Announcement

**jborgon** · 10-24-2011, 08:35 PM

James, after waiting a few seconds to make sure Elliot was farther down the street, had walked up to the door and looked out at him. He followed him with his eyes as he caught up to Rose, then forced her to stop. He began telling her something, and James could tell he was pouring his heart out in his speech, because he was getting a little flushed, and he began shaking lightly. As he spoke his face twisted with emotion and finally he let go, and began walking away from her. Soon James knew whatever he had said had been very rough on Rose, for she broke out in tears and ran down the street till she disappeared out the exit of Kakariko Village. James then returned a now worried look at Elliot, who was heading back to the house, to where James was no looking at him. James didn't even try to act as though he hadn't been looking at the pair, he was too worried and curious about what had happened. He had already figured out Elliot had probably chewed her out for wanting to be kidnapped again, but he didn't know what he could've possibly said to make her cry. He stood and waited till Elliot was nearing the house to come forward and question him. "Hey, what was that about, is Rose OK?" He looked after the place where she had disappeared into Hyrule Field.
"Are you OK?" he then added, seeing the grim expression on his face.

**Eko** · 10-24-2011, 08:46 PM

Elliot stopped in his steps and looked at James for what felt like the longest time, his face holding no emotion. He didn't know whether to smile and reassure him that yes, everything was okay, or break down and say no, nothing was okay. The last thing he needed was James getting wrapped up in all of this. So instead, he bypassed the question completely. "Would you prefer to eat out tonight or do you want me to cook something up? I can whip up whatever you want real quick."

**jborgon** · 10-24-2011, 09:06 PM

"Oh my goddesses what have you done, Elliot?" exclaimed James. He knew something was wrong instantly, for one reason. Elliot was many things: queer, kind, loving, protective, selfless, amongst others. But the one thing he was not, was a liar. Not once had he lied to James, that he could remember, and James knew a fail-proof way to avoid a bad truth without lying, was dodging the question, something Elliot had just done. "Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid," James said.

**Eko** · 10-25-2011, 06:14 AM

Elliot slumped against the counter, the accusation too much for him to handle. "I tried, James..." he said, "I really did. Please believe me when I say that. Please don't hate me for what's happened. But...Rose..." He squeezed his eyes shut and decided to busy himself by taking out a scrap piece of paper and writing down things they would need for the house. "She wouldn't change her mind about going back to the fortress." Things for the kitchen--food, pots and pans, plates... "So I...I yelled at her." Gonna need some extra blankets for the coming winter... "...told her to go ahead and...go back there..." Oh yeah, can't forget the cleaning necessities. House is pretty dusty. A few drops of tears fell onto the paper and smudged his writing, causing him to yell out in frustration, tear the paper to shreds, and throw it onto the floor. "Why the hell would she go back there?!" he shouted, feeling the familiar anger boiling up inside him again. Then he broke down into more tears and buried his head on his hands on the kitchen counter-top. "Oh goddesses..." he groaned, "I should've went after her...I shouldn't have yelled at her...I should've tried harder to convince her not to go...I'm...I'm..." A wreck without her. His thoughts finished what his words could not.

