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CHAPTER 21
Stump and Stumpier
It was late afternoon in Termina. Great Bay's ocean waves shifted against the beach softly with the winds as their guide. Many admire the ocean and its beauty. The beaches were a romantic place to be and lovers enjoyed walking along their paths. However, one couple in particular were rather sick of the ocean after their last few-day adventure...
After having visited the Great Fairy, Iris and the gang walked on down the beach tiredly. Ilye was the least tired and stretched her arms skyward with a deep breath. Iris and Jace walked ahead of her whilst Iris gave a hearty yawn. Her attention was soon caught by a shadow flying over her and saw Skits fly happily through the air. He flipped and turned gracefully. Jace shielded his eyes and looked up at the bird with a displeased expression.
"So she could heal Skits' injured wing, but she couldn't heal my shoulder? I'm happy for him, but seriously! Can't heal wounds that aren't fresh? Since when?" Jace grumbled.
Iris knew Jace held little pride in his shoulder scar. Iris herself had some scars that weren't healed because they weren't fresh. However, she could live with them because they didn't hurt. Jace on the other hand not only nearly lost his arm, but it still hurts; It wasn't a scar he wanted to keep. Iris shrugged and replied.
"Just be happy she healed the fresh ones and gave us some energy. At least we can make it through the day till night time. I'm not complaining."
Jace rubbed his hand over the scar. It looked small but ran very deep. Had the blade cut any deeper, it would've spelled bad news. And unless Jace had been near death from his injuries, the fairy just can't waste all her power healing something that was old and not threatening his life. "Hm, I still can't believe I let that pirate jump me like that."
Iris leaned over to him and looked him over. "You know, I kind of like it."
"Eh-?" Jace glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Ilye walked up beside Iris and listened to them. The boy added in a low tone, "Seriously?"
"An adventurer needs his scars, right? You'll always have stories to tell of how you survived and fought back. Maybe the fairy liked it too." Iris responded. She was trying to make him feel a bit better.
With her having said that, Jace ran his hand along his massive chest scars then proceeded to feel of his shoulder scar again. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It is pretty cool, huh?"
Skits was flying above them still, rolling his eyes as Iris purposely fed Jace's ego. That was rare.
His fiance nodded. "It shows that you are a seasoned, well-traveled adventurer! And you could tell everyone you got that on a far-away island and survived a pirate attack. Years from now, I can see you telling the story to the kids."
Ilye snickered lowly, trying hard not to laugh. The lad nodded with a grin. But it took a while for him to register that she was talking about their kids. When it did, his face ran hot. "Wait-"
"Knowing you, you'll blow it out of proportion for them..."
An audible birdy, "Uh-huh" sounded from Skits and Ilye began laughing.
"Oh my l-lands..." Ilye giggled. "P-probably tell t-them you fought off like, ten before you g-got the thing..." came her giggling reply. Iris brought her hand to her snout and cackled lowly with her.
If Jace could, his expression would feature cut eyes and his mouth would be stuck at a straight line from ear-to-ear. He rolled his eyes and looked ahead. "What do you know, Ilye...?"
"I just know you would, hehe." truth be told, he DID tell her that... Man did he blow up that story. It was the only story he ever expanded like that, too. Though, Jace being prideful and losing an arm probably caused him to.
After they finished laughing, Iris nudged Jace. "You better not leave Ilye out of that story..."
He twitched a fore-leaf and gazed at Ilye. "Why would I!? She was the real hero of that story, I owe her. It'll be "The Story of Ilye"!" he replied with a point to the sky and a hand on his hip. "These scars will always remind me of her daring rescue. And that I hold very closely... Y'know, keeping them may not have been a bad thing."
Ilye blushed slightly and she smiled. If only Jace knew how much hearing that meant to her...
Iris smiled at Ilye and noticed her honored expression. She soon placed her hand on Jace's good shoulder. "How about we head out to Clocktown and see what we can find for lunch slash dinner? It's been an awfully long time since we've had a meal. Since we ate supper with Chieftess Allowette."
They made their way for the Great Bay exit and Ilye responded. "I think that's a great idea. We're making good time, I think we can spend a bit in Clocktown."
From there they went. It felt like it had been forever since they'd seen the sands of the mainland. And even as they pressed on into Termina Field, it felt like a dream. No longer running for their lives constantly from the garugor, no more pirates, no more creepy centipede-centaur monsters; just a straight walk through the grassy fields they know and love. They hoped they wouldn't have to face the garugor again... But then they worried for poor Valous and how he was holding up, as well as Keaton. Jace and Iris, as well as Skits' train of thought remained on the island and on the Twilight. However, Ilye was stuck on Clocktown. She'd never seen it in the ruined future! What was it like? Would it be like she was told? Was it big or small? She looked at the town far in the distance. It looked pretty big, but she'd be the judge of that. Come to think of it, she'd never seen humans, terminans, gorons, or zoras before. This journey was a first for everything. Did the humans and terminans look similar to the gerudo pirates like her father and mother had said one time? She'd only know once she saw them.
