A Short Hike (Open)

[Emily]

Ariadne stretched and looked down upon Central Hyrule. According to her map, she had just crested the Elma Knolls, that strange connecting area with Mount Drena and Tabantha on the west and the Great Forest proper on the east. It was fun, reminiscing on the trip so far; she'd hiked over Mount Drena, something she and her father had done many times over the years, crossed through the Aldor Foothills, and was now looking at a proper downhill walk for the rest of the day. She and her father had never crossed the foothills, though. Her father had always said you'd have to walk too far in this direction before you got anywhere. Apparently 'anywhere' was the Woodland Stable, Goron City, Akkala, or Lanayru.

Still, the view was spectacular. In the years between the end of the Calamity and the Upheaval, she and her father would look down at the castle from Mount Drena- he would never take her even this close before the Calamity ended- and wonder what it would be like to go inside such a massive building. It always looked strange, looking at it from above. Even the tip of the tallest towers would only reach to basically her eye level, on top of the mountain. She wondered now, looking up at it floating in the sky, if this was the feeling it gave to centuries of people living in Castle Town. A strange sensation of wonder, an almost giddy excitement, washed over her. There was a castle, and it was floating in the sky! Absolutely brilliant stuff.

She continued walking, occasionally looking up at the castle. When reviewing the travel plan she had prepared with her father- he insisted they go over it several times, to make sure she wouldn't get lost, following the road, can you even imagine- he had critiqued the gracious time limits she gave herself. Well, dad, maybe if you're ready to spend your entire life seeing to travelling merchants' horses, expediency is a virtue, but this was different! She was thriving, savouring every moment of seeing these places she had never imagined before. Sure, so far it was just a hillside, but look at the castle! Look at that massive fog-covered forest! Look at the volcano! There were so many cool things to see, she almost regretted that she couldn't take even more time along the way. Especially, she thought while plucking an apple from a nearby tree, when food was so available.

Today, she would make it to Woodland Stable. As the mountain crow flies, it wasn't that long a journey, maybe three hours from Snowfield Stable. The hangup, naturally, was that she wasn't a mountain crow, and couldn't take the straight line from west to east. No, she had to leave first thing in the morning, hike around the edge of a mountain (okay, a mountain ridge, but a bloody steep one) cross the uneven foothills southeast to the Elma Knolls, after which she would go downhill until she came to the King's Road near a bridge at the edge of the castle moat. From there, it would be a very easy walk. In total, it was a seven hour stroll. She had given herself a full day for it, justifying it because the road didn't come this way, it went all the way up and around into Eldin, passing through Goron City before coming back down and eventually, blessedly, branching off toward the stable. That road trip would take two full days. See, dad, how expedient she was being?

The walk was very quiet, something she welcomed. Her mind was racing too much to have a very good conversation with anyone. She was excited about the prospect of going somewhere fancy like Zora's Domain to learn medicine. The Zora were renowned as excellent healers! Sure, they had magic, but surely that magic was borne out through knowledge of how bodies worked, and how to treat various injuries and illnesses, the pathology of various bacteria and viruses. And hey, maybe if she got good enough at the fundamentals, they would teach her the same magic. Yeah, definitely. She was resolute; some day it would be the great and mighty Ariadne coming to someone's rescue with those glowing, shiny hands.

[Emily]

Being away from home for the first time had filled Ariadne with a strange combination of combinations, a giddy anxiety and a sense of off-balance excitement. If she'd given much thought to it, she might have arrived at the term manic, but thinking was for another time, another person on another day. Right now, she was determined to use the overabundance of energy to a positive end: she had come upon one of those strange fallen rocks and wanted to know more about it. Everything about it, if possible.

The rock was maybe half the size of the stable she'd grown up in, much narrower but at the same time much taller. It had a strange white hue to it that most stone she had seen didn't, as the dark grey rocks around attested. The boulder (was that the proper term? She didn't know anything about rockology (rockology??)) was cool to the touch, and otherwise ultimately unremarkable. It didn't respond when she, after looking around to make sure nobody would see her do this, murmured a muted "Hello?" and then, just to be sure, "Activate- stone?" No, definitely inanimate. Well, that was good to know.

