The screams echoed onwards. Hundreds upon thousands of pitiful cries, wails of sorrow given by those who were soon to depart from this world, and those who were there to witness this journey. Fire surged across the land, dancing in its alluring and deadly fashion. Walls fell, buildings crumbled, spirit vanished, and hope was lost.

Panic was heavy. Everyone had fallen. The Champions; gone. The ambassadors; gone. The king and the princess; gone. Happiness...gone.

All of this suffering stemmed from one being alone. The pure, raw, unadulterated manifestation of hatred. It's soul was anything but, for it had none. It was a calamitous dark beast; inevitable and too cruel for any one man to witness. Its gaze alone shocked once brave warriors into a helpless state. A beast, nay, a creature, no, a thing.

Deep red dripped from its maw, radiating nothing but malevolence. A toxic sickness enveloped the world. Life was choked, and suffered as though it were being interrogated to find the motives for its actions.

The screams—the screams!—

And all of this happened because of the failed actions of one.

You.

Patisse sprung awake with a startled gasp, nearly making his head collide with the wall. The bed was a mess but still reparable, torn slightly only in one place by his talons. Ogh...what an unusual dream.

He checked the clock. At least it didn't make him sleep in.

Shaking it off, Pat set about his normal morning routine. It started with preening, putting special care into his rumpled crest feathers (Bathing wasn't necessarily a Rito "thing", but he made sure to get clean at least twice a week when in the presence of such an amenity, and that would normally be the first thing in the morning). He slung on a blazing orange waistcoat, extra long to accompany for his body length, which at this point had nearly become his signature. Breakfast—well, he hadn't thought that far ahead. Luckily, the room came with a few pre-included raw materials. His cooking talent ironically was only in pastries and sweets, but the vegetable curry actually turned out great.

Satisfied, Pat double checked everything, making sure he was perfectly confident in the spare time. His giant, sometimes clumsy wings struggled with minute motor skills and could do little to sew the rip in the blanketing, but he at least made the bed and otherwise tidied up to help out the cleaning staff. Acquiring the rest of the necessities, he took a deep breath before firmly opening the exit door.

He had not been expecting someone on the immediate other side.

Patisse nearly recoiled in surprise, but stopped himself seeing who had decided to visit. Lady Mipha the Zora Champion, though gracious and not forward about it, often commandeered a lot of respect. She was majestic, well-known and praised, and was of course royalty. The gentlest of the Champions to be sure, but one who had always proven her worth, leading to her being a big fan favorite, even among different races than the Zora.

"Ah, sir Patisse, I am very sorry for being so abrupt. I'm aware it is quite early..."

"Please, it is far from a disturbance, Your Highness. An honor, really." She seemed quite flustered and skittish, having to look up at him so close, and the Rito politely backed away so as not to make the princess feel uncomfortable.

"Oh, there's no—no need to be so...formal..." He waited for her to say more, but there was just an awkward silence. It seems maybe she herself might not know why she came here. "I...um. —Oh! I wanted to congratulate you. Climbing up in the rankings and becoming an ambassador is not as simple a task compared to being born into royalty... One of my best Zora friends growing up went on that journey, and I'm greatly proud of her. I hope all of you hit it off!" Pat nodded, getting the sense that a lot of the people here were family. They had experience—and he was just some sort of intruder. Hoo boy.

"Thank you kindly. And don't underrate yourself, princess. Just because you simply inherited your position doesn't mean you aren't qualified to hold it. I'm certain—as are many—that there is not much greater a candidate out there." Mipha was at a loss for words, and simply looked to the ground.

"...I'm sorry, I'm keeping you. I best be going." He hadn't been expecting it, but the fish-like woman simply dashed off with this, not even awaiting a response. Odd.

However, she was also right: he had to go.

Brisk Walk Later

Patisse stood outside the door, going over things in his head. State of the Rito economy. Trade deals they were capable of. Long-term contracts and plans for a few races. Yes...yes, that...maybe I could try talking about...Agh! I should stop procrastinating! Panicked, he hustled into the room to avoid being late and making a bad first impression.

And...there was no one inside.

