Dual Naivety Under An Illuminated Nave

"Wait, wha-" Rika's defiant cries were cut off as Tent lurched him over his shoulders, barreling down the narrow tunnelway past spewing heat and falling rock alike. His complaints seemed to fall on deaf ears, Tent far more focused on and concerned with their apparent survival than anything else. Eventually, their charge came to an end, and Rika was once again met with solid earth. He grumbled, a clear look of distaste painted on his face, though Tent seemed preoccupied on Navina to notice. How disrespectful, to just pick him up and carry him in such a demeaning way. He would have been perfectly fine himself. . . Despite the clear displeasure he held, though, Rika realized the dire situation and that Tent had just tried to save them. He supposed, then, that they were even, his discourteous behavior made up for by his rescue.

Rika sighed, and grumbled to himself. "Foolish woman, releasing explosives at the open cavern tops." In contrast to Tent's concern for his friend, Rika's irritability shined through. The Deku's companion seemed to live yet, though, but was trapped far away from them. In Rika's mind, this proved to be the best outcome. He wouldn't have to manage Tent's emotional sorrow at her loss, and she wouldn't cause any further cave-ins for them to play dodgeball with. He looked over to the downtrodden looking Tent. "Yes, I am fine. It seems your companion lives yet, so we should proceed onward." Luckily for Rika, it seemed his words were unneeded- the Deku's attention was shifted toward the way forward.

And so Rika was as well. Proceeding ahead, it took very little time to spy their next adversary. Nestled in cavern corners and high on edges were bright, bubbling honeycomb patterned structures, little more than the size of a Hylian's skull. It shimmered with a warm glow, even with the pools of running lava, and gooey lava dripped and soaked it like honey sap. Buzzing around it, and to-and-fro from other hives and the oozing river, were miniscule insectoid creatures, their bodies letting off a vibrant buzz and flickering with the warm flame they were ignited with, the flames taking the place of wings on a typical buzzy bee. They appeared to hover just above the surface of the lava, claw at its surface with their long legs to scoop up lava, then carry it back to their Lavacomb. Some may know them as Flambees. They were very cute.

Rika called out to Tent. "Have you ever seen a deadly Wizzrobe fire temple have an infestation problem?" Why were there so many bees just hanging around. With a shrug, Rika just kept walking ahead- bees and Keese were no threat to concern oneself with.

Rika nodded in agreement at Tent's words. So he was more than simply a muscle-headed zealot, then. "Yes, I have heard of Flambees, but this is my first time gazing upon them as well. Their nature is that of a hivemind, though, which means there should bee a qu-" Rika's lips froze, the sound melted by the heat of the buzzing creature lying in wait beyond the cavern corner they had just rounded. The singe its burning wings flapped outward lapped at Rika's bare skin, threatening to burn with the heat waves alone. "It's... a Queen Beethula..." Rika muttered, his mouth agape. They were colossal, even by Mothula standards, and their gigantic stinger was more like a drill than a typical buzzer. He was dazed for only a moment, as the realization of the creature washed over him. "Ah, shit!" Rika cursed, hastily smacking Tent on the back as he dashed to the size, away from the Deku. The brief contact was more than enough time to make Tent feel as light as a feather, his boots shimmering with a faint blue energy granting him Double Jump.

Its blow deflected by the Deku, the Queen Beethula apparently thought it more prudent to attack the other target. With a wind-up of its stinger, it blitzed forward, soaring through the air with its body ablaze and stinger extended in a rush toward the Kokiri. With his heavily enhanced speed, Rika was able to dart to the side. For its mass and speed, it seemed to have little control over its trajectory, at least. Direct contact was not Rika's concern, however. Though it flew past him, the heavy temperatures and pressure exuded from it burnt at Rika's frame, pushing him back and searing his flesh. Numerous Flambees detached from the Queen Beethula, smacking themselves against his body. With a pained grunt, Rika extended his scythe, and in one swift flourish, broke into a Deku Pirouette, the energy waves exuding out both dropping the Flambees to the floor and providing further distance.

