01-05-2017, 09:05 AM
There was no two ways to say it: Malon was terrified out of her skin. The stranger had initially come over as someone odd, but friendly - if a little eccentric, but nothing TOO bad. And now he had killed an innocent man without as much as a moment of hesitation, with some strange weapon that had blown a hole in the man's chest as if his armor was made of paper. The shock, the rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins and her unpreparedness for such a situation led to her being frozen on the spot as Harlan went on. But when he averted his eyes from her, she came to. Or rather, her body began acting on its own as her mind's eye replayed the explosion of bits of clothing, armor, meat and blood from the soldier's chest, over and over like a broken record.
Her body however acted as it should: she slid back a few feet before finding the strength to scamper to her feet, then turned around and hastily ran away, until she was behind the fountain. She considered running more, but really - what could she do? This white area was open in every direction, there was not a hint of cover, of anything she could use to hide from him. Ironically the fountain that she had woken up at was the only thing here, and to think that it would stop the stranger was ludicrous. If he wanted to catch her he would be able to get around or climb over it in an instant.
But, if he was going to attack her why had he not done so when they were alone? He'd seemed to try and make friends with her until then, why had he turned around like that? Now that the imminent danger had passed and her adrenaline levels weren't sky-high any longer, she shakily unhooked her sickles from her backpack and grasped them tightly, with her back pressed against the cold rock of the fountain. Did the two soldiers have something that she didn't, something that had made him attack them?
"Vampire!" one of the men's voice screamed, but his words were drowned by a sickening gurgle that made Malon's stomach revolt. How she kept herself from throwing up she did not know. Then she held the thud of a body hitting the ground, silence for a few seconds, then the sound of horse hooves clopping against the ground. Having grown up around horses, the sound was unmistakable, she could easily make out that the horse was accelerating to a quick gallop and heading away from her. Even so, she dared not poke her face over the edge of the fountain until the sound was far away, and even then she did so only with great care.
The stranger whose name Malon realized she had never learned was gone, and with him one of the two horses. The other one wasn't far away, but the explosion that had killed the first man had startled it, and it was around a hundred meters away, in the direction that the men had come from. The man laid there, motionlessly, in a pool of his own blood. Malon did not need to confirm that he was dead, she had seen corpses before. Bodies of dead Hylians, of people who had walked the plains of Hyrule and had had unfortunate run-ins with the wildlife that had come to populate the plains after Ganondorf's takeover. The other one was in a much scarier state: at first sight there were no injuries on his body, but he was pale as a cucco's feathers, and no doubt dead as well - not the slightest motion of his chest indicating that he breathed. What had he said before his death... "Vampire"? Malon had thought that those were beasts of myth, manlike monsters with fangs that seduced young women and drunk their blood. But she had never seen or heard of one in all of Hyrule! Could it be that the stranger was... no, better not finish this thought.
In either case, these soldiers were dressed like Hyrule Soldiers. Their armor design wasn't the same but she could see a lot of similitude. It was no doubt iron or steel, they had helmets and chainmail, swords and a crossbow... yes, these had to be from a country of similar origin, if not from Hyrule itself. What had they said... Camelot? Minas Tirith? And she saw no eagle and triforce on their tabbards, but instead an emblem that she did not recognize. Well, maybe they would recognize hers.
What was she to do now? She had to get out of here... the stranger? She could see him way off in the distance, riding in a direction other than where the soldiers had come from. She should head in that one for further guidance. But if she came with just a horse they would believe that she stole it. She couldn't tell them that the two men were dead, they would arrest her, or worse. Finally she decided to take one of the two: the one carrying the better evidence that it hadn't been her, the one that the stranger had drained the blood of. It was much less of a mess and smelled less bad than the poor devil that had had their chest blasted to bits, which would not startle the horse as much. She could show them the one drained of blood and that she was not a vampire... yes, this had to be the best course of action.
The only problem that remained was the horse. It did not know her, of course, and thus was skeptic when she came closer, but didn't back away as she kept a good distance. Then she brought her fingers to her lips and whistled a short tune that made the horse's ears perk up and listen curiously. She repeated it, and the horse faced her. Again, and it began to come closer, carefully and slowly, but with its ears perked towards her. Again, and it came within arm's reach. She continued to whistle while reaching out, slow and careful so as not to startle it, and touched its muzzle.
"Oh, hold on... I have a few carrots in my pack. Stay put." She slowly backed away and walked to her backpack to take out her provisions. A horse out here would be much more helpful than a day's worth of food, and she knew that she'd won it over when she stood up and noticed how it stood right in front of her and nudged her with its nose, having smelled the treat. She broke the carrot in the middle and held it out on her open palm, to which the horse approached and carefully scooped up the carrot piece with its lips, then began to chew. Malon ate the other piece. The satisfying crunching and the monotonous chewing helped to get her mind off of things, and the horse was much friendlier when she took its reins. It flinched a bit when Malon took up the dead rider but did not run away again when she heaved the grown man up and loaded him over its back. Heavy... but she was stronger than she looked, the physical exercise at the farm had conditioned her. With the straps used to attach provisions to the saddle she fixated the body in place, leaving enough space for herself. Then she mounted up.
