A Fated Meeting (Tsu/BP)

When Gerard made it into the camp, he found himself mentally split. He was watching Ilona fight while he himself fought the moblin before him. It lunged forward with it’s spear, though the attack only grazed his armor as he parried it to the side with Honor, stabbing forward with his trident to try to catch it off guard. He felt flesh part for his weapon, and he took his enemy’s stagger to peer over at Ilona. The girl was doing well, and in fact, used the very attack that Alexander had just recently taught him.

“Hey cool! How long have you known how to do that?” He asked casually, demonstrating his own ability to do the power beam by slashing his sword towards the moblin, who was trapped on the tip of Legacy. The blade of light slashed into flesh, the moblin’s chest ripping open in a bloody spurt. It yelped, but with two more power beams being slashed towards it, the enemy slumped over dead, and only then did Gerard remove his trident from it’s gut.

“Their forces are divided now, but so are we. Apart from the initial assault to cause panic, there’s not much reason to stay split up. We should try to find the others, but leave TJ for last. He can handle himself.” Gerard than started jogging towards the front entrance to give assistance if needed.

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TJ slammed the log he’d been carrying into the last bokoblin, making it fly a fair distance, it’s head tilted in a way nothing ever should be. With a sigh, and a yell of joy, TJ started running toward the other flank entrance to assist Gerard and Ilona. He made it there quickly, thanks to his pony kicks, but it was still too late. All he was greeted with there was a decent number of dead enemies and his friends nowhere to be found. “Damn, Babydoll got the blood in her fierce, man!”

Gerard proved himself capable of the same Sword Beam, and enthusiastically asked Ilona how long she had been able to perform it for. "I... don't know exactly. My father taught me early on in my training. I think I might have been ten when I first learned it, but I'm not sure..."

As Gerard rushed off to meet up with the rest of his team, Ilona followed closely behind, lashing out at every Bokoblin she saw approaching him, not killing them but definitely knocking them back and buying the Hylian warriors some time. "What's the plan for taking on the commander?" she called out, "We still don't know what we're up against, do we? Ack!"

Instead of a Bokoblin, another Moblin had found its way to her. Ilona tried to pull of a Sword Beam but it wouldn't work- its lance had drawn blood from her and as soon as she realized her Sword Beam wouldn't activate, she registered pain in her midriff section. "Go away!" she shouted, instead striking to hit and running her sword across the beast's chest. It drew blood, and Ilona tore a Bombchu out of her supply, using the adhesive coating on the bottom to attach it to the Moblin. She then tripped the beast up with her lance, running back after Gerard while the Moblin's chest exploded behind her.

"Shouldn't TJ be around here?"

Gerard looked around. “Nah... He’s probably already moved onto some bigger section with more stuff to kill.” Gerard kept all his weapons drawn as they moved through the base. He didn’t want something to catch them off guard. Moving area to area, a few bokoblins were killed, but it seemed there were fewer moblins.

Eventually they saw team one, fighting against a number of bokoblins. They seemed to be doing well, and under his helmet, Gerard smiled seeing his brother was okay. He always worried more about Desmond, Bernardo and Catherine, mainly because they’d abandoned his family’s helmet traditions. He ran over, impaling a bokoblin from behind with his trident. He hoisted it over his head and out of the way, moving in towards his teammates. Everyone seemed unharmed... Good.

“Good to see you both in one piece.” Desmond said with a smirk. “TJ should have out here under control, we’ll head up towards the leader’s te-” From out of nowhere, before Gerard could act, an arrow screamed through the air, finding it’s way into his brother’s eye. The Ramenda soldier quickly fell back, dead long before he hit the ground. Without even a moment of hesitation, Gerard spun around, firing two power beams from his weapons. The trident’s beam went pretty far wide, but the bokoblin with the hawkeye who’d fired the arrow managed to take cover up on a watch tower to avoid the more accurate sword slash. That bokoblin was accurate... And it killed his brother. That beast was about to die...

Ilona didn't even scream when Desmond was struck by the arrow. Inside, she was overcome with horror, but she immediately went over to him, putting two fingers in his neck to check for a pulse. If there was even a one in a gazillion chance... but nothing. Filled with more horror, she pulled up her shield to guard herself from a new incoming arrow. She wouldn't be a Raquel if she let some Bokoblin get to her!

"Captain!" she shouted to Kimil as she prepared a Bombchu Arrow, "Cover me from enemy bowfire, but don't get too close to the structure! Gerard!" She understood how he felt... but he had to keep a level head in this. "Be careful! Your armor won't protect you from my explosives!" She then fired her explosive arrow into the watchtower, however she immediately saw that the fortified nature of the structure wouldn't let her blow it up.

