Great Bay Temple - Horus Falconer, Ikanan Refugee (3/2/4 Hylian) [Blonde Panther] Reward: Mortal Draw, -40 Rupees. - Luna, Ice Princess (2/4/3 Hylian) [Blonde Panther] Reward: +20 Rupees - Loft Kiratel, Resident Cloud Cucco-lander (2/2/5 Hylian) [Quill] Reward: +25 Rupees. - Marcus Heilari, Logical Healer (2/5/2 Hylian) [Quill] Reward: +25 Rupees. Dungeon music A few stray Guays were scared into flying away and a couple of patrolling Stalfos turned their heads as a harsh curse, shouted by a loud-mouthed, masculine voice the Stalfos had long grown accustomed to, cut through the air and left no trace of the silence that had sounded in Ikana Valley prior. "LUNA! Hang on, I'm coming!" The shout was followed by two splashes, the first bigger than the second, and then the silence took over again. The red-haired owner of the loud voice grabbed his companion's wrist, the only part of her that was within arm's reach, and started to drag her back to the surface. With luck, she would have had the clarity of thought to take in a good amount of air before hitting the water, which meant he would have time provided she wouldn't panic. While she was unable to swim, he felt her wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist so he would have his arms largely free to cot through the water. Reaching the breathable air seemed to take forever, and it was a miracle that they hadn't drowned by the time he breached the surface, gasping to fill his struggling lungs with the suddenly very valuable oxygen they needed. He grabbed on to the first riverside his hands found, giving his companion the support she needed to climb onto dry land before doing so, himself. "You okay?" he asked once he sat, "Stop scaring me like that. You could have drowned." His friend, the ice-blue-haired woman, had by now stood up and started wringing the water out of her hair and cape. "I'm sorry," she said, "I slipped and-" "I saw what happened, Luna!" Horus got to his own feet and took off his longcoat to follow Luna's example and wring it out. "And I know it's not your fault that ReDead froze you, but don't let it happen again!" Luna hesitated. Horus normally didn't react well to her correcting him, especially not when he was worked up like this. Still, she had to say something. "That was the fastest you've ever contradicted your own words, Horus." "Oh, shut up," Horus snarled, putting his coat back on. Dry wasn't the word he'd use to describe it, but it'd have to do. "More importantly, where are we? I don't recognize this cave at all." Luna turned her head, sweeping her hair back over her shoulders and looking at her surroundings in the same motion. "You're right," she said. "It doesn't look like anything else that belongs in Ikana." They were standing in what seemed to be a metal-plated cavern, with a lone door on one end and the river they had fallen into on the other one. Definitely not Ikanan design. It looked too new and too advanced.
(Done from phone.) If wishes were puppies, Loft thought, this must be the runt of the litter. Not just the runt, but the unwanted runt- the 13th puppy born to a mother obsessed with even numbers. This place was all too familiar to him. The metal walls, the water lapping into the entrance, the uber-advanced doorway.... They were back in the Great Bay Temple. Again. Once they'd gathered themselves and finished moaning about how this was the third time they'd been here, they stepped through the door. A familiar puzzle awaited them, so recognizable that it made Loft groan. A large pool spanned the length between them and the other door, with two blue Tektites that'd need to be frozen and used as stepping stones to advance. "Maybe," he said to Marcus, "we'll actually make it through this time!"
Luna's ears perked, picking up the sound of what seemed to be a human voice. Judging from the fact that Horus' hand went to the sword that had somehow remained around his waist, he had heard it too, so she opted not to tell him. He gestured to the general vicinity behind him, indicating that Luna had to use him for cover, and in the passing by him she enchanted his sword before they both approached the source of the voice. With the hilt of the chilly blade under his right hand, Horus debated grabbing his dagger with the other, but decided that he would need his full focus for his sword. Unbeknownst to Luna, he'd been practicing a particular technique recently... of course, she had seen him practice, but she couldn't know what he was hoping to do and why he kept lashing out at Bertrand whenever the blonde told him he couldn't do it. As he came close enough to recognize the owner of the voice from before, as well as his companion, he swore audibly, not letting go of the sword. "You two?" he said, dumbfounded, "Hadn't we agreed that it'd be best if we never saw each other again?" Luna, too, recognized them, and immediately felt the familiar sensation of 'this place is getting too crowded, why can't it just be Horus and I' creeping up on her. Grateful that Horus had gone in front, she scooted closer towards him as discreetly as possible, as though trying to hide behind him.