The horse turned out to be well-trained. The blast had frightened it, yes, but it was still a trained combat horse used to transport various individuals on its back. Malon had skipped the initial training to get to know the animal, but the little gift in the shape of a carrot had worked wonders. Once she was on its back it obediantly followed her lead and accelerated on its own as she guided it back home, to the place that the soldiers had come from. Camelot, was it? It was probably the best place to head to right now, to get more information. Soon the horse reached full gallop, faster than any horse Malon had ever rode in the past, and without a sign of tiring. Woah... Camelot sure raised a strong breed!
Her body however acted as it should: she slid back a few feet before finding the strength to scamper to her feet, then turned around and hastily ran away, until she was behind the fountain. She considered running more, but really - what could she do? This white area was open in every direction, there was not a hint of cover, of anything she could use to hide from him. Ironically the fountain that she had woken up at was the only thing here, and to think that it would stop the stranger was ludicrous. If he wanted to catch her he would be able to get around or climb over it in an instant.
But, if he was going to attack her why had he not done so when they were alone? He'd seemed to try and make friends with her until then, why had he turned around like that? Now that the imminent danger had passed and her adrenaline levels weren't sky-high any longer, she shakily unhooked her sickles from her backpack and grasped them tightly, with her back pressed against the cold rock of the fountain. Did the two soldiers have something that she didn't, something that had made him attack them?
"Vampire!" one of the men's voice screamed, but his words were drowned by a sickening gurgle that made Malon's stomach revolt. How she kept herself from throwing up she did not know. Then she held the thud of a body hitting the ground, silence for a few seconds, then the sound of horse hooves clopping against the ground. Having grown up around horses, the sound was unmistakable, she could easily make out that the horse was accelerating to a quick gallop and heading away from her. Even so, she dared not poke her face over the edge of the fountain until the sound was far away, and even then she did so only with great care.
The stranger whose name Malon realized she had never learned was gone, and with him one of the two horses. The other one wasn't far away, but the explosion that had killed the first man had startled it, and it was around a hundred meters away, in the direction that the men had come from. The man laid there, motionlessly, in a pool of his own blood. Malon did not need to confirm that he was dead, she had seen corpses before. Bodies of dead Hylians, of people who had walked the plains of Hyrule and had had unfortunate run-ins with the wildlife that had come to populate the plains after Ganondorf's takeover. The other one was in a much scarier state: at first sight there were no injuries on his body, but he was pale as a cucco's feathers, and no doubt dead as well - not the slightest motion of his chest indicating that he breathed. What had he said before his death... "Vampire"? Malon had thought that those were beasts of myth, manlike monsters with fangs that seduced young women and drunk their blood. But she had never seen or heard of one in all of Hyrule! Could it be that the stranger was... no, better not finish this thought.
In either case, these soldiers were dressed like Hyrule Soldiers. Their armor design wasn't the same but she could see a lot of similitude. It was no doubt iron or steel, they had helmets and chainmail, swords and a crossbow... yes, these had to be from a country of similar origin, if not from Hyrule itself. What had they said... Camelot? Minas Tirith? And she saw no eagle and triforce on their tabbards, but instead an emblem that she did not recognize. Well, maybe they would recognize hers.
What was she to do now? She had to get out of here... the stranger? She could see him way off in the distance, riding in a direction other than where the soldiers had come from. She should head in that one for further guidance. But if she came with just a horse they would believe that she stole it. She couldn't tell them that the two men were dead, they would arrest her, or worse. Finally she decided to take one of the two: the one carrying the better evidence that it hadn't been her, the one that the stranger had drained the blood of. It was much less of a mess and smelled less bad than the poor devil that had had their chest blasted to bits, which would not startle the horse as much. She could show them the one drained of blood and that she was not a vampire... yes, this had to be the best course of action.
The only problem that remained was the horse. It did not know her, of course, and thus was skeptic when she came closer, but didn't back away as she kept a good distance. Then she brought her fingers to her lips and whistled a short tune that made the horse's ears perk up and listen curiously. She repeated it, and the horse faced her. Again, and it began to come closer, carefully and slowly, but with its ears perked towards her. Again, and it came within arm's reach. She continued to whistle while reaching out, slow and careful so as not to startle it, and touched its muzzle.
"Oh, hold on... I have a few carrots in my pack. Stay put." She slowly backed away and walked to her backpack to take out her provisions. A horse out here would be much more helpful than a day's worth of food, and she knew that she'd won it over when she stood up and noticed how it stood right in front of her and nudged her with its nose, having smelled the treat. She broke the carrot in the middle and held it out on her open palm, to which the horse approached and carefully scooped up the carrot piece with its lips, then began to chew. Malon ate the other piece. The satisfying crunching and the monotonous chewing helped to get her mind off of things, and the horse was much friendlier when she took its reins. It flinched a bit when Malon took up the dead rider but did not run away again when she heaved the grown man up and loaded him over its back. Heavy... but she was stronger than she looked, the physical exercise at the farm had conditioned her. With the straps used to attach provisions to the saddle she fixated the body in place, leaving enough space for herself. Then she mounted up.
The horse turned out to be well-trained. The blast had frightened it, yes, but it was still a trained combat horse used to transport various individuals on its back. Malon had skipped the initial training to get to know the animal, but the little gift in the shape of a carrot had worked wonders. Once she was on its back it obediantly followed her lead and accelerated on its own as she guided it back home, to the place that the soldiers had come from. Camelot, was it? It was probably the best place to head to right now, to get more information. Soon the horse reached full gallop, faster than any horse Malon had ever rode in the past, and without a sign of tiring. Woah... Camelot sure raised a strong breed!