"...Captain." She put her bow away. "Could you cover me? I believe I saw something in the 'loot' section of the camp. It might help me -or Gerard, if you so wish- to get up the watchtower and by the enemy." She didn't wait for an answer, instead pulling up her shield again and running back into the direction she and Gerard had come from in the first place.

She prayed she wasn't mistaken about the item she thought she'd seen...

TJ ran towards where he heard the action was, only stopping for a moment when he saw something shiny in a heap near the pathway. He rummaged through piles of scrap until he found what he’d seen. “Well now... Lookee here~” He said, picking it up. This would be a present for Lil’ Raquello. He’d give it to her before he attacked the enemy leader’s tent. Charging his pony kicks, he dashed towards the fray again.

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Gerard was listening to what Ilona had said, supporting from afar with his power beams. He slashed with his sword as fast as he could, saturating the bokoblin’s cover with power beams. Ilona wanted cover fire? That thing wouldn’t be getting a hand out from behind that wall without losing it. Alexander prepared him for this. His whole family had been prepared, and prepared the others for the day the others died.

Part of him was seething at his brother. “If you’d have only worn a helmet like a Ramenda is supposed to....”

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TJ grinded to a halt, kicking up dust to avoid smooshing Ilona as he saw her just in time. He braced her with a hand to stop her from running into him, then brandished the Clawshot he’d found. “Now, I was looking at this thing thinkin’ ‘Man, how much fun would it be to zip ‘round like a fuckin’.... Person with a clawshot.’ Then I remembered ‘Well shit TJ, you way too fat for that shit. Let’s give it to Ilo!’ So here you go Lil’ miss.” He flashed a smile, handing her the weapon.

After almost smashing her head on the stone ribcage of the Goron of the company, Ilona was presented with exactly the item she was hoping for. "Ah! I need this!" She snatched the item from TJ's massive hands, needing two hands to hold it. It was a three-pronged claw on a long chain, although the chain was currently rolled up inside the compartment connecting the claw and the gauntlet that Ilona shoved her right hand into. "How long is the chain?" she asked TJ, and when a reply didn't come within seconds, she concluded: "You haven't checked. That's fine, I'll figure it out."

She ran back, not even waiting for Kimil. "Gerard, hold fire for a second!" lifting her hand and aiming the Clawshot, she snapped her fingers inside the gauntlet and fired the claw towards the watchtower. To her exhileration, the chain reached far enough and the prongs closed around a horizontal beam. The chain started retracting, and with the watchtower far more stable and heavy, Ilona started to get drawn to it. She didn't expect just how fast it would go, but she adapted quickly, pulling her lance from her back and throwing it at one of the Bokoblins at the top of the tower. It flew off the tower and if the lance didn't kill it, the fall did.

Ilona used the other Bokoblin's confusion to climb onto the platform at the top of the tower and brandished her sword. She knew Gerard wanted this kill, but right now she was the one here. She left her shield where it was, as she couldn't afford to be pushed back, and reached out with her empty left hand, grabbing the Hawkeye on the Bokoblin's head. She'd hoped to jerk it off, but it was firmly locked in place and all she accomplished was that the monster gave a screech and began to struggle to get out of her grip.

This was dangerous, with a long fall down and a very small surface to manoeuvre on.

Gerard held off on attacking when Ilona zipped over towards the tower. He wanted to kill that fucking bokoblin, but he knew Ilona would be much more cool-headed, making the better choices. Once Ilona was visibly having trouble getting the bokoblin’s mask off, Gerard ran in close, zipping under the tower. As a fairly standard archery tower, the floor was made of wooden planks. Enough power beams through the floor, and the bokoblin was being slammed about, making Ilona’s job much easier.

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“Yo, ugly mo’fucka? Homewrecking crew here and we got an eviction notice from the king of Hyr-” TJ had walked into the enemy leader’s tent, a rather large tent at that. Before he was able to finish his sentence though, he received a massive blade to the chest. TJ flew back, a large gnash in his torso. “Oh no, bro. No way man. This shit is on.” TJ looked at his attacker. It was a massive moblin, easily eight or nine feet tall. The thing was entirely jacked, with a big naginata in its hand and a skull mask on its face. Next to is was a massive boar, easily big enough for the moblin to- Yup, it’s riding it. The moblin hopped onto the boar, who rammed into TJ, smoking him right out of the tent onto his back.