It was then Jace broke the silence. He spent a moment thinking on the island and he straightened his vest. When he did, he found a hole in its collar and gasped lowly. His leaves drooped and he realized that he'd have to do more repairs on the vest when they gets home... If it didn't have enough stitches. It was his father's, so it shamed him knowing he was bringing it to such damage on his journeys. He then looked to Iris, admiring her new attire. It looked good on her, he'd admit. It was then he came to a decision.
"When we get to Clocktown, I'm getting myself some new threads." he spoke out suddenly. The girls and Skits looked to him for breaking the silence.
"... New... Threads?" Iris mused.
Ilye tilted her head, "New clothes." she then looked to Jace. "Why get new clothes?"
The young man slid his hands down his clothes and he answered. "These are getting pretty old... This vest was actually my father's, and it got pretty badly damaged on the island. I fear what might happen to it if I continue wearing it during this trip. Why, I'd never forgive myself if I permanently ruined it. It's all I had left of my dad; I'd like to keep that much of him with me, y'know? Best thing I can do for that is to just number down how much I actually wear it." he paused to sigh sadly. "I love it to pieces, but it's for the best. It's served me good luck so far, but its luck is running out."
The trek through the field continued as he explained. Ilye gave him a look of understanding. Boy did she know how THAT felt. Ilye was wearing one of Jace's ponytails in her braid right now, the other being Iris'. She deemed them good luck and she felt she was keeping them as she knew them with her. They were so old and faded though that they were unrecognizable compared to how the originals looked in this timeline.
Iris wanted to protest about him getting new clothes till he explained. He really didn't have much else to travel in, everything else at home was pretty warn and full of holes. And she knew he held his vest dear to him.
"So dinner and tailor is our plans?" Iris asked for confirmation. Her fiance gave her an assuring nod.
"Yup, that's about it." he confirmed. Ilye grew even MORE excited! Even more places to see! She was just itching with vigor at the thought of seeing a real city!
The hour passed and they finally came to the west gates of Clocktown. Skits came down to land on Iris' head once they were feet from the gate. Jace looked over and could just see Ilye wanting to jump with excitement... Her eyes were wide with wonder as they passed through the gate. She could hear the noises, smell the smells. They were so strange and wonderful. She could smell foods she'd never dreamed of smelling. She heard children playing, people clamoring and working. And... Were those animals?
When they entered West Clocktown, she was almost startled by all the activity. Tall soft skinned creatures that looked much like the gerudo pirates filled the town. However, there were males among them, so they weren't the same. West Clocktown was the marketplace, and people were busy, busy, busy. She looked around upon hearing a strange creature and saw towering over the people a large furry beast with long hair and a strand-haired tail. It was hooked to a small wagon delivering shop items. It was friendly to the humans... The creature snorted and neighed every so often, startling Ilye greatly. She kept away from it and hid behind Iris, watching it closely. She brought her hand to her snout and uttered, "What is that thing? It looks like a mutated deer but sounds like a squealing beast!"
A cucoo ran by soon after with a child chasing it. Ilye watched it and tilted her head. She'd heard of those. Was that one of the fowls that her parents had told her about? Was it truly flightless? What was the point of it having wings? People walked around them and Ilye watched upward in wonder... She was greeted by few and she lowly greeted in turn. Iris and Jace looked to one another. Ilye had never seen any of these things before, not even a horse. The group began moving, but Ilye continued to avoid the large beast.
"Don't worry Ilye, that's just a horse! People ride them and use them to deliver things." Jace replied.
"A... Horse? So that's a horse... Such strange creatures!" Ilye mused.
Ilye was like a child discovering the world all over again. This was a world she didn't know, but it was the same world... But far larger and far happier. Everything she'd seen had been amazing, but this was very otherworldly.
"Whoa, a goron? Here?" she said as she watched a bomb-delivering goron pass by. She continued ooh'ing and ahh'ing. Her eyes widened in wonder upon seeing a tall, slick, blue-skinned creature with fins walk by. "That must be another zora like that one we met at Great Bay! I wonder if they know the Indigo-Go's?"
"Ilye, you act like you've never seen any of these things. Is this really all new to you?" Iris asked. She recognized Ilye's acts of confusion and curiosity, for Iris had done exactly these things when she first came to Clocktown. Well, sorta. She knew what the creatures and people were, it was just everyone being nice to her that freaked her out. Iris never had the freedom to explore cities and towns back in Hyrule, so it was new to her.
The braided adventurer looked to Iris and held tightly to her own travel bag. "I... I've never seen any of these things before. This is new to me."
"So you've really never been very far from Wild Lands of the South?" Jace flicked a fore-leaf. "Well then, welcome to the capital of Termina!"
"Wooowwwww!" Ilye squealed. "This is so cool! There's so many people and things, I just want to look at everything!"
"Keep in mind Ilye, we're on a tight schedule." Jace warned. Ilye waved a hand at him.
"I know, I know. I can still look as we walk though, c'mon!"
Jace stopped to look for a place to get dinner. He gazed kindly at his fiance and leaned his body over on one leg. "So, honey, what do you want to supper?"
"Metaphorically speaking, I could eat a cow right now. So I don't care. Since Ilye is new around here, let's let her decide." Iris responded as she glanced at Ilye. "Ilye?"
