[FIN]On The Way There [Medy/Open]

[Rennal]

A wide open field, with a warm breeze moving briskly through the trees spanning over the wide meadows of Hyrule Field. And the sun was beaming down. Ruthlessly.

Rennal wiped his forehead of prespiration, wondering how it got so hot. It was mild this morning, and then as the sun rose to noon Mother Nature said, "Hey, this guy is going across the field to Lake Hylia today - let's give him a big kiss!"

Yeah, a big, wet, sloppy kiss. His tunic was soaked on the chest and back and armpits, and even his pants had uncomfortable sweat on his inner thighs. A weird place to sweat, if you asked him. An embarrassing place to sweat. Hopefully he wouldn't run into anyone.

And no sooner did Rennal think that, then he saw someone striding across the field. Towards him. He looked around, hoping for a hiding spot so he could wait for him to pass. Unfortunately, not a hiding place in sight. Lovely. A meadow sucked. Rennal supposed it was for the better, since hiding and getting caught would look much more suspicious anyways. He decided to just walk on, and appear as any other person would. He had a suspicion that the person would greet him. Hopefully they would just pass each other, with a respectful nod.

Knowing his luck, though, the person would carry a lengthy conversation.

[Owen Enders]

Bah…

Most people would consider this to be warm; not a particularly comfortable temperature to deal with, although much preferred to a polar opposite where it would be pouring down. For Owen however, this was absolute hell. The hydromancer was never someone who appreciated a hot climate and was admittedly not a fan of summer when it was around; his affinity with the water element had naturally made him far more accustomed to the cold. This irritation wasn’t helped much by the fact that he was on search-duty. Owen wouldn’t complain about working in these conditions to anyone, but he didn’t enjoy working in them at all.

Thankfully, he had refreshed himself somewhat from Lake Hylia as a stop-off point during his search, which had been a much-welcomed break. It would prevent him from dehydrating and keep him feeling rather fresh, which would be enough to keep him active on his search for the next half an hour when his shift was over and he could return to his own devices.

Midway across the meadow, Owen turned his disgusted glare from the sun ahead as he noticed company in his peripheral. He rarely saw many people this time of day on his shift, and he certainly hadn’t expected someone to bear this heat to travel. Not that it was an issue, Owen could take the time to ask a few questions about his search and perhaps have a quick conversation to make the shift more bearable. Striding forwards to reach the man, the hydromancer raised his hand to grab his attention before calling out to him.

”Afternoon! Warm enough for you today?”

Smiling as he finished, that sentence was a polite version of his current thoughts regarding the weather, he was mentally thinking with many more expletives. Slowing as he reached the man, Owen moved across in front of his path to ensure that he had to stop to engage in a conversation. Whilst Owen would probably have stopped anyway to chat, duty meant he had to pose a few questions with a view to possibly get some results. Clearing his throat, he introduced himself in a friendly tone.

”Owen Enders, Lieutenant of the Hylian Knights. Can I ask you a few questions please?”

[Rennal]

Rennal cursed under his breath as he mustered a smile, wiping his forehead as if to emphasize Owen's point. He stopped in front of him, sighing. "By the gods, that's an understatement. I feel like I'm in the Gerudo Desert," he said in a not-so-joking tone. He really did feel that way. Back at home, the ocean breeze kept his home from getting too hot so it felt more like Lake Hylia than it did the desert. And now he was paying for his preference to a cooler climate.

He nodded in what he hoped was a casual way as the guy introduced himself as the ****ing Lieutenant of the Hylian Knights. Of all the people to run into, it had to be one of the higher ups. Wiping even more sweat off his forehead on the sleeve of his tunic, he agreed. "Sure, what's going on?"

[Owen Enders]

Quickly nodding with an appreciative smile, Owen brought out a small notebook from within his overcoat along with a pen. Flicking through several pages until he seemingly reached the intended one, he gently tapped the nip of the pen against the side of the pad as he scanned through what was written on the page, speaking as he did so.

