Earth Temple [SS] Cast: - Lamia, Acolyte of Din (3/4/1 Gerudo) Reward: 3 Soul Stones, 1 Kinstone Piece, +3 Rupees. [Blonde Panther] - Kaaldira, Great Fairy of Fire (4/5/1 Great Fairy) Reward: Rising Tiger, -15 Rupees. [Darth Slaverus] Well, here it was. The Gerudo stood in front of a large structure, partially jutting out of the mountain and partially built into it. She paused to rest her glaive in the crook of her elbow, using both hands to untie and re-tie her ponytail. It had gotten quite disheveled on her way up the mountain, and if she didn't take the time to fix it a little now, it would bother her for the entire trek. With that done, she reached into the satchel she bore, producing a large item shaped roughly like a cog. Her mother had told her it was the key to the Earth Temple, a sacred place to the Order of Din. It was here that she would meditate and train, hoping to find the answers to how to control her fire better. Sister Vilcaron had been a big help, but in the end, the teachings of the Cult of Wisdom could only help her so much. Placing the key into the indentation that was meant for it and turning it clockwise, Lamia unlocked the doors and pushed them open, packing the key up again and tossing the satchel behind the open doors so she could easily find it to re-seal the temple later. Glaive in hand, she walked in, admiring the pillars and the blue marble floor until she reached the end of the flooring. In front of her flowed a lake of lava, bubbling and radiating a heat that filled the entire temple. It was a miracle she hadn't felt it outside. Looking ahead, she saw that the lake ended in a river, twisting deeper into the temple.
The Bokoblin was not having a good day. As the stuntiest of his warband, he had been 'selected' to guard the rear while the rest of his brethren forged on ahead to search for loot. The sheer boredom would have been unpleasant enough, but to make matters worse, the stifling heat of the nearby lava was making him sweat profusely. Now his eyes were playing tricks on him, for he could have sworn he had seen something moving in the lava as he twirled his crude machete about in his hands. He had ignored it the first few times, but the overwhelming sense that he was overlooking something was sufficiently maddening that it compelled him to investigate. Plodding to the edge of the elevated platform he had designated his post, the Bokoblin peered over the precipice, leaning forward. In an instant, a pair of black hands had seized him by the throat. Unable to choke out a warning due to the viselike grip that burned his flesh, he could only watch helplessly as he was dragged over the ledge, beset by a terrifying sense of weightlessness as he plummeted into the embrace of the fires below. His last thoughts were that today was definitely not a good day, and that perhaps he should not have even gotten up this morning. ------------------------- By the time her victim expired within the lava, Kaaldira had already reimmersed herself in the molten fluid, swimming through it as if she were a crocodile traversing water. A part of her had protested against using stealth to eliminate her quarry, but she knew that the pitiful creature would have offered little sport in direct combat, feeble as it was. In any event, there would be more opportunities for battle soon enough. She had caught a glimpse of the creature's kin advancing deeper into the sanctuary, and while she did not understand the purpose behind their desecration, she knew it was her duty to destroy them. After all, fate had led her here. When she had at last decided to leave Subrosia, she had sought the counsel of those few Subrosians she had known to have ventured to the Surface and returned. They had advised her not to take the tunnel connecting the underground realm to the glacier above, believing the Surface in that area to be so inhospitable as to render her survival impossible. Instead, they had urged her to find one of the many well-hidden portals scattered throughout the land, which also served to link the two worlds. Although Kaaldira was skeptical that anything on the Surface could snuff out her flame, she had elected to heed their words, and after a lengthy search in the southern reaches of Subrosia, she managed to unearth one such portal. Diving in without a second thought, the Great Fairy had found herself deposited in a place not altogether unlike Subrosia, characterized by lava and jagged rocks. A temple of sorts? Whether it had been built by Subrosian pilgrims or fire-worshipping Surfacers was unclear, but she was certain her purpose was to be found here. Why else would she encounter the hated Others so quickly? Her path was clear. She was meant to be here. Before she could formulate her next move, however, a surprising new development attracted her attention: At the opposite end of the chamber she currently occupied, a door had swung wide to admit a humanoid figure, as well as a harsh, radiant light. Instinctively drawn to the newcomer for reasons she could not fathom, Kaaldira swam toward them, raising a hand to shield her unblinking eyes from the intense light. "... Who goessssss there? Who intrudesssss upon this ssssssacred place...?"
A voice sounded from the river of lava, putting Lamia on edge. She slowly spun her glaive in her hand as she looked around to find the source of the sound -surely, it hadn't actually come from the lava?- but saw nothing... a couple of Lizalfos exchanging punches up on a ledge further into the structure, but there was no way those had been what she had heard. Not only were they much too far away for that, the words she had heard would have made no sense coming from them. Frustrated, she let out a sigh before doing the silliest thing she could have done. Instead of dismissing the voice as a figment of her imagionation, she humoured and answered it. "I am Lamia," she said, "Disciple of the Order of Din. I am here as part of my training and I assure you that I will treat the temple with the respect it deserves." At that point, she hesitated. But she was curious... "...who wants to know?"
Din...? The name flickered like a dying candle within Kaaldira's mind, infuriatingly out of reach no matter how much she grasped at the memory. If there was any doubt that her destiny lay before her, it was banished in an instant. Providence had seen fit to grace her with this opportunity to learn more of herself, and she would not be denied. As soon as the stranger had finished speaking, the Great Fairy rose from the lava, her blackened wings igniting as she took flight and came to hovering halt directly in front of Lamia, droplets from the resultant sizzling spray clinging to the cracks in her obsidian flesh. There she paused for a long moment, allowing the mortal to behold her in her full, fiery glory. Once she was certain that the creature was appropriately awed by her presence, Kaaldira opened her mouth to reply in the tongue of the Surface... then stopped herself. Even from here, she could sense it. Beneath this being's exterior... It burned. Raging... Boiling... Her soul was as a furnace, lit by an all-devouring fire to rival her own! Could it be? "You... You are touched by the flamesssssss assssss well!" Kaaldira's stony features briefly rearranged themselves into an expression of shock as she raised a still-dripping finger to point at Lamia. A kindred spirit? Here? She studied the one who called herself Lamia a little more closely. Bronze skin, crimson... hair, she believed was the term for those stringy growths. Yes, this one was born of fire. Lowering her arm, Kaaldira cocked her head. "You are not like the Otherssss..." It was a statement, not a question. "I am Kaaldira, Great Fairy of Ssssssubrosia... and I would tessssst you..." She glanced over her shoulder, then back at Lamia. "Sssssservants of the Long Dark ssstalk these hallsssss, defiling them... but I will ssssssuffer no insssssolence in thissss place... Join me in putting them to the torch, and perhapssssss I can asssssissst you in your training, Child of Flame..." She affixed the mortal with the most intense stare she could muster, hoping to gauge her mettle. Lamia's weapon had not escaped the Great Fairy's notice, and were it not for the extraordinary circumstances surrounding this meeting, Kaaldira might have interpreted her brandishing of it as a challenge. Yet the promise of forgotten knowledge stayed her hand; her curiosity, once-stoked, was not so easily extinguished.