Moving on to something she felt she could understand a bit better, the small plants that had appeared around the edges of where the stone had impacted the ground. They must be abundant on the sky islands, but she had never seen the like of them on the ground except in vicinity to these strange stones. She was glad that this one had fallen along the pathway she was taking to the Woodland Stable. It would have been impossible to look at something this thoroughly without being told to get back to work or to get away from that, it might be dangerous. Her dad was always trying to keep her safe, even though all that would probably do was make her not know how to take care of herself in a dangerous situation if he wasn't around, like now. Wait, no, don't get off track. The rock plants, at least in this instance, were flowers. Very pretty flowers, she was delighted to see. Gold and orange stalks opened to yellow leaves and the flower itself, which had vibrant golds and oranges ringed in dark purple. It looked like a sunrise, and Ariadne was absolutely enamoured with it. She picked the flower and tucked it into her hair before continuing on. It even smelt like sunlight, if that was a thing.

The path from here wasn't very interesting, by any means. People didn't come through this area, and she didn't expect to see anyone, even travelling merchants, until she met the road coming out of Central Hyrule later that afternoon. For now, there was grass, a view of the floating castle, another view of the gigantic, fog-enshrouded forest, some scattered trees, and this flower. And Ariadne, of course, but that was to be expected, she was almost always anyplace she happened to be. According to the little map her dad had given her, with a line showing exactly the path he'd intended she take (staying on the road the entire time, imagine that), she was on "Rauru Hillside". She wondered what even that was supposed to be named after. Rauru? She said it out loud, then laughed, realising that this wasn't a word or a name at all. It was just the kind of sound a dog made. She could imagine the naming scenario. Some intrepid explorer crossing the river, coming into contact with a native life form he'd never seen the like of before. "Hello, I am Ingo Bingo" he would say, and the four-legged creature would respond "Rahroooooo" and thus was history made.

[El]

It was the perfect weather for an afternoon nap. A nap, which - sadly - had come to an end, but a nap that Gao nonetheless insisted he was still in the comfortable throes of; too stubborn to relinquish those last wisps of fog even as they squeezed through the gaps of his unsatisfied grip. He was too awake: his thoughts too sharp, the rays of sunlight even sharper as they seared in hot reds though his scrunched-up eyelids. A disgruntled growl rumbled up from the pits of his throat.

He didn't have to get up.

...There was no real motivation to. No pressing urgency. No unfulfilled need that had to be attended to.

...

Alas, Gao knew when he had been defeated. Both his body and mind were too alert and clear to ever succumb to another lapse of sleep. Further attempts to crawl back into the arms of his dreams would just equate to a few frustrating hours of tossing and turning. Eugh. His growl evaporated into a weakened sigh of resignation.

It stunk. Literally. It reeked. Everything around him reeked.

Folks at the stable always said HE smelled bad, but they clearly had never shared a camp with a pack of cute lil' Bokoblins, whose pert buttcheeks swelled with rancid gas as often as the wind whistled through the grassy plains. Adorable little shits. A grin played with the corner of Gao's lips as he opened his eyes to see - and hear - them still snoring away, so incredibly innocent and vulnerable in their sleep with their giddy wide grins, lolling tongues and twitching ears. Seemed like the feast he helped them with very late last night still had them knocked out.

Nayru-Forbid he needed to wash off though.

Cracking his neck and stifling his own noises of exertion, the Sheikah hefted himself upright and had just begun the process of remembering his left from his right and the north from the south when he spotted upon the nearby hill a silhouette: a Hylian silhouette. Short. Slender. A young woman? He guessed, squinting his eyes against the sun to little avail - the details still eluded him. Given her gait and speed though she didn't appear in any distress, nor injured. And to his even greater relief it appeared she would be dodging the worst of the monster camps given her now southerly direction towards the main road. Wise.

...

...........

..................Nope. No, he still had to go greet her though. Just to make sure.