**jborgon** · 10-25-2011, 09:30 PM

James was shocked by Elliot sudden outburst of emotions, but he was glad the poor guy was finally opening up, if he kept them hidden for longer he could break down in the worst possible moment. Once he had collapsed back onto his hands and began crying. James approached him cautiously until he was standing beside him.
"Listen to me," he began, "I believe you, and I could never, never hate you. You better remember that." He put his hand on Elliot's back, trying hard to confort him but trying not to sound condescendant. "And hey, it's not your fault, OK, not your fault at all. It was her sole decision, and you know when Rose makes up her mind, it would take the world to change it." He smiled, "She's like you in that sense, and it's a good thing." He then turned his tone a bit harder, less comforting, not aggressive but assertive. "And yes, maybe shouting wasn't the way to handle things, but anyone would've done what you did in your place, no, in fact you handled it better than anyone would've. You let her go, you didn't force her, because you are a good person, because you love her. Don't you?" He took a deep breath before continuing. "Rose is strong, Elliot, there's no doubt about that, stronger than more than most, and you know that, deep in you, you know this. But what you don't seem to realize, is that you're strong as well, firm like a stone, stronger than a giant. That's one of the best qualities about you, you have an iron fist, but that doesn't stop you from showing your heart of gold."
James closed his eyes to breathe, and Midnight, as though to reenforce his point, barked in a reassuring tone. Finally, James continued, pulling Elliot off his hands and turned him to look at him. "Now, you're going to stop crying, tears don't help no one, you told me that yourself. So, this is what you're going to do. You're going to get it together," he said strongly, shaking Elliot lightly to make his point stronger, "and then, you're going to walk out that door, walk down that street, walk out of Kakariko, and you're going to find Rose! OK, you're going to tell her how you're feeling, you're going to swallow your pride because pride is worth nothing if you have no one to share it with, and you're going to tell her exactly how you're feeling."
He took a step backward and looked at him straight in the eye, "You are going to do that, and she will understand, because she loves you, I am sure of that. And don't you dare come up with a pathetic excuse to not go, I'm staying behind and I can plenty take care of myself, besides there's something I need to do while you're gone." He looked out the door, to the distance then back to Elliot, "Well, what are you waiting for?! Go! Now! And when you come back, you better be with Rose, or at least be wearing a smile on your face or I will have to take other measure," he smiled, as he cracked his knuckles jokingly.
Then finally, he added a final, kind, warm, whisper with a smile on his lips and a glint in his eye, "Go."

**Eko** · 10-25-2011, 10:16 PM

Elliot smiled through the tears in his eyes and without warning, he suddenly reached out and pulled James into a tight hug. "What would I do without you?" he murmured. "Thank you, James. For always knowing exactly what to say to make me feel a little better inside. You're a sweet kid. You know that, don't you? You make me proud to have you as a son." He ruffled James' hair and hefted up his knapsack, determined to go out there and get back the woman who held his heart. Before he exited the door, he couldn't help but add, "Now stay safe, you hear? Don't answer the door to strangers and if you're going to use the stove, make sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn the house down. And don't forget to lock up the house if you're going to go out somewhere." He dug around in his pocket and fished out a small key. "Here you go, that ones for you. Come on, Midnight, let's go find Rose." The wolf trotted over to Elliot, seemingly eager to get outside in the fresh air. Elliot turned to leave but stopped and turned back to face James one more time. "And if you go out, don't stay too long! If I can charm Rose back before sunset, we'll have a nice dinner together, all of us, okay?" He hesitated for a moment, then hugged James one last time. "I love you, kiddo." With that, he left through the door with Midnight already bounding ahead of him, determined to find Rose. No matter how long it took or what he had to go through.

