[ Very suddenly, there’s a sense of Communion touching your character’s mind. However, it’s as if they connect with the mind of a shared Aspect, as they’re not able to block out the brief, but sharp memory that comes to them. ]
The cities just never felt “right” to the Shard-Bearer because they were too open, too clean. Even though their apartment in Kowloon was barely big enough to house their bed, this was the only place that felt remotely like the bunks of the remote planet that they’d been born on.
[ ooc note — Just to avoid OOC confusion/misinterpretation, the details included in this memory are random and are not necessarily interconnected or plot meaningful beyond a surface level. However, your character is free to interpret this random memory however they’d like! This event will also be touched on somewhat during today’s NPC Communion Post. ]
[ Link's Communion explodes into the mind of every Zenite, like the opening of a window during a hurricane. It rushes in with an intense and primal sense of panic, a mixture of both fight and flight, and the horror of knowing that neither has worked. A certain death is imposing down on him. If you've died before, you'll likely recognize this potent cocktail of desperation that's suddenly flooding your mind. But unlike the flashing of one's life in the moment before the end, this moment is filled with purpose — unfocused and clumsy, but desperately bold and determined. The message is not conveyed in words, but in feelings and impressions, unbound by the limitations of language and becoming that much more distinct and impossible to misinterpret. ]
Get away from the Manor.
Get out of Highstorm if you can.
The Meridian —
[ ...and then, it's gone. Both the message and the roaring sensations that carry it halt abruptly, like the slamming of a door — but, even a slammed door makes a sharp noise as it shuts, sends a gust of wind as it moves on its hinges. This sudden stop doesn't come with anything, no friction, no echo, not even the intentionality of closing a Communion once a person has said what they meant to say. Just stillness. ]
There is a brief sense of touch, like a soft hand upon a jaw to try and steady someone in a panic, of dark, dark eyes perceiving, sharp ears hearing. Ah. So this was the shape his fortune had taken, the result of the choice she had told him would ripple across Kenos.
It ripples past her.
Then it is gone.
Leaving a woman who does not keep anything of value in Yima's Manor standing where she was in Heliopolis, in the shape of a woman dressed in the colors of mourning for the Tribune she had served loyally for years and years. Though she looks towards Highstorm... Another clerk calls "her" name across the courtyard, and "she" runs off to return to "her" duty without any indication of having received a communion at all.]
[ Now that things had begun to settle and everyone was adjusting to their new (horrible) normal, Ryouma reaches out to Kiritsubo on an unremarkable day. He would hope for plenty more unremarkable days, but he knows an Oracle will turn up eventually, which is why he's here. ]
Hey, you remember me, don't you? Ryouma from the beach?
[ He has a feeling she's the sort of person who doesn't forget, but he's never sure how to begin this sort of thing. Reaching out and touching other people's souls isn't like writing letters. ]
If it's still on the table, I'd like to take you up on that offer.
[ He won't assume that she hasn't withdrawn it, given the state of the world. ]
[ He should really be ashamed that that works on him as easily as it does, especially when he already knows he's taking risks dealing with Zenites in the current climate.
It's a bit of harmless fun right now, though. ]
Business isn't that bad, is it?
[ A little joke. ]
Anyway, you probably know we have an Oracle showing up sometime soon, so now seemed like the right time.
[Goodness, what risk could there be from talking to a Zenite such as this, who he had met sunning herself shamelessly on a beach in Springstar, careless about faction boundaries and such nonsense.
After all... Her work was separate.]
Business is never bad, Captain. But even if we artists are not supposed to say so... We do have favorites, you know~
And you have a very interesting canvas in your possession.
[ It's been 114 years. Surely, anything there is to find in the ruins of the Manor has been found for decades now. But that thought does nothing to dampen Link's curiosity. He has to see it for himself. Seeing it with his own two eyes — there's value in that, in a way he can't really explain, yet understands all the same. Just like picking through the ruins of Hyrule.
His footsteps across the terrifying flood of Yima's Tears sends out countless spreading ripples, startling the tadpoles wiggling beneath the surface. This place is full of life, the way a corpse gives birth to countless new creatures and plants.
