Broomstick Taxi

[[Closed RP blog for Irene from A Link Between Worlds. Part of the Sacred Realm.]]

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

The bar tender greets Link with arms outspread arms, a jolly smile, and calling him by as his favorite costumer. Link simply gave the guy a sheepish smile and ordered two glasses of milk, before the bar tender stroked up a conversation with the green-clad boy, asking who the girl was and such. He told him who he brought today is Irene and that she was a friend he met along his journey. The bar tender only has Link pay for one of the glasses of milk, leaving the hero confused but he thanks him anyway. He wouldn’t have mind paying in full. There was way too many rupees for him to count in his wallet.

After keeping Irene waiting, Link picked up the glasses of milk and sort of rushed his way back to the table the young witch sat at. But before that, he tossed Bard some more rupees. Enough to keep them playing for a while rather than for a short moment.

"Sorry I took so long, Irene," He says as he nears the table. "The bar ten—" With a misplaced step, Link ended up tripping over his feet, the glasses of milk flying out of his hands and heading straight for Irene as the young hero falls flat against the cold cobbled floor.

[broomsticktaxi]

Irene had been waiting fairly patiently for Link, fidgeting with her fingers as she continued to look around the bar.  There was only so much looking she could do, though, before things started to get a little boring.  She contented herself with listening to the group of people at a nearby table, who seemed to be playing a card game of sorts.

Her attention was snapped back to the table when she heard Link.  "Hey, no worries."  She said, offering a reassuring smile.  That smile was wiped off her face in an instant when the hero tripped, turning to one of surprise.  She let out a startled yelp, and out of instinct, yanked her arm up to cover her face.  She felt the cold liquid seep through her sleeve, and a bit of it had splashed onto her face.  Wiping the droplets of milk off her cheek, Irene peered over the top of her arm to see Link on the floor.

"You okay?!"  She stood up to kneel down beside him, concern etched on her features and in her voice.  While the witch had no doubt that he had endured worse than a little fall, pain was pain, and stone floors were never too forgiving.

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

As soon as Irene stepped inside, Link followed in right after, letting the door close behind him. The people who were inside looked quite happy and cheery. Some of them laughed joyously and talked without an end. Others were simply kicking back with a fresh cold glass of milk after having a tough or hard day.

The green-clad boy walked further inside towards the back where Barb and Flute boy were, greeting them and having a small chit-chat before tossing them a total of ten rupees. They began playing and the lights dimmed. Their song sounded mysterious and sneaky. It kind of made you think of thieves. Link hummed a part of the song before turning to speak with Irene.

"Why don’t you sit over there?" He points to a small table, "I’ll go get us some milk. My treat!" Link smiles and leaves before she could answer, humming the song along the way. He didn’t want to argue about who should pay or if Irene would say she could pay for himself. Link tended to lose those kind of arguments.

[broomsticktaxi]

Irene followed Link further into the bar, eyes wandering from table to table as she took it all in.  The number of people here surprised her somewhat, as did the size of the place; it definitely hadn't looked this big from the outside.  Not that it made the establishment any less endearing, of course.  It was hard to beat an atmosphere like this one.

She felt just a touch out of place when Link struck up a conversation with the two musicians near the back of the room.  Offering a slight smile in greeting, she opted to study the bar's patrons further instead of joining the chat between the three guys.  It wasn't until the lights dimmed that Irene realized they had begun to play a song.  Tearing her focus away from a particularly boisterous man complaining about cuccoos, she turned her attention to the music.  It was an interesting tune, and was over far too soon in her opinion.  Link's suggestion interrupted her thoughts, though, and Irene found her gaze following the direction he pointed in.

"Sure."  She nodded.  "And no, I can pay for my...self."  Irene spoke just a second too late, for Link was already off.  Shaking her head, and making a note to herself to pay for the next round, the witch headed to the table he had picked out.  Taking a seat, she leaned her broom against the wall nearby, and absentmindedly tapped her fingers on the table as she waited for her friend to return.