**jborgon** · 10-26-2011, 10:57 PM

A smile made its way onto James' face as he stared after the man he had grown accustomed into calling dad. He then turned back to the house, where FallenStar now lay on the floor, following him with her eyes. After a moment of thought in which he decided what to do first, he walked further into the house, past the kitchen, and hopped up the stairs, two steps at a time.
He looked around the landing, realizing this was the first time he had been upstairs. He slowly approached the door closest to him. It was made of dark wood, which on closer inspection James realized was Coconut Timber. He was surprised, for that type of wood had been discovered fairly recently and not many places used it. He extended his hand and reached for the doorknob, but stopped moments before touching it to study it. It was made of Serpentine rock, the blackish-green contrasted smoothly with the wood of the door. It had also been polished recently -something James also found odd- so that the greasy wax-like luster looked stunning. James smiled, he could not imagine what could await behind such a beautifully crafted door, surely not a room for both rooms in the house were further down the hall. Grasping the doorknob securely now, he turned it to find that it didn't budge. James frowned, wondering why a door inside a house would possibly need to be locked. He tried again with the same result. He furrowed his brow and glared at the doorknob, as though that would make it unlock itself.
"That's not gonna work, you know?"
James' heart almost stopped as he turned with a jump drawing one of his knives and aiming it at...nothing? He frowned, he didn't understand. A voice behind him had spoken, he was sure of it. It had sounded like a child, but now James was staring at nothing but air.
"As if you could hurt me with that," breathed the voice again, this time right behind his neck. James' shock was so great he couldn't help let the knife slip from his fingers, falling to the floor with with a clang. Too stunned from what was happening, he was unable to move as he felt the whatever it was brush its hand down James' arm as it moved around him to end up standing in front of James. As James' eyes fell upon the figure, his astonishment turned to wonder, his wonder, to fear. The figure before him was indeed a child, a little girl to be more precise. Her flowing golden blonde hair was long enough that it rested on her lower back. Her sharp emerald eyes stared deep into James', but the most notable feature of the girl, was how pale she was. She was as pale and white as a..."Ghost," finished James with a whisper so quiet he doubted the girl could hear. However, she did hear him, and smiled warmly, at least as warmly as a ghost gets.
"Don't be afraid, young one, I am not here to hurt you," she announced calmly, and even if James wasn't sure he believed her, he relaxed a bit when he heard this. "My name is Melody," the girl continued, "and I was the previous owner of this house." James' eyebrows arched, he hadn't heard the businessman mention anything about a little girl dying in this place recently. "I am aware," the girl said, "that you and your family are going to move in now." James barely managed to nod. "Well then, James, what do you say we play a little game?" the girl finished, a glint in her eyes, wonder, in James'.
…
Five minutes later James found himself listening to Melody explain her story. It turned out, she hadn't died in the house recently, more like 10 years ago. To clear that house of memories of her and her death since they didn't attract customers -even though she had died a natural death- they had demolished most of the old house and rebuilt it about five years ago. The one thing that had stayed the same had been Melody's 'special room.' The reason for this was that they couldn't destroy it or even open it, no matter how much they tried. This was when Melody explained how she had make sure the room stayed intact, and even kept it from getting dusty or something similar as the makeover took place. And here she had waited for five years for new people to buy the house, yet no one did.
"I can't go to rest until I make sure worthy people are going to live here," she said. When James said that they were surely worthy, she smiled and admitted she thought so too.
"However," she then added, "to prove your worthiness you first need to pass a test."
"A test?" James repeated looking curious. The girl nodded and began telling him how only a 'worthy' person would be able to open the door to her 'special room' into which she never allowed anyone to go inside when she was alive. James, now fully intrigued by this, asked her how to do this. The girl smiled again and explained that it consisted in a simple 'scavenger hunt' as she called it. All of this kept getting more exciting to James; he was beginning to grow fond of Melody.
"This scavenger hunt," Melody continued, "will involve complicated riddles to solve, and they will surely test your wits to their limit, for they are custom made for you, Jameson Borgon. Apart from that, the clues will guide you all over Kakariko in search for the next one. Do you think you measure up to this task?" James nodded firmly. All the fear that had remained in his body had evaporated, and was now replaced by eagerness to prove himself and gain access to the 'special room.' Melody smiled, "Very well, you have until sundown to open this door, if you have not accomplished so by then, you may try again tomorrow at this exact hour, but if you don't succeed after that, there will be no more chances." James nodded again and waited for her to give him the first clue, and right as he thought this as if on cue, Melody declared, "The first clue, lies within this door. Good luck, Jameson." After those words, Melody vanished and left no sign that she had ever been there. James lingered one more second staring into the place where she had been, before turning to face the door and try to find the first clue.

