The Water's Edge (Ribitta/Closed)

"The Kokiri Forest, you say?"

The bartender's words were spoken in a conversational tone, and was only heard by the few at the actual bar itself. The place was a dreary affair, lit with several torch banisters that still felt too few, illuminating the converted chamber of the cavern and the bar and tables scattered within it. There were a fair number of people scattered among them, murmuring or brooding over half-empty mugs and hardly-touched plates. A teenage girl hurried among them, carrying platters of mugs as she tried to serve the customers, while the bartender cleaned a glass in front of one particular customer, seemingly unmindful of the few others nearby.

"'bout the only real place they could've gone," the mercenary said. Rua didn't look at his companion, instead poring over a faded map of the area. His head was propped up on his arm, leaning against the counter, his distinctive torn cape and sword nowhere to be seen. "Can't cross the river into the desert around these parts, too far away from Kakariko and the mess of creeps there, bloody nowhere else to go but the forest or here."

And if they were here, they'd've all been killed by now. Ayls knew that, Rua knew that. Anyone would know that. The woman slipped her rag over pocket of her apron and turned to a nearby cask to fill the clean mug with ale, leaving Rua momentarily with his thoughts. Which could be anything--the man was too hard to read ever since the exodus. She left him with his thoughts for the moment, handed the filled mug to one of her customers and mentally noted the addition to his tab, though it was hardly much.

For now, though, there were no more customers she had to worry about--young Louise was doing a good enough job on handing out the remaining drinks to the other customers, and there were few tonight anyway. Hell, there'd been few all week, and it was an uncommon pattern, but it was hardly unheard of to the female bartender. One moment later, and she was back by her old friend, a question at the ready.

"Are you going after them?"

Ah, that familiar look again, as he looked up at her, his expression clearly saying "What kind of stupid question is that?"

"I've wasted too much damn time as it is," he muttered, looking back down at the map. "After that farce with that Gerudo woman and having to track Mepple down I'll be lucky if I find that furry bastard in the forest." His tone was terse, somewhat bitter, but she didn't let it bother her.

For Ayls and Rua, this was routine. She didn't know why she kept asking the question of him that she already knew the answer to. Maybe part of her kept expecting something different for once. The other women sometimes whispered among themselves the times they heard him speak to Ayls like that, remarking on his anger. But she knew better--she'd seen his real anger already, and this wasn't it.

Orup glanced into the cauldron he had spent most of day over, checking the contents were sitting as he wanted them to. After a moment's pause and consideration, the man gave it one more quarter-stir before placing the brewing lid over it; the red potion would be done by the time morning arrived. With great care, the alchemist scanned across his room one more time, making sure there were no uncapped vials or pots that would bubble over if he wasn't careful. No, things were just about finished for the evening, and he was exhausted by it all. Not really from the day's work, mostly from what had happened several days prior. The shenanigans he had faced out beyond the Western Caves with that Gerudo woman were all a blur to the man now. Only his journal really remembered the incident with clarity, and he didn't much care to look at those pages right now.

What he really needed to do was talk with Rua, though. The past several weeks he had grown more and more restless in the caves. The overweight man couldn't really put his finger on why, but he also certainly couldn't suppress it. That much frustrated him, but what could he do about it? He knew Rua wanted to leave the caves as well, though, and he wondered if he could get a free trip out of it. Rubbing his palms in anticipation, the alchemist blew out his light source in the room, making sure to only leave a few coals behind, and he slipped out his front door. Turning the sign to indicate his shop was now closed for the day, the man idly rubbed the growth that had finally finished on his upper lip. He felt like a new person already.

There was no guarantee he would find Rua where he looked for him, but it was as good a chance as any. Everyone in the caves knew about his relationship with Ayls, though Orup was the least qualified man to judge it, but it did mean that the elusive man could perhaps be pinned to a place. Unless, of course, he had left already. The alchemist hoped that wasn't the case, all but forgetting the half of him that simply wanted to stay comfortably in his home.

With the possibility that things could be going on without him, the man scurried his way through the passages of the Western Caves, getting caught up a couple of times to have a polite conversation or two with people he wasn't much interested in. No, he had larger concerns right now: time for a drink. The tavern wasn't far, thankfully, and within a short while the man had hustled his way there. Pausing a moment to catch his breath, Orup opened the door casually, striding into the bar and trying to mask a smile that the man he was looking for was there, "Rua, m'boy! I was rather hoping to find you here." He was old, he was tired, but for some reason the idea of leaving again riled up an excitement in him, even when the last time had been a complete disaster. Was he truly aging that fast?