"Me? You're letting me choose?" her eyes lit up in delight. She got to choose! She actually jumped and her leaves stood on end, startling Skits in the process. She brought her hands to herself and looked around. There were so many shops and markets here! She saw a few little homemade food booths and she simply could not decide. She'd lived off the natural food of the South for so long, and this was her chance to try one of the many flavors of the world. She's already tried some goron food with Darmorn with the Dodongo Stew... Maybe some Clocktown specialties? Seafood? It'd have to be something a deku can eat easily. She tapped the bottom of her snout and hummed as Jace, Iris, and Skits waited. It was then Ilye decided.
"I want to try some Zoran Delicacies!"
The couple leaned back a slight with wide eyes. Seafood? That was unexpected. Ilye pointed toward one of the booths and it was tended by a family of zoras. The couple looked to one another then back to Ilye. She was practically bouncing in place. It was probably high in price... But they shrugged at each other and decided to make an exception.
"Alright! Seafood it is! Might as well wrap up this day with seafood after having spent days around the sea." Jace responded. Perhaps the ocean had made Ilye curious? But in all truth, she was curious and wanted to sit near the zoras. After all, she'd only seen one in her life.
With a skip in Ilye's steps and a song in her heart, they all wandered over to the booth. Safe to say, the zoras were a bit surprised to see a group of deku at their shop. Jace helped Ilye and Iris onto their booth chairs, then he made the effort to climb up his own. Skits remained on Iris' head, which baffled the man and woman zora making the food.
"Hello! You guys are unique customers. Decided to try something different, huh?" The older male zora spoke. He was assumed to be with his wife and many children. Ilye saw all the kids helping out and wondered if they were all really theirs. She was unaware that some zoras lay many eggs per batch. That would normally lead to many children. Heck, she was unaware they laid eggs in general.
"Yup, our friend here wanted to try out some fruits of the sea, haha." Jace responded with a smile.
The father zora leaned over the booth to look Jace in the face. "Hey, I've seen you before! I recognize that bright blond head of leaves from anywhere! You're that Geroh guy, right?"
"Ah- I'm afraid not. That was my father, sir." The young man answered. "You've met him?"
"I sure have! He traveled a lot. He visited Zora Hall one time. Man, you look just like him!"
Iris smiled at Jace as he answered. "You wouldn't believe how much I get that. It's cool you've seen my father."
The zora laid out some menus for the group. "Well, take a gander at what we got. Lemme know if you see anything you like!"
Iris pulled up hers and her leaves drooped... She still couldn't read Terminian fluently... She tilted her head and took a deep breath as she thought of speaking. Her question finally came out.
"Jace, what's this?" she queried. He leaned over to look at her menu and pointed as well.
"That is Clam Chowder." he answered with interest. "Why, does that look good?"
"... Clam Chowder." She repeated. "... I dunno. Have you ever had it?"
The blond deku placed his menu down a little. "I've had clam, yes. It's pretty good. Though if it's good really depends on one's preference of taste."
Ilye was looking at hers closely. There was so much here! She was looking at soups as well since it was mostly preferred for her kind. Clam Chowder sounded good, but... She didn't want to copy Iris, she wanted to try something else. Then a Lobster Soup caught her eyes. The image of it made her stomach growl and she chuckled lowly. It looked creamy, buttery, and full of tiny pieces of lobster meat among other things. She placed the menu down and said, "I want the Lobster Soup!" full of zest. The excitement made the zoran woman jump. She then laughed.
"Alright then! Have you guys decided yet?" the woman asked to the couple.
Iris placed her menu down gently. "Yeah, I'll take the Clam Chowder."
"I'll take what she's having." Jace replied while pointing at Ilye. One of the zoran children took the menus and put them away. Time went by as they awaited their food and the group chatted about their adventure, Jace even telling one of the zora children about it. The child was in awe at the story and ran to tell her siblings about it, and this made Jace smile. The wait for their dinner was almost over. Ilye was busy examining the town from her seat. She couldn't help but be pulled by the Twilight Portal sitting over the town, though... And after having been in Clocktown for a while, she could see the town's people had definitely noticed and were all making theories about the strange thing. Ilye tried not to make a big deal so not to cause panic and left the subject silent... It wasn't until a clink caught her attention that she looked back to the booth. In front of her was a steamy bowl of heavenly-smelling soup. Jace and Iris had been given their food shortly as well. She could smell the butter, the sauce, the lobster... It was calling to her!
"This looks delicious!" Ilye commented. She got a hurried spoonful and held it up.
Jace gave an expression of worry and raised a hand slightly. "Erm, Ilye, you should probably-"
"OWthat'shot!" She cried out quickly. "Ah, why'd I do that!?"
Iris started laughing and Jace snickered. Skits was atop the booth giving a cawing guffaw at Ilye's impatience. Ilye held her throat and chest as the hot soup was swallowed. She could feel it going down and she sat up straight. "Gah-!"
"Well, sometimes ya gotta be burned before you learn, haha." Iris continued laughing. "You should let it cool."
"No kidding!" she exclaimed. "Ah, deliciously painful, what a terrible yet lovely fate." she finished with a wheeze. "That's a scald to my pride. As a person who used to cook, I should've known better."