Finally, the Hawkeye came off. Ilona brought her sword down upon the Bokoblin, slicing it in two, and started climbing down the tower, keeping moving to avoid the arrows shot at her. The Bokoblins never got the clarity of mind to shoot where she was going rather than where she was, and once on the ground, she took her own bow and started pelting her attackers.

Her shots were a lot more accurate and a lot swifter than those of the Bokoblins, and within time, with the help of Theta, all of them were down. "Where is TJ?" she asked, "Shouldn't we be looking out for him?" Then, she heard a lot of distinctive chatter. She didn't wait for the others, instead heaidng in the direction of the sound... only to be stopped dead in her tracks.

She was trained to not be afraid of enemies bigger than herself. That wasn't the problem. But the overwhelming stench of the boar, as well as the enormous weapon its rider bore and the gash in TJ's chest... Ilona felt the hand in which she held her sword shaking. If that thing could put a hole into TJ, then what was she going to do? And Regalia wasn't here so jousting was not an option...

Gerard too, seemed shocked at what the Moblin had managed to do to TJ, but he couldn’t freeze up. They weren’t losing anyone else on this mission... Gerard dashed forward, launching power beams at the boar. If they injured it enough, it’ll either stop, or crush the moblin. Maybe both. The power beams hit, but seemed to do negligible damage. The boar took some exception being smacked by energy, so he made a beeline for Gerard, slamming into him and running over him, giving him two solid stomps. Gerard shakingly stood up, but that attack erased any chance of using a power beam.

Also, back outside the tent, TJ rose back to his feet. Now, there are three things which are feared most by the common man. Ganon is one of them. Cataclysm is another, perhaps the moon crashing into the ground or something. The last is TJ being enraged. Such as he is now. “Concentrate on that fucka! Bring it down!”

Ilona fought to regain her composure, and once she was in control of herself again she took her bow to hand. There was still enough distance between herself and the foe that she should be able to shoot at it safely. Attaching a Bombchu to an arrow, she waited until the boar came within her range and shot at it.

The explosion tore open a hole in the beast's chest, but didn't seem to faze it. Ilona had seen this before, and even experienced it herself- the adrenaline that still rushed through the boar spurred it onwards, ignoring the pain and bleeding for the time being. It was dangerous, and it led to more pain once the adrenaline subsided, but it could cost them the battle if the beast didn't calm down soon.

She needed range... She looked around, seeing the Bokoblin she had killed with her lance lay a couple yards from the watchtower. She quickly hurried over to it, taking her lance out of it and running to Gerard. "Are you okay?" she asked, "That looked painful. Stay behind me if you want to, okay?"

Gerard shook his head. “I’m a frontline soldier. That’s where I fight.” The boar lined up at Ilona and Gerard again before charging. Gerard went in front of Ilona, bracing for impact. Luckily, it never came. The boar had veered right, namely because of the large Goron who had jumped onto it, grappling the moblin. Gerard smirked under his helmet. “Whew.... Fuckin’ TJ...”

TJ held the Moblin’s head, raising a hand up. “Last name’s Fireslap! Yo’bout to see why!” He brought his hand down with his ultimate attack, but the moblin managed to block it with his naginata. The force knocked the moblin off his ride, and completely obliterated his weapon. TJ was still on the boar, giving it a few punches in the back of the head. “Damn, this thing’s hardy! We havin’ a big tough luau after this!”

Now with his ride and the enemy who hit him far out of range, the moblin drew a very odd combination of weapons. A whip and a longsword, and his sights were upon Ilona and Gerard. The soldier looked to his companions, seeing that a large group of reinforcements had come, keeping them preoccupied. “We’re in this alone, Ilona. Let’s kill this thing.”

"If you're sure you'll be okay, fine..." With TJ on the boar, Gerard was correct- he and Ilona were alone in their endeavors to fight the Moblin that had ridden it. "Be careful," she said, "He's got more range than you'd think..." It was not so much the longsword that worried her, but the whip. She didn't know anyone who had experience in wielding them, so it was as unpredictable to her as the boar that TJ was fighting. She did know, however, that whips weren't to be underestimated in both range and power.

She had one fortune. While she would never get close enough to use her sword or her lance, the Moblin telegraphed his attacks. Whenever he raised his sword for a slash, Ilone could tell from where the attack was going to come. After dodging a few whippings, she learned to predict where that weapon was going to come down, as well. She knew it would be no use to try and cut the whip- it was far too thick for her sword to cut.

