Sowing Seeds

[buon_giorno]

"Come here...isn't your paw hurt?"

Giorno had full intentions of stealing a mid-day nap, but Croccante was high on one of the broken pillars beside the door to his room. The white cat eyed him but didn't come down. Giorno sighed and rubbed his head. Just looking up for too long was hard when he had been on his feet for longer than an hour or two.

It had been just two days since he cured Joseph. He had slept almost the rest of the day through and that was all he was allowing himself after making himself so scarce for a whole week. At some point doubt would creep into the community gossip and that was the last thing he needed to manage.

Giorno leaned against the pillar and put some of his energy into the ivy vines that crept up it. The flowers burst open, surprising the small cat, and urging her to leap down--right onto his head. He quickly pried her out of his now-mussed curls and inspected her paw. A little splinter poked out of the pink pad, and he squinted to pluck it out--and missed. And tried again--and missed. His hands were shaking. Croccante's tail was swishing in irritation. He summoned all his focus and managed to fix his fingers around it to pull it out, and the fluffy cat bolted out of his arms not a moment later.

"Yes, yes...you're welcome." Giorno watched her take off down the hall.

Comments

[unchill_chuck]

Zelda was talking Juli's ear off about the fungi and Chilchuck felt reasonably confident they wouldn't overhear the conversation. His lips quirked upwards and he glanced sideways and up. "I mean it. I don't think any of us would feel so confident about venturing into new places like this if you weren't around. I haven't seen Her Highness this unfettered before."

[shepard]

Shepard rolled one of her shoulders. "Well, it's what I do. I think I'd go stir-crazy if I were back at the villa all the time. Not sure what I'd do."

[unchill_chuck]

"I just wanted to tell you...you know, before something pops out and I get--"

Rustle

Chilchuck's ear twitched and he whipped around at the sound of the brush 30 feet back.

[shepard]

Shepard immediately flung out an arm, as if to guard Chilchuck from harm.

"Stay here and keep them safe." She unholstered her blaster, ready to use it if whatever-it-was-that-made-that-sound was dangerous. Then crouching, she slowly, methodically approached the source of the sound, her finger readied on the trigger.

[unchill_chuck]

Chilchuck looked to the girls--they hadn't even noticed anything. 'Geez.'

When he looked back, the bushes rustled even harder. Then, there was a flash of orange--a fox's head popped out of the wet leaves.

[shepard]

The fox was still, probably assessing the danger. Shepard re-holstered her blaster once she was sure there was no other threat lurking nearby. If there was, she'd handle it with her biotics.

"That's new," she remarked. "Don't think I've seen a single fox since I got here. You think it came from the abyss?"

[unchill_chuck]

"Like...they're becoming an invasive species now?" Chilchuck wondered what kind of debate that would have sparked with his party.

"Commander! Chilchuck!" Zelda's voice called exuberantly. "Please, come see this!"

[shepard]

Zelda's voice didn't sound panicked, but Shepard still moved as quickly to her side as she would if she did.

"What's going on?"

[scholarandaprincess]

"I had a feeling before, but now I'm sure of it." Zelda hovered over the delicate looking mushroom, its drooping cap glowing faintly. "This is a Silent Shroom. It's native to Hyrule."

[julibahana]

"Really? It's so pretty."

[scholarandaprincess]

"It gives you energy if you eat it raw...but it's said if you cook it, it can grant you the ability to move about practically unheard!"

[shepard]

Shepard raised a brow and glanced over at Chilchuck. "Sounds like something your friend Laios would go crazy for."

[unchill_chuck]

"Yeah, he would."

Chilchuck really missed Laios at times like this...not that he'd admit it. Zelda got the exact same glint in her eye when she was going off about something or other like Laios would.

"...Wait, so if it's from Hyrule..."

[scholarandaprincess]

Zelda nodded. "I believe this is a Hylian forest."

[julibahana]

"Maybe there's other things from Hyrule nearby too!" Juli said, nearly in time with Zelda. Her lips curled up in a smile at their joint reaction.

[unchill_chuck]

“Does that mean that….this place could connect to the rest of your kingdom?”

[scholarandaprincess]

“It’s possible, but the exploration efforts would demand more resources than we have.” Zelda looked to Shepard. “Commander, my priority is completing repairs for your ship. If we had the ability to travel by air, it would allow us to uncover answers far more quickly.”

And for those repairs, the resources from the abyss were a necessity.

[shepard]

"Your kingdom would have a lot of those resources, wouldn't it? A lot more than any of the other places we've explored. We could try hitting two birds with one stone and explore while getting the resources we need to repair my ship."

Shepard ran a finger over her brow, the one with the scar. "I don't tire easily and I've lived off the land in far worse conditions than this. If we want to plan for a longer excursion, I have no objections."

[scholarandaprincess]

Zelda's eyebrows raised. It was a proposal she wasn't expecting.

"It would. If this forest really brought us to Hyrule...we would have access to an incredible supply of ancient Sheikah technology." Zelda squinted as she thought, letting herself process the possibility. She looked to Juli and Chilchuck as she did. They were three-fifths of the council just amongst themselves after all.

[julibahana]

"It can't be just the two of you. Who else would you propose would join your party?"

[unchill_chuck]

"Juli's right. And I think it's an idea worth considering," Chilchuck supplied. "Of course, we'll have to take a vote, but...who else here can say they've been so close to home until now?"

[scholarandaprincess]

'Close to home.' Zelda felt herself get lost in the mere thought, but she forced herself back into the moment. She couldn't afford to space out.

"Let's return to the villa. I would like to bring this forth as a proposal at once."

Zelda began to start back in that direction, but paused to pluck and pocket the shroom first.

[julibahana]

"No one, I think," Juli said. "No one I know has even seen a bit of home."

[scholarandaprincess]

“You’re right.” Zelda walked side by side with Juli as they turned around to return to camp. “Ah! I haven’t told you the results from my latest survey, have I? The survey of artifact recognition. I’ve surveyed over 54% of people from the villa now to have them review what we find in the abyss. And the results…”

[julibahana]

"What were they?"