TEST DRIVE #6

[fairyfoes]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The Seelie and Unseelie courts welcome you with mirthful revelry and hearty food. After you have been briefed on your purpose here, you will find an endless feast and a night filled with entertainment to placate your concerns. Mingle with new arrivals, sneak down the castle halls and make sure your eyes are always on your glass; fairies and imps have no bias when it comes to tricks! 02. THE STATION. Looking for a little slice of home? The Station gives you all that and more. Take advantage of the wifi, have a cup of fairy-brewed coffee (the one they didn't spit in) or sit back and relax on the patio. You can even move your things into one of the available rooms! 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld or simply take advantage of your Locket!

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[dragmire]

It might have seemed more like Hyrule for that moment when Ganondorf arrived. In front of him came soldiers and among them, one held the banner of the city of Mair. Ever since its new lord had taken dominion there, the symbol of three golden triangles had become their sigil. But it was no Hylian princess that followed. Instead it was a huge man clad all in armor and standing more than a head taller than all of his soldiers. He was a man of great importance in this world and so he did not attend these feasts without his typical entourage. He did not need their protection, but their presence projected importance for the man who claimed himself the King of Hyrule.

But he didn't notice Midna right away. He had only seen her briefly when he had made his pact with Zant. He knew her as some beautiful and mysterious Twili princess, but he'd seen her as little more than an imp afterward. So even when he loomed over the table that she sat at, he did not show any sign of recognition. Instead he was filling a goblet with wine from the table. His attention briefly went from all the various participants throughout the hall, until at last his gaze landed upon her. He betrayed no recognition. "Do try the wine," he suggested airily. "It is the most tolerable aspect of these feasts."

[envoyoftwilight]

He may have missed her, but there was no way for her to do the same where he was regarded. And when she did take note of him, even more she wanted to believe it was some ornate nightmare cooked up from subconscious concerns of his return to power. Yet if there truly had been such a thing, she quite obviously hadn't gotten the cordial invitation. And why should she have? It wasn't as if she and Ganondorf, the man of legend, were ever allies.

In any form.

Yet she did her best to ignore his presence. Causing a spectacle otherwise might have been at the very slightest amusing, but considering she didn't fully understand the nature of her predicament, she had no intentions of charging in recklessly. That had never really been her style, and she still had a certain likeness for shadows.

When he addressed her, she bit back all of the venom that threatened to bubble up and over. And she did take some wine, though not at his suggestion. For all she knew, he'd have it poisoned intentionally. On the other hand, considering he'd used indirect hands to usurp her throne, Midna had a suspicion that he wasn't the most honourable.

"I thought when Heroes killed foul men they stayed dead," she replied simply. "I'm disappointed." In the situation as a whole. In the concept of even sharing a table with the man. Who really knew.

[dragmire]

He was not an honorable man, but he was a proud one. He drank fully from the wine without any worry that it might be tainted. Nor did he seem entirely concerned at her sudden venom. Perhaps he ought to have been. There was something very familiar in her voice and in those eyes. The way she spoke of Heroes unsettled him. He drowned such thoughts in his mind and banished them.

"I have an intimate familiarity with death," he answered evenly as he thought of the reaper he called a friend. "Death is not always so final."

[envoyoftwilight]

"So I have noticed."

Somewhere between disdain and perhaps slightly impressed. With an ability to survive such a thing, not just once according to stories and suppos'd myths, there was some inevitable admiration in the talent.

"Did they call you 'precious,' as well?" she crooned in distaste. "If so, then I have angered the gods to be here now." Special and precious, indeed. In a way that she didn't want to be either of those things, where a normal definition gave way to vanity and characteristic arrogance.

[dragmire]

"They have. But I have oft heard them speak the same way of their food, before tearing into them with their teeth. But you will no doubt hear the same from our High Queen as well. She does flatter us, so." There was an element of disdain evident there. He was an apparent loyal member of the court, but he disliked being cowed to some other king and queen. Nothing was more offensive to him than to serve someone else. Those thrones should be his.

He studied her carefully. He might not know this face, but he knew her kind. Few possessed these kind of features. Certainly no one in this world did. "You're of the Twili, aren't you?"

[envoyoftwilight]

"She does flatter us, so," he'd said, a line that echoed between her ears.

Midna was really no stranger to distaste. And while she couldn't quite grasp what had his proverbial breeches twisted up, she assumed (wrongly so) that they very well may have shared sentiments on their positions in this new and foreign land. And the moment she began to think like that, she tensed, even in the middle of a long drink of wine, which wasn't as bad as she'd assumed it would be. Although it could not, like many other things, compare to the Twili's own court. If it could even be called a court.

It had not dawned on her that he wouldn't be familiar with her. Very clearly he was the same man who had pulled on Zant's strings, and yet his single question briefly left her in a transparently surprised state. "I am," she confirmed for him, thinking there no reason to lie. "You do not know who I am." Stating the obvious, "And yet I know you well enough."

