Michael
*A dubious little creature getting into mischief... This is no good*

*This wasn't the first time Roewen's snuck into Kakariko, and it wouldn't be the last. Honestly, he had little reason to do so. He simply just enjoyed the thrill of being where he isn't allowed... That, and any kind of food he was able to get his hands on, if any, was much better than the stuff he'd usually find.*

*Keeping low to the ground and moving only when eyes weren't looking in his direction, the broken-horned bokoblin made his way towards one of the entrances to Kakariko Village. He wasn't looking for a fight, but he held his dagger in his hands juuust in case he had to shank somebody and book it. He \*Was\* Entering dangerous territory, after all.*
Jeffrey
_The town had certainly gotten more to bustling these last few months. Tourists flocked to see the fallen rings that reportedly loomed overhead and filled a once quiet village with noise. Groups of researchers punctuated the hum of conversation with occasional exclamation over a successful translation of text.

At first all of the newness in noise had been quite overwhelming to Kel's routine, but after a few weeks she'd grown accustomed to the change. Now it was just as expected as the nightly frogs' cheeping.

At the moment Kel looked very much like a villager at rest, sitting cross-legged on a cushion that some well-intention somebody had placed at the base of a tree. Across her lap laid an unfolded mass of leather pouches and pockets. To those whose awareness extended to the magical, the charge of latent power glimmered from many of those unopened pockets, but it was the gem cupped in Kel's hands that held her attention as she rolled it between her palms.

At her knee a canine's head rested, silver ears pricked to follow noises from the village's central path a few houses over._
Michael
*Hm. Seemed to be more crowded than last time... But that was okay. Roewen liked a good challenge.*

*There he sat, right by the entrance, scanning the area, looking for a place to hide, waiting for the right moment to... GO!*

*Pitter patter pitter patter.*

*Roewen held onto his ears so his earrings wouldn't clink and jingle against each other, and also because his ears stuck out of his silhouette so much. He had a destination in mind: the tree. Roewen could see there was someone against it, but they and their dog seemed to be resting. Surely they wouldn't notice if he hid behind the same tree.*

*From there, he could scan the area and find his next destination... But while he was here, he figured he'd might as well sniff around. Perhaps this person had something worth pickpocketing on them...?*
Jeffrey
_Kel was lost within her work. Working with magic wasn't about sight, thankfully. She could sink her awareness into the stone she held, 'talking' with the enchantments she wanted to place and tinkering with energy here and there. This particular one was a personal piece. Recently a few of the village's Cucco had discovered the doggy door that allowed Ryuka free reign to do his business and, as a result, decided that they preferred the food from his bowl more than their own feed.

For whatever reason Ryuka had taken issue with chasing them out - Kel had suspicions that he'd nipped the things one too many times and gotten swarmed. Traumatizing.

So Kel needed a solution. A charm, perhaps, to turn away fowl intruders from the flap but let Ryuka in.

Absorbed as she was in her work Kel was unperturbed at the rustle behind her. Ryuka, though... The canine's head lifted to look over his shoulder, nose twitching. He rumbled curiously._
Ryan
*Motion!*

*Seeing something move all of a sudden, the bokoblin jerked away, as if he'd just touched a hot stove, and returned behind the tree. He held his hand over his snout, attempting to mask any sort of noise he could make.*

*...But curiosity eventually prevailed, as the bokoblin peeked once again around the tree. His eyes fell onto the charm Kel was working on. Shiny... Roewen want... But it seemed there was a bit of an obstacle in the way here.*

*The foul, four-legged beast that laid atop this pereon's lap. With teeth like blades, sharp enough to tear flesh from bone, and a voice loud enough to leave your esrs ringing. One of these things could run so fast for so long, fleeing from it was almost futile. This horrible creature... Known as a DOG.*

*...Of course that THING was there. Nothing came easy in life, did it? Roewen tried to stare at the shiny object while also not attracting the attention of the dog, but this was much easier said than done... And to make things worse, Roewen's blue hide was much more visible to the dog's limited spectrum of colors. Blue blends in with green better than it does yellow. No doubt, the foul creature had noticed him, or will notice him soon.*
Jeffrey
_Horrible creature! A big danger!