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

Link’s attention draws away from the cucco and he walks ahead, keeping close to Irene and making sure he doesn’t get too ahead of himself. He’d prefer to keep people close than have them too far from him when guiding them someplace.

"No, not really." Danger didn’t lurk around every corner as much as it use to. There weren’t as many monster to worry about. All the evil knights were gone but there was still some Blobs, Octoroks, Crows, and as well as some other monsters still roaming around. Maybe not as many as there was before, but it was important to keep in mind to be careful, because they can be dangerous, but most of the time they could be avoided.

"Well, I hope you have a great first visit here." Link reaches the Milkbar and swings open the wooden door, and holds it open for Irene. It was only polite to do such a gesture for a lady. At least, that’s what he was told. He just hoped Irene would have a wonderful time. The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming and so were the people too!

[broomsticktaxi]

"Must make getting around on foot much easier."  Irene commented.  That was one of the many perks of flying; with the exception of a few winged monsters, avoiding the enemy was pretty easy.  She always felt kind of bad for the people who had to walk everywhere because of it.  If she had the patience for it, she might have considered opening up a taxi service of some sort.

She raised a brow when Link opened the door for her, slightly amused by the gesture.  Nevertheless, she said a quick "thank you" before slipping past him, waiting just inside.  Casting a glance around, she noted that the place seemed pretty cozy.  She could definitely see why Link liked it so much, and why people across Hyrule spoke highly of the place.  Irene almost regretted not dropping in earlier on her free time.

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

After Irene was done dropping off the letter, Link nodded his head in response and started to make his way back to the milkbar; the perfect place to relax from a hard day of work. He’d often stop by to refresh if he didn’t have any potions on him, ran out of fairies, or if he was running low on rupees. The milkbar owner had cut the price of milk in half for helping out one of his regulars out of trouble and because of that, he too became a favorite costumer. He was thankful for that. Mom always did say drinking milk helped make you grow big and strong.

"I’m sure you’ll come up with something! If you make any progress on making a tasty potion, tell me, okay? I’ll be the first in line." Even if it tasted slightly better, he’d take it. The stuff was pretty nasty, but he had learned to handle the taste after drinking quite a couple of them. His stomach had grown a bit use to it.

"Have you ever been to the milkbar before?" Link asks as he continues down the street, eyeing a passing cucco. He resisted the urge to chase after it and pet the feathery creature. Though, that’ll only frighten the poor creature. Even if he approached slowly, they’d still run away. Cuccos were timid creatures. If only he could get along with animals as easily as Gulley could.

[broomsticktaxi]

Irene adjusted the broom on her shoulder as she walked, keeping just a step or two behind Link.  She didn't visit Kakariko all that often, and while she had a general idea as to where everything was, she never really knew how to get to where she needed to be.  Fortunately, the town was pretty tiny, and you could only take so many wrong turns before you got lucky.

"I'll be sure to do that."  The witch grinned.  "You deserve it for stomaching so much of that sludge... Although, I guess you don't need it as much as you did before, do you?  I mean, what with all the world-saving done and over with.  That must be quite the change of pace."  It was quite the change of pace for her, anyway, having gone from sitting around in the Sage's Realm all day (something that she wouldn't have wished upon even the worst of her enemies, because man was it ever boring) to running around and doing things for her Gram. 

Irene shook her head in response to Link's question.  "Nope, never been.  I've heard a lot about it, though.  Sounds like it's a nice place."  She followed his gaze, eyes landing on the cuccoo.  Ugh, cuccoos.  Irene wasn't too fond of the skittish things, not after being pecked half-to-death by them (to be fair, she had kind of deserved it, although that was something she refused to acknowledge).