As well as she wanted to know him, anyway, which was mostly not at all.

[dragmire]

He did know who she was, though. She knew him and all at once, the pieces fell into place. He did not show alarm or even particular concern. He leaned back into his seat and studied her features.

"Princess," he confirmed at long last. "You must find the imps a great nuisance and an even poorer reminder."

So, one of his old enemies had arrived at last. And here in his own court at that. For a moment, he thought it would be only too easy to strike her down now. But for now, she was no threat. She had no Fused Shadows and no Hero with her. Let her bark at him, if she pleased.

[envoyoftwilight]

And he proved her wrong, which was a bitter taste on the tongue. Somehow she reeled that in, however, and a long pause at the rim of her goblet ensued. As she eyed him, she knew her gaze was more judgmental than she probably wanted it to be. But old habits died hard and even if he hadn't known who she was, she still would have looked at him like he was an insect to be crushed beneath her foot.

When she finally did set her glass down, she remembered that she wasn't the imp so quick to stir to anger. She could harbour hostility, but at the moment, there were more important things to attend to than revenge. Besides, hadn't the Hero gotten revenge for her?

"The nostalgia warms my heart the way Light warms the Light dwellers." It was inevitably sarcastic and as much as she wanted to say more, she didn't know what to say.

[dragmire]

"Does it? I admit, I've scarce thought of you at all in this world." His smile was thin and neither cruel or mocking. In truth, she had been beneath his notice all this time. The Twili had only ever been a means to an end. It could have all easily gone another way, where she would have been his servant instead of Zant. She was not an enemy so much as a nuisance. But, in this world, she now had something of value: a Shard. "It will not please you, but here in this court we are situated as allies, for whatever worth that has."

Certainly he had no desire to work side by side with her or bring her into his own plans. But she could easily become a thorn in his side. It was all a matter of determining how best to work with or around her.

[envoyoftwilight]

Unsurprising. If he had thought of her, Midna would have been immediately suspicious as to the reason why. In the end, Ganondorf had trumped her, much to her dismay. He had no reason to think about her or of her. Until now, at any rate. And truth be told, she didn't expect to cross his mind, except perhaps as a buzzing fly about the face just waiting to be smacked down.

She cocked an eyebrow as she shot a sharp look in his direction. They were to be allies. The man responsible for the ultimate loss of her throne. The man responsible for the plight that had struck Hyrule. Sure, he'd been ultimately overthrown, yet here he was. And she supposed that was for the better. For if Ganondorf was in this world, then he couldn't be in another.

And at least she could keep an eye on him. "Oh, are we now." Less a question and more an unamused 'is that so,' kind of response. "And how do they feel about inner conflict? I do not intend to cooperate alongside you."

[dragmire]

"It is its own kind of treason," he answered disdainfully. Were it not so frowned upon, he might have done in a number of rivals already. As it was, he had only been able to pick off those who were clearly acting in treachery. "You will find that whatever desire for vengeance you harbor will be hard won. I will not trouble myself with you, but should you be fool enough to strike first, I will find some new form for you that will make the imp seem a blessing in comparison."

[envoyoftwilight]

"It is its own kind of treason."

Which meant to not do it. Midna's challenge was issued, accepted, and while not ignored, not bait to be taken. But to expect to lure Ganondorf, of all people, into a trap, was premature and foolish. He wasn't an idiot. If they hadn't been enemies, in another world, Midna imagined he would have been one very valuable asset.

"Who said I had any intent to disobey the wishes of our masters of strings?" she asked him with a transparently fake sweetness. "I was only asking out of curiosity. That being said, I like myself as I am. If it's treason for me to take action against you, I can imagine you turning me into anything is as much so." Midna shook her head, "You stay your distance and I'll stay mine. I think we can both agree on that."

[dragmire]

"Agreed. On both counts. It would be a pity to see you changed." He was not a man ruled by carnal desires, but he had an aesthetic appreciation for her beauty. Certainly the red hair put him into his mind his own people, for whom he felt a great hole inside him for having lost them to war and greed. "I think we can both keep our distance and still perhaps both get what we want."

[envoyoftwilight]

His initial words left her unsure of how to interpret them. In a way, while she was vain enough to appreciate the attention, the person it came from made her want to loathe it. Conflicting, more or less, and she doubted this little exchange over 'passable' wine would be the last time she'd be presented with it. So she said nothing and opted for feigning that she hadn't heard it.

"And what is it that you want?" Because land domination didn't seem to be an option. What more could a tyrant want aside from power and sway?

[dragmire]

Land domination might not have seemed an option, yet he'd claimed much already. His own small kingdom had been carved out, even if he presently pledged loyalty to a greater kingdom. That would change, in time, but those were ambitions he did not speak plainly of.

