Fcgfyv vs. Quill

Loft giggled and spun when he caught sight of his playmate. "There you are!" He trilled, waving. It felt strange without the Bunny Hood flopping around on his head, but he didn't feel safe without the bunny with his real self back in the pit. And what if this statue got smashed? What would the bunny do then? No, Loft couldn't let that happen. And if he went walked past the magic's limit, would the Bunny Hood disappear with the statue? Loft didn't know, and he couldn't take that chance. He couldn't lose his rabbity friend.

Speaking of the magic's limit- he could sense it ahead of him. It wasn't like he could see a glowing line scratched into the earth in great big fiery strokes, but he could feel how far he was able to go. He stood about ten feet in from that line- buffer room for when he and his buddy began to dance.

Loft turned his attention back to the boy's figure, outlined by the light of the fire. "Come play with me!" He said brightly. He had one throwing knife and one dagger. His Bunny Hood and Red Candle were with his real body. Even so, as he continued to wave merrily over at his playmate to join him, he still felt that undeniable surge of excitement. With or without all his cool stuff, he would still have a blast with his playmate.

Loft laughed delightedly and clapped his hands together. "Fun, fun, fun- this is going to be so much fun!"

Slink walked toward Leaf, inconspicuously checking his availability of his knife on the way. For practicality and short-notice's sakes, he moved it's location under his sleeve. All he would need to do is slide it out handle-first, and make a clean sweep for the throat. But Slink wasn't going to have that be his first option; not yet.

When he reached Leaf, friendliness was the last thing he thought. At a close-up look, his hair and eyes made him look crazy. And the cheshire cat smile was not helping his case in the least. His bunny ears were gone, making his real ones of obvious Hylian origin more prominent. Maybe the ears were gone to reveal that he didn't plan on being very playful. Or maybe it did, since he wasn't darting at him like an arrow. Regardless, Slink approached him, making sure to hold out his right, non-injured hand, and greeted him. "Hey, my name is Slink. Who are you?" he asked, as if they had never met before. It was better for the element of surprise to act as such.

Loft laughed and darted back a little playfully, further drawing his playmate into his sphere of play-a-bility. They were well within the magic's reach, but it couldn't hurt, and he liked springing back. It was like they were already dancing together.

"No touching, no touching!" He sang, laughing as he waved a finger at his silly buddy. He gave an extravagant bow, his eyes staying fixed on Slink the entire time, his maniacal smile (which was a product of both the magic and his own emotions) never wavering. "Loft," he said, "Loft I am, and Loft am I."

His gaze rested on Slink's bandaged hand. His head tilted to the side as he studied it. "What happened to your hand?"

Leaf, Loft. Same thing. It was close enough for him. Only one half of Loft was illuminated a bright red color, and the rest hidden in shadow. Perfect for hiding a weapon, and thus, Slink refused to move anywhere that Loft lead him. He wanted to seem as friendly as possible, though, so he looked down at his hand as if the injury had just appeared there. He replied, smoothly "This? Just an accident, from... when I was attacked! By a... a Deku Baba!" So smooth. he could not help but think to himself.

Loft rolled his head back and twisted his voice, garbling each syllable and stressing all the wrong sounds. "A Deku Baba?" He gasped and slapped both his hands to his cheeks, waving his head from side to side. "Oh no's! I didn't know there were any Deku Babas here," he said, cocking his head to one side, "are they invisible?" He gasped. "They must be- this place must be," he dropped his voice, leaned in a little, and whispered the rest, "infested."

Loft licked his lips and shifted his weight from foot to foot. "What are we going to do, Slink?"

How did that even- nevermind. "Well, Slink began. He cracked all of his knuckles that he had left, and a painful yet relieving sensation flowed through his hands. "We could hunt down anything 'mean' in the battlefield together. How does that sound? Slink unsheathed his sword and showed it off to Loft in its glory.

Loft nodded slowly. His eyes were glued onto the sword, which was gleaming wickedly in the fiery light of the burning tree. He ran his tongue slowly across his lips, his fingers tap-tapping against his his crossed arms. "Yeah," he said, the word drawn out and curious. "Sounds great!" He lifted one eyebrow as high as he possibly could. "Are you a mean thing, Slink?"

Slink sheathed his sword, so there would be no idea of apparent hostility. "Now way, bad guys suck." Slink was trying to sound as childish as possible, to get on equal ground. "I'm a good guy, because they're the best. You're not a bad guy, are you?" Although it was obvious to Slink that to the red and black crowd, neither of them were good guys.

"No!" Loft protested immediately, shaking his head and pressing a hand to his heart. "No way! I'm a good guy!" He frowned, furrowing his brow, rubbing his chin while he thought. Well, he would have frowned, but the maniacal smile refused to change. "But," he said slowly, "if you're not a bad guy," he pointed to Slink, "and I'm not a bad guy," he tapped his chest, "then why are we here?"