"Luna!" Loft's cry was joyous, and his arms were spread wide as he beamed at the ice queen. "Horus," Marcus said, nodding and smiling a little at the red-headed warrior's face. "Really, we're the ones who should be saying that; technically, you walked in on us." He frowned and gestured at the metal around them. "This is the Great Bay Temple," he said, "Loft and I've been pulled here," he glanced over at his companion, "what, twice now?" "Three times," Loft griped, kicking a small stone with his foot and watching it splash into the pool with a sour face. "Our playmates all died on us, so we got pulled back. No fun." He looked back up at Luna and Horus and smiled again. "But you guys're cool," he said, "you'll play with us through, right?"
"Great Bay Temple?" Horus repeated, a little confused. "I know for a fact we dropped into the river at the bottom of Ikana Cliffside. Did we get magicked away again?" It wouldn't be the first time he had been teleported over a larger distance than he could remember traveling- the same thing had happened in the last dungeon the Ikanans had crossed with Marcus and Loft. At Loft's further details, Horus turned to him. "I don't really get it," he admitted, "but I've no intention of dying. Is Crazy Stacy with us?" He looked around, not seeing the blue-haired wild woman anywhere. Honestly, if his past experience was any indicator he could handle Loft, and Marcus was more of an asset than a burden. With the wild girl apparently not present, he crossed his arms, finally letting go of his weapon. "So do we have a plan?" Knowing most of his companions couldn't swim, he looked around for something to attach his grappling hook to so that maybe they could swing across. He had already started taking out the hook when Luna chimed in. "It's too much of a gap," she said, having already analyzed the room since she didn't have to waste time being social. "Even if you could attach your hook to that pipe there, you wouldn't be able to swing across. You'd fall into the water." She frowned. "Moreover, I can't walk across because of the Tektites. They would break my concentration." The concept of Luna requiring concentration to maintain her ice enchantment was foreign to Horus -he was used to her using her magic with the greatest of ease and an utter lack of effort-, but he took it. "You said you two have been here before?" he said to Marcus, "How'd you pull this off?"
Marcus shrugged. "It wouldn't be anything new," he said drily. He and Loft had randomly appeared at the strangest of places so often that they'd stopped questioning it. His companion wasn't listening to Horus, too busy giggling and poking the ears of his Bunny Hood, so Marcus said, "I haven't seen Chimera yet. Maybe she won't come; this place is all about water, after all, and she is a Gerudo. The two don't exactly mix." He didn't blame Luna for not wanting to walk across. Having giant spider-like monsters leap at out at you was hardly conducive to spell-casting. "There's a temperature regulator for the water embedded in the ceiling," he said, pointing upwards at one of the many gears fixed into the metal surface, "and while Tektites have amazingly adaptive bodies, if the water were to rapidly fluctuate," he moved his hand in a wave to illustrate his point, "their systems wouldn't be able to keep up, and they'd die pretty quickly." ((I know I said they did this a different way earlier, but w/e this makes more sense imo))
"Chimera? Was that her name?" Horus shook his head. He wouldn't miss the crazy Gerudo at all, not having forgotten being knocked out after she had attacked him- how had that happened, again? Not relevant. He looked up at the ceiling that Marcus pointed at. Temperature regulator... "Save the techno-babble," he said, "There's a simpler way. Let's see them adapt to THIS!" He grabbed his crossbow, loaded it, and took aim, finally firing a bolt square between one Tektite's eyes. As he wanted to move on to the next one though, he heard a splash. As he looked over, he saw his victim leaping across the water slowly, the bolt still stuck in its face. "...did that thing just tank a crossbow bolt to the FACE!?" the redhead exclaimed, stepping back. That was ridiculous! "Horus," Luna said, "I don't have enough range. Shoot the regulator Marcus spoke of. We'll see how we're going to fluctuate the temperature once that's taken care of." Horus groaned in frustration. "I just told you guys to save the techno-babble!" However, he still aimed his crossbow up, burying a bolt in the gear Marcus had pointed at. "Anything else you guys can tell me in a language I actually speak?"
