open 🌻 a relatively more welcome return and some other nonsense

[multidisciplinary]

Who: Zelda and OPEN
Which: Open log, backdated to November 9
Where: Plaza, Lakeside, Dreamscape
What: November catch-all kind of thing. Zelda returns to Song (again) after trying to go home and do [spoiler] things, gets leafever and experiences a day in the life of a sylvari, and dreams about fashion
Warnings: Minor Tears of the Kingdom sidequest spoilers dreamscape prompt. (opt out of TOTK spoilers here.) Threads with major TOTK spoilers will be marked.



1. a not so welcome return the redux

Like most new arrivals, Zelda awakens in the Plaza. When she opens her eyes, she sees... nothing. Darkness, muted colors, like the insides of one's eyelids. Her heart skips a beat. Has she done it? Has she finally returned to Hyrule and fulfilled the plan she has so ardently strived for? Is she free from Songerein?

As if in answer, the wind picks up and gusts over Zelda. The darkness rustles loudly all around her, like dried leaves in an autumn breeze.

...

The princess sits up abruptly, shedding leaves from the pile that has formed on top of her. Wait a moment. What are all these leaves doing on the ground? It's still summertime in Hyrule. Zelda looks around, casting her gaze over the nearby Plaza, abustle with activity as dreamwalkers patronize the many shops surrounding it. This doesn't look like the town near the castle. Then that must mean...

She's back in Songerein.

Zelda slams her hands down in the leaves and screams out a curse at the top of her lungs. Back in Songerein? Already? But she only just left! Last night, she snuck out of the treehouse home she and Link share and went to the Wishing Well. She planned to use three of her baubles to go home. Link came to stop her—

Her mind stops abruptly as the memory plays in her mind—Link, stepping between Zelda and the well, kissing her...

A hot flush rises to Zelda's cheeks. She shakes her head roughly to get the image out of her mind. Stop getting distracted. Focus!

The princess roughly digs herself out of the pile of leaves (more of which have accumulated in the mere minutes she's been sitting here) and gets to her feet. Time to go to the Plaza and get some answers.


2. dryad ailment

It's been four or five days since Zelda returned to Songerein and she's been feeling... pretty terrible, actually. Somehow, waking up in a pile of leaves in the Plaza has caused the princess to fall ill. For days, she's been laid up at home or at the clinic, suffering fevers and body aches and the worst case of dry skin anyone has every experienced. Her body has become strangely plant-like, with skin like bark and hair like yellow leaves. If not for how miserably she's been feeling, Zelda would be fascinated by the changes.

But today, she inexplicably feels... fine. No, better than fine. Wonderful, actually. The moment she steps outside and the cold autumn sunlight shines on her leafy hair, Zelda feels her miserable affliction vanish. Her lethargy fades in an instant and she suddenly feels more energized than she's felt in days—no, in months. Suddenly, all of the worries Zelda normally carries around fade from her mind and all she can think about is soaking up more sunlight, drinking clear, cold water, and finding some delicious nutrients!

Zelda can be found at the lakeside all day, romping about in a state of undress unusual for the cold weather and uncharacteristic of the princess. She might be conversing animatedly with the nearby trees, wading knee-deep in the icy lake waters, or even (ugh) eating dirt. Really, you should have a taste of this dirt. The flavor is exquisite!


3. Interactive dreamscape - Hyrulean haute couture

Intentionally or unintentionally, tonight's dreamwalking has brought you to a town on the outskirts of Hyrule known as Hateno Village. Once a sleepy little village, Hateno has grown into a bustling township in the century since the Great Calamity, on account of its distance from Hyrule Castle. In the four years since they defeated Calamity Ganon (and when they aren't busy traveling the kingdom), Zelda has lived in Hateno Village with Link. Hateno is the 'home' she thinks of whenever she hears the word, so its little wonder that a homesick dream take place there.

Lately, Hateno has been buzzing with excitement, ever since haute fashion designer Cece opened her shop there and began selling her latest designs. Fashion-forward Hyruleans from all over the kingdom have flocked to Hateno to get their own Cece-brand clothes. Though Zelda may not be a fashionista, she isn't immune to the charm of Cece's unique designs.

That's how you find yourself inside Cece's shop, trying on the hottest new style—mushroom couture. Zelda, also dressed in a full mushroom outfit, stands before you, carefully scrutinizing your outfit.

"No, I think it needs the hat," she says. "The ensemble simply isn't complete without it."


4. the wildcard option

Want a different prompt? Feel free to surprise me or plot with me on plurk (knighted), discord (triforce1960) or DM.

Also, feel free to reply in brackets instead of prose if you prefer.

