INNOCENT WANDERINGS AND SILLY DISCOVERIES [MIFF]

[isolde]

Isolde frowned, the deku nut he spit hitting her right in the noggin like the first one had, though this time she hadn't noticed it. He wasn't impressed? She sure was, it wasn't something she thought she would have been able to do so well on her first try. Oh well! She was proud of herself, so that was enough. But she was still pretty determined to impress/catch the little fellow. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she began to consider what else she could try out on him.

"Aha!" She exclaimed, then immediately punched the ground with her fist. A large spike of ice rapidly jutted up from the frozen floor right from underneath Miff. "Tada!" Isolde announced proudly. Surely that would impress him!

[MIFF]

"YEEOWCH!"

Taking a spike straight up from below hadn't exactly been on Miff's agenda today. The Deku was launched up into the air by the blow and then came falling back down, bouncing off the iced forest floor on his wooden behind a few times. Eventually the Deku came to a stop and worked his way back to solid footing in a rage.

"You think you're so impressive, huh!?" Miff demanded, stomping his right foot a few times. "Well nobody in this world his more impressive than me!"

Miff turned and dashed away, sure that Isolde would still be slowed down by his bubbles from earlier. Several meters away the Deku hopped up onto a fallen log, also bearing a thin coating of ice, and turned to face the Goron once more.

"I can take you down all the way from over here!" Miff declared, spitting a fresh Deku Bubble at Isolde for emphasis. "What can you do when you're that far away, huh!?"

Miff was the absolute master of ranged combat. Without anything to throw at him that freaky white Goron would be putty in his nonexistent hands, of that the Mad Marksman was certain.

[isolde]

The big icy Goron watched in amusement at the furious little Deku. He was being an exceptionally good teacher for dear Isolde, who never really learned the skill for combat. And here she was in a fight, not that she knew it, doing quite well for her first try. She giggled more at the sight of him scampering away on the ice. He looked so funny! She wondered if he knew.

This time when the Deku bubble moved towards her, she managed to maneuver out of the way, remember how slow they'd make her. This game she wasn't going to lose, no sir, not at all. Once safely out of the way of the bubble, Isolde tilted her head in confusion. "I can still do the same thing." She stated, very matter-of-factly, punching the ground again to prove it to him. Another ice spike sprang up from the ground diagonally and from behind Miff. "See? Silly!" She laughed.

[MIFF]

Miff did see, briefly, the spire of solid ice that Isolde had summoned before it disintegrated into white dust and vanished into the air. This view occurred from an upside-down viewpoint after the Mad Scrub had been skewered from behind, causing him to shoot forward off the log and somersault in mid-air. By his second rotation around the spike was gone and Miff's head had hit the forest floor. He rolled forward, eventually coming to a stop flat on his face. It took a few seconds for Miff to get his bearings but as he struggled back up Miff got a look at something good on the ground. Isolde's Freezing Aura was starting to turn back into mist and clean up off the ground. Even the air itself felt a little bit warmer.

"So, out of steam already, are you?" Miff asked, not aware that his comment could be found humorous when one viewed the Goron's body to always be letting off wisps of white frost into the air like steam. "Well, I can go all day! I am the mightiest Mad Scrub in Hyrule! I am Miff!"

Bracing himself the self-proclaimed mightiest decided it was time to prove it. He fired a second volley of Deku Seeds at Isolde, determined to take her down before she could reach him.

[isolde]

The Deku seeds were harder for Isolde to dodge, but it really didn't matter all that much since they did very little harm. She managed to pick up three of the nuts this time and decided to ration them, rather than throw them all at once like he tended to do. "Oh don't worry!" Isolde assured him. "I just need a moment and I'll be able to put it back the way it was." She smiled happily, as if it was the greatest thing in the world to be guaranteed. To her, it was close to. The wintery wonderland she created resembled her home. Just.... with trees and other plant life frozen into the environment. It was much prettier actually. Perhaps she should go home and bring everyone with her to see how lovely everything was. My, how amazed they'd be! And how amazing they'd think she was for knowing all about it. Isolde beamed.

And then threw a frozen nut at Miff's head.

