Newbie Meet N' Greet

[cityship]

Meet n' Greet, smell my feet, gimme something good to eat! Unfortunately, the newbie meet and greet takes place the same time the command staff is congregating, so they might be a little late to the party.

But the crew is there to welcome the newcomers and explain their situation. At the end of the milling and spilling about, the command staff is going to start a general meeting to apprise everyone of their situation and discuss their next course of action:

Getting off the damn ship.

Comments

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"The hothead and the leader. The leader was most like the original hero, but a bit less of a hothead and more instinct than thoughtful," Shadow Link explained.

[redeyes_andblue]

"The Hero, the Warrior, the Optimist and the Thinker," he says quietly - "That sounds like Link, yes."

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"I'd worry if the hero is too much like mine. It's amazing what some parts of his personality are capable of."

[redeyes_andblue]

A small smile. "I imagine the hotheaded one has a habit of not thinking things through and rushing blindly into danger?" he guesses, "Or that the optimist sees the best in everyone, even those who mean them harm?"

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"More like the thinker is able to do something that even the villains can think is wrong," Shadow Link said, smirking. Though it wasn't smug this time. It was bitter. Very, very bitter.

[redeyes_andblue]

...That much, he does take notice of - both the words, and the sheer bitterness of his tone.

"What happened?"

Was the Thinker also Link's ruthlessness?

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"You know, betraying someone when they just think you're loyal is one thing. Betraying someone who thinks you're their friend is a whole other game," he said, the bitterness still there even if he seemed to be trying to hide it.

[redeyes_andblue]

A sympathetic expression crosses his face. He has been betrayed in the past, may well be betrayed in the future, and the utter wretchedness of the feeling is one he's in no hurry to repeat.

"I am sorry," he says softly.

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"Why apologize to me?" Shadow Link asked, raising an eyebrow.

[redeyes_andblue]

And Sheik will raise his eyebrows in return. "I was simply expressing sympathy," he tells him, expression slipping back into neutrality, "Although if you do not require any, that is fine with me."

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"Who said I was ever the one who did it too?" Shadow Link asked. "I could just be sickened a part of my owner was capable of doing that," he said.

[redeyes_andblue]

"Your expression says otherwise," Sheik shrugs. "I have been betrayed as well. I recognise it."

His hand raises again to brush against the tear. He hadn't been the only one betrayed, then.

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"Then what happened to you?" He asked, looking away.

[redeyes_andblue]

...He's not really sure he wants to answer that. If nothing else because that was two hundred years ago, and that if he admits personal involvement, then Shadow Link could realise that he wasn't quite the usual Hyrulean denizen.

"A friend was being mistreated by someone we trusted, who we had great loyalty towards," he says softly, "And when a few others, myself included, intervened, we were punished greatly for it."

The price for standing up to the horrific abuse that many of the Sheikah underwent daily - banishment, exile. His hand brushes the tear again.

[I'm sorry, Sheik.]

[It wasn't your doing.]

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"So, got stuck between a friend and someone you served?" Shadow Link said and shrugged. "I've never found much reason to trust leaders. Better to defend the friend, honestly."

[redeyes_andblue]

Sheik flinches, almost like a physical blow. "It isn't a matter of trust," he tells him, voice low, "It is a matter of loyalty, and duty, and..."

He sighs quietly, feels Zelda's warm presence curl around him almost like a physical embrace. "I do not merely serve them out of duty," he says softly, "But out of love, as well."

He would serve Zelda willingly, whether he was ordered to or not.

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

Shadow Link was silent for several long moments, processing what he said. "I see," he murmured. "Well, it certainly says for shadow folk, you didn't spend a lot of time with the darker beings of the world. They're not that kind."

[redeyes_andblue]

A faint, joyless smile. "The Sheikah are sometimes known as the Shadows of the Hylians," he murmurs suddenly, "Even if very few outside of our masters ever knew of our existence."

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"Ah, so that's it. At least you were smart and got a few to acknowledge you," he said. "So...you're afraid I work for Ganondorf then?"

[redeyes_andblue]

It's subtle in the extreme, but Sheik's muscles shift just enough to coil like a spring, wariness visible in his posture if one looks carefully. If this boy - this other Link's shadow - is a danger, he will simply remove himself from that danger in as prompt a way as possible.

"Do you?" he asks bluntly.

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

And Shadow Link was looking very carefully. He chuckled. "Ganondorf has 'puppets.' No allies, not even true servants. Only people he pulls around on puppet strings until he's done with them and cuts them off over the abyss. And I refuse to be a puppet."

He stepped back. "That doesn't mean I'm likely to be very polite to any Royals, but then again, there's only one Royal I've ever had interested in and I never planned on killing her. Her being dead really doesn't do anything for what I want."

[redeyes_andblue]

No servant - or puppet - of Ganondorf, but still not one to trust completely, then. He relaxes just a fraction, although something tells him that dropping his guard entirely would be stupidity in the extreme.

"And what did you plan for her?" he frowns - even if it isn't the Royal he's serving right at this moment, he's still bound to the Royal Family for an eternity.

[Sheik, please... I do not believe he intends harm.]

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

Shadow Link smirked. "That...I think I'll keep to myself. After all, it took pulling quite a few strings to find out you probably serve the Royal Family."

[redeyes_andblue]

"I never said that," Sheik shrugs, and gives the boy a smirk of his own. "Simply that I have no love for Ganondorf and that my masters are Hylian. How do you know that they support the Royal Family in the first place?"

Zelda chides him gently, but he ignores her for now. Instead, he tells him softly, "You should not be so quick to presume allegiances."


((OOC: I'm off to bed. Will tag back in the morning!))

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"There are not many who can be Hylian, against Ganondorf, not with the Royal Family, have enough power to get a race of people to follow them, and let it slip to the Royal Family that they have something like that," Shadow Link, still wearing his smirk. "Though I suppose there's a chance, why not assume that? It certainly wouldn't hurt me."