tdm 8

[hownkai]

T E S T D R I V E

ABOARD THE MOIRA Whether adjusting to space travel has been difficult or not, there is always something to be done. From working to leisure, the Moira offers a multitude of opportunities to get to know your crewmates a bit better. Exploration of the ship is highly encouraged, but as another planet grows closer to being docked, things start to get a little hectic. You'll notice a slight change in the artificial gravity as the Moira is pulled into a gravitational field; however, more noticeable changes can be found in the overall morale as you prepare to descend. ☄ on your own There are plenty of other communal areas on the ship to explore! Pick a place, and see where it takes you. ( These scenarios can be used as in-game canon. ) ☄ round 'em up The day begins normally. You check out the mess hall and report to your assigned job, and so far, nothing seems incredibly out of place. However, as the hours pass, you begin to notice something strange scurrying along wall edges and into open vents. For the most part, these rodents are harmless—in this stage. While they may get into the food supply in the Cargo Bay or terrorize those in the kitchen, they are not violent and appear to be skittish. However, once they've "matured" - the color of their tail will have changed from a light gray to a very dark purple, prompting them to enter a temporary stasis inside a cocoon - they aren't so cute anymore. These paklers are vicious, will bite if they're caught, and defend themselves with claws as well as the protrusions on their bodies. There is nothing to be done about them except capture them and eject them into space as they are considered a pest and very harmful to the crew and the ship. Once they run out of food, they will turn on each other as well as anything resembling a living creature. The captains provide the proper equipment, electric nets as well as tranquilizers, to assist with the capture of the paklers and their immediate removal from the Moira. ☄ what's yours is mine Something seems a bit off about the laundry delivery service these days, doesn't it? Has the Moira always had one of those? Whether you realize it immediately or not, something is very wrong about the clothes that have suddenly appeared in your wardrobe. They are either much too big or far too small, and as far as you can tell, there seems to be no happy medium in all of this. Will you Dress To Impress in your new uniforms? Will you swap with someone who might be a similar size regardless of the fact their uniform colors are not the same as your own? Or will you simply walk naked through the halls of the ship, carefree and bare to the rest of your crewmates? ☄ n'sync While exploring the ship, first down one hall and then another, you come across a strange door you've never seen before. When you pull it open, you'll find someone, a crew member, standing on the other side, hand outstretched as if they've just opened that door from the opposite side. Every move you make, they mirror, and if they shift to the left or right, you also shift left or right. Absolutely everything the both of you do is the same except for the words that come out of your mouth; somehow, you still manage to maintain the ability to talk without mimicking your partner. You're unable to completely control your movements again until someone says "in sync". Good luck figuring out the magic words, and if you decide to question the captains (or anyone else) about it, they won't have any idea what it is you're talking about. OUT OF CHARACTER INFO FAQ | LOCATIONS | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS | NAVIGATION For mature or graphic content, please label. For questions, please direct them to the FAQ. As always, be kind and have fun!

Comments

oh gods, it begins

[dancingblade]

Fi turns at the sound of the uncertain greeting. Floating before a tree in a room composed of steel, the spirit bears little resemblance to the pedestal in which the Master Sword sleeps. Maybe she ends up resembling another dear companion of his instead. To the spirit, the Hero is unmistakable... But he is younger than the Master she knew. Still a boy and not quite ready to take up the sword to fight for the Goddess.

His soul, however, is unmistakable.

She hovers over to the young boy - he's so small now - and stares at him in thought. It is a strange feeling, seeing him again though she had promised him as much. Was it because their farewells had been so recent in her memory? How long ago was it for him now?

"Link..."

"I am uncertain as to what circumstances have caused such a chance meeting, save that there is a 95% probability that this may be the result of the 'Ingress'. I have no records indicating that we would ever meet again like this, but I am... Happy. To see you once again."

She nods, as if confirming that was indeed the emotion she was experiencing at present.

"For you, it is likely the first time we have met like this, and so allow me to provide you with my personal designation. Fi is the name I was given, and the name you once knew me by. Link, have you chosen to offer your aid to these people?"

i am the SLowest Butt, i'm so sorry

[songoftime]

Link can only stare as she speaks. She... knows his name? She... knows him? That sense of familiarity grows. The feeling itself is familiar, too, and now that it's stronger, he can place it. It feels like when he first met Princess Zelda. He... He doesn't understand what it all might mean.

