Pitch Dark Tunnels

"Give me another."

The voice of the former Knight of Hyrule was little more than a murmur, but the barkeep was talented enough to pick up on the context clues. After receiving another dose of a liquid that was most definitely not milk, Drystan went back to drinking.

Drinking was never something he did. He had always been a near-perfect straight edge, almost oppressively so. He felt that if he was going to be taken into the Royal Family itself, he had damn well better make sure that they weren't betting on the wrong horse...though he tended to think that anyway. He had always been insecure about being elevated from a mud farmer to his current station. And if there was anything to convince him that he was right, then it would be this.

"Damn it...Kyire..." Drystan mutters out into his cup. He had one job, to be held above all other duties he held as a Hylian Knight. Care for and protect the sickly, oft-hidden member of the Royal Family. And after her little escapade in Death Mountain...they had been separated. He couldn't find her, and with Hyrule overcome by monsters as it was, he held out little hope that she was still alive.

On top of failing in his specific duty, the more general duty he held as a knight was dashed into the muck. Hyrule was in tatters, the castle was overrun, and the royal family was very likely dead. On top of that, his father was most certainly killed, the monsters didn't seem to care what your social station was, and the servants were still in the castle when the attack hit.

So with all that taken into account, he felt he could use a drink or seven.

He wasn't exactly sure how he got here. He'd kind of just wandered away from Kakariko Village after the refugees had been successfully moved there and established. He couldn't stay there...not with all the people he was supposed to have protected. So...he moved. Eventually, he had came to a small tavern on the outskirts of the Faron Woods, and decided it was as good a place as any to try and forget the last two months.

He still wore his clothes, emblazoned with the Hylian crest. He didn't know why. Maybe he wanted someone to take exception to him, to try and punch him in the face for failing so spectacularly in keeping the peace. That was as likely an answer as any. But right now, more than anything, he just wanted to disappear.

Einnashe Zeil: Hyrule's Sentinel of Truth | "...Should the Hylian Crest be desecrated so?", a voice questioned. The words were spoken in exasperation. They were cold and spoken breathily as if to display a faint hostility that knew not whether to be expressed or quietly suffered. Either way, Drystan could surely feel the presence that stood behind him, looking down on the back of his neck. A towering presence whom leaked the intent to do something that could plausibly be very foolish; all for the sake of a mere symbol that had lost its meaning. Should he bother to turn and view this creature behind him he'd see a wraith. A fairly tall woman cloaked by a dark grey shawl, with a large pale blue scarf that draped along her shoulders with it. This scarf was wrapped to hide her features. At the very least her crimson orbs could be seen dully burning through the density of her silvery strands, which cascaded about her form as if to mock a willow tree's appearance. Her eyes were enough to express her thoughts...there was an ember of rage present but it was quickly cooling. The rest of her form was dressed in animal leather. Likely for the sake of knocking off the cold winds as she traveled. Soon her eyes lifted off the neck of this man...they hovered on the top of his head. Her mind entertained ideas from there. She could likely very well knock this man right off of his seat if he said something smart... But what difference would it make...? That might have been why those fiery embers were cooling so fast. She'd seen some kind of futility in her actions. "...You're a far way from home, Knight. You should care for your appearance..." Level 1. Nirvana Durandal DRYSTAN VARTH

made by duet of gs

Drystan looked up from his bench, and sees the wraith-like woman behind him. "Hmph...I don't see why it shouldn't. It seems like everything was dragged through the muck recently. Or do you have some kind of problem with it?" His words are slightly tinged by drink, but his self-control makes it seem a lot less slurred than most people would after imbibing as much as he did.

However, his movement was unsteady, and he just sunk back in the chair. "Ah...what's the point..." Drystan shook a hand at her lazily, and went back to drinking. "It's not like anything really matters anymore."

The woman was completely unrecognizable to him in her current dress, and he very quickly went back to paying her no mind. Until she decided to open her mouth again, of course.

"Is that a threat? I'd imagine you would have much more important things to concern yourself over than someone else's appearance...or did the fall of the kingdom not reach you?"

Her disapproval was cutting, though, and Drystan wasn't sure why. There was the obvious fact that he was being a disappointment, even more than he was already. But it was more than that...he had already experienced an extreme amount of self-disgust at his situation, a feeling that was thankfully mitigated by alcohol. But her voice was familiar, and it was one that was particularly disquieting.

