Announcement

**Peeps** · 03-01-2013, 03:41 PM

"Well, it looks like we have something in common then," Donovan sighed, noticing how they were both scattered from their friends, even though it wasn't the nicest thing to have in common with someone. "Are you okay?" he asked, referring to the sandstorm. He hadn't been in such a sandy place before, so he wasn't familiar with a sandstorm, but it didn't sound too great.

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Inga had a feeling that Kaida hated the Gerudos with passion from listening to how she talked about them. Inga didn't hate them as much as her, but probably would soon if it turned out that it was them behind the giant bird. She did dislike some of the few notorious Gerudos, but she hated Ganondorf like no other. She thought of him as a pest, yet a very powerful one, and despised him like most Hylians did. But the other Gerudos, the ones who didn't cause much trouble, didn't bug her so much. They couldn't all be rats. Inga herself was part thief, but almost nobody knew that. She had also seen some Gerudo women herself who didn't seem too bad. She even respected their wits and strength.
"Let's just hope that they don't want anything with Donovan," Inga said as they rode. "But if they do, we may be able to deal with it." It would be difficult, but Inga was sure there was a way to make it to wherever they might hold Donovan and rescue him. Sometimes she even found it fun sneaking through the oblivious Gerudos, but probably not under this circumstance. She had fought some of them in the past too, and had clearly gotten out fine.
They were now riding at a moderate gallop. Inga could still see Chadur dashing in the distance, keeping a close eye on him. He was moving in the same direction as them, and it was starting to look like he had seen something, giving Inga hope that they were making progress.

(We'll meet them by my next post. You can have Kaida spot them now if you want)

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 03-01-2013, 05:09 PM

Sephira shrugged. "I suppose we do." She rubbed her side, remembering where the arrow had hit her as a phoenix. The scar wouldn't show up in her human form, just as the scars from her human injuries never showed up on the phoenix form. Still, she knew where the arrow had gone through her, and how much it had hurt. "I'm fine," she answered destractedly. "Always am afterwards."

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"May be able to?" Kaida repeated, raising an eyebrow. "May be? I think we could do better than may. Gerudo might be fierce, but I know their tricks. The Terminan ones, anyways," she added. "Don't know if the Hylian are much different." Being from the desert instead of the sea, they might be, although not by much. The ocean was a kind of desert as well. You had to be tough to survive in either terrain.
She found as she noticed something in the distance, in roughly the direction they were travelling. It looked like two small mounds of small sort, although as they got closer she could tell they were people. "Those don't look like Gerudo," she said, pointing them out to Inga. "What are they?"

**Peeps** · 03-01-2013, 08:35 PM

As Sephira finished talking, something pulled Donovan's focus off the conversation. He stared into the distance. There was a pitch black horse galloping towards them, followed by two more horses with a rider each. He didn’t know what was going on at first--the riders were surely coming for him and Sephira, but why? Does this have anything to do with why I woke up in the middle of this strange desert? He couldn’t tell who it could be for a while, and his vision seemed to be a bit blurry, probably from how much his brain had been bashed around before. Then, after thinking about them for a while, the jet black horse gave it away. He had surely seen the horse before, and thought he could even remember riding it. But he didn’t remember it’s name or where he was riding it. By the time this horse was getting really close, he could see the other two more easily. He then noticed that one horse was brown and the other was gray. The brown horse’s rider wore lots of purple, and he could see a green shirt on the brown horse’s rider with something else reflecting the sunlight. A neigh rung out from close by and before he knew it, the black horse was slowing to a stop right next to Donovan, his black hair shining under the sun.
“I remember you, buddy,” Donovan said, standing up to pat the familiar horse. By now he could see the riders well enough to notice their familiar faces. After looking at them for a while, his memory of them was pieced back together, although there were still many things he couldn’t remember, like what brought him to the desert. He did remember the girls’ names--Inga in purple, Kaida in green. He could remember just about all the events that took place before that day, too. But when he tried to remember what had happened that day, his mind wouldn’t respond. This made him frustrated, but that was balanced out by his joy of seeing the women.

