3099/To Lon Lon Ranch

To Lon Lon Ranch
Date of Scene:	26 September 2015
Location:	The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
Synopsis:	A trip to Lon Lon Ranch leads the heroes to the second Tear of Light, and a battle with Bulbins.
Cast of Characters:	Staren, Priscilla, 385, 513, 789, 821, 864
Tinyplot:	Clearing the Twilight

---

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Ordon Village was attacked, and is now covered in Twilight. A decision was made: Follow the trail that created the destruction, and hope that there is some sort of lead there. Along the way, there was a plan to drop off Ilia at Lon Lon Ranch. At last, the time has come to follow the trail more, and take Ilia to her temporary refuge. Ilia follows with the group, trying to remain in a cheerful mood despite herself. She is fine with whatever mode of transport the group chooses, even if they settle on just hoofing it the whole way there.

     Lon Lon Ranch is located in the Trilby Highlands. To the East of Kakariko, at the foot of Spectacle Rock. Lake Hylia is even visible nearby, just to the North West. The ranch itself is surrounded by a tall stone wall, with wooden railing on top. It isn't something that can be walked on, and as such the railing is mostly for show. A large wooden gate is on the North-East side of the stone wall, the massive wooden doors left open. The sign above reads in the Hylian language, 'Lon Lon Ranch.'

     Inside, there is a little ranchhouse right near the gate. A simple wooden structure, two stories tall. A little barn is right to the left, and a much larger barn is on the opposite side from the gate. A number of wooden fences line the area, put together as places for animals to wander freely and graze. Oddly, though, there is only /one/ cow, wandering the field.

     As for people, only one person is visible. A rather rotund man in blue overalls and a red shirt is laying against the fence. His head is bald, and he his moustache is grown out so much it connects to his mutton chops. His eyes are closed, and he snores loudly. A bit to the right of him, a pair of young girls are playing with slingshots. Both of them look identical, aside clothing. One wears a tan dress with blue embroidery. The other, a light pink dress. They seem to be taking turns, aiming towards a strange saucer-shaped balloon they have in the yard. Both of them seem rather down, but also have determined looks on their face.

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
Lon Lon Ranch seems to be an island of idyllic peace in the troubled lands of Hyrule. The fact that the place is neither burning nor covered in Twilight is a reasonable sign for the pessimistic child, and she aproaches with minimal caution. That is to say, she still makes someone else go first.

Once it's been verified that there's no ambush waiting inside the gates, Sarah pops in and looks over the place. One cow. Snoring guy. Girls with slingshots. "Hi." She says simply to the girls, from her position. "Surprise, you have visitors."

Finna (513) has posed:
    MODE OF TRANSPORT!

    ... is animal.

    That's right. Finna has decided to humble herself a little and play pack animal for a little while. Ilia seems worth it in some strange way that she can't quite put her finger on!

    So unless Ilia -refused,- she's earned a ride on Finna transformed into a GREAT TERROR. The creature smells like wet horse, but is also easily as big of a horse... but BUILT like an enormous... well, it's vaguely feline, vaguely canine, not really one or the other. But 'really big lion' describes the shaggy mane of hair this thing has. It has a LOT of hair, easy to hang onto. No, no, Finna doesn't have a horse form.

    The creature just pads along. Pad pad pad. Happy as anything!

    Strangely enough, through some magic or another, the farm animals will find it VERY HARD to so much as NOTICE this obviously alien predator that's big enough to bite them in half. One that is apparently trained well enough to crouch down in front of the slumbering Talon (giving Ilia an easy chance to slide off) and...

    "*Grraaaaaaaaaaaaaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorghhhmf.*"

    Or well, the low, deep, chuffy bellow sounds something like that. Might be enough to wake the dude!

    The dude that this creature is sitting about five feet away from.

Archer (821) has posed:
     Inwardly, Archer sighed to himself as he cast another glance to their wayward group, currently in his invisible astral form so as to conserve prana. It also made the tedium of walking vanish as he wasn't corporal enough in this state to feel the dullness of repetition wear on him. At the moment, his focus was split between keeping a vigil... and on glancing at the dark-haired girl in red who had decided to join them this time... as was becoming disturbingly more frequent.

    Ever since the mission to Harbourtown - where Archer had faced the Knight Mordred of all beings as a Servant and Rin had helped evacuate - his Master had taken to watching him much more closely as of late. At times she would even give him a somewhat annoyed glance, though he wasn't sure what he could have said that would make her angry with him. Well, there was their usual banter, but she'd hardly ever held a grudge about that before.

    Of course, in flagrant denial of that logic, Rin stopped in her tracks when they reached the border of the seemingly-idealic oasis of peace that the 'Lon Lon Ranch' apparently was, giving a divisive snort as she glanced to where Archer stood, gesturing offhandedly toward the gate. "Archer, go make sure there's no traps or ambushes or anything. I didn't come all this way just to get ambushed and I'm not risking Ilia or anyone else's life on a maybe."

     "I suppose you'll want me to have a cup of tea ready for you when you get there?" The Red Knight's disembodied voice replied, smiling even though nobody could see it in his current ghostly state. "After all, you do enjoy working me to the bone, thankless Master that you are."

     As expected, Rin promptly crossed her arms and frowned, annoyance clearly written across her expressions. "Quit stalling and get a move on already - we don't have all day."

    Sighing, Archer gives his expected "As you wish, Master" and takes off, a single bound, landing lightly on the edge of the wall in spite of it's small and narrow design. After a moment of confirming there is no danger, he materializes into sight and gestures to Rin and the group to come - a sign there is no nearby threat.

    He would not have revealed himself if there was a danger, after all.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Given that Yuna's only available methods of transport are somewhat impractical in Hyrule, she's more or less resigned to walking. She COULD bring in Jiina or Erina for Powered Form or Flight Form, but that would only benefit her and maybe one other passenger - and while she'd be more than happy to transport Ilia, she doesn't really want to leave the rest of the party behind, particularly when monsters are still a potential threat.

So if walking is the conveyance of choice, that's okay by Yuna; she gets around on foot often enough not to complain about her feet being tired, and if somebody happened to lay hold of a wagon, she'd take turns riding with others. Either way, she's staying alert for approaching monsters or hostiles, and Elner's helping to scan the area for potential trouble that Yuna and the others might not actually see. Reaching the ranch prompts a quiet, even subdued cheer from the blonde idol/paladin ... and then she ventures onto the ranch's grounds to see if everything is as it should be. It'd be a major waste to come all this way and find out that the 'safe harbor' that was advertised isn't safe at all and is in fact harboring monsters of some kind.

And Elner's going to take a more detailed look at that 'balloon' for good measure ...

Staren has posed:
    "Woah, that's cool." Staren comments to Finna. "You're like some kinda lion-dog. Doglion? Where did you find that form?"

    MODE OF TRANSPORT!

    ...For Staren, at least, is being a robot. After changing to fight the Slaughterhouse Ni... err... A hundred and... however many there were, Staren isn't in a huge rush to change back. (Rapidly swapping back and forth can cause... problems, so unless there's a pressing reason, he sometimes stays this way for a few days afterward). And one convenient perk of this is that Staren can /literally/ set his body to autopilot and focus on other things. Even when not 'on autopilot', he can't get tired or fatigued, so that's a nice benefit, too.

    Outwardly, though, he appears the same as ever -- the body is the same size and has high-quality synthetic skin and hair and such, but superhuman senses may well notice the difference.

    As they approach the ranch, Staren's support AI gives him a sort of mental nudge to pay attention again, and he starts looking around. He takes in the ranch curiously, but he's not sure he wants to be the first to speak up. He's often bad with words.

    And what sense of mischief he hasn't managed to surpress is /realllly/ interested in how that guy will react to the giant liondog right in front of his face.

Priscilla has posed:
    Walking is fine. What's wrong with walking? After all, Priscilla's been getting around an entire country by foot for a year now. Sure it helps that she isn't exactly human, but clearly only the whiniest of babies would complain about walking this distance.

