Dire Dire Docks [Eevachu + Chaos James + Clooby][Darksea Depths]

Quest Thread: Dire Dire Docks

It was a relaxing, sunny day. The bright, gentle sunlight kissed the vastness of Hyrule Field, making the perfect day for a stroll. Shuffling across at a breakneck speed for its size was a medium sized wagon pulled by a small handful of horses. Resting inside was a multitude of goods and stock, presumably making this some sort of transport wagon, who's mission was to travel and deliver various different products to other towns. Materials weren't the only thing inside, however. Sitting on top of a small, brown wooden crate was a large, round, pink mustachioed creature, the hero of the story. There were a couple other guys too, if it matters. . .

After the escapade Rika and Nicholas were involved in at the Kokiri Forest, the Great Deku Tree warned them of another such looming tragedy. Far to the northeast, in Northern Hyrule, something terrible was brewing, just like what happened in the Kokiri Forest and at Dragon Roost Island, as Rika was familiar with. Although the Great Deku Tree could not ascertain to any details, he could clearly sense a powerful evils not unlike the one that was deep in the forests growing more and more powerful, in the newly built town of Impa. Not wanting the fate of the Kokiri Village to befall Impa, Rika and Nicholas headed off as swiftly as they could, back to Northern Hyrule.

Although the trip took some time due to the large distance between the two locales, the duo eventually returned back to Northern Hyrule. There, they set out for Impa, and along the way, met a kind traveling man who was delivering goods to Impa. Upon warning him of the events that could transpire at the oceanside town, he was willing to take them to save time. However, it seemed like it was too late. . .

As where Impa should be came into the distance, something incredibly shocking was scene; Nothing at all. There were no towns in the distance, nothing of that sort. "Shit, where's the town?" Rika said to Nicholas in a panicked tone, scanning the shoreline far in the distance with his eyes. It should be there, or at the very least somewhere around here. For a brief moment, the thought that they went to the wrong location passed over Rika's mind, but he quickly shoved the thought away. He had been to Impa more than once and was there for a good amount of time, he knew it was supposed to be right there.

"Were we too late. . .?" Rika quizzed to himself aloud, before shaking his head. "No, we must investigate regardless. A gigantic town such as Impa wouldn't just vanish out of thin air, it has to be located somewhere." He turned to face Nicholas, who was presumably having thoughts similar to the Kokiri. "Don't you agree?"

Wollo looked at Rika's slightly panicked tone and expression with a look of worry. What was going on?

It was the fourth day of their entrapment into what was once their home. A solid chuck of land floated adrift in the sea. On it, was a town -- not just any town, but the port town of Impa. The buildings of this town had suffered were diferent, nearly unrecognizable. A wide swath of the town had faced near total, close to instant annihilation when it had initially split from the main land. Somewhat ironically, the port was indeed still in tact, albeit no longer serving a use or purpose. Water covered the streets and grasses, so much so that a single step made boot and greaves alike heavy and waterlogged, sluggish movement making it unlikely for any to loiter about on the streets. Man, woman, and child all hid inside their dimly lit homes...perhaps wary of a so-far unknown menace, but they knew. Everyone knew. Some said they were spirits, sent by the goddesses to cleanse the unfaithful from their ranks. No matter what, everyone believed them to be some form of phantom or specter, though the Guardsmen knew the truth.

Gathered around the center of what was a very large and imposing guild hall, were about twelve different men. All of them huddled around a single table, where a map detailing the entirety of the city lay spread, the frayed edged of the parchment curling back towards its center. A metal finger traced routes through the roads, calling out different names and numbers.

Groups of three, that's what they'd decided to be done. The single lamp above the table swayed over an enormous, fully armored figure, who was calling out each name and a string of numbers after every three. He continued tracing routes twice more, as a spring-green ball of light hovered next to his shoulder. The entire room was silent, save for his lone, masculine voice, as he began to speak, "Roberts, Klein, you're with me. Everyone!" He shouted, glancing around the room. All eleven heads were perked directly up towards him with respect, courage -- and, buried deep within their souls, fear, all aglow in their eyes.