Ryuka's sides jerked as he breathed out the softest of woofs. It was a 'polite' warning as he stared most menacingly at the creature whose head now peered around the tree trunk. Ryuka knew what a bokoblin was. He'd traveled beyond the village with 'mom' enough times to recognize **Threat**. But he also knew that the village was supposed to be where he was quiet and helpful. And he was a **Good** Boy.

Thus the polite woof and stare.

Absently Kel rubbed between his ears. Had one of the village children wandered up? That happened with enough frequency for her to assume. In a soft voice she teased,_ "If you stare too hard at it, it'll explode."
Ryan
*Explosive eye contact? Was this another dog power previously unheard of? Roewen was pretty sure he was misinterpreting, but he didn't want to risk it. He kept his eyes averted from the dog.*

*...Perhaps... A peace offering... Would work? How does one normally interact with such bloodthirsty evil creatures like this one? Evidently, they are tameable; the person on the other side of the tree has made peace with the creature, perhaps this was a possibility not off the table.*

*Taking a deep breath and a big risk, the bokoblin sloooooowly reached his hand out around the tree for the dog to sniff and get used to. He wasn't watching, so he wasn't sure what the dog's next move would be.*

*......Shoving your hand in a dog's face when they see you as a threat might not be a very good idea, actually.*
Jeffrey
_The fur along Ryuka's spine began to rise in a warning as the hand of big-threat-creature came close to his face. He rumbled, ears flicking back - but all tension left his muzzle when Kel hissed a small breath through her teeth._ "Ryuka! Be nice."

_Ryuka hated being scolded. Bad dogs got scolded, and he was **Not** A bad dog. This was **Threat**! But... If mom said that not growling was what a good boy would do... With a massive side-eye to Kel the pup reluctantly sniffed at the bokoblin's hand.

You know what? He'd be the **Best** Boy. Ryuka went as far as to nudge the hand with his nose. **Pet me, threat-creature.**_
Ryan
*He flinched at the sensation of touch, but feeling that it was gentle, he did not jerk his hand away.*

*He felt the creature... Sniffing at him. A greeting? Did it perhaps communicate in a similar manner? Perhaps they were not so different from Roewen's kind... Hm.*

*He was compelled to sniff back, as that would be the polite thing to do... But an even bigger part of him, for some reason, was even more compelled to... Pet it? Roewen scooted a little closer, still averting his gaze from the potentially explosive creature, and attempted to pet its head.*
Jeffrey
_Oh. Okay. It could pet.

... Maybe it wasn't so bad. Ryuka's tail did a little thump-thump of appreciation, their ears relaxing a bit as the touch ruffled his head from side to side. Kel smiled. Sounded to her like the kid had approached a bit closer after all._ "Not so scary, is he?"
Ryan
*...Yeah. Not so scary.*

*The tension slowly left Roewen's body as he made contact, petting the creature. It was a... Surprisingly relaxing experience. He wasn't quite sure why... In fact, Roewen was kind of afraid of dogs. Not as much as he was afraid of water. He'd take this over drowning any day...*

*Reluctantly, he peered around the tree and made eye contact with the creature. He still wasn't sure why he did. Certainly it wasn't worth the risk of combusting spontaneously, but... He didn't know. He wanted to see the doggy. Plus, who ever heard of an exploding dog? That's ridiculous. And bokoblins only really explode when people shoot at them with bomb arrows! Which is mean! Roewen would greatly appreciate if people didn't do that to him again.*

*Perhaps he had been unreasonably afraid. This creature was being so nice... Roewen let out a curious oink as his attention shifted towards the dog-creature...*
*........................................Oh. He hoped that wasn't too loud.*
Jeffrey
_Now Kel was blind but she was not lacking in such things as knowledge and experience. Recognizing and differentiating between the different noises of creatures one might encounter in the wilds made a marked change in the life expectancy of the average citizen.

