Live Your Own Story in Hyrule

The insect is large enough to command a bit of respect. It flutters again at Irina, this time with the clear intention of biting.

Irina eeks! She instinctively waves her hand quickly and turns the insect into a big ice cube, which falls flat on the ground. “What is that?!” Irina says, not loud, but definitely freaked out by the sudden attack.

"Yes, I did see a river. It's not far from you now, but--" Revali refocused his attention on the insects as they appeared. He turned to face them, arrow drawn while his eyes flicked between each one to count them. "I don't know what they are, but there's a lot of them. We should continue heading west and away from these things. Might not be in our favor to engage, unless we really have to." His eyes never left the creatures while he spoke to her. Just seemed like that'd be asking for trouble.

Link kicks away a bug as it approaches. He doesn't try to hurt it, he just flings it with his boot and watches it flutter away.

“A river? Let's go.” He starts off in the direction Revali must have seen the water.

Irina clearly agrees with Revali and nods. She still keeps an eye on the bug, following Link towards the river. Once they are far enough, she breaks the ice to free the insect she has frozen.

_When one of the shadow bugs approach, large enough that they clearly command a level of respect, Gatu was courteous to avoid their ire by gently using the staff end of his Moblin Spear to move any bugs that were in his way or fear of stepping on them to the sides._

"Excuse us, pardon us, don't mind us- just wanting to pass through without violence. Sorry about your friend getting frozen temporarily."

Link runs for some time until he hears water rushing ahead. He slows and approaches it cautiously.

As the party reaches the water's edge, they see nothing out of the ordinary, at first.

However, after a few moments, there is a faint blue light that appears upriver. It floats against the current, slow and mysterious. The light becomes slightly brighter as it approaches the point where the party is at. Something about the light seems sentient and aware of their presence.

Irina's eyes brighten when she hears water rushing. The light is unlike anything she has seen before and she approaches the water cautiously. She stays at a safe distance but leans over slightly, trying to figure out what it can be.

Link keeps his hands on the hilt of his sword, just in case something malicious appears from the water.

The bugs were avoided without fanfare but the glow above the water has Impa grasping her own blade in caution.

"As I said... The river... Might not be a river." Impa murmurs softly to the group.

The light rises and breaches the surface of the water. As it does, it seems to float up, not really following the buoyancy of the water rushing around it, nor does it seem affected by the current. It looks like a ghost but at the same time very much alive compared to the barren landscape they have been traversing.

They see a fish-like creature, perhaps a zora, with a cold expressionless face appear before them. Long strands flow back across their long head like the tentacles of a cephalopod, or like dreadlocks accentuated by small blue dots of light that extend in a regular interval. The appendages seem to move as if they were in water but the creature is clearly above the water.

Her vacant eyes stare at the group, silently and judgingly, and glowing a softer blue color that hides any detail in her iris. Something about her form suggests a female. They suddenly turn to fixate upon Mipha, the glow changing intensity and color.

"Strangers." a haunting voice calls out from the direction of the creature, but its provenance seemingly distanced from its location as if the voice was coming from behind it, or below it.

Link's face illuminates as the creature appears from the water. He takes a step back, and then beside the Zora princess, hand still on his hilt.

Irina was close to the water following the light, so now she is quite close to the ghost-like creature and takes a few steps back.

“Our apologies,” Irina speaks in an almost solemn tone to the being. “It was not our intention to disturb you.”

Aio stares at Naomi blankly. He clearly didn't understand her. He wonders why this girl is threatening the other girl.

As he doesn't quite understand the rules of the game, he does the same and chases after Saria, holding his hands up like a dragon as well. He calls out "Raaawr!" and something unintelligible in his language.

Saria lets out a scream as both come after her and laughs, running. She looks at Aio and points at Naomi without stopping. "Attack HER, not me! We are the good guys! Dragon! Dragon! " She repeats, hoping to teach Aio a new word.

Aio begins chasing after Naomi, too, and calls her by what he thinks is probably her name, "Dragon! Dragon!"

Fallon opens the door and is immediately met with screaming and shouts of a dragon. She hurries outside, checking the sky and surroundings to see if one had suddenly popped up. Thankfully, there was no such creature and further processing allowed her to realize they were just playing out here. Of course, that's what they intended to do in the first place, but flashbacks of moldugas and spiders said otherwise. Briefly, anyway.

So, she heads back towards the walls of the inn and leans against them, watching them play and enjoy life for the time being. A refreshing change of scenery to what she knows lies beyond.