They certainly had respect for him as a commander, now that that Nihil was nowhere to be found and Onox was preoccupied leading the remnants of their cobbled forces. He had tasked a particular man, one whom had won much valor and respect amongst even the most noble of nobles -- with tracking down whatever civilians had been considered missing since the city had begun to sink. That was his story, anyway -- in truth, many of the soldiers were scared to death, or missing themselves, the backbone of their forces having collapsed long ago. These twelve -- many of whom were mere recruits, straight out of training -- were the only ones still brave and determined enough to conduct such a mission. The heavily armored commander spoke once more, "Whatever you do, don't split your groups. Watch your backs for whatever those...serpentine abominations are. They'll electrocute you something awful, but the gear I've given you was forged by own two hands, and I'm completely confident that niether your swords nor shields are anywhere near conducive enough for it to have an effect through those. And please," he pleaded with the men, "watch your backs." The other three groups began to pile out, as the ball of light chimed in a pleasing voice, though you could clearly tell it was filled with concern.

"Are you sure they're going to be alright?"

"We can only hope." And with that, the four of them, including the fairy known as Lexi, exited.

As the wagon approached, Nicholas leaped from the wagon before it even stopped, causing a positive reaction from Rika. "Now that's more like it! You know, your impulsiveness really got on my nerves at first, but I'm starting to like it, haha!" Rika laughed, a bit of laxness in his voice despite the pressing situation. The duo rushed past guard after guard, who all elicited a surprised reaction, but were unable to stop the two as they rushed past, eventually a small army chasing after them. Wollo waddled closely behind, terrified one of the guards was going to slice him up and eat him for dinner. However, their attentions were far too focused on the two intruders to notice the Octorock.

As Nicholas burst into the tent shouting, he was grabbed by two men to each side of the entrance, though he seemed uncaring of them. "W-What? Get this lunatic out of here!" The higher up looking official in the room shouted back as Rika entered. The Kokiri pushed the tent curtain open, casually walking past the guards and Nicholas much to the guard's surprise. "Haha, you're so energetic Nicholas, but we're here." Rika laughed slightly, before turning to the more official looking man, a somewhat more serious look washing over his face.

"It's as my crazy friend here said. We're here to fix the problem, so tell us what happened." The man was about to speak again, but Rika interrupted him. "You know the problems at Kokiri Forest, right? I'm sure you heard about it. Well, it's the exact same as this one. We were involved in those, and the Great Deku Tree personally sent us here to make sure Impa didn't meet such a horrible fate. So we're more than capable of solving this, far more than all of you. As such, I ask one final time, tell us what happened. . . Of course, if you still won't, I don't mind fighting you guys. I can prove to you we're capable that way." Rika spoke with a serious tone completely contrasting the previously lightheartedness he had taken on, staring at the official.

His expression was that of hesitancy as he looked at the weirdly dressed Kokiri, then back at the weirdly dressed Hylian. There was a moment of silence before he sighed heavily and shook his head, scratching his scalp as he spoke, a bit of hesitancy still in his voice. ". . . It's always the weird looking ones, isn't it. . . " He muttered, causing Rika to sigh in relief. He could relax a bit now, such a serious demeanor was not- wait, what did he mean by weird looking?

"Fine, you brats, I'll brief you on the situation. I've gotta tell you though, it's not pretty. You can let 'em go." The two guards holding Nicholas slowly let go, as Rika walked over to a nearby seat-like stool, planting himself down. As he did this, several guards burst into the tent, swords drawn and pointed at Nicholas. "We've got you, intruder! Think you can outsmart the Hylian Guard, do you? Well we'll show you!" All Rika could do in response was chuckle to himself. That was what he wanted to see, especially before the seriousness that was to follow.