Gao was pretty certain the last thing a young woman travelling - assumedly - by herself wanted to see was a giant stinking hulk of a man though, let alone one gallivanting towards her from out of the wilderness in all his bedheaded flair and disordered garb. So he tried his best - he really did - to brush himself off a bit and straighten the layers, making sure to also clear his throat so that his voice wouldn't crack upon attempting its first common-Hylian word of the day. He left behind a ripe red apple on the flattened grass of his former bed - so his Bokoblin friends wouldn't panic and think he'd been attacked by a foreign tribe - and then steadily made his way up the grassy green slopes.

"Ahoy there~!" Gao called out, when he felt like he was a good distance away from his leathery monster kin: to their good fortune the wind was also not blowing down towards them. "Are you heading towards Helmhead Bridge?" He added as he raised a hand in greeting. He was armed, but he made a point of the large and still sheathed halberd being nowhere near his open palms.

[Emily]

Considering it was only approximately mid-day (or perhaps the sun was lying to her? It was hard to know, but the sun had never really lied to her before, and she didn't know why it would start now, so who could say?), Ariadne had to admit to herself that she was making very good time. She was well over three-quarters of the distance she needed to cross and, if she was being entirely honest and giving herself the proper amount of credit she was due, an entire day ahead of schedule.

The thing she was most amazed by, out here proper roughing it for the first time in living memory, was how few monsters she had come across. Sure, she had seen a few distant moblins dancing around a fire, juggling bokoblins in their big strong arms in an attempt to impress one another. But it was hard to make someone feel threatened when they had grown up in a stable. And not just that! Grown up in a stable that could see and hear a frost gleeok. That's right, who was a scary monster now? Surely not the silly escapades of a-

"Ahoy there!~" a voice boomed across the rocky expanse. From behind her. Unexpected. Though she would certainly never admit it after this point for the rest of her many long years, full of adventure and excitement and swashbuckling heroism, Ariadne screamed and began to flee before the fact that it was clearly a recognisable voice speaking to her registered. She turned and saw the large man waving as he was in the middle of saying, "Are you heading towards Helmhead Bridge?"

She cleared her throat and took a moment to smooth out her tunic, happy to be tanned enough that, at least at such a distance, it might be difficult to see how red-hot with shame her face had become. Instantly. Like some kind of coward. What the hell. "Why yes, hello, fellow, adventurer. It's good to see someone else out here, yup! Mhm, yeah, yes I'm, yeah going to the old..." she pointed back toward the general direction of the "bridg- Helmhead Bridge. Well no, not really. The road, you know. I'm not crossing the bridge, I'm going to the, uh, Woodland Stable." She tried to bite down on her tongue, to stop the embarrassment, but it refused to acquiesce to her demands.

"I mean, I'm going to Zora's Domain, Woodland Stable is just... the first stop." She coughed, cleared her throat. "Hi, I'm Ariadne."

Smooth, kid.

[El]

A booming guffaw threw open Gao's mouth, his sharp teeth glinting in the sunshine as he realised - a beat too late - that laughing at the poor girl would probably do nothing to ease her nerves. Oh how quickly those incisors then clamped shut, a giddy grin choking back the mirth so he could get out a greeting of his own:

"Greetings, Ariadne! I'm Gao." Perhaps too loud. Perhaps too close. Instinctively he came to a halt still a few metres apart from her, affording her a radius of personal space which frightened animals often observed. "Not to worry, kid, words aren't exactly my strong suit either: my pile of rejected papers can attest to that." His grin slipped sidewards at his own self-effacing jab, a stray finger scratching at the back of his neck. "But it's good to hear that you're heading for the safety of the Stable.

"NOT that I don't think you're probably more than capable of looking after yourself! Considering your current location and-" In as quick and unobtrusive a manner as possible, Gao's keened red eyes swept over the woman now that he was closer - assessing her for any injuries or discomforts. None. At least not on the outside, and her reactions earlier were certainly sharp enough to attest to her mental acuity too.  "-your good condition.

"Nonetheless I'd be happy to escort you the rest of the way, if you'd like the company...? I'm pretty deft with a halberd if need be and am familiar with the rougher species that hang around here."

