09-22-2017, 10:26 AM
"I thought we could have something light after today's... after what Tearen showed us. If we wrap the day up with something heavy we'll have nightmares", explained Malon as Dane got to his feet and brushed his clothes off, then began following her towards the tent with the kitchen in it. "We can even make some extra so we have leftovers for tomorrow, in case that anyone doesn't feel like summoning. As for the recipe, I was thinking Gerudian Discus dough cakes."
"Gerudian what?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, I keep forgetting that the Omniverse isn't home. Uh, how do I..." She thought for a moment on how to best summarize it for someone who didn't know about Hyrulian kitchen. "Basically it's a simple cake mix of Cuccoo eggs, milk and wheat flour, which you then season with sugary things, like jam. Some people also like to put salted stuff on it. The recipe is very simple but to have two people working on it makes it faster."
"Sounds tasty. We could put small bowls on the table with stuff to put on each cake for people to pick and match."
"That's a great idea!" She handed Dane an apron so he wouldn't get his clothes dirty and rolled up her sleeves, then produced a large bowl and measuring cups. "We already have all the ingredients. Tearen did a great job with the provisions for our time here. Anyway, let's start. The first step is to mix the flour with the..."
Dane was a skilled aide in the kitchen, giving Malon time to think. In a way it caused Chef's suggestion to backfire, because now she was doing a monotone task that did not require her to focus and thus let her go back in her thoughts to the very memories she had hoped to put aside until her mind had settled enough to deal with them properly.
The visions Tearen had imparted to them returned to her mind. The visions of an Omniverse controlled by evil. The visions of slavery, misery, desasperation, hopelessness, death and decay. Except that now she saw herself in those visions. She was there, among the slaves, chains around her neck and wrists and forced to summon as her tormentors stood behind her. Bloodied streaks covered her back where the whips had struck, ashes and dirt stained the rags that had been clothes long ago, never-healing burn marks on her skin tortured her with every movement she took. Someone laughed, and it was a deep, inhuman sound that chilled her veins.
Then the scene shifted. The destroyed, enslaved Omniverse turned into a gloomy, dead Hyrule. The sky above was a dark brown, tainted by the dark will of him who was in power, even dimming the very sun to a yellow disc. The peak of Death Mountain was surrounded by a bright orange halo hinting at the horrid creature that lived within, and a scent of decay wafted over from Hyrule Castle City. But Malon was looking at something else: forced to look up by the rough hand that pushed against her chin, she was meeting the yellow eyes of a man whose skin was a sickly green, but who stood tall with perfect health. On the back of his gloved hand a glowing Triforce pulsated dimly, with one of the triangles brighter than the two others that were barely more than hinted at. Under his reddish eyebrows he looked at her, and smiled smugly.
"Malon, wasn't it", he said with a voice as rough as his martial physique suggested. "I am almost tempted to take you back to the castle. You would make a fine maid... or stable girl."
Her body screamed for her to back away, to shove his hand aside, to scream. To do something. But she was paralyzed under that gaze. The King of Hyrule, Usurper of the Throne and Subjugator of the Land, was keeping her frozen with fear like a rabbit before a wolf.
"Heh heh heh... then again, Ingo wouldn't be able to do the work on the farm by himself." He withdrew his hand and Malon inhaled sharply. Only then did she realize that she had held her breath all that time. The man turned towards Ingo, the owner of Lonlon ranch who subserviently bowed, and asked him: "When will you have the gift ready?"
"M-my lord", Ingo said, "my most humble apologies, but the mare is presenting herself to be a difficult one: she refuses to let anyone mount her. I assure you though, that she will be ready within the year."
The man was about to reply to that, when Malon heard her name being spoken and blinked herself back to reality. She realized that her hand was gripping the wooden spoon she was stirring the cake mix with so strong that her knuckles were almost white. Dane was standing next to her, and he was touching her lower arm. He was strangely pale, too.
"What? Huh? Where... oh! Dane! I'm sorry, I think I drifted off into a daydream..." She blinked the pictures away, trying to focus on reality again. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Dane took a few moments to reply as the color returned to his cheeks. "You too, though. Or maybe we just got flour on our faces", he added jokingly, and broke the awkward tension. "Mal- ... Maru, was it? Did you want to take a break? I can finish the cakes."
"Oh, no. I'm okay! Actually the mix is just abut done, we just have to pour it into a pan and make portions."
Though she wondered why Dane had looked so pale Malon soon dismissed that thought simply because she had no as they made a large stack of cakes and set the dinner table, then ate. Strazio and the others could come as they pleased, and if they didn't the cakes would just have to sit out during the night and be there tomorrow as leftovers. She went to sleep not knowing that Dane had seen everything.
