Dual Naivety Under An Illuminated Nave

"No," Navina said sharply. She covered part of her face with her hand out of embarrassment to her own quick reaction, but she was not going to deal with more of Tent's friends. No. It was quite obvious to her that this man had no regard for the type of company he kept. Sure, he had managed to filter out some of the negative influences on his life, but considering the rest of the people he continued to showcase and suggest to Navina... She shivered. She tried to think positively, of course, but her most recent experiences with people in general as of late hadn't been the best. And dead people were not an exception.She didn't want to speak much more. She nodded, sighed slightly, and then began to walk towards the building. She wasn't going to wait for Tent to lead the way, so Navina being Navina she took it upon herself to lead the pair to the guild.

She didn't want to be rude, but the faster they got to their destination, the better. Delaying to what seemed to be to Navina the inevitable was pointless. She approached the otherwise nondescript building and looked up at the floating lanterns. The door was heavy, but Navina managed to swing it open with some relative ease. However, her previous confidence was foregone when she looked inside. She grimaced. The building itself looked worn down, as if maintaining it wasn't much of a concern for the owners. It was clear that the benches and tables that weren't broken were old, run down, and mismatched. Navina's eyes darted around the room, surveying the numerous Poes and what she assumed to be a small amount of living employees and customers. Tent certainly was underscoring the types of people who visited this establishment. She... did not regard them kindly.

Before she had a chance to change her mind, she found herself literally swept furtherinto the room by some unseen force. Her grimace deepened and she flared some teeth for a moment before calming herself and returning to a neutral albeit slightly judgmental look. She found herself before a Poe at the front desk of the establishment. For some reason, she hadn't noticed it before. In fact, she was certain she had not noticed it, the desk absolutely was not here a moment ago. She shivered.

"Please! Calm yourself, you are in fine company. The boat, of course, correct? As soon as possible, I already have your tickets," The Poe said sharply before flashing out of thin air a pair of stamped and dated tickets for their destination. It seemed to know instinctively where the pair wanted to go, and so probably it already knew that the woman couldn't pay her fair share. The Gerudo blinked. To be honest, Navina had completely forgotten about Tent. She was of course lost in her own thoughts and judgements. She looked down at the man, but before she could ask him for a loan, the Poe began to speak again.

"I also see.. your pockets are quite full ma'am, just not of anything of value," The Poe said, tutting slightly. "... Well, not most, of course. Strange, you keep them, they really aren't yours." The Poe let out a high pitched cackle that seemed to disrupt only the living in the room. Navina pursed her lips.

"I'll accept such mementos as payment, of course," the Poe continued to speak. "I prefer them. Even the annotations of a man are precious to me, it is the uniqueness that matters." The Poe seemed to look towards Tent at this remark. A slight sigh escaped the creature, although it obviously did not need to breathe. "And I will accept your petty rupees as well, although they impress me little in comparison," the Poe cackled again and the lantern on the desk flickered in tune. "I also have other things that might interest the both of you. I won't say, but if you mention the first thing that pops into your head, you might be correct." An even louder cackle escaped the creature and the lantern's flame looked as if it would burst out of its glass encasement.


((and then I messed up and it was too late to edit))

(okay so I guess we thought my post meant completely different things but I can probably roll with this.)

"...That was a bit rude," admitted a deflated Tent. He assumed she wasn't carrying a commshell, so if they got stranded on the island due to a flaky ferry, how else were they to make it back to shore? Gerudo were supposed to be relatively strong swimmers, he heard, but they weren't exactly zora. He supposed he'd just deal with that bridge if it came time to cross it -- and probably contact someone to send our a ferry, regardless of Navina's rudeness and bias.

Regardless, she abruptly went towards the nearby building in...stead... of the ship? Was she bailing? No, it took him a second to realize, but this building seemed to be the headquarters for the several nearest ships. As he neared and saw several lanterns swerving inside through the windows, he presumed it might also be the HQ for the guild he mentioned. He had always assumed it to be a loose sort of organization, without an actual building. Such seemed to be in the nature of poes, or so he thought.