At first view, James didn't see anything different about the door than what he had already seen, which confused him greatly. Then he decided to inspect it more thoroughly. He took a step closer to it and began looking at every inch of it. It was then that he realized that the smooth wood wasn't as smooth as he had previously thought. There were markings on the wood, which wouldn't be anything extraordinary since many doors had markings on them. However, these markings were different than the ones James had seen in other place. He passed his hand over them, letting the little bumps in the wood tickle his fingers. If he looked close enough, he could see they looked more like words in another language, rather than symbols or markings. Quick as lightning James ran downstairs where his pack of things lay next to the kitchen counter. He ran over to it, hopping over Star on the way, who followed him with her eyes but didn't even twitch. He quickly rummaged his pack and drew his writing utensils, which included a piece of parchment and he chose to grab a piece of charcoal instead of his quill. As he returned back to the door, he took a deep breath and placed the parchment on the wood. He then took the piece of charcoal and began rubbing it on the parchment, a skill he had learnt from his mother a few years back. When he was finished, he was pleased to look at the sheet and see all the symbols -or words maybe- clearly.

He looked at it confused, now they seemed even more like writing. He was sure he had seen it before, though he didn't know what language it even was. He leaned against the door and looked it over and over again, even turning the paper in his hands to see if they would change, but nothing. He frowned in deep thought, he was sure he had seen it somewhere. Where, however, he couldn't remember. It was driving him nuts! He knew it had to be ancient, for it looked so ancient! That was when he realized..."Ancient?" he said aloud to himself, "An ancient language?" He gasped, "Hylian! Ancient Hylian!" That was why he remembered seeing it: a couple of days earlier he had been reading a book about Ancient Hylian and how it evolved into the today-Hylian. Better yet, the book had a translation chart! He ran downstairs yet again, and this Star looked at him curiously, for she had heard him yell something upstairs. He lunged for his pack and began pulling out things from it until he finally pulled out a book. It looked old and torn in some places. He quickly flipped through the pages till he found what he was looking for.
As he began translating it, Star got up from her spot on the floor and walked up to him, trying to get a peek at what he was doing. When James randomly said, "Aha!" she jumped back in surprise and turned to return to her sleep. James gazed at his paper which now bore two passages, one in ancient hylian, the other in normal writing. James read it aloud and turned his head, taking a while to understand the words.

On this search you now embark
Proving wit of measure, man’s greatest treasure
The first clue you now seek
A mere square beneath the place you eat

James closed his eyes, thoughtful as to their meaning. He couldn't know what the first part of the last line could possibly mean, but he knew one thing: If these riddles were custom made for him, then there was only one place the second part of that line -the place you eat- was referring to. He folded the parchment with the riddle and put it in his pocket. He then grabbed the key Elliot had left for him, and after whistling for Star to follow him outside, he closed the door and locked it...

**Eko** · 11-13-2011, 08:11 AM

*Elliot, Midnight, and Avalona arrive from "Alone once more" in Hyrule Field*

"Well, this it," Elliot said as the trio got closer to the house. "It's small, still kind of empty, and you probably shouldn't sit on any furniture just yet in case it breaks apart and you hurt yourself, but anyway!" He turned away for a moment to knock on the door, then turned back to Avalona with a smile. "It's home." He waited patiently for a moment, then knocked on the door again. "James? Are you there?" No response. "Huh. He must have stepped out. Just a second..." He pulled off his pack from his shoulder and placed it on the ground, kneeling against it. He rummaged around in it and after a few minutes, he pulled out a small key. "Here we are." He placed the pack back around his shoulder and unlocked the door. The door swung open and he stepped aside for Avalona to enter in. "After you."

