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[h3][color=skyblue]AND[/color][/h3]
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A collab with [@DClassified] [/center]
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Meki had had possibly only an hour of sleep when the current of the water brought an uncomfortable chill. Water was cold at times, sure, but this… this felt different. It wasn't the chill of an oncoming Winter, no, this was an indicator from the water. The water knew. Feeling uncomfortable, Meki lunged out of the water, thrusting her spear in front of her. She was expecting more of the beasts her people had been battling the past year yet it seemed to be just her alone in the night. 

[color=cyan]"Hello?"[/color] She calls into the darkness, blinking the grogginess of disrupted sleep from her eyes. She kept her ornate spear raised in front of her, if there were enemies waiting to ambush at least she'd be ready. 

[color=8493ca]“I see you might yet feel it too.”[/color] The shadows seemed to speak, as with looking left and right, there was no one. The gentle tune of strings to a harp accompanied the voice. A gentle and calm melody that reflected the demeanor that the voice perhaps was trying to emulate.  

[color=8493ca]“Something isn’t quite right. In fact, a hint that something is wrong.”[/color] Eyes searching around further, ears following the music, the indication of the most common recurrence of the voice revealed that it was in fact coming from…

[color=8493ca]“Though, perhaps that is just a feeling that we’ve grown accustomed to now as monsters now conquer the land.”[/color] Reclined between the branches above was a figure in the darkness. Initially there was not much that could be seen outside of a glowing red eye, staring down at the young zora. 

[color=8493ca]“Could that dread be what woke you?”[/color]

As the gentle voice cut through the darkness Meki gripped her spear a little tighter. She narrowed her eyes slightly as they scanned the scene of the night before her, alas she could not find the source of the voice. She slowed her breathing for a moment, taking in the sound of the music and following it with her eyes to finally meet a glowing red eye perched amongst the branches of the tree.

She wondered if its probings were worth the answer. For one; monsters tended not to have the intellect to craft such lines nor did they have glowing eyes and hide in trees yet perhaps the ones in Kakariko did. [color=cyan]“Who are you?”[/color] she asks sharply, readjusting the spear in her hands, although she was yet to level it in the direction of the creature in the tree she was prepared to in one swift move if it dared attack.

[color=8493ca]“Merely a shadow of what once was. The last of the smoke that once belonged to a great fire.”[/color] The scarlet light of the eye diminished and the figure was left to the darkness. If one’s eyes were keen enough, it could be seen dropping from the limbs to the ground but no sound accompanied. However, the shadow maintained its distance, clearly taking into account that she was still on edge. 

Thus, in a measure of what he considered to be good faith, he stepped out of the shadows of the trees into the moonlight. What the young zora could see was the garbed warrior of the fabled Sheikah people, but instead of a weapon in his hand was a small harp. The expression that his single, uncovered eye carried was that of an even one that studied her.

[color=8493ca]“Though, I am of little consequence. I am more interested in you, wandering daughter of the sea. The wellbeing of you and your people since the fall is something I have been tasked with observing. However, I require a guide as my goal is to come, not as a spy, but an ally.”[/color]

The shadow seemed to just disappear into the night, leaving Meki scanning the plains before her, searching for what could be man or monster. As he revealed himself she took a couple of large steps back, wordlessly leveling her spear at his chest as she warily eyed the figure before her. In his hands he held… an instrument other than a weapon. His garb resembled that of the stories of the Sheikah that were passed to her people from wanderers. 

At his speech, the zora, deciding he was most likely not a monster, lowered her spear. [color=cyan]"I'm sure we are suffering no more than most,"[/color] she replies simply. [color=cyan]"Yet, you intrigue me. What exactly are you observing for?"[/color]

[color=8493ca]“The voice of the Zora has quieted since the siege on Castletown. My superior has suspected that they are going through particularly difficult times. Although Kakariko has been made a refuge for some, we wish to offer aid for others who were allies of the Kingdom.”[/color]

[color=cyan]"I mean, there are many hardships at the moment I suppose. Our numbers [i]are[/i] dwindling."[/color]  She replied. She hadn't been gone from her people for too long, surely nothing had happened.

[color=8493ca]“Very well. Might I ask your name?”[/color]

[color=cyan]”Meki… and you?”[/color]

A moment of pause followed her question, and soon after, the young warrior retreated into the shadows.

[color=8493ca]”You may call me, ‘Shinon’. May you find rest. I’ll find you with the rising sun.”[/color]