But... It seems that she might.

Fi...

The name you once knew me by.

Link nods once, slowly, responding to her question first. She's right. It was the first decision he'd made on the Moira, that he was going to help the ship reach its destination... and, more than that, he... wants to help the other people here, too, if he can.

"I don't remember you," he says, also slowly. "How do you know me?"

[dancingblade]

"Very well. If that is the decision you have made, then I shall also provide the people aboard this vessel with whatever assistance I can offer," her response is smooth, unfazed by her sudden relocation nor seemingly by her Master's slow response. He had been hesitant the very first time they met as well.

"This is an unsurprising development." She might have intended it to be reassuring, but her delivery and lack of outward response causes it to fall flat. Before Link can speak again, Fi continues undeterred. "The Goddess never intended for us to meet again as we are. But based on what information I have at this time, I can only provide an answer that may be at most 20% satisfactory."

The spirit stops and stares at Link for a few seconds, as if uncertain about something-- but she again speaks as if unbothered.

"There is an air about you. There is a 87% likelyhood that it is the Triforce... This is a surprising development; the Golden Power of the Goddesses was never meant to leave the realm and yet the Ingress has also summoned it along with myself. But, if you have the Triforce...

Link, have you, perhaps, come across the Blade of Evil's Bane?"

[songoftime]

The Goddess? What? Which Goddess intended for them to meet... again? How are they supposed to meet, if not like this? Is he... Is he not supposed to have the Triforce? Is she connected to it, somehow...?

But... Link can be patient. She seems to be trying to figure out what's going on just as much as he is, and once she has a better idea, then she'll try to explain.

So, again, he nods. The Master Sword... It's resting in its pedestal in the Temple of Time, as it should, and, as far as history knows, he never drew it. But history doesn't know the whole story.

[dancingblade]

This is disconcerting... Her Grace had hoped that the legend of the Triforce would fade over time and that it's power would no longer hold sway over the hearts of mortals. If Link had it... Albeit, it seemed as if only a part of the Triforce was with him. Where were the other two pieces? Had the Golden Power been split apart once more? It seemed ironic that such important things were lost over the course of time but things better left forgotten are held onto with such veracity.

... But her Master's confusion was a more pressing issue at this point in time. (He appeared too young to have wielded that sacred blade. There is something amiss)

"Then we have already met once in your time. I was created by her Grace to guide her chosen Hero. Upon completion of his quest, I was meant to sleep eternally within the Sacred Blade with which I was created. Though I am uncertain how one so young was summoned by the spirit maiden to come to her aid, that such a thing was necessary means that a great evil has returned to the land and with it, the need for a Hero once more."

[songoftime]

There are a lot of things in what she said, a lot of hints that all point to... nothing that... Link thinks he likes. Link hasn't been chosen by just the Triforce, but by one of the Goddesses, specifically. The fact that Hyrule has faced evil like Ganondorf before, and that... someone else had gone through what he had. And maybe, based on the way Fi is talking, not just someone. But... him? Link, himself? He doesn't understand how. But time clearly has something to do with it.

Link thinks Fi might be asking about what happened, about why he had the Master Sword. And he...

... he isn't sure if he's ready to talk about it. Even after all the time he's spent in Termina, he doesn't think he's ready to talk about it. He never told Tatl anything about his last adventure, even when she'd been obviously probing for answers. He's never really... talked to anyone about it. Not even when he warned Zelda and the King of Hyrule about Ganondorf. He didn't fully explain himself. He explained what happened to the Great Deku Tree, to the Gorons and Lord Jabu-Jabu. That was what they were going to accept, because that was clear proof. He didn't have proof for everything he'd gone through. And that was... the closest he'd ever gotten to talking to anyone about what happened.

If Fi is the Master Sword, then... she should know. He should tell her. But... Can he? Right now?

Link's eyes had lowered when Fi mentioned his age, and they've stayed low as he's thought this through. He finally lifts them, unaware of the way the weight of his experiences show on his shoulders, in the shadow behind his eyes.

"A man named Ganondorf wanted the Triforce," he offers, voice quiet. That's the important part, and that's what he can bring himself to say right now. And so is this: "He doesn't have it any more." He chose to share that implication, and he's going to let it hang. Things were bad. Things were very bad, for a while.

