3072/Returning Ilia to Ordon Village

Returning Ilia to Ordon Village
Date of Scene:	20 September 2015
Location:	The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
Synopsis:	Ilia is returned to her home, where the group learns that some of the children of the village were stolen as well.
Cast of Characters:	Staren, 73, 513, Sir Gawain, 789, 821, 864
Tinyplot:	Clearing the Twilight

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Agahnim (864) has posed:
     During the attack on Forsaken Fortress, the adventurers managed to rescue Ilia, from the village of Ordon. She has requested the Union take her there. It has been some time since the last time the group set out, but Ilia needed time to prepare for her journey. And, from Kakariko village, the group has had to travel quite a distance. It has, luckily, been mostly free of the Twilight. It's still a long hike, though, over vast plains.

     At long last, the group has arrived at the border of the Ordon Forest. And, within this land, the Twilight has returned. For some reason, Ilia is not transforming as the others do. Instead, she remains human, though she looks over the group happily as they walk through Ordon Forest.

     Some trees are around here and there, though it looks like the landscape was recently burnt in a fire. Ilia looks at this with a sadness, though she doesn't seem surprised by this. The path forward now leads over a rickety bridge. The bridge is wooden, with long strands of rope supporting the edges. It leads over a canyon, at the bottom of which is a fast moving river.

     The village is visible past the bridge. Some recently burnt trees are near it. The village itself is rather simple. The homes are mostly square wooden buildings, mostly log cabins. A stream runs through the center of town, with various wooden log bridges to allow passage over them.

     The people in town, though? They stand around, looking frozen in place. Their bodies are transparent, all of them in a sort of blue spirit form. The vast majority of them are sitting down, in prone positions. Hands on their faces, fear conveyed through their posture.

     Ilia herself? She has stopped at the bridge itself, looking terrified of the sight of the town before her.

Finna (513) has posed:
    This time, Finna has chosen to not heed the wishes of the Twilight at all. She remains in human form, but has exchanged her hunter's clothes for some simple traveler's attire in the local styles, including a scarf so big that it's blowing around like a cloak whenever the wind blows. Her bow's slung across her body and sword sheathed at her side. Moonsilver Tattoos glow brightly in the strange lighting conditions the Twilight casts everything in, though thankfully most of her body's covered, so only bits of her face - cheeks, mostly - show said markings.

    "Well, I've seen worse damage. Looks like whatever came through here didn't want to ruin the village."

    She casts a rather sideways glance at Ilia, pondering just HOW the young woman is apparently immune to the Twilight. And why she's special enough to be imprisoned. Daughter of someone important? Has some special spiritual trait, maybe? She has no idea.

    "Disturbing lack of flesh around though. Hope these poor souls can sit tight until we've straightened it out. Gotta collect the Tears of Light for the Ordon spirit, right..."

Staren has posed:
    They're going to walk /how/ far? "Can't we bring a vehicle? Or even some horses?" Using his flight protoabstractum actually takes concentration and a small amount of energy, so it's not like Staren can effortlessly hover along. During the trip, he's mostly staring into space, working with a computer interface only he can see.

    And then they finally each the edge of the Twilight, his focus returns. He considers the barrier curiously for a moment, then turns into a cat and hops through, before turning back to watch the others enter.

    "It looks like there was a forest fire. I wonder what caused it?" Staren-cat wonders allowed, in his squeaky voice.

    And then... spirit village. "Okay, /that's/ new. Do you think it has anything to do with why the Twilight doesn't effect Ilia?" he bounds over to the 'spirits', circling one from several feet away, looking for anything about them that might hint as to what's going on. "I don't like the looks of this. A spell? Were they scared by the return of the Twilight?" He looks for something to climb, so he can get to a high perch and see if the people in the entire village are all afraid of something in one location or direction, or if someone... or something... might have gone around the town, terrorizing and ghosting them one group at a time. Or perhaps there was more than one.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica, as before, is stuck in hedgehog form. She sighed theatrically when forced to enter the twilight once again, but... well, her body language doesn't seem too displeased. She's grown used to being a hedgehog, and of course being told hedgehogs are cute has done wonders for her self-esteem in this form.