The last thing he expects is to see any people. When he hears something scuffle ahead, on one of the secluded islands of stone and rubble, he isn't surprised to see a fluffy tail disappear around a boulder. But... it's the tail of a creature he's never seen before, and that is intriguing.
A few minutes later, he's peeking into the hovel the creature fled into, with a huge chunk of dried meat held out in his black hand. Could it get bitten off? Yes. Does he care? No, not really. ]
[Whatever the creature Link had spotted in the rubble that had once been Yima’s manor… it vanished as quickly as the first sound alerted it to his approach. Was it skittish, or afraid of people? There’s no way to guess. The only thing for sure is that it has white fur and that its tail is fluffier than a cat’s but stubbier than a fox’s, more rounded at the end than pointed.
There are no sounds, when Link approaches around the boulder and finds the… is it the creature’s den? Perhaps just a convenient hideaway? Either way, perhaps it is cornered. In the dark of the hollow the creature’s form is visible at the back, impossible to blend when its fur was as pale as a ghost’s. Curiously, though, while someone with wild animal experience might expect a white creature to have red or blue eyes… this one’s seem to be pitch, pitch black, staring back across the distance with an inscrutable expression…
Before the creature pads forward and bares its sharp fangs, sinking its teeth into…
The offered meat. Which it tries then to pull from Link’s grip for itself.]
[ The flash of teeth causes Link to momentarily rethink his priorities — it would, in fact, be very bad if his sword hand got bitten off! — but the creature goes for the dried meat, not the fresh meat, and his hand lives to fight another duel. Link himself plops backwards onto his rump in surprise, watching the ghostly white creature retreat with his mouth hanging slightly agape in wonder.
What is it? It's sort of like a dog...? But, no, its body isn't quite right. It's face isn't right. And that tail... it wasn't like any dog tail he's ever seen. Nothing like a Hylian Retriever's, and nothing like the exotic dogs he's occasionally seen in Kenos.
He wonders how it got out here. He briefly considers speaking to it, but that doesn't make any sense — and he isn't the type to talk to animals, anyway. He'd gone weeks without speaking before. So he settles into the spot he'd plopped into and opens his pack to take out another strip of meat. He can stay a while and try to learn more about the beast, at least. ]
[Link isn’t totally wrong. It’s… somewhat like a dog! It’s somewhat like a fox. It’s somewhat like a raccoon. One could even say it was somewhat like a badger. There are familiar angles of the muzzle, small ears, extremely thick, voluminous fur, little claws clicking with its steps… as it takes its meat back to the end of the hollow and plops down with it, beginning to tear in. Despite its seeming hunger, though, it does not devour the food ravenously or overly messily. Sharp white teeth tear chunks and swallow, a pink tongue laps dark gums and lips clean, and all the while its slightly curled and rounded tail curves around its rump.
Longer observation might prove… it seems to be shivering a little, despite the temperatures outside not being terribly cold. Maybe it is scared? Though it took the offering just fine, and it seems not to pay much attention to Link while eating, none of the worried flashes a wild animal might make to keep track of potential predators nearby, but once done…
The black eyes focus again on him, as if wondering if it had to come closer to get that second piece or not.]
[ If this thing is some kind of dog, then Link has a vague idea of how to befriend it. Food, careful movements, and the avoidance of eye contact.
He pulls several more pieces of jerky from his pack and sets them down on the cracked cement, next to his knee. They resemble short strips of bacon, extra thick and crusted with big chunks of raw rock salt. Keeping his eyes averted from the beast the entire time, Link lets them sit for a moment, giving it a chance to see it and get a whiff.
Then, he picks one up, and reaches out to set it near the entrance of its foxhole. Yes... it will have to come closer... but not all the way out. ]
[After a pause, perhaps the creature debating whether the food is worth the risk of getting closer?, it begins to move, black nose sniffing curiously over the new pieces of jerky. Curiously, it licks one before actually going to eat it, as if sampling before committing... but whatever flavor test or poison check it intended, Link's food passes...
And sharp teeth get to work, gnawing on the first piece near the opening to its temporary den. Slowly, it approaches the next piece... devours it... and then the next...
