Flesh + Wood + Shadow = PROFIT!

Guy · Dec 21, 2014

"Oh, yes, because spinning rusting spikes cutting into your ribs is just so much more pleasant when your a ghost." Alice's face skewed at him, as if asking whether or not he was really that stupid. While the others were trying to kill them all by making traps trigger, Alice was quietly floating along the walls--a good distance above the Blade Traps. Her eyes darted from one tool to the next, sure there had to be some kind of strange trinket or esoteric implement that would be interesting enough for her to collect...

...

A minute later, Alice caught up to the other two, fidgeting with a couple of the torture devices she found. Julius was examining the cells and corpses, while Guy just... grimaced at it all. "It might have been a prison originally," he offered, "judging from the cells. My father told me that, more recently, it's been used for a wide range of things. I mean," he made eye contact with Julius, "If you were the sort of sick bastard who get off on the anguish of others--" he tried to forget he was the sibling of such a person "--what better place than this?"

He sighed again, looking over the bloody skeletons once more, "Even a roaming band of thugs probably used to torture and interrogate their captives, at least a couple times in the centuries it's been here. They might have even made base in this place." A shudder ran down his spine, "I just never want to meet the 'Arbiter' who supposedly owns this place..."

Interjecting herself between the two warriors, Alice abruptly shoved a violet cane into Guy's hands. "Your arms are shortest. Swing this as hard as you can."

The Deku Scrub blinked, glancing to Julius, then back at her. Needless to say he didn't understand, but he took both hands above his head, and swung the cane as hard as he could--to feel it vibrate wildly in his hands. It almost startled him, but before he could say anything, Alice continued, "Nah. It must've lost its power..." Without offering any more on the subject, she proceeded to rifle through the other trinkets she found.

Guy's eyes widened, remembering that this is--or was--a Cane of Echoes. At least, that's what he and his friend Dante called them. He began to express to the others his fond use of one decades ago, how the booms it created could tear through glass and baffle even Darknuts. He couldn't for the life of him remember how he lost it, though. "I wonder if it lost power, too, like this one did... Any ideas on how to restore it, Julius?"

There came the increasingly familiar dangle of metal, followed by childish giggles. Guy abruptly shoved the cane into his pouch, instead whipping out his sword. He glanced towards Julius, and then Alice, making sure they had heard the tell-tell sounds of a Poe as well. There had been five when they entered--and three had been slain. Hopefully this would be the second-to-last. Guy was beginning to wish they could just find that nectar and get out of here, before he ended up like one of these damned, tortured things.

Cloud · Dec 21, 2014

"Well, magic isn't a particular field of study for me, but.. It's possible that whatever element of the rod -- its conduit, usually a gem or something -- responsible for channeling that amount of energy, has just corroded over time. It happens -- usually when an object is especially old. I've got my grandfather's notes if you'd like to thumb through them." But then the laughter of the Poe echoed out, most likely ending the conversation.

Its lantern floated amidst an empty cell. It continued chuckling before wheezing. Grasping his Lens of Truth, Julius could see the blood on the floor and the corpse in the corner. It looked to be about twenty-ish in age, Julius thought, looking it over. The Poe, still unaware of their presence, continued switching between laughter and wheezing. It eventually settled on a mad fit of coughing.

And then, it twirled about, and stared at the corpse in the corner. He tossed Guy the Lens. "In the corner, look," he said, as he approached the Poe. He drew his blade, dragging its attention from what -- Julius presumed -- used to be its body. He foregoed his usual defensive pose, poising to strike immediately. The apparition swayed to the left, and then sprung onto Julius.

He sunk, and then rose sharply, his blade diving into its lantern. It spun about, clawing at Julius's plate. He kept his shield raised as he snapped his blade back at the Poe. It sailed through the air at an incredible speed, slicing into its form. Julius continued his assault, driving his other arm, shield and all, into the opponent. It let out a squeak as it was slain, its soul abruptly departing to the lantern room. One more to go.

Julius turned around, looking at Guy. "We're almost done here," he said, walking to the door from where they entered. Looking over the edge of the alcove, a lantern floated in the midst of the swarms of vermin. "I'll go down, and face it there. Guy, I think you better know what you should be doing than I do. Alice, just stay up here and assist however you can." He jumped from the ledge, immediately being overcome by unseen -- but certainly present -- rodents. They were getting bigger. A spin attack sent them flying off of his body, allowing him to continue his march to the final Poe.