    She sighs at Staren's question. "It's not new. ALL people turn into those spirits in the Twilight." she reminds him. "Except the rare few who turn into animals instead. And Ilia here." she adds. It's bizarre, but there's nothing unique about this place other than Ilia herself. "They're not scared, they've all become affected by the Twilight. And since it's been years, I don't think we have to worry about them sitting tight while we investigate. They can be helped or they can't. Undue haste on our part won't help."

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
Sarah traveled with the others through the long trek to Ordon with only mild kvetching. She walked on her own two feet and only sassed the general environment occasionally. Maybe she was in something approaching a good mood since they're making reasonable progress and there seem to be competent people handy.

It's when they hit the Twilight that Sarah indulges herself, perching upon Ilia. Whether it's comfortable or not depends on how much you like having a cat on your head or shoulder.

It's when they reach the town that Sarahcat pauses, looking over the environment and the people within, and shakes her head. "Okay, this sucks." She actually gives Ilia a pat on the shoulder with a paw in some semblance of consolation before she jumps down. "We can find a solution though. Maybe if we remove the Twilight they'll return to normal."

She looks over to the others. "Come on guys, let's spread out and look for clues." For some reason, the spooky and ghostly environment doesn't seem to put Sarah off. She begins padding across the bridge so she can start investigating the village in more detail.

Archer (821) has posed:
    For the Servant of the Bow, walking was not truly an issue. He didn't get fatigued the way normal humans did, only experiencing such if he was hitting prana depletion in combat. That didn't mean it wasn't tedious - even more so as he was, at the moment, not even human.

    Once again, Archer was in Hyrule, and once again he had been made into a red fox by the strange 'Twilight' that dotted the land, his shroud present as two sleeves with the waist-cape becoming a cloak around his neck.

    He spared a glance to group, curious as to why Ilia - the girl they had rescued from the fortress a few weeks prior - wasn't being affected or changing either. Perhaps it had something to do with why she was taken in the first place? Seeing her concerned look, Archer takes the chance to speak up - "I assume this place was in better condition before you were taken prisoner?"

    Another thing that caught his attention... was the swordsman who had joined them today.

    Another Servant like him. A Saber-Class... and one he indirectly knew, for he'd traced that blade already... from Emiya Shirou, during the war in Shiva.

    Sir Gawain, Knight of the Sun... and Knight of the Round Table of Camelot.

    One of /her/ knights... like Mordred. Another person with a tie to her... like Emiya Shirou himself.

    It cemented things a bit more... especially after he'd read the more recent Union reports.

     "So a knight graces our presence?" His words are careful - Emiya Shirou must have met him to have his blade traced, but he was not sure if the two were just acquaintances or allies... or if the boy had told Gawain about him. "I don't suppose anything in your time might have given you a clue as to what this is? After all, as a knight, you surely must have faces your share of witches or sorceress'."

    The indirect reference to Morgan le Fay - the woman who's jealousy largely caused the events of Camelot's downfall - was a risk due to likely being a sensitive topic, but it would set up the grounds for the knight to be less guarded, making it seem like Archer himself was familiar with the time-period... and ensuring that, when or if he finally did meet the King of Knights again, his being able to recognize her wouldn't seem out of place to the Knight of the Sun.

Sir Gawain has posed:
Sir Gawain is here to help, the golden retriever dressed in his armor, Excalibur Galatine in his mouth, the knight ready to- wait. Yep, Sir Gawain has been transformed by the Twilight, a large golden retriever, though he still has his Servant abilities. Walking alongside the path, he stops next to Ilia, sheathing his blade so he can talk. "We can save them, right? I assume there's a cure!"

Gawain is then addressed by Archer, who he nods to. "I know exactly what this is...it's magic!" The dog joyfully nods, as he looks back at the village, though he has little clue on who this fox is.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Ilia doesn't seem to mind Sarah upon her shoulder. She almost looks like she wanted to pet Sarah a few times, but she of course thought better of it. She sighs a little, looking at the village. But then, the pat on the shoulder. Ilia actually msiles a little, especialyl as Sarah confirms that the situation isn't the best.

     "...There is... /something/ a bit different. When I left, this village wasn't usually covered in Twilight. ...But that was just three weeks ago. The Twilight could have grown."

     And, a stare is given forward, towards the village. She finally starts to walk over the bridge. A glance towards Archer.

     "...And, yes. Even aside the Twilight, this place is different. When I was kidnapped, there was a fire set by the monsters...."