His steel-covered finger twisted a knob on the lamp, the flame extinguishing soon after. He turned to the doorway, barely recognisable in the darkness. Dim light flowed through it, almost reminiscent to a dark, barely moonlit night. Roberts, who had already reached the door while Julius made a few final preparations, opened the entrance. Another inch of water hd already accumulated, causing Roberts to shout in surprise. This ellicited a reaction from the remaining three: Julius, Klein, and Lexi.

The four of them looked on with a ghoulish astonishment sweeping across their faces. The small stones laid across the streets of the village floated across the murky waters. For a moment, the barrier flashed, though all of them wdre unsure what it meant.

"Something has to be done," drifted from Klein's young voice.

"But what? You're forgetting exactly how dangerous these things are versus the few of us that remain. It's almost a no-win situation," the more experienced, aged, and cynical Roberts spoke.

"Both of you, hush. He has a pla~n," the green ball, Lexi, sang.

They looked towards Julius, who still hadn't spoken a word. You couldn't see his face through his visor, but a determined look, full of thought, swept across his face as an image of the town popped into his head. He began tp mumble, before shaking loose from his reverie. "There's rumors about the sewers. It warrants a guess, but we first need to attempt to recover whatever civilians and guards we can," his hopeful voice spoke.

"You've seen what those things do, sir. It doesn't help that Nihil's disappeared on us, and Onox can't whip the rest of them yellow-bellied idiots into shape," Roberts spoke, tinges of disbelief and anger showing in his voice.

"It can't be guaranteed that's happened to everyone, Roberts. There may yet be hope," Julius said, taking a step into the waters as it began to flow into his greave. Turning, he looked at the other two Hylian guardsmen.

"Are you coming, or are you going to be no better than the rest of "them yellow-bellied idiots"?"

Klein and Roberts followed without a word. They tredged through the streets, a grueling pace overcoming them as water seeped into their already heavy equipment. They had made it no further than the alleyway between the guild hall and a local tavern when Julius spotted a hazy, purple glow in the distance.

"Keep it together, men, one of those things are after us," holding forth his shield. He had tempered it to withstand electrical techniques without transmitting their power to him, using the same powder Klein and Roberts' weapons and shields were tempered with. Unfortunately, he had lacked the precise skill or knowledge to temper something as delicate as Mirror Silver, but a technique he had been developing in the mean time would serve just as effectively. Using the same principles behind the Spin Attack, you could project it forward in a beam-like fashion. Doing so required you to be brimming with life; or a resolve so strong not even the sharpest of swords could cut it.

The creature approached quickly, the three of them readying themselves as Julius spoke to the fairy next to him, "Gather a report for me on how the other groups are faring," his eyes locked onto the menace.

Without a word, the ball of light floated away, retracing the pàths she could remember Julius as having drawn with his finger.

As the tension in the room rose, everyone stood deathly still, as if the first to move would be executed. The only movement was the waddling of a round ball, crawling around guard after guard in a poor stealth attempt to go unnoticed. Rika stifled his laughs at both the overly dramatic scene in front of him, and the visual of Wollo trying to get by, so as to not reveal his location. The guards were too preoccupied to notice, and by the time they had been furiously dispersed, the Octorock had made his way through. "Kinda slow Wollo, better keep up or you'll get lost." The Octorock waddled closer to Rika in an attempt to stay closer. Rika paused for a moment and looked down at Wollo, with a brief look of confusion on his face. Did he really think that'd work?

The captain pinched his temples once more as Rika and Nicholas turned their attention back to him, the Hylian letting out a very audible sigh. "Alright, so as for what's going on. . . Impa has sunk into the ocean." Rika's eyes perked up with curiosity. Sunk? It's true that would be a likely place for it to go, but how does that work, was the architecture of the town that poor? "What exactly do you mean by 'sunk'? As in, it fell into the ocean?" The captain motioned a nod as he seemed to fiddle through various papers, eventually pulling out a ruffled sheet of paper.