It was less of a march, really, and more like a hurried run -- the longer he stayed here, the more he could feel the malicious presence of the place tying him to it. Or, maybe, he was already tied to it. He closed the distance between himself and the Poe. He swung his blade haphazardly, batting away the rats. As he neared the Poe, he felt their presence fade. Julius was unsure, but he thought the presence of such a spirit must be overpowering those of the rats.

He poised himself to strike.

Guy · Dec 22, 2014

Although Guy has had several objects lose their magical energy of time, he was never entirely sure what had caused it to happen. Usually he just ended up replacing them, somehow, or losing them... He began to wonder if there were means of recharging some of the older trinkets he still possessed. It was, perhaps, an endeavor better left to another time--especially what with another Poe trying to kill them.

Guy sighed as it was slain, a bit disappointed he missed out on the action. If it wasn't for the corpses, illusions, and torture devices everywhere, this would have become tedious.

...

For whatever reason, they ended up back in the rat-infested room. Julius was charging in without his Lens of Truth--didn't he realize Guy still had it, or did he just dislike being able to see through illusions? In any case, Guy flipped up onto the ceiling, maneuvering carefully across the crackled and crumbling tiles. As he did so, a spit of sand fell down to the invisible creature--and it abruptly looked up at its sneaky assailant, only to be met with a knife slung right at its face.

The Poe shot backwards in an attempt to dodge the blade, but hissed with pain as the steel edge embedded into its chest. As it flinched, it became visible, no doubt to be struck down by Julius' blade. Alice seemed to be eyeing it carefully--holding the hatchet from earlier. Even she knew she wouldn't be such a good shot that she'd be able to strike it without also putting Julius in danger. They were both moving too damn much. She steadily floated a bit closer, out of the reach of the rats, but not yet within the ominous bubble that surrounded this tortured creature...

Cloud · Dec 22, 2014

Julius stepped back, slightly, as he watched the knife plummet into the spirit's chest. It came at him with its claws soon after, well aware of the Deku Scrub planted upon the cieling. It moved with an unearthly grace, its claws easily penetrating -- nay, sailing through his armor. It would be inaccurate to say that they tore through the plate along his arm -- rather, much like the spinning blade, it simply continued, unhindered.

He roared with pain as the claws tore into his arm. He swung his blade, blind with rage -- but it was much too predictable for the spirit, whom easily glided out of the way of his blade. Again, it screeched -- but its squealing cut short, instead turning into something surprised. Julius, grabbing its clawed hand, turned, pivoted, and grabbed the handle of the dagger embedded in its chest. His blade hit the floor, rattling; it had survived worse. He guided the Poe by arm and dagger, turning it, until he abruptly attempted to launch the creature into one of the nearby walls. He had forgotten; it was a ghost, with little physical weight, and not a more material opponent.

Its claws reared into him once more, their dagger-like edges raking across his chest. His blade was on the ground. He attempted to swing at it with a gauntleted fist, only to see it sail off course a moment later. "Guy!" He yelled, briefly scanning the cieling. Where was he?

Guy · Dec 24, 2014

Guy's body dropped off the ceiling--there was no way he could make a safe shot from there. Just as Julius was subjected to a second attack, Guy's body abruptly flashed and propelled recklessly through the air. Too concerned with its first opponent, the Poe was completely blindsided as Guy's blade tore clean through its ribcage--busting out the other side, leaving the spectral creature literally sawed in half. Mist spewed out of its broken form as it hissed in pain, clawing desperately at anything and everything around it.

The impact of Guy's attack sent him spinning out of control, before crashing into the wall. His body bounced off it as he choked out a pained groan, but managed to just barely cling to it long enough to glue his body to it--it was better than falling into that damn sea of rats.

Glancing back at the Poe, he saw his own hatchet abruptly cleave into its skull--with Alice hovering over it, a look of disgust spread across her face. Her fangs released the weapon's handle, leaving it embedded deep in the back of the creature's head. Its body twisted wildly, mist spewing forth... before it, too, began to drift towards some unseen location--directly downwards, strangely enough.

Alice crossed her arms, mumbling something to herself. She abruptly glared at Julius, ignoring his wounds, "Th-thank me, damnit."

All around the room, the rats seemed to be quieting down, skittering away into the crevices, into countless holes across the room. Why had they fled? Guy was more than a bit pensive. The ominous feel in the air grew only worse. Those rats had avoided the Poe, after all. Surely there must have been something worse... for them to flee altogether.