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“Well then I guess it wouldn’t that bad for us,” Inga responded to Kaida’s comments on the Gerudo. “As long as we both know what to do. But there’s always Ganondorf to worry about...”
Inga’s voice trailed off as she looked in the direction of Kaida’s finger. “They aren’t Gerudo.” She was silent for a moment as she stared at the shapes, which started to look more like people. If they were Gerudo, Inga would already be able to tell. As they got closer, she noticed that they didn’t seem to be armed, and there were two of them, just sitting around in the sand. Then she saw the black horse she thought was Chadur stopping by the people. “That’s gotta be Donovan,” she said, her speed picking up. It wasn’t until then that she realized that Donovan’s company of the bird was replaced with another human, giving her second thoughts on whether it was him or not. It was too late to avoid them now anyways, they had likely seen Inga and Kaida riding towards them.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 03-01-2013, 09:09 PM

Sephira's hand reached for her sword as the horse galloped up, before remembering she had no sword. "Farore's forest!" she swore, standing. The pair approaching them on horses were very likely Gerudo, and she didn't trust them. They were the reasons she had died, after all. Then she noticed something following in the riders' shadows. A black blurr, nearly indistinguishible from the shadow, but it looked like a larger, black form of a cheetah. What was it? Surely a black creature like that wouldn't live in the desert naturally. So these people couldn't be from the desert, which meant they weren't Gerudo. She allowed herself to relax and reached out to touch the horse's nose. "Good boy," she murmured to him, trying to remember how the horses' language differed from the wolves' and cheetahs'. After all, the prey had different ways to speak than the predators.

________________________________

Kaida gripped Ash's reins. "I hope it's Donovan, but who is that person with him?" She reached for her swordhiltit. "If it's a Gerudo, she's going to find herself in real trouble if she doesn't let Donovan go." She pushed Ash faster, wanting to reach the pair soon. Now that they had been spotted, and it was impossible for them not to have been, since her breastplate was shining like a mini-sun, she wanted to get close before they had a chance to attack. She drew Flame, ignoring the fact that she was jostling so much on Ash, it was obvious she was a pathetic rider and would fall off with only a bit effort on the attackers' part. Zarola grumbled with annoyance, but sped up to keep in Ash's shade.
After registering that it was indeed Donovan with another woman, Kaida yanked on Ash's reins, dragging him to a stop so that her sword was pointed towards the strange woman. She seemed young, and yet old at the same time, but that didn't stop Kaida. She met the sad, deep blue eyes with her own steely green ones, her sword level with the woman's throat. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she growled.

**Peeps** · 03-01-2013, 09:41 PM

"That's just what I'm wondering," Inga responded to Kaida as the dashed closer. "They better not mean harm to him." She reached down for her knives to make sure they were in the right place in case she would need them, but didn't draw them just yet. By the time they had reached the duo, she actually had a good feeling about the stranger. If she replaced that malevolent bird, it must have meant that she rescued Donovan. But Inga surely wouldn't trust her that easily. She wouldn't be drawing her blades too quickly either.

“Kaida!” Donovan happily exclaimed once his friend had reached them. He barely even noticed her threatening Sephira. He nudged the sword away from Sephira a bit with one hand, then gladly held his arms up to help Kaida down from the horse. Inga showed up right after Kaida. It felt nice just to look at their faces again. “Inga! Can anyone explain what happened?” He had no clue of how far he had been taken away from them. And he still didn’t know how he was taken from them.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 03-02-2013, 04:47 PM

Sephira stepped back from the sword, uneasy. She didn't know who these people were, and one had just threatened her. Whatever the reason for that, she didn't want to stick around too much longer. Her eye was caught on the black cat, though, so while the others talked, she squatted down in front of it. What's your name? she asked, speaking in the cat's language.
Zarola looked at her warily. They call me Zarola, she answered, her voice gruffer than any animal Sephira had ever spoken to. My previous owners had a different name for me, and I'm sure my next will as well. What is a name to me but a brand of ownership?
Sephira blinked in surprise. Star and Midnight had never considered their names to be brands. They had always liked their names. Well, it gives you some distinction so that you don't get confused with another black, um...
Panther, Zarola supplied. And you not knowing what I am is proof that I wouldn't be. I need no name.
So would you rather be called "panther"? Sephira asked, a little annoyed.
Zarola started washing her face. I'd rather not be called anything. That would mean I am free.
Sephira huffed out a breath. She had never met a creature like this, although she supposed she wasn't surprised. Animals could often feel like they were being treated as slaves. Apperently, "panther" was one of those.

