maybe I will if you can catch me though!" With that, he dropped the leaf and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the Guardian alone with her Sense at ease. He was clearly not anywhere around her, so she sheathed her sword. Still, she couldn't leave this unattended. If the 'ghost' the child had spoken of was, in truth, a Forest Poe...
As the girl struggled to stand back up, she saw a wolf-like creature running toward her. It was a Wolfos. At first she was ready to punch it in the nose in case it attacked, but it did the exact opposite. It barked loudly at her and motioned for her to stand up. "Uh...what is it...boy?" Amayla awkwardly asked it, scratching her head. "Wait, do you belong to that so-called guardian?" The Wolfos panted in reply, drool falling from its mouth. "If that was a yes, then will you take me to her? Please, Wolfos?" Her head shot up when she thought she heard swords clashing again. "Now!"
"Woof!" Knowing it had her attention, Wolfos turned around and started limping away, a lot more slowly than its enthusiastic bark might have indicated. It followed its nose to where it had left its mistress, finding her kneeling on front of... something. After Autumn had sheathed her blade, she had noticed something in front of her feet that had not been there before. She had kneeled in front of it and started gently digging it out, her fingers finally closing themselves around it. Just as she pulled it out of the ground, she heard Wolfos bark behind her and she got up, turning around in the same motion as she saw the girl from before. "You got help?" she said to the beast, "That's a good boy." She then turned her attention towards the girl. "As much as I hate to admit it, I am in need of help. How much do you know about the pathways of the Lost Woods?"
"I know them fairly well." Amayla answered, cracking her knuckles. "Why? And what's that you have there, in your hand?" The thief walked up to the guardian girl. Again, her footsteps made no noise, but Amayla was getting used to it now. "Also, have you not been hearing anything all day, too? I'm beginning to think I'm crazy." Amayla began toying with a twig that had clung to her dress when she fell down earlier. "Oh, and who was it that you were fighting? What did it look like?"
Autumn showed the girl what she was holding. "I know not what it is. But our adversary of the day had it and must have dropped it upon fleeing." The trinket she held most closely resembled a pendant of sorts, a large ruby set into a golden rim. "As for the lack of sound, I believe it to be either an omen or a symptom of evil forces that are active in the deeper parts of the forest." She was going to assume the Skull Kid worked for the Forest Poes, in which case immediate action was not only desirable but obligatory. "If they have help, then I require aid as well. It's for that reason that you need to know the pathways of the forest." She placed the pendant in her pouch of herbs, taking her bow to hand. "Keep an eye out for a Skull Kid. I don't know how aggressive he is, but if he attacks, strike to kill."
"'Keep your eye out for a Skull Kid. I don't know how aggressive he is, but if he attacks, strike to kill.' Pfft, don't havta tell me twice, lady. Skull Kids creep me the heck out...I'll gladly knock punch one's lights out." She thought. "Hm. Alright, sounds good. Usually I'm not this friendly towards people so don't take my assistance for granted, please." Amayla chuckled as the girl stowed the object away into a pouch. "Anyway, what now? We goin' into the deeper part of the forest, I'm guessin'?" Amayla dropped onto the ground and reclined on the dirt, waiting for her reply. "Oh, what's your name, by the way? Mine's Amayla, Amayla Ashdown. And are you some kind of guardian, too?"
"We are," Autumn replied. "I fear our adversary has retreated into the deepest recesses of the Woods." Wolfos whined, as if it knew where this was going. "...these pathways are dangerous even to me, and I have only travelled them in times of the direst need." The Forest Spirits would likely not be too happy with Autumn traversing forbidden roads, but there was no other way. She hadn't seen a single one of the glowing, winged orbs all day to stop or inform her, and they knew that when left to her own devices Autumn could resort to... unexpected methods. Such as enlisting the help of a thief. "I am called Autumn," she told the girl as she tested the string of her bow. "I was brought up to protect parts of the Lost Woods from harmful presences. To answer your question... yes. Apparently, there are people who have referred to me as the Guardian." With those words, she notched an arrow. "Now let us be off. The sooner we return sound to the woods, the safer it will be."