He paused then, nostrils twitching as a breeze gave him a whole nose-full of himself. Right. The morning wash. Eugh, why couldn't Bokoblins smell like Hyrule Herbs now and then rather than rotten eggs and old socks. ...Hmn, actually maybe that'd be his next gift idea: some pretty bouquets. They tasted nice too - they'd like that. "Not to worry if you'd rather just enjoy your own company though," Gao added, raising a hand in assurance. "I'm just heading this way anyway so I can wash up a bit. A proper tub-bath and an actual bar of soap would probably do me better than some crummy water in the wild."

[jdd2035]

People didn't come through this area such an ironic thought considering.

...some time later.

I was stepping through the forest foraging for supplies, in my bag I had wild grains, and filberts, some mushrooms, smoked fish, and even a few frogs legs. It was a good mornings foraging, and I enjoyed the warmth especially taking time along the river where it was more humid.

The thing was, people the regular folk going about their business like a program stuck to the roads. Those of a more exceptional build wandered, went sideways, made their own path. So what were the odds of three individuals of such types meeting in the middle of no where.

Never the less such things do happen.

I was trucking up a moss, and clover covered knoll looking for honey comb, or anything to distract me. That! That was when I heard a boisterous, booming, brazen guffaw that echoed exuberantly through the woods. Well now that was a distraction, so I made my way toward the distraction.
 

[Emily]

Determined not to continue making an ass of herself in front of someone new, Ariadne forced herself to take a breath, and mentally attached all the tightly-wound anxiety to the air as she exhaled it. It was always kind of shocking how that worked, feeling yourself relax a little bit after doing something so purposeful.

Anyway, Gao seemed pleasant enough. Well-meaning at least, as her father would have said, but he also said things like don't trust someone until you've seen they have money to give you. Weird chap. He was kind of a tall, shaggy type. Gao, that is to say, not her father. Well, sort of. But not in the same way. Anyway, she thought he was kind of like one of those large shaggy Moose that wandered through the snowfields. Harmless by intention, but with just a little glimmer of danger behind the smile.

His offer was also very kind. Ariadne had been doing well enough entertaining herself as she travelled throughout the day, but there's a limit to how much fun you can have by yourself when there's very little to deal with. Knowing herself, she'd have likely gone crazy by the time she reached the bridge and ran headlong into the water just to feel something. So maybe this was a fated encounter? If those were even really a thing and not just something from books she sometimes read. When she spoke, she was happy that the nervous energy seemed to have burnt itself off, "That's awfully kind of you, Gao, I'd be happy to have you along."

It was only in this moment that she realised he was clearly self-conscious about his smell, which yes, was truly rank, but also not much worse than what she was used to. "Don't worry," she chuckled, "I'm no dainty lady, I grew up in a stable. A proper bath will do you good, but you're no worse than horses after it rains."

[El]

"Well, that's good to hear." Gao chuckled, his countenance visibly softening with relief. "A wet horse isn't too bad, all things considered: I've been likened to-"

A pause. Halted. His nostrils flared as his ears pricked, pulse skipping the same beat his tongue did.

Over his shoulder Gao's eyes had flashed - though his head never moved. Barely perceptible, tension had riddled up the now taut muscles of his neck. Intent. Something - or someone - was moving closer. Instinctively one of his rough, calloused palms came to a rest on his waist: below his grasp rested the hilt of a mostly concealed dagger. "-likened to worse." Gao's attention slid back to Ariadne as he huffed out another genial laugh. You'd almost think you had imagined it: his lapse in attention had been so brief, so swift. The jovial rhythm of his voice continued to saunter, breezing over the bump in the road as if it'd never happened.

"Well, let us make good use of this sunlight then! While the skies still deem it fit to remain clear." With his free hand the Sheikah motioned for Ariadne to continue onwards on her original route, and though he too moved forward to help encourage their departure, he made sure that he remained in the back - or at least close enough to Ariadne's side, so that she'd be easy to protect.

It'd do no good to alarm the young woman and ruin her otherwise sunny, little adventure until things had been made more certain. Either the approaching presence would leave them be as they left the territory, or their intentions would soon be made clear.

Gao hoped he was just being paranoid, but you could never be too cautious about these things.