[dancingblade]

She watches him the same was she always has. He's thinking about what she's said, taking the time to digest the words. That's fine. Better, even, that he try and figure things out for himself. A Hero must display power, wisdom and courage in equal measures and she has faith in Link's abilities. The remnants of Demise's spirit being purified within the Master Sword is testament to that.

But when he raises his head again, she is... Intrigued? (Taken aback? Curious?) By the expression in his eyes, though his face shows the same determination she remembers.

It is a look similar to the one he wore when Honourable Zelda sealed herself away. It is not quite the same loss but it hangs heavy over him, like storm clouds.

She wonders what could have caused such a look on one so young. The spirit 'leans' back before she speaks again.

"... I understand.

"Did he not possess the Triforce in full? I can sense it's Golden Power within you, Link, as well as the spirit of the Hero chosen by the Goddess." There is something else about this. Fi remembers well the curse that was Demise's last words... A curse on both her Master and Her Grace. But something about that look, and the soft way in which he divulges what little information he has, prevents her from speaking.

"...

"I sense there is something you are withholding from me, that there is a 89% chance that it has something to do with our contract during your time and that it grieves you greatly." She pauses, the ruffles of her sleeves fluttering a little faster during it. Was she agitated? Fi's not entirely sure... "However, as that man named Ganondorf no longer has the Triforce and you do not carry the Master Sword with you, I feel there is no need for me to pursue it at present."

The Hero's uneasiness causes her to question herself but of this? Of this, Fi is certain.

[songoftime]

Link looks away again when she makes it very clear that she knows he isn't telling her everything. This time, guilt is the cause. If that doesn't confirm Fi's theory, then very little short of a verbal confession from Link will. He wants to say that he's grateful that she isn't going to push for answers, but... He can't quite make the words rise to his mouth. They're stuck somewhere between his throat and his chest in the form of a terrible, tight feeling.

But, about Ganondorf... He can explain that much. He's talked about it once before, in a way. So it makes it easier to talk about it again. He lifts his gaze back to Fi.

"He came in contact with the Triforce, and sent Hyrule into an age of darkness. But the Triforce split into pieces. He was left with only Power. The Triforce of Courage chose me. The Triforce of Wisdom went to Princess Zelda." Princess Zelda... He wonders... what she would think of this. Of meeting the spirit inside the Master Sword. Did she even know the Master Sword had a spirit? His eyes wander, slowly drifting down for a moment, before he raises them back up again. "But, we stopped him. The Master Sword is resting in the Temple of Time again."

[dancingblade]

... He's struggling to speak. Link had been a man of few words when she knew him but he had never been left speechless. Not quite like this.

When he looks up, she floats downwards until she's in a crouch in front of him. It's not much, but perhaps it's a small gesture meant to support him. She had floated at the same eye as Link when they were last together, but that wasn't quite as feasible with him being the size he was now. So she'll meet him instead.

Hearing that the Triforce was split threefold was... There was nothing about Link's tale that wasn't disconcerting. Had they have known how far reaching Demise's curse would be, perhaps they could have done better to defend against it. But now it seems that Honourable Zelda and Link had been drawn into this conflict of Light and Darkness once more. Who was this Ganondorf figure though? Could he be...? Fi had no means of confirming his identity and she can already tell this conversation full of holes and low probability was causing unnecessary distress.

"Then, perhaps, it is for the best that the Golden Power be separated. Apart, it cannot be used for much and it will be easier to protect from the forces that would seek it out to cause harm. As now lies with you and another with Honourable Zelda, I have no doubt that it is in capable hands though it's presence in that man is troubling. It would have been for the best if the world of man had listened to Her Grace's wishes and forgotten about that tempting power all together..."

She's not certain what he means by the Temple of Time... That location in Lanaryu too far away from the Sealed Temple where Fi was meant to sleep. But an unknown amount of time has passed; temples could have been built and destroyed in the years she'd been asleep. Perhaps they had rebuilt and renamed the Sacred Grounds.

"Link, you've performed admirably. The spirit maiden is no doubt pleased and grateful for your safe return.

"My appearance here was startling to you," she stands up and shifts to one side, leaving a path clear from Link to the Tree. "It is highly likely that I've interrupted your original task. Allow me to let you resume."