It is still shivering slightly, even though its body language is looking less wary of Link's presence, small ears no longer flattened back to the skull and not turning its face constantly towards Link to ascertain he has not moved. His patience, it seems, will be rewarded...
Because after it devours the piece of jerky closest to him, it does not skitter back to to the safety of the rubble of Yima's manor. Instead... it turns its muzzle Link's way, beginning to sniff towards his knee and leg and pack as if inquiring if there is not more food to come.]
[ It's when the beast's little black snout touches the side of his knee that Link finally glances downwards towards it. In close quarters, he can see it clearly now — its wise, soulful black eyes, the diamond-shaped face topped by two dainty rounded ears, the thin legs and paws that emerge from its thick coat to softly step closer to him.
Whatever this thing is, it's adorable. If Link had less self-control, he might be tempted to reach out and run his hand down its downy neck and back... but he knows not to test the tolerance of a creature with sharp teeth.
So he takes another piece from the pile of jerky sitting atop his pants leg and holds it out to the beast, in his open palm. Will it eat straight from his hand? Or will it bite? It won't be the first time a canine has sunk its teeth into him, but this one isn't acting anything like the packs of wolves that inhabit Hyrule. ]
[Link is a smart man (in this way). Because the creature was adorable, surely. The legs seem so slim compared to the fluffy main body, the tail curly fluffy behind its rump, the little ears twitch... and the dark, dark eyes that don't even to reflect anything around it watch, with a wisdom that might almost seem beyond what a mere beast should be capable of...
Until, you know, the next piece of meat comes out.
This time, it does not hesitate as much. There is still a cursory sniff, a brief look for a trap... but it stands up partly to put two paws on Link's leg and begins to eat the jerky from his hand. And when the jerky is gone, well...
The scent remains, as do a few crumbs. And so the tongue goes to work, licking along the lines of his palm to get every last bit.]
[ The flash of a tiny pink tongue and the sensation of it against his skin finally breaks Link's mask of calm neutrality. He breaks into a wide smile, eyebrows raised, and starts to huff a chuckle before silencing himself. He doesn't want to startle the creature with any sudden noises, but watching it lick his hand clean is just so...
.....So wonderful. This is something he's missed, he realizes. Being alone, but not really alone. Being alone with the natural wilds. Yes, they're in the city, but the area around the Manor has largely been left to exist as a space for plants and small animals to thrive. A halfway point between civilization and the harsh Beyond. Not unlike the Ruins that populated the Hyrule he came from.
He doesn't have much jerky left. Using his other hand, he awkwardly reaches around to his opposite hip where his pack sits and takes out the last of the meat. But instead of giving it directly to the beast, he holds it in his opposite hand, offering. In order to reach it, the beast will have to climb into his lap. ]
[The creature's ears twitch, turning toward the sound of laughter, no matter how slight. But whether because it is slight or because Link has gained a bit of trust, it does not disturb the animal's focus on getting everything out of its meal. And there is one... more... piece...
Deep black eyes examine the situation, assess what needs to be done... and then hops on to the Hyrulian's lap, at first just bracing back legs and fore on opposite thighs to bridge the gap and reach his other hand, but once the meat has been seized... it "retreats" into the cradle of his lap, turning around and fussing for a comfortable spot until it seems satisfied, laying down in a curled up ball to gnaw on the jerky, its tail thumping slightly against a knee.
And this time... it stays, even after the meat has gone. A black nose curiously sniffs along trousers, little claws prick along leg... and then it curls in even tighter with a shiver, trying to bury itself deeper between Link's legs as if having found its new hiding place.]
[ Link remains quiet as he watches the creature jump into his lap to fetch the last piece of jerky. He can feel its pointed nails digging against the fabric of his pants as it takes the food from his hand — in this position, he can tip his head to the side to glance at its rear. Ah... it's a female, whatever it is. She. Whatever she is.
She's so friendly that Link is starting to believe she must be some kind of dog. What kind, he has no idea... but it has been 114 years. Maybe this is some sort of new breed to Highstorm? ]
...good girl.