Getting behind Gerard, she pulled out a rather large Bombchu and started attaching it to an arrow in hopes of damaging to Moblin. Once prepared, she leapt out from behind her partner and shot at the Moblin. He was fast enough to connect his whip with the Bombchu, but the size of the explosive gave it a blast radius big enough to force the beast back. "Did it work?" Ilona asked, unable to see if she had succeeded in damaging the Moblin.

Gerard shook his head, starting to run in to fight. “Not particularly... Try while I’m fighting it!” He dodged the first lash of the whip and used his trident to push himself high enough to jump over a low sword swing. He then used the longer of the two weapons to stab at the Moblin, plunging it right into the thigh, then removing. This wasn’t working... The thing barely reacted. It smashed out with it’s sword, knocking Gerard back, but he managed to get up in time, just deciding to sprint and tackle the moblin’s leg, pressing as much force as he could until he heard and felt a sickening pop.

The moblin roared, wrapping the whip around Gerard’s leg and dummying him into a building. The wood snapped around his armor, and Gerard found himself on the other side of the building soon. “Ugh... That actually hur-“ The whip hadn’t detached yet. He was pulled back through the building and thrown towards Ilona. After landing, he groaned, slowly getting up. “Open fire, Ilona...”

Ilona gasped when she saw Gerard hit a wooden structure and then fly towards her at a dazzling speed- she could dodge, but Triforce knew where he would end up if she did that, so she took the blow. Not the wisest decision she had ever made. Gerard's armor would protect him from the worst of the impact, but it was exactly what hurt Ilona as she couldn't get her shield up to protect herself quickly enough.

Scrambling to her feet, she saw that the Moblin was still roaring in pain and had dropped his sword in favor of grabbing his knee, lashing out with the whip at seemingly random. Whenever it hit the ground, dirt and small rocks were tossed up about a foot into the air. There was no way any HAREONite, or any person in their right mind for that matter, would risk getting anywhere near that thing.

Ilona didn't have to. While Gerard had been very busy distracting the beast, Ilona had prepared several Bombchu Arrows, fortunately putting them down beside her as opposed to attaching them to her belt or something. Picking up the first one, she opened fire at the Moblin.

By the time she ran out of Bombchu Arrows, the Moblin was slumped over and breathing heavily, bleeding from place that skin had been ripped clear off of his body, revealing the muscle tissue underneath. Ilona supposed she could have had him dead if she had shot the same place repeatedly, but she'd wanted those active Bombchus away from here as soon as she could have them. Taking to hand the lance she had pulled from the ground before, she walked over to him.

He tried to lift his whip with a shaking arm, but all he did was free the way to his chest, which Ilona immediately plunged her lance into. She kept pushing, despite the beast's flailing, until at least three quarters of her weapon was inside his chest- after that, she put her foot on his stomach for leverage and pushed, pulling her lance out at the same time.

He fell backwards, not getting up when Ilona turned around. "How is TJ doing?"

TJ was on the back of the boar, who was making many attempts to throw the Goron off. After a minute or two of bucking, the creature was starting to lose energy. “Attaboy... Calm the hell down...” TJ had his hand ready to fireslap, but it proved unneeded. Before long, TJ was directing the boar over towards his companions. “One prime Goron on his noble steed. Good to see you two made it out of that scrap okay.”

TJ was sitting calmly on the boar, Gerard chuckling. “I... Honestly didn’t expect you to tame the thing.”

With a nod, TJ smiled. “It just knows bette-“ Suddenly a man ripped through the air lightning fast, tearing a blade through TJ’s gut and knocking him off the boar, who ran away. Giving no time for recovery, the swordsman immediately turned and fired a needle into TJ’s new wound.

That was when they got a good look at the Hylian. He had black hair, and armor meant for an agile fighter with blue and black trim. Worst of all was the HAREON emblem on his shoulder plate. He looked to Ilona, a smile on his face. “Ah, fellow Hylians. Don’t fret for the Goron. The poison I just filled him with should leave him dead soon. And it’s good to see HAREON still has such capable fighters. Goodbye.” And in a glow of green light, he was gone.

Gerard immediately turned to Ilona, holding her shoulderplate. “What the hell was that?! Who was that man?! He was a HAREONite like you!”

“Naw man... agh... He was nothin’ like Ilo...” The goron staggered to his knees.

Gerard immediately ran over. “You okay buddy? He said he poisoned you...”

“He did... dumbass didn’t account for this beefy of a goron though.” It was obvious that though he’d live, TJ was in excruciating pain. “So tell us a story Ilo, what’s with that dude?”

