Myriad Path 2 - Miff

I am entering the second Myriad path tournament event for the , which shall be hosted in the gallery/page of its owner . Last time my character Iten lost in his second battle, dropped his soul-stabilizing sword, turned into a mindless demon creature, and proceeded to haunt the island like a rapid monster until rescued by a tournament survivor by having the blade returned and then joined a group of survivors hoping to put an end to the tournament ever taking place again. He also took a good chunk out of the main antagonist's leg during that demonic period, so overall I was quite pleased with his participation, even if he appeared less than other characters. That lack of constant presence fit his character quite well and I enjoyed watching ~darquenaut write him so faithfully to my vision of him without any additional instruction beyond his profile. It was a real treat.

Good times.

Though I hope Iten and his new merry band get to make some appearances in the second tournament's story as well, here's my second Myriad Path entry: A puny little Deku of a Mad Scrub. Personally. I think it'd be hilarious if he got any farther than one battle. Haha.

All tournament-required information and a bit more than is required can be found below.

Profile

Name: Miff

Race: Mad Scrub

Home: The Lost Woods

Title: Sharpshooter

Story
Born in the Lost Woods, Miff was never really all that different from the other Mad Scrubs that inhabited the area but he was from the ones of old. Previous Mad Scrubs lacked the sentience of their cousins, but time had slowly allowed them to adapt and the beginnings of intelligence were sprouting among the breed, if you will excuse the accidental pun. Despite this they all were still violently protective of their territory just like their preceding generations, spitting out hard nuts in rapid succession at any other creatures that dared to intrude within their space. Miff in particular was always quite enthusiastic about shooting down any Kokiri or Skull Kids who wandered too close, but unlike what many assumed it was not because of his love for the forest. Instead Miff enjoyed shooting at people on a completely different level than pure instinct, actually finding amusement and fulfillment in landing successful hits on targets and beating them away. He got a thrill out of a successful shot and a laugh out of seeing others get knocked by the Deku Nuts he sent at them. He became known among his shrub-burrowing neighbors as the best sharpshooter among all the Deku Scrubs in the Lost Woods and Sacred Forest.

One day fate sent a seasoned traveler into the Lost Woods seeking out a friend who disappeared there. The old warrior was more than prepared when Miff popped out of his bushy home and began to spit nuts with frightening accuracy and enthusiasm. The Hylian's metal shield blocked every shot easily, something the Mad Scrub had never seen before. Miff could do nothing to prevent the man from getting close enough to whack him with his blade, which sent the two-legged plant popping out of the ground and running around wildly in a panic. Suddenly it occurred to Miff that the man wasn't raising his shield any more but coming in closer for another swing, the killing blow in fact. In a last-ditch effort the wooden creature spat another finely-aimed Deku Nut at the much taller Hylian, landing his blow right between the man's eyes and sending him falling back onto his behind in surprise and pain.

Miff had to take a moment to examine his situation before realizing what he was doing. It was instinct for Mad Scrubs to be rooted in their flowers for their entire lives and protect their land. Here he was, standing on his own two feet on solid ground and not desperately trying to return with a fallen intruder lying before him to boot.

It was incredible!

Due to his shooting skills none of the forest's normal inhabitants had ever uprooted Miff before, but now that he was out he actually enjoyed it. It didn't take long for him to realize that he, like other varieties of Deku Scrubs besides the Mad Scrubs, could travel around; not to see new sights, but to find new things to shoot! No longer was he bound to wait patiently in a subterranean plant for new targets, he could seek them out all on his own!

In the time afterwards rumours of a loose Mad Scrub spread around the forest as well as Hyrule Field, Lon Lon Ranch, the Castle Town, Lake Hylia and even the Gerudo Fortress. No one ever caught the little thing thanks to his now even more finely trained ability to see and shoot targets from great distances away. Travelers had to learn to always be on the look-out for a precisely-aimed nut out of nowhere while riding from one place to another and even towns like Kakariko Village weren't completely spared the childish and harmful playing of the spitting prankster.

One thing that has always made Miff angry, or at least angrier than he is by default, was something a Business Scrub told him one day on a visit back to the Lost Woods. Miff was bragging about how he was feared across most of Hyrule but the Business Scrub, the Deku breed that are the most eloquent and capable of interacting well with other races for acts of commerce, informed him that such was not the case. The people saw him as just an annoyance. A pest, even. He was told that people didn't consider such weak monsters as the Deku Scrubs to be that big of a deal. Having thought himself as quite the infamous legend due to his ego Miff didn't tale that well at all. He began to purposefully seek out larger more feared monsters like Wolfos to shoot down, sometimes even rescuing Hylians or Zoras with his nuts just to then laugh at them and taunt them for underestimating his abilities.

In a great act of potential hubris warranted by Miff's quite outrageous self-confidence and pride the tiny Mad Scrub has even entered a battle tournament against many seasoned warriors of other races, just so he can later brag about all the big enemies his nuts have toppled. While it is certainly true that the little guy has learned a lot more skills than the average Scrub has from his travels and training(Though he certainly never thought of it as training) he'll still need a lot of guts and probably luck to make it through the coming matches in one piece.

