both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Alex was talking. Talking to who? What a strange question. It was often said that talking to oneself was a sign of one's genius! The problem was talking back. As he sat against the root of a tree, staff held against his shoulder and blade at his side, he shrugged. He mumbled as he played with a blade of grass. "Anyway, with the aid of the crown--" And that was when he felt something slam into him. Things moved, and the rest was a bit of a surprise as he ripped his magic sword from its sheath, the blade glowing blue, and the staff cultivating a flame at its tip.

And then he saw it was a kitsune. A Minish. Excellent. Camp still needed to be set up and the Minish were always a good help. Alex sheathed his sword as the tip of his staff went out, acknowledging that this person was clearly not a threat. Besides, no need to aggravate the Minish, they'd always helped the Wardens in some way. At least until they morphed into distinctively something non-Minish. Then continued to beg for their lives. It all happened so fast that Alex took a small step back and quirked an eyebrow at the display. "You uh, you don't have much in the dignity department, do you?" He shook his head.

By now it was fairly clear that Alex wasn't really dangerous. He leaned on his staff a little before he motioned the... what was it anyway? He motioned them to get back up. "Anyway, you're clearly not from the Black Lands. Come on, get up." More unusual sightings. Ordon was gone, things were falling apart. "Mind explaining what a... gentleman I think? Mind explaining what a gentleman like you is doing here, when you clearly aren't set up for it?" Tourists, man.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Alex just continued to stare, crossing his arms as he gave this being an impassive look. Okay, it was definitely clear that this guy wasn't a thread. This Fress, as he introduced himself seemed to go a mile a minute. Interrupting what he was saying to say he was a Skull Kid. Now, Alex knew he was no Skull Kid. He knew Skull Kids, they were a pain in the ass. Not truly harmful. They just played pranks on anyone passing through, had their fun, and let you go. But still, they were a pain. He also knew they didn't venture beyond Faron, so there was that small issue true. Alex merely quirked his brow again as he said nothing.

He let the violin solo go without comment again, and actually managed to hide his reaction to the name Midna being dropped. He shrugged his shoulders at that, ask if to non verbally say what business it was of his to be spilling this stuff. Really though, he was going to be having fun with this stuff later. Oh yes, there was so much information and someone would just have so much explaining to do. Things like royalty and that there were others would probably have fallen under something worth letting him know about. And why did this Fress and her look so different? Needless to say, someone was in trouble.

As this... Twili Messenger? Was that what he called himself? Anyway, as he proceeded to verbally backspace and told him to forget everything, Alex just gave him another shrug before waving at him. "Alright, buddy. You do that." If this guy wanted to go wander the woods along and... gods what was going to happen to him? Whatever. If he wanted to go into the woods, well that was his problem. Alex just stopped waving, turned around, and sat back down to lean against the root he'd been enjoying earlier. Reaching into his vest, he pulled out a cigar, which he brought out his hunting knife to cut off the tip, held it to his Fire Rod, and heated the Fire Rod's tip enough to ignite the cigar. Perfect!

And with that, he slipped it between his teeth. Pulling out a small book, he also brought with it a quill and an inkwell, uncorked the inkwell, and began writing in the book by the light of his cigar. Things could wait for a bit. Didn't stop him from blowing a puff of smoke at his feet for kicks though. That was well earned.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

And now the guy was back. So much for just forgetting and moving on then. Alex took a sharp inhale of his cigar, right. He turned his head up to see him pressing two blue rupees into his book to try and pay him off to get him talking. Alex, true to form, took the two blue rupees, looked at them for a moment, and then pocketed them before getting up. Yeah, this was going to be fun. Closing the book, corking the inkwell, and resting his quill over said inkwell, he used his staff to get back to his feet, still holding his breath as he took his cigar out and looke at Fress with an expression that could be considered bored.

"You managed to miss a camping site to trip over me," He said as all the smoke he'd kept in came out all at once, flying straight for Fress's face. Yeah, Alex could be a bit of a jerk. "Groveled so much even Princess Zelda's court mage would think it's a bit excessive," Nobody liked Jace, nobody. That mage had somehow managed to acquire the reputation of being the slimiest fuck in Hyrule, and well earned it was. "Said you were a Skull Kid," He held his cigar out, tapping it to clear off the ash. "Played some abomination on a fiddle," He didn't even recognize the tune. "And then told me to forget I saw anything,"

He took another small puff of his cigar to make sure it didn't go out or something stupid. "So all in a matter of seconds, you've made it readily apparent you're out there. Any inquiries I'd make I'd get a million different answers. What's a Twili? Who are the Twili Messengers? Who's Princess Midna? What does she look like? Why are you looking for her? What will you do once you find her? You'd give me a half answer, backpedal, play me false, decide that wasn't a good answer, and try again. I'm not going through that song and dance." He shrugged. "All I know is, you, assuming you are a Twili, because you really aren't hiding that possibility well, are probably not from the Black Lands, and thus, not my problem." And just like that, he put his cigar back in his mouth and leaned on his staff a bit.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Well, he hadn't really expected the guy to actually draw steel on him. Alex looked over to the root of the tree before looking back at Fress. Looked like he was going to have to take care of this with his staff. Its tip began to heat a bit, getting ready to start shooting fire when the Twili, in a move that surprised even Alex, stomped forward, grabbed his cigar and cut it into bits before asking if he was happy. Of course, it was sarcastic, he was sure, but still. Was he happy now? The answer was of course absolutely not. He let out a low growl of growing anger. "No, I'm not. Some asshole just destroyed my destresser for the evening." Fress wasn't the only one with a temper.

It was only when Fress finally sheathed his sword that Alex even began to move away from the Messenger. An armed threat was an armed threat, it was that simply. He took a couple side steps towards the root, never turning away nor taking his eyes off. "So for civility's sake, and the sake of not repeatedly slamming you face first into that tree," He tilted his head to indicate the tree he'd been resting against, while crouching down to reach for something. "I'm going to pretend you didn't do that." He let out a deep breath, the sound of metal scraping against leather could be heard as he came back up with his sword in hand. The blade already glowing a soft blue color.

Still, what little he'd gotten was illuminating. Midna was the princess of another realm that this guy came from. So why'd she look so different? Pale white skin wasn't something he'd have used to describe her. Some adrenaline ran through him. He had a feeling he might be using his weapons before this night was over. She probably wouldn't like that, but oh well, not his problem. "Alright, what's this Twilight Realm? What else does she have to set her apart? How does she dress? How tall is she? How would you describe her figure? Does she have any markings like tattoos? Scars? Your description is vague. You gave me the description of a pale Gerudo and a chunk of Hylians and other Humans." He didn't budge. Tensions were obviously rising, but frankly, he saw no reason to go along with this now. She was a big girl (well, figuratively) and could make her own decisions.