Naomi blinks at the swift derailment of her CAREFULLY CRAFTED FANTASY WORLD. o.O; At least Saria seems to get the idea and is trying to explain it to Aio -- but it looks like he still thinks _he's_ a dragon. Okay, well, maybe he can be a knight AND a dragon! Like some kind of...dragon man!

<https://i.redd.it/xcbi8yj0nhv81.jpg>

"Ummm...OHNOES IT IS THE DRAGONBORN! BUT YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME UNLESS YOU FIND THE, ummm, MAGICAL HELMET OF RAINBOW FLAMES! IT IS IN, ummmmmmmmmm...aaaaaa SECRET PLACE THAT--THAT ONLY THE ROYAL FAMILY KNOWS ABOUT!" Yeah, Naomi is totally engaging in AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION and not dumping her DM responsibilities on Saria. n.n

Those were a lot of words and Aio understood none of them! He continues to chase Dragon and shouts her name. He giggles with excitement as the air and sun and open space combine to create a volatile reaction of fun.

As the screams of the children echo through the field outside of the Wolfos, a tall imposing Gerudo woman cuts the horizon perpendicularly. She holds a spear and walks in a relaxed pace but with a serious expression. The expression softens when she sees the children playing, particularly the boy.

She stops and observes them by the stables outside of the inn.

Saria laughs and nods, pointing at Noemi! "Yes! Catch the dragon!"

Seeing Risa arrive, Saria hmms, touching her chin with a finger. She approaches Risa and Fallon and brings her hands to her back. "Excuse me, I have a question."

"As you know, Aio is living in the Kokiri Forest now. Do you know of any grown-ups that may help us build a treehouse for him?"

Risa crouches down to become eye-level with the forest child. She rests her elbow on her knee and says, "A treehouse?" She thinks, and says, "Sweetie, I am from the desert. I don't know much about trees. But I will find someone who can help."

Fallon laughed to herself. Of all the things Naomi could've been, a dragon...born was not one she expected. Yet, she could appreciate her imagination. Those bedtime stories must've sounded far more spectacular to her than she'd thought.

Spotting movement in the distance, she looked towards it and found it was a friendly face upon closer inspection. She smiled as Risa approached, acknowledging her presence with a nod.

With Saria now approaching, she then pondered her question, "You need help with one, hm? Well, I'm not much of a builder, but I can assist in whatever way I can. I'll have to ask my husband if he has any suggestions or ideas. All else fails, I could just read about trees and houses and then attempt to replicate it."

Saria grins, her hands on her back while she listens to them. "You are big and strong women, so I knew you could help! Thank you." With this, she goes back to playing with her friends.

GUUUHHHH!!! &gt;_&lt;; Being a DM is so FRUSTRATING! You put in all this work to give the players an intricate world to interact with, and they just want to be MURDER HOBOS that solve every problem by charging at it swords waving! "Okay, fine! TAG, YOU'RE IT!" Naomi shouts to Aio. Then she turns and dashes away.

Aio didn't quite understand but he understood perfectly what she meant and what his job was now. He gives chase to Naomi and also Saria.

Saria laughs and runs away from Aio, happy to see him enjoying himself. There were some things they needed to figure out but this was probably what he needs for now.

Jabu's whiskers, that was quite the incident! Mipha certainly wasn't expecting that activity up here, but she's honestly glad it's over. Not that she needed to, but her desire to keep a low profile continues as she creeps her way through towards the graveyward. "My word, I honestly didn't think a moblin would make an appearance here. They ususaly don't find much reason to come this far..."

Wolf Link continues on to the <#C9UT1C3BQ>

_With the villagers' nerves settled, and some of them expressing they're glad he was okay, they left to go back inside and turn off their lights. However, looking over at the inn and starting to walk over there, he finds that it was closed for reservations- meaning there was no place for him to stay the night. Walking over and picking up the Moblin Spear, the young warrior breaks a section of it off so it was more his size and making it balanced so it wasn't unwieldy._
_Checking on their friend in their hat, they seemed to have gotten knocked out from the force of colliding with that tree along with them. Hopefully in time they'll wake up... Using what magic he has access to, they heal themself up a bit so it would be easier to breath. Doing so however making his Life Gauge 'glitch' through different styles until it settled on a different one; causing him a moment of pain._

_With the moment passed, the young warrior adjusts their bunny hood on top of their head after putting his hat back on and fixing their hair. Since loitering wasn't allowed in town, he'd have to go to the graveyard to rest there. Hopefully Dampé was going to be alright with it. They have in the past the few times he came and there wasn't any available rooms in the inn._

_Gatu proceeds, unknowingly, towards the <#C9UT1C3BQ>_

(See <#C5FAAGN80>)

Suddenly, a black crystal slams into the ground at high speeds, with a sudden flash of light in the form of a beam slamming into it, setting it off. Once the dust settles, one can see a Fog begin to form.