[ Unlike other animals, dogs enjoy being spoken to. Link's voice is soft and quiet, barely above a whisper. He watches the dog curl into the space between his folded legs and laughs, for real this time, unrestrained. ]
Are you cold? With a coat like that, I'd expect you to be more comfortable in snow.
[ Carefully, he pulls his shawl off and lays it across his lap, leaving a small gap over the dog's head, so she can still look out at the world if she wants. ]
[The ears twitch the second Link speaks, the creature’s head lifts… and it looks at him. For the first time, seemingly without any food motivation, perhaps… at most, a desire to be warm. Even from this closer angle… light does not seem to shine of its dark, dark eyes, its gaze consuming more than reflecting.
It consumes his smile. His laugh.
And when he lays the shawl over his lap, creating a cozier place for it to rest… it pokes its head out just enough to shove it beneath his hand before he can withdraw it, insistent and the motion accompanied by a small canine whine.]
[ The peculiar dog stares up at him. Link stares back. If he didn't know better, he might believe the creature is... studying him. Thinking. And, well, she still could be, but... something about that deep, open stare seems much more intelligent than the typical dog.
Then it nuzzles his hand. That makes sense, he thinks to himself. She wants pets! Definitely some kind of dog.
Smiling with the same gentle, humble kindness, Link strokes his hand across her head and down the back of her neck. His touch is careful but expressive. ]
You're so sweet. [ Being mindful not to reach too closely towards the beast's pointed about, he scratches behind one of her round, teddybear-like ears. ] How'd you get out here...? I wonder... could you be lost? Do you have a family?
[Do dogs possess the ability to judge humans and other human-like peoples on their kindnesses or potential skills with a petting hand? If so... Surely this dog-thing has exercised it very well. As Link's hand brushes over the snow-white fur, he will feel it is thick and insulating, surely something that should keep an animal quite warm despite outside temperatures, full and thick and coarse until fingers get past the prickly point of the outer hairs to the softer fluff closer to hide.
Though cats are the sort to sometimes lay traps, seemingly asking for touch and then hissing or slapping at the hand that offers it, this creature takes what it seemed to ask for, its tail twitching and curling with satisfaction as it tips its head into the sensation, eyes briefly closing as tongue laps along dark lips and swipes over its nose. The way it moves...
It almost seems like a "no", that it does not have a family... But that is probably just how it is moving, surely, "nodding" into the scratch behind its ear and letting out a pleased rumble of sound.
If Link isn't careful... The beast will take full advantage of its newfound pamperer. And when he is ready to leave...
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
a memory—
The cities just never felt “right” to the Shard-Bearer because they were too open, too clean. Even though their apartment in Kowloon was barely big enough to house their bed, this was the only place that felt remotely like the bunks of the remote planet that they’d been born on.
[ ooc note — Just to avoid OOC confusion/misinterpretation, the details included in this memory are random and are not necessarily interconnected or plot meaningful beyond a surface level. However, your character is free to interpret this random memory however they’d like! This event will also be touched on somewhat during today’s NPC Communion Post. ]
two days before Cyrus' assassination
Get away from the Manor.
Get out of Highstorm if you can.
The Meridian —
[ ...and then, it's gone. Both the message and the roaring sensations that carry it halt abruptly, like the slamming of a door — but, even a slammed door makes a sharp noise as it shuts, sends a gust of wind as it moves on its hinges. This sudden stop doesn't come with anything, no friction, no echo, not even the intentionality of closing a Communion once a person has said what they meant to say. Just stillness. ]
no subject
There is a brief sense of touch, like a soft hand upon a jaw to try and steady someone in a panic, of dark, dark eyes perceiving, sharp ears hearing. Ah. So this was the shape his fortune had taken, the result of the choice she had told him would ripple across Kenos.
It ripples past her.
Then it is gone.
Leaving a woman who does not keep anything of value in Yima's Manor standing where she was in Heliopolis, in the shape of a woman dressed in the colors of mourning for the Tribune she had served loyally for years and years. Though she looks towards Highstorm... Another clerk calls "her" name across the courtyard, and "she" runs off to return to "her" duty without any indication of having received a communion at all.]
communion;
Hey, you remember me, don't you? Ryouma from the beach?
