christ returns to the NBA

[withwisdom]

WHO: Zelda and you
WHERE: All around!!
WHEN: All October
WHAT: Quest Prompts
WARNINGS: RAMPAGE(??)

I. Local holy woman attacks skeleton with its own arm.

Foul creatures! [ thwack- ] Do you see a blood moon up in the sky, beckoning the darkness of calamity? [ smack- ] No! So begone!

[ BASH--

and away the skeleton shambles, almost certainly going straight toward you in its escape attempts... and it's missing an arm? from just a couple feet away stands 5'5 zelda with that missing skeleton arm in her hand, brandished like a weapon. yes you better believe she's even priming it with some soft hits against the palm of her hand like it's a goddamn club. this is how you do it in hyrule baby. ]

Go on, take it out! Teach it a lesson about encroaching on the safety of the town. Unholy abominations such as these cannot be given leeway.

[ "hey zelda, chill" - no, this happens all the time in hyrule and she hates it. ]

II. Local holy woman rounds up kickball team with a skeleton head.

Think fast.

[ to whoever you may be, she's tossing a ball over to you -- no just kidding, it's the head of a skeleton she whacked off. it's still shaking a little, the last vestiges of its cursed existence still clinging on for dear life! fun! ]

Give it a swift kick to that shambling hoard over there - [ pointing to a few skeletons sadly shambling over ] - I want to conduct a test and take notes. It's for the good of the quest.

[ do it for science. and also because she hates skeletons, but sure the quest. do it.

(also she's still carrying the arm of a skeleton like a weapon, because that's just what you do in hyrule when skeletons act tough and try to jump you.) ]

III. Local scientist harasses red members of town (i.e. reds only for this prompt)

[ are you part of the exclusive red club (of like 33 people)? then congratulations, because during the month you're going to have a very smiley zelda knocking on your door, basket tucked into one of her arms by the elbow. it looks like something is inside? what could it be? well don't worry about that right now because-- ]

Good day! In the spirit of the quest, I am here to request from you a treat. Now if you are not prepared to provide me with something to my liking, I shall have no choice but to impose trickery on you. Please do not take it personally, as it's just in good fun, but I also won't go easy on you just because of my good heart.

[ grins! what now friend? she's pretty picky, what do you have up for the plate? as a note if you prefer to just get tricked right off the bat say so in the subject. ]



[ ooc: no non-quest prompts at the moment but that might change as the month goes on! if you want to do something with zelda outside quests though, she'll be spending a good chunk of her month between the church, tidying up and praying as usual, and outside the forest hunting for bugs and lizards for her elixirs with her bare hands. toss that up into a wildcard toplevel and we can roll with it.

alternatively if you're a yellow who wants to pumpkin carve with her, you can also toss me something that way. really im game for most anything but if you're not sure just PM me. ]

Comments

i

[tropism]

I don't know.

[ giorno dodges a skeleton swiping at him. ]

The way you're going, there won't be any of them left at this rate.

[withwisdom]

I doubt that. Even as I take them out, more continue to sprout up, like cursed weeds.

[ she sighs, gripping the bone arm still. ]

Go on take it out, Giorno. I've seen what your Stand can do.

[ whether or not he's called it that to her face, she recognizes it even so from her brief time with josuke. ]

[tropism]

Yes, but in actual fights like these ...

[ giorno frowns. ] It's not made for brute force.

[ privately giorno also thinks that it's not his stand's job, pummeling things to dust is something that other stand users prone to fighting like jotaro should be doing. but it is doing a good job of breaking them to bits, if only because it does have excellent power.

he also gets cozy with his stand. when it's not fighting it's very chummy with him. like the way it wraps its arms around his waist and leans its chin over his shoulder as giorno observes the skellingtons. nothing to see here. no homo. ]

[withwisdom]

...

[ her eyes avert away, and a frown settles. ]

Can you please... not in public...