Ayls looked up at the boisterous call made by the alchemist, and greeted him with a friendly smile. "Ah, Orup! Welcome," she called, gesturing for him to take a seat at the bar. "Have a seat and something to drink."

Rua's reaction was much of a contrast to the bartender's, merely twisting himself to look back at his employer when his name was called. Luckily there was none of his usual suspicion in his body language, or any ire in his gaze, elements of his being that all too often he directed at the other inhabitants of the caverns for their snide remarks or the mistrustful nature of the borderline outsider. "You need something?" he asked in return, surreptitiously moving his map back with his other hand, so as no drink got on the already-ragged looking parchment.

Orup beamed at Ayls, giving her a smile that wasn't entirely genuine. Rua's impassiveness made it stutter as always, though. Still the man waded through it as he had gotten used to doing so with recently. For the time being he chose to avoid the question, instead lending his behavior to Ayls' remark and moving toward the bar as per her suggestion. "I'll have... ah..." he hadn't really drank in years. The stuff wasn't particularly appetizing to the man, and he had done most of his drinking back in Kakariko after the incident with Tessle all those years ago. Thinking about it made him detest the drink that much more, but he was over that too. Really, he was.

"Something light, should be fine," he said somewhat lamely, the smile faltering again for just a moment before he restructured it once more. Picking a stool one away from Rua's own position, Orup seated himself on one without much grace, scratching at his mustache idly. He still wasn't used to the thing. "So, ah, Rua. I had been wondering if you might be interested in going to the forest. If... if you know, you had been planning on going there anyway, given the attack." The man really didn't want to pay for the mercenary's services if he didn't need to, given that it would be a mostly recreational trip. It would be long too, for that matter, and while Orup was financially stable, even that would test some of his limits.

Ayls nodded and turned around, her skirt whisking about with the motion, to hide the grimace that came with her orders. At least Orup, kind to her as he was, didn't ask for her finest ale. It was a bitter joke among her customers, though admittedly one not malicious towards her.

The drinks here, for the most part, could be summed up in a single word: terrible. The caverns were little help in brewing anything decent, let alone anything fine. A traveler had once even gone so far as to ask her if she put actual dirt in her brews, a remark that had been like a slap in the face. Few, if any, dared to say such a rude remark to her, however warranted it may be--while her drinks were subpar, for all the efforts she put into making the alcohol bearable, she at least had the courtesy to brew for these people. Her regulars were grateful for that much.

But Ayls had hardly seen the alchemist at all during her business hours (indeed, the few times he would enter the bar was to deliver a headache remedy in the afternoons when she needed one), and he'd probably wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between the lighter drinks her father served and had taught her, and the usual swill she was forced to brew in the present. She grabbed another mug from the shelf cut into the rock wall and gave it a cursory cleaning, half-listening Orup's dialogue with Rua.

The mercenary, however, seemed to be avoiding giving him an answer. He turned his gaze away from Orup Mepple as he sat and asked his question, his gaze turning to his own drink, half-empty as it was. Candlelight from the back banisters flickered off of the faded glass. Luckily his response was quick, though hardly anything Mepple would want to hear. "The forest?"

His tone was not unlike Ayls' own from only moments before, he noted to himself. "What kind of business do you got in the forest?" he asked, questioning Mepple instead. Warranted, really--as much as he'd seen with previous employers, Rua Dragonheart's latest got in trouble that was unique compared to the rest. A change from the usual monotony of his life, to be sure, but hardly a safe one. Rua reached for his mug just as Ayls set a filled one down for Orup. "I can't think of much plants growing there that you couldn't find in our back yard, as it were."

Gods knew they were finding enough bizarre flora around the caverns lately.

"Not quite!" Orup said quickly at Rua's last comment, giving the man a smile but buried his face into his mug between comments. When his face returned, he had adopted his physician's reserve as best he could, careful not to let anything through that Rua might find suspect. Orup didn't even know how much the man perceived, but that stony reserve could mean anything and it unnerved Orup on a regular basis. What was more, the boy had plenty of reason to be distrustful of Orup's own plans, but that wasn't really fair to him; there had been no way for him to know what was coming in any of those events! He would have to pout about that later.

But the forest... The forest had many opportunities within it. "Are you familiar with the Deku, for example? Small, wooded creatures," he stumbled over the explanation, trying to shape them in the air with his hands, "well, they only live in the forests. The Deku Nuts they produce can be vital to many compounds! And, and the seeds!" The man laid a hand on the counter-top and leaned his head in a little closer, pivoting his gaze between Rua and Ayls with a child-like excitement, "Ember seeds, gale seeds, and so on. They only come from trees, you know. Have you seen many trees around these parts?" He chuckled at his own comment. "The area's a gold mine, I'm telling you."