Before Tent even realized what had happened, the Poe snatched up the two of them and even was so formal as to give out tickets. The guild certainly seemed to have stepped up their game since he last met them, becoming something resembling a bona fide transport company--or at least a shady, dirty version of one. The drab locale and harsh atmosphere was certainly undermined by the speed and insight of the service. The tickets were already presented with their destination--literally a lonely isle in the middle of the ocean. It was uncanny, to say the least. Had the poes been eavesdropping, or had one of them learned to read minds? Regardless, Tent somewhat doubted the Poe would have much of interest--and simply pulled out an amount of rupees equal to the fair he paid last time.

"I do not know about Navina, but I merely wish to reach our destination as quickly as possible and perform my duty," he said, confidently. The poe seemed utterly bored by this response and the paltry gems, but nonetheless looked back towards the Gerudo for her piece.

(( SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HAVE A SHITTY POST ))
Who was to say the guild Tent thought of didn't just happen to expand their operations? Or, it was possible that the true nature of their existence lied somewhere outside of Tent's perception of the company. The Poe swiped up the gems that were placed before it and placed them into an invisible pouch. It waited, of course, on Navina. The Gerudo shifted around in her pockets. She really hoped that she could find what she was looking for without having to pull out all of the contents and search through them. If she understood what the Poe meant, then maybe she didn't have to ask Tent for a loan. But, she had so many similar... Din Dammit.
She pulled out a stack of small notebooks, journals, mementos, and other various clippings. It wasn't enough material to impede movement, but with all the material her pants were made of it wasn't surprising they had gone unnoticed. The woman looked through the items, noticeable none of them matched in style or make, and after some deliberation pulled out a noteboook and handed it to the Poe. A ticket popped into the hand of both Tent and Navina after the exchange had been finalized. "For the return journey, I recommend paying with something more... pleasing," the Poe remarked to the Scrub before turning to the woman. "And for you maybe something more... personal?" The Poe cackled again before it and the desk disappeared. As the creature began to fade out, the rest of the patrons of the building seemed to do the same. Moments later, both Tent and Navina found themselves in a building devoid of any other presences but their own. Time to go.

(( Implying this post isn't shitty too. ))

Tent's eyes fell to the ticket in his hand. "Things certainly have... changed."

...

Over the next few minutes, Tent and Navina tracked down the ship bearing a name matching their tickets--'The Crusty Maiden.' Truly, a flattering name. It was a rather small ship, maybe not even thirty feet long. Indeed, Tent was reminded in this situation they were beggars, not choosers. Its narrow width and massive sails would certainly deliver them to the isle swiftly, so long as they didn't capsize along the way.

A lanky, pale Hylian woman of gray hair guarded the entrance--hardly someone worthy of being called a guard. When the unlikely duo flashed their tickets, the woman bent forward with a slight bow, and allowed them to climb the rickety tope bridge onto the vessel proper. Just as Tent had observed before, a pair of bobbing lanterns were all that remained on the vessel. A Poe in a leafy, green robe manifested behind one of them, a twisted grin on its face. "Ah... You two have a cabin. Under deck."

...

A flick of the fire mage's hand lit up the quaint little room, one of only two below deck--and the only one that wasn't locked. It was murky, dark, and had little more cushioning than a pair of cots each with one blanket and one pillow each. "Well," Tent said, observing their dim surroundings, "At least it's pretty warm down here. I imagine we will be off soon... If you wish to sleep first, Navina, you can borrow my blanket and pillow."

The Gerudo nodded at the guard and continued inwards. She did her best to steady herself whilst on deck. It had been awhile since she had been on a ship, and frankly she wasn't really much of a fan of them. And of course, as soon as she was on deck, a Poe just had to appear behind her. A shiver went up her spine as she turned around.

Navina's face contorted slightly at the Poe's words. There had to be some sort of deliberate choice to them, as the space around the Poe seemed to glow just slightly brighter and its grin grow slightly wider when it noticed her reaction. Of course, there would be relief when Navina realized they wouldn't be stuck "underdeck" with hay barrels or even, Farore forbid, having to share..

---

".. This isn't bad," Navina said, nodding whilst appraising the room. She was expecting worse, of course, so anything better than what she had envisioned was welcomed. The Gerudo glanced towards Tent, about to reject the offer before hesitating and rephrasing her next words.

