"...to answer the calling she cannot deny."

[jewel_of_hyrule]

[It vaguely amuses Jewel how little her comings and goings are checked these days. Considering how long she was barely able to even leave the inn itself without some sort of an escort, she rather relishes this. In any case, she decides -- apropos of nothing -- that she's going to visit Lord Jabu-Jabu, or "Guppy" as Linksha still calls him

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[glimmeringdusk]

[Jewel may think herself unnoticed, but her doppelganger has been watching her new friend closely, quite aware that Jewel was feeling...something. Zelda isn't sure what, because she hasn't been around long enough to really know, but she's a rather good judge of character, and can rather sense when someone is feeling off.

So, when Jewel left the inn, Zelda wasn't long behind her, blade belted at her hip, quiver and bow slung over her shoulder. It would be a good opportunity to take a walk, at any rate, plus she felt strangely close to this woman she barely knew - though she suspected it was because they had been through much the same.

She left her alone for a while, feeling foolish for following her, but eventually made her presence known by slipping out of the shadows to stand next to Jewel. She doesn't say anything at first, instead content to enjoy the fresh air, and the view.]

[jewel_of_hyrule]

[It would be a mild understatement to say that Jewel is surprised to see her mirror image, not least because she has no idea she was being followed.]

I didn't expect company, sister, but you're welcome to join me. Come and sit down. Is this your first time visiting the source of the falls?

[glimmeringdusk]

Yes, it is. [Zelda said softly, her eyes drifting to look at the water. She has explored much of her new home, but has not found her way here, yet. She took a seat next to Jewel, drawing her legs up to rest her chin on her knees.]

I do not wish to intrude upon your privacy...but I find myself feeling rather...strange these days. Surrounded by people, yet quite...alone.

[jewel_of_hyrule]

I entirely understand.

[Jewel offers her twin some fruit and bread.]

I feel that way myself, often, since...well. That's neither here nor there. Suffice it to say that home no longer quite feels like home.

[glimmeringdusk]

[She takes it, nibbling lightly at it.]

Truth be told, this place does not felt quite like home to me. I am unsure if it ever will.

[She misses her Hyrule, her castle, what was left of it anyway, her Shad, and people who knew her personally, not because she shared someone elses face.]

[jewel_of_hyrule]

True. But I have been here much longer than you...I have been here nearly seven months, I think. It's hard to mark the time, but that's approximate. I begin to lose hope of ever going home, and I was starting to get used to thinking of the inn as home. It's hard, now.

[She studies the piece of fruit in her hand, but instead of eating it, she throws it to the great fish, who makes a keening sort of pleased noise.]

[glimmeringdusk]

The time here seems to pass strangely...almost like it doesn't pass at all, yet the sun sets and rises. [She lifts her gaze to Jewel, curious.] Why has it gotten harder? [She understands the feeling, but not the whys of it.]

[Zelda's fingers freeze around the fruit, clutching it a bit tighter than necessary. Seven months. Seven months without being home, without seeing...No.]

Has no one found a way home yet? No one at all?

[jewel_of_hyrule]

Some have. At least, we presume they have, given that they have more or less disappeared from the landscape. [Like Vaati.] But what the secret is, none seem able to determine.

Why has it gotten harder? [Jewel sighs.] I wish I understood that myself. Things have changed; my friendships are no longer what they had been.

[glimmeringdusk]

I see... [Zelda sighs in frustration. She never got to tell him...]

That can happen, sometimes. [She looks thoughtful, and glances at the water in front of her, and at Jabu-Jabu, who blinks back at her silently.]

It seems as though everything here can change with the slightest breath of wind.

[jewel_of_hyrule]

Unfortunately, that is an excessively accurate statement of the truth.

[Jewel watches the fish for a few minutes.]

I was...captured. Well. I surrendered, more accurately. The Ganondorf of this Hyrule took me prisoner and agreed to spare my friends in exchange. From there...from there everything's gone askew.

[glimmeringdusk]

[This time Zelda drops everything she was holding.]

There...is a Ganondorf here?

[jewel_of_hyrule]

Yes. [Jewel's tone is surprisingly mild.] Don't be alarmed, my dear -- it's not the one who tormented you or me. He's from a completely different point in history, and...I won't say he isn't dangerous, far from that, but...

[How to put it?]

He...this will sound ridiculous...he was the first person I met when I arrived. And he was -- perhaps still is -- something very like a friend, to me.

[Let's leave the revelation of the love poetry for another time, hmm?]

[glimmeringdusk]

Ah. [That calms her, but only slightly. She slowly picks up her fruit again, and dusts it off.]

A friend? [Her voice is incredulous, and certainly questioning. She wont pry if Jewel doesn't want her to, but she cannot help but ask.]

However did that occur...?

[jewel_of_hyrule]

You may well ask. And I really don't have concrete answers. He warmed to me, somehow; in truth, I think I may have been the only person to ever have shown him disinterested kindness.

[She studies the bread.]

He never once tried to harm me, though he had opportunities aplenty. Linksha once said that mine was the only life Ganondorf valued at all, besides his own. He used to visit me at the inn, before anyone else moved into it, and he took an odd sort of pleasure from sitting and watching me cook. It was a bizarrely peaceful arrangement, considering the parties involved.

[And the truth is that she misses it sometimes.]

[glimmeringdusk]

Interesting. [To say Zelda is surprised is putting it mildly. She would have never imagined any Ganondorf valuing another's life.]

I admit, if I were to come across him, I doubt I would be able to find it within myself to be pleasant. [It is something Zelda sincerely regrets, however, anger only begets anger, after all.] I wish it were different.

[She gives a soft chuckle at the mention of cook, and she finishes her fruit, and rests her hands on the rock beneath her.]

I have never been much for domestic duties - when I cook, I burn things, when I sew, I sew hems together, when I mend, I only make the hole bigger. I confess I am far better equipped and at ease on a battlefield and in combat than I am at home.

[jewel_of_hyrule]

[Jewel smiles.]

There we are opposites. I was never trained for battle, beyond the traditional use of bow and rapier. But my childhood nurse had no children, so she taught me to do all of those things as she would have liked to teach her own daughter. They've served me well in this Hyrule particularly.

Perhaps if this Hyrule's Ganondorf had more closely resembled the one we know, I could not have been kind. After the things I endured at his hands -- and I dearly hope your experiences were not my own -- I could never look on him with anything but fear and revulsion. But this Ganondorf is...generally speaking, he's very calm. He's fond of tea and reading. He can be frightening when he chooses, but that isn't very often.