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

The young hero’s only response was a chuckle, understanding that Sahasrahla’s name was a rather difficult name to pronounce. Back then, even he had trouble with the name; until he met the guy and got the hang of saying it. “Maybe if you remember he’s the only one with a long name, then you might remember and won’t need a map. You get around pretty well without one, anyway.”

Link stops halfway up the stairs before turning his head to the young witch. “Sa-haas-rah-la,” he mouths the name slowly so Irene can pick up on it. “You might want to try getting his name right before giving the letter to him.” It would probably be embarrassing if she said his name and got it wrong, but then it’ll only be a simple mistake.

After trying to help Irene with how to pronounce Sahasrahla’s name, he continued back up the stairs and simply nodded. Gulley was always there to be his obnoxiously loud alarm clock. “I have handled monster guts. Monster tails and horns too. I picked them up and carried them in a pouch just in case I needed some potions.” They tasted disgusting but he was very grateful for Irene’s grandmother to help him out on his journey. Those potions were a life saver when things were rough.

Link grows silent and stops near the door to Sahasrahla’s house and gestures to it quietly so Irene knows this is the place.

[broomsticktaxi]

Irene thought about Link's suggestion and nodded a little.  "Sounds like it would work... I guess nobody else is likely to have a name quite like that anyway."  And if they did, she felt sorry for them.  "And I know Hyrule better than the back of my hand.  I've been flying all over for years now."  There was just a touch of pride to her tone.

"Sa-haas-rah-la..."  The witch echoed, and then repeated the name a few more times, trying to commit it to memory.  She shot Link a thankful smile when she thought she had it down.  "Thanks.  And yeah, you might have a bit of a point there."  She chuckled.  Her initial plan had just been to avoid calling the guy by name, which was what she had done in the past when confronted with something that was hard to say.

Irene's expression morphed into one of sympathy.  "Oh, I feel bad for you.  Having to pick up that stuff up... And those potions do not make up for it in taste, either.  I've been trying to figure out a way to give them a better flavour, but I haven't found anything that works yet."

Slipping by Link, she walked up to the door and knocked on the wood.  She waited a moment, and there was no response, so she knocked again.  Still, there was nothing.  Figuring that he was probably out, Irene slid the letter between the door and the frame, pressing her ear to the crack to be sure that it hit the floor on the other side.  Satisfied, she turned back to her friend.

"So, you were headed to the milk bar, right?"

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

"Your Grandma didn’t tell you?" A sheepish smile works it’s way onto his face. He just figured that would be important information for any delivery or else you’d be running around like a headless cucco. The Blacksmith would sometimes assign him some deliveries in the early morning and he’d still be pretty sleepy at the time, so his dad’s words tended to go in one ear and out the other. "Maybe your Grandma should mark it on a map. That’s what dad does for me if I have to deliver anything. Do you have a map?"Maps were quite useful and he would always turn to his if he didn’t know which way to go or remind him where a place was.

Link piped up that Irene was accepting help and pondered on who she was trying to look for. Some guy whose name starts with an S…. His eyes scan around the village as he tries to remember who matched that description until it hit him. “Oh! You mean Sahasrahla!” He gestures to Irene to follow after him, as he headed on off in the direction to Sahasrahla’s house. That man’s name really was a mouthful.

"Only some days? I have to wake up at the crack of dawn all the time!” It sounded easier, but Link didn’t really understand magic too much. Other than the magical items he bought from Ravio. They were quite the wonder, but either way, work wasn’t very fun. Adventure was much more exciting to him.

"I don’t mind. Your grandma won’t be mad, right?" Link just wanted to make sure, because he knew how it was to not get things done and then get yelled at for it later. He wouldn’t want to get Irene into trouble. While he waits for an answer, he turns down the street and heads straight for the stairs. They weren’t far from Sahasrahla’s house now.