".. Momentarily," she began "I want to look around." Almost immediately and without asking if he minded she began to inspect the room thoroughly. There wouldn't be a single thing she didn't take inventory of, lest she wake up in the middle of the night and have to remember details about the room. She didn't want to fall prey to another mishap in a dream again. However, before doing so, Navina looked towards the bed closest to the door and claimed it by tossing a few of her notebooks onto it.

She inspected the small room, finding little under the cots besides dust and grime. She moved her hands under the rough pillow cases and made sure to smooth out both of the sheets. She carefully looked at the corners of the small room, inspecting a the only lantern that sat directly opposite to a small dresser. Navina glanced towards Tent, and hesitated before lifting her veil slightly and obscuring her eyes from her companion while she inspected the lantern better. She quickly finished, dropped it down again, and moved towards the dresser. She opened all the drawers, of course, slightly disappointed to find it mostly empty except for a few bugs and pieces of rope.

She returned again to her bed and returned her notebooks to her pockets before slipping off her shoes. The Gerudo sighed slightly and clutched at her head, rubbing it as she sat on the bed.

"... Thank you, but I don't need more than one," Navina said as she began to stretch her back. She maneuvered under the blanket and removed her hair accessory, placing it on the ground under the cot. She clutched her stomach slightly, unwilling to admit to the man that she was heading to bed so quickly in the hopes of avoiding sea sickness. She could already feel the headache coming on. "... don't worry about the light levels... I'm fine to sleep regardless. I just don't know if it'll hurt your eyes to read in such lighting."

"And thank you. You've been more than kind," Navina said while rolling over to face the door. "Let me know if there's anything you need when you need to sleep." She hoped that her body would adjust whilst she slept. One could only hope.

((Idk if we decided to abandon this ship or not but I feel like posting in it anyway. ))

Tent answered her with little more than a slight nod. In his eyes, the woman always seemed worried--restless--though about what, he could not be certain. She trusted him enough to go onto this voyage to a place she had never been, reluctant as she seemed about it, so even if she was concerned about their present circumstances, Navina at least seemed to trust him enough to go on this voyage to a place she had never been. It was a pleasant feeling for him--mutual trust--and one he found less and less in a world that seemed to rely increasingly little on people like him.

With a sigh, Tent pulled out one of the tomes he had brought and set it upon his lap. Opening it to a certain page with one hand, he softly lit his opposite gauntlet with a weak fire enchantment to provide the luminescence necessary to continue his reading.

...

Hours passed. Tent found himself passing the time--and keeping himself awake--by exercising quietly and lightly in the room's darkness. Push-ups, sit-ups, stretches, squats, and the like were performed. It was enough to keep him conscious, but not so much that he would be sore by the time they arrived. Indeed, he expected clearing out the temple of monsters would be a tough battle.

It was roughly halfway to the point that he intended to awaken his companion, but already he was feeling quite restless and bored. He imagined himself a patient individual, but just sitting in a dark little room for hours was maddening. He at least wanted to walk around.

Being careful to avoid any creaky floorboards, Tent smoothly made his way towards the door. His gauntlet gingerly met it, and twisting slowly so as to not awaken anyone. Except, the knob didn't move. Hard as he could twist, nothing happened. Why would it be locked--from the outside, no less? This was not part of the arrangement. This had to be some kind of foul play. Was Navina right to not trust these poes?

With a furrowed brow, he glanced back towards the woman. He didn't want to disturb her slumber, but she would want to know about this... before he tried to forcefully break open the door, at least.

"Navina," he whispered. "Navina...! Are you awake? ...The door will not open."

All was black. Tent felt his body laying comfortably on coarse ground. A warm breeze tickled across Tent's wooden snout. On instinct, his hand brushed across his face... It was only a moment later he realized--"Wait. When did I fall asleep?"

The deku jumped up with a start. He glanced in every direction, alarmed but managing to contain his panic. Everything he saw suggested he had arrived safely on the island, and his handful of possessions were are still on his person. But where was the ship? Where was Navina? Did they arrive? "This is... this is concerning. Did they just dump my unconscious body off on this isle in the middle of nowhere? Am I stranded here?"