[ He has a feeling she's the sort of person who doesn't forget, but he's never sure how to begin this sort of thing. Reaching out and touching other people's souls isn't like writing letters. ]
If it's still on the table, I'd like to take you up on that offer.
[ He won't assume that she hasn't withdrawn it, given the state of the world. ]
no subject
My, my, if it isn't the Captain~
[She seems to remember.]
Do you know how much it pleases me to hear you say those words... ?
no subject
[ He should really be ashamed that that works on him as easily as it does, especially when he already knows he's taking risks dealing with Zenites in the current climate.
It's a bit of harmless fun right now, though. ]
Business isn't that bad, is it?
[ A little joke. ]
Anyway, you probably know we have an Oracle showing up sometime soon, so now seemed like the right time.
no subject
After all... Her work was separate.]
Business is never bad, Captain. But even if we artists are not supposed to say so... We do have favorites, you know~
And you have a very interesting canvas in your possession.
Mid-Pelu (May)
His footsteps across the terrifying flood of Yima's Tears sends out countless spreading ripples, startling the tadpoles wiggling beneath the surface. This place is full of life, the way a corpse gives birth to countless new creatures and plants.
The last thing he expects is to see any people. When he hears something scuffle ahead, on one of the secluded islands of stone and rubble, he isn't surprised to see a fluffy tail disappear around a boulder. But... it's the tail of a creature he's never seen before, and that is intriguing.
A few minutes later, he's peeking into the hovel the creature fled into, with a huge chunk of dried meat held out in his black hand. Could it get bitten off? Yes. Does he care? No, not really. ]
no subject
There are no sounds, when Link approaches around the boulder and finds the… is it the creature’s den? Perhaps just a convenient hideaway? Either way, perhaps it is cornered. In the dark of the hollow the creature’s form is visible at the back, impossible to blend when its fur was as pale as a ghost’s. Curiously, though, while someone with wild animal experience might expect a white creature to have red or blue eyes… this one’s seem to be pitch, pitch black, staring back across the distance with an inscrutable expression…
Before the creature pads forward and bares its sharp fangs, sinking its teeth into…
The offered meat. Which it tries then to pull from Link’s grip for itself.]
no subject
What is it? It's sort of like a dog...? But, no, its body isn't quite right. It's face isn't right. And that tail... it wasn't like any dog tail he's ever seen. Nothing like a Hylian Retriever's, and nothing like the exotic dogs he's occasionally seen in Kenos.
He wonders how it got out here. He briefly considers speaking to it, but that doesn't make any sense — and he isn't the type to talk to animals, anyway. He'd gone weeks without speaking before. So he settles into the spot he'd plopped into and opens his pack to take out another strip of meat. He can stay a while and try to learn more about the beast, at least. ]
no subject
Longer observation might prove… it seems to be shivering a little, despite the temperatures outside not being terribly cold. Maybe it is scared? Though it took the offering just fine, and it seems not to pay much attention to Link while eating, none of the worried flashes a wild animal might make to keep track of potential predators nearby, but once done…
The black eyes focus again on him, as if wondering if it had to come closer to get that second piece or not.]
screams and cries at the tanuki icons
He pulls several more pieces of jerky from his pack and sets them down on the cracked cement, next to his knee. They resemble short strips of bacon, extra thick and crusted with big chunks of raw rock salt. Keeping his eyes averted from the beast the entire time, Link lets them sit for a moment, giving it a chance to see it and get a whiff.
Then, he picks one up, and reaches out to set it near the entrance of its foxhole. Yes... it will have to come closer... but not all the way out. ]
as is only proper!!!
And sharp teeth get to work, gnawing on the first piece near the opening to its temporary den. Slowly, it approaches the next piece... devours it... and then the next...
It is still shivering slightly, even though its body language is looking less wary of Link's presence, small ears no longer flattened back to the skull and not turning its face constantly towards Link to ascertain he has not moved. His patience, it seems, will be rewarded...