Recomposing itself, the Queen Mothula turned around, and with a heavy buzz, orbs of flame began to circle at its center, before two blasts of flame erupted out, an orb of fire hurdling towards both Rika and Tent. As soon as he saw its energy churning, Rika snapped his palm forward, sending his own ball of fire vaulting forward to collide with the Queen Mothula's. They exploded on impact, leaving embers scattered across the sky. Rika dry-laughed through the pain coursing across his flesh, and laughed out towards Tent, "Haven't met one of these before then, I imagine! Any non-fire related tricks in your pocket?"

Tent's momentary clash with the Queen Beethula was more than enough time for Rika to act. When his ferocious fist sent the Queen splashing to the ground like a weak karped fish, Rika's hand flung forward. A shimmering, golden ring formed on the ground just below the Queen, its light melding with that of her flickering wings to create a blinding glow. It lasted for only a couple moments, just through the Queen's stagger. She had began to rise, her wings pressing her into the air, but it wasn't enough. Earthen spikes ripped out from the ground at a frightening pace, tearing through the Queen's damaged exoskeleton with ease. Her movements had altered its trajectory slightly, preventing a fatal, central hit, but its mark still landed clear, tearing through the queen's lower half and severing through its stinger, the sharp big hanging on by mere shreds. Countless miniscule Flambees were ripped apart, the incessant buzzing they hummed dulling if only slightly.

It was a powerful blow, and the Queen's organs clearly dripped from her massive openings- she was soon to be gone. Yet, for the moment, she still lived, and like any Queen, she would cling to life with intense desperation. Her buzzing and her wing flapping intensified- the air around her seemed to heat with such ferocity it distorted, her visage becoming blurred and unclear. It buzzed for one, perhaps two seconds, if they were even allowed that long of a reprieve. "Shit, get down!" Rika barked out to Tent as he dropped to the floor, in the same motion flinging a whispy streak of purple and yellow energy outward. A sparkling BEEtle vaulted forward at an arc, zooming unabated by the blast of heat directly toward the immobile Queen.

Whether the Shock BEEtle disrupted the Queen Beehula's attack, or it was simply a matter of luck that the burning eruption rose as it spread, Rika's crouched position seemed to save him from the brunt of the blast. Clenching his hat to avoid it flying off, the wave of energy blasted above him, licking at his backsides but saving him from being incinerated- though, the force of the blast did send him rolling away a few revolutions. As the blast settled, so did all noise.

"Ugh... Are you alive, Tent?" Rika groaned, his blurred vision refocusing toward the sight ahead. The Queen Beehula fell, its flame wings flickering before dissipating entirely. More and more of its putrid guts spilled out, the force of its own attack seemingly dealing it the final blow. Its own attack also exterminated the brunt of the Flambees swarming it, their corpses splattered across the cavern walls like a morbid, insectoid Picasso. There were still some Flambee, hovering in their lavacombs far in the distance, but they seemed too far away to register the events or lend aid to their Queen.

With the battle over, Rika let out a sigh, and that's when he heard another buzz- one from his own pants. The Kokiri instinctively tensed up, expecting another Flambee- or something of that sort, - but his raised tension relaxed at the soothing voice of Buzzari. "What. . .? Buzzari? What are you..." Rika groaned, clenching at his head. Was he hallucinating another bee? His doubts subsided once the bee's cheers turned to sobs, droplets dripping down his cheeks like a sweet nectar. Did... he want to befriend these Flambees?

That was almost certainly impossible. Yet, Rika felt like Buzzari would certainly try, and after seeing the murder of their Queen, the Flambee would show him little mercy, treating him as a beenemy. Buzzari was funny, so Rika didn't want him to die. "Ah, no, that's not it..." Rika groaned out, as he attempted to push himself to his feet. "There's an evil fire Wizzrobee in here, Buzzari, named Blaaz. He... corrupts everything he touches, makes them his fire slaves and uses it to terrorize the nearby towns. Unfortunately," Rika lied, turning his head back to the Queen Beethula, "it seems as though he did so to your potential friends here. We tried to save her, but it was too late- he made her erupt, sacrificing herself and her entire hive in an attempt to stop us." He straight lied through his teeth. It was actually possible there was some truth there, but Rika hadn't the faintest idea. But it was a surprising act of mercy- he knew Buzzari would be quite upset if regular bees had perished, especially at the hands of his friends. As he finished speaking, Rika glanced around for Tent- the Deku Scrub laid prone on the ground, but he appeared to stir. At the very least, he hadn't died.

