destinystrings | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Link. Open.
Where: Capricorn, at night. Can go into the 13th Hour if you'd like.
Summary: Link's starting his new job as night patrol in Capricorn. Don't let him see you getting into any funny business!
Warnings: Link drinking coffee oh no!

So he's on the side of the law, now.

It doesn't faze him in the least. That's what he was going to do before...other things happened. And presumably, if all things went well at home, that's where he'd return, assuming he hadn't amassed a reputation too big for the Knight Academy. But the guys back at the HQ, where he'd gone to pick up his uniform, had given him wary glances as he passed. A novice like him, so young, crossing paths with the Anoli? He was better off going to school, or better yet, skippin' through the forest like elves usually do.

The woman who'd given him his uniform seemed to have a different opinion from her colleagues, however. Maybe it was the rather irritated glare he'd acquired on his way to her office that made him look less like an inexperienced novice and more like a bomb calmly waiting to explore. He also apparently looked tired, as she had shoved a cup of hot, black liquid in his hands and told him to drink it up. "It's coffee," she said. "I'm thinkin' they don't have that in Elfland, do they?"

"What's an elf?"

"You're cute," she said with a laugh. "If it tastes too bitter to you, there's some powdered cream and sugar over there by the machine. But that stuff's crap, anyway. There's a coffee shop not too far from the park you should check out before you start patrolling tonight. That'll get you through the night with taste and pep. You like to sleep a lot, don't you?"

Link had said nothing, taking a sip of the coffee instead. It was...bitter. But not entirely bad. He couldn't imagine adding sugar to it; he didn't have much of a sweet tooth to begin with. That was more... Well. She wasn't here.

The woman didn't seem to have a problem with him taking his sword with him. The shield was a no. Technology had developed so far from the days of his medieval concepts of combat that he didn't need one. Nevermind that he had a persona. "Tell you what: if you find that you absolutely need your shield on patrol, I'll eat my words and buy you coffee for a month. But here's a little something to get you started."

She placed some money on top of his uniform, enough to buy tonight's cup of coffee. And leave a tip. And maybe get another for his next shift.

"I like you, kid," she said. "You look funny and act dopey, but you seem pretty tough. I think you'll do us good. Just try not to get your head chopped off by the Anoli, all right?"

Link agreed that he wouldn't let his head get chopped off by the Anoli, and set forth to his apartment to get ready for the night's shift.

===

Now he's patrolling the park in clothes that feel too light and shoes that feel too tight. He misses his boots. He really, really misses his boots.

But the conventions of this new world aren't too bad. The lady was right: this coffee is good.

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She hadn't really had a chance to check the last time night had fallen, but sometimes certain plants didn't open up until nightfall. Which meant that if she wanted to try to get some of those sorts of plants with a minimum amount of bother, she had to do it now before the 13th hour stuck. Why was there a 13th Hour to begin with? She didn't know, or care really. All she knows is that it's a bit of a nuisance.

She flits through the fields, searching. It was a clear enough night, so there should be something of note, she hopes. Of course, she isn't exactly good at making herself look unsuspicious.

"Do you need help, miss?" asks the fresh faced, pointy-eared cadet approaching her.

Oh joy. More distractions. "I doubt you'd know what I'm looking for anyway. I'M not even sure there's any. I'm fine," she replies a little tersely.

r u sure about that miss

"What are you looking for?"

Ugh. Some people just don't know how to take a hint. "If you must know, I'm looking for reagents. You know what those are, right? The little bits and bobs witches use to do their witchy stuff?" Man, she's in a GREAT mood tonight.

"I don't actually know what those are but maybe you should look for them when it's brighter out."

Tch. Of course. "I CAN'T look for them when it's brighter out, you pointy-eared nit. Some of these only blossom when it's night out. If I go when it's bright, there'll be nothing to harvest." Do-gooder types. Geez.

gurl

Link narrows his eyes. "Are you sure they even exist in this world?"

"I won't know until I look, will I? In a place like this, anything could exist." She continues drifting around, looking. "But I've only got a little time before the 13th hour strikes and I can't be wasting it on idle chatter."

Link says nothing to that, just gives her one last look before walking away--

--at a distance far enough where he can still see her, but where she can't see him.

She continues to forage. Ugh. He's still watching her, isn't he? Fine. It's not like she hasn't spent most of her adult life having someone or other spying on her every move, right? Urrgh.

She's definitely moving a lot more uptightly, though.

This is one of the few times he's ever been grateful for having his ears in this city. They've been a curse so far: the noises others take for granted are sheer torment to him, amplified by his superior hearing. Here, he can keep an eye on her while still having his ear out for anything else in the vicinity--which will come in handy soon. The 13th Hour's almost near.

Why couldn't she have done her research before wandering out in the dark like this?

Misery's experience with the body of knowledge in the city already has put her off a bit from relying on anything other than her own research. Anyway, she's fairly confident she can keep track of...

Ah ha. She spots something, over there. A lucky find; it'd be easy to overlook. Looking cheerful for a change, she floats over, harvesting what she can get.

Huh. Looks like what she wanted really was here. Hopefully that means she'll leave soon. In any case, he'll stop watching her for now--though he'll have his ear out for any trouble.

She seems to have finished getting what she wants. Briefly, she conjures a small object out of thin air; it looks to be a watch of some sort. She nods to herself. Perfect.