**jborgon** · 11-13-2011, 10:44 AM

As James arrived at the well-known restaurant, he sensed he had something wrong. This place was fairly new, built a year or two. Since then it had become James' favorite eating spot. The 'La Casa de la Comida' wasn't even a square, James now realized. It was built in a perfect circle -one of the reasons James had first been attracted to the place at the beginning- so it didn't make sense. James thought and thought. He knew it had to be right under his nose, but he couldn't figure it out. Just when he was about to give up, a faint glimmer of hope popped into his mind. A square! He hadn't realized earlier, but square, like many other words, held a large variety of definitions. One of them was a block of buildings bounded by four streets! He reread the line.
A mere square beneath the place you eat
He knew some people took South to be the bottom, also called the beneath of a compass, so he would try that. Looking at the Sun it took him a few seconds to know which way was South. Then he began walking in that direction, paying attention to the group of houses to his left, until he came to the street, meaning he had traveled a square down. He looked around, wondering what the clue might lead to, and soon he saw it. It was impossible not to see it, once you had read the riddle. It was a small memorial, James had never really noticed it before. Just at the center of the four streets. It lay right in the middle, a small 100x100" iron square. Perfect location James thought, for an open area at the meeting of streets was also a definition of square. He ran up to it and crouched to read it. He would have never imagined it, but there was more Ancient Hylian engraved in it. He drew his parchment and began copying, slowly, not wanting to miss anything. Once he was finished he stood up straight and looked at it as Star sat near him.
~~
Meanwhile, Melody watched as Elliot returned to the house, with a new girl behind ihm. She hissed silently, they weren't supposed to be back, not until that kid was done. If the kid got any help in the riddles, then he would be considered unworthy and wouldn't be able to keep the house. So, she just had to make sure Elliot and the girl, Avalona, were gone before James arrived. She smiled, there was only one way to get someone out of a house fast, and she was great at it. Turning completely invisible, she descended down the stairs, ready to do what she was best at.
~~

James had thought maybe since he had already deciphered the first riddle, the second one would be a piece of cake. Well, he had been wrong. Part of the riddle was easy, just like the first one, but he didn’t trust himself to be looking at the full picture, like in the first one. He looked at the parchment in front of him again. Luckily he had been smart enough to bring the book with him, so he had been able to translate the riddle very easily. He read it again.

We live, we die, but the world keeps spinning,
We turn to ash, and then a hole we live in,
To find the next clue, the hole you must open,
The message recite, receive the token.

He shook his head in disbelief and sighed. He then stood up and put the parchment and book back in his pack, turning to face in the direction he hoped the next riddle was pointing to. This was gonna be harder than he thought.
~~
Melody sneaked up to the door, and was pleased to see they had brought a wolf and some sheep with them. She sneaked up behind the wolf, she knew he would sense her sooner or later. Hovering right next to his ear, she hissed and grabbed his fur with her cold ghost hands. Then she flew up into the air to watch what happened.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 11-13-2011, 10:52 AM

Midnight flicked his ears around, he could sense something, but he couldn't tell what it was. Then something hissed in his ear and grabbed at his fur. He jumped, then whirled on it, teeth snapping.
Only nothing was there. He stared around in confusion, wondering what the heck it was. Something was here that he couldn't see, hear, or smell, and it was unnerving. He walked over to Elliot and whined, trying to let the Hylian know something was here that could be dangerous to them.

**Mysterie** · 11-13-2011, 01:41 PM

Avalona looked around, wide-eyed. "So this is Kakariko Village. It's amazing. There are so many people here." She frowned slightly as the sheep began to panic. "I wonder what's wrong with them..." She yelped suddenly as something yanked her hair.

**Eko** · 11-14-2011, 06:08 AM

"It's okay, boy, calm down," Elliot said, patting Midnight on the head while giving a cautious look around. "There's no one here but us three, see?" Despite his words, he knew something was up--Midnight didn't usually act this way unless he sensed something bad. He heard Avalona suddenly give a loud shout, which almost made him jump. What was it about this place that was suddenly making them all on edge? "What? What is it? What happened?"

**Mysterie** · 11-14-2011, 04:47 PM

Avalona looked around, frightened. "Something just yanked my hair!" She edged closer to him, reaching for the dagger she kept hidden up her sleeve. "Something's very wrong here. It's too quiet."

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 11-14-2011, 05:06 PM

Midnight didn't like the quiet either. The one thing he dislike about human nests was the noise. Even in the forest, there was some noise going on. Here, he heard no animals, no humans. The scents were stale, at least a couple hours old. He whined again, hoping to convince Elliot to go. If the man refused, Midnight was certain he could drag him out.

**Mysterie** · 11-14-2011, 05:32 PM

Avalona looked over at Midnight. "I agree with you, sir Midnight. We should leave this place before it's too late."

Announcement

Visit to the Village

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