dreamposts (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dreamposts) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
songerein2023-11-05 12:35 pm
dreamposts) wrote in songerein2023-11-05 12:35 pm
Entry tags:
- !event,
- aerith gainsborough,
- alisaie leveilleur,
- anastasia romanova,
- azula,
- black raisin cookie,
- demyx,
- ei,
- erichthonios,
- eustace,
- g'raha tia,
- gina lestrade,
- helga pataki,
- hiyori iki,
- ira,
- iris wilson,
- isabela madrigal,
- joshua rosfield,
- kaoru akashi,
- leo valdez,
- maedhros,
- martel yggdrasill,
- nahida,
- naminé,
- pauline bonheur,
- percy jackson,
- prompto argentum,
- riku,
- senku ishigami,
- shealtiel,
- shikanoin heizou,
- sora,
- trahearne,
- vanitas,
- venti,
- yato,
- zack fair,
- zelda (botw),
- zelda (ss),
- zhongli
{ a bit leafy }
A BIT LEAFY
I. LEAF STORM
During the first week of November, a storm of leaves will pass through town. It starts innocuous enough, with just a bluster of leaves carried in the wind that looks normal for the changing of the season. But as the days progress, there are large bursts even downpours of leaves that just fall all over town. And with this storm come strange things…
A. Leaf Monsters. As the leaves pile up and people attempt to rake and blow them away, there will be some strange movement...until it's revealed that oddly shifting pile of leaves suddenly rises up to try and attack, blasting sharp leaves and even trying to "engulf" the unexpecting, trapping them in piles of leaves. Time to deal with this sudden leaf invasion! (Note: the leaf monsters will be most active during the first week of the month and then taper off by the end of the second week. By mid-month, only a few will pop up here and there.)
🔥 Burn Burn Burn! Using any kind of wind will only disperse the leaf monster and make them split into more. They need to be destroyed completely, and the best way is through fire. Dreamotion fire especially.
🪤 Trapped. But be careful with that fire! There may be those trapped within the leaf monster itself, and burning it may hurt those inside. This is the one time using wind to disperse the leaves may be warranted, but maybe a "controlled blast" will help to keep the monster from spreading.
🐌 Animal Aid. While fire is the most effective, there are other methods—mainly through certain critters. The chickens around that statue from the Dream Board could probably help scratch and break them apart. Finding some special rainbow snails from the lake just south of town will also help as their glittery slime will not only trap the leaves, but also break them down quickly.
B. Leafever. The strange leaf storm and the leaf monsters are also bringing a strange cold-like disease, likely spread through the pollen or spores attached to the leaves. Those who get caught by the leaf monsters are most likely to catch it. Fortunately the effects are mild and only last a few days, week at most, but can be caught multiple times. There is also a cure, but it requires the same leaves that brought it.
🤧 Achoo! While having the leafever overall feels no different than a bad cold, some of the symptoms and side effects are a lot more…unusual with little consistency between individuals. Some may find themselves sneezing bubbles, others secreting slime as they sweat, and all dreamotion effects going haywire.
♨ Incense Burner. One way to help ease and lessen the effects of the leafever is to burn the leaves in a special incense burner infused with special dreamotion focused on healing and soothing emotions. A special stone must also be used, and it can only be found in the hot spring caves in Dragefjell, Dragon Island.
🍂 Leaf Sap. For the actual remedy, sap must be collected from the leaf monsters. How? Well—that's for everyone else to figure out, good luck. Maybe try squeezing the leaves? Or cook them?
C. Dryad. The most severe side effect of the leafever is the individual slowly turning more tree-like, some becoming similar to dryads. There are no serious side effects and will only last for about a day or two. In fact, those who "turn dryad" will feel healthier and livelier than usual. But it may be an interesting experience regardless.
🌲 A bit stiff. As the skin turns more bark-like and limbs become a bit more "wooden," those affected may find their movements a bit more limited at first. A bit of exercise and a gallon of water dumped on them will help loosen them up.
🌷 In tune to nature. While in this state, there will be an increased sense of awareness regarding all things plant. This includes the leaf monsters, allowing them to sense and pinpoint any that may be hiding or lurking around. There will also be a brief time where they can even control and call upon plants to do their bidding.