"Why do you even care?"

Einnashe Zeil: Hyrule's Sentinel of Truth | "...Shouldn't I have a problem with it, Drystan?", the wraith replied. Her words were as a knife. Her eyes lit up again. He may as well have shifted embers to begin a second comming of the crackling flames. Her voice was low, however...Her reason was getting in the way of her exploding. Though she had almost calmed down those words still stirred her. They said things to her that this knight couldn't have at all meant---if only because she knew his nature. He was no such venomous creature. But her...? No...Einnashe Impa Zeil needed no snake to inject venom into her veins...for her own fangs did just fine. Her mind twisted his words. They became as salt in her self inflicted wounds. Her mind played them over and over in her head as if to encourage the reaction that was sure got burst forth in only a matter of seconds. '...Or do you have some kind of problem with it?' "Is that a threat? I'd imagine you would have much more important things to concern yourself over than someone else's appearance...or did the fall of the kingdom not reach you?" "Why do you even care?" Before she even realized she'd already moved. "...OF COURSE I CARE!!" By the time she realized her error it was too late. She'd already swung out. The back of her forearm had already swung with all of it's might to knock this man clean off of his seat. Her voice had already boomed with all of the might it might have had if she had been there to order those many lost lives she felt the weight of on her shoulders. Her eyes burned. Her throat hurt. Her body ached. Her head stung with rage--indignation, sorrow, and guilt so heavy in her heart. Her words were enough to kill every ounce of sound after they were produced and cause anyone in the building to go silent in surprise. ... Whether or not she hit the man...she just stood there. She stood there staring downward at where the counter would be in a combination of shock and shame. It was so quick. She'd lost herself and had herself returned all in that short span of time. She'd confirmed to herself her instability. She confirmed that she was no better of the ware. She was ragged. So much so that she'd gone off on a man drunk on his alcohol for words he'd not even said. So she stood there. She stood there to take whatever reactions she got. Though....somehow her body didn't quite want to listen. It wanted more...though she'd not allow it more so easily, it wanted more than that. "...So then, Knight. What will you do? Your pride has been insulted.", she'd spoke...unsure why. Unsure why she was speaking. It started even though she was shamed, even though she was already so guilty. "Does that not matter either? Have you no dignity to shame? Apparently I don't. So how about it, Drystan?! How about we fight like dogs in this goddessdamned tavern?! ", her voice raised, it became accusatory, its rage grew and grew with gravel in her throat as she spoke. Shut up... "Where are the other knights, Drystan?! Why are they not drowning in alcohol and starting brawls with us?! Everything's drowning in filth and even the lowest of dogs cannot even act properly!! Isn't that it?! Isn't that it, Drystan...?!" Shut up...! What are you even saying?! Stop talking!! Suddenly as her rage flew she drew her sword. Nirvana Durandal in the metallic. She drew it and held it like a hunting knife. She didn't even bother to hold it like a proper sword and the amount of damns on the matter was clear. She spoke down at this boy whom questioned her. She spoke down at him like the dog they both supposedly were. "Maybe we should slaughter each other like dogs...Die in a tavern over a petty, senseless, nothing altercation. Then it'll be complete...! Hyrule's finest ruined. Our castle fallen...our Knights drinking fermented slop...and killing each other like common hoodlums! Let's do it, Drystan. GET UP! Get up or I swear to the goddesses I'll gut you like a fresh hunt." she breathed with killing intent overflowing---and yet none of it directed at him. It wasn't directed at anyone. Not even herself. It was just there. It was there, and anyone could sense it---but somehow it was depressing. Depressing because there was no one there to accept it. No one would be on the receiving end of that blade and they knew it. "....Let's slaughter what little dignity we have left. Then it'll be finished. Then everyone can give up. We can cry. We can wither away. We can die and...ROT!!" In a flash of movement her arm swung out and flung her blade into the shelves of alcohol. The force was enough to cause a great crash and shook the shelves and caused them to collapse on themselves. That was apparently enough to put her back in a stunned quiet that just left her standing there unsure what to do with herself. All that rage and guilt exploded and went all over the place---and now there she stood unsure of how to even recognize what kind of damage she might have caused... Her only saving grace was that likely no one knew it was her. She had been famous for a time, but luckily her appearance was greatly changed...she was not the bright awe inspiring knight she had once been. She was a ghost. A wraith of her past self... Level 1. Nirvana Durandal DRYSTAN VARTH

made by duet of gs

Drystan's eyes widened. "How do you know my name?" He ran through his memory, but he had no recollection of that blasted shawl...and while the voice remained damned familiar, it alone wasn't enough to make the connection. "Damn you, who are you?"