[broomsticktaxi]

"I... Well, she might have said something..."  Irene mumbled, fidgeting with the corners of the envelope.  "But how was I supposed to remember that kind of a name?  It was long, and had way too many letters in it!"  Well, that was half of it anyway.  She'd never admit that she wasn't paying attention; those words might find their way back to her grandmother, and that wasn't a risk she was willing to take.  "A map?"  She echoed, and then frowned.  "I used to have one, but... I think I lost it a long time ago.  I haven't needed one in a long time."  Flying around the country had a way of teaching you to get your bearings, and fast.  It was hard to pull out a map when you were so many feet off the ground.

Irene watched as Link scanned the village.  When he first said the recipient's name, she thought he had sneezed, and it wasn't until he motioned for her to follow that she realized that was actually the person they were looking for.  "Saharalaahahaa man that's a mouthful.  I can't even say it right."  Irene felt sorry for whoever this fellow was.  Growing up with a name that long and that hard to say would have been awful... Well, in her opinion anyway.

She raised a brow.  "All the time?  That's rough."  Her tone was sincere.  While Irene did enjoy seeing the world, she was very much a sleeper, and would sleep away half the day if she could.  "You've got me beat there... But hey, at least you're not sorting through monster guts all the time.  Those things are disgusting."  She made a face, able to recall the exact sensation of having those slimy, gross things touching her hands.

"Nah, Gram won't be mad."  Irene said, shaking her head.  "I don't have anything else to do after delivering this letter."

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

"Heheh, well it’s not very polite to poke your nose into other people’s business." Link didn’t blame her, though. Sometimes it was interesting to listen in on things not meant for anyone else ears, or eyes for that matter. People had very interesting things to talk about sometimes and he use to be rather quiet back then and spent his time listening to his surroundings. It didn’t matter what it was. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was guilty of listening to gossip. Especially from that rumor guy in case he spilled it so easily. Link was always a listener more than a talker, but he opened up more from making friends and meeting people on his journey. "You’re not wasting my time, I’m free!"

There was not really much he was going to do today. Just relax a bit at the milkbar and then maybe do some exploring. Being the first to witness Irene’s greatness as a witch was flattering and something he was looking forward to. It sounded like she was doing better than him when it came to learning what they do. There was still a long way to go for him becoming a great blacksmith. Maybe if he didn’t have to start so early in the morning, he’d do a better job because he’s half-asleep at that time.

"I do love the outdoors! I just don’t like waking up early." The outdoors were great and it was great to see all the sights back on his journey even if he was in a rush to save both worlds and such. Now that things were peaceful, he can finally relax. "Oh! I’m off work so I was going to head over to the milkbar for some milk and listen to Barb and Fluteboy play. But then I saw you and I decided to say hello." His discomfort seemed to pass almost instantly. Link didn’t like staying sad for too long or tried to ignore it. Best to keep his head held high and keep moving.

[broomsticktaxi]

"I wasn't being nosy!"  Irene huffed.  "I only read the name... And a teensy bit of the letter.  If she would just write the person's name on the stupid envelope, this wouldn't a be problem."  She lamented.  Of course, the thought that she should be paying attention when her grandmother was talking never really crossed her mind.  It wasn't like she'd been constantly reminded as to who the recipient was, and where the lived.  No, not at all.  The problem lay in Irene's short attention span; a goldfish could probably focus for a longer time than she could, which was pretty sad.  The only things the girl was usually concerned with were her training and the well-being of the few friends she had.  If something didn't fall into either one of those categories, it was almost guaranteed that she would cease listening at the drop of a hat.

"Well, if you're free..."  The offer was tempting, she'd admit.  Irene wanted to get this chore done and over with as quickly as possible.  "I think the guy's name started with an S.  It sounded more like a jumbled mix of letters than an actual name."  She figured Link would know the village people better than she did.  The only time Irene really ventured  to Kakariko was on business, which left little time for socializing.  Not that she would have hung around anyway; there didn't seem to be too much here to keep her interested.