"Forgive me if this is rude to ask but, er-... If you're from a stable where's your mount?" Gao continued, casting a casual look at their surroundings once more as if to make sure he hadn't just missed a GIANT HORSE tied up to a tree somewhere. "Or is this one of those 'coming of age adventures' where you set out into the Kingdom and find yourself and earn your own horse along the way so it feels more fulfilling, sort of deals?

"...Or perhaps you never liked horses to begin with." He then added with a thoughtful chortle. "Funnily enough I've met quite a few folk who HATE their parents' business and want nothing to do with it. Well, not funny for them I suppose. Poor sods."

He knew he was rambling, but that was the point: don't look alert.

[Emily]

Enjoyable as it was to have someone new to talk to for the first time in, oh, most of a day, Ariadne was completely distracted from picking up environmental cues. She was usually okay at noticing if something was off in the environment, but there was little point in honing that sort of instinct when someone lived around a lot of horses. After all, if a horse is with you, it will notice that something's wrong long before any other creature. Which, if she had thought about it, would have been a point in favour of bringing her horse.

Ariadne's parents had helped her to tame a horse in the snowfields a few years earlier. The stable process was slow and gentle. They had friendly relations with most of the herds that wandered the region, and could approach most horses in the wild by thinking very friendly thoughts and moving gently. Over the course of several weeks, Ariadne had given food to a filly, probably no more than a year old at the time. She had started feeding at a distance, closing that distance slightly over time, then chancing a pet of the mane. Early training was easy enough when you gained their trust that way, as leading them around was easier if they liked you. As Hiccup had grown into a gorgeous blue mare, Ariadne began riding her, and they'd grown very close. But that was the thing: because Hiccup (along with the other horses in Ariadne's family) was still fully socialised within her herd, it felt wrong to take her away. So of course Ariadne was going to tell the truth about this.

"My normal mount is a lynel, which makes it difficult to travel. Beautiful, though, in a scary way. Silver coat, big teeth, absolutely jacked. He's very difficult to ride around in towns though, you know?"

The two continued down toward the bridge, Ariadne jumping down a rocky bluff to get near the moat's shoreline. It would be easy walking from here to the bridge, now that they were out of the rockiest terrain. Much easier to see for a bit of distance, too. "Seriously though, did you know that if you take the road from Woodland Stable to Zora's Domain, that Woodland is the last stable you come across? There are no more, nowhere to keep a horse. And I hear that, while Zora's Domain is pretty, it's very wet and kind of cold, which I don't think would be very good for a horse.

"What about you? Were your parents also the type to sneak up on random people in the middle of nature, or is that your own act of rebellion?"

[jdd2035]

"Quite pretty" I said walking up and greeting the pair kindly with a genuine smile. "The grander buildings are actually grown. Kind of like them bushes that look like animals." I added, not meaning to interrupt, but also wanting to let the pair know that I was there.

I gave a polite nod to both the young lady, and the burly man. I was neither really armored, nor armed aside from a broken oak tree branch.

"Forgive me, I overheard the young lady saying she heard that the Zora Domain was pretty, and I was just confirming."

If I noticed the guys stench I didn't really show any signs. For all I knew I smelled like brackish water stink, on top of that fishy aquarium smell, on top of regular B.O.... Or I could just have an earthy peaty aroma with a touch a lilacky.  Who's to say?

Finally, I introduced my self "By the way, I'm Victus." I gave a polite bow, my walking stick tucked under my arm.

[El]

A... LYNEL?!!

Oh the childlike delight which lit up Gao's eyes! A spark that erupted into flames! Questions, so many questions, ran riot through his mind as the young woman confided in him about the true nature of her mount. How? When? Where? HOW?! A LYNEL?!! HOW IMPRESSIVE! COULD HE MEET THEM?! When?! HOW SOON?! Should he bring an offering? Was there a specific manner in which introductions were made? Would he have to spar to earn its respect first? WHERE WAS IT?!

...But then Ariadne continued to speak and with her following words - or rather, the manner in which she said them - a bitter realisation came upon Gao. Oh. Oh, indeed. She hadn't been serious. She was joking, and he had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker with all the gullible naivety of a toddler sat at a campfire.

He bit back a sigh.