Comments

for Sheik (gonna have big TOTK spoilers in this thread)

[multidisciplinary]

Three weeks...

[ Zelda echoes Sheik's words as the pair sit together at a quiet table nestled in the back of the Wild Harvest. Over three weeks have passed since the princess stepped into the wishing well and tried to return to Hyrule in order to perform the forbidden act of draconification. It worked for the most part—Zelda awoke in Hyrule, Songerein forgotten, with the intention of completing her preparations with Mineru before she swallowed her secret stone. But no sooner did the princess lay down for a brief rest did she find herself back in the dream world.

Frustrating though it is, what she finds stranger is just how much time has passed in Songerein. Typically, time seems to pass slower in Songerein than in Hyrule; the last time Zelda was returned home, she spent over sixty years in Hyrule while just a few weeks passed in Songerein. This time, she was barely gone a day—shouldn't that be only a few minutes for the dream world?

Zelda holds a steaming mug between her hands, a warm blanket kindly lent to her by the Harvest's staff wrapped around her shoulders. Her ancient Hyrulean dressed is designed for warm summer weather, not the first frosts of late autumn. ]

How is— [ —"Link", but the moment his name enters her mind, so too does the (still very fresh) memory of him kissing her, immediately derailing her question. Zelda glances down at her drink in an attempt to hide the blush that has probably sprung to her cheeks. She tries to recover: ] —everything here?

[ Zelda ran into Sheik within an hour of waking up from her leaf pile in the Plaza. (Or, perhaps more accurately, he ran into her, as the ninja typically only makes himself present on his terms.) After the initial surprise of finding each other wore off, they opted to find a warm place to sit down and talk. Zelda explained her abrupt departure to Sheik (sans her intimate moment with Link) and what she had sought to do, sacrificing herself to become an ageless dragon to imbue the Master Sword with enough power to defeat the Demon King. The princess fidgeted with her secret stone all the while, still attached to the choker around her neck.

It wasn't the first Sheik had heard of Zelda's plan—she shared it with him after her emotional first arrival that summer. But it was still a difficult subject to discuss, one that kept her gaze guiltily shifting anywhere but Sheik's face. Zelda never intended her friends—either in Hyrule or Songerein—to know about her sacrifice. Only Mineru was privy to her plan, and her ability to separate her soul from her body was integral to the confrontation with the Demon King in Zelda's era. It was always difficult to accept that she would need to sacrifice her life for Hyrule, but it was so much easier when she didn't have to face all the people she would eventually part with. ]

kinda 1, kinda wildcard

[skyglider]

[He made a promise not to give up on her, and in so doing, himself as well. He promised not to mourn but to live, to find a way back, to save Hyrule and free her. And in the meantime, to be patient. To live without sorrow.

It's the hardest vow that Link has ever had to carry.

He sees the ghost of her everywhere, a flash of golden hair, a far-off star in the night sky. Following those phantoms is a constant temptation, but he knows what a foolish thought that is. He could chase visions and spirits for the rest of his life and never find her again, and then what kind of a life would that be? What sort of man would he be, to renege upon his own vow like that? So he doesn't. He tries his damndest to move on, to take things one moment at a time. It hurts, it aches, but that ache becomes duller over time. Less pronounced.

And yet...

It's a flash of blonde he sees at first, the shade familiar enough to catch his eye. But-- no, he's certain he's just seeing things. Finding familiarity he wants in the silhouette of a stranger.

But he follows anyway.

Whomever she is --for he is certain it's not Zelda, at least not his Zelda-- she is nearly swallowed by the crowd at the plaza. Nearly, but not completely, and while he keeps a respectful distance, his eyes keep track of her anyway. He knows this is a dangerous practice, at least for his own heart, but for some reason he cannot pull away.]

3

[updrafting]

[It's a weird feeling, with sounds and sights that are familiar enough, but also entirely different to him. Though he never spent more time than necessary in Hylian towns while alive, there's a distinct style here that's nostalgic in a way he wouldn't expect.

For better or for worse, though, he doesn't have time to dwell on any nostalgia, not while some unknown woman is lifting his wing to take measurements and check how the fabric is folding.]

The hat?

3

[melodiouspacifist]

"Erm, well..." Demyx says a little uncomfortable in the outfit. He's changed some of his clothes up but this is something else.

"I'm not really sure a hat would help."

1

[all_the_aangles]

[Sometimes, he's had to deal with trouble.]

[That time being 'constantly.']

[So when he hears a scream, he rushes to investigate, using a gust of airbending and a flick of his hand to transform his staff into its glider form, launching upwards into the air and swooping towards the location he heard the scream from.]

[He lands quickly, scattering leaves as he does so, looking around.]

Does someone need help?!