She chuckled at Link's declaration.  "You'd hate my job then.  I'm up at the crack of dawn some days."  Said days were few and far between, but they existed, and that was all that mattered.  "Well, maybe once I'm done this, I'll join you... If that's not an issue."  A break would be nice.  It wasn't like Irene had much to do after this anyway, and if she did, she didn't know about it.  That would be Gram's fault for not telling her beforehand, she decided.

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

Wow. Being able to turn people into animals. It was both fascinating and frightening. He had fallen for it completely, believing that Irene really knew how to do such a thing. Link thought he would have to stay on her good side, just to avoid being turned into anything. It made him wonder what else she could do.

"There’s not a name on the letter?" It seemed easier to write it down just in case in situations like these, you can always look to the letter if you forgot who to send it to. "I can help you look for whoever it might be." He was always willing to lend out a helping hand to anyone. Seeing them happy was one of the best things ever. That’s all he could ask for, he didn’t need any reward when helping others.

"Really? That’s great! You have to show me what you can do when you become one!" Link smiles but it slowly fades away as soon as Irene asked how he became a blacksmith. He didn’t really react to the teasing punch other than gently placing his hand over where Irene’s fist landed. "Oh well, you see," the young hero starts off, avoiding eye contact and trying to think of a way to explain this without it being a sob story. He wasn’t a liar either, so he was struggling a little to explain and he didn’t want Irene worrying about him. "The Blacksmith is my dad and he wanted me to work instead of be lazy doing nothing all day. I wasn’t doing anything before, so it’s something to keep me busy. Eheh." Yeah, that’s about right. Irene didn’t need to know the whole story behind it.

[broomsticktaxi]

"On the inside, probably... But the last time I opened a letter to find out who it was too, Gram was... Well, she wasn't happy."  Just a touch of an understatement, really, but that was alright.  It was better to let everyone think Gram was a sweet old lady (which she was, ninety-nine percent of the time).  She brushed off Link's offer to help with a wave of her hand.  "Nah, I wouldn't want to waste your time.  It's not like there are a lot of people in this place anyway."

Irene grinned.  "Oh, I will!  You'll be the first to witness my amazing powers, I promise."  She chuckled, but then frowned a little when Link suddenly lost his cheery demeanour from before.  Inwardly, she winced.  Wow, way to ruin the mood by bringing up a touchy subject.  She nodded as he spoke, trying to show she was engaged in the conversation.  She was very tempted to ask why Link didn't live with the Blacksmith if the man was indeed his father, but she figured that territory was out of bounds.  The hero seemed uncomfortable enough with the topic as it was.

"Y'know, I always pictured you as the outdoorsy-type since you were always running around and saving the world, but now that you mention it, you seem like you could be a pretty lazy guy."  She teased, before switching the subject to something else.  "So, what brings you to Kakariko, then?"

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

 Peeking out slowly, the young hero stepped out from his hiding place, holding the bell behind his back and wearing a sheepish smile. “You really wouldn’t turn me into a frog, would you?” The thought of being turned into one seemed like quite the experience, but also very strange and weird. Then, being able to merge through walls was pretty strange too.

Link makes his way over to her and puts the bell away into his storage. He hoped he didn’t stop her from any important business, but Irene didn’t look like she was in a rush to go anywhere. In fact, she was walking incredibly slow when he spotted her. Which made him wonder if she was tired. “Hi, Irene. What brings you to Kakariko? And how has your training to be the best witch coming along?” He was curious to hear how his friend was doing. Especially since peace has finally returned to Hyrule. Well, as peaceful as it can be, at least. There was always a couple of troubles here and there.

[broomsticktaxi]

"I might."  Irene said, but the slight grin on her face took the threat out of her words.  Truth be told, she didn't even know how to transform people into animals; that was something Gram refused to talk about, for some reason or another.  But Link didn't need to know that.