"That's right. We don't know the exact cause yet, but it is probably something similar to what you mentioned earlier. Right now, the town is being kept alive by the constant work of Zora mages, who are keeping water from collapsing on it and slowing the sinking. However, it is only temporary, and they can't do it forever." He spoke, to which Rika nodded slightly. "Yeah, even magic isn't unlimited. How's the situation inside the city, what's your intel?"

"Well. . . " The captain went silent for a moment before continuing. "The citizens are at a panic for survival, and so are the guards. There's. . . something they're scared of but I'm not sure what exactly, not many men have been able to return after entering the town. We have good men down there, strong men, like General Nihil, his Lieutenant Onox, and Captain Julius. I don't know the status of them or our troops, but you should check in with one of them after reaching the town, they should be able to brief you further."

Rika nodded over and over, listening with interest as he spoke. "Glad to know not everyone down there is stupid then. How exactly do we go about getting down there?" The captain seemed to ignore commenting on Rika's stupid comment, but he was clearly not pleased by it. It may have been true, but he didn't wanna hear that about his men who were currently endangered. He moved on from it though, continuing his explanation. "There's a group of Zora mages that can take you down there, but they're currently a bit south of the city, investigating the shoreline where the town broke. You can wait for them, or go find them." With that, Rika quickly jumped up in a rather joyful manner, with clear excitement mixed in his motions and movements. "Alright! That settles it, let's go find them. I'm very interested in what's happening here. A town doesn't just fall in the ocean, this is powerful magic at work; I've gotta find the source. I'll tell the guards you said hello!" He said, waving exaggeratedly as he ran out of the tent. All the guard captain could think was that the Hylian Guard was pathetic, that that brat was part of their hopes of saving Impa.

Julius slammed his hard, rectangular shield forward into what he assumed to be the mouth of the creature. Its body was completely transparent, a soft, purple glow emanating from its insides. The part he had just struck had enormous fangs wrapping all around its mouth, closely resembling a lamprey in all aspects save size, transparency, and its strange purple glow.

A beam of harsh energy tore through the air and into the water the monstrosity lurked once more, impaling it as though his sword had struck it. His technique had worked. He loosed another beam from his blade as it leapt through the air again, this time firing through its many-fanged maw and exiting perfectly from the opposite side. It let out a roar of pain, writhing as it did so, flailing harmlessly against his shield as it dropped to the waters once more.

This time, it tried for a different target. It snaked its thick, fat form around Julius's legs, coiling its injured end against the ground as it sprung for Roberts. His thick frame contorted as he twisted around to his left, his incredibly sharp broadsword slicing the monstrosity in two.

"God, I'm never gonna get used to these things," Roberts spoke, a sigh of relief following.

"Maybe you should be more on your guard then? Haha," the younger Klein joked about, as their unit began pushing forward, trudging through the water once more.
----

Elsewhere, a lone ball of green light floated around in the vacant air near the top of the dome that had encased the city in a bubble of air. She couldn't find- no, wait, there one of them was! She quickly flew to their location, on the city streets between a temple and an inn. She kept an aerial position, hoping to avoid attracting attention. Luckily, they were so engrossed in combat it wasn't an issue for Lexi. They seemed to be fighting against a group of about five -- six? -- enemies, one which... seemed to be another guard? The monsters- oh no. That was when she realized it. She had to tell Julius.

Contrasting Nicholas's somewhat stern and serious look, Rika was rather relaxed and somewhat joyful over the events at hand. So much mystery, so much to learn, it's so exciting, right? He nodded very slightly at Nicholas' every word as he spoke, as if confirming what he's saying. "Yeah, and this time I won't have the territorial advantage, you will! . . . Though, I think I have a better mental map of Impa than you, anyway, haha!" There wasn't much chatter beyond that though, the main noise echoing through the air being the squish and squash sounds Wollo made when he moved, and the sound of the duo's footsteps across the ground. After all, they weren't exactly being sneaky about it.