     A grim look is on her face as she makes her way across the bridge. "...I have no idea if anyone else was hurt or not in the attack." 5r

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Once Staren is in the village proper, he can hear muttering from them. It's much like a broken record. The vast majority of them are sitting down on the ground, or kneeling against it, looking compeltely in fear. But, they each can be heard speaking, over and over again. Each saying a different phrase. A selection of the repeated phrases are as follows:

     "Why did they have to burn the village... why?"

     "So many... Where is my wife? What happened to my wife?"

     "My daughter... Why did they take my daughter?"

     "Why did they carry off so many children...?"

     ...That's probably an ominous sign.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Want an eye in the skies? I can scout around, make sure nobody's out to ambush us..." Although before she does that, she first stops where she stands and exhales quietly. The young woman's foxy ears turn back and forth like radar dishes, honed by a flow of Essence through her effort. Suddenly mumbles from afar are heard clear as day. Were there a crow or owl in a nearby tree she'd be hearing its heartbeat. Everyone else's heartbeats, well, they're certainly audible. The only question is, does anything in all of that stand out of place?

    The same goes for smell. She takes a few whiffs of the wind.. there's burned trees, but how recent is the burning? Is there a TRAIL perhaps?

    Because she can hear the anguish. At one point she'd consider such raids on other tribes just part of existence, not -exactly- her business, but she made a vow. The first really mature thing she's done since Exaltation.

    It's her business now.

Staren has posed:
    Staren /jumps/ when he first hears them speak, looking around for the source before realizing it's the spirit. Now his tail is all bushy. "...Okay, that is seriously creepy..." he pads back towards the group to relay his findings to any that stayed with Ilia. "The... spirit-forms repeat a single phrase over and over... it sounds like 'they' invaded, burn..." he suddenly realizes he's talking to someone who /lived/ here and this is her /home/, but, too late to try and soften the blow now, "...burned the village, and kidnapped people, especially the children. Any, um..." he looks for /someone/ who might be better at talking to Ilia more gently about this to help, "any idea who they might be talking about...?"

Archer (821) has posed:
    For a brief moment, Archer half-deadpans at Gawain, idly wondering to himself if this sudden feeling of amazed exasperation was what Rin experienced back when she had been teaching his past hopeless self long ago. "Yes... clearly it is magic" he finally replies, slight hints of irritation leaking out.

    That this was magic was palliatively obvious. What he had hoped was that Gawain had enough experience with it to know anything about countering it. After all, as a Knight of the Round he would have known Morgan le Fey and seen her curses at work, and even if not then he would have at least have known Merlin - even though the latter was assumedly less likely to use his magic for something like this.

     Looking at the scene of the village closer, the mournful whispers reach his ears - perhaps his being a Spirit himself helps him hear it better considering he's not as close as Staren.

    And as he listens, Archer gives a small sigh, a rather grim thought crossing his mind - one he doesn't bother to keep to himself as all options should be considered in this instance; "Aren't we assuming too much in hoping this is reversible? Are they even still alive for that matter? For all we know, these are simply lingering spirits who are frozen in the positions they died in. That or, if they are in fact disembodied, their bodies may no longer be in a state with which to return them to life. After all, judging by the look of this place" - he inclines his head to the surrounding, charred forests - "it doesn't look like they were being too careful about who they killed... or at least not immediately so, since the village wasn't leveled entirely."

    With this, he glances to the girl. "Perhaps the reason they didn't just destroy the village wholesale was so as not to harm you - maybe they wanted you out alive before they actually killed anyone... and after you were gone, nothing was left to hold them back. If that's the case, it's not restoring them that the issue is... but rather resurrecting them from what is looking more and more like death."

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica considers giving a smack to Staren, but decides against it on grounds of her current form doing far more damage with that sort of thing than even she'd normally intend. Though while she's debating this, Archer opens his mouth. She just stares at the fox. "You are SUCH an idiot." she declares, possibly resembling Rin in this. He's more an idiot because of what he says to the girl rather than his specific arguments. Still, it's easier to speak to the words than to address the tone.

    "We know the Twilight affects things and people, and that when it goes away those effects are reversed. There is NO reason to assume anyone's dead just because they LOOK dead. So don't lose heart!" This last to Ilia. "Not over this jerk."