Kaida frowned as Donovan got between her and the strange girl, but she allowed him to help her off Ash. Her frown deepened, though, as she noticed he was missing his shirt. She glanced at the girl, and noticed that she was wearing the missing shirt and seemed to be talking with Zarola. That bird we were fighting grabbed you; you must have blacked out when he did. He brought you here, although where he is now, I don't know. What I want to know is why she's wearing your shirt, Kaida said. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed that the girl didn't seem to be wearing anything else.

**Peeps** · 03-02-2013, 05:25 PM

Donovan's mind twisted trying to remember anything about fighting a bird. There was no trace of it in his memory, and he didn't understand why they would ever be in a fight with a bird. He decided to talk about it later and answer Kaida's question about Sephira wearing his clothes, realizing at that moment how strange the situation must have looked. He wasn't even paying attention to being shirtless before they showed up. "Oh, right. She was uh... caught in a storm and lost all of her stuff," Donovan explained, remembering what Sephira had said. "She found me here and patched up my wounds, so the least I could do was lend her some clothing." He had a feeling that Kaida felt highly suspicious of Sephira, and he needed to show her how much the girl had helped him.

Inga watched the new girl, raising an eyebrow at how she knelt down by the panther, seeming to communicate in another language. Stari, eh? Inga thought. She had been told stories about the old Staris, and knew all about what they could do. Didn't think they still existed. If she hadn't known about how they could speak to animals, she would probably be a bit creeped out. But she wasn't too worried about the girl yet. Especially if what Donovan had said about her was true. She also knew about how vicious the Gerudo sandstorms could be, but didn't think they were capable of leaving someone completely naked. Although, it was obvious that she had lost everything. Inga remained silent, sitting on her horse and watching everything that was going on.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 03-02-2013, 06:37 PM

Sure she did, Kaida muttered. She had heard that desert sandstorms could be feirce enough to tear clothes, but winds of that force would have torn skin too. This girl had no sign of any injuries. So if she really had been caught in a sandstorm, she would be missing a lot more than just clothes. Why was she naked, and especially in this blazing sun?

Sephira turned as she felt eyes burning a hole in her back. The woman with the breastplate was glaring at her, the other simply watching her curiously. She sighed and stood, guessing that the older woman was Donovan's girlfriend. You don't have to talk about me as if I'm not here, she said softly. My name's Sephira. She turned to the younger woman. These are beautiful horses you have. Even though she wasn't used to horses, she could still tell the difference in experiance of the two, and the one with the breastplate was clearly not the owner of them with her poor skills.

**Peeps** · 03-02-2013, 09:32 PM

Donovan didn't talk back to Kaida, fearing that an argument may arise. She was nearly all he had, one of his only friends, and if he lost her, he wouldn't know what to do. He remembered the day before, after only knowing her for a few days he was beginning to get strong feelings about her. Not necessarily romance, but at least a growing friendship. He obviously cared about Kaida much more than Sephira, who he had only known for minutes because she happened to find him and bandage him after being dropped by this bird. But he knew that now that he had been reunited with Inga and Kaida, it was his turn to help Sephira, and he planned on helping her find her way to her friends. If it wasn't for her, he might have been still laying there when his friends arrived, losing his life from the wounds. Finally he decided to speak.
"I'm sorry about all that with the bird," Donovan began, after realizing that him getting taken by the bird was probably a major digression from their original task. He didn't finish his thought though. As he saw something in the corner of his eye, Donovan finally remembered one of the things they wanted to do while him and Kaida in Hyrule.
He paced away from the group, towards the dark spot he had noticed in the sand. It was a fairly large object, over a foot long, but it was extremely light and he picked it up with a few fingers. It was larger than anything of it's kind he had ever seen in Termina. It was soft and smooth, with stripes of different colors that changed from the ends to the center. Both ends were a subtle but beautiful deep bluish-gray color, with two stripes of white cleaner than the snow of Snowhead inside of the end colors, with a bright and slightly dark red v-shaped stripe in the center. It was a giant feather that Donovan knew couldn't be found in Termina. It must have been a part of the bird that nearly killed him, but he still found it beautiful. He brought it back over to Kaida.
"Do you think this would make you some nice money back in Clocktown?" he asked, trying to lighten Kaida's mind. Surely no one in Clocktown would have ever heard of a bird huge enough to have a feather like it.