”You may have heard a few things around down about some missing persons. It’s the job of myself and the other knights at the moment to address such situations as well as other pressing matters…”

Continuing to read down the page, Owen then flipped over to a blank page and pressed the nib in readiness for recording any details that the potential witness could provide him with. After a click of the tongue, Owen looked back up from the notepad as he posed his first series of questions.

”Are you a local here and would you say that you’ve got a fairly good knowledge of the area or that you travel around these parts fairly often?”

The hydromancer was looking for people who he could rely upon for information, as well as getting a good mental image in his head of where the people of Hyrule spent a majority of their time. There could be a correlation between their haunts and the location of the missing persons he was after, perhaps avoiding local hotspots in order to not attract so much attention. Owen already had a fairly detailed map in his head from other people he’d spoken to, but he was always searching for more people to ask in case of anomalistic results. He wasn’t particularly probing in his results, nor did he ever seem to pressure those he spoke to something which was always an advantage for him in gaining information.

”Also, whereabouts do you spend most of your time in these areas?”

[Rennal]

Rennal could see exactly where he was going with this. Asking where he lived, where he frequented. The typical questions he would ask anyone, but it always seemed more bigger when he was speaking to the missing person himself. He used his cape to wipe his eyes from the sweat accumalating on his lashes to see Owen clearly. He blinked away the rest, letting his arms rest at his sides as Owen spoke. He had white hair, something Rennal had never seen before. His clothes were fairly stylish, which indicated he probably had a personality like it. Style was bad. Style could smell fear.

So Rennal tried to appear as laid back as possible when, sure enough, Owen began asking the same damn questions he'd anticipated. He was sure that by now, he'd gotten it from almost every damn knight in the realm. "I'm from the Castle Town, a roommate of Marquis Mindfang," he lied, hoping this guy wouldn't check up on his info. He'd only met her once in the forest, and he was still amazed he could remember her. He might have to go over to her place and make sure she knew what was going on. Wait, did he even know where she lived? No, shit. Hopefully if he hung around the Castle Town long enough he might spot her. Just to raise his chances of him not checking up, he added, "But she's rarely ever home so sometimes it seems like I'm living alone."

Then in answer to his next question, Rennal appeared to ponder, hoping that a generic answer would be enough for Owen. "I don't know, really, Mindfang and I both travel a lot. We're rarely ever at home at the same time. So I rarely ever stay in the same place more than a day, except for at home. So I guess home at the Castle Town is my most frequented place."

As soon as he said the words he regretted it. Now as soon as Owen left, he'd have to continue to Lake Hylia, then circle around and go to the Castle Town, arriving just a few hours after him to make it seem less rushed and suspicious. Plus, Mindfang seemed the angry type. Just for mentioning her he'd get his eyes gouged out. ****, what was he going to do now, especially if Owen hurried home to find Mindfang? Hopefully she wasn't home, that would be a disaster.

[Owen Enders]

Scribbling notes rapidly as Rennal answered the questions, Owen nodded in response accordingly. He was jotting key information about Rennal, having never met him before it would benefit him in the greatest to know some background information if he ever needed to reference the intelligence that he had provided. Looking up as Rennal closed his statement, the hydromancer nodded acceptingly as he pondered what else he could possibly ask. After a brief moment of contemplation, Owen then replied.

”Thanks for the information, sounds like yourself and the Marquis are quite the travellers. I can’t say that I know her particularly well myself…”

Trailing off at the end, Owen then noticed that he had been rapidly tapping the end of his pen against his notebook. Something was bothering him. The lieutenant was renowned for a certain ability within the Knights when it came to dealing with people; he had an incredible awareness of people’s body language that he would subconsciously pick up upon and he had sometimes been used to perform various tasks with that ability in combination with another. It was said that the hydromancer could almost smell when someone was lying to him. Quickly repeating Rennal’s words in his head whilst he read through his notes, Owen then pressed further.