Time flew as they spent their time wiling the hours away talking and enjoying a nice meal. Jace and Iris both agreed that Ilye made a good choice. They may have been tired of the ocean, but it sure had some good food! As the sky began to change to hues of reds and hot oranges, the marketplace had become filled with the sound of music. A man and his friend played a lute and sang in hopes for some money down the street. The booth was filled with laughter as the deku shared their story with the people around them. The day ended well for them, that was for sure. Ilye was experiencing the most magical evening. It was the best she's had in a long time. Over time, they finished up, paid for their meals, and finally decided to move on. They said their goodbyes and hopped down from their chairs. After walking away a ways from the booth, Jace stretched a sighed.
"Ughhh, that was exquisite." he sighed.
"Wasn't it? Good choice Ilye." Iris complemented.
The girl rubbed the back of her head and giggled. "I just chose what looked good at the moment." she answered. "So Jace, you still wanting to look for some new clothes?"
"You bet! I'm kind of excited!"
Ilye was about to ask Jace something, but her attention was caught when she saw someone staring at the group from afar... Down the marketplace street holding an item of some kind was a deku among the hordes of people and other races. If Ilye was honest, she couldn't tell if the deku was a girl or boy from where she was standing. It was getting dark too, so the deku's eyes were easily seen through the dark alongside a fairy flying above them. The deku squinted and looked hard at the group. Ilye's silence caused Jace and Iris to wave at Ilye.
"Hey, Ilye... Hello?" Iris spoke out. "You in there? You in a food coma?"
"Guys, someone's staring at us over there." She pointed. Jace and Iris turned, and the deku's eyes widened. Iris and Jace's eyes also grew. They recognized that light from anywhere.
"Hey!" the deku called. The deku began to patter over and placed their purchased item in a messenger bag they had with them. Iris was first to start walking toward the other deku and Jace was not far behind. Ilye waited a moment but followed in suit.
The deku stopped in front of them with a smile in their eyes. "Dang, did you guys get taller? And your hair is still blindingly bright, Goldilocks."
By their voice, they sounded female. Ilye would assume so till proven correct or incorrect.
"Hey there Stumpy!" Jace retorted with a classic smirk. "What're you doing in Clocktown?"
"I had a day off. I decided I would hop on over to this place and see what's happening. Aside from that thing-" she pointed at the sky, "I can see not much has changed. They always got cool stuff here though..."
Ilye looked over the strange individual. The flying ball of light with them actually looked very different from a fairy... "Um, I'm sorry for my rudeness guys, but who is this?"
Iris jumped and turned to Ilye. "Oh yes! These are our friends, Iko and Leif! We met a year or so back. We traveled with her and him for a little while."
Iko was a deku lass whom stood quite shorter than Jace and Iris, as well as Ilye. But she was dressed complexly and looked ready for adventure for pretty much anywhere! She wore a blue and dark gray striped beanie. It was long and zig-zagged quite far. If it didn't zig-zag, it'd drag the ground. Beneath her hat she had grass-like brown foliage-hair of the rush variety. It came out of her hat and framed her face in large spikes. At the center of her forehead from the mouth of her hat was one rogue strand they curled upward. Her outfit, as mentioned, was complex in detail. It consisted of browns and dark and light blues with thick padding on the shoulders and knees. She also wore thick gauntlets. Her appearance made her stick out like a sore thumb among the crowds of Clocktown. This said to Ilye that Iko was an experienced traveler and dealt with danger quite often much like Jace and Iris. It was rare to see a deku like this, but it made sense that Jace and Iris would be friends with one so strange. Ilye had actually been told of Iko in her timeline. She knew about that one adventure that Iris and Jace went on with Iko. And one thing Ilye always admired was that Iko was a scary top-notch archer. She spotted arrows stashed away in her messenger bag which doubled as a quiver.
'So THIS is Iko!' Ilye thought to herself. She suddenly smiled very big and she reached to shake Iko's hand. "Ahh, Iko! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"So you've heard of me...?" the autumn deku commented. By Ilye's behavior, it seemed like she'd heard of Iko before. Ilye drew her hand back a slight with a small "Um." then answered, "N-no! Well... Erm."
Leif, Iko's companion, floated closer to Ilye and gave a questioning hum. Ilye stared in awe.
"You are also a friend of Jace and Iris, I presume?" Leif asked.
Ilye jumped at the orb speaking. "Y-yes, I am! Um, what are y-"
Iko took Ilye's hand by surprise and shook it. "Nice to meet you! The name's Iko Vipin, as you know. What's your name?"
"I-I'm Ilye! It's just Ilye." she chuckled lowly. Iko raised a brow at this new friend of Jace and Iris'. She then spotted Ilye's bow and interest took to her expression. "You're an archer I see! How good a shot are ya?"
A huge smile grew in Ilye's eyes and freaked out a tad. "Ahh, I'm a pretty good shot! Still practicing, but yeah, haha."
"You'll have to show me sometime!" Iko snickered. Upon examining the whole group, she realized they were all geared up. This wasn't some small visit to Clocktown then back home. What was more, they were littered with scuffs and scars. Jace especially had that one nasty wound on his shoulder. Her eyes widened and she soon crossed her arms. "I can't believe you guys!"
Iris reeled back a slight, forcing Skits to try and keep his balance. The bird squawked in surprise then grumbled. Iris replied, "What?"