    The image of stoicness is also helped along by her visible injuries, slowly fading by the day, but barely enough to be noticed. The temporary scars across her throat and face are more or less at their discoloured line stage, though she still seems to have no use of a left eye, judging by the slowly diminishing number of bandages. Her footsteps are practically silent, and the long dress gives her the appearance of almost gliding over the ground, but she hardly looks terribly attentive just yet. More lost in thought than anything. She may have taken this job just as an excuse to get out and think, as she doesn't seem to be intent on getting talkative.

    Her attention infrequently, but repeatedly, drifts to Ilia, wondering what exactly about the girl could be so special. She seems more or less within the acceptable boundaries of a normal, human soul. The ranch also clearly isn't much to look at. It has that kind of rustic charm, but it's very, very empty, and almost depressingly quiet. She almost seems surprised when they finally actually arrive. A quick, inexplicable gust of icy wind blows over the sleeping man's face.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     The two girls turn to Sarah, looking at her. Both of them smile, cheerfully, at her. These two girls can't be much older than twelve. The tan dressed one introduces herself first, smiling and bowing while holding the slingshot behind her back. "Hi~. I'm Malon."

% The pink dressed one keeps the slingshot, and her hands, to her sides as shw bows and introduces herself. "And I'm Romani! Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch!"

     And then the two of them stare at the massive beast before their father. It's with visitors, including one they recognize. But, it still gives the two young girls pause, their bodies breaking out into cold sweats.

     Ilia facepalms as Finna terrifies Talon. Talon, the owner of the ranch, bursts up and leaps a couple of feet into the air, screaming aloud. He steps back against the fence, wincing, covering himself with his hands. "PLEEEASE DON'T EAT ME!"

     Ilia facepalms, sliding off of Finna's back. She looks utterly embarrased. she whispers to the man, "Don't worry. Don't worry. They're... Friends." She struggles to figure out what to say for the last word, especially as she looks at the chaotic force that is Finna.

     Talon, though, gets on his knees, bowing to all of them. He looks up towards them all, in utter /fear/ of all of them, due to the fera in him. His daughters seem humored by this, more than anything. But he? He just begs.

     "Please, don't hurt me! Or take our last cow! All of our livestock went missing recently! I... I think it was some sort of creature from the sky, which is why I'm having the girls practice! I think they even got my daughter!"

     Romani sighs a little. She whispers, so only her sister, Sarah, and any other adjacent Elites can hear. Not her father, though. "...We keep telling him we have a guess at what /really/ happened, but he doesn't believe us..."

     The balloon, on closer inspection, looks a little bit like a UFO, only not. It's rather mundane in general, though. Sure, it's made of cloth. But still, this world has an interesting level of tech. Mostly medieval, but with a few curiousities like this. It does have /some/ magic to it, though. Just a minor bit, to make it float.

Staren has posed:
    Staren winces a bit at seeing the poor man /beg/. "I think maybe we went too far, Finna..." he steps forward, "Relax, we're adventurers. If anything, we're here to help you! But, Ilia here needs a safe place to stay. The village of Ordon was..." He looks to the others. How does he put this?

    After someone speaks up, he turns back to Talon helping him to his feet if necessary. "Maybe we can even deal with this beast for you." Although, if it already ate his daughter, that's small comfort. Hopefully it hasn't.

    Staren then turns to look at the girls curiously. "So what /do/ you think happened? A missing daughter, the obvious thought is she ran off with a boy, but that wouldn't explain the livestock... and this land certainly /does/ seem to be... dealing with dark forces right now. You know about the Twilight, right?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Creatures from the sky stealing your cattle?" Yuna asks Talon blankly. Even with the UFO-like balloon, that seems really unlikely.

Well, if Ilia isn't the missing daughter, that's not much of a lead. Her attention does shift to Romani, though, and she stagewhispers, "What *is* your guess about what's really happening on the ranch?"

Elner goes back to surveying the rest of the ranch, now that Yuna's focusing on the girls. Scanning for encroaching Twilight is also a priority for the little robo-faerie.

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
"Sup. I'm Sarah. I'd say it's good to meet you but we're about to be overshadowed by a big and loud showoff." Sarah turns and watches the proceedings with the flat expression of the person who expects everything to go poorly and is seldom proven wrong. "Did you HAVE To use the big scary wildebeeastie in the middle of a place that probably sees dangerous wildlife all the time?" Sarah asks aloud, then she turns to the girls, letting everyone else deal with the panicking Talon. Yeah, she's the best and most concerned person ever. Except not.

The girl looks more intent when Romani begins sharing info. "Oh?" Sarah says quietly, "What's the situation? You and Malon look like you're the brains of the operation here." It seems like she actually respects the girls enough not to say that loud enough for Talon to hear.

Archer (821) has posed:
    Archer takes note of how Rin seems to become slightly anxious when the tall, pale-skinned woman walks alongside her, though she did her best to mask it - and he really couldn't blame her after all. The woman radiated power not unlike a Caster... yet was clearly mortal. Or as mortal as such a being could be. The scars also were a point of dread as well - what could cause injuries like that to something that was practically out of the age of Gods in terms of prana output?

     Upon seeing the reaction from the farmer, Rin deadpans at the sight of his cowering before sighing and glancing to Finna - "You're a shape-changer, yet you couldn't have chosen something a bit less intimidating to be during a visit to a peaceful farming ranch?" That being said, she takes a step toward the two girls and their father, making a show of placing a hand on Finna's snout to show she's harmless. "See? She's a friend. Like you probably heard me say, she's a shape-changer."

    Archer can't help but smirk when he sees Rin's face morph into an irritated frown at Staren's blunt commentary, watching her glare rather pointedly at the mech-suit. However, he does find Staren's commentary brings up another possible idea regarding the Twilight - "Depending on the circumstances... it's possible the girl might have actually /become/ a monster herself, such as a dragon or the like. That would explain both her absence and the missing livestock. After all, depending on the possible size, creatures as big as cattle might be the only way she could-"

     "What the hell is wrong with you two?!" comes the almost-predictable explosion from Rin, her fists clenched and her face now twisted in an almost comical expression of exasperated anger. "Don't you two at least have the decency to not talk about their missing family member right in front of them?!"

     "Would you rather we be straightforward and say there's likely little chance she's coming back?" Archer replied stone-faced. "After all, if she's been gone too long, that kind of possibility might be rather slim at this point, and it may be better to prepare them for that."

    Rin's teeth clench visibly at this, looking as though she wishes to throttle the pair before glancing to the others in the group, as if silently asking for them to back her up in reprimanding the two rather blunt men in their presence.

Priscilla has posed:
    This is immediately a little outside of Priscilla's zone of awareness. She'd known Fassad had been questing around on this particular world, and heard something about people turning into animals, but flying monsters abducting children and stealing cows is suddenly a little out there. She does, at the very least, spare the time for a withering, slit-pupiled glance at Finna, diminished in no way by the single eye that comprises it.

    "Peace, farmer. None here shouldst indendeth thee harm." Somehow she even manages to sound a little too anachronistic for this place. She moves to stare wayward at the balloon, clearly not recognizing its shape. "If thou art in need of defense against vicious predators, I do not believeth a pair of children with slings shalt be adequate protection. Is there no lord of the land thou canst send missive to? Or at the very least, a mercenary band."

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks at Rin, nodding as Archer points out the chances aren't good. "We /were/ trying to be tactful, yes. But if there /is/ any chance of finding her, we have to have more information first," he crosses his arms, "and I don't see how we can gather information without talking about it."

Finna (513) has posed:
    Thankfully the GREAT TERROR doesn't in fact move to eat Talon or cause any sort of trouble. The huge beast just makes a single deep *CHUFF* noise... then slowly shrinks once Ilia's off its back. In a matter of moments the Great Terror is gone and Finna's human form emerges from the shifting flesh. She bursts into laughter at Talon, but it thankfully lasts only a few moments.