Aye, Rua knew of the Deku. He'd encountered his fair share before--memories of furious cursing and stinging bruises and general unpleasantness as he pushed his way through shrubbery only for a far off bush to burst from the ground with glowing eyes and hurling hard-shelled nuts at him when his tunic or cape would catch on something. Yes, Rua and the Deku were quite familiar with one another. He brooded over his drink for a brief moment and shook away the memories.

"Deku products are pretty hard to come by," Ayls mentioned, reminding Rua that she was present, causing him to glance at her. She felt that what Mepple was discussing had merit. "Trading with the Kokiri has been pretty sparse in the last few years."

Rua sipped at his drink for a moment before looking down at its remaining contents through the glass, turning his wrist idly to slosh it about. "Gathering supplies in the forest, huh?" he remarked. It did sound better than that botched trip into the tunnels to find the source of the unusual roots, but nothing said something similar couldn't happen in the Kokiri Forest. It had the spirits and the plantlife, and there were always rumors of bandits hiding in the woods.

Rua downed the rest of his ale and set the mug on the bar, sliding it towards Ayls to deal with. "Alright then," he said. "I was headed there anyway. How long you figure we'll spend there?"

Orup almost slapped the counter in excitement, but he held back, instead taking a drink of the bitter, watery drink that Ayls had offered to him. Thankfully for the alchemist, drinking the stuff as little as he did meant he had no real taste for the stuff; it all just tasted terrible. His anticipation for the trip plowed through that, and he grinned at Ayls and Rua, "Excellent! When did you want to leave, boy? I've not been called by anyone to the parts, so I can stay as long as necessary or leave when need be. I would enjoy getting to look at some of the streams though; I hear there are some interesting amphibious species in the area..." He trailed off, his mind getting ahead of him already.

"Most species in that forest have a habit of killing anything that isn't a brat with a faerie hiding on its pocket," came the mercenary's response as he turned in his seat to face Mepple. "Guess I'll need to bring that shield along. I was planning on leaving at first light tomorrow morn. Try to leave tonight and you'll likely just break your neck falling in a pothole."

"You should probably be sure to get up early, Orup," Ayls said to him as she wiped down Rua's mug. "He's not known to be patient during one of his trips." Rua frowned at the comment, looking over at his friend, but she refused to make eye contact, merely smiling at the chat.

Orup almost choked on his drink, "Tomorrow?" He turned his face away, coughing hard into his sleeve. The boy wanted to leave tomorrow? Maybe for someone like him it would work, but for Orup? He had equipment to pack up, books on the area to read, checklists for exploration to make, and so much more. Preparing for a journey like this would take days, and most of that was just running through mechanical things and writing down things he would be sure to forget later. The worst part was that if Rua simply wanted to leave tomorrow without him, he could absolutely do so; Orup wasn't exactly his employer on this one.

He could really only see one feasible solution, "If it's going to be tomorrow, then that complicates matters for me, boy." Orup wouldn't hold out for Rua's sympathy, so he hurried along. "Which means I may need a hand. Ever mixed anything besides brews, Miss Larawn? I wouldn't mind paying for some help that would actually talk to me once and a while," he added on the end with a chuckle, hoping it would soften it up a bit. He felt safe around Rua, but to a very specific, physical extent. The irony was the man seemed more unnerving when he didn't have his sword out, and so inviting his girlfriend along wasn't something Orup had exactly been planning on doing. But the Kokiri Forest was too good to pass up on, and apparently now ambition and thrill overrode the aging man's basest common sense. He didn't even know, anymore.

Ayls blinked in surprise, her thought processes grounding to a halt and leaving her blank of face as she held a half-clean mug in her hands. Even Rua seemed to slip up at the suggestion that Mepple made of the bartender. "M-me? I-I've, um, made the occasional poultice when I was younger and, um, a couple other medicines," she stumbled over her words a bit, talking quickly. "But are you sure?"

His gaze was unseen by the two of them, both bartender and alchemist too distracted by the proposition for her to be a helping hand with Mepple's profession, however temporarily. His eyes was narrowed, but not in suspicion or anger, but in bafflement. Rua just wasn't quite sure if Mepple understood what he was asking of her. Just what are you playing at?