"Huh. I could have sworn this was the right room!" Pat was entirely befuddled; it had the meeting table for the ambassadors and everything. The clock said it was just about meeting time too. The Rito brushed aside some loose crest feathers that had fallen over his golden, perhaps sparkling yellow eyes. That uncertainty began to slowly combine with his nerve-wracked state, and he instead started getting worried. O—oh no. I'm in the wrong place. I'm gonna be a laughing stock! Kicked off the team! Ugh, late for the first day is just downright deplorable. What a failure...maybe I should just—

Pat had been standing at the table, which allowed for someone else to barrel through the door. With a startling noise, a Goron of very dark shade and middling height (for his species) surged through the entrance, practically rolling along the floor to get there. He had a wide face, dominated chiefly by a prominent nose.

"Aw, pebbles! I'm so, so doomed! This is what I get for staying up with the soldiers! Maybe someone—" He trailed off, realizing how he had slowed to a stop right at Patisse's claws. Swiftly, he was on his feet and brushing aside his unruly hair, before taking on a far more serious attitude. "Oh. Tch. It's the newbie. You're late." Uh...wasn't he as well? And evidently, everyone else? "Might wanna move; that's a walkway you're standing in right there."

"Right. —Well, hi! Topado, so I've heard, right? I look forward to—"

"It's just Top, understood?"

"...Y-yeah. Sure thing. Well, I'm Patisse. 'It's just Pat, understood?' Eheh... Anyhow, I hope we can find some common ground. We're diplomats after all." Top took this with little to no regard. He simply sulked over to a chair at the table, which almost seemed like 'his spot'. Odd. I had hoped things would be more welcoming... A bit shaken from his cheerful, excited pedestal, Pat quietly took a seat, disliking the awkward atmosphere.

The two of them more or less just waited around, clock impatiently ticking away.

It seemed a full five minutes until another presence finally joined them: a stately light tan Gerudo, with a clear-cut and toned figure adorned by mainly the color yellow. It was likely rude to assume, but she had the aura of a femme fatale, which was far from Pat's interests.

She seemed far less concerned with being late, strutting over to her own chair with confidence worthy of a royal. Patisse would have said hello or something, had not her piercing and admittedly terrifying green gaze turned him down with a mere glance. I don't get it. I was taught diplomacy was about being nice!

Still, despite having at least three people now, no one said anything, and Pat got the sense that it was customary to await for all to arrive.

He waited for another two minutes, stuck between wanting to make meaningful eye contact with these new coworkers, and fearing what they might do to him if he did. The air was tense, and a single ant may have been able to cut the silence.

Finally, there was a rushed jostling from the hall, and Patisse straightened within his seat. The last ambassador had finally arrived. He had been expecting a Zora, as anyone would, but not one so beautiful. While blue normally would not have stood out among her race, this stranger pulled it off. It was the shade of a robin egg, a compliment to her deeper blue eyes. Most Zora had a resemblance to a type of fish (Mipha to dolphin as her little brother Sidon to shark), but this stranger reminded him more of a cuttlefish or similar squid, namely by the jiggling membrane-like film atop her head. She sparkled even more than her jewelry, but he put such thoughts behind, focusing on work.

Otherwise, she seemed very rushed and unkempt, likely having woken up just a few moments earlier. This was no doubt why, as the aquatic woman calmed down from her haste upon entering the room, she had seemingly forgotten to be disinterested with him as the others did. In fact, though this was purely speculation, it seemed as though she was stunned by this newcomer, perhaps attracted. The Zora gave a friendly wave—suppressing what Patisse probably was hallucinating as the smallest blush—before immediately remembering something and equipping a far more sullen look. Seeming regretful of having to be so rude, so Pat thought, she simply took her seat, eyeing the floor.

"Well, we're all here," the Gerudo announced, taking a sip from some fanciful mug that had just somehow materialized. She sounded just as she looked, with a crass no-nonsense attitude. "What do you guys have?" This question was only directed at two. Top growled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Daruk's been wanting a bit more space; something about training more with Rudania. We were starting to work something out with the farmers and merchants in the north near the Lost Woods, where use of their land is traded for numerous Goron materials like gems and spices. Few problems so far, except some nature activists going about the woods being put in danger from the Divine Beast's fire."

"Would there be a way to satisfy them as well?"

"Not without some backlash. You know those people; they fight for what they think is right, rather than what is best for everyone in the long run." H-huh? What's wrong with that? Isn't sticking up for what you believe in a core value? Maybe I really am in the wrong room.

Pat fiddled with his wings, unsure of himself. Did he just have to...talk? Would they bother listening?