[ she feels suddenly scandalized and she doesn't know why, but hmmmm no. bad. ]

[tropism]

[ giorno frowns at her words. ]

Sorry, what?

[ what's wrong zeldy. what's the matter. everything ok? you doing good?

anyway this discussion is interrupted with the appearance of another skelly and giorno does the thing with his stand, vines wrapping around bones and stringing them like thread through needle, pulling them away, before gold experience rains down a barrage of punches at them, and giorno clicks his tongue at the display. ]

[withwisdom]

[ thank you skelly, you've spared her delicate eyes.

she watches the display with a smile, giorno's power always managing to impress. it's so unique and beautiful. one more skeleton starts coming up from behind him though, and she takes a chance to give that one a good whack with the arm. down it goes! ]

Your Stand truly is a marvel. I suppose it must be a reflection of your soul.

[ she knows that much from josuke's explanation of it back when they first met. ]

[tropism]

[ giorno raises an elegant eyebrow at her. ] Who taught you that?

[ because that's specific terminology he'd had to learn when he found out about stands, too. and it doesn't sound like something that zelda would immediately jump to just by looking at his stand.

that being said - ] You're not wrong. It is a marvel. [ a tilt of the head. ] And unlike other Stands, I actually don't know what it can do. It always surprises me.

[withwisdom]

Dangerous, but exciting.

[ she smiles, interested too now. but to his question- ]

There was a man here before named Josuke. He told me about Stands, as he had one himself. It took me some time to realize, but the similarities are too striking to chalk up to coincidence.

[tropism]

Dangerous, yes. [ a pause. ] I think a while back, I'd say it were exciting, too, but after a while you figure out that exciting Stands which can fight aren't exactly the best thing. There are Stands that can kill you and everyone else around you. Not knowing the extent of your Stand's abilities can be fatal.

That being said, this Josuke keeps coming up. He sounds popular. [ he also sounds like a dweeb. ]

[withwisdom]

He was a sweet man.

[ admittedly, she may have had the tiniest flutter for him. it was small and gone now, but he was charming so she couldn't help herself. she's weak to certain things and chivalry is one of them. ]

But yes, I do get the sense they are an advantage and a crux. Do you know how to fight without summoning it out though? If not you should consider taking up some lessons in self-defense.

[tropism]

[ giorno looks at her thoughtfully. ] Interesting. I would've loved to meet him.

[ for more reasons than that.

that being said, zelda asking him if he knows how to fight makes him grin. ] I'm a lover, not a fighter, actually. I hope that doesn't disappoint.

[ uh oh ]

[withwisdom]

Ah...

[ oh, um. she clears her throat, trying to pretend like that didn't catch her off-guard (but it did) and sighs. ]

I can never tell the difference between your serious and casual moods. It feels like they just blend in together.

[tropism]

Good. Don't let your guard down.

[ it's so easy to destroy these things. giorno slips his hands in his pockets and lets his stand do the work, disposing of anything that comes near him. it moves quick enough and it hits with purpose - a very low-key street-fighting type of movement, nothing specialized, but effective enough. ]

But to answer your question, yes. I do know how.

[withwisdom]

[ agh he noticed. she's going to just not answer him back about it then. ]

I'm glad to hear. These skeletons aren't dangerous, but we should still clear them out. Here, let me have a shot at them.

[ and as one comes up she takes the initiative to quickly walk toward it, then giving it a good smash with her skeleton arm in hand. ]

[tropism]

Go ahead. You seem so enthusiastic about destroying them, it's interesting. I'm kind of thinking like they're nothing like in the movies and shows I've watched .... a pile of bones really isn't that terrifying in the end.

[ zelda killing things is so amusing. ] Do you encounter them often in Hyrule?

[withwisdom]

Not personally, but they aren't uncommon.

[ she gives another incoming one a thwack to down it before explaining better- ]

My land has been cursed by ancient evil, and monsters are born of that curse. However when night falls, slain monsters will have their remains reanimate to take vengeance upon the mortal realm.

