In days of past, all he knew of castletown came in the form of rumors brought by others who traveled the country freely or fellow villagers that came back from delivering goods. And on his first trip there, he'd been more than a little curious to see all of the sights for himself. But alas, the timing proved difficult, what with having to return the borrowed cart and share the rupees with the man he'd delivering goods for. So this time, no matter how difficult recent events might have been on him, he felt determined to find a way to enjoy himself, if even only for an hour or two.

The blue cloak he wore over his casual attire allowed him to blend in fairly well. The hylian moved freely between the stalls, following the crowd and never delaying too long in one place. Smelling, tasting, feeling, and seeing it all brought a wave of good cheer that he desperately missed, and it proved easy to get lost in the moment.

His wallet could use to lose some weight, and an enchanted stone that glowed really did seem like the perfect souvenir to bring back to the swamp. Alas, he passed it up, only to find fate guiding him right back to it after a commotion stumbled right past him.

Children ran off why an older, larger man grumbled loudly over a female crashing right into him. Link winced slightly when the man nearly toppled on top of her, barely managing to curve his body to the side. Ouch, that wouldn't have been pleasant.

The thought hardly crossed his mind before he took off running after the ruffians that she'd been trailing behind. It took a few clever twists on his part and the use of several roof tops (the longshot he'd found submerged in swamp water really proved to be useful for navigating high ground) before he had the warm, shimmering stone in his possession.

Backtracking didn't take as long; he found a quicker, straight path back to the scene of the crime. Had it really only been a minute or two? It felt much longer. Pursuits had a way of doing that.

The large man stalled in the middle of his very loud, very vocal chiding of the female who had bumped into his, due to the blond cutting right in front of him with the glowing item in his open palm. "Is this yours, ma'am?"

Just become soldiers or farmers...

It might not have reached his eyes like it used to, but the smile that curved his lips up appeared genuine nevertheless. The youth reached up to rub the back of his neck under the blue fabric of his traveler's cloak, feeling a bit of sheepishness rise up within him. "The most my face has been seen around these parts was when I brought a delivery not that long ago. It's only my second time to visit the capital."

News of the Ordon tragedy, he imagined, already spread throughout the land. Admitting he came from the village, or worse that he had been there during the encounter with a strange being, left his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. How could he explain what he didn't fully understand without babbling like a madman.

A pause, then a curious tilt of his head. "Is the tavern here good? Where I'm from, there aren't a lot of options for eating or drinking outside of home or a neighbor's offering."

He had plenty of time to kill before needing to head back. It didn't hurt to make a good memory or two along the way.

Ashei Vitalis
pfft she doesn't have a bad side ;D

"Would you?" The thought of pumpkin soup set his stomach into motion, reminding him it had been far too long since he last dined on anything substantial. Not for the lack of trying, either - numerous deku who brought him food made sure to entice him with familiar flavors and spices. It just didn't go down well, feeling like a ton of bricks in his midsection until the urge to throw it all up threatened to overtake him. One or two bites at mealtime hardly gave him enough strength to keep moving, and with the training he started to put himself through, it wouldn't be long until his body simply refused to function.

"If you don't mind, then, please. I'd like to see this place." Even if the food didn't agree with him (a mental note was made to at least try to finish a bowl, if for no other reason than to force himself to do so), there would be drinks and sights and smells that weren't familiar, and it made it worthwhile for that reason alone.

A gloved hand, covered with surprisingly smooth brown leather just past his wrists while lacking around his fingers, was offered in form of greeting. "Thanks. I'm Link. This place is a lot bigger than what I'm used to, so my only other plan was wandering blindly until something interesting happened. You saved me from wasting some time, ma'am."

Ashei Vitalis
have a post from a sleep-deprived zephy /wrist

A lot could be revealed about a person by the way they shook someone's hands. He remembered many of the village elders telling him that ever since he could barely walk around on his own feet, and would launch into tales of their younger days and the people they shook hands with. Honestly, he'd always thought they were kind of full of it, but the older her got, the more he paid attention to it as well.

If Ashei's handshake was anything to go off of, he'd get along with her perfectly fine.

The inside of the tavern felt more comfortable than he imagined. They'd hardly made it through the door before another led Ashei into an apology, and despite himself, he couldn't help giving in to the urge to chuckle. "I'll take that as a good thing."

Wait... what was that she just said?

He didn't ask right away, instead taking the time to walk around and get a better look at things. The natural charm enticed people to come inside and if the scent in the air was anything to go by, to spend a fair bit of money on decent food and drink as well. Not a bad establishment to have in a crowded city with a castle backdrop.

Settling down on a stool, he lowered his cloak and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up a bit in the process. Considering the unruly strands already sticking to his ears, it didn't make that much of a difference. Then, in case it wasn't something to be said loudly, he quietly asked, "What do you mean by resistance?"