[MIFF]

Miff avoided the seed not by moving away as he had before but by diving headfirst forward, slipping just below its vector. The returned shot landed harmlessly in the grass behind him as the Deku rolled and flipped off his back to land on his feet right in front of Isolde.

These Gorons. They all thought they were so tough, ignoring his shots like that. Miff had totally shown them before! All those days and nights on Death Mountain weren't wasted at all once he unleashed his secret weapon upon them. After that they all took him seriously! Now it was time for Miff to teach Isolde a lesson in respect just like he had taught those Gorons before her. Back then he had won against them by... by...

... what was it he did again?

Ticked off at his inability to remember a key victory in his life Miff fumed and lashed out without thinking. Jumping up the Deku used his right foot to just kick the white Goron right in her belly. It all made sense to the Mad Scrub. After all, she couldn't catch a kick and throw it back at him!

"Take that!"

[isolde]

Well, he was right about her not being able to catch a kick. However, thanks to her aura, he'd be more damaged than she was just by touching her. Poor thing. And then there was the fact that he was small enough for her to just reach out and grab. Which she did.

"You're a spunky little guy, aren't you?" Isolde asked, as she grabbed for him after he kicked her in the gut. It had harmed her even less than the deku seeds. He wasn't very difficult to manage, really. Not for her, anyways. He found him to be quite fun and entertaining!

[MIFF]

"Ahhh! Ahh! Cold!" Miff whined as his foot was promptly spiked with ice shards upon contact with the Goron's body. He hopped on one foot before the ice giant a few times, blowing on his toes(His what?) to make them feel better. Miff was notoriously full of hot air, you see.

He'd soon be in a whole 'nother world of pain, however, when Isolde reached down to grab his body herself. The Goron's grip also froze to the touch and ice formed, pressing into Miff's body and harming him even if she gripped loosely. After those spikes he'd been battered with earlier the Deku couldn't handle much more of this. He needed a way out! It wasn't like she had really beaten him, right? This wasn't his full strength at all. He was only playing around. Really.

Playing around... playing... playing around!

"Y-you pass the test," Miff said, wheezing through the freezing temperatures that were running down his wooden body. "Congratulations!"

[isolde]

"Test? What test?" She asked him curiously. A few moments passed before she realized what he meant. "Oh, you mean the game!" She nodded, then suddenly exploded with excitement, realizing that she had won. After all, she had finally caught him. "YAY! I WIN!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down and hugging Miff to her tightly.

After the initial excitement, she realized why she was playing the game in the first place. "Oh, that's right. What exactly are you?" She asked, holding him at arms length, turning him over and examining him as she waited for a response, totally oblivious to his discomfort.

[MIFF]

She was really trying to kill him! No, wait. Miff knew he was invincible. This was just.... bothersome. That was all. He just had to stay calm. Nothing was going to keep this legend-in-the-making out of the history books, least of all some ignorant albino Goron.

"Tell you what?" Miff managed to squeak very weakly as the ice continued to jab into him with each passing moment. "Put me down and I'll show you something super-cool."

Again, Miff was not trying to make puns.

[isolde]

Isolde eyed him suspiciously. "I dunno. You've been a sneaky one." She said accusingly, no longer turning him over. She'd seen enough. She was most interested in the petals on his head anyways, and she could see them just fine when she held him at eye level. But, the game was over since she had already caught him. "Only if you promise you won't run off!" She said sternly and childishly at the same time. An odd tone that she was quite good at producing.

[MIFF]

"The great Miff... never goes back.... on his word..."

Miff couldn't recall ever giving his word about anything before. That meant if he stayed after she put him down then he'd be telling the truth, right? The Deku certainly doubted he'd ever be giving his word again in the foreseeable future.

In other news, if Isolde held on to Miff for so much as another second he was seriously going to die!

[isolde]

"Ok then!" She agreed, smiling happily and gently setting him down on his feet. But not without giving him a nice pat on the head first.

Isolde plopped down on her stomach, propping her head up on her hands so she was at eye level to the vicious little Deku. She continued smiling at him, eagerly awaiting the explanation of what he was, where he was from, how he was able to do all those tricks. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him. Actually, they weren't just about him. There were lots of other questions she wanted to ask about Hyrule in general. Like, where was she? She had tried talking to a lot of people before, but they had all run off. It was so weird.