”I’ve also yet to speak to her. As someone who travels around, perhaps she may have stumbled across a few answers that could help, depending on where she’s been.”

Owen suddenly realised how serious his tone had grown, which unsettled him slightly. Quickly changing to a lighter one, he continued.

”I can understand why you guys travel so much though; there are plenty of beautiful places to visit in Hyrule. Tell me, whereabouts in Castle Town do you guys live? I’ll have to stop by at some point… would be an idea to get there before I finish this evening…”

[Rennal]

Rennal could tell something was off. He could just feel it from the guy, he seemed anxious. Tapping his pen too fast... and then he said the unfathomable.

”I’ve also yet to speak to her. As someone who travels around, perhaps she may have stumbled across a few answers that could help, depending on where she’s been.”

Rennal scrambled for an answer to where Mindfang lived in his head. Hopefully he wouldn't see this guy again, so if went to someone else's house and questioned them, he'd be off the hook, especially since he was leaving with Merik and his crew by the end of the week. Hopefully Rennal could avoid him until then... or maybe he wouldn't even bring it up. And no sooner had he thought that than Owen said it. He shouldn't even think these things, for god's sake. He tried to appear as casual as possible as he recalled the layout of the Castle Town. "It's near Telma's Bar. On a side road, surrounded by cats, can't miss it. Most people said it was vacant, but not anymore. Some people still say that, but that's only because we're not home often."

He mentally kicked himself for choosing th ****ing vacant apartment. Now he had to go back and spruce the place up, and actually be there in time for Owen's appearance. Now to Lake Hylia, rush back and spruce the place up, make it look like two people are living in there. You'll be good to go, Rennal. Hopefully he didn't ask more stupid questions. Hopefully Merik would jump in and save the day. He wasn't counting on it. Just to make it seem less suspicious that nobles of all people were living in a vacant apartment, he added, "We like our privacy so we prefer that no one knows about it. Mindfang keeps the place nice and clean herself whenever she's there."

Hopefully the place was already somewhat clean so he didn't have to spend hours getting rid of rubble.

[Owen Enders]

This was the last note that Owen would make in his pad, the location of the house opposite the bar that Rennal mentioned. Fortunately for Rennal, Owen wasn’t particularly familiar with the area of Castle Town, which was odd considering the amount of time that he spent in the area during training missions. Slipping the pen back into a pocket within his overcoat along with his notes, more to prevent himself from performing other random agitated habits rather than just tapping the pen, the hydromancer glanced quickly up towards the sky. It was almost time for him to finish his shift. However, Owen didn’t feel like he was done for the day just yet.

”Hmm, that’ll do question-wise for now. I may ask you more stuff later on if it comes to mind… ‘tis the issue with missing-person cases is that until you have a breakthrough, there’s not much you can ask people to get some information.”

It occurred to Owen that he didn’t really have much else planned for the day, nor any business to attend to whilst he waited for the time when the Marquis would have returned to her house for questioning. His eyes lit up as he came up with an idea. Turning back to Rennal and grinning inanely, he posed a suggestion.

”Say, the end of my shift’s pretty much here and I’m not planning on doing much until I visit. I could tag along with you for a bit until you head back and then speak with the Marquis then. It would probably look better for her if I arrived with you and explained the situation rather than startling her when I arrive on her doorstep!”

Whilst his tone sounded quite sincere and cheerful, there was an underlying hint to it; one that suggested that Owen was going with Rennal whether he approved of the idea or not. No wasn’t going to be an acceptable answer here. His eyes widened momentarily after finishing his sentence as he realised something, which he then mentioned.

”Just realised, I’ve yet to actually ask you your name yet. The notes I’ve just made would be pretty useless as evidence without a reference for them to go by, would they Mr. ….?”

