The Seventh Chapter of the Sky

[ofasandgoddess]

Who: dothelokomotion and ofasandgoddess
When: Backdated to 08/29 --> After her class
Where: All over the bloody place
What: It's a date. Nabooru, being the 'kindhearted' wench she is, is showing Byrne around. With no ulterior motives at all. Seriously.
Warnings: Nabooru's not quite back to her old self yet, so no.

Comments

[dothelokomotion]

Would he show or would he not show? He was almost tempted to pluck the petals from a flower to figure out his decision, but Byrne decided that that would be rather stupid.

He was not the sociable type at all, and merely wanted to do things his own way. However, look where that had gotten him in the past: betrayed and nearly killed. He had wanted to start a new life, and he had found this school in the process. Whether this was a temporary setting or not, it was a good idea to familiarize himself with the environment. But with Nabooru...

Byrne honestly wasn't sure what he thought of her. She was incredibly beautiful, but she was obviously fully aware of it and was probably a succubus of some sort. Not exactly his type. Then again, he wasn't sure what his type even was. Nor was he even interested in romance.

He was not fully composed upon stumbling into that dance class. All he wanted to do was to make a quick exit, but she had caught him. If he ran at that point, he would have looked like a coward. So he had entertained the woman so as to make a graceful exit.

So why was he showing up for her little excursion? He could show himself around the school. Then again, he had seen the fire in Nabooru's eyes, and had no interest in an angry woman pursuing him if he had not shown up. Yes, that was the reason. Of course.

So, there he was in the courtyard, several minutes late.

[ofasandgoddess]

It was around the time that she'd slipped her hands beneath her ponytail and stared at the sky when Byrne arrived. As in, he actually came, which she wasn't sure if she was more surprised or more relieved. It'd do her well to be around someone who wouldn't tolerate her crap. She looked over to him and paused momentarily as she lowered a hand to rest upon her hip.

As he approached, she gestured with the other hand around. "Good to see you didn't get eaten by anything along the way." Except it was a joke. It was totally a joke. There wasn't anything on campus that was going to eat anyone, except maybe the weird plants inside the greenhouse. And even then, those were few and far between.

"Where do you want to start?" There were plenty of places to see and while there was the entirety of FDC as well, Nabs figured that could wait for another day.

[dothelokomotion]

Byrne said absolutely nothing to her "joke" about being eaten. Was it a joke? He had no idea. Either way he kept his straight face. He just wanted to get this over with.

When queried upon what he wanted to see first, he truly had no preference. After all, he barely knew the school at all.

"Whatever is closest."

[ofasandgoddess]

She jerked a thumb behind herself, "Well, that way there's the math and science building." Then she gestured past him, "That's where you came to my class originally..."

Her hand fingered at her chin idly as she looked toward the clock tower. "Over there is like the main administration and the headmaster. In the opposite direction are the faculty quarters. Student quarters are a little south of us, and then across the way from those are the library."

Nabooru looked back toward Byrne afterward. "Bear in mind this is only the academy. We're not counting the actual city, which is larger than it needs to be."

[dothelokomotion]

Byrne nodded at the directions, trying to remember the relative locations of everything to the dorm where he was staying. It wasn't too hard... It's not that he needed to go everywhere. He had no idea why he would ever want to go to the student quarters, for one thing. The library was something he could get behind, and the administration office is where he had interviewed for his job, although he hadn't remembered that exact location.

But there was a whole city in addition to this school? Well, why not, he supposed. Towns were usually built around colleges to cater to them, so why not here?

Did he really want Nabooru to lead him on a tour of the city. Not particularly. He would almost feel... bad, making her do that. Although he was mostly concerned about how much more awkward this day could get. Still, he said nothing, and only nodded to her statement.

[ofasandgoddess]

Ah. A man of few words apparently. She idly glanced around again and began to fiddle with an earring as she eyed him. Then she turned her gaze into the direction of where the city was. No, she could take him around the city later, provided he could handle her company for that long. For all she knew, he'd get sick and tired of her too early beforehand and they wouldn't get much of anywhere except into a bit of a row.

Her weight shifted between her feet and she realised that she'd been quiet for far too long. If he hadn't made things awkward before, then the longer she went without saying something, the more awkward she was going to make the situation. When she could take it no longer, Nabooru had to give into her curiosity and the question that had been lingering in her mind from the first moment she saw him.

With eyebrows knit together, she gave him another look. "Are you a Hylian?"

[dothelokomotion]

The silence was somewhat of a nice break, although watching Nabooru fidgeting around during said silence was quite awkward. Byrne had nothing to say about the situation at all, and would rather let things take their course. Although this tour was no longer a tour anymore, and he felt that he should take his leave.

But then that question came. He was somewhat taken aback by this, and immediately put on the defensive. Someone from Hyrule. Or at least someone who knew of Hyrule. So perhaps he wasn't as far from home as he thought.

He immediately furrowed his eyebrows and gave Nabooru a cold stare. "I'm not a mere Hylian."

How he hated being compared to them... Then again, it was a "mere Hylian" who had defeated him in battle... He had even hoped that that boy would defeat whom Byrne once thought was the most powerful creature next to the goddesses and the spirits. But still, he could never fully erase that sour taste in his mouth and the pride he held.