[tropism]

Is reanimation something that only happens to slain monsters?

[ it takes them a while to get to the next part because more of them came, and they get busy for a while until giorno suggests - ] Also, let's walk and talk. I think we're attracting them just by being here.

[withwisdom]

Hah, alright then.

[ walk and talk and walk and smash skeletons. sounds like a good enough plan to her. though it still bewilders her how people can be so casual about killing monsters -- quote zelda, wielding a skeleton arm. ]

To monsters and some animals, like horses. The undead horses become the mighty steed of their monster counterparts, heralding them to battle.

[tropism]

Who decides to reanimate them? Is it a power you can have? Is it more like a phenomenon you can't control?

[ walk and talk is more like a date in the park while u literally bash a skull in. ]

That's a monstrous power. Not giving anyone rest by forcing them to live again ... though one can't really say this counts as living.

[withwisdom]

[ no, it isn't living. and she hesitates to answer his first question, only because she must be careful with her phrasing. she can't let certain things about her slip out by accident. ]

The ancient evil I mentioned is the one who makes the decision. Over ten thousand years ago he first appeared, born from the curse of a demon who battled against the goddess who protected my homeland. His name is Ganon - a man who was consumed by his pursuit of power and became... a force of evil.

[ though she calls him a monster and a beast as he is, the truth is a force is more fitting. he is not just an envoy of evil - he is evil itself. ]

[tropism]

Interesting.

It's such a .... childish power, isn't it: to decide that this one may live, but not that one. [ and he emphasizes this and that with the strike of gold experience's fist from one skeleton to another.

and because zelda is a friend, he quietly adds - ] My real father - not the one you saw, but the one who gave me my golden hair, among other things - had the same power.

[withwisdom]

[ it's strange how the skeleton destruction just becomes part of the background, their conversation taking her attention far more than even the small danger around them. he always manages to capture her attention like this and she doesn't know how he does it. is a natural charisma? she isn't normally taken in by such things though.

but then he brings up his father - his real one - and it gets a frown from her. ]

And what did he do with it? [ nothing good, she thinks. ]

[tropism]

.... well, his killer is here. [ he laughs awkwardly as he says it. ] And the two of us are family.

Isn't it odd how these things work? You can never predict what'll happen next in this town. [ another pause, this time because he's clearing the skeletons following after them - ] Do you believe in Fate, Zelda?

[withwisdom]

[ ah. well then, that's... not easy, not for him and this person in question. but he doesn't seem troubled by this fact, or at least not on the surface past what that laughter betrays. ]

I do. Even if I don't always like what fate has in store, and it's not always kind or fair, I do think everything happens as it does for a reason.

[ what those reasons are is the question, and it's never a simple cut answer like everyone would want. such is life though. ]

Is everything... peaceful, between you two?

[tropism]

I believe I've told you something else a while back when we first talked about faith ... but the way things are now, and the things I've learned based on our conversations .... there are many, many curious things that can happen in a lifetime.

I'd like to believe that we're friendly to each other. [ he does sound very unsure about it regardless, even if giorno is more or less as composed as he shows. ] He told me that he has no reason to abandon me because he considers me family regardless, and I didn't know what kind of man my father was to begin with. And it's true - I never knew. I've only heard stories of him growing up.

But this man .... he's a good person. Different from my father, or me. I've never had any luck with blood relatives, but maybe this time .... I'm optimistic. [ giorno shoves his hands in his pockets and sighs. when he speaks again, however, he regains his confidence, that bravado that has been ingrained in his bones since his birth and rebirth in naples. very carefully, don giovanna is counting his pieces on the board. ] What else could I be? To go entirely the other way is suicidal. And if he can kill someone like my father, then his strength isn't anything to laugh at, either. No matter how it plays out, one should always keep in mind potential allies. Having someone like him on your side despite everything else is good - dependable in times of crisis and with a powerful loyalty to justice and family. Those things are difficult to come by nowadays.