Had it been Tearen's teachings that had opened their minds to a form of Telepathy, if not the complete power? Was it his presence or one of his workings here in the camp that had awakened a dormant power in them? Whatever the reason was, Dane had peered into Malon's mind, purely by accident, and the physical contact had empowered the mind-reading so that he had seen, heard and felt every detail of that scene - of Malon meeting the Usurper for her first and only time - as cleanly as it was burnt into her memory.
"Gerudian what?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, I keep forgetting that the Omniverse isn't home. Uh, how do I..." She thought for a moment on how to best summarize it for someone who didn't know about Hyrulian kitchen. "Basically it's a simple cake mix of Cuccoo eggs, milk and wheat flour, which you then season with sugary things, like jam. Some people also like to put salted stuff on it. The recipe is very simple but to have two people working on it makes it faster."
"Sounds tasty. We could put small bowls on the table with stuff to put on each cake for people to pick and match."
"That's a great idea!" She handed Dane an apron so he wouldn't get his clothes dirty and rolled up her sleeves, then produced a large bowl and measuring cups. "We already have all the ingredients. Tearen did a great job with the provisions for our time here. Anyway, let's start. The first step is to mix the flour with the..."
Dane was a skilled aide in the kitchen, giving Malon time to think. In a way it caused Chef's suggestion to backfire, because now she was doing a monotone task that did not require her to focus and thus let her go back in her thoughts to the very memories she had hoped to put aside until her mind had settled enough to deal with them properly.
The visions Tearen had imparted to them returned to her mind. The visions of an Omniverse controlled by evil. The visions of slavery, misery, desasperation, hopelessness, death and decay. Except that now she saw herself in those visions. She was there, among the slaves, chains around her neck and wrists and forced to summon as her tormentors stood behind her. Bloodied streaks covered her back where the whips had struck, ashes and dirt stained the rags that had been clothes long ago, never-healing burn marks on her skin tortured her with every movement she took. Someone laughed, and it was a deep, inhuman sound that chilled her veins.
Then the scene shifted. The destroyed, enslaved Omniverse turned into a gloomy, dead Hyrule. The sky above was a dark brown, tainted by the dark will of him who was in power, even dimming the very sun to a yellow disc. The peak of Death Mountain was surrounded by a bright orange halo hinting at the horrid creature that lived within, and a scent of decay wafted over from Hyrule Castle City. But Malon was looking at something else: forced to look up by the rough hand that pushed against her chin, she was meeting the yellow eyes of a man whose skin was a sickly green, but who stood tall with perfect health. On the back of his gloved hand a glowing Triforce pulsated dimly, with one of the triangles brighter than the two others that were barely more than hinted at. Under his reddish eyebrows he looked at her, and smiled smugly.
"Malon, wasn't it", he said with a voice as rough as his martial physique suggested. "I am almost tempted to take you back to the castle. You would make a fine maid... or stable girl."
Her body screamed for her to back away, to shove his hand aside, to scream. To do something. But she was paralyzed under that gaze. The King of Hyrule, Usurper of the Throne and Subjugator of the Land, was keeping her frozen with fear like a rabbit before a wolf.
"Heh heh heh... then again, Ingo wouldn't be able to do the work on the farm by himself." He withdrew his hand and Malon inhaled sharply. Only then did she realize that she had held her breath all that time. The man turned towards Ingo, the owner of Lonlon ranch who subserviently bowed, and asked him: "When will you have the gift ready?"
"M-my lord", Ingo said, "my most humble apologies, but the mare is presenting herself to be a difficult one: she refuses to let anyone mount her. I assure you though, that she will be ready within the year."
The man was about to reply to that, when Malon heard her name being spoken and blinked herself back to reality. She realized that her hand was gripping the wooden spoon she was stirring the cake mix with so strong that her knuckles were almost white. Dane was standing next to her, and he was touching her lower arm. He was strangely pale, too.
"What? Huh? Where... oh! Dane! I'm sorry, I think I drifted off into a daydream..." She blinked the pictures away, trying to focus on reality again. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Dane took a few moments to reply as the color returned to his cheeks. "You too, though. Or maybe we just got flour on our faces", he added jokingly, and broke the awkward tension. "Mal- ... Maru, was it? Did you want to take a break? I can finish the cakes."
"Oh, no. I'm okay! Actually the mix is just abut done, we just have to pour it into a pan and make portions."
Though she wondered why Dane had looked so pale Malon soon dismissed that thought simply because she had no as they made a large stack of cakes and set the dinner table, then ate. Strazio and the others could come as they pleased, and if they didn't the cakes would just have to sit out during the night and be there tomorrow as leftovers. She went to sleep not knowing that Dane had seen everything.
Had it been Tearen's teachings that had opened their minds to a form of Telepathy, if not the complete power? Was it his presence or one of his workings here in the camp that had awakened a dormant power in them? Whatever the reason was, Dane had peered into Malon's mind, purely by accident, and the physical contact had empowered the mind-reading so that he had seen, heard and felt every detail of that scene - of Malon meeting the Usurper for her first and only time - as cleanly as it was burnt into her memory.