Sir Gawain has posed:
"It is better to have hope than not! I will act under the impression we can save their lives!" Dogawain barks zealously, travelling closer to the village to sniff around. "What are we looking for? Anything specific?"

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
Sarah pads through the village, listening to the words of the people. Okay, so some people invaded and kidnapped children.

This sounds like a problem that needs resolving. She begins walking around through the area, looking for trakcs or signs of what direction the attack might have come from. "Do what you guys are going to do. It just looks like this is a Twilight thing so I was working off of that assumption instead of them being super dead. Ilia mentioned that the village wasn't under Twilight before, so what looks like happened is that the village was clear, /then/ the attack happened, and then the Twilight rolled in while people were reeling from the aftermath of the invasion."

She pauses. "So within the last three weeks. That's what you said, right, Ilia?"

Her tail snaps irritably. "Okay, people, let's stay on task. We're going to backtrack these guys. Follow them back to their place and hit them hard. They wanted the kids for a reason, probably related to whatever caused the Twilight to move in. Look for signs and maybe any tools we can use. Be careful, this place has been hit by fire so some of the areas might be unstable."

At that, Sarah begins doing exactly what she told everyone else to do: Look for tracks and signs of where the kids might have been taken, as well as anything that might be promising for use.

these people aren't using it, after all.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     There is in fact a trail of destruction, leading from the city. A burnt out path through the forest, with a number of fallen small trees that look like they were trampled, going both ways. It seems this was their way in, and way out. It leads to the north east, and would be relatively easy to follow some distance into the woods.

     There is sadness on Ilia's face as she is within the village proper. Her eyes look all over the place. A long glance is given towards a particular tree that has been burnt down, a treehouse home within having fallen to the ground and burnt into just a frame itself. She sighs in relief, though, looking at two people. An older man, and woman.

     "...Thank the Goddesses that at least my parents are alright."

     A blank look is on Ilia's face at what Archer, said. There is so little known about the Twilight, that the fear within her is somewhat justified. She wonders, for a moment, if they might be dead. But, she relaxes as she listens to Frederica. "...I'm sure they'll be fine."

     Ilia looks to Staren... Frowning. And then, she looks around again. "...The children... There were a number of them in this town. And... And I don't see a single one of them. They must have been taken, just like me." She pauses, trying to stay as strong as she can.

     "...But. They have to be safe. I was kept safe, after all."

     There are a number if items that can in fact be stolen from the town. Above the door to the Mayor's house, there is a shield made of wood that can be stolen. There is also a local store, a small little shop with an open door. A shop person is at the counter, stuck in spirit form. It looks like they sell milk, be larva, lantern oil, Deku Nuts, Deku Sticks, and slingshots, as far as /really/ unique local items you wouldn't find in normal stores in other worlds.

Archer (821) has posed:
    Archer can't help but half-chuckle to himself when he hears Frederica speak, indeed finding himself briefly reminded of Rin by her comment and her attempt to reassure Ilia. Even the way she called him a jerk sounded much the same. "I'm simply being honest about our chances" he replies, giving as much of a shrug as a fox can pull off.

    As for Gawain... once again, Archer feels exasperation bud in his mind, wondering if this was some form of karma being delivered upon him - either for how much naivet� Rin endured to teach a younger Emiya magecraft or just because of how Archer himself was prone to regard others. "If we knew that, we would be much farther along. As I said, you as a knight must have had /some/ form of experience with magecraft in your life, correct? Court sorcerer perhaps? Mage advisor to the king or like? Nothing about this seems familiar at all?" Though in all honesty, Gawain was a knight first and foremost - even if he knew of magic, it was unlikely he had direct contact with anything like this. Archer knew that... but still, he'd hoped.

     That being said, he glances to Staren and Sarah respectively - especially the latter as her down-to-business attitude, analytical eye and predisposition to order everyone around like she was the boss once again reminded him of Rin. "Well, they obviously didn't want to destroy the village entirely, so they must have wanted the people alive in the short-term at least. If the Twilight came after, that means it's either tied to acts of bloodshed or tragedy or is possibly summoned by some kind of ritual." Looking around, he sees Sarah was right about traces, with Finna quickly confirming it.

    He then decides to help in Sarah's outlined course of action by turning to face Staren - "You're obviously keen to get a closer look at these 'spirits' - are any of them making references to /what/ exactly took their children? Orcs or Moblins, maybe?"