Orup had regained his footing a bit, his excitement over the trip filtering back in as he realized that he could make it work. Grinning, he glanced between the two of them quickly, "Of course I'm sure! I don't need an expert, just someone who can pay attention and use their head, you know? Sometimes I just need another set of hands and eyes, especially for some of the more complicated work." He wiggled in his seat slightly with anticipation, quickly getting used to the thought of having an assistant. Besides, if he ever wanted to expand his practice he could use someone like Ayls during the days, even, to give him a hand.

Expand his practice. Now that was something he had not considered in years. Who knew, though--with all the things he was learning in the last few months... He was no master alchemist, but he had been in the trade long enough to know that his practice was gaining a bit of an edge. Besides, he was good with people! A rare trait these days. He took another drink of the bitter beverage and wiped his mustache with his arm. "Besides, I'm sure Rua wouldn't mind some friendly company," he said with a wink.

A tinge of red colored Ayls' cheeks for a brief moment, and she glanced down for a brief moment at the forward remark on her relationship with Rua. The mercenary, on the other hand, cleared his throat, staring pointedly at the alchemist, his expression as unamused as ever. "The hell do you think you're getting at, Mepple?" he asked, doubtful of his propositions of having Ayls be his assistant. "I don't think a bartender would be your best choice for this kind of outing."

'I don't mind," Ayls said, looking over at her friend, hoping he wasn't getting mad, and hoping that if he was her words could calm him; something she had some practice in. "I'm sure it's a simple enough task. Nothing I can't accomplish."

That was good enough reason to bring Ayls along now, as far as Orup was concerned. Maybe she'd be able to talk some sense into Rua! He was being bullish as usual, but he couldn't help but crack a smile as Ayls intervened, vouching for the alchemist's plan. He thought it was a good plan, after all. At the end of the day, really, he needed an assistant if he was going to go with hardly any preparation. If he had no assistant, then going was out of the option. And if he wasn't going, then he couldn't do his research! At the nearest break in the conversation, Orup blustered in as well, hoping to bounce off Ayls' good will and hopefully convince Rua this wasn't a bad idea.

Giving them grins and smiles, he nodded his head vigorously, "Nothing you can't handle, I'm sure! Besides, it's not like you'll be out practicing on your own or anything. I'm sure some of the drinks you mix in here are twice as complicated as most of my salves." Mostly true, though his recently re-inflating ambitions might lead him to look for some recipes of greater complexity than those. If he reached that point then he would surely need an assistant, and it would be much easier to start that training immediately. He resisted the urge to rub his palms together from the sheer perfection of his plan.

Ayls cracked a small smile at Orup's remark and shook it off. "I'll need to know what time you'd like me to be by to help prepare tomorrow," she told the alchemist.

"What about your bar?" Rua asked instead, looking back over at the woman as she put away the mug she was cleaning. "I'm sure these louts won't be happy with you leaving for a few days."

She glanced back at him, then looked over and past him. The rest of her customers, few as they were, were busying themselves with their own drinks and conversations. Even young Louise was done with her duties for the moment, leaning against a nearby wall and playing idly with the hem of her apron, looking bored. Ayls knew that the girl had been dallying with one of the boys, and probably would rather spend her remaining time with him instead of being here, payment notwithstanding. "Next few days are going to be pretty scarce," she told Rua finally. "It won't kill them to be without their ale for a couple days."

She raised her voice a bit, to catch her employee's attention. "Louise, sweetie, you can head on home," she called, causing the girl to perk up. "I can take care of the rest."

Louise smiled and nodded, quickly departing from the bar with a skip in her step. Ayls would rather the girl actually return to her parents' apartment, but she was probably going off for a rendevous. She had little right to protest, given her own situation, didn't she?

What Ayls had said earlier was almost certainly right; Orup doubted Rua would be particularly patient to wait for a freeloader to come tugging along after he had wanted to depart already. At the very best, he'd probably just be extremely unhappy, and Orup didn't need another reason to have an irritated Rua on his hands. No, they would have to leave early, in that case, which meant getting up even earlier for preparations. He would do as much as he could tonight, before he slept, but the last minute decisions were panning out to mean that Orup would find a discomforting lack of sleep this evening. Well, he was getting old, and getting up earlier was easier than it had been in his youth.

"Best to be at my shop an hour before sunrise," Orup said cheerfully, as if the precept of only sleeping for five hours sounded like a great idea to him. "I'll show you my organization system for the materials, and I can teach you how to handle whatever instruments I'll be bringing. It shouldn't be terribly demanding, I'm sure."

