melodiesoflife | Preparing for things to come.

Entry tags:

Preparing for things to come.

Where: Aqures Ixen
When: June 29th – July 5th
Summary: Zelda isn’t one for war but she’s going to start practicing and thinking of strategies. She knows that there will be a meeting but she doesn’t want to attend empty handed. She is also on a look out for new heroes. It’s a bad time for them to show up which makes her think that they will.
Warning: None.

Zelda was always busy and with the threat of war she was even busier. She was coming up with plans using the city map as a guide. It would be better to use the cities natural strengths during the fight, such as preexisting walls, but it’s clear that this city wasn’t made to withstand a war. The best they could do was guess where the Empire might focus their attention and so Zelda made a list.

1.) Jessie’s Lab
2.) The Hospital
3.) The Fire Crystal
4.) The Castle
5.) The Old Observatory
6.) ~~The old Magitek Research Facility~~
7.) Mognet Office
8.) Airship Port

There were other possible areas too but she didn’t think they’d attack schools or homes. They couldn’t chance leaving areas unprotected but she supposed they could put a concentration of people around specific points. There were a few locations that worried her more than others. She didn’t know if they should move the heroes in stasis or if they should focus around the crystal of fire. It would really help if they knew what the Empire was after.

She worked late into the evening, pouring over notes and making scribbles and plans on small pieces of paper.

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She was planning to fight and while her skills lay primarily in wit she wasn’t a stranger to brute strength. She thought of changing her jobs back to the skills she had mastered but she knew that Link wouldn’t want her on the front lines. Instead she practiced with the bow that he had made for her: aiming, firing, and then fetching the five arrows she was using for practice.

Zelda could be found practicing in a few places. Right outside the town was the most common. She could aim at trees or things around her without the possibly of hitting a foolish passerby. She could also be found right outside the Observatory, pass the garden that she had create and along the back of the building. She set up a small firing range with a few straw looking dummies at the opposite end. They weren’t perfect but they let her practice without destroying any arrows.

She could also be found using her illusionist skills such as duplicating herself. This would be the easiest way for her to help from afar and she hoped that she could think of ways to use these skills in a larger scale battle. She couldn’t help but wonder how well the Heroes of Light would ban together. She remembered the first time they all fought. It was in the Chocobo Ranch and it hadn’t gone very well at all but since then people have grown and changed. New heroes have arrived and they found a purpose.

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Along with everything else Zelda was on the look out to see if new heroes would arrive. This was a constant duty that she gave herself but with war looming she decided to keep her eyes and ears out more so. It would be a perfectly awful time for the heroes to awake which made her think that they would. She also had no idea where they would show up which weighed heavily on her thoughts.

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"I see. As you know I was no archer at all, but, no harm in trying something new when you can." she says. "And certainly I could not, and would not, use the other elements. That was for my kin." she says as she readies another arrow.

As she lets it loose casually, she clips the feathered edge of Zelda's last arrow; a fluke honestly.

"Did you see that! I'm certain I could NOT do that again!" she cheers, bouncing on her heels, hair and chest doing much the same.

Zelda smiled at the hero seeing her excitement. It was good to be able to shoot like that and to be excited at your progress. It was a trait that she had often seen in students at the academy and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss that.

Before she had been kidnapped from Skyloft… things were so simple then.

“You’re improving and I’m sure you will be able to replicate the shot.” Except that Zelda was now out of arrows so she carefully made her way down the distance of the field to retrieve all the arrows that she had brought with her. She had only brought 5 not wanting to waist the others on practice. Luckily, even if the arrow was destroyed she could still reuse the arrow heads she received from MarKus.

The arrow was far from destroyed. The feather frayed, perhaps, but not at all ruined.

Still, despite the vote of confidence, Val was certain that there wouldn't be a way to pull that off again without a lot more practice, and several more months experience!

"Please dear, no need to flatter me. That's my job." she chuckles, having brought plenty for herself and... foolishly not having quite the concept of 'conservation' as her companion. If she needed more, a few bet games of Triple Triad and she'd have more money to buy more arrows; and leave whatever scavengers that came to get her old arrows, get them!

Zelda picked up the three arrows that weren’t damaged noting the one that had taken a chuck off the tree. It was in pieces but she scooped up the arrow head just in case Valvalis wanted it. She wasn’t the sort to waste even if her friends were.

As she walked back she smiled, her head flicking in the gentle breeze as she moved. The sun was full and it’s heat intense as they worked through the day.

“I’ll try but no promises.” Her eyes glance overhead shielding her gaze with her fingers. “We should take a break.” She didn’t need either of them to pass out and Zelda had brought plenty of water.

"Well, if you insist~" she chirps, strutting over to Zelda's side, in no hurry to recover her arrows, but most certainly in favor of spending idle time with one of her good friends.

Though the two meet, Val makes her way back to the tree, ignoring the damage and using it shade to their comfort, expecting Zelda to come over soon after.

And as such she undoes whatever style Zelda' hair may be in and runs her claw-like nails through it, brushing it out like before. "I hope your business isn't overwhelming you. You're such the busy woman, unlike me."

Zelda smiled as she followed Valvalis under the shadows of the trees. Her hair was tied up in a simple ribbon and very easy to untie. Her hair had grown more but it's obvious to a trained eye that Zelda has been trimming it slightly to keep the long locks healthy without any split ends.