"You guys went off on an adventure without inviting me! Talk about rude... Jace, did you break the sky again?"
The boy rolled his eyes with a small laugh. "No, Iko. I did not break the sky."
"You guys are on an adventure! Does it have something to do with that thing?" Iko finished as she pointed at the sky.
"Sorry you weren't around when the gods themselves decided to tell us to save the world. And yes, yes it does." Jace retorted. "If you really want in on the action, maybe you should be around more?"
"Well maybe I should!" Iko poked back. "Geez, I can't leave you guys alone with this place for one year without something trying to destroy it. What is it? Dragalfos-thinga-ma-bobs? Poes? Creepy space monsters? Over-population of fungi? Try me."
Iris' eyes bugged for a moment and she tried not to laugh. Jace cut his eyes at the thought of mushrooms before replying. "Another realm is trying to eat Termina as we know it and we gotta help the Light Spirits return to full power to repel it. We've also been being hunted by a dragalfos and a bald hit-man of our own kind. The chances of that, I'll never understand. In short: We're trying to save Termina from the stuff that comes out of those things." He pointed at the Twilight portal. "After we rest tonight, we're heading South to do some things then going East to fix the last Spirit."
"Last!? You guys suck, you're almost done?" Iko exclaimed. Leif gave an audible sigh.
"Iko, we have things we need to be doing back home. Besides, I think they have it covered. Hylia forbid we should throw ourselves into their fight."
"Nu-uh! We got plenty 'o time. I'm goin' with you guys!" Iko proclaimed.
Jace and Iris were not surprised, though Ilye seemed a bit nervous about it. Now she had to hide her identity from five people?
Ilye turned away a slight and muttered to herself... "Do the goddesses think I need help? Is this really a good idea?" Little did Ilye know, Leif was also seeking council from the goddesses. Was this really a fight him and Iko had to get involved in? Then again, after the last time... He gazed into the sky and realized that this is serious. And if Termina is in danger, well... The orb gave a defeated groan.
"Why do I let you get us into these problems?" The orb questioned. Iko stood up straight and replied with, "Because these guys are my friends and I want to help them. Besides, it looks like you guys have had the snot beaten out of ya'. Seems to me you guys need help."
"You can come, just don't fall behind." Jace laughed, suddenly making a game out of the trip.
"Oi vey, the goddesses choose some very strange heroes to do these large tasks." Leif commented.
"Tell me about it." Ilye gave a humorous scoff.
Iris re-situated her belt which earned her a comment from Iko.
"I see you've changed your style, Iris! Looks good!" she began. "What brought this to be?"
Iris' eyes widened a bit and she glanced a smirk at Jace. Telling the whole thing would involve telling Iko about the fight with the arguss and how Iris burned her clothes with acid... And then the mushroom spores incident. Jace read this in his significant other's face and he crunched up his face at her. His eyebrows were practically meeting with how crunched his face was. He twitched a leaf, telling her "Don't you dare" with this leaf movement. Iko did not understand that leaf language. Iris just giggled before turning to Iko.
"Y'know, maybe we should save the story for when we find a place to camp out for the night. We gotta get ol' gold-touch over here some new clothes too. Once we do that, we'll be leaving Clocktown and heading south. We'll stop and camp out on the way." Iris responded.
"Hehehe, something tells me you gotta good story for me." The archer replied deviously. The two girls leaned in and cackled to each other, leaving Jace feeling very uncomfortable... Iris BETTER not tell Iko about the mushroom thing. What would be worse is if she explained it in dialogue-and-action detail... Ilye chuckled, though she was unaware of what happened to make Jace so upset. Skits on the other hand was snickering to himself.
Leif sighed and would have crossed his arms if he could have at the moment. "Well, if times have been so urgent, let us be going."
The blond boy gave an internal groan. Pressure to leave already? Then again, Leif made a good point... But still.
Iko glanced at Jace and spoke up. "Well then, where to?"
"The tailor is actually right here down the street." he pointed along the street leading into South Clocktown. "So let's head on down there and get things out of the way."
After making sure everyone was prepared to go, Iris and Jace lead the group over down the street and to the tailor. On the way in, Iris conversed with Iko, allowing Jace and Ilye to split and look around the store. Leif decided to camp out in Iko's hat as he waited for them to finish what they were doing. If truth be told, he just wanted to go home... And Skits was forced to stay outside, much to his dismay.
Iris wasn't too interested in clothes shopping and needed something to do. She enjoyed getting to catch up with Iko! About a year ago in between Jace and Iris' big personal adventures, they had been a part of another adventure upon meeting Iko. Since then, they were close friends. Iris saw Iko as a sister of sorts and actually rather enjoyed her company. When she wasn't doing stupid, adventurous things with Jace that is.
Iris sighed and watched Jace rummage around different areas of clothing. She could hear him talk amongst himself, saying things like "No, too casual." and "Ew, too formal." and even "Ugh, they make this color for men...?"
"So you and Leif been up to much?" Iris asked, looking to Iko on her curious question.
The archer placed a hand on her hip. "The usual. Lazing around, raiding dungeons."
"Yup then, pretty much the norm." Iris hummed.
The two watched Ilye at another area of the store and Iko finally popped her one question.
"So who is Ilye? I don't recall ever seeing her mug before. She new?"