As they neared the shore, they could see large flags reaching into the air, emblazoned with primarily a blue hue, with a few shades of red splashed within the mix. As they neared the small encampment, it was clearly put together in a haste. There were not a wide assortment of tents, and most of the guards, few as they were, stood outside. Upon being noticed by some of the enforcement standing guard, two guards, one Zora and the other Hylian, rushed over. "Halt. What is your business?" The Hylian spoke clearly with a rather deep voice. "Hey, I'm Rika. Who's in charge around here? We wanna get into Impa." The two guards glanced at each other and narrowed their eyes suspiciously at the duo. Their hands cautiously and readily rest on their weapons, though there didn't seem to be any signs of active aggression.

Rika still sighed at this. "Do we have to do this again? Not that I really care, but we already got approval from the captain guy back at the base. I should've had him notate a letter. . . Anyway, just let us speak to whoever's in charge." The guards, while not seeming to find his story unbelievable, did not relax their guard. Their eyes focused on the Octorock in the back. ". . . There is a beast behind you." The Octorock's body tensed up and could almost visibly be seen shaking in fear at this unwanted attention. "Yeah, and? The only thing he's gonna hurt is himself, just look at him. Like I said though, we don't have time to talk to you, we need to see whoever's the boss around here, so hurry it up and take us to them already." There was a hint of irritability in Rika's voice at this point, clearly sick of all these distractions holding him up from whatever exciting thing was in the ocean.

The two guards still seemed rather hesitant, but after a moment or two of thinking, the Hylian quickly left, ducking into a nearby tent. They returned a few moments later, motioning towards the other guard. The Zora nodded to his ally and then at Rika and Nicholas. ". . . Alright, the chief will meet with you. Follow me." As he finished his statement, he turned and headed towards the very same tent the Hylian guard had entered, who was now standing outside, to the left of the tent entrance.

As Nicholas gave the table to Rika, he let out an audible groan. More of this? He was getting sick of it. A small smile crept onto the Zora man's face as Rika stepped forward, and he looked at the Kokiri expectantly. With a sigh, Rika repeated the words he had already said not too long ago. Hopefully this wouldn't be the start of a trend. "We received permission from the captain, he sent us in this direction to seek you out. That should be reason enough, yes?" Rika plainly spoke, any hint of amusement lacking from his voice at this point. The man seemed to ponder for a moment, nodding and humming rather pointlessly to himself as if for dramatic effect. Then, Rika could have sworn he saw a gleeful smile creep on his face for but a moment, just before speaking.

"I see, hmm, ho. I'm afraid, sweet little boy, that there is no evidence of that. Even if it were true, is it reason to provide you passage, though, hoho? Like I said, surely you bring nothing to the table?" The Zora chuckled as he spoke, but Rika's response was far from happy. In fact, for a few moments, he lost himself in his anger, his frustration, he was sick of it, but that was all he needed. Stepping forward, the Kokiri rushed forward, causing the Zora to jump in surprise, not expecting that. The guard standing by seemed to tense up slightly, but didn't move any. Moving to the table, he slammed his fists down, before starting to shout.

"I'm sick of all you stupid people! What is with you all and holding everything up, delaying everything? Do you know how much time we've wasted screwing around with all of you, how many people probably died during that time?! You wanna see what I bring to the table?! Fuck the table!" Rika's voice was fierce and full of fire, it was clear that this was enough. Slamming his fists down on the table again, a large, glowing circle appeared underneath on the floor below, enveloping the dim tent with a powerful, shimmering light. Taking a step back, not even a moment later, a massive spire shot out of the earth like a powerful piston, piercing through the wooden table instantly. The sheer force of impact sent the table's contents flying across the room, the table itself being skewered like a vegetable.

Rika exhaled deeply as numerous individual pieces of paper scattered across the air floated gently to the ground. Strangely, the guard still didn't seem to act, though he was somewhat shocked by this. As Rika came to the realization of what he just did, he realized he probably just ruined their chance to get to Impa. How else would they get there without the help of these Zora mages, after all? There was a brief silence as Rika waited for the Zora mage, for anyone, to speak up first. He didn't know what to say, especially to Nicholas.