[MIFF]

Miff immediately backed away from Isolde until he was outside of her own personal climate zone. Back in the relatively warm air of Faron Forest the Deku was still trounced but already feeling much better.

"Hufff... huf... huff... just give me a second... huff... I'm just getting some room for a demonstration... huff..."

He stayed there for a rather lengthy pause, shaking the ice shards out of his head of leaves occasionally. Eventually though Miff took in a deep breath and stood straight again. His piercing eyes shot their gaze directly into Isolde's.

"It 's no wonder that you're curious. You're actually very lucky," Miff began to explain, a certain level of pride and showmanship present in his voice. "For you see, I'm not just anybody. The truth is... I'm the greatest and most powerful of all the Deku in Faron Woods! We Deku are the living, thinking embodiment of the forest. The power of nature itself lives within us and I am their greatest champion!"

[isolde]

Anyone else, and Miff would have simply been shrugged off. Isolde, on the other hand, ate up every single word that Miff fed her. The greatest champion of the Deku! Wow! And she had captured him! She silently beamed with pride of her own. Why, she must have been the only one who could have managed such a feat.

"That's amazing!" She exclaimed, eyes twinkling with wonder and excitement. "Keep going!" Isolde wanted to hear more of the Great Deku Champion. "Does that thing on your head mean you're the best?" She inquired curiously. "And what about those bubbles? Those were weird. Can all the other Deku do that? How come I haven't seen any around here? Actually, I haven't really seen many people around here. Where are all of them? I want to meet everyone!"

[MIFF]

Yes, yes, Miff thought with meaningful nods. He was indeed amazing. She may have been a blundering fool but at least she had the sense to recognize greatness when it was spelled out right to her face.

"We all have leaves, though none are as splendid as mine," Miff answered, spinning his Propeller Leaves around a few times for emphasis. "Our Deku Bubbles are a special gift of our race. One pop and you're covered in invisible goo that slows you right down, haha!"

Miff was always happy to answers questions about himself for his adoring fans(Again, since this was the first time and he was happy that meant it was the truth), though when Isolde turned the topic toward other Deku he became less enthusiastic.

"Oh most of them are deep, deep in the forest where no one else can reach. None of them even half as remarkable as I, of course. Like I said, you are extremely lucky."

[isolde]

Isolde nodded. That certainly explained why she hadn't seen any others but him. She really was very lucky! No one back home would believe how lucky she was. They'd all be so jealous of her stories. The icy woman sighed dreamily, freezing a bug that had unfortunately flown too close. "So are you always out to defend everyone?" Isolde asked. It seemed to be one of the most logical reasons. How brave if none of the other Deku would venture out into the open.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself!" Isolde exclaimed, suddenly feeling very rude. "My name is Isolde! I'm new here. I came from waaaaaay up north, where it's really really cold. I'm not really used to this weather, but it's super nice."

[MIFF]

"Huh? Oh, sure. Nice to meet you," Miff mumbled, not sounding very earnest as he did so. "The Deku don't really need defending. I go out to hunt down the most powerful monsters around and defeat them to prove my strength. As long as everyone knows I'm the best there is then no one would dare to really attack us, you see."

With this little explanation for his violent tendencies Miff turned his attention fully upon Isolde again.

"That's why I decided to test you with a little game, to see if you were worthy of seeing my full strength or not."

[isolde]

"I see." Isolde said, nodding more. He was so interesting! "So you travel around all by yourself? That's very impressive!" Isolde told him, though she was sure he found it to be no big deal at all. He was the Great Deku Champion. Something like that would be second nature!

"And I passed!" She reminded him, beaming with pride again.

[MIFF]

"Hmm... not quite," Miff said in a rather arrogant tone. "I would have hoped you could catch me much faster than you did considering how easy I made it for you. From what I can guess you probably don't have much experience at all, do you?"

Miff was pacing back and forth now in a horizontal line before Isolde. He didn't want the Goron to get too haughty just because she managed to touch him. He was far too experienced for such a person to get him if he'd been really trying.