    "Yeah, maybe..." She agrees with Staren, but still finds herself slapping a hand down on Talon's shoulder. "Easy, farmer. I'm no threat... and this ALMOST doesn't look like a ranch!"

    She makes a show of cupping a hand to her forehead and looking all around.

    "Who'd steal a bunch of cows at a time like this? ...wait..."

    She can think of a FEW good ideas but... "No, they'd only take one or two... not ALL of them..." Finna's left headscratching, and quickly turns around to the girls.

    "Don't mind me. I'm a shapeshifter! Magic to spare. What took the cows... errr, wait, we came here to drop Ilia off and track down the ruffians who ransacked Ordon in the first place...."

    of course then there's the matter of Rin's words to her. Finna shines a grin her way. "Nothing but the best for Ilia, and a Great Terror's the most majestic beast my land has to offer!"

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Talon finally gets up, still looking nervous. His body, sweating a bit. He wipes his forhead slightly with his sleeve. He is breathing deeply, trying to regain his calm as he looks at the group. It is lucky that Finna changed back, and that SO MANY are confirming that yes, they're here for peaceful reasons. Otherwise, who knows what he would have done?

     He shakes his head at Staren, though. "The beast... You can't handle it. It's something I've only heard /rumors/ about. Bright lights in the sky, and metal disks of silver, that come down and grab cows! That /has/ to be what took them. Why, even in the Twilight, we so rarely have bandits stealing cattle and livestock!"

     He breathes deeply, though, looking at Ilia. A gentle smile is given, and he nods to her. "...Ah. Ilia. You're a good girl. I'm sorry that something happened to your village. I'm just glad you're safe."

     Talon then turns to Priscilla, blinking, "...Well. I guess slingshots might not be much... But the Royal Guard is gone, the King is dead, and that, uh... What's his name? Agahnim? He's in charge now. Heck, we can't even make money selling our milk in town due to some of the regulations. My farmhand, Ingo, is over trying to smooth things out at Castle Town, so we can sell again... If only we /could/ defend ourselves."

     Romani looks towards her father, then whispers to the others who do want to listen to her, "...We were up late, one night. Dad said we were just dreaming. But, we saw these small green creatures, running through the ranch. They opened the gate, and started leading the cows out of here, ropes around their necks. They had no torches lit, but once they were out of here, they lit them... And headed up towards Spectacle Rock." She points, to a nearby hill. It's mostly barren, though there are some trees here and there. It's some distance away, so it's hard to make anything out from this far, unless somene has telescope eyes or something.

     And if they do have a telescopic vision, they'll see a camp on the top of the hill, between a pair of large rocks. A camp populated by Bulbins.

     Malon gives Sarah an awkward smile, "...Well. Our dad does most of the farm work. We help out. Our older sister, Cremia, does most of the running of the business."

Staren has posed:
    When Talon asserts they can't handle the beast, Staren asserts, "We're /adventurers./" Although, he looks kind of... whaaaaa? As Talon describes flying saucers. It's a bit out of genre, sure, but it's possible, isn't it? Staren shrugs at the end of Talon's speech. He can't make them able to defend themselves.

    He crouches down to listen to the little girls' tale with interest. And then Romani describes... little green men... his face starts to go 'what' again before it becomes clear she's talking about those goblin things and not aliens.

    Staren stands and looks at the hill. He doesn't have telescope eyes, just high-res cameras. "Huh. Well, that's easy enough to check out." Staren suddenly frowns and looks back at Romani. "But what about Cremia, then? She isn't mentioned in your account."

Archer (821) has posed:
     "How about you at least have the common courtesy to not bring up the odds of if she'd dead or not??" Rin half-shouts, half snarls through her teeth at Staren, looking visibly incensed and one wrong word away from firing a Gandir curse at him.

     "They might expect miracles in that case - ones we can't promise them in good conscience" Archer replies evenly, crossing his arms as he faces Rin, the latter turning to look back at him in visible anger. "I'm actually a bit disappointed in you, Master - in your heyday you could be just as straightforward with Emiya Shirou and not so much as bat an eyelash." He actually has the gall to look somewhat bemused at Rin now. "You've gotten soft while I was gone."

    Rin subsequently flushes slightly as she looks more and more aggravated. "That's different - Emiya and I are both magi and magi are always supposed to be frank with each-other, especially given what was at stake back then! These are just farmers - they don't know what they're up against and neither do we, so I'd rather not write people off so early and it should be /common sense/ not to do so in front of their families!" At this point, Rin is almost fuming openly.

     "Actually, speaking bluntly, it isn't exactly a top priority at all" Archer shrugs, this time leaving Rin staring at him as if accusing him of something - being heartless most likely - though it doesn't stop him from continuing. "Our objective is following the trail of whoever attacked Ilia's village. We came here to leave her in the care of people she trusts, not chase down rumors."

    However, Archer and Rin's argument is cut off when the girl - Romani - speaks up on the back of Talon's ravings and talks of woe. Turning to face the direction she pointed in, Archer and Rin reinforce their eyes, with Rin being able to barely make out the camp while Archer can see enough detail to see the Bulbins. Archer in turn glances to Finna and Priscilla - "Do you two see them? Bandits - local creatures at a camp. Guess it's a small issue after all."

     Rin on the other hand becomes more hopeful as something crosses her mind - "Maybe it's all one in the same? Cremia might have been taken by the same group that hit Ilia's village... and these guys might be part of that group. If so, that camp up there is where we need to go."

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
"You're saying aliens did it. You're actually saying aliens did it." Sarah says flatly. "Oh my Gods. Are we seriously doing this?" Sarah says, facepalming. She shakes her head and listens in to Romani, nodding and listening. "Spectacle Rock. Got it. Maybe we can get your livestock back while we're at it, but we gotta ask you for a favor."

She thumbs over her shoulder to Ilia. "She needs a place to stay for a while. We can't take her with us. Too dangerous, and she can't stay at home. Full of Twilight and ghosts and stuff."

She looks back to Malon then. "Well yeah. He looks like he's strong like a rock, dependable like a rock, and smart like a rock. But that's okay. You both look like you're handling things. So did Cremia go chase down the cattle, or..."

Abruptly, Sarah points at Rin. "Hey, lady. You're the one who gives Big Red the orders, right? Tell him to go check out the place. He does good scouting." She plants her hands on her hips in mild indignance when Archer mentions it's Not Their Problem. "Get with the program, Red. We need to follow leads, and this is the best one we have. They might know where all the children were taken too, if they have a camp."

Finna (513) has posed:
    At Archer's prompting and the talk of 'Spectacle Rock', which interestingly coincides with the direction Finna remembers the pack was going, "well maybe I'm wrong and those ruffians DID take all of them..."

    She cannot, in fact, see as far as Archer can. But her eyes change, becoming hawk-like and vision 'telescopes' a good degree regardless, sharpening. She cannot see the camp, but she can see some smoke from fires and other signs!

    "Well, SOMEONE's up there... gonna be quite a climb!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods as Archer says exactly what he's thinking, again -- that he can't give people false hope in good conscience.

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla sighs plaintively at Finna. "The beast is quite literally named a 'Great Terror'. Shouldst that not indicate something to thee?" She tilts her head towards Rin next, silver hair slipping over her shoulder, as for the merest instant, there is a palpable sensation of cold, heart-jumping penetration behind her gaze, like missing a stair in the dark, before she simply shakes her head knowingly. "I am unfamiliar with thine companion, but Sir Staren is . . . his value lies elsewhere than social graces." Something that might have been a half-hearted attempt at a helpless smile follows.

    Talon's next words are a little more serious though, and thus demand a greater degree of attention. "Ah, yes, I believeth I hath heard some fleeting news of this." Her expression regains its coolly neutral countenance. "And Agahnim hast no interest in the preservation of the serflands under his control? No kingdom of men hast lasted long without those who till the land and raise its beasts." She seems to be considering something very intently for a few moments, before Archer catches her attention.