🍃 Big shed. When the symptom finally ends, all the leaves, branches, and bark will just fall completely off the individual and they will return completely normal without a single blemish. …And clothes. Hope this isn't happening out in public, ahem.
II. INFESTATIONS
With the changing of the seasons, all kinds of critters are either passing through on their migratory route…or burrowing in to start hibernation. Usually it's not a problem, but perhaps due to all the strange dreamotion energy flux over the past year, the creatures are behaving a little differently and getting in the way more than usual. The storm of leaves isn't helping matters, aiding in some of them to travel through. While some will appear during it, the majority will cause problems from around the second week onward.
A. Bugged Trees. Those living in treehouses are going to have a bit of a time as a number of insects will be looking to find a new place to chill during winter. Specifically, their home. Those who are under the dryad effect may want to be careful of any bugs that may be attracted to them.
🪲 Giant Beetles. Some may remember these fellows from previous years. The beetles are quite friendly, but they are quite large, large enough to ride on. They can also cause some rough damage on gardens and yards, their massive size creating large holes as they burrow into the ground. However, some are really useful with their pincers, capable of pruning unwanted branches. If not chasing them away, perhaps one could use them instead? (Especially against leaf monsters.)
🐞 Ladybugs. These ladybugs are average sized (thank goodness), but they have quite the attitude. Preferring colorful and well tended flowers, they will speak their mind should they find any that are wilting. They will also drop critiques on anyone with poor etiquette and living poorly. Those who have well kept homes will have an easier time with them…and also suffer large groups coming in hosting parties in the branches.
🦗 Crickets. The crickets are of the musical sort, ready to put on a performance to try and endear themselves to receive temporary lodging. Just for a few days! Their range of music is wide, from classical to punk rock to country to jazz to even rap. And while they try to be polite, well… Sometimes music jams happen whether they should or not. Like late at night. Crickets are nocturnal after all.
B. Migration Migraines. As if dealing with bugs wasn't enough, other critters are either migrating or looking to hibernate around town. One would think the Wildlands would have plenty to offer, but some may find the easy access to food in town a bit more enjoyable.
🦡 Honeycomb Badgers. These interesting looking badgers have a honeycomb for a back. While they will dig up gardens in search of tasty flowers, they need to "shed" their honeycomb and are deliberately going to people to offer it. They are not harmed and will just reveal normal fur beneath before a new honeycomb forms.
🦒 Flying Giraffes. A flock of large winged giraffes will be flying in and roosting on various tall buildings. They act a lot like Canadian geese, so…beware.
🐻 Cotton Bears. These cute little bears look like they could be living teddy bears with how small and plush they appear. And for winter, they are looking to sleep somewhere nice, soft, and warm. Like a bed. Now they don't really care if they are occupied or not, so maybe it would be better if some dens and beds could be made for them instead.
C. Field Foes. The farms situated around the outskirts of town are preparing to harvest their fields, but there's trouble. Unless it gets sorted quick, food might be harder to come by for the winter!
🌾 Scarecrow Rebellion. Something is wrong with the scarecrows, but no one is sure what. They're either sitting in the fields not trying to shoo away the numerous wildlife that have decided to come through, or actively waving their pitchforks at the very gardeners and farmers they're supposed to help. Perhaps they feel a bit underappreciated so some word of thanks could help them get back to work. In the meantime, some help clearing out the fields of unwanted visitors, especially the crows, will be needed.
🍄 Hopped Up Hares. Among the unwanted "vermin" are some hares that have somehow gotten into some…strange green mushrooms that have made them behave a bit erratic. They're digging up tunnels, wearing carrots on their heads, and stare blankly out into the distance. Catch them and drive them away! And maybe feed them some special pellets that will help cure them of their, uh, "ailment." It's not recommended to eat the mushrooms should they be found, but if one does…well, enjoy the same dizzying, heightened experience the hares did.