The sobering experience wasn't a pleasant one, and though Gao tried to mask the disappointment which so quickly crushed him, the results were shoddy at best. If Ariadne's back hadn't already been turned to Gao in that moment, she might've thought the man was pouting of all things: a bitter line to his lips as he pressed them closed, sealing right up the exuberant grin he'd exhibited only a fraction of a second before.

"What about you? Were your parents also the type to sneak up on random people in the middle of nature, or is that your own act of rebellion?"

The Sheikah half-snorted. "Look, I did TRY not to ambush you!" He quickly rebuked, raising both hands in guilty surrender. "I shouted and everything so you knew I was coming! I even approached slowly and kept my distance for a time! But-... yeah, you have my genuine apologies, miss: turns out there's not really any way to greet someone pleasantly in the wild without alerting them - or being suspicious."

...Just like his suspicions about their new Zora friend quickly proved to be unfounded?

"Quite pretty," wasn't an introduction that Gao had ever thought of before - or predicted - but that and the following comments proved rather effective at assuaging his concerns. The scholar internally lowered his guard, but did not drop it entirely. Given the stranger's bearing there was no ill-intent, and the swell of his bag and the few supplies which noticeably bulged from its cap gave Gao the impression that perhaps he had been foraging...? The smell of freshly picked mushrooms was subtle, but there. And indeed the Zora's fingers were marred with damp earth.

"By the way, I'm Victus."

"That's an apt name." Gao couldn't help comment, a grin peeling apart his lips once more. "A physique like yours isn't one easily won. But come come, enough of the bows! I appreciate the sentiment but stiff things like that make me feel awkward-" He extended a burly arm, hand outspread for a firm handshake instead - if the Zora took it.

"The name's Gao! What a twist of fate this is, happening across not one but two fresh strangers in the wild all at once." He chuckled: half genuinely amused by the fate of it all, the other-... to mask the barbs of his returning suspicion.

...

Eugh, Gao hated being suspicious. He was a burly, friendly Hylian Retriever in most cases, always eager to make new friends and enjoy the company of others. Buuuuuut... there really was something about being outside the walls of civilisation that pushed him close to the edge of paranoia. Call it the result of too many bad experiences, or simply the side-effect of spending more time around monsters than he did 'mankind'.

Hmn...

...Ariadne and this Victus weren't in this together were they? Was this about to be a robbery? Lead him in with an innocent face, then if he took the bait and lowered his guard, in came the stronger half of the duo to beat him senseless...?

....

Surely Victus wouldn't have introduced himself though, if that were the case.

"I never knew that tidbit about grown architecture! How fascinating." Gao remarked, with honest intrigue. 

[Sav'saaba]

At least the view was nice.

One final word, that was all it would have taken for the incantation to be finished and dispel the residual energies that lingered about the ruins of a homestead somewhere near the New Serenne stable. But instead, he had choked on its first syllable and almost bitten down on his tongue when he was violently jerked from his footing and whipped into the air.

The culprit? An Evermean, its branches gnarled and covered with lichen, had slithered and crept one of its thick vines around his leg while he was fully immersed and focused on the task at hand, his magical energies becoming fully spent.

Mean trees. In some past, far-off life, Yaku must have had a history with them.

So now there the shaman was, dangling suspended by a leg from a monstrous tree like a chiming, festive bauble, while the Evermean went on about its business, simply doing whatever a semi-sentient tree did. Which, for at least a day, had seemed to be making its way north to some place or other.

Eventually, it would have to take root again. Maybe even before Yaku's power would return to him?

Whichever came first, it didn't matter. Like the tree, Yaku had all the time in the world.

[Emily]

Fortune seemed to have thrust upon Ariadne all manner of people today. She hadn't expected to meet anyone at all until she'd hit the road again, and though she was happy to meet one, meeting two in short succession was a strange coincidence and one that, while she managed to keep a smile on her face, began to form a cold feeling in her stomach. Suddenly, the stories from her father were not the ones that were in her mind, replaced instantly by all the little warnings and signs her mother had taught her. Maybe she'd be faster than them, if it came down to it.

It was probably nothing, and she was just being overly cautious.

Just in case, she slid very slightly out of arm's reach.

"Interesting," she said in response to the Zora. "I never would have thought of plant-based buildings, well, other than wood I guess. Heh."