With a dip of the head, Iris replied. "Yeah, we met her nearly a week ago. As a matter of fact, it was right before we were sent on this crazy adventure. Right after actually."
"Right after, huh?" Iko repeated. "Care to tell me about this mission a bit more?"
"The Southern Light Spirit saved Jace and I when we got sucked into the Twilight Realm. You'll see it on the way to the Southern Swamp, it's all over Ikana... But he sent us to a village off in the South Wildlands, a keaton village. It was there Ilye just... Showed up. She said she had heard of us and wanted to join our journey. The poor girl had lost her family in the Twilight, so she's trying to help us get rid of it."
Iko gave a small, "Hmm" and looked at Ilye. "How did she know you guys would be so far out in the Wildlands?"
Iris shrugged, "She said she was told. We didn't bother to question any further, so far she's been honest and helpful, so."
Iko continued to watch the two on different areas before chuckling. "Man, you guys got beat up recently! Ilye's clothes look like swiss cheese, and you and Jace look like you got thrown in under a wagon."
"We feel like we got thrown under a wagon." Iris groaned. "I can't wait to get some sleep tonight... We haven't gotten sleep in two days. I mean, Ilye did, but not Jace and I."
Iko continued to chuckle. "I guess it was a goddesses thing that I showed up then, eh?" she nudged Iris in the arm with a smirk. She'd have nudged her in the shoulder if she wasn't shorter than Iris. Yet, she was roughly the same age... Iris proceeded to roll her eyes.
"Yes, heaven forbid you didn't show up."
Iko soon poked at Iris' necklace upon noticing. "Hey, what's this?" she questioned. "... You're not going girly on me, are ya? That's quite a hunk of sapphire there."
It was then Leif came flying out of Iko's hat to see what she was asking about. Iris leaned back a ways and smiled. "No, I'm not going girly..."
"Hmm, Jace was wearing one of these necklaces as well." Leif pointed out to Iko. Upon noticing himself, Leif wasn't sure whether to be surprised or not. "Something tells me the young couple are to be betrothed. Am I correct, Iris?"
"Yes, Jace and I are getting married. These are our engagement necklaces."
Iko's eyes widened. "Oh! So deku don't do the whole engagement ring thing?"
"No, not all deku have fingers. Though, I'm sure there are other ways to propose than just a necklace." Iris answered solemnly. "Honestly, I didn't really know anything about marriage till Jace explained it. But the day before Twilight hit, he proposed to me."
Iko leaned back a ways and scrunched up her face. "Yeesh. Get engaged and the world starts getting taken over by something named after a time of day? Maybe the universe is trying to say something, haha- OW!" her joking was cut short when Leif slapped her with his energy tail. He may have been a floating ball, but that thing trailing behind him could still do enough.
"Iko, that was rude."
"Geez, I was joking." she laughed.
Iris proceeded to just laugh. "It's just our luck. Figures the world would be against even a week of peace for us."
"Hey Iris! Check this out!" Jace called. His fiance looked up and flicked a leaf. She stared from across the store before walking over with everyone following. Ilye met up with them holding a new shirt. Iris glanced at it. It was similar to the one she was wearing, but newer, nicer, and was orange. The group looked as Jace held up a pair of black pants. They poofed at the bottom in a feathered fashion and faded into a burned red. He held a pair of boots in the other hand with some nice looking fingerless black gloves
"These look cool! What do you think?" Jace asked sincerely to Iris. He wanted her full opinion on them. He held the pants in front of him. Iris tilted her head and shrugged.
"I guess they look nice. If you like them, then go ahead."
The young man seemed a bit down that she didn't have much to say. "Oh, well... Uh, alright."
They heard some noise and Iko came from a clothes rack holding something. "Hey Jace, I think I found something you'd like."
"Hm?" He turned to her to see her holding a very nice looking burned, pale red vest. It had black arrows on each side which met at the back as well as the front (The arrows were probably why Iko liked it so much). The collar and bottom of the vest was lined with a similar type of fur as the fur on his current vest. His eyes lit up and a smile grew in his eyes.
"That looks awesome!" He commented. "It's not too flashy, still casual in color, but durable." he placed the boots down and felt of the fur. "Ah, it's just like the fur on my dad's vest..."
"Well?" Iris waited for them to finish up. Ilye had already disappeared to buy her shirt.
Their new travel partner held the vest out to see how it went with his pants and she grinned. "They look good!"
He was handed the vest and he draped it over his arm. "Alright, I'll try these out!"
He wasted no time to head to the dressing room to try them out! It'd been ages since he'd just floated around shops like this. And what's best is that he may have found himself some new travel clothes. He looked at himself in the mirror in the dressing room still wearing his old clothes. And now that he was around these new clothes, he could truly smell just how rank his old clothes were... They hadn't been washed in days! Even more of a reason to change clothes. He went about changing into these new ones to see how they fit. It was a bit difficult for deku folk to search for clothes here in town due to being small, but they seemed to be the right size.
He tossed on the pants, the boots, and even the gloves. And lastly, he fitted himself with the vest. He situated the articles of clothing as he got used to how they felt. Realizing they were clean just reminded him that he was filthy... And they didn't have time to head over to the inn and wash up. He thought on it for a while before deciding he'd bathe once he gets back home to the swamp when they head back.