Tent's hand pressed to his forehead, struggling to remember what happened--to remember anything beyond the moment he realized the room was locked. That's right, he realized, it was locked. That was the beginning of the worry that was now coming to a head. The man would spend several minutes thinking in circles, then walking in circles. His memory was failing. He was at a loss for what to do.

Soon he realized there was only one course of action he could take: explore the island. At best he could find Navina, find the ship, and from them learn what happened. At worst he would be stranded here, but mentally mapping the island and its resources would help him survive. Supposedly the temple--the reason he was here in the first place--was still somewhere to be found as well.

With a sigh, Tent began to walk along the coast. Not only a minute later, he began to see a ship in the distance--not his ship, but a sign of hope nonetheless. His pace quickened with hope and zeal, and he soon found himself jogging towards it.

Tent's rapid steps came to an abrupt halt. Was that a hylian child? Alone? The creature seemed capable enough, regardless of appearances, so Tent did his best not to judge this book by its cover.

"I have no interest in any wizzrobe, lest it is desecrating a sacred temple!" He began to approach cautiously, doing his best to make it clear he meant no harm--and had no claims on whatever wizzrobe this child was seeking. As he grew closer, his shouting tone gradually began to quiet to something more civil. "I am only seeking my companion, a gerudo woman, and the ship on which we arrived... Without either of them I am stranded on this isle alone, which, as you can imagine, would be highly problematic for me."

He sighed, and began walking closer still, until he barely needed to raise his voice to cover the distance. "From the look of your face, you have no idea what I am talking about--and likewise I have no idea how I awoke on this island just a few minutes ago without either my friend or our ship. Perhaps I was betrayed. Perhaps something worse transpired. Regardless, I--" He pressed his hand to his temple, and took a deep breath, as if to restart. "--I am called Tent Emberwood. I devote myself wholly to Din, and consequently am known for my practice of pyromancy. Might I ask who you are, lad? And for what reason you are on this isle?"

"Heard of it? I have, in fact. The Temple of Fire was the original reason I came here. Although I have never heard of this 'Blaaz' fellow, I routinely clear ancient temples of such filth--in service to the golden goddess Din, naturally."

"An exhibition? That is all the payment you require for ferrying me?" As Tent asked this, he was adjusting his iron gauntlets in preparation of spellcasting. It was hardly the first time his apparent contradiction had been pointed out, after all. "Very well. I know a few tricks, though far fewer than I would like. I suppose... no one will miss this palm tree..."

The scrub began with a snap of his fingers, summoning a small controlled flame--via spark--to float just above his fingertips. From there he appeared to spread the flame from his fingertips over his gauntlet, through a permanent fire enchantment on that very same hand.

While maintaining that flaming hand, he used his other fist to send out a glowing dim bead of light--towards the palm tree he mentioned earlier. In an instead, the bead violently exploded with an echoing Din's Burst. A split-second later, Tent rushed towards it with a barrage of expertly-placed flaming punches. Finally, his fist drew back, his voice bellowed, and his right fist began to glow with a bright pale yellow fire. His barrage finished when a catastrophic Warlock Punch into the tree's center, audibly *CRACK*-ing the thick trunk in half. What little of the tree remained intact was violently burning to ash.

"Well," Tent breathed, "That's the gist."

"That is what I'm here to do," Tent mused, following Rika, "For all I know my companion could already be inside." This apparent child had intended to venture in alone? The lad did seem to know what he was doing, but it left Tent curious as to how Rika intended to defend himself.

...

As blast of fire launched towards himself and the lad, Tent's protective instinct rushed in as he pushed Rika out of the way--and he himself darted in the opposite direction. As he dashed, the stream of fire continued unabated--an endless gout of flame chased him as he ran. There was no approaching it; Tent couldn't hope to sprint faster than the thing could turn its head.