"I only wish to return home," he said instead. "This land means nothing to me."

[envoyoftwilight]

She didn't believe a lick of it and briefly she knew her scepticism bled into her features. After a subtle shaking of the head, she realised she had no other choice than to concede. At least for the time being. Once she had a plan...

But that was thinking too far ahead. "Do the dead have a place to return to?" she asked offhandedly. "I suppose rotting in the ground wouldn't be too glamourous, though." Better to be living than dead, and that was something she could have earnestly agreed with. Not that she was dead, of course, but if she had been, she would have chosen life over death, even if she was somewhere she didn't want to be.

[dragmire]

He raised an eyebrow at her, not quite comprehending her meaning. He had died once, but that had been ages ago, before she had ever been born. Ganondorf was alive as anyone was. "We are not dead, princess. This is no afterlife."

[envoyoftwilight]

"Not that I would ever question you," which was so very clearly not truthful in any form of the term. Midna shook her head at him, "You say you are not. I say you are."

Except I didn't see him die with my own eyes, she thought. I could very well be wrong. And she didn't want to admit that under any circumstances. Not where he was involved.

"At least you were," she finally appended.

[dragmire]

"I did," he admitted even as he recalled his ancient execution and the sting of the sword inside his chest. "And yet the gods willed me to live. Death cannot conquer me when I have been given such a divine purpose."

Few men could claim a destiny made so clear as his own. He was born a king, reincarnated from a demon, and gifted the Triforce by the very gods themselves. It could not be any more clear to him what he was meant for. The gods willed him to be a ruler, so he would rule.

[envoyoftwilight]

The gods willed him to live. The gods graced him to defy death. Midna wanted to laugh and scoff all at once. It sounded like nonsense. What kind of gods would dare do that? The same gods who birthed immense power and created the world, leaving behind only a legacy and stories of divine Heroes.

"Why would the gods choose anyone like you? Power hungry, incorrigible, and avaricious to the very bone." Midna shook her head and indulged in a long drink from her glass of wine. "That power would be better put to use if it had been given to someone like me." Even better, Zelda. But between her and Ganondorf, Midna was certain she was the more appropriate choice.

[dragmire]

He smiled thinly. "I do not deny my avarice. But I suspect you have more than a share of your own. It would have taken very little for you to have become like me, especially with something as powerful as the Fused Shadow. I think it no coincidence we were both chosen for this same court."

He studied her for her reaction. Ganondorf did not know her well, but he knew her enough. He knew what her people had been and what they had tried to strive for. Such ambitions did not simply die after generations in another realm. What he saw in her was another interloper and someone who expended a lot of effort to put together the Fused Shadow as her own brand of power.

[envoyoftwilight]

She wasn't a fool. She had even told her faithful wolf pet that putting together the Fused Shadow could result in something more powerful than either of their imaginings. She knew the stories. She knew the history. The abuse of grand magic and power twisted and pulled at the Twili turning them into what they were. Looking at herself was a reminder of that. Confronting Zant was another reminder. She would never become like him.

Never.

"Me," she parroted him, unsure of how to feel about such a pointed... accusation? How much truth was in it? "Power is neither good nor bad. The outcome depends on the person using it and what it's being used for." Power could be used for prosperity, just like magic. If one ruled the world like a tyrant, then it only made sense for the one to lose himself (or herself) to that power.

"I was doing what was necessary," she corrected him. "That's all. That was the only thing I wanted to do."

[dragmire]

"Such an easy thing to claim," he said dismissively. He had done much the same once, when he sought to bring his people out of the desert. But that was another life and he did not have the Gerudo any longer. But he did not believe her. While he agreed with her that power was neither good or evil, he did not believe her aims could ever be so small.

"Yet, I would claim the very same thing."

[envoyoftwilight]

Truth be told... Midna only knew as much about Ganondorf as the stories had said. That he was once the great King of Evil who had been sealed away to solidify Hyrule's golden age of providence, for such contentment could not exist with him still in the big picture.

"Would you now," less a question and more scepticism, but she couldn't exactly call his bluff on it either. It was possible that once upon a time he was an entirely different kind of man. It wasn't as if people were at one constant through the entirety of their lives and she knew that. Even by looking at herself she was aware of it.

"Care to enlighten me or is that a jewel you intend to keep to yourself?"

[dragmire]

He seemed to consider it even as he drained his goblet. Ultimately however, he leaned back and gave a slow shake of his head. "No, I think not. It will be enough that you see my resolve here."

To hear some say it, Ganondorf was a hero. They praised his name for his great deeds. In Mair, he was beloved by his people and treated like a god. Without the taint of his reputation, it had been easy to regain that favor and trust he had so carefully forged in his youth. Only now he was better and wiser. He wondered how many of his fellow shardbearers would risk their life to save him, if it came to it.