[open] hoofing it

[birdflipping]

Who: Nero, a cranky demon horse, and you
What: Misadventures for a not-so-holy grail, or: Nero gets hazed
When: After arriving in Camelot
Where: The Brocéliande, then around town
Warnings: Nero's potty mouth.....


1. breaking in the devil horse
"All right, big guy. You gonna help me out here or what?"

Nero thought accepting this quest would be straightforward enough, but even travelling into the forest, he's stuck at the first hurdle. His familiar, a demon horse, usually sizes itself down to a very small pony or a large dog. As soon as he called it to help him for the quest at the edge of the forest, it appeared having assumed its full size, which is more akin to a reptilian draught horse. He moves over to Geryon's side, with the intention of pulling himself up onto its back... but the horse trots away from him.

He stares, then throws up his arms in exasperation. "Or you could do that. Great start."

He doesn't know the first thing about ordinary horses, but from what he remembers of the Order's demonology records he'd given to Nico, Geryons were notoriously difficult to ride. And from the interactions he's had with his so far, it's nothing if not stubborn. He follows after it. "So what do I have to do? Beat you in battle to win your respect? Tame you like a regular old wild horse? Give me a clue."

The horse responds by just tossing its head and snorting. This back-and-forth could go on for a while...


2. lost in the forest
Giving up on trying to ride his familiar for the time being, Geryon at least follows Nero as he heads into the forest on foot, accompanied by whoever is unfortunate enough to also have accepted the quest. Soon it becomes obvious they've taken this path in the forest more than once already, and Nero stops.

"We're going to keep going in circles forever until we figure out which way to go. I've been in a forest like this... " He turns to his questing partner. "In Fortuna's forest, the clue was in looking at the shadows. You notice anything here that can tell us which way to go?"


3. a quest completeish
After a long, exasperating trek through the forest, which was mostly good for earning a few bruises to his pride and a little magic practice, Nero returns clutching the 'holy grail'. You know, if the holy grail looks like a noodle strainer.

He's going to pester the first person he finds, waving his hard-earned quest item (?) at them to get their attention.

"Hey, where's the douchebag who was shouting about a quest earlier? I'm gonna give him what he wants and push his face through this."

Comments

Re: 1. Breaking the Demon Horse (Couldn't resist this one hehe)

[sealingpower]

"Perhaps you should take some time to soothe him? So he knows how you truly feel? Someone once gave me the same advice." Zelda commented with a light laugh. "Empathizing with your mount can be quite helpful in building your relationship."

She offered him a warm smile.

"Perhaps I could accompany you, and explain my experience with the matter further?"

[birdflipping]

"I'm telling him how I really feel, and none of those feelings are soothing ones." Nero rolls his eyes, crossing his arms as he turns to regard Zelda. He realises she's trying to help, though, so he strikes a more conciliatory tone.

"Most of my experience with demons is dealing with ones that wanna kill me. So if you've got any ideas, I'm all ears."

[sealingpower]

"Well, I suppose we would share the same experience in that regard; though I have yet to actually have said experience." she was referring to Calamity Ganon and how he most likely would very much, like to kill her.

In any case, she decided to try her luck and pulled a carrot from her bag (don't ask how she had this with her...maybe she brought some to snack on from the feast?) and held it out in hand, extending an invitation to the demon horse. Whether or not it would be successful would be left up to question though.

[birdflipping]

"Wait, I don't think that's such a good--"

Too late. Geryon turns a glowing electric blue eye to regard Zelda, before lowering its horned head to sniff at the carrot. Then it takes the vegetable from her hands, chomping and swallowing it in just a couple of bites.

"--idea," Nero finishes, lamely. He'd been expecting Geryon to act aggressive, maybe even more interested in eating her than the carrot, but apparently the horse had other plans.

3!

[tsukky]

[ Suddenly she's being pestered and oh look, it's the guy from the carriage who can't stand smoking-- and guess what she's doing... ]

Ya ended up with one too.

[ A slow smoooookey delicious exhale while she turns to point ahead. That large dog-sized two-tailed cat of hers is winding its way around her legs. ]

I've been told he was spotted headin' towards the farms. [ She may or may not be on her way to turn said person into a pincushion herself. ]

[birdflipping]

[grooooss. He's gonna take a pointed step back as she exhales, but hey, at least they're outside this time.]

Oh, so you're looking for him too? Gonna sic the kitty on him?

[tsukky]

I don't like time wasters.

