001 - [Voice/Video]

[sorighteously]

[The communicator rustles, not in an acidental manner. Evidently, this is someone who already knows what it is and is just trying to figure out how to use it. Or what it is. The voice is quiet and far away and, perhaps, instantly recognisable.]

I remember... this was...

[There's a long pause, and the video swings into focus, but that, at least,

Comments

[onlytwilight]

...Zelda?

[Voice]

[sorighteously]

That's -

[It sounds as if the name is on the tip of her tongue, but doesn't quite spill. There's a shuffle, fiddling with the machine again.

She knows that voice.]

This is - World's End?

[Voice]

[onlytwilight]

Yeah, that's...that's right.

[A pause.]

Are you okay?

[Voice]

[sorighteously]

I - yes, I am. I'm...

[Well? Answer him.

The answer is difficult to really surmise, however.]

I'm fine.

I have... dreamt of this place.

...of this, this thing.

And... the voices I can hear.

[Voice/Video]

[kakolookiyam]

---ouldn't possibly...

[Prince, on his end, stares on as if stricken, and the communicator shifts, or rather he does in the image, closer for he cannot believe his eyes. There is a quiet awe in the rasp of his voice, tremulous and uncertain. The name is almost pained, but it's hers, and so the adoration is yet there.]

...Zelda?

[Voice/Video]

[sorighteously]

Again, this...

[But the voice, her name carried on the voice, makes the words catch in her throat. She pauses. This voice, too, the name she should give in reply, she knows it, knows it so well that she can feel herself well up at the very thought...

(Things suddenly make far more sense and tumble out of her grip.)

For something in that voice makes it feel as though she is coming home, even if that cannot be...]

[Voice/Video]

[kakolookiyam]

[The delighted syllables of a laugh that borders on tears spill out of him, and his voice is bright and quick, suddenly, the roughness sliding out of it.]

Zelda. I had... I had thought... Sahar, I found this morning---or she found me---but I had not dared...

[His voice breaks off and he swallows, he clears his throat briefly, then presses on, no doubt too fast.]

You are---where are you? No, but a moment, I know that street. St-stay there. I will come to you. And bring a fur. You must be cold, I shall bring one of your furs. Just a moment.

[Voice/Video]

[sorighteously]

Sahar -

[Her voice is becoming more and more like his, in all truth, but with a spike of frustration. This puzzle is just proving a little out of her grasp, but she is never one to give up. A word, a name, so close, so close she can taste it (pomegranates, she considers suddenly, absurdly) and then...]

I will wait... for you.

Voice

[timid_werewolf]

Oh my god, Zelda?

Voice

[sorighteously]

You - I know - I've dreamt...

[Something clicks.]

Wolves? The wolves are here?

Voice

[timid_werewolf]

Yes! Freki had her puppies! Oh, I can bring the whole pack to see you, if you want!

Voice

[timid_werewolf]

After you get settled. Aw man, it's great to see you again....I hope youve been okay...

[action]

[quietestheart]

[Rion and Ketara have always had a close psychic bond, but there have been times when Ketara has built up enough of a relationship -- sometimes via Rion -- to be able to pick out other people specifically, even without actively looking for them. Some of these are unsurprising; Ketara generally picks up on people that he cares strongly about, like Rise, Dawn, and Ashoka.

And Zelda, even though she hasn't detected the princess in quite some time.

So when the Gardevoir does pick up that one particular... signal, for lack of a better word, the first thing she does is tell Rion. And the first thing Rion does -- heedless of any danger; what monster could do that, to exactly come across as someone that mattered that much? -- is sprint as fast as his tiny legs can take him, towards what Ketara is telling him is her location.

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

INCOMING FLAILY DERP. IMPACT IN T-5 SECONDS. EVASIVE MANUEVERS?]

[action]

[sorighteously]

[Zelda is not a fighter, or a warrior, or some finely honed assassin or athelete. She hears the steps, but cannot really pinpoint exactly where they come from. Perhaps she should move anyway, run, this place is not without perils, after all, but this...

It is something almost recognisable. Something she feels she should know and so --

she cannot bring herself to run, to hide.

The boy hits her full force and she is almost knocked off her feet, small though he is. It takes her a moment to fully calculate what has actually just happened, but this doesn't seem dangerous. Not dangerous at all.

She looks at him, and gives a sharp gasp, because she knows his face. His face is the boy in her dream is the mute stable boy that came when they rebuilt Hyrule.

Names, names, names, where are they, why can she not recall...?

This is seeming less and less like a dream.]

I'm - back?

Re: [action]

[quietestheart]

[Give him some credit - if it looks like she's wholly unprepared for it, he'll slow down a little. But still, oh god it's Zelda - the look in his face is like Christmas just came and brought him everything he asked for like that new Pokemon book he wanted and a new guitar and there was lots of food and then everyone was happy and then he got kissed under the mistletoe. ; 3;

... he's a little excited. If he were a tiny, yippy dog he'd be peeing everyhwere; it's a good thing that unlike tiny yippy dogs, he has other ways of expressing his excitement.

In response to her question, he nods, too... uh, busy clinging to her to actually give a real response. No, no, you are not leaving again Zelda, Rion is here to make sure of that. He will guard you day and night and fight the gods to ensure this B|]

[action]

[sorighteously]

[After a moment, she finds herself returning the embrace, and not simply because she was startled into it but because this... was not actually an alien situation. She knew this place. She knew this boy, and not of Hyrule. This was not the boy from the stables. This was another, connected but not the same.

World's End... not truly the end but the central pin holding it all together...

and the parallels...]

I remember... some of this...

[soldier_puppy]

Wait. Zelda? Zelda? Is that you?

[Voice]

[sorighteously]

Yes.

Yes, it's me.

[Goddesses, the mystery just grows more and more tangled! She swallows, thinks hard, chasing an answer she cannot find.]

I know this place.

[Voice]

[soldier_puppy]

[What starts off as as tentative, almost hopeful smile in his voice, explodes into happiness that borders on giddy.]

Do you remember the name?

[Voice]

[sorighteously]

[His smile, his mirth, it's somehow infectious and she smiles in spite of the situation, pausing a moment to think.]

The end of the world, this is the end of the world... the tower...

This is - World's End?