"Thanks," Inga responded to "Sephira", a bit surprised at hearing the girl's voice. "They're Kakariko horses." She had a habit of not mentioning Sheikah to strangers. "I'm Inga, thanks for helping Donovan out." She finally got down from her horse to give her a break. "Did you ever see what happened to the bird?" She thought it must have been attacked somehow because it didn't seem like it would just let Donovan go like that, but at the same time, the beast wasn't anywhere in sight, just a few traces scattered in the sand, like feathers.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 03-02-2013, 09:52 PM

Kaida stared at the feather, surprised. It was large and beautiful, and more importantly, wasn't from any bird she knew of in Termina. Definately, she told Donovan, taking the feather. She glanced around for more. I wouldn't mind one for myself, though, she said, a teasing note in her voice, as a reminder that men can fly. She nudged his hip with her own, grinning.

Sephira grimaced at Inga's question. She could lie, but she lived so many lies. She didn't want another one. She let out a deep breathe, then said, I burned him. I have a gift to summon fire, and to turn into a phoenix. That's why I had no clothes; I had been in my phoenix form when the sandstorm caught me. I spotted the bird and attacked him. After he let Donovan go, I set his tail feathers alight to chase him away. He flew off in that direction, although I have no clue if he managed to put the fire out or if he burned to death.
And you wonder why I have no interest in being owned by humans, Zarola commented.
Sephira turned on her, eyes hard and let the full force of her Stari accent loose, causing her voice to sound both rough and bird-like. I have a deep respect for animals, and if he had been leaving humans alone, I would have left him alone. Since he had clearly attacked one of my kind, I attacked him. Wouldn't you do the same?
No, Zarola answered, washing her paw. If he was weak enough to be picked up, he doesn't deserve to live.
Sephira threw her hands up. How do you deal with this creature? she asked of no one in particular. Star is nothing like this.

Kaida stared at Sephira, eyes wide. What in the Giants' name is she going on about? she whispered to Donovan. Is she nuts?

**Peeps** · 03-02-2013, 10:56 PM

Donovan smiled to see the return of Kaida's humor, and was even attracted a little. With Inga, Sephira, and strangely Zarola having their own conversations, he almost seemed to be alone with Kaida again. He looked over when she mentioned Sephira again, noticing her communicating somehow with Zarola. "That is weird." Donovan watched Sephira in strange fascination. He had never seen someone talk with an animal like that before, but it sure did sound like she was doing it. "She just might be," he answered Kaida. Sephira was still a mystery to Donovan.

As Sephira spoke, it became clearer to Inga that she really was one of the Staris she had heard about from old stories. Something about her even looked different. Her story about her phoenix form didn't surprise Inga too much, because she already had a hunch that Sephira was one of the magical forest-Hylians. How many of them still exist, and why are they hiding? Inga asked in her mind. "You're a Stari," she began, half-asking. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing to bring up, but Sephira really interested her and she just had to be one of them. "I don't see your kind around much." Truly, she didn't see them around at all and was curious why.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 03-03-2013, 05:43 PM

(Remember the italics mean she's speaking animal, regular means Hylian. I can use a different color, if you want me to.

)

Sephira's head whipped up and she stared at Inga. She always knew the Stari danced on the edges of legends outside the forest, so she had grown accustomed to the more scholarly people recognizing her as one. But Inga? Her weapons indicated that she was a warrior, and her simply being outside the city showed she wasn't a scholar. So how did she know about the Stari? What do mean 'much'? she asked, her eyes narrowed. That was the hardest part to understand, as it implied that the woman had seen Stari. Yet Sephira was absolutely certain that no one had seen Stari. The few who had left the forest had left the tribe name and traditions as well. Only the tribe's original founding, and a few stories told by the few who had met the tribe, were the only source of the outsiders knowlege.