[ Meaning yes.

As for the cat... ]

N' he's pretty poor tempered. [ Can't think why she would end up with such a prickly familiar.

And speaking of time: ] If ya want to catch him ya should get movin', before he gets too far. [ She won't ask him to team up - that's not her thing with strangers, but as they're both after the same thing it might as well happen anyway... She's already heading off in the right direction before Nero has a chance to respond. ]

[birdflipping]

Don't have to tell me twice.

[He'll run after her, easily keeping up. Would be a lot faster if his horse either stayed a consistent size or let him ride it in the first place, but beggars can't be choosers.]

Considering we're supposed to be here to save all the worlds or some shit, you think the locals would give us a break. [And not, you know. Troll them.]

3

[casaposa]

[You know what? He's game for tag teaming this nightmarish oaf that sent them on this impromptu errand. Caesar eyes the noodle strainer in the stranger's hand, pulls up his own with an angry jerk as if to silently say You too? and-

Bitter and livid, he gestures towards the expanse of corn beside them. Incredible.]

The coward's hiding in this field. He's a tricky one, but he can't elude two of us with his maneuvers.

[birdflipping]

Ugh, in there? Really?

[He looks at the field of corn and pulls a face. What a pain in a day already full of annoyances.]

Yeah, let's drag his ass out kicking and screaming if we have to. [He heads off into the... maize maze. There's only one path in the beginning, but it soon branches into two.] Let's split up here and cover more ground.

[casaposa]

My thoughts exactly.

[They're on the same violent page and you know what? It's what this cornfield hiding asshole deserves for sending them on a wild goose chase.

The path deviates and while he doesn't like to get ordered around, the guy's not wrong about covering more ground.]

If you spot him, push him towards the middle of the field. I'll do the same. We can do a pincer attack on him.

[birdflipping]

Got it. [It's not a bad plan, even if teamwork isn't usually Nero's thing. So he takes the left fork in the path, drawing his blade and shouldering it, while yelling loud enough to carry across the maze:]

Hey, douchebag! Got your holy grail here! Come and get it!

[If the guy panics and makes a run for it, that should make it easier for him to hear and chase down... or so Nero's idea goes.]

2.

[disasdeer]

There's a few things that Louis could think of that would be worse than being trapped in some strange circle of a forest. One of them is being trapped with someone else. So, of course he's here with someone else. He hasn't experienced something like this before and doesn't really like deferring to someone else for guidance. He's so used to leading.

"What sort of things did you look for in the shadows?"

Fine, he'll bite.

[birdflipping]

Nero scratches the back of his neck as he casts his mind back. "Well... The only clue I had was to look for the light. And it moved every time I moved forwards in the forest. So the best way to figure out the light source was to look at the direction the shadows were falling in, and head opposite."

This time they don't have any clues and will just have to rely on observation, but who knows? Maybe deer have sharp eyes.

[disasdeer]

Louis is pretty observant, it comes with the territory. He takes a few steps and starts glancing around. "So we find something that looks out of place, then. That's almost no information."

Not enough, at least. Could it be living things? Would it only be inanimate objects? Would it be clear to them after they picked it up that this was what they needed - or did they need to collect a few things before the scenery would shift.

"I guess there's no detail to small," he says it while glancing around, taking in the area around him.

1

[gundhamster]

Gundham had been watching from a distance for a while now. He had been researching the local wildlife when Nero caught his eye at the edge of the forest. His first thought was to compare him to a classmate of his, but that thought was pushed from his mind rather quickly when Geryon was summoned.

After watching Nero struggle with the... reptile horse, Gundham's curiosity got the better of him. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen, in reality or fiction, but its body language was very similar to that of a normal horse. And so, he emerged from the forest, his own familiar - a large bear with a single red eye - following behind him.

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance?"

[birdflipping]

Nero looks around upon hearing the voice, and blinks, doing a double take at the one-eyed bear. Well that's... something. It certainly matches the edgy-looking guy going along with it.

"If you know anything about making nice with demons, I'm all ears. Not really my field of expertise."

3

[immortalmarshal]

To say that Cor is Not Pleased about this quest is quite the understatement. A storm cloud seems to be brewing on his face as he marches out of another part of the forest and into the open fields near Camelot. Being dusty and dirty doesn't bother him, but he's Too Pissed to notice the tiny sparks of electricity dancing along his fingertips right now.