It was the Zora who made noise first, but it was not what either of them probably expected. A light chuckling burst into a deep, boisterous laugh, which severely confused the Kokiri. It started to die down after several seconds, after which he spoke. "Ooh, you're a feisty one, now aren't you? Mmm." The Zora's voice tickled, a wide, wide grin now on his face amidst the flurry of papers. Rika was lost over what he just said. As he hesitated to speak, all of his anger left his mouth, replaced with confusion and frankly, pure shock. "Um, excuse me?"

As the Zora continued to speak, Rika couldn't help but look at him with a confused stare. It wasn't so much that he did not understand what had just happened, but it was more that he did not expect it. The Zora ordered the guard standing watch to inform the mages that the two of them would be sent down, the man rushing off after giving a light salute. For some strange reason, he didn't seem particularly eager to stick around there. As his anger faded and the Kokiri returned to a comparatively calmer state, he spoke. "Well, uh. . . thanks." Was all Rika was able to say, the Kokiri slightly embarrassed from his display of rage. It wasn't really a good time to have such feelings, however; the two of them had far more important things to worry about.

"So, well, before we leave, I have a question. Do you have any idea what's happening down there?" Rika inquired, causing the Zora to look at him curiously. "Hmm? What a strange question." The crazy bipedal fish asked, causing Rika's face to contort slightly in confusion. How was it a strange question, was it not a smart idea to learn what was happening beforehand? "Surely you've asked that question already? There is no information are hiding from the main base, so there is nothing I could give you do not already know." Rika sighed, disappointed, and turned to face the tent's exit. "Yeah, that's true. Let's hurry and get going, we don't need to waste any further time." That was the answer he expected, and it was a frustrating one. He was hoping the guard at the other base was just idiotic, but they really had no information at all. Well, it wasn't the first time he'd be diving into an enemy inhabited area he knew nothing about, so it was just another place added to his list.

The Octorok who had been cowering in the corner, whether it was over Rika's display of anger or the fact that every person around him would like to eat him in a nice Zora-styled Deku Baba skewer, darted out from the tent and stuck closely to Rika's feet. It was fairly likely if he distanced himself too far from Rika, the guards would make a delicious dinner out of him. He could even feel their eyes beating down on him with hunger as they walked, though it was likely just because he was an Octorok.

The small group quickly reached the ocean's shore, where a small grouping of Zora were. Upon noticing the weirdly dressed duo, one of the Zora spoke. "Ah, you two must be the ones heading to Impa we heard about." The fish said as he walked over to greet the two. "Yeah. Is everything ready?" Rika spat out, to which the Zora, slightly offput by his coldness, responded, "Um. . . Yes, just about." He turned to face another Zora, saying,"You've prepared the bubbles, right?" The Zora quickly jumped up and saluted him, shouting, "Y-Yes sir, all ready!"

Bubbles? Glancing behind, Rika could see two large, clear bubbles, large enough to contain a Goron, though they looked like a Goron touching one would cause it to burst. "Yes, please step inside the bubbles." The first Zora spoke, motioning to the two bubbles. Rika glanced at it curiously for a moment, before stepping forward. Reaching outward, Rika's hand pierced the bubble, but rather than causing it to burst it went through the exterior, the Kokiri almost falling in out of surprise. As he passed through the bubble, the hole sealed itself almost immediately, leaving Rika surrounded by the bubble. Surprised, the Octorok jumped into the bubble, breaking inside and falling on his back. Luckily, the hole he opened sealed itself too. "This is interesting magic," Rika mused to himself before turning to speak to Wollo, "careful though Wollo, we don't know exactly how durable the bubbles are." Once Nicholas was inside the bubble, the two bubbles were submerged into the water. The Zora trailed behind as they swam deeper into the ocean, and soon they came into view of Impa. As they got closer and closer to Impa, the Zora eventually stopped following, leaving the bubbles to slowly drift toward Impa. Slowly. Slowly. Except, it started to get not so slowly. Soon, the bubbles seemed to be drawn to Impa, and the two bubbles were violently being sucked out of the ocean and into the town. They weren't able to do anything as the bubbles burst just before connecting with the the outer barrier protecting Impa, and the two of them were flung into the outskirts of Impa.