"I'll be sure to stop by," Ayls told him. A couple of her customers approached and dropped emptied mugs on the counter for her along with a few token rupees, a sure sign they were done for the night. She gathered them all up and started up on her duties. "It's getting pretty late, Orup. You should retire and get some rest. I don't doubt Rua will be itching to go as soon as he can." She ignored the muttered remark he made at that.

Orup scratched the back of his head at that, nodding slowly, "Right you are, lass! I will see you at the brink of the morning then." Offering them one last beaming smile, Orup paid for his drink and spent a moment longer maneuvering off of his bar stool without falling over completely. Raising a hand in farewell, he all but skipped out of the bar, walking cheerfully through the now quickly chilling caves and headed back to his little shop and home. It was a shame that his last night in his bed was likely to end up being quite short-lived, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make for the sake of research. A curious thing, sacrifice was, really. It'd been a long time since he considered alchemy worthy of receiving it.

But that was all changing now. Even as he entered his shop again and pulled out several go-to traveling lists he had on hand, he had already begun thinking of the possible recipes he might glean from the woods. Learning how to practice alchemy out here was nothing short of difficult, even compared to the days back at Kakariko. Most of the rare herbs had to be supplemented when he needed them, and the uncommon ones he had to buy for radical prices from whatever merchant was coming through. It had reduced his business to quite the common practice for years, but only until now had that really bothered him before. Chuckling under his breath, Orup scratched at his mustache idly as he began to whisk through the things on the list, marking the things he would leave for when Ayls arrived the next morning.

After about an hour's work, Orup's time piece showed the hour considerably late for when he wanted to rise the next morning, so he concluded his work, checking on his red potion brew one last time before retreating into the back room of his shop that served as his home. Preparing for bed now, Orup found one of his wake-up potions that he kept around, measuring the dosage for the hours of sleep he would need. He'd fall asleep quickly and deeply under that, but when he awoke it would be sharp enough to ensure he stayed awake. Humming tunelessly under his breath, Orup snuffed the candle a few minutes later, sending his quarters into darkness for the rest of the day.

When he awoke, the journey could really begin.

Two more of Ayls' customers approached the bar as Mepple departed, handing over their payment and their mugs for her to collect. She wordlessly accepted them and went about cleaning as Rua watched, his expression yet again unreadable. After a bit, he finally spoke up, and Ayls glanced back over her shoulder at him as she put some mugs away on the rock shelf.

"You don't have to go, if you don't want to," he said. He was well aware of how the girl tried to keep from causing trouble. Sometimes that meant acquiescing to another business owner's requests. "Regardless of what was growing in the catacombs, it's safer here than in the forest."

Ayls only smiled at him, though. "It'll be fine, Rua," she said to him. "We'll be fine. You'll keep the two of us away from any troubles you know is in there."

Rua thought back to his original plan for his trek to the forest, and felt a brief pang of guilt. He couldn't make a promise like that. He knew protecting one person could be troublesome enough, especially a magnet like Orup Mepple. Two people? He'd have to play it safe.

"You head on to the apartment," she continued. "I'll be there soon enough. I know how eager you are for this trip."

"Yeah, alright." The mercenary nodded and stood up from his stool, scooping up the map on the counter and rolling it up. "See you in a little while."

He moved past the tables as the other people in the bar stood up, leaving emptied mugs and a few paltry bags of rupees laying there for Ayls to collect. Stepping past the threshold of his friend's bar and into the dank corridor, he sighed. Finding that camp was going to be harder than ever now.

Orup splashed some cold water on his face the moment he landed his feet out of bed. Lighting a small lamp a moment later, the man cracked his neck and stretched his arms out, failing to suppress a yawn at an hour that hardly seemed like day. His timepiece showed that the hour was, in fact, when he had aimed for, so he slowly moved away from his bed, rekindling his fire and setting a kettle of water over it to make some morning tea. Even though there was over an hour still to the sunrise, the man didn't have an incredible amount of time to be ready, since Ayls was supposed to arrive within a short while.

Breakfast would likely be short and perhaps mostly done on the road; no Cuccoo eggs and bacon this morning, unfortunately. Perhaps on another morning he would've grumbled, but already the excitement was shaking off the tiredness as he prepared for the day ahead.

His red potion had finished overnight, and he strained the liquid and capped a vial of the usable stuff that he had prepared. Gaining a bit of momentum, slowly the man began to speed up, his mind still working on coming out of slumber. Adjusting burners and capping containers that did well to get some fresh air, the man began to finish off the preparations, leaving the door ajar slightly so that Ayls could simply enter when she arrived.