Personality
If he were any other race Miff would probably be a brute, a thief and a prankster, hurting people and then laughing about it; the lowest kind of criminal. As it is now he's already a monster, so he's just a little bit worse than most common monsters found wandering around the various lands of Hyrule. Also, being a Deku Scrub, he doesn't have to worry about stealing to make a living so all he hurts people for is his own amusement and fun. Miff has a huge ego and takes pride in his sharpshooting skills above all else. He doesn't rightly care about anyone besides himself, but that doesn't mean he drives others away. Every now and then he'd like to have someone to brag to about how great he is, after all. When he does enjoy the company of others he tends to be a chatterbox, interrupting other people when their topic goes off of himself and loses his interest. If ever he met someone who could actually endure his company for more than ten minutes he might just have a life-long friend... or at least somebody to go and brag around a lot. The little guy doesn't really have much in the way of fears. Because of his naturally weak Deku Scrub stature even if he were to be defeated or killed then it would likely occur so quickly that he'd go from top form to down and out too fast to feel fear or concern in between the two states. Normally this would incite a constant feeling of caution in a being, but not Miff. You'd be hard pressed to find a creature, big or small, who's sheer guts and determination were greater than this little guy's. He goes all out for personal glory until the very end, regardless of the cost or who gets in his way.

Unique Traits:
With his yellow-tinted wood body and headdress of red leaves Miff looks nearly identical to any other Mad Scrubs you would find nestled within the many forests of Hyrule. There are only a few things that separate Miff from the average lot.

Snout Leaf: A small leaf growing from the top of the tip of his nose, Miff has had this unique growth since he first started growing his own leaves. It is somewhat prehensile and can be moved back and forth like a lever at his will, usually staying flat down on his snout to stay out of his vision. When pushed upwards however there is a small hole poked in the middle of the leaf(Which was very difficult to do considering that Miff has no hands.) that the Mad Scrub uses as an aiming reticle to help with long-distance shooting.

Propeller Leaves: All Mad Scrubs have a head full of leaves like hair, but Miff has two particular leaves that are much longer than the others and hang down over his left and right sides opposite each other. The leaves connect at the same root and can actually be twirled around like a propeller when desired, often out of sheer movement for the lack of hands. The leaves are also a lot tougher than his other small ones, more comparable to a strong leather in their texture. The Mad Scrub wasn't born with these but they slowly began to grow the longer he was traveling about. It is likely they were grown as a side-effect of Miff rooting himself in many different places over the course of a long period of time and absorbing many different kinds of nutrients, increasing and supplementing his natural growing ability.

Skills

Accuracy: Miff's aim would probably be legendary by now if not for his race and choice of how to use it. The Mad Scrub uses pure practiced instinct to make up for his lack of intelligence in order to track the movements of targets and account for obstacles, wind resistance and distance among other factors. Whether wind or rain or sleet and snow, Miff has spent time shooting nuts in many types of weather and is quiet used to many different conditions and his eyes have become powerful through use and necessity.

Movement: A rare skill for a Scrub to have, Miff has been out of his plant for a long time and has become quite good at using his legs. He can walk, run, jump, hop across the surface of water, roll, flip, and strafe with great mobility. Of course, this is all within the standards of what a Deku Scrub would normally be capable of rather than by Hylian standards, but that doesn't change the achievement. Because of his small and very light body Miff can move a lot more suddenly and continuously than many expect him to be capable of.

Flower Flight – Leaf Form: Miff can use his two large leaves as propellers to hover up into the air and glide around, much like many of the Business Scrub breed can with their flowers. He is quite sued to flying around by now but his movement speed while doing so isn't as great as his running speed is after so much more practice traveling by foot in comparison. In contrast, flying around doesn't take up nearly as much stamina as walking does.

Deku Flash: After seeing a traveler use a Deku Nut pilfered from a fallen Mad Scrub Miff witnessed them being used in a way he'd never seen before, to release a blinding flash that paralyzes those who see it. While not useful for sharpshooting it sure is good for making a getaway.

Ammunition: Miff can vary up his shot using different types of ammunition.
Deku Nuts: The standard fare for Mad Scrubs, these nuts pack a wallop and break apart into pieces on impact unless bounced off of something. Maximum of three consecutive rounds.
Deku Seeds: Not as powerful as the Nuts but the incredibly hard Deku Seeds can be fired at a rapid pace in large numbers for a constant barrage.
Air: Not exactly harmful but by shooting nothing Miff can release powerful puffs of air to affect either targets or the environment, or even just to throw himself around.
Magic Bubbles: Miff discovered a fountain of a Great Fairy of Magic during his travels, who was amused by his tenacity. As a gift he was bestowed with the power to utilize special forest magic. By pouring energy into his shots Miff can now fire off spiral-moving bubbles of various sizes to home in on targets and damage them with a loud and potent pop. The repeated firing of these bubbles depends on the amount of magic energy Miff can pour into the attack and how he uses it. Due to being magical the bubbles are far more damaging than one might initially assume.
Bomb Flowers: Miff's most powerful and most surprising ammunition. After discovering the Gorons were too tough for his Deku Nuts to crack the Mad Scrub spent a lot of time rooting among the bomb flowers of Death mountain until he adapted the ability to grow them inside his own body, allowing the little guy to become a walking cannon with explosive rounds ready to fire. It takes a while to produce a new Bomb Flower after shooting the one he's grown within, about as long as it takes a new one to sprout up when one pulls a natural Bomb Flower from the ground.

Statistics

Strength: 1

Agility/Speed: 5

Stamina: 5

Durability: 1

IQ / Strategy: 1

Energy Projection: 7

Fighting: 5

Determination: 7

Final Notes
I sketched the line art myself but it was coloured by a friend of mine who lacks a deviantArt page. She did so because I am currently without any digital colouring mediums beyond Paint.

Yes, the name “Miff” is a play on the term “miffed” and yes it is a pun for the fact that his race is called a “Mad” Scrub.

Don't hate me because I'm easily amused.