Ashei Vitalis
do iiiit ;D HOARD CHARACTERS WITH ME (if nothing else NPCing her works great <3)

If he had been taking a larger sip of water, it might have been harder to breathe at the mention of Rusl. His mind whirled, returning once again (as it too often did) to that morning when everything disappeared from his fingers, falling to pieces like grains of sand. Had Rusl been outside the village? Did he make it out in time? Or did the unthinkable happen to him?

Bile rose in the back of his throat, burning the water all the way down to the pit of his stomach. For a moment he faltered, struggling with the desire to just tell someone about what happened, but his common sense battled with it. At least, he chalked it up to common sense and not some sort of foolishness that would bite him in the ass later for bottling it up until it poured out uncontrollably.

Schooling his tone, he kept his expression as pleasant as possible. "Sounds like you've got an interesting group here. The name immediately stood out, but thinking of it, I doubt an actual resistance would go around freely revealing themselves if they opposed the monarchy," he said with laughter in his tone of voice.

Remember; keep yourself in the present. It helped a little.

"What's the most interesting thing you've studied with the group?" Link's curiosity got to him. "I haven't really traveled far from my hometown before, but this is the sort of thing that I've always wanted to do. Get the chance to see the world and explore things. Find interesting relics of the past."

Ashei Vitalis
right in the feels

His own order of pumpkin soup took no longer than a moment of hesitation to place in, wanting to at least glance over the options before deciding with certainty on something. Bread and ale would pair nicely with it, and to keep the mood as light as possible, he smiled at Telma to give her proper attention this time. "I've heard from a trusted source that the soup is some of the best in the world. I can't wait to try it, ma'am."

It was a good thing that he got those words out before Ashei opened up with the offer she did or the poor villager would've probably been unable to form anything other than a dumbfounded expression.

"That would be..." His suddenly dry throat deserved another drink of water. Or two, or three, as it ended up being. Even then, it felt like his tongue weighed a ton on the bottom of his mouth.

"That'd be amazing. Right now I'm staying with a friend, but I plan on coming to the market every weekend to pick up supplies." Hospitality from the deku ran deep, but it didn't stop him from wanting to pave his own way again. Besides that, from what he'd discovered, there were plenty of people looking for part time workers, and finding new ways to earn rupees might also allow him to pick up more skills.

While he didn't want to get ahead of himself too much, the excitement couldn't be misplaced no matter how hard he tried. "You said a mansion up on Snowpeak?" Wonder dawned in his tone. "How did you find out about it? Did you overhear someone else mention it or was it in a book you came across?"

Ashei Vitalis
you didn't take long, it is fine <3 I'm the slow one right now ahaha /wrist (only able to post when I can borrow my boyfriend's pc sucks!)

Come to think of it, there weren't many things he felt proud of in terms of personal accomplishments. He'd be able to count them off with the fingers of one hand - tending to crops in the field, getting animals to do what he wanted, being able to haul four sacks of potatoes at once, having enough stamina to round up a flock of missing cuccos, and being damn good with a sword despite not having a ton of formal instruction. That's why he snuck in a quick word, "I'm better with a sword than people would think I am."

The way Ashei answered him showed her underlying excitement, and that more than anything else stroked the own wanderlust in the pit of his stomach all over again. The thought of traversing a snow-covered mountain with gear and provisions, and old text, all in search of a relic from the past... how could someone not be interested in that? Even better if there were valuable treasures locked away inside of it, because that would be the moment a personal passion also become a viable way to make income, and having work that was enjoyable made the difference.

In the distance, the tolling off a bell nearly caused the man to choke on the spoonful of soup in his mouth. Link whipped his head around to listen a second time to make sure he counted right, then let out a muffled few words that were the weakest curse a person could utter. But hey, it counted, right? Sure it did.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize-- Colin's going to be looking for me-- this soup is really good by the--" In his desperation to clamber up from the table, he nearly knocked the bowl right off. His cheeks stained a bright red shade from utter embarrassment as he fished in his wallet to pull out more than enough rupees to pay for both his and Ashei's meal thrice over.

Leave it to him to nearly be late for their meeting time!

With face still colored and a grin to boot, he clumsily offered a quick bow. "Next time I'm in town, I'll come here to visit."

And he would. But the reasons he'd come for at that time... would it be for the same reason he felt at this particular moment in time? Hard to say. But considering what Ashei would soon be going through between Kakariko's ordeal and that of castletown itself, and what he would go through during the royal summons, things were definitely going to be changing for all of them and many others as well.

Ashei Vitalis
with luck I'll be getting my own around black friday ;~; it's been months!