[Rennal]

Rennal cursed inwardly, but stayed casual. There had to be a way for him to shake off Owen before he returned to the Westport to meet Merik. He ran his hands through his sticky, greasy black hair, determining that as soon as he reached Lake Hylia he was going to bathe whether Owen liked it or not. He wanted to feel fresh. Thankfully, he brought a change of clothes with him from Westport.

"I don't really mind, but I'm going to see the doctor at Lake Hylia, before I have any intention of returning home. Is that okay with you?" That was plenty of time, right?

Or, he had a better idea. He could hire someone to go to the vacant house and clean up for him, and pose as Mindfang. But where on earth would he get the money? He only had twenty-six rupees to his name, and no one except a beggar would pose for that price. Hopefully the doctor would help resolve his situation.

"Iadar," he said, not leaving too much space between Owen's question and his response. "My name is Iadar."

[Owen Enders]

Motioning to show that he was ready to leave with this Iadar, Owen turned towards Lake Hylia and waited for his temporary companion to lead the way. Something was still making him incredibly suspicious, although he was hiding it well, his feelings cloaked by a smile and a generally happy demeanour. Was it the manner of which Iadar’s mention of going to Lake Hylia seemed rather blunt and the tone possibly resembling of someone who didn’t wish to be joined on this trip? Regardless, Owen was going with him whether he liked it or not, the mention of a doctor at the lake had caught his attention. He knew of no doctors at the lake, unless this was someone who Iadar was meeting there rather than someone who lived there.

”That’s fine; I’m not in any particular rush.”

Owen was rarely pressed for time, and nothing was going to prevent him from tagging along with Iadar to see exactly what he was up to. Whilst he felt that perhaps his intentions were quite innocent with where he was going, it was travelling back to the house and meeting with the Marquis that Owen was waiting for. Something felt incredibly off, the hydromancer wanted to watch Iadar’s every move until they reached this house to ensure he didn’t try to pull anything. It was unusual for Owen to feel so agitated regarding a person’s comments, especially when the comments themselves seemed to give nothing away. But something about Iadar was really bothering him.

”Shall we go?”

[Rennal]

Rennal nodded, not wanting to waste any time. If he wasted time, he might miss opportunities to get rid of this guy. Still, for some reason he wanted to know more about why these knights were looking for him. It couldn't be just at his parent's request, right? "So who are you looking for?"

He had a feeling it was going to be a long trip, didn't matter if they were only an hour or so away from Lake Hylia.

[EXIT]

OoC: Sorry so short, gotta hurry up. xD So create the thread in Lake Hylia and when I get back I'll respond. ;D

[Owen Enders]

Following on after Iadar, it seemed that the man didn’t wish to waste much time. Owen wondered whether he had unintentionally made him late for something, perhaps he should have asked him when he first stopped him. As Iadar questioned who Owen was looking for, the knight purposefully took a moment before he replied. Regardless of whether the man knew anything about the missing person or not, the hydromancer was going to inform him. His reaction, no matter how discrete, would tell Owen enough about any potential involvement.

“We’re looking for a young man by the name of Rennal.”

Owen himself knew very little about this Rennal person, aside from the fact that he was currently pretty high on the list of the most wanted people in Hyrule at the moment. Whilst information currently suggested that it was partly his family background that had placed him as such an important target, Owen suspected that there could possibly be more. He had been informed that he himself would be playing a major part in finding Rennal, which certainly made the knight ponder. Owen was usually singled out for a job in order to pursue and capture, mainly due to his physical advantages over most other people. Was this Rennal character dangerous or up to no good? Either way, he was wanted pretty badly.

Watching Iadar carefully, he put forward another statement.

”There are rumours of him being linked to a few crimes around the area. It is our intention to locate him fairly soon to find out whether he is or not. Would be nice to find him sooner rather than later…”

[CLOSE]

[Azler Wilder]

This thread has been Officially Finished!

Owen and Rennal received a 20 Rupee Finisher Reward!

Thank you~