He waved around at the Arena, taking in the burning tree, the roaring crowds, and the two of them in the gesture. Throughout the whole exchange, the statue's fixed smile never wavered. "We gotta fight," he said, "cause... cause we gotta." He shrugged. "That's just the rule; we gotta fight. And... and if you're the good guy," he said, pointing to Slink, "and we gotta fight," he flapped his hands between the two of them, "then I guess that makes me," he tapped his chest, "the bad guy here." He ran a hand through his hair and tilted his head, considering. "Huh." Loft laughed and flicked his hand forward, a knife suddenly gleaming in the firelight. "I can play that! You ready?"

Slink had to admit, he fit the part perfectly. Whether it was his demonic look or the glare of the firelight, heck, maybe even the crowd was getting to Slink's head. Whatever it was, it was definitely time to cut the act... literally. "I don't know whether I'm the good guy or the bad guy, but playtime's over." Slink unsheathed his sword, which gleamed an almost unholy light along the surface, and aimed the light at his enemy's eyes.

Slink tilted his blade, and Loft felt his eyes sting as light pounced on his unsuspecting sockets and stab into them with rays of aggravating pain. He staggered back and hissed, his free hand instinctively reaching down to his belt to pull out a Deku Nut only to discover that the shriveled wooden organ, which he had carved from a Mad Deku, wasn't there. He had left it with his real body. He slashed in front of him with his knife, trying to keep his enemy at bay while staggering back and rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

Slink had no need to dodge a clean miss, but it was obvious that only one of them could come out of this alive. Cursory observations... his opponent constantly rubbed his eyes, he moved his arms as if looking for something, he was moving backward. All of the information for a quick plan of attack. Slink readied his sword, and like a ferocious beat let out an intimidating cry. The crowd went nuts, and he used the combined energy to propel himself forward at his enemy.

The scream froze Loft's blood and made his heart beat three times faster than usual. He dropped his hand, his momentarily offset vision quickly returning to normalcy, and took a few steps back. Thank goodness that his playmate hadn't followed him when Loft had darted back earlier; if he had, Loft would've opened his eyes to find himself run through with shiny steel.

His throwing knife was already in his hand, ready and waiting to be used. Loft concentrated on the rapidly approaching figure (which was already far too close for comfort) and hurled it towards his chest. The moment the knife left his hand, he took another few steps back, drawing his dagger as he went.

Anticipating such an attack, Slink dropped and slid under the throwing knife. Time seemed to slow down, and he could feel the air moving around the blade as it spun, and Slink could see every detail of the knife in its motion. Time slowly sped up again, and the blade stuck into the ground above where his head was about a second ago. Talk about cutting close.

Slink stood up again, close enough to his target for a real attack. His target was at the edge of the battlefield; exactly where Slink wanted him. Slink could not see any weapons capable of reaching him from the light of the hellfire, so he made a horizonal slash at Loft.

Loft felt his whole body pitch backwards. His center of gravity shifted as his back bent, his arms coming up to press against the ground beneath him. It was a little awkward with the knife handle in one hand, but Loft was desperate enough to make it work. The blade passed harmlessly over his head, but the thief was still moving. His feet kicked up at his playmate's face, his arms pushing him into a neat flip.

Slink stumbled backward, clutching his jaw. He was momentarily stunned, so he didn't bother attacking when he wasn't completely able to do so. He readied his sword to his opponent, waiting for him to make the first move this time.

Loft's feet met solid ground, and the world stopped spinning. He took advantage of his playmate not rushing at him to dedicated a split second to regaining his bearings. He would've grinned in triumph, seeing Slink grab his jaw like that, but his face was frozen in that same maniacal grin. The giggles that were bubbling from him, though, were plenty enough to express his emotions. "Gotcha," he said. The crowd was going wild at the contact, but Loft didn't waste any time glorying in their attention. The adrenaline was pumping, firing through his veins and making the entire scene seem crafted out of crystal. His body tilted forward and he burst at his playmate, springing off the ground and twisting through the air, bringing his foot down like an ax towards Slink's head.

Poor sucker... Slink thought to himself as he swung his flame-looking blade downward right into the path of the airborne boy.

The statue stiffened and fell onto Slink, its limbs no longer inhabited by the spirit that had once possessed them. Back in the pit, Loft's original body was made complete. Body reunited with soul, his eyes fluttered open. Beside him sat two other statues; Loft knew from experience that he would collapse if he tried to control any more in such quick succession. With a few quietly whistled notes, Loft's spirit flew into the nearest one. It did not breathe, nor did its smile waver, but it was no longer mere statue.

Loft equipped himself with a single throwing knife (the second to last one he still had) and a single Deku Nut, taken from the pouch at his original body's side. He quickly jogged away from his body for a few seconds and wall-walked up the side of the slope. He rolled onto the surface of the Arena, staying low in the shadows of the night, and, his body pressed into the grass, he looked around for his playmate.

A stone figure formed where the Loft had once been, collapsing on Slink. The soulless eyes and demonic smile stared right at Slink while he pushed the stone figure off of him. Was this the end? The crowd was going insane after the events that transpired, but they didn't seem to sound like it was over. Whatever sorcery this was, the real Loft could be anywhere, and it wouldn't help finding him in the dark. So Slink made his way over to the burning tree to shed some light on the situation, with his sword in hand and ready for any sign of danger.