[ofasandgoddess]

Her face scrunched up at his response. Well, the expression that came with it, and not so much the words. Her hands lifted in mock surrender.

"Don't take it offensively," she began. "It was just a question. The ears set me off. Well, not off. But between you and me, I've only seen two people here with ears like that. It's a legitimate question."

Nabooru looked aside momentarily and finally returned her eyes onto his face. "So not a Hylian, but you know what Hylians are, so. A resident of Hyrule?" At least she had one thing right; he definitely wasn't an attendant of the princess.

[dothelokomotion]

Byrne was somewhat surprised about the statement about his ears. In Hyrule, the pointed ears were the norm. It was the small, rounded ears, those like Nabooru's, which were off. Then again, nobody in Smash Academy seemed to have them...

He had calmed from his quick defensiveness about Nabooru's assertion of his race, and sighed. "...Yes. I did live in Hyrule." There were really no distinguishing features between himself and other Hylians, so he supposed he could see how she mistook him for one.

But she did know of Hyrule. She was not a Hylian, though... Her ears gave that away. Though she did look awfully familiar to an old Hyrulean race Byrne had once read about...

[ofasandgoddess]

She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "But you're not a Hylian?"

Nabooru edged around him curiously and finally leaned over to get a better look. "Really? Are you sure? Because I spent a long time there and I know I never saw anyone who looked quite like you."

In fact, the closer she got, the more she began to think he was a breed between Gerudo and Hylians. Perhaps. Maybe. If not for the style and how he carried himself. But the closer she got, the more uncomfortable he probably got.

[dothelokomotion]

Byrne's personal space was under attack. Her face was incredibly close, and her eyes were intensely studying him. Those eyes were so deep and soulful...

He took a step back as his discomfort quickly rose. "No--" he said to quickly answer her question and hopefully get those eyes off him. "I'm not a Hylian."

He was going to tell her what he was, but he had long since abandoned his race. He had worked so hard for them, and yet it was all for naught. What good was being a "servant" of the Spirits if they wouldn't even grant a simple request? Besides, it was no doubt that the other Lokomos most likely disowned him.

[ofasandgoddess]

Uncomfortable must have been an understatement for him. She let him draw back and folded her arms over her chest as she thought. He really wasn't a Hylian. But what was he? And why was she so bent up about it? Her right hand splayed fingertips against her cheek and nodded ever so slightly.

"Sorry." But it didn't seem like enough and Nabooru had never really been fond of apologising for much of anything, even when she was in the wrong. She supposed interrogations were over, up until he wanted to tell her. Whenever that would be.

"I'm a Gerudo, not that you may know what that is." She thought for a few moments and tried to demonstrate with her hands the a smaller scale of Hyrule's size. "There's a desert far from the main lands and fields of Hyrule. That is where I'm from."

[dothelokomotion]

A Gerudo... That was the old Hyrulean race Byrne was thinking of. He had studied ancient Hyrule, the land that was submerged in the Great Flood, and knew that the Gerudo had once inhabited that land. He did not think any of them survived, either, or else their race had been diluted. But Nabooru definitely looked quite exotic. It couldn't be possible that she was from the ancient land, though....

"You can't be. That desert was flooded away hundreds of years ago."

[ofasandgoddess]

She simply stared at him for many moments. Then she shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure it's still there. I only got back..." Nabooru trailed off as she counted carefully. "Four months. I came back from Hyrule four months ago."

Ganondorf was in the desert. She'd even seen the desert with her own eyes. She very well knew.

"You're from Hyrule, I assume. But what part? And what do you mean the desert was flooded? Why would it be? The worst thing we get there are sandstorms and the only river there is the one that runs by before you even get into the fortress. I've brought people from here to the desert as well. There are plenty of people here who can attest it exists."

[dothelokomotion]

"You think I'm a fool?!"

Was she playing games with him? The desert of the Hyrule that Byrne knew of did not have Gerudo residents. Then again, the timeline is so confusing so who knows. He had studied the history of the old Hyrule and the new Hyrule in his apprenticeship. He remembered reading about the Gerudo, one of the lost races. Nabooru's uncanny resemblance to one was more unsettling. Perhaps she was a descendant of the diluted race...

"Gerudo Desert. It vanished with the rest of the old Hyrule under the sea."

[ofasandgoddess]

Nabooru thought hard. How could she prove her case? He had evidently seen something she hadn't. He knew something she didn't. Then she lifted her left hand, "Hold on a moment." Her hand lowered and with the other, she began to rapidly search around her waist of her pantaloon-styled bottoms.

Then she drew out a picture and showed it to him. "This was taken by a resident here at the academy. Lord Ganondorf feared that Hyrule would invade the desert and believed the younger Gerudo would not be able to defend themselves. He moved them to another area, with thanks to the man who took this picture."

The picture itself, was of Ganondorf, Knuckles, and Nabooru, with a grand number of younger Gerudo in the back. She didn't know how else to prove her case without finding Raiden, because of all the people in the academy, Raiden could support her case better than anyone else.