Just then, she shouted and fired off a left hook at him. Instinctively bringing his arm up to block the hit, alcohol dulled his reaction enough that the punch hit it's mark, sending him sprawling over the tavern floor. Slowly getting to his feet, he balances on a chair. Reaching into a pocket, he plinks some rupees on the table. Turning to the bartender, he sighs. "I...am afraid there may be some damage to the tavern before we are through. Hopefully this should cover it." The tavern keeper just sighs and nods.

When the woman turns accusatory on him again, Drystan just stood there. Something within him snapped.

Hyrule's finest...

He started laughing. Laughing as if he never had before. "So. It seems I managed to fool someone after all!" Drawing his own sword, he continues giggling like a madman. "You just don't get it, do you? This has always been who I am, you silly, silly woman! You don't see any other Knights here, because they're all better than me! They all are working for the continuation of what's left of the kingdom, because they are people with lives worth living! But I'm not, and I never was! I was always a worthless dreg, and this final failure is just life's way of proving it to me!"

He was just vomiting out words now, all the pent up frustration that had led him to this tavern was exploding. He couldn't even begin to try and control it anymore, he could finally let himself rant and rave like he had never allowed himself to in the past.

After all...who was there to stop him?

Grinning wide, he sways back and forth, holding his sword in one hand while he tries to steady himself on the counter with his other. "Every single day I went through, I tried to hold myself to a higher standard than the filth I was born in. Every damn day I had to pretend I was a noble knight, pretend I could even begin to champion lofty goals like peace and order. I could never have any pride to lose, because I knew in my heart that every day I lived was a damnable black lie! But I don't anymore! If there's anything these damned rotten monsters have done was prove to the world I'm as worthless as I always knew I was!"

Holding his sword out, he places it on the table. "But you know what? It's not even worth it. If you believe this isn't me, that I am some lofty knight, please, gut me right now. I don't even care. I would've died long ago if I wasn't the product of some royal fancy of charity, so I don't see why I shouldn't die now that my failure to live up to their standards is complete. Now that EVERYONE can see just how worthless I am! Please! Do it! So I can stop being a blight on the knights that do have some worth to them!"

Collecting himself slightly, he sits down at a stool. "But first...take off that damnable shawl. I want to know just who I managed to fool."

Einnashe Zeil: Hyrule's Sentinel of Truth | "...A blight, Drystan? Is that how you saw yourself? How funny...I thought that you were one of few whom I could understand best.", She spoke before so casually drawing back her scarf and shawl. After removing it she let them fall backward behind her. Whatever care she had for her own dignity was gone. Granted she imagined even now some would still not be able to place her...she was so unkempt. So poorly self held that to those whom had not the pleasure to see her in person might not so easily identify her. A wratih was a wraith. Drystan, however, would be able to place her instantly. She was a Sheikah, for one...and that would likely cut down his number of people to place her with down exponentially. "But then...Maybe it isn't so hard for one dog to understand another. You see, Drystan. I did not think you were lofty. I thought you were a man. I thought you were decent man. Frankly I still do, since you dare to attempt to champion virtue.", she continued, numbly ignoring the stares. When she saw the bartender glancing at his security she could tell they wanted her to leave---but were too frightened. Unfortunately those might have known her for whom she truly was...or maybe they just had a suspicion. Who knew? Either way, while it did surprise her that they did not try to carry her off...she somewhat also figured that their hopes were as deadened as her's. They just didn't care anymore... "I may have raised myself in the darkness of a forest...but I am not stupid, Drystan Varth. You failing like the rest of us did...gives no one grounds to call you filth and that certainly includes you, Boy. You are not filth. You are a *knight*.", Einnashe spoke before angrily kicking over a chair and turning to move for the door. She glanced over the group of people watching, looked at their faces, and picked up her shawl and scarf. Then she looked to her sword stabbed into the wall where the destroyed shelf of alcohol lay in shambles. "...Give me a waitress's cloth. I'll pay off the expenses with work with no pay and a day's worth of hunted meat. If anyone wants anything to drink...It'll be milk from this night on. Anyone whom disagrees can draw their weapon...", The woman spoke--only giving a wild look to the group for a spare moment. Though she expected no one to take her seriously...it seemed the wild girl in Einnashe had returned just enough for her eyes to be plenty communication. With that she quietly hobbled over to obtain her blade and found herself a broom. She'd lay her shawl and scarf over the barcounter afterward. Level 1. Nirvana Durandal DRYSTAN VARTH