🍆 Oversized Veggies. Some young "genius" thought creating a special formula mixed with dreamotion would help the crops grow larger and faster. However, it only caused the vegetables to overgrow to as large as an adult person and are now rolling dangerously through the fields. Some even get into town! Pumpkins, carrots, lettuce, corn, potatoes, cabbages—all manner of vegetables are rolling around, so stop them before they cause too much destruction.
no subject
But before she can ask more, the other Zelda throws another curve into the conversation and knocks the princess off balance. ]
Y-Your Grace?! [ Zelda stutters, taken aback. Why in the world would she suggest the same style of address as one uses for the Goddess? ]
No, no, Princess will be perfectly sufficient. [ A beat. ] In truth, you need not use my title at all, if you prefer. [ Then a smile, an attempt to mirror her counterpart. ] But I will understand if my title is preferable to my name in our particular instance.
no subject
It's fun, thought. She'll have to tease Zelda again. ]
It doesn't bother me. [ It's a name. Why deny someone their name? Perhaps she feels strongly about it for the simple reason that it would be easy for her to be denied her name; she doesn't tell Zelda that she had asked Somnus to call her by her name alone, with no title or anything attached. She is, you see, best introduced as Zelda of Skyloft, because it's true, and there's barely any reason for her to have a surname on that little island in the sky...
Ah, but maybe she just really doesn't want to be Hylia, if she can help it. ]
Which do you prefer? [ She wonders if it's simply too strange to pose this question, but she desperately wants to know, too. Girlish whims take the form of heartfelt desires to know that someone could be happy with their lot in life, despite it all. ("It" being you, of course.) ] Do you like being Zelda, or Princess?
no subject
"Do you like being Zelda" makes the princess's smile soften with nostalgia. Just Zelda. Before Songerein, her royal title weighed on her like shackles, a constant reminder of everything she was supposed to be and, ultimately, everything she had failed to be. In her adolescence, Zelda hated her title, just like she hated her divine powers. They were the sources of her misery growing up and symbols of her failure to protect her country from Calamity.
So when she awoke in the dream world and a chance encounter presented with the opportunity to be "just Zelda" for a little while, the princess took to it with gusto. Though she has long since stopped hiding her royal heritage, being "just Zelda" still holds a special place in her heart. ]
I like being Zelda.
[ She eventually answers in a tone which suggest she's talking about more than just the form of address. In the years since the defeat of Calamity Ganon, in a way she never did in her adolescence, the princess has grown to love being Zelda. ]
no subject
Speaking to Sheik had given her resolve and an understanding that she bore a responsibility. The nuggets of information he blessed her with were helpful, but she had selfishly held onto what she knew. After all, burdening another with the truth of her existence, of her soul, seemed cruel to her. He, too, should live away from Hylia's curse as long as possible, and so she wouldn't blemish his soul with her truth. Even so, it was not hard to put two and two together to come up with the fact that the Sheikah being present here and associating with a girl named Zelda, part of the royal family, would be dealing in matters of the goddess. Seeing her face, then, was just confirmation: sisters. They might as well be sisters. The smile on Zelda's face is her own.
So how can she do it? Break a smile like that, with the whispers of fondness tucked into the corners of it...
She wants, more than anything, to give her a normal life. So in return for being blessed with the smile of someone who is just Zelda, she decides that for all intents and purposes, it is a secret that Hylia's spirit possesses her body, that she is the poison infecting Zelda's life. Hadn't that been selfish, anyway? To tell the truth? Look around— the world here is untouched by Demise, and by Hylia.
She's not selfless enough to feel guilt for being able to be a normal girl, the daughter of a simple man who devoted his life to Hylia in ways he couldn't even understand. But she isn't selfish enough, either, to tell Zelda that the origin of the curse has manifested before her. So it is a secret, then, for all of this dream they share. This is her burden to bear. ]
See? You know what you want to be called! Zelda, then.
[ She approaches, closing the gap between them, so she can take Zelda's arm with a level of unwarranted familiarity, intent on leading them back to town. Anything to make sure she never picks up on the expression she had worn for just a moment. ] What's it like?
no subject
Zelda lets out a gasp, flinching in surprise. In all her life, only Purah has ever dared to do something like this to the princess. Anyone else would fear the repercussions of such familiar contact with the royal family (even though the princess would never dream of punishing someone just for touching her). ]
Wh-What? What is what like? [ There's a startled quaver in her voice, the sound of one thrown off balance. ]
no subject
Oh, come on. Focus, Zelda! What is it like being Zelda! [ Her tone is simple, flippant, and a giggle leave her mouth as she tilts her head back and then to the side, giggling with unbridled mirth. ]
no subject
It's... [ An impossible question to answer, so broad that Zelda doesn't even know where to start. Is the other Zelda asking what it's like to be a princess—(Sheik did say that she didn't call herself one)—? Or what it's like to be Hyrulean—(Sheik said she only knows Hyrule as "the Surface")—? Or is the question more philosophical, the kind of thing a bard would be better to answer?