What in the Giants' name is a Stari? Kaida asked, frowning. Some kind of cult?

Sephira's sharp gaze turned on her. A tribe of people who live in the forest and guard Hyrule's borders there. We can understand the ways of the forest and the animals who live there. We are gifted by the goddesses to control different elements. My ability as a phoenix goes back to our founding; my great-grandmother was the bride of our founder.

Kaida raised her hands defensively, realizing the hornets' nest she had stirred up. Sorry, didn't mean to offend you. Zarola s******ed at the pair, earning her a glare from Sephira.

**Peeps** · 03-03-2013, 08:11 PM

“Well, I have heard about you guys,” Inga told Sephira. Maybe the girl was the last Stari, and there were none to hide. “But you’re the first I’ve met.” She decided to end the subject and not ask what happened to the other Stari. Then Kaida spoke. Goddesses, take it easy Kaida, she said in her mind. From what she knew, the Stari weren’t anything near a cult and Inga expected Sephira to take some offence. If they ended up travelling with the new girl for a while, Inga would have to make sure Kaida was more respectful around her.

Donovan thought it would be more relaxing to take Kaida’s attention off the girl who called herself a “Stari” and looked around for more giant feathers in the sand. “Wanna go look for some more of those feathers?” he asked. He would rather be alone with her anyways, like the days before. When he thought about the two other women, it felt like him and Kaida’s adventure was so much different now and less calm than it was originally supposed to be.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 03-03-2013, 10:57 PM

Yeah, good idea, Kaida said, still eyeing Sephira. She had always thought she had a vicious temper, it was part of what earned her the nickname Dragon. But by the Giants, this Sephira girl had a wicked temper too. And Dragon was more appropriate for her anyways, if she really could control fire.
Kaida took Donovan's hand and a waterskin and walked further into the desert. Back in a bit! she called over her shoulder.

Don't be gone too long, Sephira muttered. It's noon. The desert's going to be worse than a pot of boiling water before long. You'll burn to a crisp. That had been the whole reason for her and James and everyone else to travel at night. But instead of heat problems, they had Gerudo issues. Rose was dead, and who knew where the others were. Plus, her cloak, one of the few things she still had from the forest, had been lost, taken with Rose.
She sighed. Ask away, she told Inga, her gaze on Zarola. I know you're curious. I have few secrets left that are worth keeping. She reached over and started petting the black panther, rubbing the course fur. Zarola, who had just laid her head on her crossed forepaws, watched the Stari warily. Sephira ignored the look. She wanted Star or, better yet, Midnight, but since neither were there, she'd settle for the sulky animal.

**Peeps** · 03-04-2013, 04:48 PM

"I was just curious about the other Staris," Inga told Sephira, hoping the subject wasn't too emotional for her. The girl seemed strong anyways. "Where have they gone?" Inga had a feeling that there were still others living, just maybe not living in the forest anymore, or possibly in a completely different land, like the other countries she had heard about.

Donovan tightly held Kaida's hand in his as they walked in the sand. Her hand seemed to take away all of his body pains from before while they touched, and he walked much easier than he was just minutes before. He couldn't help looking at her face for a bit. He found her pretty, but Kaida's face mainly took him out of reality because it brought back so many memories of the time they spent together--taking she and her friend through Woodfall, then travelling through the forest towards Labrynna, and everything that happened after until now. "So, are you thinking of returning to Termina anytime soon?" he asked while looking around for feathers in the sand. He remembered seeing a sign for this Gerudo Desert back when they were travelling through the caverns. That must have meant they were near the way back, whether it meant a passage to Labrynna or a shorter route directly back to Termina. "We might be close anyways." They could return anyways if they went with Sephira to find her friends. She had said they were headed to see "what lay beyond the desert". He remembered Inga saying she wanted to see Termina, too.

Announcement

Rebirth of the Phoenix

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