As TJ was attacked and his attacker revealed himself, Ilona could only stare at him, blinking slowly. Everything seemed to go in slowmotion as he proclaimed that TJ would die and that it was good to see the competence in a HAREONite. Ilona recognized the emblem on his shoulderplate, given that it was all over the headquarters, as well as her own vest and her father's armor- it was even on the tack of Regalia, her father's steed. After the man disappeared, it took a few seconds before time passed normally again.

Once it did, Gerard seized Ilona demanding an explanation, but Ilona shoved him off, turning around. "KIMIL!" she roared at the captain, "I need a healer up here! Pronto!" She turned to TJ, poking him in the chest. "No buts, soldier! I don't care if you're suicide squad, the mission is over and I will not let you die of a hate crime! If no one needs me here anymore," she shouted, as she started to gather her equipment, "Then I want to go now- I have to report this immediately! Inform every non-Hylian member of Theta that they have to be extremely careful! That was Nae Senal!"

She knew who Nae Senal was. Every HAREONite did and had been given explicit, clear-cut instructions on the course of action to be taken once he was spotted. Not to be engaged, his presence had to be reported to Denolle immediately. Ilona cursed audibly, cursing her distance from HQ.

TJ shrugged, standing up fully. “That’d work if we had a healer.” He then picked up Ilona, turning towards Gerard. “I’mma take Ilona back to town to drop her off. Sorry ‘bout Des, man.” He then took off, the HAREONite held tightly. “So, what’s the story with this Senal dude? He got something against Gorons?”

Meanwhile back at the camp, the foes had all been routed and Gerard was sitting next to Desmond. He picked up his brother, a sob or two escaping the metallic casing around his head. “Dammit Des... Y-You’re supposed to wear a helmet! That’s what dad taught us! .....Ah....” He was breathing heavily, but put his brother over his shoulder to carry him home. While he walked, he cited the Ramenda phrase said to fallen family. “We won’t let this world forget you, we’ve got so much here to mend... You were a soldier for a lifetime, but our brother to the end...”

"Hey!" Ilona protested when TJ just picked her up and put her on his shoulder, but she let him carry her off. She looked over her own shoulder at Gerard mourning his brother, wishing she could have done something for either of them. If only Nae hadn't shown up..! But she had her responsibilities.

"It's partially classified," she replied to TJ, "And that which isn't classified, is unknown to me. Simply put, I can't speak about it without clearance from Captain Denolle." Holding on to his neck for stability, she sighed. He HAD been attacked and poisoned, so he had a right to know. "But I will tell you that Senal not so much has something against Gorons, but against every single race that is not Hylian. He redefines racism, and has the skill to carry out his own wishes."

That was all she could tell TJ. She shook her head, pointing to the right. "Headquarters is just on the outskirts of town," she said, "I have to report back immediately."

TJ nodded, his pegasus boots making the trip much, much faster. “Yeah... Never seen nobody cut a dude, then hit that spot with a needle. Guy’s deadly. Watch yo’self Ilona. Tell pops I said hi.” The Goron then went to go find a healer. From what he’d heard there was some Kokiri girl who was pretty good at it.

After that, TJ went back to the Theta base. Gerard was in there, a rupee in his hand. “Yo, Gerard. What’s that from?”

The knight held the rupee up. “Turns out Pelirez didn’t have the fifty rupees for Ilona surviving. He only had five. What does that guy SPEND his money on?”

TJ shrugged. “No idea man. But you okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah. You know I’ve been prepared for this kind of stuff my whole life, right?”

The Goron nodded, solemnly looking around the room. Desmond’s guitar was on the wall.

"I will, don't worry." Ilona leapt off the Goron's back as gracefully as she could. "It's unlikely that he will harm a HAREONite, anyway, especially since all of us are Hylian. If any of you sees him again, report to us immediately." As TJ took off to find a healer, Ilona hurried inside HQ, where the firs person she saw was Sniffles. She picked him up, holding him to her for comfort. The cat sniffed her face and licked it, apparently sensing something was off.

"It'll be fine, Sniffles," she said, hugging the tabby. "I just need a few minutes to regain my composure. Jayden!" The shortest knight in HAREON turned upon hearing his name. "I need a private meeting with Captain Denolle, stat!"

After she'd put away all her weapons and made herself presentable (which entailed running a quick brush through her hair and washing her hands so most of the blood was off of them), she knocked on Denolle's door. Jayden had ensured that he was in and had time for her. "Do come in, Ilona."

"Captain." She nodded in acknowledgment of his higher rank.

"What makes you so frantic that you have to deliver your report verbally rather than in writing?"

"It's Nae Senal, Captain. He's returned to Castle Town."

*~The end.... for now.~*