ABOUT THAT ---- Click! The water bubbled noisily, and Loft knew instinctively that swimming was a bad idea right now. "Save your bolts," he heard Marcus say, "Loft can just walk up there and keep smacking it until all the Tektites are dead." "Yeah," Loft said, dancing his way over to the wall, "I can defy gravity; watch!" The metal stuff was pointy in places, so Loft had to make extra super sure not to prick his feetsies on anythin painful. That'd hurt a lot, and Loft really didn't like pain. It hurt too much! He got to the gear, took out his knife, and began smacking it with the handle of his weapon. The water flip-flopped between super hot and super cold like a temperature seesaw, and those poor Tektites couldn't handle the ups and downs. One by one, their legs went limp and they laid down to take a nice long nap. "Is that all of 'em," Loft called down to the others, "or is there more?"
"I don't see any," Horus called up. "Now how are we going to actually cross?" "Turn it to cold," Luna interrupted. "I may be able to help with that." Horus hung his crossbow away as Luna approached the water, putting a finger in to gauge the temperature and to decide when Loft had turned the regulator back to her field. Once the water had turned cold, she pulled her boots off, holding them to herself with one arm. Anyone watching saw that both her legs had turned a silvery white color as she had enchanted them both with ice- much like Horus, she was so experienced in kicking enemies into oblivion that she could enchant her legs like any other weapon. Her affinity towards ice allowed her to maintain the enchantment, too, even as she walked across the water, periodically discharging part of the enchantment's power to freeze a portion of the water below her. To anyone watching, including Horus, it may have looked simple, but to Luna, it was a feat requiring immense concentration and if she had not practiced this many times before, she would not have been able to put the ice deep enough in the water that it was stable, nor to discharge enough magic that it would remain for the others to walk on. Admittedly, the extremely low temperature of the water helped as well, as she had theorized. As she reached the other side of the basin, she set her boots down, but did not yet dispel the enchantment on her legs as she wasn't certain that the ice would remain if she did that. Horus, meanwhile, was already halfway across the ice, having nothing but the most powerful of faith in his companion.
Rewards (Move your mouse to reveal the content) Rewards (open) Rewards (close) Marcus: 25r - Alchemy 4 = -15r Loft: 25r - Stone Mask = 0r Marcus quickly followed after Horus, and while he wasn't as confident in Luna's abilities as the red-head was, he really didn't want Loft to have to carry him across. He stuck close to Horus, wanting to avoid being trapped on disintegrating ice, and was soon on the other side of the room. Loft soon stepped down from the wall beside them, having taken the quick route along the ceiling. "Where did you learn all this Ice magic?" Marcus looked over at Luna, a little more than friendly curiousity coloring his tone. Truth be told, ice magic had been his big 'what if' in school. He'd chosen Healing as his focus, and he didn't regret his choice; but there was always that doubt in the back of his mind, wondering every so often what it would've been like to be an Ice Mage.
With the others safely across, Luna dispelled her enchantment and slipped her feet back into her boots, tightening them and straightening herself so she could take a good look at the door. She was still busy examining it to find out how they could open it when Marcus asked his question, so Horus opted to answer the healer, instead. "That's a very good question. I don't think she was taught it anywhere or by anyone. We found her when she was what, five? And I know for a fact that none of the mages with us trained her- only Freddie survived and he doesn't know the first thing about ice." Luna had figured out the door -it was a simple 'slide to unlock' system that, once unlocked, caused the door to slide upwards into the doorway- and led the group inside, where Horus grabbed her arm so she wouldn't wander lost. "I guess she must have been born with it. But then again, this -is- magic we're talking about so don't quote me on it." Only now did he look ahead of himself, letting go of the mage. "And now what?" They stood on one side of a bridge, fully intact but without rails, with a water basin similar to a whirlpool current below it. Free of her guardian's grip, Luna kneeled down to look at something. Squinting into the water, she finally shook her head. "I need you to dive in there. There's something on the bottom but I can't tell what it is from here." "I can't swim in that," Horus protested. "I can tell from here that the current is too strong. We'll have to figure out a way to stop it, but after that I'd be more than happy to take a look for you." Luna had a very good eye. It wouldn't be the first time she'd noticed something important or immensely useful to have, that others would have completely missed.