Which is why he's half-glaring at Nero for shoving a similar looking 'grail' into his face. "Hell if I know," he growls at the younger man. "I'm just as liable to shove it up his ass myself."

[birdflipping]

"What, did he give you the runaround too, Sparky?" Nero smirks, lowering his 'grail' as he notices the electricity around the other man's fingers. Seeing someone else mad about getting pranked the same way actually improves his mood a little.

"I'm gonna go find him and give him an asskicking. Tag along if you want."

[immortalmarshal]

Clr harrumph at the nickname, but instead focuses on the task at hand first. "Gladly. If this was supposed to be a test, it's a poorly thought out one for newcomers."

A brief pause. "And the name's Cor, not Sparky. What's your name, young man?" Yes, that is dry-toned sarcasm. Enjoy it; it's a little softer than his normal thing.

2

[weenwoon]

Hythlodaeus did accept the quest, although only by way of learning more about their surroundings and possibly amusing himself on the way. After all, not even his best friend could make him perform a task Hythlodaeus did not feel inclined to do....

On the way, he keeps sneaking curious glances at Geryon. He wonders if the appearance is meant to be intimidating, but Hythlodaeus did always like animals, even if they appear to be demon horses. Noting that the creature does not seem inclined to like even its master, though, Hythlodaeus refrains from trying to pat it. His own familiar, a firebird, occasionally perches on his shoulder, but mostly skips and flies through the branches of the surrounding forest. The conclusion of their wandering, however, is inevitable.

Hythlodaeus looks around with a thoughtful hum, putting a hand to his chin in an inquisitve gesture. How much easier it would have been if he still had his aethersight...

"I cannot say. However, may I propose setting up a mark of some sort, so we may determine the moment when the path loops? A most curious forest, this."

[birdflipping]

Nero's not too offput by a hooded and masked man following him around. Hoods were normal enough in the Order of the Sword -- not that Nero ever followed much of the religious side of things -- and so he's used to not seeing the faces of people he works with. Geryon seems to be ignoring the curious looks from the stranger, too, focusing on following Nero and staying attentive to their surroundings until they stop to consider how to proceed.

"Something like this?" Nero draws his blade, and scores an X-sign into the bark of a tree in two clean strokes, large enough to be distinctive from a distance if needed.

"Let's take this as the starting point, then mark a tree every time we get turned around."

1 let's pretend I have been at all on the ball

[reimpaled]

Quest schmest; while the other takers enjoy their raised heartrates and sweaty asses trying to hustle over to deal with the local baditude, catch Dante napping on a convenient bit of loam that the forest has on offer along the way. Maybe he left his urgency back in his twenties, or he took away the wrong lesson from the tortoise and the hare parable. Or
that house of cards that is his nutritional intake (or lack thereof) has finally caught up with him without his demonic vitality magically holding it up, not that Dante would admit it when confronted face to face. All he knows is this place is the pits and he has some serious karmic good that needs to find its way on back to him eventually for lending a hand here.

At any rate I t’s a mix of demonic brimstone and a certain loudmouth’s braying that stirs him, yawning off a healthy and busty spot of dreaming to instead lean around the oak he’d leaned up against, only to find that his ornery nephew is not only here, but Nero is fighting a losing battle against gravity and the only living thing that’s more stubborn than he is in this godforsaken spit of universe.

Dante hasn’t laughed like this since Vergil recently got his ass handed to him.

“That thing’s only good for keepin’ the time, and badly at that, kid.”

Heya Nero, it’s ya boy, dusting bugs and god knows what off his beautiful self.

[birdflipping]

"Hey, no one asked you, D--" Nero's annoyed response is so ingrained it takes his mind a second to catch up with his mouth. But as he turns around to see the older devil hunter just... casually leaning against a tree like he lived there? Yeah, that's him all right.

After realising he'd just been staring open-mouthed for a second, his expression goes from shocked to incredulous.

"Dante? What the hell are you doing here?" ...And covered in bugs like some kind of forest hobo, apparently.

[reimpaled]

Yeah, why is Dante getting dragged out of retirement in Hell to go save another world? Help him figure that one out cuz he's not good at using the old noggin anymore.

But sure, king of the forest hobos taps a two fingered salute off of his temple and pushes off the tree to come join Nero. Incredulous is just how Dante likes his social interactions.

"Same as you, if I had to guess." His hands wave broadly as if to indicate all of this. "One day I was hiding your old man's tighty whities, the next I woke up in bizarro world with a pet that can barf fire. It's been a hell of a time."