Each second that the princess spends thinking is a second for her counterpart to needle her for an answer, so she decides to simply go with the first thing that comes to her mind. ]
It is lovely, I think... being Zelda. I didn't much care for it when I was younger; it is a lot of responsibility, you know, and I was not very good at it. But after I figured it out—after the Calamity and everything—I started liking it.
[ "And I'm going to miss it." But she stops short of saying so. Instead, she offers an apologetic laugh: ] I suppose that isn't a very clear answer.
no subject
It's not, [ comes her soft agreement, steps in time with Zelda's. Despite this, she giggles again, and then sways her head side to side, golden locks swaying. ] I was curious if you had a job, or how you spent your days here... But this is nice to know, too. [ If, at the end of it all, her descendant can find some kind of blessing in being herself, then it's worth it, isn't it? ]
It's never very clear, though. I didn't understand what meant for me until the end of my journey... Because even though I'm— [ Ah. Hm. ] Zelda... and all that entails, I'm still my father's daughter, and the girl my friends know and grew up with... My classmates' classmate, the pupil to my teachers... And my Loftwing's friend, you know? Link was still— ...I was still his Zelda.
[ Her other hand rises to rest on Zelda's elbow, walking pace slowing slightly. ] That's enough. Isn't it?
no subject
Link.
[ The name comes out before she even thinks it, the rest of her counterpart's words going unheard. Link. She knew a Link.
It's not something that deserves such a reaction, really. Just as there have been almost as many Zeldas as there have been generations of the royal family (and probably multitudes more of common descent), there have been as many Links—heroes immortalized by legends and unassuming boys growing into unassuming men living unassuming lives. Common Hylian names. Common Hyrulean names.
And yet it catches the princess by the heart. Another Zelda, who knows another Link. But more than that— she is his Zelda. Not just the Zelda of his era. His. The thought makes the princess's heart skip a beat, and she places her free hand over her sternum as if to calm it. What must that be like, being his Zelda? The princess... would like to know what that feels like.
She nods in answer to her counterpart's question. Yes, that is enough. Being his Zelda would be enough. ]
Link is...? [ Zelda lets the question trail off in hopes that the other Zelda will supply the appropriate term. A friend? A schoolmate? ...A lover? ]
no subject
But. She, too, is a Link Liker. ]
...My childhood friend. [ Zelda says it, holding onto the words for the other to process. It's a gentle admission, one she chews on for just a moment too long. Link is... her hero? Her best friend? Her knight? All seem appropriate. She's confident when she says, ] Link and I grew up together. But it was being his friend, his Zelda, that made the burden of my life that much easier to bear.
[ Simple as that, and yet— she knows the complexity must be clear to her. ]
He was Hylia's chosen hero to me, but still my friend who I woke up every day. If it weren't for me, he probably would have missed his classes in Knight Academy every day, hehe!
no subject
A remorseful sort of envy clings to Zelda's expression, even though she smiles as she listens. It's bittersweet, like imagining a life she and Link could have had if not for the Calamity.
If not for the pressures heaped upon their small shoulders that stifled their childhoods.Could they have eased each other's burdens back then, if he had not been so distant and she not so cruel?But it gets a laugh out of her, particularly the image of Link being late to Knight Academy. ]
Oh dear, did he have a habit of oversleeping? I can hardly imagine Link being late to anything.
[ Her Link. Because he can be "her Link" in her mind, right? ]
no subject
But that burden is unspoken, unsaid. Unwelcome. ] Oh, yes. He loved to sleep. I think he could have slept for a century if I let him.
[ Whether the irony of what she says goes unnoticed, or responded to is lost in the moment: Next, Zelda calls the Link of the Princess' era "Your Link", and prattles on about him for a moment more, teasing him even if he's not there to defend himself. Perhaps, she thinks, Zelda will do it for him, and they can continue their little dance until they get back to town and inevitably split up: Not before, of course, the Sky-born one of the two insists they play together again some time sooner. ]