Julius and his men fought off the small eel like creatures as the familiar green poofball came back into view. She relayed news. It wasn't exactly the best news. These... things, whatever they may be, had the ability to attach to a person's head, and begin controlling their body autonomously. It was worrying news.

In the middle of their conversation, Julius taking a largely defensive stance as Roberts finished the last of another group. Julius watched in dismay as they began moving forward again.

---

Lexi had seen the two coming from a ways away. She flew, hurriedly, over the remains of Impa, near the outskirts. Two bodies lay there in something of a crumpled heap, as she descended upon them. "Hey! Listen!" She shouted, trying to see if they were still alive. Satisfied at their response, she continued, "Who are you guys?! You need to get out of here, pronto! If those things catch you, you'll be done for GOOD! And then Julius and Roberts and Klien will have to--" she continued her hurried, panicked babbling for another half minute, flying around erratically, clearly concerned for the landing party. "And the worst part is!!!!" She hollered in the same panicked, high pitched voice, "The worst part is how far away they all are!!!!" She continued her strange pattern of movement. "And YOU!" She butted into the face of the young Kokiri. "What are YOU doing here?!? Don't you KNOW how dangerous it is outside of the forest!!! You shouldn't even know about this!!!"

She was like a concerned mother. In a way, she was. Rika was a Kokiri, and she was a fairy created for purpose of accompanying one. "Just who ARE you two??"

As the trio was flung into the city, Rika found himself resting on top of Nicholas. Wollo was thrown flat on top of Rika, the two of them making a pile over Nicholas. Rika's hands shot to steady his head as the entire world stunned, his vision blurred. He felt an uneasy feeling rising in the pit of his stomach, and he was quite disoriented. He could feel the shuffling of Nicholas from under him, and heard some sort of noise coming from around him. Rika wasn't concerned with that for now, however, as he clenched his temples and let out a small groan toward the chirping noise in an attempt to steady himself. Though his clothes were still wet, he felt like he had been run through a washer. Just what did those mages expect them to do with such a landing? Well, it didn't seem like it could be helped, they were lucky they were thrown onto something instead of being dropped from high into the air.

As his senses started to return to normal, Rika was met with the continued whining of something. He still wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it had been going on for some time, and it was getting on his nerves. "Ugh, shut UP! You are so ANNOYING!" He shouted at whatever was making the noise, sliding his hands down from his face as his vision started to return. Then, Rika's eyes widened as he was met with the sight of a fairy. However, it wasn't the fairy he was gawking at, it was what surrounded the fairy. The city of Impa, or at least the portion they had landed in, was met with destruction. Roofs had caved in, doors were smashed down, there was ruin all around them. There was flooding along the ground, up to about a foot thick, though Rika hadn't gotten very wet due to landing on top of Nicholas. There didn't seem to be anybody around, other than the trio that had entered and the annoying fairy hovering above his head. It was not just empty, but it was creepy.

As if choosing to finally acknowledge her existence, Rika turned to look at the fairy, his frustrated and dazed expression morphing into a more serious one. "Hey, fairy. Where's General Nihil? We need to find out what's going on down here, now." After addressing to her, Rika muttered aloud to Nicholas, saying, "This is worse than I expected. . . " He trailed off, looking around for any sign of life. It was then that he realized that the fairy had said something interesting, among all of the banter he hadn't paid any special attention to. "Wait, you said something about 'those things'. What are you talking about?" He asked, before biting his tongue and sucking it up, continuing with, "And I'm Rika, this is Nicholas and Wollo. We don't have time to talk but we're here to help." Hopefully this fairy wouldn't start rambling again; Rika had no problem swatting her like a fly, if anything she was worse than a fly.