"The name's Gao! What a twist of fate this is, happening across not one but two fresh strangers in the wild all at once." Gao said, and Ariadne shot a glance at him, wondering whether they were both uneasy about this, or if that was just one of those little things people said when they wanted to avoid people getting suspicious about them. She was fairly sure Gao wouldn't have spoken up if this was all a trick- after all, she had clearly been entirely unaware of him when he'd greeted her before.

Okay, she felt herself calming down a little bit.

And fortunately, that was rewarded. Victus seemed entirely well-meaning but not harmful, saying only a few more quick things before moving on to his mushroom collection. "Huh," Ariadne said, "I guess he really did just want to say something about Zora's Domain. How strange. Hey, Gao, have you ever heard the story of how mail delivery people used to run all over Hyrule, just jogging up to unsuspecting people and handing them packages, then running off?

"Feels kinda like that just happened."

((OOC: Saba I just thought they might not have seen Yaku and the tree yet, since they're approaching from the other way. Also unravelling one character and... ravelling? another character in the same post seemed like a lot if El can't wrangle you in in the next post, I'll absolutely get you next round!))

[El]

Gao snorted, "Thank fuck that's not still a thing." He couldn't help but blurt, brow puckering at the mental images that suddenly assaulted him even while the awkward grin held apart his lips.

There was one particular bard's tale which sung about the historical Postman's life as if he were a legendary hero in his own right. It was full of - no-doubt exaggerated - claims: about his speed despite how incredibly lanky his legs were, the fierce strength of his jawline that could pound apart the unfortunate boulders which stood in his way, and of course the ever loyal Hat-Chan that never spent a day apart from his head, feeding his brain with the omnipotent knowledge of everyone's identity no matter their condition or location - a strain which held his eyes perpetually wide open.

"I'm not sure I'd have it in me to accept mystery packages from suspiciously exuberant men in short-shorts who come pelting at me from nowhere." He grumbled, eyes misting with thought.

"Y'know, I've backhanded quite a few well-meaning strangers in my time. One fell into a river once and almost drowned."

...

He frowned deeper at that. What had intended to come out as a light-hearted joke - a fun extra fact, so to speak, you know conversational tidbits to keep the flow of things going - instead very quickly hit him with its gravity. What would the Hylian soldiers call it again? Ah right, that was it: Aggravated Assault. Eugh. "...Maybe I really should spend more time among 'civilisation'. This is getting a bit out of hand, huh. Ha, Hand."

The Sheikah loudly cleared his throat. "Anyway, onwards! As we were I suppose."

And so they continued their descent down the grassy slopes, the breeze tickling the petals of small clusters of flowers, rustling the bushes, sweeping in gliding emerald arcs to whistle past rocks and violently shake just that one tree-....

...That one tree.

That one, DECIDUOUS tree stood obnoxiously oddly amongst a clump of evergreens.

...

Gao was frowning again, noticing a fraction too late that he'd halted in his tracks. "Say, Miss Ariadne-" He called out, tempering his volume with caution. After getting her attention he waved a hand over towards the angled horizon to their right and the object of his attention. "...I don't mean to interrupt your adventure yet again, but... does that look like a man hanging from that tree, or did Madame Mystique's tarot card reading the other week get more to my head than I thought and I might've eaten a dodgy berry or two?"

[Emily]

Gao, in spite of the himbo vibes he put off, seemed to secretly be incredibly perceptive. Out of all the things someone could just see, he happened to notice a man hanging nonchalantly from a tree. Though sight would dictate the man was trapped and in need of assistance, his leg being fully caught within the tree's branches, he simply hung there. Was he unconscious? It didn't seem that was the case, but he was also a short distance away.

"How many people could possibly be out here?" Ariadne asked. "You're quite right, though, that does seem to be a man hanging from that tree."

She began to approach, all previous apprehension about being surrounded by strangers now gone in this strange new world where people might grow on trees as if they were fruit. There was no way to know if she could actually help the poor thing down if he needed some assistance, but at the very least she could check. "Pardon me," she called out, happy at last to meet someone who wasn't coming up from out of her line of sight, "Are you perchance in need of any help?"