"Wait, wait, wait a moment Buzzari... You've just been sleeping in my pants this entire time?" How had the Beecori even managed that without being caught? His story did little to clarify, and if anything only confused Rika more. "I suppose that was why Wollo kept talking about another friend, he somehow was aware of your presence." Rika scratched at his head. Perhaps a bee defied mere logic and reasoning. Regardless, Rika nodded in agreement with Tent. "Yes, bee sure to stay out of the way. It would make things far more difficult if you were to get ensnared by his flames." Rika nodded, and continued along the path.

...

It was a short, narrow path. At the end, an opening, at one point presumably a door that had been ripped and burned from its hinges. Scythe drawn at the ready, Rika stepped inward. It was a wide, circular room, stone pillars at one point uniformly circling the perimeter, though many had been broken, shattered. The floor was decorated with images reminiscent of the golden goddess, Din- emblems of her burning passion, triangular, golden shapes, and so on. Many cracks and holes had been shattered throughout the floor, revealing pulsating lava pits underneath, though they did not seem to be in danger of bubbling over. Rest in the center of the room was scorched, black marble- once, a massive statue depicting the greatness of the goddess of power, the goddess of getting ripped, but it did not possess the same might she had. Whether through natural or malicious means, its infrastructure had crumbled- limbs were missing, chunks of body bitten out of her, and large portions of her head and hair gone. It was smoldered black, as if held under the hottest of flames to just before the point it would melt.

It seemed as though this room once had a ceiling, but it had long since been smashed- instead, open sky poured down, blue skies and happy clouds drifting by, the room illuminated by the warm light of the sun, and cooled by the chilling ocean breeze gliding in.

... Where the hell was the Wizzrobe?

--

What a beautiful day to be on a ship. Wollo had been left with some strange man while Rika went off to, as he put it, 'rob an old wizzrobe blind'. He always had such a funny way of describing his heroics. His good friend Buzzari buzzed sleepily in Rika's pocket, as well. Rika sure was so kind to their pal, letting him rest in his pocket. Wollo thought maybee it would have been dangerous for Buzzari to go in the dungeon with Rika, but he was sleeping so soundly, he couldn't ruin his rest. Wollo knew he always ran from monsters in his sleep, and Buzzari wasn't running- he must have been having a honey-sweet dream.

Yep, it was such a nice day, looking out to the island from the ship. . . Why was the sky turning red above the temple? Wollo felt a frightful chill go down his spine. Whenever something other than Rika was red, there was always big trouble. But he beelieved in his friends, he knew they would be safe and help everyone. Hopefully they would return before the sailor started feeling hungry...

A smoldering blast of flame and stone hurdled toward the Kokiri, who deftly dodged it with a flip to the side. With his natural agility, boosted leaps from Jump, and most importantly the trademark Bunny Hood giving him superhuman movements, it was little effort. The Kokiri then broke out into a sprint, keeping himself moving as he approached Blaaz. "That pitiful throw's the best you can do?!" Rika taunted. "Guess papa never threw ball with you, did he? I don't blame him, with those looks. Let me guess- those came from mother?" He mocked, a dry, obnoxious laugh spitting out at the Wizzrobe. Blaaz did not reply with words, but his attention was drawn onto Rika, so the taunting was not completely pointless. Arm levied at the Kokiri, numerous slim beams of fire arced out in a pattern, spreading before homing in towards the Kokiri in all directions.

With a flourish, Rika spun his scythe and broke into a pirouette, chilling ice energies reverberating off his blade and splashing outwards with the energy unleashed by the Deku Pirouette. That, coupled with his speed, was enough to negate the sizzling touch of Blaaz's rays- some missed, while others were neutralized by the Ice Enchanted waves of force echoing from his body. A couple of the blasts evaded his blade, however, navigating around and under the blade to sear the Kokiri in the side and leg, burning his flesh. He struggled to let out a cry, and instead his steadily pumping adrenaline kept his body moving to avoid whatever attack might come next. Rika may have been looking for an opening, but his taunt would have certainly left one, however minor, for Tent to take advantage of.