"Really?" Marcus looked at Luna's back with new respect. It was one thing to be accomplished in a particular field of magic; it was quite another to learn everything by yourself. Most people, if they didn't go to an actual school like he'd done, apprenticed themselves to someone who was an expert (or at least proficient) in their desired field. It wasn't very common to hear of someone who had enough potential and drive to figure out the basics and raise himself up to a respectable level. "I wouldn't be surprised," he said, watching as Luna opened the door and stepped through. Lost in thought, he nearly bumped into Horus on the bridge. "Sorry," he said, stepping back. Realizing where they were, he turned and pointed to the wall beside the entrance. Rungs jutted out of the metal like the spine of some mechanical monster, leading up to a small alcove just below the ceiling. "That's a service ladder. There's all sorts of controls in there, but be careful. We lost our first partner after he flipped the wrong switch and accidently flooded the room."
Horus didn't bother snapping at Marcus. Rule 1 of surviving: The guy with the healing magic was the guy you didn't antagonize. Besides, he knew this place better than they did. When the healer pointed out the service ladder next to the entrance, Horus nodded and hesitated. He would be best suited to climb up there, obviously, but if there were as many controls in there as Marcus claimed, then maybe it would be better to send Luna. Large collections of things were usually labelled, and he couldn't spell his own name, let alone other words. "So, uh." He turned to Marcus. "Should I climb up there and take a chance or are the two of you going to wait while I carry- Luna?" While he had been pondering, his companion had already walked over to the ladder and was now about a third of the way there. "That answers that question..." he muttered, scratching the back of his head. "I really wish she wouldn't wander off like that." As Luna reached the control panel, she hovered her hand over the many controls. Floodgates... that was probably the wrong switch that Marcus had spoken of, so she wanted to avoid that one. Ventilation passages... well, unless those were filled with water too it could never hurt to open those up, she thought as she flipped that switch. When after a few seconds she heard no death cries, her eyes wandered the panel as well, looking for anything that might slow down the water below her.
More than just water passed through the ventilation passages. Marcus saw several dark somethings swim through the water towards them, and he barely had time to cry out a warning before the somethings burst out of the water and landed on the bridge on either side of them. Two humanoid fish, their scales a dark shade of green, stood before them, bearing wicked swords and solid-looking metal shields. How on earth they'd swam carrying those was a mystery to Marcus, but all scientific curiousity was extinguished when they let out a menacing roar. Marcus pointed his Magic Rod at the one between him and the room's entrance and fired a blast of concentrated energy. The Geozard lifted its shield and blocked the attack, but it was sent hurling back from the force of the blow. "Horus," he said, "watch out! They can shoot fire!"
"Got it!" The second he had seen the Geozards appear, Horus had launched himself forwards, though not drawing his sword from its scabbard. Instead, he kept it there, dividing his attention between the hilt and one of the monsters. As he got within range, he let out a war cry and drew his weapon, connecting it with the geozard in one fluid motion... only to get the blow blocked and to get pushed back so suddenly he DROPPED the bloody damn thing. With another cry, this time one of frustration that was followed by his usual display of his colorful vocabulary, Horus pushed himself up on one knee, taking his grappling hook to hand. "Bloody SHIELDS!" he shouted, although it was obvious that something more had gone wrong than the shield being in the way. As he got to his feet and started spinning the hook around, he remembered his godfather's words. You can't pull that off, he'd said. Not yet. I don't care how hard you think you're Pierce, you're not. If even I never grasped that attack, you won't either. "Shut up, Bertrand," he muttered. "I WILL learn, but I need my goddamn sword for it." With that, he threw the hook forwards, although it didn't grasp the sword that lay between him and the slowly approaching Geozard. Instead, he felt at lest one of the prongs clipping behind the handle if the sword, and he allowed the rope to stand taut for a good few seconds before giving a hard, sudden jerk on it. The sudden force yanked the shield out of the Geozard's claws, with Horus slinging it off to his side and into the water before lashing the hook forwards once more to pull his sword back to his hand. "And that," he said, "is how you strip a fish!"