Another day, another round of looking for odd jobs to keep body and soul together. -.- It's better now than when John first started at least, he's gotten used to approaching folks at random to ask for work and they've gotten used to the idea that there's this guy around who can save them some trouble in exchange for a few rupees. Still, it's wearisome having to _hunt_ for employment all the time.

"I'm tellin' ya Johnny-boy, ya oughta just sign up wi' the castle guard," Scruvo remarks, guessing John's thoughts. "Gals love a chap in armor."

John rolls his eyes, trying to remember how many times they've had this conversation already. "And what do you think will happen when they ask about past experience and references? 'I was part of the army in the Dukedom of Loranis until I was banished for insubordination.'" e.e

"Cor blimey, an' you think _I_ take liberties in recountin' stories! At least I add stuff IN instead of leavin' all th'good parts out! Tell y'wot, why don't I tell 'em wot happened an' then you can just shoot down the embellishments, that'll get th'full story across AND show 'em you're humble ab--CRIKEY, INCOMIN'!!!"

John dives for the nearest cover, the corner of a building. He hears a dirt-spraying impact followed by an explosion, accompanied by a brief flash brightening the surroundings. After a moment, he straightens up against the wall and takes a peek around the corner, assessing the situation and looking for casualties and at-risk civilians. &gt;.&gt; Maybe nobody's _paying_ him to be a soldier, but the trained response doesn't stop to think about things like that.

In the distance, between the mountaintops, glides a yellow object. It takes note of the strange object that just flew into the town. The young messenger Rito swoops down on the town to take a closer look.

Not too far from the town, a royal guard sees the fog and hurries to ensure everybody is safe. Upon seeing the fog, Kagetora stops before he reaches it. He is aware of what will happen if he touches it... and frowns.

"Everybody, step back! Do not touch the fog!" He warns lifting his arms, stopping any villagers that attempt to approach the area.

The young yellow bird was near the fog but perched slightly above it on a stone chimney. He hops down to the roof and asks the soldier, “What is happening?”

Kagetora looks up to see the Rito while he tries to block people from entering the town. “This fog contains dark magic and is similar to that in Castle Market Town. Those who touch it will be cursed and turned into poes. Please warn everyone to stay away!”

The young Rito squawks in affirmation to the warrior's command, and then hops a few times before taking flight over the town. He begins to call out, "Beware! Beware! Everyone abandon the village! Avoid the fog!"

Ohhhhhjoy. &gt;~&lt; John pushes off from the wall and runs over to the building's door, yanking it open. "ANYBODY IN HERE, GET OUT FAST!!! THERE'S A POISON FOG FILLING THE TOWN!!!" John of course actually doesn't know if the fog _is_ poisonous, but it's a decent assumption based on the bird-man telling people to avoid it and it gets across the desired action quick and easy. A few confused townsfolk come tumbling out, including an old man with more wisdom than speed. U~U; John grabs his arm and throws it over his shoulders, trying to hasten his hobble toward the edge of town.

Meanwhile, the resident sky-watcher who's always hanging out on that roof is still rubbing his eyes from witnessing that sudden bright beam come down from Death Mountain. :dizzy_face: By the time his vision clears, the building he's on top of is already surrounded by fog, and it's starting to creep up the shingles toward him. He waves his arms up at Kanali. "HELP! I CAN'T GET DOWN!"

Over near Kagetora, a dog darts forward to bark and growl at the encroaching phenomenon. &gt;O A small girl runs after it, wrapping her arms around its neck and tugging fruitlessly. "No no Duke, get back!" &gt;n&lt;

Kanali pauses, catching a glimpse of the curious man that is standing on the roof. He looks around, watching the fog rise. He sees a woman holding a cucco and both are transformed immediately into orbs of light as the fog touches him.

"Oh no... this is terrible." the bird mutters under his breath.

"Hold on!! Stay away from the fog!" he shouts at the man on the roof as he hops up and takes flight, being careful to put some height between himself and the encroaching haze. He swoops down and grabs onto the man, already struggling to keep aloft, but says, "I got you! Hold on to me!"

At that, he kicks down on the roof to give himself a boost, breaking several roof tiles in the effort and sending them tumbling into the fog. Kanali takes flight with the man and attempts to carry him to safety, although his piloting skills are rough with the added weight.

Kanali crashes off to the side with the man, away from the fog. "Quick! Run away from the fog!" He dusts himself off, then picks himself up and flies back to the rooftops to see if he can spot anybody else.