--

As the brave heroes were thrust into the cold, dark depths of the city, Wollo looked around confusedly. His body plopped off of Rika's back and fell into the water with a light splash, causing him to jump up in surprise and shock. Did they fall in the ocean? Wollo must have popped the bubble when he tried to squeeze in it since he was so fat. Looks like he would get eaten by a Gyorg, this was it for the Octorok. It was then that Wollo realized there were structures surrounding them, so they must have reached the town they were going to. Wollo didn't exactly know much about whether they were in the right place or not, but he had been to Impa before, and last he recalled there was not a lot of water on the floor; someone must have unplugged the ocean. Does that mean they were at the wrong place? The Octorok was confused, and Rika seemed to look a little confused too. Well, if he stuck by Rika they'd certainly reach the right place in time. Hopefully they wouldn't find any Gyorg on the way there. . .

"You're not listening at all!!! Jeez!! If you'd actually listen you wouldn't have even needed to ask a question!! Anyways! Nihil is missing, and, as some of the guards think, most likely dead. Onox barely has a grasp on his soldiers so Julius, Guard Captain and also my partner, is leading a group of twelve men, himself included, in search and rescuse throughout the town before things get too much worse. Supplies are already wearing thin! But I know he can do it!" She fluttered around his head as she spoke a final statement, almost a command: "Stay here! I'll have him come escort you two. And, if you see any thing that looks like... a leech, with a purple glow? In the water? Don't touch it. Not with anything metal that hasn't been treated with the agent or whatever. Use projectiles, mostly -- you certainly know some magic, don't you?" She asked the Kokiri boy. She flew off, leaving them with that final warning.
------

Things did not bode well for Julius and his group. The trio marched through the water, still searching what had been the merchant square -- a likely location for people to hide. Plus, it wasn't... as close to the sewers. For whatever reason, there were always more of those leeches -- whatever they were, however they originated -- near the damn sewers. He didn't wnt to know what was in there, but he knew he'd be finding out soon anyways.

Julius, Klein, and Roberts all entered what had been a particularly well-off shop. The lettering was ruined and Julius, being able to create his equipment or simply acquired from the Guards' armory, had never been here. As they opened the door, water began to flood into the shop -- not necessarily a lot, but it was enough. Something shuddered behind the glass display that was worked into the counter. Julius drew his blade -- before loudly asking, "Is there a citizen here? I am Julius Surgate, Captain of the Hylian Guard. We are here to search for and rescue any civilians -- you are safer with us than--" A hacking noise came from behind the counter.

"Yeah, yeah-- you and those army chumps both! Listen, pal, everything in Impa's gone to shit -- no way anyone, not you or those army assholes -- are any safer than anyone else. A disheveled man stood from behind the counter. He was gruff, rough, and sort of seedy to look at-- Julius didn't really know what to think. He lowered his blade and sheathed it as he heaved his weight over the counter.

"No, listen -- those things out there, the ones with that glow? I've -- we've -- got weapons, that can take them out. We've got reports from a few other civilians as to where they're coming from, what they do -- we've seen them attach to men and take control of their bodies." He told a bit of a lie there, as he opened the gate into the counter, letting himself out. "We've got supplies -- food, beds -- for anyone we rescue. I am declaring a state of emergency. You come with us, or we take you against your will."

"What, yo think you can just come in here and--" Julius removed his helmet, giving the man a stern look. It was a look that said, 'I could arrest you for anything I wanted right now.' The man caved. "Fine." They exited the shop, only to see Lexi flying overhead -- a speck of green in the otherwise dreary sky. She had noticed them as well, it seemed.

She fluttered down, eager to tell him of the news -- she squeaked out the news hurriedly, at such a pace he could hardly understand. At the lack of response, she simply said -- no, commanded, "Just follow me!"