So when a piggy-like snort sounded beside her the Sheikah turned towards it. Her hands lowered to her lap as the silence went from short to pregnant.

Okay. That was definitely a **Monster** Noise. Kel drew in a breath with deliberate calm. Unarmed and with her companion in her lap she was very much **Not** Wanting to startle the creature. Even if all the intentions were good a panicked dog and bokoblin could only be a recipe for messiness.

Instead Kel kept her movements easy as she reached into her pack for a smaller pouch. Dried fruits, a snack she'd packed for nibbling at during her work. Kel dumped a mix of the apple and palm fruit slices into her palm then held them out.

A peace offering, returned._ "You're not a Hylian child, huh?"
Ryan
*Okay. A little scary!*

*Immediately, Roewen put a hand over his face and ducked back behind the tree. It was over. He'd just messed it all up. Now the entire village would know he was here... He had to go, he had to run. He didn't feel like getting killed today.*

*...*

*......But the lack of reaction threw him off. Perhaps he was safe? He hesitantly peered around the tree once more, to meet not the tip of a blade, but a handful of fruit. Roewen wasn't Hylian, nor was he a child, but the peace offering was welcome. Quietly, he took the food, and nodded in thanks (although Kel more than likely wouldn't have seen).*

*And here he was, ready to book it for his life. Perhaps kindness did exist in the world.*
Jeffrey
_Kel popped a piece of fruit in her own mouth and tilted her head a bit. Sharing snacks with a bokoblin hadn't been on her agenda today, but here she was.

The world kept getting stranger and stranger... Better to simply roll swim with the tide than fight against it in her opinion.

Kel shifted to settle more comfortably against the tree._ "I'm going to trust that you aren't going to make trouble, so Ryuka here -" _His tail thumped as she patted his head._ "Isn't going to bark for people to come. Fair enough?"
Ryan
*Yeah. Roewen understood most of that. He gave a quiet, polite little grunt of acknowledgement as he messily devoured the food he took.*

*Roewen had mostly settled down. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he'd eaten, and how good this stuff was compared to something he'd hunt or scavenge... Or even worse, the leftover scraps at camp... Roewen was glad he was no longer playing subordinate to anyone, except maybe Ganon... And this person didn't look like a short, blonde-haired Hylian guy to Roewen. There was no reason to get riled up right now.*

*After the monster finished his food, he resumed petting the dog and started sniffing around for anything else.*
Jeffrey
_To his credit Ryuka seemed to have decided that he was perfectly fine now with accepting pets from big-threat-maybe-not-threat-creature. Mom had given it food so that meant they were all friends now! Ryuka picked himself up from Kel's lap in order to step around the tree and re-flop himself closer to Roewen.

While Ryuka did his doggy thing Kel had reached into her bag again to root for something in particular. She had an idea...

Her hand found the parchment that she'd known would be there, though she had zero memory of having packed it. The thing seemed to just appear when it wanted to.

Convenient._

"Recognize this?" _Kel held the paper up where Roewen could see it. It had been translating the monsters' language over distance before: would holding it in person trigger the same magic?_
Ryan
*Wha- his magic talking paper?! When did she-*

*Roewen fumbled around for his own, finding it crudely rolled up and tucked away in his bandana. Hm. Both of them held the strange paper... And there was more than one. He looked back and forth at his parchment, then Kel's, then his, Kel's, his, Kel's... The bokoblin's ears flopped around and the earrings on them jingled as he moved back and forth.*

*...Oh yeah, can't this paper translate things? Perhaps it was time to check it again... But he had to keep his voice down, being in a village and all. Roewen proceeded to grunt softly into his parchment.*
Jeffrey
_Well that sounded like another piece of paper. Curious! Kel supposed that was as good a confirmation as any that the bokoblin was one of the 'voices' she'd heard from her own paper previously.