made by duet of gs

"Einnashe..."

Drystan laughs again, but this time it's with some genuine mirth, and the touch of insanity is no longer present.

"What a fool I've been. To think, it's been you. I should have known...even as a knight you were always one who enjoyed skulking in the shadows."

Heaving back into his chair, he pushes the drink away. He's had enough. "Still, I never expected to see you here. What takes you so far away from Kakariko? And don't tell me it's to come looking for a worthless knight-errant. No one has the time for that."

It all came so easy. That insanity, that anger, it all seemed to vanish when he felt he was speaking to a person rather than some black-veiled ghost come to torment him. Not just a person, but Einnashe, one of the few people he felt he could look up to in his time with the Knights. If he had any heart left to care, he'd have been ashamed at his actions...but it would be a bit late for that, wouldn't it?

"I suppose we'll have to disagree on that count. My actions here alone should be enough to cast me out of any order that existed. And it comes so easy...I suppose that's what being low-born is, isn't it?" Stepping up from the stool, he begins to busy himself cleaning up the mess that was made. "You're sure I can't convince you to just kill me now? That'd sure make things a lot easier for me. But then...maybe things shouldn't be easy."

When Einnashe offers to work off the damages, Drystan gets in front of her, far more abruptly than he did in his previous fury. "I should be the one who works off this debt. You did what you should have done, and I'm the one who was acting out of turn." Turning to the barkeep, Drystan shrugs. "I'm sure the amount I paid you can't compensate for all this, especially with rupees losing a lot of their pull outside of Kakariko. Is there anything to be done for this?"

 

Laurel Hyrule

Laurel felt as if she was shrinking. She didn’t know why. She’d never been a tall woman, but she had always had a decent amount of confidence even in the most troubling of times – she somehow found it within her to feel as if she was more powerful and physically imposing than she actually was. The reverse was happening now, and not only because of her ridiculous routine. More and more she found herself wandering about with her stack of fliers, lost in her thoughts and feeling foolish.

Today that had brought her to this tavern. She’d entered at exactly the wrong time and had witnessed the better part of Einnashe’s lengthy tearing apart of a blond knight that she initially mistook for Ricard. No, that was…Drystan. There was no time to be thankful for his survival. She froze, clutching her fliers, eyes wide like a frightened deer. Very, very slowly, she lowered herself into a wooden chair and put the papers down on the table beside it, eyes pointed at the ground as she listened.

There was so much rage in this. She had never heard that from Einna before, but maybe it was because she hadn’t listened carefully enough. Perhaps this was opening her eyes to something that had always been there. Her words, which may have been encouraging to an extent, were distorted by way that she said them. But Drystan…he was worse. His laughter cut her like a knife, as did his request to be killed. The princess would likely have not been able to recognize Einna if she hadn’t known the shawl. It hit her now, as he asked for the other knight’s identity, that her assumption could just as easily been incorrect and it had not been Einna who spoke with such desperation in her voice. Any hope of that was dashed when the woman complied with him and showed herself.

When she finally did speak, it was in response to his question to the barkeep.