"Horus," Marcus said, his voice growing louder as the other Geozard advanced on him, "Horus, Horus, Horus!" He fired another blast at it, but this time the aquatic monster was ready. Instead of taking the attack head-on, it tilted its shield and deflected the energy away. Marcus took a step back, the Rod shaking a little in his hand. Loft dashed in front of Horus, fitting a blue helmet over his head. The skull insignia on the front glittered in the torchlight. "Skin Marcus' fishy," he said, his voice muffled a little by the mask, "This one's mine to cook!" He sprinted towards the shield-less Geozard, who raised its sword and roared in challenge. It swung, but Loft, powered by the Bunny Hood and guided by his own skill, flipped over the green monster. He was concentrating before his feet even touched the ground, channeling his power into the mask fitted snugly over his head. He turned and slammed his palms into the fish's scaly back, sending explosive energy rippling at the contact. The Geozard fell to the ground, stunned, and Loft drew his dagger and plunged it into its neck. "Take that, meanie!"
"What? Right." Horus quickly realized what the two men were getting at, and when Loft ensured the dis-shielded Geozard wouldn't cause trouble, the redhead sheathed his blade and threw his hook towards the other amphibian. His aim was off, though- instead of grabbing the shield, he nailed the moving monster in the head. Not the results he wanted, but at least it distracted it from Marcus- it turned around, roared at Horus, and came charging towards him, exhaling a plume of fire all the way. Horus managed to get his hook back before the flames torched the rope, but stumbled back in an attempt to get his sword out in time to cover his face. The steel of the broad blade was enough to hold the flames from his face, but not the uncomfortable heat, and he did get his hands scorched. As he stumbled further back in hopes of getting a good angle on his foe, he noticed a smaller figure that had leapt up behind the monster and its shield. "What do you..." Luna muttered, channeling as much power as she could into her leg, "Think you're doing?!" The Geozard roared in surprise, pain, and terror when the mage landed her heel in its neck, the Ice Enchantment freezing it from the shoulders down and making it move sluggish in addition to the impact sending it to the ground. His friend's interference bought Horus the time he needed to get his sword into a favourable position, and with a single fluid hack he severed the beast's head from its torso. The body fell back, landing on the bridge, while the head fell into the water, where it... harmlessly floated around? "You turned off the current?" Horus asked Luna as he sheathed his sword. "Yes," she said, taking his hand to start her customary inspection. "Are you alright?" "I'll be fine," he said, but he winced at the contact. "Loft, Marcus, are you both uninjured?"
"I'm fine," Marcus said, lowering his Magic Rod, "shaken, but fine." A whine from Loft made him look round. The blonde thief was squatting at the edge of the bridge, his hands submerged in the cool water. Through the still pool, Marcus could see that Loft's hands were blackened and burned. He hurried over to him and sent regenerative energy coursing through them, then stood. "You need to be more carful with that mask," he said. "It could kill you, and I may not always be around to patch you up." He turned and looked at the two Ikanans. "Are you two alright? Horus, thanks for," he motioned to the dead Geozard, "you know. If you weren't here, things might not have gone so well."
"Yeah," Horus said, "I'll believe you on that one." He tried to pull his hand back, but Luna held on to it tightly, her hands cool to the touch. It was comfortable, relieving the pain from the burns ever so slightly. He couldn't break free from her grip if he tried to, so he settled for looking away from her towards Marcus and Loft, unable to prevent his face from turning a slight scarlet. "Are there more of those things up ahead?" he asked, "Because I'm going to need some serious burn ointment if there are." "Before I bandage your hand," Luna suddenly interrupted, "You'll want to dive down there and see what it is that's shining on the bottom." When he turned back to her, she squeezed his arm. "You promised." "Okay, fine, hold this." As usual, he shrugged his coat off of his shoulders and gave it to Luna, before diving into the water. Luna ponderously straightened the thing before letting it fall over her crossed arms, her back turned to the water that her companion had just dived into. She kept her distance from Marcus and Loft, not because she didn't trust them but because she didn't know whether and how to talk to them. Fortunately, Horus quickly came back up. "There's a hatch down there," he said, "And it's got something engraved in it. Don't have to be literate to know that the big elaborate lock means it's something important though."
"A hatch?" Marcus frowned and peered through the water. "What kind of hatch? We're not going to have to swim through it, are we?" [Shortest. Post. EVER.]