    Finally, there is Ilia's words, with Archer giving her a blunt yet somehow gentle-sounding rebuke - "Don't forget that you were kept separate, though, and you aren't exactly a child. Even if they were taken alive, something must have been special about you in particular to them if you weren't kept with the rest."

    At the very least, he didn't confess that the children were probably dead to her... though he half-believed that was an unspoken truth at this point after three weeks.

Staren has posed:
    Staren tries to look apologetic after he speaks, or at least uncomfortable, and then Archer cranks it up to 11.

    Staren looks to the treehouse. Those are Ilia's parents?

    Oh.

    His ears splay and his tail droops. He doesn't know what to say. He can't imagine how she must feel. (His mind tries to anyway, it's like trying not to think of an elephant, but just returns 'NOPE') He looks at her sadly, but doesn't know what to do. She already knows they're going to work to undo this, of course, but in the meantime it must hurt. She looks like she might need to cuddle a fuzzy animal or something, but offering that would sound creepy.

    Fortunately, Sarah-cat has taken charge! Staren's ears turn to her, followed by his head. Everything she says makes sense and sounds like a good idea. He nods and heads off looking for clues... he's not sure what, exactly, but perhaps the invaders might have left something behind... at Archer's question, he sits and holds a paw to the back of his head in an embarassed gesture. "I actually forgot that this is what normally happens to the locals when the Twilight comes." Then he perks up, "But that's a good idea!" He pads off to seek out all the spirits and see if any of them specifically identify the attackers.

    And also save his allies the experience of listening to all of them.

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
An examination of the village results in a number of items vanishing into Sarah's Captchalogue. You never know when you might have to rub an item on something else to solve a problem.

As everyone regroups and shares information, Sarah looks in the direction of the obvious tracks. "Okay. We've got as much as we're going to get here in terms of information. We need to go investigate where the kids were taken." She points in the direction for the people who don't get it, and then looks over to Ilia. "You need to decide if you're going to stay here while we check it out, or if you want to come with us. It will probably be dangerous and you might get hurt or worse if things go badly. But It's up to you, since you've probably already decided."

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frika can't be upset with Sarah. Sure the catgirl is abrasive, but since when does Frika consider that a bad thing? Besides she's mostly abrasive to the guys, she's practical and she's RIGHT. That earns her points in the pyro's books.

    Frika the Hedgehog looks up at Ilia. She'd go up and offer nuzzlings and pettings to the poor girl, but that seems like it might not work so well right now. "It's up to you." she says gently, agreeing with Sarah. "But if you come with us, we won't let anyone hurt you. If we can, anyways." she adds. Not to discourage, but... sometimes it's simply not possible. Ilia would have to at least help them all look out for herself, to keep herself safe.

Finna (513) has posed:
    While Ilia worries about her parents and others the townsfolk, Finna charges off. She's in fox form in no time at all, switching as naturally as breathing. Her excellent nose is boosted even more in such a state, and her eyes far sharper for nightvision - very useful for seeing details in the shadows cast by large trees. She goes bounding across the whole village several times with her nose tot he ground and ears pointed and alert!%R    Eventually she ambles over to the biggest source of that scent, the rather obvious trail. Why scour the village? Just in case she missed anything, of course.

    In another few moments she's airborne upon hawk wings, fox form melting way in favor of avian shenanigans! Up and up she goes at incredible speeds no bird could manage, to spy from above... and see just how far the trail could possible go.

    if the raiders are camped anywhere nearby, enjoying their spoils, she'll probably see smoke from campfires, as an example.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     As Finna follows the trail along into the distance, she'll find it leads completely out of the forest. Here? It gets much harder to follow. The trail is weeks old at this point, and any grass they might have trampled is long gone. There is some garbage here and there from what /might/ have been a temporary camp on the edge of the forest. But, it leads further across the plains of Hyrule. If the group's map is consulted, though, the next landmark in that direction is a place called 'Lon Lon Ranch', just near the base of Spectacle Rock.

     Ilia, though? She actually looks uncertain. She looks to the group, and the town, frowning. "I... I don't know if it is safe here. Or safe with you. I could go to Hyrule Castle Town, but that is right near Hyrule Castle, and Agahnim... But..."

     She ponders, looking to the distance, "...I have a friend who lives at Lon Lon Ranch. It's not usually been covered in Twilight. Maybe I could stay with her?"