Sliding onto the ground, Guy called to the others, "We may have... created something more dangerous, here." He feared something had been drawing in the energy of the Poes, some ferocious creature. He didn't much want to consider what kind of monstrous being would do such a thing, though...

Cloud · Dec 24, 2014

"Uh. . . Thanks, Alice," he said, a bit pensive in his voice. He looked around the now-still room. It was quiet. Eerie, almost. "Well... I think we ought to go check out that chandelier room," he said, turning in the direction of the door. "I find it a bit strange, though; what exactly is at play here? How much did your father tell you about this place, Guy? You probably know more than I do," he said as he walked into the room.

It was now brightly lit; almost as if the sun itself was shining into the room. The chandelier was fully lit. A staircase, leading down, had appeared opposite the entrance of the room. "Well," Julius said, approaching the staircase. It winded down into chambers below them. "It's a start," he said, descending the stairs. His boots grinded against the black stone of the staircase. There was a noticeable change in atmosphere and design as they went down, further and further. Blood spatters became common place, marring the dark stone of the subfloors.

They finally descended from the staircase. They emerged into a wide, spacious dome-shaped room. A pedestal, almost a meter tall, rose in the center of the room. The pedestal was constructed of a material inbetween the color of sand and salt -- and upon it was wedged an enormous, two-handed blade. It was made of a black metal -- it was simple, plain in its construction and make. It was almost the length of Julius's body, head to toe. It was bound by rope to the floor below -- the ropes themselves connecting to another pedestal, only a foot high, made out of the same material. Several paper -- perhaps parchment -- tags hung from its bindings, in an ancient, archaic language.

"Holy--" Julius started, taking in the enormity of the blade. "Guy," he said, exasperated, "That's like something from Sienna's dreams." He approached the blade, examining it and its bindings closely. "Jesus, I can't imagine what this thing was used for... or why it's bound the way it is." He ran a finger along a tag. He attempted to read its inscription. "I can't even begin to figure out..." he trailed off, obviously fascinated with the relic.

Guy · Dec 24, 2014

"Details..." Guy's voice trailed off, "...from back then... I was just a wee Scrub." His eyes trailed over the chandelier, then the staircase leading downwards.

He began to follow Julius and Alice down the stairs, trying to remember the words his father spoke. "I think he always knew there was a strange magic at play here. Needless to say it's one of the most... haunted... places either he or I have ever seen."

Alice interjects, abruptly, "The anguish, the anger, and resentment still lingers heavily in the air. You can practically taste it. It's... bitter..." A twisted grin spreads on her face, "...but bitter is an important taste too, you know" Her long, thin fingers were brought together in a pensive sort of way. Her eyes abruptly widened as they came upon the sword, and she seemed nearly as impressed with it as Julius.

They all seemed to take a moment to take in the sheer magnificence of the blade, before Guy finally responded with a chuckled scoff. "She would wield a sword like that." The blade itself was probably twice Guy's size. If the weapon was as heavy as it looked, Guy himself probably wouldn't even be able to lift the damn thing.

At Julius' prompt, Alice abruptly moved towards towards him, eyeing the tag. Her eyes narrowed and face twisting, "I've... seen this script..." Was it while she was undead? Or had she seen it in her previous life? Regardless, with a bit of difficulty, she began to read off the words... It was indeed an ancient language, one she herself barely even knew. "Cid... smumru kus...?"

She shrugged, a bit indifferent, "Dunno what it me--" A maniacal laughter tore through the room. A chill tore down Alice's spine, eyes wide. Of course I would accidentally summon some ancient demon to kill me. Of course I would. She rapidly scurried towards the entrance from which they came, only to find the door slam shut in her face.

The numerous ropes which tied down the sword abruptly tore apart, whipped back as if some unseen force was savagely pulling on them. The ropes whipped back and forth wildly like some kind of tentacle monster, before abruptly burning away in black fire. The sword itself slowly floated into the air. That maniacal laugh, otherworldly, tore through the air again. Then, a spectral hand appeared on the blade--then an arm from it, and a skeletal head atop a massive body that seemed to wear a cloak made out of pure shadows. Suffice to say, it did not look friendly.

Cloud · Dec 24, 2014

Julius had one, instinctive reaction to the foul creature's sudden appearance: What in the fuck was this thing. Had they made a mistake in coming here? Had they made a mistake in hunting down those poor, unfortunate souls? Julius had but one thing to say: "I think we've just met our executioner," drawing his blade as he rushed towards the being.