He gazed at himself in the mirror and turned his body to look at his new outfit. A small grin appeared in his eyes before he got a bit cocky. He looked into the mirror head-on and ran his hand down his head and across his thick, gold leaves before snapping and pointing at the mirror with a click from his mouth that sounded like a click of the tongue...
"Look'n good, Jace. Look'n good... Jacon Verin Leavance has got it goin' on... You're gonna make 'er faint!"
"Jace, hurry up in there! I'll be outside waiting on you." Iris' voice boomed toward the room. It startled Jace and he rattled back a few steps with a held back squeak. His face ran red and he answered.
"Alright, I'm coming! Geez..."
He put his old clothes together neatly with his rucksack. He straightened up the new vest before going to step out after taking one more look in this humanly tall mirror. He walked out and saw that Iris had left and Iko and Ilye were the only ones currently waiting on him. Leif probably was hiding in Iko's hat. He flew out of Iko's hat however when he heard Jace coming. Though Jace knew Leif was probably impatiently waiting to leave.
"So, how do I look...?"
Ilye and Iko gazed upon him and stared for a moment. Jace stood there, unaware that he was posing in a way that puffed his chest out. The time traveling girl giggled to herself then replied.
"Looks good on ya!"
Iko was quick to add on afterward. "Yup, you look good. Shows off your scars and everything."
Leif left a pause after Iko but then spoke up. "You mean how he has always looked...? As far as the scars go, he has had the same style since we met him..."
"Yeah, but this vest's colors make them pop!" Ilye added. Leif didn't understand why one would think so fondly of scars, but he left it like it was. All he saw was Ilye and Iko airing up his ego even more. He gave a simple bob from side-to-side as a shake of the head.
Jace smirked softly and patted the vest's sides. "I like these, I'll take 'em."
Upon making his decision, he turned around to head back to the dressing room to change out of them so he could buy them. When he was back in there, he was preparing to take the vest off when he noticed it had buttons... With a curious hum, he thought on buttoning the vest up and closing it to see how it looked. His old vest couldn't close up, after all. One-by-one, he buttoned the vest up and each side met at a closing. He looked into the mirror and stared up and down for a moment. It was pretty nice. But... Wait a minute... Is that-?
He stared even harder and a displeased crease in the brows slowly appeared on his eyes. His sharp, somewhat-wide eyes glared at his reflection-self, nearly burning a hole through the torso and belly of this other. When the vest was closed up the black arrows met very cleanly. In the shape of a huge, black X, right between his mid-torso and belly. Perfectly on spot. A tiny audible growl exited his snout and he huffed. The shape bugged him for an understandable reason, but the placement of said shape irritated him internally as well. It wasn't until he realized the latter mention that his eyes widened and his leaves flicked. Why on earth did that bother him? Sure, if it was, I dunno, on the face, it'd make sense. He stared before awkwardly brushing it off.
"Alright, uhhh... Guess I wont be buttoning that up again..." he grumbled.
After some time, he came walking back out with the clothes thrown over his arm and in his old rags. He cringed a bit, for he now knew just how bad they needed a wash! Iko, Leif, and Ilye were waiting for him at the exit when he came over to pay for the clothes. By a near foot he was able to look over the counter at the clerk. The young lady minding the store looked to him and automatically knew he was with Ilye, whom had bought something a bit ago as well.
"What a bunch of cuties! It's not often we get such tiny, adult customers!"
Jace chuckled lowly. "Haha, yep. I'm just glad you carry small clothes other than human and terminan children's clothes... Lemme tell ya, I needed these."
The woman checked the prices on the items with a giggle. Upon finishing she turned to him. "That'll be eighty-four rupees, young man."
Jace exclaimed very lowly, which came out as a startled puff of breath. Then again, he was buying a whole freaking wardrobe at this point. And even for the quality of clothes he brought up, altogether it was still a good deal. He held his hand up and waved a finger in a "Gimme a minute" kind of motion as he reached for his wallet.
He looked into it to count his rupees, but dread sank over his face. He thought he had at least three hundred and thirty three in his wallet. Then he remembered Keaton had stolen his wallet last week. An anger boiled inside him, seeing as there were only sixty-six worth a rupees in here... In an attempt to double check, he emptied his whole wallet out on the counter. He recounted, and it was the same.
"Ugh, Keaton stole two hundred and sixty seven rupees from me! Or it was those dang pirates!" Jace exclaimed. The woman had no idea what he was talking about, but Ilye did. She drew her palm to her face with an audible smack and sighed. She couldn't help, she used most of her money.
"Pirates? You fought pirates?! Okay, you guys really do suck." Iko chimed in. Jace leaned his head against the counter and groaned.
"I guess I'll have to, erm... Take some of those things back where I found them." he said embarrassedly. Iko walked up and shoved her wallet in his face.
"Here Blondie, I'll help." The lass said quickly. "Just not the purple ones, I need those."
The boy stared at Iko's wallet and leaned back. "Iko, I'm not taking your rupees." in all honestly, he didn't want to have to need help with buying something again. She didn't give him a choice and shoved the wallet in his hand.
"Iko, I don't nee- Ugh..."