How many monsters could there be running around Hyrule with Goddess-blessed papers?_ "I'm Kel, and this is Ryuka. What's your name?"
Ryan
*The bokoblin looked up for a second, then grunted his name into the paper.*



*He made some weird, toothy approxomation of a smile. Not that Kel could see.*
Jeffrey
"Nah. He'll only do that when I'm mad." _Her head inclined towards where she'd heard the sound of jingling earrings, a small smirk on her lips._ "I'm joking. I guess bokoblin don't really pet dogs much, do they?"
Ryan
*The bokoblin was fascinated that he was finally able to communicate! After all this time of never being understood, he could say what was on his mind... He didn't even have to learn the language! Kind of a waste, sneaking into Hylian-populated areas all the time, then... But, at least he wasn't entirely dependent on this magical paper.*



*Roewen seemed to be having fun.*
Jeffrey
_Kel nodded most sagely, as though this were the most normal type of conversation to have. Who knew, maybe this was what was becoming normal in Hyrule. Living nightmares, islands in the sky, monsters talking via magic paper...

Normal was relative._

"You're right, they are fast and their teeth are _quite_ sharp. So, Roewen the unique bokoblin... What lures you into Hylian settlements?"
Ryan
*Eagerly, Roewen proceeded to ramble on and on... It wasn't every day that he could have a conversation where both sides understood each other. Not everyone spoke his language, you know.*



*The yapping continued on for a good moment. Roewen was slowly losing control of his volume. He was just really excited about this.*



*...It was now that Roewen realized just how loud he was speaking. He paused immediately, slowly moving his hands back over his face and slinking back behind the tree. He reeeeeally hoped no one else heard that.*
Jeffrey
_Who knew that monsters were... Articulate? And traveled, even? Kel folded one knee to prop up an elbow and rested her chin on her palm. At first she was a still listener but as Roewen's volume increased she began to stiffen. Her own ears could catch questioning tones at a distance - not close enough for her to hear what was being said but such so that she knew that **Someone **Could hear Roewen. It seemed that the paper's magic had a physical limit; beyond a certain point his speech must revert back to his native tongue.

Which meant that other villagers were hearing excited bokoblin noises. Kel's visible eye widened a bit. Approaching footsteps were rapid. Under any other circumstance Kel would be happy at the speedy response - and she **Should** Have been happy at the response - and yet.

Faster than she could really think things through the Sheikah lashed a hand out and **Grabbed**. Blind groping meant she had no idea what part of Roewen her fingers closed around but Goddess she **Hoped** For a shoulder or forearm._ "Don't move," _She hissed in an urgent tone,_ "And hold your breath."

_Magic sparked from her fingertips into the bokoblin. The spell was basic in nature and so well-trained into Kel that she could have once done it in her sleep: a small visual illusion. To the villagers rounding the corner of the nearest house the space that Roewen occupied would now look as though he were an overstuffed rucksack. Kel just hoped that her muscle memory kept the details of the illusion intact - she couldn't exactly check her work and it had been years since she'd used **This** Magic._
Ryan
"||Hey, what are you—|| **Graahkk-!**"

*Roewen was grabbed, alright.*

*...By the ears.*

*He was confused... Pretty scared, too. Usually, sudden physical contact from anyone who wasn't a monster was someone making an attempt on his life, so naturally he squealed a little in protest. Roewen was quick to shut himself up and quit squirming, though.*

*The bokoblin laid huddled against the Shiekah, holding his breath, covering his snout. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he went along with it; Kel had earned his trust, especially with that whole conversation.*

*Be a bag be a bag be a bag be a bag be a bag be a bag just be a bag you will be fine it will be okay no one will see you*

*...Yep, just a blue, mildly fluffy rucksack. Nothin' to see here, folks.*
Jim
``` rp voided; other person left server ```