“I might have something to cover it.” Laurel said quietly, looking down at her hands as she spoke. While she no longer carried anything of real value besides her sword, she did still have the pair of golden rings that she’d worn to Termina just before her kidnapping. They weren’t anything particularly notable. Only one had a stone in it, and as well cut as it was, it was also small. She honestly couldn’t remember where or when she’d gotten them. The last week or so had been an uncomfortable mix of trying to recall and repress things. She couldn’t have told you what she’d done the morning of that journey into Termina. Still, she didn’t think they could be all that important. The memories that stuck were the ones of her family – if these had been some sentimental things, she’d surely not have forgotten that.
“All of these useless things…I’d be better off getting rid of them, I think.” She muttered.

She slipped both of the rings off her fingers and set them in front of her on the table, examining them closely as if to try and appraise them herself. At least, that was what it probably looked like. She was, to be truthful, purposely avoiding eye contact with either knight despite having addressed them. Or…ex-knight. She wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter what they wanted to call themselves – she was, at this moment, terrified of them both.

They had power over her that they would never understand the full extent of. These people – the knights, the ones that fought for her and her family and her country – they were sort of like a mirror for Laurel. In them she saw what she could be and what she wanted to be. Since she was a girl, they’d been heroes of hers. Maybe not these ones exactly, but they were all similar in their undying loyalty, power, compassion…

She had failed them in so many ways, beginning with the way that she sat here stupidly while they despaired and had not one single thing to offer but a pair of rings.

BY AERIE OF GANGNAM STYLE

Einnashe Zeil: Hyrule's Sentinel of Truth | At the sound of Laurel walking in, Einna quickly returned her shawl and scarf back to their positions on her person. While she was more than well aware that Laurel knew full well what she looked like and whom she was...there was a level of inability to proudly show her face to the woman. Her eyes averted at the sound of her voice and her teeth grit slightly. The idea that Laurel felt compelled to pay for her foolishness shamed her even further than she'd already been by the foolishness its self. "M-M'lady...You needn't concern yourself. I was a fool and should pay for my own actions.", she'd start to try and explain...however she was cut off. "I don't care who pays so long as this woman leaves the tavern in peace!", the bartender shouted half in fear and the other in anger. Naturally when Einnashe saw this...she started to become angry. Yet she haulted herself and thought about what had just transpired. Hearing his plea she bowed slightly and quietly moved to the door. Hearing those words did more than what it should have...It wasn't that she was bothered by the bartender's decision---but rather it lead her to realize something larger. Amusement crossed her expression; it shown in her eyes. Yet it was a depressing look at the same-time. "Look at me still trying to play 'knight'...As you wish I shall leave the establishment. I...will use this time to repay you, Laurel. At the very least a dog as loyal as I can bring you scraps to make up for the trinkets I've stolen from you.", her words became quiet the more she talked. Like a ghost she'd exit the building. Making no sound and interacting with nothing after her words. Her path would lead straight to the outside of town...though she'd pause to wait for Drystan to come out if he was going to. The least she could do was answer his questions if he still wanted his answers. Level 1. Nirvana Durandal DRYSTAN VARTH LAUREL HYRULE

made by duet of gs

Drystan recognized Laurel in a heartbeat, and his eyes widened, voice catching in his throat. Even though he was fully adopted as a member of the previously bloated royal family, he couldn't help but feel humbled at the sight of true royalty. It was probably the fact that he had never felt anything above the common rabble himself.

"My lady..." Drystan murmurs, not believing his own eyes. He would not, could not ever say sister...it wasn't right, it had no place. He was not a member of the family, but he was a knight. That much was ingrained, no attempt to shake it could possibly stick, not when he could feel his back straightening just looking at Laurel. "You're...not dead. How are you not dead?"

A fleeting feeling crossed his mind, and for a few moments, he was overcome with a desire to run away as fast as he could. It was the same feeling that overcame him after the evacuation to Kakariko, a similar feeling that demanded he run away, so that those he owed a duty to could not see just how totally he failed. He shook that off fast enough...after encountering Einnashe, he knew he couldn't run away again. Not after what had been said.

Turning back to Einnashe, Drystan follows her out the door. He knows he overstayed his welcome. "Einnashe...You knew about the princess. What are you two doing out here? Just surviving? Why not bring her to Kakariko...she'd probably be safer, at the very least." Even in this dire a situation, he couldn't help but be contrary. It was just something that had always been a part of him.

As he turns to leave the premises, he turns back to Laurel. "My lady...I think it would be best if we left this place. I don't think there is anything for us here."