"That's right," the Zora chimed in, laying her folded claws on the table. She had a very lovely voice, not as airy as Mipha's and without the accent, but just as kind, with a form of lilt. "I'm in a similar situation. The fishers have found a lovely spot for all sorts of seafood. However, a subset of Sheikah people live nearby, and they have a special reverent sanctity for the fish. Despite us being close to fish ourselves, it seems they want nothing to do with us and for their fish to be unharmed. I would normally agree and leave the situation alone, but hunting has been unnaturally tough this year, perhaps with the looming Calamity..." They all nodded and contemplated this. Hmm. They could try and strike a deal. What if the Zora exchanged occasional fishing trips for luminous stones and other goods? The mountains near the domain are rich with life and other materials. Or rather than excursions, they could run a temporary territory share until things get better, so the Sheikah don't have to witness the hunting, and still get resources to compensate?

"I've got something, what if you—"

"Have you tried a trade yet?" Top suddenly blurted, cutting Pat off entirely. It was as though it were intentional. "There are plenty of terms that can be set with the Zora's abundance of natural resources." H-hey! That was my idea! Oh well, maybe I need to be more assertive...

"Our talks haven't worked out so far," the questioner responded, giving Patisse a brief but strange look that was between regret, sympathy, and confusion. Wait. I'm just reading too deep into her movements because she looks nice. What am I doing? "But if things get a bit more desperate, we'll try and up our offers."

"Wise plan," the so-far nameless Gerudo returned, moving on to the next order of business.

The rest of the meeting went on much like this; someone would lay a problem, the other two would discuss and inquire, Pat would occasionally get an idea only to be ignored, and someone else would suggest something similar. He eventually gave up on trying, and just sat there, a little sour. I just don't get it.

It seemed like several hours before the meeting finally drew to a close, and Patisse snapped back to reality from his boredom induced daydreams. Evidently, once all was relatively resolved, they would adjourn. And leave they did; the Rito had been a bit slow getting up, but everyone else had taken off like arrows in flight. He sighed with a shake of the head. I have to be doing something wrong. I have to be! He just couldn't bring himself to discover what that thing was.

Demoralized and feeling uncharacteristically unhappy, Pat trudged away through the quiet hall, realizing how much time he still had left to burn in the day. He was halfway through the distance back to his lodging, but a sudden wave of mental uncertainty brought the bird down on one knee. That dream...what if I am a failure? I can't stop this from happening if I don't learn what I'm doing wrong—but how am I supposed to learn when this error is preventing anyone from teaching me? It was unbecoming to just wallow in the middle of the path like this, but his self-confidence had subtly imploded. On the first day.

"Gracious. Was it that bad?"

He sprung to his feet. Oh, Hylia. Not only was Lady Urbosa the chief of the Gerudo, but she was the Champion of her people as well. What a wonderful impression, for Pat to be fallen over in the hall in which she was traversing.

"Chieftess! I-I'm very sorry, I must have forgotten myself. No, I assure you there weren't any problems. I just...had a moment, was all." She stared him down. Perhaps that terrifying gaze was common to all of the desert-dwellers.

"Right. Well, you may try speaking again. Without lying, of course."

His blood ran cold. As over-dramatic as it was, Pat felt the need to clutch his chest. Urbosa just...made you panic sometimes. Cold sweat must have been visible running through his feathers, because the tension ramped up again. "What? I can tell I'm no ghost. You look much too stressed—is this why you collapsed? We have water, you know." The Rito's response came out as a waterfall, rapid and inconsistent.

"T-the meeting was, was terrible. I-I—Iiii don't know what I'm, what I'm doing here, this—I wasn't prepared for this!" His lungs were nearly shot through as her hand reached up and came down on his shoulder.

"Kid, you're as freaked as a sand seal at a fireworks show. I know all of those individuals personally, and my Geiha would most certainly not make anything terrible. It's first day nerves. Seriously, get some hydration." Patisse was frozen; his eyes felt glazed. Of all things, it was this one person who could terrorize him into full immobility. "I'm not joking around here, chicken. Water. Now."

Ignoring the fact that he had just recently consumed half a gallon of water over the course of the meeting, Patisse's brain finally managed to send some form of command to his legs; instruction on how to book it. He was off so fast, the carpet whizzed up from the wind force. This left him much too far away to hear what Urbosa muttered as she watched him leave:

"It's a shame. There goes another one, just like the last. Poor guy. Whatever keeps happening to them is worth investigating."

Uh oh...things are getting a little suspicious! Maybe this wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Also, yes, that Zora's the love interest, lol. But we'll have to wait it out to see how things will go...