    She turns towards the distant hill immediately. Her eye(s) don't quite match an Archer's, or sophisticated magnification technology, but they are still categorically inhuman, and she has other, additive senses besides. "Not precisely." she admits. "But I can sense their number. Thine own Lady is perhaps correct in mind with Lady Parsle. I hath little compunction on the matter. Time I possess in abundance." A sword flashes to her hand from nowhere, long and slender of west european make, with a blade etched the entire length and width in shimmering patterns, reflecting a soft, blue-white albedo, like moonlight rather than steel. It is a crystallized soul in the shape of a weapon, overflowing with the raw, primal nature of magic. Its significance is purely sentimental to Priscilla however.

    "This distance shouldst pose no obstacle to any of thee, but shouldst thou be of no mind to assist, continue as thou were. I shalt be brief." There is a brief whirl of chill, biting wind, and the woman disappears. Those familiar with Priscilla know the score, though it shouldn't be terribly difficult to get the idea she's headed towards the camp.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna does not have telescopic vision. What she DOES have is a robo-faerie who can fly, teleport, and protect itself with force fields if anyone actually tries attacking Elner .. and so Elner heads up towards Spectacle Rock to scout around from a closer-but-hopefully-still-safe distance. Getting a headcount on the Bulblins would probably help, as well as trying to ascertain what's happened to the captured (or stolen) livestock.

Meanwhile, Yuna purses her lips at Romani's story. "What's the terrain like between here and Spectacle Rock?" she wonders. "Are there paths the cattle could travel on?" She looks at Talon. "As for whether we can handle this 'beast' ..."

She shrugs, and gestures at her Light Suit. She's VERY CLEARLY not from around here, although she's just as clearly (or at least apparently) human, if you don't mind that her ears are short and round rather than elongated like Hylians. "I think we can handle whatever's been making off with your cattle if we have to fight, and better us than you or your family, right, Mr. Talon?" she asks with a bright, warm smile.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Romani bites her lip a little, looking away from Staren. "I... I didn't see that part. But... It'd was the same night, that she went missing. But Malon, she said she saw something..."

     Malon nods a little, "...Well... While Romani was watching, I woke Cremia up. She followed after them, sneaking. I watched over the fence, from the barn roof. And this monster, really big, and green, unlike the little green ones? She followed it. I didn't see what happened, though. The torches went out, and she was gone."

     The two of them have started speaking a bit more loudly, since they are being taken seriously. But, Talon shakes his head a little at them, "Girls, I keep telling you. That was a dream. I would have waken up. No, the strange lights from the sky? /Those/ were what took the cattle. Now stop bothering these people with your bizarre, made up stories."

     He sighs, looking at the group again. "...Alright. I suppose the group of you /could/ stand a chance. But.. I'd ask you to stay here. Going to Spectacle Rock would be a fools errand. I mean... Sure, there are paths up there that cattle could walk on. But no one lives up there but wild, unorganized monsters without any leader."

     Ilia is biting her lip this whole time. She doesn't want to correct the one who is taking her in, but the look on her face? It's obvious she believes the girls more than Talon, on this one. But, she isn't going to say anything about it.

     Before Priscilla takes off, though? He does at least give /some/ explaination on why Agahnim might value the ranch. "...Well. All of our cows are milk cows, not meant for beef. And, well... Milk is not something some people find reputable to sell. I mean, sure, if you use it for baking, it's perfectly safe, but there are some people who get addicted to the stuff pretty hard, you know? ...Heck, I drink a few mugs every night, myself."

     Some of the party members likely know that milk is, in fact, alcoholic in Hyrule.

     The trip up to Spectacle Rock, should others wish to join Priscilla? It will, in fact, be a few hour hike up the hill for most. Priscilla's longer stride might make it faster, though. Some might have means of getting their faster, as well. But, it is entirely possible to reach there tonight, should the heroes wish to continue up there.

Archer (821) has posed:
    When Sarah speaks up, Rin looks at her somewhat blankly for a moment, before realizing that her fight with Archer actually distracted her from thinking about a plan of action. Bringing a hand to her mouth, she coughs once to cover up her moment of embarrassment and works to restore her composure. "Uh, right, of course. Archer? You heard her - get moving."

     Archer closes his eyes and shrugs, smiling sardonically again. "We don't have conformation they're even connected though. However, I suppose that if I'm given an order that I may as well investigate."

    "Don't give me that" Rin scoffs. "The reason you were trying to ask them- " she gestures over her shoulder at Finna and Priscilla "-if they could see was so you could hold back and let /them/ do the scouting, wasn't it?"


Archer doesn't deny it. "The shape-changer can literally take flight. She makes a far better scout then I do in this circumstance, whereas I do better as the support. I am, first and foremost, an Archer after all - and an Archer does best at range, not in close distance for scouting."

    "Any other Archer, maybe" Rin shoots back. "You... well, I here I thought I had reason to have some confidence in your abilities." This time, she's the one to cross her arms and smirk snidely. "I thought you were supposed to be the best Servant by default due to being mine? Surely you can handle something mundane like this, right? Besides, it's best you go anyway - being able to turn invisible as support will be a help in case they spot the shape-changer, and the two of you can climb the terrain better then any of us. Well, maybe he can-" she glances at Staren's mech-suit dubiously, not quite trusting of the capabilities of machines "-but you two can move the fastest, quickest and most quietly. Now stop making a fuss and get moving."

     Shrugging, Archer gives a dutiful "As you wish" and gestures to Finna that he's going up and that she is free to come with, taking off so as to catch up with Priscilla - though he silently takes note of her abilities, once again wondering what she could possibly be to have such power as instant transversal at her disposal.

    Rin however, left behind to keep vigil on the farm and Ilia... tilts her head in amazement at Talon's words. "W...what? You mean to tell me you can... get /drunk/ off milk here??"

Staren has posed:
    Staren is oblivious on the milk issue. He figures there must just be some weird cultural thing about milk here.

    Staren heads up towards the camp with the rest of the party, letting the stealthier folk lead.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna finds herself looking over a shoulder at Rin and her handling of the bowman. There's wisdom in those words.

    "Point! Let's just collect any more information there is to get first then I'll be off!"

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
Sarah looks between Rin and Archer as they argue. "I can see why you two are stuck with each other." Sarah announces, but doesn't explain.

In the meantime, she nods to Malon. "Of course. She's the most responsible one so she's the one taking the stupid risk. Okay, we're going to find out what's up. No guarantees, though."

Sarah rounds on Talon, staring at him for a moment. "Are you defective or something? There's a bunch of raiding monsters throughout the land and you're more willing to believe a bunch of aliens in flying spaceships that don't match the technology level of this place at all are taking your cattle, instead of the very obvious narauders who basically take whatever they want? Come on, you look like you're an actually decent parent. Don't be that guy."

Sarah looks back to the girls. "I'm going to go hurl myself into the middle of danger like an idiot. I'll be back unless I get brutally murdered."

At that, Sarah begins scurrying off after Priscilla. Well, sort of. In that direction.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Monsters from the sky, monsters from the mountain ..." Yuna smiles reassuringly at Talon. "Hey, if we can get you your cattle back, how much of a difference does it really make? You can't run your business without your cows, and maybe we can get you some extra customers in the process!"

As for actually getting up to Spectacle Rock ... Yuna's not too proud to have Erina fly in from the warpgate and rendezvous with her; Flight Form makes it an easier trip overall. She STILL doesn't want to get separated from the rest of the party by too much, so she doesn't go zipping ahead like she might; she scouts ahead a bit from the air, but otherwise, Yuna's planning for the whole group to get there more or less together if at all possible.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Ilia nods a little, "...Yes, milk from cows is alcoholic. ...Is that not normal? At least, goat milk isn't alcoholic." She actually looks a bit puzzled that people are surprised by this.