Lief chuckled as he plopped down onto Iko's hat and laid there. "It appears you do not have a choice, Jacon."
"I can see that." Jace answered in a defeated manner. He felt bad digging through Iko's wallet like this. He pulled two blue rupees and eight green rupees from the wallet to make up the difference and placed it on the counter. His face was flushed and he sighed after handing Iko her wallet.
"Hehe, come again, little ones!" the woman called. Jace waved a polite goodbye before heading for the door to meet with Ilye. He stopped right next to her when Iko started putting her wallet away.
"Hey, uh... Thanks Iko."
She waved at him. "Not a problem. How often you gonna need my help?"
Ilye spoke up, "I'd have helped out but uhh... I'm broke."
"And I had my rupees stolen from me, haha..." Jace added on.
Iko was about to make a cheeky remark, but Jace and Ilye's actions caught her off guard a bit. Jace did his typical rubbing of the back of the head out of embarrassment. Ilye had done it as well- with the same hand mind you. And they did this at the exact same time, making nearly the exact same expression with their eyes closed. Iko simply stared with slanted eyebrows, and Leif would also be making the same face if he hadn't been in orb form. That was a Leavance thing! Which was pretty obvious given Jace did it all the time. The same expression nearly every time, normally uses left hand. And Iko being the keen-eyed archer she was, she could see some very obvious signs that Ilye was related to the Leavances in some form or way even before this. Little did Jace and Ilye know, Iko and Leif were speaking through a private telepathic channel via Leif's strange powers...
"Tell me you saw that as well?" Iko asked.
An audible sigh was heard only by Iko from Leif. "I did, you are not seeing things."
"I knew something was off about this girl..." Iko added lowly. "What exactly...?"
Leif didn't want to say it, but he groaned. "She looks like a Leavance and acts like one, but there are no other Leavances… I am hoping my suspicions are wrong..."
Jace raised an eyebrow at Iko, seeing as she went silent. He waved at her and said, "Hello...? You guys doing your private speaking thing again?"
"What now?" Ilye muttered. Iko was brought back to the two before her and motioned them on outside.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go, we're taking up door space here."
Jace shrugged at Ilye before telling them he'd be back real quick. He ran back to the back of the store, surely to change back into his new clothes. Iko however continued looking at Ilye from the corner of her eye as they left the building. She's seen some pretty weird things in her time, so it wouldn't be much to suspect something weird was going on with Ilye. Besides, this is an adventure with the Leavance couple we're talking about... Weird things are bound to happen. The fact that the Light Spirits are looking to tiny walking trees for help alone is just odd.
Iko was about to question Ilye, but Leif was quick to stop her. The orb- actually known as a Life Spirit, felt that this wasn't something that should be brought up around Iris or Jace, especially if his suspicions were correct. Iko begrudgingly held off as told and waited for Jace to return. And over time, he did. He stepped outside with a smug look on his face. He didn't make his presence audibly known and walked up behind Iris. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and laid the side of his head against hers.
"Hey, babe~"
With a soft roll of the eyes, she looked at him. "Yes?"
He moved in front of her to show off his new look. Ilye was trying very hard not to laugh. Iko was very close to making a remark on the scene, but Iris looked like she'd soon beat her to the punch. And Leif found Jace's actions rather annoying... He was tired of fooling around.
"So... How do you like your... Fiance~?" He asked in a soft, saucy tone as he lifted her snout toward him smoothly with a gentle brush of the hand to the chin of her nozzle. He drew himself close to her as he did this. She seemed to be responding in return with a bit of passion herself, leaning close to him and placing a hand against his chest over his chest scars. His leaves bristled and he smirked when she placed her other hand to the side of his face and she nudged the top of her snout against the tip-top of his.
"I think..." She began, rubbing her hand over his scars softly. She gave a pause, before continuing rather smoothly... "It makes his head look just a little bit bigger than normal..." she said with an equal amount of sauciness. Though his eyes went from suave and smooth to becoming slightly plain. Meanwhile, she kept the look, as if she'd just said the most appealing thing. Ilye and Iko busted out laughing, and even Leif got a chuckle. Jace heard a very obvious bird cackle, which was Skits sitting up on the store roof watching from above. He laughed, his wings drooping. Jace held a straight face and his leaves lowered ever so slightly against his head. For a moment, there was a fire between them, but he wasn't expecting the burn that came with it.
"That was... Misleading." he uttered in mild disappointment.
Iris giggled and pulled away. "C'mon guys, let's go. We've wasted enough time in Clocktown. Tonight, I'm leading. We'll camp out near the Southern Swamp so we can leave early tomorrow and be there in good time."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Ilye called out. Iris began walking Southward with the newly widened traveling group. Iko, Leif, and Ilye spoke together, and Iris slowed her pace to walk next to Jace and held his hand.
"How you holding up, Casanova? You know I'm playing around." she said with a smug look in her soft angular eyes. Such an expression surprised Jace and he offered a small grin.
"I know. That was actually pretty good! And a little cruel."
"I had you wrapped around my finger, haha." she replied with a laugh. She nudged her snout to the side of his and soon added. "You look handsome, babe. They look nice on you- I like it~"
To Be Continued...
Iko and Leif belong to BlazingStarO/BlazingStarOfTime on DeviantART.