He could see Rika was taking care of the second monstrosity, at least, leaving himself to focus on this first one. A Din's Burst likely wouldn't even phase it, but--Tent glanced towards the ground, then rolled down to pluck up a rock before hurling it towards the monster's face. It flinched, just enough for the unending fire stream to die down. It gave Tent the moment he needed to sprint forward, but not the full time he needed to do so unphased--before he could reach the monster, it's second stream of fire blasted forth. All Tent could do was hold up both gauntlets, protecting his face as he sprinted through fire for one last moment before slamming both iron forearms into the monster's knees.

The monster was flung head over heels, and before it could arise Tent was already upon it. His arm came down like a hammer into the monster's unprotected spine, striking with a climactic CRACK. He moved in for the finishing blow, but before he could find it the molten ball-tipped tail violently whammed him across the helmeted side of his face--enough to force him stumbling back, and leaving the monster enough room to rise to its feet.

That strike should have paralyzed it, Tent thought, but apparently anatomical rules don't apply when your body is mostly magma. One hand rubbed his neck, strained from his head just being swatted away like a golf ball.

He momentarily glanced behind his foe, ensuring Rika was handling his own. With that assured, Tent raised his dukes and stepped into close combat against white-hot claws.

In an instant, another creature formed itself from the lava. It seemed slgithly bigger than the others and it seemed to come at the Deku with a vengeance.

Before Tent could find himself at odds with the creature, a loud clank and a sharp light would stop him in his tracks. In a moment before him was the figure of the Gerudo he had previously traveled with, albeit a bit more disheveled than he would have remembered her.

Quite the noticeable feature would have been the lack of anything covering her eyes, revealing something that she noticeably tried to keep hidden. She gripped her sword with two hands, her clothes dirtied and slightly torn. It looked like she had been doing some fighting previously as well. The creature in front of her grasped her sword in its claws.

Navina was sweating and panting heavily. She looked down at Tent, distress on her face. She quickly turned her attention back to the creature in front of her, adjusting her posture slightly to balance herself slightly better.

“Hit him, you fool!” She yelled at the Deku Scrub, despite Tent being mere feet away from her.

"I was in the midst of that," Tent answered her sharply.

Two molten creatures who, by all logic, were utterly immune to almost all of his magic were bearing down on Tent. Navina--who he tried to be thankful was still alive--so far did nothing but make demands. Rika, Tent feared, was far less capable than he once thought: having fallen over from a safety-push, and seeming to do little to the third foe other than bolster its defenses.

Hopefully none of them would die, but Tent feared for the worst. "Din preserve us," he grunted, before taking a mad dash back into the fray.

As he ran towards one monster, a horizontal slash of claws and a vertical slam of a heavy flaming tail reamed towards him simultaneously. Tent frantically dove under both strikes head-first, tackling his hard helm into one foe's knee with another bone-snapping CRACK. Before he could follow up, a tail was whipping towards him once more, this time horizontally--he struggled to leap over it, but a split-second after his feet left ground he felt the tail wham the back of his boot. Tent was flung head over heels, from the impact, but miraculously made the best of his situation.

Tent pulled the momentum into a reckless backflip, stumbling backward until his other boot swung forward mid-air with a soccer kick that hit the downed monster square in the face with an echoing SMASH. Tent stumbled and collapsed onto his side, with both feet aching in different spots. A second after his shoulder hit the ground, he fanatically rolled out of the way of another tail swing--CRASHing through the floor where he was laying not even a moment before.

Tent sprang to his sore feet. In the split-second he visually confirmed the skull-smashed one wasn't getting up, incindary claws launched towards him not with a slash but a thrusting stab. His eyes bulged as a coarse groan escaped his wooden snout. His gauntlets were clenching at a flaming wrist, catching it, but too late--as much as an inch of burning claws tore through his chainmail and ripped into his chest. He could barely keep it together--even as the first set of claws bore through his grip, the monster's second hand was zooming in for a second stab. It took all the gusto Tent could muster to pry one hand off the monster's wrist, bounce a deflecting blow off the second incoming hand, and stumble backwards--both hands clutching the frothing wound on his chest.

Gasping with ragged breaths, Tent struggled to retain his composure and his stance. He gave a look of mild desperation towards Navina, hoping she would do... something... before his eyes glared back towards the two monstrosities which still stood. He took a defensive stance with one hand, while the clutched his wound. If Din willed it, this grip on his chest would keep the sap from draining at least until the fight was finished.