     The march up Spectacle Rock is long. Winding hilly paths through rocky terrain. Once they are close to the twin-peak of the hill, the two giant boulders on top? There is, thankfully, a fair amount of hiding spots. Large boulders, trees, bushes, and similar, which can be hidden behind. This will be made a bit easier by the fact that the sun is beginning to set, leaving plenty of shaded spots. This isn't even mentioning the people who can just go flat out invisible.

     The camp itself is a bit chaotic. A lot of leather tents, sewn together. There isn't much room to walk between them, and the paths are messy. Garbage all over the place, including a number of cow bones. The cows themselves are visible in a wooden pen, built against one of the two large rocks. There is an adjacent pen, with large riding boars in it. In the center of the camp, between the two rocks? There is a clearing, with a fire built in the middle. Most of the camp is actually rather empty at the moment. Most of the small green imp-like humanoids, the Bulbins, have gathered around the fire. Sitting on a wooden throne near the fire is a particularly large one. A bit taller than most humans, and incredibly rotund. A number of iron weapons are upon his belt.

     The prisoners are visible, as well. Three young children. Two boys with brown hair, and one girl with blonde hair. They're tied up, set near the fire. Some of the Bulbins seem to be feeding them food.

     Also sitting nearby is a girl that looks much like Malon and Romani, except older. She's in her late teens, likely around Ilia's age. Shes' in a dress with a white blouse and purple skirt, tied up and sitting on the dirt near the group. A book is laid out in front of her, and... She is reading it to the Bulbins? She actually doesn't seem all that happy about it. It's some sort of simple children's story, about some hero of days old. She looks unhappy in her situation... As do the three children.

Priscilla has posed:
    Difficult terrain has long ceased to bother Priscilla. Aside from living on a snowy mountain for a thousand years, Lordran's untamed wilderness and bizarre sub-worlds have been less than inviting in past. A regular person would probably be sick and tired of the walk by the time they get there, but the halfbreed is ready for more. It doesn't take her long to assess the situation once she gets there either. With the fire lit and the camp relatively in order, not to mention the way the captured children easily stick out from bandits of an entirely different species, the individual points of interest are easy to pick out.

    Priscilla extends her general awareness, but she doesn't expect to pick up any particularly powerful souls in the vicinity. The leader of the mob looks physically imposing, but that's much more straightforward to deal with than magic or the supernatural. What she does while invisible is to flagrantly stride right into the camp, not even a whisper by the firelight, as she drops a standard Union commdot with each of the children, into their collars if necessary. She broadcasts the same message as them to the rest of the people present, her voice otherwise inaudible in the same way her ability hides the sound of her footfalls.

    "Children, do not speak or respond. Continue as if thou hearest nothing. Once the first creature falls, break and flee down the hillside and take refuge out of sight. Leaveth the cattle. They shalt be retrieved shortly after." She gives them a few moments to absorb the information, and failing any kind of inopportune freakout, she begins with the bulbins feeding the captives. Unlike conventional invisibility, no form of attack breaks her disguise. A phantom blade cleaves through flesh and bone with little more than the whistle of wind to betray its passage, though it cuts not by sharpened steel, but by completely disintegrating that which comes into contact with it with the intensity of its magic. Given the first opportunity, she slices the ropes with surgical precision.

Finna (513) has posed:
    A Snowy Owl is a bit out of place for this area, but Finna takes the form anyways. For the wings of the Snowy Owl are one of the best forms of airborne stealth she has, and really... who pays a lot of attention to birds anyways?

    She swoops in after the exhausting flight and lands on one of the rock outcroopings overlooking the situation.

    Already her attention's on the captives. Yeah, she can see them. What about the cattle-- ah, yeah, there, there they are.

    Hrm. Alone, she could probably swindle her way through this camp, but it'd be a bit tough to do it without losing a single cow or the captives being hurt...

    It would be better to wait until the captives aren't so CLOSE to all the Bulblins... unless she wants to risk just trying to MAUL all of them in one go. That... would be tough.

    "Gonna need the others..." She murmurs to herself.

Staren has posed:
    Staren gives Ilia a confused look. Alchoholic milk? "How does that even /work/?"

    Eventually, they're close enough that high-resolution cameras let Staren see the camp ahead. "They haven't killed /these/ children... but why not? What are they keeping them for?" He was ready to slaughter the monsters if need be. And he's still not 100% sure they weren't planning to, say, eat the kids and they're just fattening them up or something. But, he's inclined to show some mercy and try to talk to them, maybe.

    Rescuing the children takes priority, of course. It seems Priscilla's on that.

    Staren continues letting stealthy people do their thing. He'll step in later.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Milk can ferment, right? It has sugar (of a sort) in it, although milk going *bad* tends to mean something happened other than fermentation ... but that's a question for another time. Yuna's more worried about rescuing the kids and the cattle.

She winds up hovering over the camp with Elner as Priscilla tries to rescue the children - warning them, then starting to ambush the Bulblins. Elner transmits, "The 'monsters' don't seem to be terribly well organized ..." The human captives have already been found by the time Elner mentions them, and the cattle are pretty obvious.

And while she hates inflicting pain or suffering on anyone, human or otherwise, Yuna materializes her Matrix Divider and gets ready to start shooting Bulblins from above. At least the ones Priscilla is dealing with die too quickly to really suffer .... not that Yuna considers killing an improvement on less-lethal forms of violence; much the opposite, really. But if it looks like any of the green-skinned brigands are going to notice their fellows dying, Yuna attempts to prevent the raising of alarms by sniping would-be alarm-raisers with bolts of concussive light. They shouldn't be *lethal* shots, although if Bulblins are 'monsters' spawned of the Twilight or some such, it may be Yuna's compassion and mercy won't do any good - those bolts have a lot of holy/light-elemental power in them ...

Archer (821) has posed:
    Hearing Sarah's comment, Rin blinks and then shoots the girl a glare. "And what does that mean? You think I like being stuck with an obstinate, twisted /jerk/ like him for a Servant? Yes he's useful but he sometimes just isn't worth the headache." She crosses her arms at this, looking the picture of huffy, indignant exasperation with her nose turned upward towards the air.

    Even now, she was still every bit the girl Archer remembered.

    Rin regards Ilia blankly at the latter's question. "Not where I'm from at least... though that certainly explains why bandits would want them." When she sees the others leaving one by one, she sighs and brings a hand to her forehead. "Well, I'm not going to go rushing off and leave you unguarded, and me and Archer both fighting would drain my prana reserves too quickly. So I guess I'll be staying here. Jeez... what a pain."

    Finally, she spares a glance to Malon, Romani and Talon, pausing a minute before giving as reassuring a smile as she can - "Don't worry. My Servant may be a jerk, but he's actually pretty ernest. Between him and the others, I'm sure they'll find your sister in no time."

     Due to his nature as a spirit, Archer traverses the distance up the mountains relatively quickly. As Rin requested of him, he takes advantage of his invisibility to get close to the Bulbins, taking note of the cattle bones - apparently the Bulbins didn't care quite so much about the value of selling the milk - but especially of the sight of the three children and the teenage girl. Cremia, he assumed.

    Seeing this, he quickly bounded off his perch and dropped back down, slowly moving until he was directly behind the largest creature, facing the back of the throne.

     /"I am the bone of my sword."/

    Archer materializes behind the throne, simple nameless blades forming in small bursts of energy, hovering in place for a single moment... then flying forward into the throne, two lancing toward the forearms of the larger creature while the other pair stab for it's shins.

    They need this one alive - he's the one that assumedly gave the orders... and the only clue to finding out what they were doing or if any link existed between their actions and Ilia's village. Of course, chaos will break out now that he's visible and has just attacked their leader... but hopefully, that will give the children their chance to run, or for the others to save them.

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
Any response to Rin is going to need to wait.