Then she simply disappears.

Link might hear a voice from nearby, however. "Whereever you are, I wouldn't tarry too much myself. I've been here before at this time, and it gets rather hectic. No sense wasting your life frivolously, hmm?"

And then her presence seems to be gone altogether.

Late at night, there's a familiar green tunic walking around the park. The other Link has the Master Sword strapped to his back and has a bow in his hand. He's not shooting anyone yet but it looks like he can any second with the quiver strapped to his back, too.

At the sound of movement, he draws his bow and points towards the source of it. It takes him a few moments to make out the face in the dark - the clothes are different, so it takes him longer than it should. He lowers the bow.

"... What are you doing out here? And what's with the weird clothes?"

"You can't just go around shooting arrows at people in a public place!" he says with a flail.

"I didn't know it was you! And I wasn't going to shoot anyone. I thought it might be a monster."

Fighting monsters is fun bro.

You should try it.

Oh wait you do already.

"At--" checks watch "--11:30?"

"... Maybe?"

He doesn't know the sleep schedule of monsters okay. Anyway he puts the bow away.

"Why are you dressed so weird anyway?"

"Because I'm working."

He hooks a finger underneath his collar and tugs. How do people wear stuff like this and not suffocate?

"And you have to wear that when you work? That's really weird. Why are you working, anyway?"

He doesn't really see much need for money since he has lots of supplies... though as soon as he sees something shiny he might change his mind.

"'cause I need money. It's a uniform. I'm on patrol."

"Like the soldiers I saw sometimes? And what do you need money for?"

At least when he was smaller... there aren't as many anymore for... obvious reasons.

"Yeah. Back at home, I was training to be a knight, so I would have done something like this anyway... Besides you, um. Need money to get food and stuff."

"... Oh. I guess so. I usually just... found stuff..."

Some of it may have been stuff other people left out by mistake but hey. Foraging. He didn't know.

"That's...not gonna work well around here. You need money to buy the things you need, and if you don't have someone paying your way...you need to get a job. That's how it was in Skyloft."

He makes an annoyed face.

"I don't know how to get a job. Or do a job."

He knows he'll just wander off.

"Um... just find something you're good at and see if anyone needs help with that."

...

"Fighting monsters?"

It's... the only thing he can think of. ;w;

"...you can always check with the police force to see if they'd hire you."

But um

He's got problems with ten year olds doing anything knightly. No matter if they're the Hero of Time.

"... The guards I always ran into seemed really boring. They just stood in place. Or tried to throw me out of the palace gardens."

No matter how much he wants to be he is not Solid Snake.

"Throw you out of the palace gardens...?"

Li'l bro

have you been naughty

"... I had to sneak in to see the princess."

Maybe.

"Why couldn't you ask her to let you in?"

It's only reasonable.

"Um... she knew I was coming but not when I was coming."

Visions are weird like that.

"She should have set a schedule, then."

He just shrugs. "Guards are still boring though."

Point babby Link.

"You don't have to be a guard."

"I don't know what to do, then."

Can't he just do sidequests?

"You'll find something. Just be patient!"

Besides, he was ten. Link wasn't sure what he wanted to be at ten.

...okay okay he was pretty sure he wanted to be a knight but maybe he was just a special case?

"I guess."

You didn't have a ton of options, Link.

Sasuke was no fool. He made sure to restrict his hours to before the thirteenth hour, but after the majority of people had returned to their homes. It was just easier for him to move around this way.

Today he'd decided to check out Capricorn on a whim, only to find himself ducking behind a tree as someone showed up on patrol. It's not a big deal for him to keep his breath quiet and his body motionless, but... well, hopefully this person hadn't caught his footsteps from earlier.

Oh no, he heard his footsteps. Pointy ears and all, you know.

He's not quite sure where the person's run off to, but he's pretty confident he's near where they've hidden. That only makes him more suspicious. The people who would hide from him are the people who shouldn't be out here in the first place.

"Where are you?"

Darn those pointy ears. He sinks down closer to the ground, careful to make as little noise as possible - but of course, there's still a bit of sound there. It just can't be helped.

It's a bit of a gambit, but it's not exactly an unfamiliar one. A small signal is all it takes; a nearby clump of bushes begin to rustle with the sound of something traveling through quickly and without a care for the noise generated.

A sound, he hopes, that is enough to convince the man that he's currently trying to make a break for it.

At some point late at night, there is a terrible metallic stomping sound, as if some huge metal giant were - very carefully - walking down the street.

Coming from the direction of the Libra district, stepping carefully wherever there are no parked cars or nocturnal birds, a twenty meter-tall armored figure steps into Link's view, moving its head around as if looking for something.

Inside the Wildraubtier's cockpit, Latooni was carefully balancing manual control of the PT's feet with scanning around for open spaces to park it. If she could find Captain Asuno's unit, that would be ideal, but after a long period of gently picking her way through downtown, she'll settle for any large, open space.

Edited 2012-10-01 14:20 (UTC)

yeah he's got nothin'

just gonna be

sittin' there

starin'

a lot

Unperturbed, Latooni continues on her way. Noticing the man staring up at her mech, though, she pauses for a moment and has the Wildraubtier make a saluting motion to let Link know she's friendly.

Link waves back. Weakly.

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