Because after it devours the piece of jerky closest to him, it does not skitter back to to the safety of the rubble of Yima's manor. Instead... it turns its muzzle Link's way, beginning to sniff towards his knee and leg and pack as if inquiring if there is not more food to come.]
no subject
Whatever this thing is, it's adorable. If Link had less self-control, he might be tempted to reach out and run his hand down its downy neck and back... but he knows not to test the tolerance of a creature with sharp teeth.
So he takes another piece from the pile of jerky sitting atop his pants leg and holds it out to the beast, in his open palm. Will it eat straight from his hand? Or will it bite? It won't be the first time a canine has sunk its teeth into him, but this one isn't acting anything like the packs of wolves that inhabit Hyrule. ]
no subject
Until, you know, the next piece of meat comes out.
This time, it does not hesitate as much. There is still a cursory sniff, a brief look for a trap... but it stands up partly to put two paws on Link's leg and begins to eat the jerky from his hand. And when the jerky is gone, well...
The scent remains, as do a few crumbs. And so the tongue goes to work, licking along the lines of his palm to get every last bit.]
no subject
.....So wonderful. This is something he's missed, he realizes. Being alone, but not really alone. Being alone with the natural wilds. Yes, they're in the city, but the area around the Manor has largely been left to exist as a space for plants and small animals to thrive. A halfway point between civilization and the harsh Beyond. Not unlike the Ruins that populated the Hyrule he came from.
He doesn't have much jerky left. Using his other hand, he awkwardly reaches around to his opposite hip where his pack sits and takes out the last of the meat. But instead of giving it directly to the beast, he holds it in his opposite hand, offering. In order to reach it, the beast will have to climb into his lap. ]
no subject
Deep black eyes examine the situation, assess what needs to be done... and then hops on to the Hyrulian's lap, at first just bracing back legs and fore on opposite thighs to bridge the gap and reach his other hand, but once the meat has been seized... it "retreats" into the cradle of his lap, turning around and fussing for a comfortable spot until it seems satisfied, laying down in a curled up ball to gnaw on the jerky, its tail thumping slightly against a knee.
And this time... it stays, even after the meat has gone. A black nose curiously sniffs along trousers, little claws prick along leg... and then it curls in even tighter with a shiver, trying to bury itself deeper between Link's legs as if having found its new hiding place.]
no subject
She's so friendly that Link is starting to believe she must be some kind of dog. What kind, he has no idea... but it has been 114 years. Maybe this is some sort of new breed to Highstorm? ]
...good girl.
[ Unlike other animals, dogs enjoy being spoken to. Link's voice is soft and quiet, barely above a whisper. He watches the dog curl into the space between his folded legs and laughs, for real this time, unrestrained. ]
Are you cold? With a coat like that, I'd expect you to be more comfortable in snow.
[ Carefully, he pulls his shawl off and lays it across his lap, leaving a small gap over the dog's head, so she can still look out at the world if she wants. ]
There. You can stay until I leave, if you want.
no subject
It consumes his smile. His laugh.
And when he lays the shawl over his lap, creating a cozier place for it to rest… it pokes its head out just enough to shove it beneath his hand before he can withdraw it, insistent and the motion accompanied by a small canine whine.]
no subject
Then it nuzzles his hand. That makes sense, he thinks to himself. She wants pets! Definitely some kind of dog.
Smiling with the same gentle, humble kindness, Link strokes his hand across her head and down the back of her neck. His touch is careful but expressive. ]
You're so sweet. [ Being mindful not to reach too closely towards the beast's pointed about, he scratches behind one of her round, teddybear-like ears. ] How'd you get out here...? I wonder... could you be lost? Do you have a family?
no subject
Though cats are the sort to sometimes lay traps, seemingly asking for touch and then hissing or slapping at the hand that offers it, this creature takes what it seemed to ask for, its tail twitching and curling with satisfaction as it tips its head into the sensation, eyes briefly closing as tongue laps along dark lips and swipes over its nose. The way it moves...
It almost seems like a "no", that it does not have a family... But that is probably just how it is moving, surely, "nodding" into the scratch behind its ear and letting out a pleased rumble of sound.
If Link isn't careful... The beast will take full advantage of its newfound pamperer. And when he is ready to leave...
It might not be so keen to let him.]