Sarah hustles along the shaded areas as they head in towards the camp. She seems to have a knack for staying out of sight and unnoticed as long as she keeps her mouth shut. The distraction of the Bulblins allows for some superior positioning. Sarah moves in to get near, but can't get closer until the one feeding them is distracted somehow. As soon as they fall, Sarah moves in and begins untying their bonds. "Hey there. Let's get home." She says to them, simply. "Stay low and quiet unless you like getting people who came to save you killed. I don't judge much." Sarah will begin leading them out of the area provided nothing happens to prevent her from doing so.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     The children perk up the moment they hear the voices. It looks like they /try/ not to act, but still. This is obviously a big surprise for them. Meaningful glances are exchanged between the three. Cremia simply keeps reading without reacting, though.

     Yuna does a good job taking out the few people who /might/ sound the alarm. These guys don't seem that well organized, though. Or bright. Any chance of an alarm being sounded immediately fails, giving the heroes a chance to rush in.

     Unfortunately for Archer, though? The King Bulbin is surprisingly quick to react. The mment he hears the phrase, he immediately leaps to a standing position. Two of the blades still hit, though. One in his right shin, the other in his left forearm. The King Bulbin screams out in pain, before turning around and just /roaring/ at Archer. He reaches for one of the weapons on his belt, a gigantic wrought-iron axe. For most people, this would be a two handed weapon. For him? He weilds it fairly effortlessly in one hand. Despite his size and injuries? He moves fast. He smashes through his chair, swinging the axe down at Archer.

     The other Bulbins reach for their own weapons. Bows, mostly. They're all aimed towards Archer, preparing to fire, getting ready.

     Luckily for Sarah? Everyone is /pissed/ at Archer, and unaware of anyone else. They're getting ready to swarm him. The three kids, and Cremia? They're ignored. There is plenty of time to untie the four of them, each one of them start running out of the camp, back towards Lon Lon Ranch.

     Notably, though? Cremia is wearing a necklace. It doesn't look carved by a human. It looks like something the Bulbins gave to her, for some unknown reason. But, this skull totem glows with a soft light, suddenly. She looks down at it, somewhat confused, as she works on getting out of there. She's starting to tug at it, trying to unbind the string from behind her neck.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Priscilla will likely realize? The Soul of the King Bulbin? It is, in fact, surprisingly powerful.

Archer (821) has posed:
    At the camp, Rin winces when she feels Archer's distress across the area, worried the Servant has gotten himself into more trouble then he can handle - as usual.
    Archer curses when the giant bulbin reacts with the speed befitting a Berserker-Class, forcing Archer on his back-foot at the sight of the incoming axe. Thinking as fast as he can, Archer calls upon a weapon - a large, two-handed broadsword he hefts with both arms - and swings the blade up to counteract the strike.

    It's only somewhat effective, the axe cutting into the nameless sword and getting lodged there a moment before a flick of the wrist splits it in half, the force sending Archer tumbling back into a roll so as to get himself back on his feet.

    Even if it was nameless, to break the blade so quickly... this wasn't an ordinary opponent. He was strong, and he was cunning enough to be trouble.

     "Trace; On."

    Kanshou and Bakyua form in his hands, and a dozen nameless weapons materialize around him in mid-air. Prana surges through him as Archer lunges forward toward the Bulbin King while the blades streak forward for the Bulbin archers. Archer purposefully leaves his flank exposed during his charge to try and goad the Bulbin King into attacking there - an arguably-suicidal style of intentionally having gaps in his guard so as to know where his enemy would strike and counter the attack when it came. As he does, his right arm swings forward, arching for the Bulbin's left kneecap.

    He had to weaken the mobility of this thing if he was going to get a foothold against it. Moreover, he had to keep it invested in the fight, lest the it and the other Bulbins noticed his allies trying to free Cremia.

Priscilla has posed:
    The King Bulbin complicates things slightly. The disorganized rabble would take minutes at most to clean up, but letting someone fight alone against him specifically, while potentially viable, seems like an unnecessary risk; doubly so if his minions come to his aid. Though Priscilla is pleased with the children's relative calm and the ease of dispatching the unaware bulbins beside them, the camp doesn't stay unalerted for long. Yuna did well in allowing her time to work without an alarm being raised, but, though attempting to take the leader hostage wasn't a bad idea, it seems that Archer may have underestimated his quarry, and so their cover has been blown.

    "Lead them well away from here." she utters to Sarah, giving her the verbal equivalent of a nod of acknowledgement since the girl currently can't see her. As soon as the children are down over the first ledge, she whirls on the rest, quickly appraising the situation. Yuna and Staren are well known to be capable combatants, but seem to want to insist on non-lethal means. Finna she has her doubts about, but at least an exalted shouldn't be easy to kill. Archer seems to be demonstrating the right combination of prowess at arms and willingness to kill, but is tied up with the king Bulbin.

    If they want to take the big guy alive, the first two Elites would be the best bet, and Cremia looks like she might need help, which Finna is on, so Priscilla focuses on cutting down the lesser bulbins to deprive them of their numerical advantage against Archer. As they ready their bows, the air shivers with a sound that almost sounds like the chiming of an ethereal bell, and then splits before an arc of ghostly light, scything through as many bulbins as can be loosely lined up at the most convenient angle, before violently detonating in a blue-white conflagration of raw soulfire. She follows up in the period in which they should still be blinded, staggering, or looking around for the source of the attack, a dervish of invisible butchery ploughing through the ranks. It's not exactly stealthy, but at the very least, they should have a hard time actually hitting her, and it keeps them off of Archer for the time being.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
So much for doing it quietly, but at least the heroes managed to get something of an advantage.

Yuna dives out of the sky, zooming over the camp; the Matrix Divider is no longer in her hands, but instead, her vambraces have opened to reveal the pulse-blaster arrays hidden beneath the armor. And as Yuna flies over the Bulblin camp, she opens fire, sprays of focused energy bolts raking amongst the Bulblins.

She's STILL holding back enough to try not to kill the Bulblins - but she wants them out of action, and fast.

Finna (513) has posed:
    With Priscilla and Archer on the offensive in a way that's SURE to draw all KINDS of attention. If she's going to get the three out of there INTACT, it's gonna have to be through a bit of a risky manuever. Sarah's going to need considerable protection and a further distraction. Power floods Finna's body, enough power that the Snowy Owl guise cannot contain it. The mark of the moon appears upon her brow just as she leaps forwards, shifting from snowy owl straight to her 7-foot-tall Warform and slamming down right in the group's middle.

    Although this form's undoubtedly derived from her vulpine spirit, there's nothing at all CUTE or particularly alluring about the DEADLY BEASTMAN TRANSFORMATION form that Finna's adroped. Every inch ripples with densely packed muscle, much denser than the lithe limbs hint at. The beastwoman stands upright and unleashes a bone-chilling, blood-curdling screech that speaks straight to the instincts of any living creature.

    Those little instincts that say 'do not go out at night, the wild beasts will chew the meat from your bones.'

    That Beast is now in the midst of the Bulblin camp. It's aglow so fiercely that its actual form is hard to distinguish. Light and shadow mixes strangely in a bonfire blaze of twisting, flickering moonlight and thick shadows that cast. Within the aura the creature itself seems almost a living white-silver fire with golden, slitted eyes. Its phantasmal spirit, a titanic fox that's easily ten times bigger than the actual body, fills the skies above the camp. It's probably even visible from Lon Lon Ranch!

    And this beast dives for the Bulblins like a tiger after prey, clawed limbs ripping one way and the next. Sometimes Finna lets loose with a backhand, but each blow's made with enough strength to crack a boulder!

