Gerudo Fortress - The Birds of the Goddesses' Providence

*Characters involved:*

* *Aubrey*

**GERUDO FORTRESS**

aubrey:musical\_note: 7:57 PM Aubrey paces slowly on the rooftop of Gerudo Fortress. He can see a vast expanse of water from here, perhaps with a few vague smudges of brown or green on the horizon indicating other islands, but much too far away to think about reaching. Living in the midst of the driest part of Hyrule, the Gerudo had no reason to believe they would ever need boats. Now, the rolling sea looks a more formidable desert than the sands ever did.

Worry is a tool of the enemy. In a very real sense, to worry is to abandon faith in the Three. But knowing that does not make it easy to push worry away. The problem of providing food for the inhabitants of Gerudo Fortress was a difficult one before the flood, and now they have no hunting grounds to venture forth into. Already the plates being passed out from the kitchens at mealtimes have more empty space than stew. Aubrey has endured lean times often from his childhood and would be patiently willing to do so again, but now he has a wife and a child...to trust the goddesses with their wellbeing in such bleak circumstances is so much harder.

Aubrey breathes out slowly, bowing his head and closing his eyes. "Din, Farore, Nayru...I want to believe we are still in Your hands. I want to believe we were saved from a swift death in the fire and flood for a reason. Please, help me to see Your plan. There must be something more, some way You've provided to -- "

**"REE-EER!"**

Aubrey falls flat on his bum, startled by the sudden loud screech. @.@; A huge, stork-like bird has just landed on the roof directly in front of him! It regards Aubrey with a keen eye, and for a moment Aubrey suspects that it's considering making a meal out of him. O.O; But then it gives another screech and preens its blue plumage complacently. Slowly, Aubrey gets up. The bird stops preening and looks at Aubrey again, seeming almost...expectant. Aubrey carefully stretches out his arm. The bird watches the approaching hand fearlessly, and dips its head down to meet it. Aubrey runs his fingers along the bird's skull ridge, amazed at how tame it seems. :o

The bird screeches again, a bit more quietly this time, and turns its body sideways while keeping its head in contact with Aubrey's hand. It crouches low and spreads its wings, then waits. A gentle nudge in Aubrey's spirit tells him that yes, it's really doing what he thinks it is. o.o So with his heart thumping in trepidation, Aubrey cautiously steps over the bird's back and puts his arms around its chest.

**WHOOOOOSH!**

The ground departs before Aubrey knows what's going on, and he finds himself clinging for dear life to the powerful avian's body as they soar into the sky. XO The wind stings his eyes and steals the breath from his lungs. Just as he's starting to think he might black out, the roaring in his ears quiets to a gentle whistling. Aubrey looks around and sees that they are gliding high over the ocean. The smudges from before have turned into recognizable land masses, and even though they're technically even further away now, they seem almost easy to reach.

Aubrey's stomach starts to rise within him, and he realizes the bird has turned downward. o.o; He holds his breath as the blue-green carpet below rushes up to meet them. But the bird knows its business, and in a moment they are skimming along just over the waves. The bird's head turns sharply back and forth, then suddenly it snaps at the water. Aubrey sees the two ends of a good-sized fish jutting out on either side of the bird's gull-like beak, thrashing ineffectually. The bird flaps its wings to gain some altitude, then wheels gently about, heading back for shore.

A minute later, Aubrey slides off the great bird's back, his legs feeling like chu-chus. @.@ The bird turns around to face Aubrey, then waits patiently until the bard gets the hint and holds out his hands. It drops the fish into Aubrey's palms, then gives one more exultant screech and takes off. Aubrey stares up after the bird...and sees more like it. 8O Several of them descend to various individuals in the Fortress, while still more wing their way to other parts of Hyrule, filling the air with distant cries.

The birds of the goddesses' providence have come.