(( ))

Navina watched what she could only describe as a spectacle. Sure, without her armor she was more apt to maneuver and soak less hits, but this was just... exuberant. It seemed like the majority of the Deku Scrubs she knew were just too flashy for her tastes.

That being said, Navina was quick to snap out of her judgemental haze when she saw her companion injured, her vigor regained anew. She panicked for a moment - just a for a moment - thinking of what to do. Should she summon her Floormaster? No, she doubted his effectiveness in this environment. She inhaled sharply and readied her sword in one hand, whipping out her Ignition Powder (the entire bag of it, all of it) from her pocket with the other. She quickly scanned her surroundings whilst she jumped in front of the monsters and Tent - she wasn't going to let someone get hurt further, not on her watch.

She glanced towards the - who was that, a man? A short man? A child? She really couldn't tell. Despite her newfound visibility (keeping her eyes more obscured had a price on her perception, absolutely), she couldn't tell with all that was going on. The Gerudo looked back once more at at Tent and inhaled deeply once again. She couldn't risk the person across the way being competent enough to do what she was thinking of doing. As he held his arm across his chest she couldn't help but think quite a few things: how much pain was he in? Was he trying to hide his wound? Was there something else going on that she could no longer see?

Shaking her head, she readied herself in a split second. She truly hoped that Tent did not dislike her after this. Well, that is if he ever liked her in the first place.

She aimed her ignition powder not at the monsters but at the caverns above, winding up a mighty pitch. A Then of course she aimed at the ground below the Lizalfos for good measure. The blast was much too close for comfort and she shielded her eyes from the debris as she began to turn around. Before there could be objections, she dashed in the direction opposite of the blasts, scooping up Tent as she did so. Frankly, someone dripping - what even was that (she didn't want to ask) - was beyond her considering their humility in a situation like this.

As the ceiling above and the ground below began to collapse, she hoped that the sacrifice of some of her skin would help out the smaller person was agile enough to avoid the newly found hazard. He (she? they?) seemed bouncy enough.

Tent wasn't sure what to expect when Navina came sprinting towards him, but apparently being scooped up like a ragdoll was not out of the question. Perplexed, he couldn't help but wonder if he looked to be in that bad of shape. Sure he took a hit but the other guy was dead. As he looked back, the last one was frozen--or decapitated--or both.

"Yes!" He clutched his fist in victory, regretting that he ever doubted the lad. Surely cryomancy would be quite powerful in a place like this.

Only now did he realize why Navina was running away--her explosive was collapsing the ceiling? and the floor? It was difficult for Tent to make out what was happening, but all he knew was Rika was on the ground. Without a moment's delay, Tent kicked out of Navina's grip and sprang towards his prone companion. Wounded? Injured? Unconscious? It mattered not. Though the scrub might not have been able to lift a hylian adult, Rika was light enough to quickly secure into a fireman's carry.

Shoving through falling rubble and crumbling floors, Tent sprinted as fast as he could with Rika in tow as the cavern caved in behind him. After what felt like a solid minute of dashing, the tumultuous roar of crumbling rock finally quieted down. Only then did Tent set down Rika, then look behind him--seeing the passage they had took was completely caved in, with rocks sealing the hall, and trickles of magma beginning to flow over those rocks.

Tent tried not to lament the fact he was already separated from Navina again--before getting her explanation of what happened. While confident she was still alive, he couldn't help but fret over her fate. Glancing towards Rika, his voice sounded relieved, "Oh. I'm glad you don't look as injured as I assumed..." He searched for something positive to say, maybe a remark on that impressive cryomancy, but it all felt forced. The concern for Navina and the confusion of his own arrival here plagued his mind.

Trying to stuff away those thoughts towards present perils, Tent's eyes moved towards the incredibly large, high-ceiling cavern in which they now found themselves. With rivers of flowing lava and fire keese flittering about, this was much closer to what he imagined a Temple of Fire to be. With several stone pillars and layered caverns, it was difficult to make out the scope of this area--there could be more monsters hidden anywhere...