Staren has posed:
    Now? Now there is no more need for stealth. Staren leaps. A flick of wings and thrusters are used, together with robotic strength, to make it a /flying/ leap. Light washes over him as he tumbles through the air. When he lands in the camp (cratering the ground slightly), he is clearly not human, or even organic. The appearance would /scream/ robot to anyone that knew the word, all basic shapes rather than exacting imitation of a human - a boot shape instead of feet with toes, for instance. Expressionless eyes that look kind of like headlights. Staren levels a phaser and starts firing stun shots at the archers. "What did you want with these children?!" he demands, although he hasn't really given much of a reason to /answer/ him.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     The Bulbin King falls for it, moving in to attach at Archer's weakpoint. As the giant creature moves in, it opens its mouth, roaring again. The creature's breath is almost as bad as it's roar. Perhaps worse. Smelly, rotten teeth are inside it, teeth mostly suited for gnashing at meat. He swings his axe in, only to be hit in its knee by the blade. A gash, and blood leaks out. Green, dark blood.

     A number of the archer bulbins are struck by Archer's blades, causing them to fall to the ground. Revenge is desired, but then, they have to deal with Priscilla. The scythe cuts through the smaller bulbins, cutting through them with ease. They do bleed on death. But, these aren't just Shadow creatures of evil. They fall to the ground, dead. Priscilla could easily take their souls, though they're all relatively weak. Some of them are spared by Yuna, though. Her hits manage to knock some down, letting them fall to the ground, unconcious. Staren, similarly, manages to stun a number of them, though he gets no answer as to /why/. A few of the unconcious ones still die, though. Finna isn't being careful, slaughtering chunks of the group at a time, and accidentally stepping on some of those fallen unconcious.

     At this point, though? The numbers are dwindling /fast/. A group of Bulbins like this would certainly be a challenge for any one person here. With this group as a whole, though? It's not a challenge, at all. And King Bulbin even /realizes/ it. He is brought to his knee, angrily looking towards Archer, and angrily looking to the others present.

     But, suddenly, a noise in the sky. A low rumble. Those sensitive to such will detect a fair amount of magic. Looking up, something /alien/ is in the sky. It looks like a flat wall of blackness. Green lines, almost like circuitry patterns, cover it. The flat surface suddenly shifts, a tunnel inside. A tunnel that has the feeling of reaching into someplace /else/. The King Bulbin is, slowly, being lifted into the sky. Into the tunnel. He shifts a bit, surprised at first, as he is lifted up. But, after a glance up? He looks calm.

     All of his troops, though? They're already fleeing by traditional means, and so they're unlikely to get sucked up into the magical escape portal.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
That's definitely not a good sign, is it? Yuna comes out of her strafing runs, glancing up at the blackness and the hole - and tries really, REALLY hard not to give in to the desire to just go flying straight back home and pull the blankets up over her head. Elner is, of course, more level-headed about the situation ... but given that magical phenomena continue to largely defy its sensors, there's not much the robo-faerie can evaluate, and Elner quickly flits over to Yuna to try and help her keep her wits, plus 'nudging' Erina to keep Yuna from getting pulled into the magical wormhole in the sky.

Yuna's extremely freaked out at this point, but at least she's being quiet about it.

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
Sarah was worried for a moment as everything went to hell, but the rampant dissection of the camp by the other Elites shows that she more or less has gotten the assumptions down on the general competency of those present.

"Why can't I get /these/ people in my damn Session?" Sarah gripes quietly as she helps lead the kids out with the benefit of coverage from the fighters of the group.

It's when the King bulblin bails through that weird portal in the air that Sarah actually stops, staring up at the hole in space for a short time as she works to fit that into her ongoing understanding of the situation in Hyrule.

"That... Is bad news." Sarah concludes, and turns to the kids. "Let's go!" She tells them, trying to get them all out there collected with Cremia, wherein maybe they can all begin to share info on the way back to Lon Lon Ranch.

Priscilla has posed:
    As the last bulbin either falls or flees, Priscilla's veil of invisibility drops with another whistle of air, her dress briefly fluttering as she finds herself suddenly standing ankle deep in corpses. Moonlight shines by her side in the swiftly dimmin light of the setting sun, somehow stained with not a single drop of blood. At her presence, the usual happens. Orbs of pale, colourless, silent flame, rise up from the bodies of the slain, gently drifting over and spiralling in towards her, as if caught in an invisible vortex, before simply fading into her, suffusing her with a short lived glow. It isn't even a conscious decision on her part. She doesn't take their souls; they simply come to her.

    The king bulbin looked to be at a severe enough disadvantage to surrender when she had done so, but mere moments after, as she turns to reaffirm the fact that Archer has won, or is at least about to win, she finds her gaze torn upward by the hole that opens in the sky, or rather, the hole that opens in what has /appeared/ in the sky. Both the precise form and general aesthetic of the magic are well outside of what she's used to, more bizarre than something she'd naturally call sorcery. It's obviously a very significant event, but she can't fly, and thus has no way to reach the escaping king, and she has little investment in slaying every enemy to the last when the goal had simply been to return the farmer's children. She takes a second glance around, and then resigns herself to tracking down Cremia to make sure she hasn't gotten separated, suspicious of that necklace she had glanced earlier.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Freakish magic goes everywhere and Finna's forced to leap away from the Bulblin bloodbath. Her beastly form heaves and pants, not with exhaustion, but with the effort to NOT CONTINUE that bloodbath. An induced berserker fury that's requiring ALL of Finna's effort to keep down. That's why she leaps away from anything alive and just crouches, breathing. The insane glow dies down a notch or two, the giant phantasmal fox vnihin into her body as she shifts back to human form... but most of that power's still whirling around her. Probably will be for some time. "Okay, that was easier than I expected...!!!"

    But every fiber of er being is singing with the violence and wants to re-engage in it. NO, all of her reasning answers...

Staren has posed:
    Well, this certainly went in an... unexpected direction! Staren stops fighting bulbins and looks for Cremia. "Cremiiiiaaa! We have to get out of here!" Then he remembers he looks scary, and a light washes over him, restoring his normal appearance.

    They certainly can't let /her/ get sucked up into this thing! He will bodily pick her up and carry her out of there if he needs to!

Archer (821) has posed:
    Rin's reaction to seeing the large, slab-like ship is a mixture of shock and disbelief as she watches what looks like a scene straight out of the horrible science-fiction soap-operas she always scoffed at.

    Dragons, she could believe. Goblins? Tricker, but she could comprehend it. But /aliens?/ Multiverse or not, the sight was probably the last thing she would ever have expected to see, and she can't help but glance at Ilia with a look of trepidation.

    Moreover, she wasn't even sure if she was right or not since the sight before her looked disturbingly like someone had painted Magic Circuits into the sky itself, reminding her vividly of a mage construct.

    "Okay. I get that things work differently here. Milk is like alcohol and there's roving bands of monsters - sure. Whatever. I've heard of crazier things." In spite of herself, Rin sounds somewhat unhinged, letting out a short, high-pitched anxious laugh at the end before moving toward the window a few steps, now pointing directly at the slab in the sky. "But, could you please tell me... exactly what the hell /that/ thing is supposed to be?? Because I don't care how different your reality is from mine - that /cannot/ be normal!!"

Archer (821) has posed:
    Up close in his battle with the Bulbin King, Archer smirks in satisfaction when the king acts as planned, throwing his body into a combat roll with the momentum of his strike to the enemy's knee in order to carry himself underneath the arc of the incoming axe. As he makes his combat roll, Archer swings with his other blade, trying to gash open the Bulbin King's side-

    And is forced to break this attack off when he feels reality itself distort above him, backpedaling away from the King Bulbin before he can potentially be caught in the effect himself. Looking upward, Archer's eyes widen in a very rare moment of genuine shock at the sight of what looks like either an alien ship or a summoned gateway pulling the Bulbin King away.

    Even while leaping away to escape the portal's reach, Archer sees the king's expression is calm - he recognizes what's happening it seemed... and was wiling to let it take him away.

     Not that Archer would just let him, or at least without trying to stop him.

    but he didn't want to waste the prana on an arrow that might not hit the target - so he went for something quick.