Sir Gawain has posed:
Sir Dogawain follows along, sniffing the tracks and doing dog things. "You should be safe with the Union! They can protect you, after all!" He joyously barks it, before going on ahead to investigate. "I don't smell anything yet...what type of scent should I be looking for?"

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
"We don't have time to go shipping her off to some weird Union hugbox." Sarah points out. "Besides, she has a perfectly good suggestion of her own. Let's go to that ranch and see if they can put her up while we deal with this problem. It'll be like a sleepover except with less sackbeating and brick filled pillows. We're headed out that way anyway, right?"

Archer (821) has posed:
     Archer tilts his head at Ilia's words. "Convenient, since, last I checked, that particular ranch is roughly to the Northeast as well. Still, all things considered, it would be unwise to leave you unguarded as you are the only clue we have in discovering what happened here and how it connects to the Tears of Light. In this instance, I actually would agree with him under normal circumstances"- he inclines his head at Gawain. "Namely that you would be safer overall in Union territory. However, that's not the case here - until we know how you fit into things here or whether or not you can help us with anything we face, we need you on hand. Also, if we took you off-world, it might give Agahnim an excuse to attack us more directly if we start kidnapping natives from his world."

    Fox-Archer closes his eyes and tilts his head as he listens to Sarah, then looks back to Ilia. "I suppose the best compromise would be having Union members keep watch over you." He then glances to Sarah, feeling he might know what else she'd find a positive in the action - "Besides, we can probably use the ranch as a staging base - we'd have access to far more supplies there then we have now. Also, we can perhaps trade in some or any of what was salvaged here, or anything we find along the way, for something better - or just to get some cash on hand at all in case of an emergency."

    It could be called callous of Archer to so bluntly degrade what's left of Ilia's home to 'salvage', but in all honesty they needed all they could get for this - Fassad wasn't around to supply them with local currency, so they needed to have some form of income going for the immediate future. And, distasteful as it was, salvage was the most readily available way to do so. Besides, most of what was here was either damaged, worn out from disuse or would likely be replaced anyway if they were to succeed... and he'd like to think the villagers would offer supplies to the group anyway if it meant saving their children and potentially restoring them to normal.

    That didn't mean some part of him deep down didn't shudder uncomfortably at the idea of taking what little these people had left, though, and he wasn't exactly going to volunteer doing so himself. But he could hardly stop Sarah or the others from doing so if they wanted, so at the very least he would offer a suggestion of what could be done with it.

Staren has posed:
    Finna has the path! Staren will follow. "Umm," Staren interjects after Dogawain, "I'm not sure most of us are in the best state for protecting right now. Staying with your friends sounds like a good idea... if this 'Lon Lon Ranch' is still outside the Twilight."

    Staren blinks at Sarah. "Wait, what? What the heck kind of sleepovers do you /go/ to?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna once again lands... on Archer's back, no less. She's still in hawk form, but being careful to not grip painfully with those talons. "Any amateur could follow this trail... a boot to the head is subtler than the dopes who blazed it."

    Thankfully, she hops OFF Archer quickly enough and returns to her own fox form.

    Coincidentally, she takes the time to BOUNCE HIGH at the first opportunity and lick Ilia's nose. SURPRISE!

    Cheer up!

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
"The kind with a fish princess." Sarah replies to Staren without batting an eye. "Pillow fights are serious business." At this point, the cat turns to Gawain. "Hey you. Hold still a second." She leaps up and perches on the big golden retriever, and then gestures with her tail. "We'll see what we can do once we've seen Lon Lon Ranch. Let's move out."

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     The sudden licking of Ilia's nose actually causes the girl to stumble back, eyes going wide. She looks shocked at first. Soon after, though? A hand is on her mouth. She's trying to hold back giggling, her eyes closed as she tries not to laugh. She takes a deep breath, smiling at the group around her.

     "...It's been a long time since Hyrule had a reason for hope. You're all heroes. All of you."

     She glances north, pointing to a patch of trees just to the north, that is less burnt out. "...Once you do find the Tears of Light? That's where the Spring of Ordona is."

     She sighs, happily. "...Thank you. Thank all of you. But." She glances to Finna. "...Please don't mention that fox-licking thing again. It's kind of embarrasing, alright?"

     A pause, and Ilia adds, to make sure it's clear.

     "It's a secret to everybody."