"I'm running errands for Gram.  She needed me to deliver a letter, but I can't remember to who."  She admitted, tucking her hair behind her ear.  It didn't stay there long.  "My training is coming along great, though.  I'll be a fully-fledged witch in no time!"  Irene boasted.  It was a bit of an over-exaggeration, but Link didn't need to know that either.  In all honesty, the young woman had a few years left at the very least.  "I heard you've been working at the blacksmith's.  How'd a scrawny fellow like you land a job like that?"  She teased, punching the boy's arm lightly.  She was curious, though.  Most of the blacksmiths Irene had seen (not that she had seen that many) had been tall, broad-shouldered, macho-men, and in her not-so-humble opinion, Link was pretty tiny compared to them.  Of course, so was everyone else, but that wasn't the point she was trying to make here.

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery || Open

[help-im-stuck-in-the-wall-deact]

Link had finished with blacksmith training for the day. He had been late to it and got the scheduled scolding as usual. It was the same ol’ thing all the time, but he was use to it now. His mentor was still quite the scary guy with such a loud and booming voice, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle.

After leaving the Blacksmith’s house and ruffling his little brother’s hair, he went straight for Kakariko Village. Which wasn’t far off from here. It was just a short walk away and it didn’t take long for him to get there either. 

He was thinking of relaxing at the milkbar and listening to both Barb and the Flute Boy play their music. That’s what he was planning to do until he spotted a familiar face. Quickly he hid away from her view so he wouldn’t be spotted right away and snickered to himself. He was happy to see her and he wasn’t expecting to run into her while he was here. So Link decided to surprise her, and by surprise, he pulled out the bell the young witch gave him and rang it through the air while wearing a big grin plastered on his face.

[broomsticktaxi]

Irene jumped at the sound of the bell, almost dropping her broomstick in the process.  Taking a moment to calm her frazzled nerves, the witch pivoted around on her heel, glaring down the street behind her.  Given how loud the ringing had been, she reckoned Link wasn't more than a block away, which meant he was probably just messing with her.

"Alright, you got me.  Now show yourself, or I'll turn you into a frog."  Despite the less-than-friendly tone of voice she was using, Irene was kind of looking forward to see the hero again.  It had been quite some time since they'd last spoken, and while she would never admit it, she did think of him and wonder how he was doing from time to time.  Gram had said something earlier about he had gone back to working under the blacksmith, which explained why her taxi service hadn't been needed as of late.  If she was remembering correctly, Link's house was pretty darn close to his place of work, and the other "hotspots" in Hyrule.

[broomsticktaxi]

Delivery || Open

Growling, Irene yanked her broom far to the left, narrowly dodging a spear that had been hurled her way.  Glaring down at the monsters below, she made a rather obscene hand gesture at them before continuing on her way.  What on earth was the royal guard doing?  Sitting around and waiting for the monsters to drop dead on their own?  It had been two weeks since Link had restored balance to the two worlds, and it was high time for peace to be restored to.  The witch felt a twinge of sympathy for any poor soul trying to get around on the ground; she had a hard enough time with her broom, and had a hard time imagining how anybody could get from one place to another without getting skewered by something.  The potion shop was suffering because of it.  It's remote location made it a prime spot for monster gatherings, and no matter how many of them Irene shot down, more just seemed to keep coming.

Kakariko village seemed to be safe, however.  Landing just to the side of the town's weathervane, Irene dismounted her broom with practised ease before picking it up and resting it on her shoulder.  With her free hand, she dug around in her cloak pockets, looking for the letter Gram had given her.  After a minute or so of looking, she finally found it--darn cloak had too many pockets--and pulled it out, hoping that the recipient's name had been written on the back of the envelope.  Despite having been told over and over as to who the letter was for, Irene had forgotten.  Apparently the person was expecting the letter, though, so all she'd have to do was knock on doors and ask around.  Great.  Social interaction.  Just what this day needed to make it even worse.  With a heavy sigh, she began to make her way to the nearest house, walking as slowly as humanly possible.