    Twin flashes of prana replace the blades in his hands, one hand now holding his bow. Drawing the Hound of the Red Plains from the field of blades forever within his mind, he knocks the twisted black arrow back against the drawstring and pulls it taunt.

    He doesn't have the time to 'break' it or even charge it, so for all intents and purposes it is being shot as a simple arrow... but it is an arrow that will not miss so long as he keeps the target in his sights. He doubts it will kill the creature - he doesn't have enough time to make it that strong a shot - but at the very least it should still /hurt./

     "Hurnting!"

    The black arrow flies forward, streaking for the Bulbin King and shifting course to follow his accent - so long as he remains in the sights of Archer's bow, the arrow will home in on him.

    A warning to the creature that, if they meet again, Archer can kill him without having to get close to him.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     King Bulbin is lifted into the air. He isn't laughing down at the enemies, though. No. Instead, he almost has a look on his face that can read as being one of Respect. But, the arrow follows him. He is struck, right in the stomach. Another spot, injured. He winces, looking down. His eyes meeting Archer's. A mix of respect, and anger, is in his look. The opening in the sky closes.

     Back at the ranch? Ilia looks up to the mountain, in awe. Her mouth hangs open. She looks at a loss for words. But, finally, she says but one thing.

     "...I have no idea what that is."

     The children went with Sarah, all being reasonable. Who knows how long it has been since they last saw humans aside themselves? Cremia ran a bit ahead, though she stops to let the others to catch up. But, glancing back at the camp? She lets out a sigh of relief... Before spotting the thing in the sky.

     "...What... What is /that/?"

     Yes. It does seem that Talon was, in fact, partially right on the strange object in the sky. He was drunk on milk at the time, so details were wrong. But, it is almost certainly possible for people to guess what happened: The portal opened, Bulbins were dumped out, and then they lured the cows out via standard means during the night. That is when the girls got up, and looked, and when Talon passed out drunk.

     But for now? Cremia just sighs. She's finally gotten the necklace off her neck. She frowns at it, before tossing it to the ground in anger. She speaks, rather quietly. She is a girl who is normally rather cheerful and happy. At the moment, she's angry, and sad.

     "They gave that to me. I... I don't know why they took me, too. Or the kids. They wanted me to read to them. And... That's all they had me do. I think they might have wanted to... Learn about us? Or maybe they just caused chaos....?" She sighs, completely at a loss.

     Her foot steps down hard on the skull totem. And suddenly, it breaks. In it's place, a teardrop-shaped piece of light. It causes Cremia to shield her eyes, confused at its presence.

Priscilla has posed:
    It seems Priscilla has joined Cremia at just the right time. She doesn't immediately recognize what a Tear of Light is, having not yet seen one up until this point, but to other senses than just her common sense, there are very few things that could exist of its apparent nature. Priscilla simply closes her current remaining eye, navigating by soulsense to the source of blinding light and grasping hold of it as best she is able, folding it into a bolt of worn white cloth to try and dim it down a little.

    "It matters little by now." she says to the girl, trying to sound reassuring. "They shalt not likely be returning. Think instead of thine father." Sarah seems to have executed her end without a hitch, and so Priscilla guides her the short way back to the children under her supervision, and then begins the long trek back, plainly visible this time.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     One of the kids, the young blonde boy, speaks up. He's rather quiet, and speaks in but a whisper.

     "One... one of the others who was with us... He... He got seperated from us as we travelled here. We... We don't know what happened to him. We... We want to go home, but... If you find a missing child named Malo, please let us know... ....alright?"

     The boy looks incredibly worried.

     ELSEWHERE.

     Hyrule Castle Town. It has, overall, been a rather dreary place. But, amongst the darkness of the harsh rule of Agahnim? There is a single bright light.

     Loud music comes out of a brightly lit store. Inside, every single customer and employee is dancing to the catchy music constantly being played within. The place is almost obnoxious.

     In the corner of the store, the small child, Malo, smiles as he looks over his work.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Slowly recovering from her freak-out, Yuna glides over to where the freed children are talking to the others, and her boots settle to the ground as she nods to the blond-haired boy. "A boy by the name of Malo ... all right, I'll try and remember to ask around for him in the other safe zones we find." She smiles, "You've been braver than some people might be, getting captured like that and keeping your heads together. Shall we take him back to Lon Lon Ranch if we find him, or just bring back word that we found him and how he's doing?"

Archer (821) has posed:
     Rin, in response to Ilia's words, cups her face in one hand and mutters in exasperation - "You don't know... great. That's just great." She then puts her hands against the window-sill and sighs worriedly. "Dammit... just what the heck is going on in this place?"

    Archer narrows his eyes at the sight of Hurnting getting firmly lodged in the Bulbin King's stomach - there must have been far more muscle-mass then body-fat to have stopped the arrow from going all the way through him. In fact it didn't even look like it would become more then a new scar for the massive patriarch to boast to his underlings about.

    Archer kept that in mind for the future - only charged arrows would be lethal... however, toward the goal of taking him alive, uncharged arrows would likely do well enough.

    When the Bulbin King vanishes into the portal, Archer lets out a breath as his weapons dematerialize, looking around him at the carnage that was unleashed by the others during his fight with the Bulbin King.

    A slaughter ground. A not unfamiliar sight... though not exactly a welcome one either... but neither is it unexpected. After all, it was life or death, and leaving any alive to come after them would have endangered the ranch and the farmers.

    However, as they leave the mountains to return to the Lon Lon Ranch, Archer realizes he senses something familiar - a crystallization of energy he'd felt at the Forsaken Fortress. He glances to where the disturbance originates... and catches sight of Cremia with the tall, pale-skinned woman who had silently butchered many of the Bulbin archers - something he was thankful for, yet it didn't lessen his sense of unease at trying to puzzle out exactly what she was.

    Deciding to approach, Archer makes his way over to the group, brow furrowed as if trying to discern something - then his eye catches on the glowing object folded up in a bundle of cloth in one of her hands, letting slight surprise leak onto his features. "You actually found one of the 'Tears of Light' here? Did that Bulbin patriarch drop it in the chaos or did you find it somewhere else?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    The King Bulblin may have escaped, but now that Finna's gotten her wits back about her, she... apparently vanishes from her perch, leaping off into the shadows.

    But not without a good reason. There are many Bulblins scattering into the wilds, and it will be child's play for her to pounce on ONE of them and capture them for questioning.

    A language barrier of any sort won't stop her at all, nor will a cultural one. She'll... figure SOMETHING out.

Priscilla has posed:
    After quickly checking on the others via the radio, Priscilla presumes she will arrive shortly. Even if the sun goes down fully, the dark poses little obstacle to her, and she has all the patience necessary to help Cremia through the rocks should it be needed. She does temporarily stop as she senses Archer coming however, the spiritual profile of a Servant, as always, unmistakable, being a veritable bonfire of that kind of power.

    "The creature either had no idea of its significance, or intentionally left it with this girl. The totem . . ." she gestures vaguely to Cremia's collarbone. "I am gladdened to hear that such is exactly what this is. I didst hath mine doubts for a moment." she finally admits, keeping close hold of the precious object. "Talon ill needs to know of it. His daughter is returned, as shalt his livestock be shortly."

Staren has posed:
    Staren gives a sort of frustrated grunt. Does nothing today make /any/ sense?

    Asks the robot catboy from another dimension.

    "I wonder if we've been played, somehow. Someone tricks the bublins into trying to learn about you, we retaliate..." Staren looks around at the bodies, and shakes his head. "We'll get to the bottom of this, eventually." He looks curiously at the strange light that forms. Reflexively, he squints at it, and then his sensors adjust to the brightness. A teardrop-shaped light? Almost like... a tear of light. Is /that/ what they look like? Staren nods as Priscilla takes it. "...Yeah. Let's get you kids home."

    Why was a tear of light inside a weird necklace...?