She pulled her back into her lap and pulled out a container of water to hand to her friend. "Here."

Zelda enjoyed the feeling of Valvalis's fingers through her hair. It was a comforting touch and she felt like she could talk about anything when the pair was like this.

"It isn't. I'm making sure to rest since the last time I over worked myself." She won't worry people again. "What have you been up too? Are you planning to fight in the upcoming battle?"

The taller blonde nods in thanks and sets the container aside for the moment, keeping to her task of fussing over Zelda's hair for no other reason than to be close with her... a sisterly sort of bond.

"Oh, but of course. I wouldn't call it a thirst for battle like some may have but I was certainly created for such a thing. And, at least to me, there's a certain feeling of... release when I get to let loose and wreak havoc. These times when we have to fight to protect what we love... Selfish as it is, it justifies me giving in to my nature."

She's sure her words are a bit... scary. "I may have learned love and compassion, but I'm a monster still. There's a thrill to battle I can't get anywhere else... at least not since I left that cage of a city..." And her tone, like the rapid shifting of wind, changes for the somber.

Zelda listened to the changing tone of her voice and the words. She tried to understand. She wanted too and yet she couldn't. She had never sought war and the fight in Esdham had made her realize what distaste she had for it but she also couldn't sit back and do nothing.

She sighed softly. "I suppose I understand what you mean but at the same time I don't. I've never experienced anything like that before and I can't understand that sort of feeling."

She paused feeling a little awkward.

"I'm sorry." Zelda was usually very empathetic but she couldn't be that way with this and it made her feel as if she failed somehow.

"Do not fret over it. We are still different people despite the things we have in common. Don't forget, I am still a monster no matter how much I may dote on you." she says, giggling as she tries to cheer up the other blonde.

"Even if you don't understand... well... I didn't wholly expect you to. I rather expected you to berate me." she says. "But it still feels better to say what I feel. I don't wish for others to be hurt, but I'm excited for the battle."

And yet she continues to be quite gentle with Zelda's hair, her long, strong claw-like nails making a decent brush.

Zelda wanted to turn back and look at the woman except that she was playing with her long hair and she didn't really want Valvalis to stop. She sighed softly, lightly fiddling with the strains of blond that have fallen in front of her shoulder.

"I don't think you are a monster." You can enjoy the adrenaline of a fight without being a monster, or at least Zelda thought so. She knew a few in the academy who liked fighting and just because she didn't understand didn't mean she'd judge those who did.

She smiled looking down at the grass. "You still care about your friends."

The larger blonde chuckles a bit.

"I suppose my wording is a bit off. I mean, physically... internally as well, I am a monster. I... think." She hadn't meant that, in personality, she was a horrid, uncaring, destructive creature with no sense of remorse.

But now it had her wondering. How different were her insides from Zelda's... biologically speaking. Physically, outside, and to a certain degree, inside, they were the same but how far did that go?

She now wondered, and it brought one of her arrows to mind. Her fingers stopped brushing Zelda's hair as she took one of the tips from Zelda's quiver and held it up to her finger, pondering if she should, if she could even ask...

“Is everything okay?”

Zelda thoughts didn’t mirror Valvalis. She didn’t think it matter what people looked like or were made of and she wasn’t from a place where biology was a heavily studied subject besides healing purposes.

She turned to look back at her friend, long golden hair spilling over her should as her crystal blue eyes curiously sought Valvalis.

"Oh, yes dear, I'm just fine. I suppose I just got to thinking about something fairly odd. I can't recall a time that I've ever seen my own blood." she says, though she eventually puts the arrow down, away from her other hand. It's a strange scientific thought that actually looked more morbid than anything.

"Sorry, I almost thought to ask you to prick your own finger so we could compare." she says with a smile. "Strange, no?" she blushes a bit as well.

Zelda smiled. “It’s red.” She warped her arms around her knees bringing them to her chest as she spoke to Valvalis. “And I don’t think it’s silly. Everyone is different in some way out of the heroes and yet there are some things that make us the same.” She was happy that her ears remained pointed here considering what she’s heard from others about powers and traits disappearing once arriving to crystallis.

“I think it’s neat.”

It was at least something different. This was where she thought the hero’s strength laid.

"Oh? Is it?" she asks, humming and returning to her little task of comforting and brushing Zelda's hair, really it was more like idle stroking while they rested.

Her own ears were pointed, but not for the same reasons. Even if her power was gone, her physical appearance remained. And she was thankful at least.

"Well, let's just hope I don't have to find out what color mine is in an unfortunate fashion, yes?" she says, patting the girl on the head before standing up. "Ready to get back at it?"

Zelda gave her a nod and slowly began to gather her hair into a tight ponytail before standing. if she was going to continue she needed her hair up and out of the way, least she pull it. Once that was fashioned she stood and made her way towards the bow that Link had made for her.

She grabbed three arrows, the others were broken or unusable, and then began to walk towards her earlier position.

"If you want to keep going we should save arrows." It was mostly spoken as a thought after seeing the woman's last display.

[ooc: we can hand wave the rest if they are just gonna keep practicing.]

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Preparing for things to come.

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