It held the enormous blade aloft in one hand. It moved in serene, graceful movement; it was clearly unnatural. That much, they already knew. Julius raised his shield, charging towards the spirit. Had it been good? No, it couldn't have been. There was too much malice, too much anger, anguish, resentment -- as Alice had said -- for this creature to be anything but evil. Julius reached his opponent. He began to spring himself into the air, shield still raised -- when the mighty blade cleaved down upon him. He braced himself, expecting an immense pain to overwhelm him -- but the blade passed clean though, as the creature vanished, almost instantly reappearing behind him.

Julius landed, confused for a moment -- where had the creature gone? He looked all around him, wary. And then it hit him. Like waves crashing onto the beach, the massive blade slammed into him from the side -- the sheer force knocked him over, almost immediately, feeling great pain overwhelm his left arm. It's not the first time it's happened, he thought, as he rolled out of the way of another oncoming slash. He stood up, barely able to ignore the pain shooting down his left arm. He refused to take a look at the mail.

He could see its blade now, even though its body was ethereal, invisible. Unseen, it sailed through the tainted, malevolent air -- the creature itself radiated an immense aura of unease, of pain, suffering, and despair. Above all, they could tell it wanted to kill them.

Julius tried to block another slice from the wicked sword. He found himself pushed back -- flying, almost -- about a meter from where he stood prior. He got up. He could take more, but soon became aware that he wouldn't be able to harm it. Not like this. He looked back, towards Guy and Alice. He hoped they understood the strategy here.

Charging the monster yet again, he attempted to give Guy some cover -- if only so that he could harm the creature, at least marginally so.

Guy · Dec 24, 2014

Was that sword much lighter than it looked? Or was this thing just deceptively strong? Considering the attack that crashed into Julius, Guy immediately assumed the latter. So much for wearing armor--he wasn't even sure how the Hylian could keep fighting on after that blow. It must suck to have such squishy skin...

Guy was carefully scurrying around to flank the monster, struggling to get to its backside even as it teleported from one side of Julius to the other. The damn thing wasn't looking, but he was definitely aware of Guy's approach. It was too damn fast, and seemed to be able to dodge or block every attack Guy threw at it. Even so, the thing apparently didn't consider the Deku Scrub much of a threat, which only pissed him off more. The two began darting around Julius, all as it continued to make ferocious attacks against both of them, darting in and out of visibility, soaring like a damn acrobatic even with that huge weapon. "Alice! Give me a bomb!" Julius ate another attack with his shield, as Guy narrowly missed getting cleaved in half.

Needless to say, the Poe had mostly stayed out of this. She didn't exactly endure giant black sword through her face like Julius, and couldn't even begin to keep up with Guy. At the very least, though, she could help out in this way. Digging out a Mini Bomb, she abruptly slung it towards him.

Guy caught it in mid-jump, chasing the monster with another fruitless swing of his sword. His thumb clicked the button in place. "Julius! Cover your eyes." Guy's Deku Nut flashed against the ground to the left of Julius--the bomb abruptly exploded to the right of him. Guy pounced onto Julius's upper back and leaped high into the air, sword drawn as he leaped forward--feinting. Just as expected, the monster appeared a split-second before he would have struck it. He immediately propelled backward at high speed, shoving his sword under his arm. Though he couldn't see it, he felt his entire body crash into the ghastly torso--shoving his blade down to the hilt with both hands, before abruptly whipping around and tearing it out. Guy fell from the spectral creature as it clutched the fresh wound, before abruptly disappearing again.

"It's too desperate to attack," Guy groaned, as he fell from the first successful strike. If he cut off every other road to attack Julius, it would still take the last one which remained. It was seemingly driven by pure malice, as if it couldn't even stop itself from attacking either of them. Guy doubted the same trick would work twice, though.

Guy hit the floor, looking up to see the sword already barreling towards him--he barely managed to raise his shield in time. The angle bounced the blade off to the left of his little body, but sent him skidding a short distance across the floor, his arm sore just from redirecting the massive attack. How the hell did Julius do this?

Cloud · Dec 26, 2014

There was a reason Julius was Guard Captain. This was one of those reasons.

He ignored the lightning still shooting down his arm as he covered his eyes almost immediately, feeling Guy leap from his back. An instant later, he saw him propel backwards, finally landing a blow upon the monster.

It hadn't let up from its assault much, however, its blade soon swinging onto Guy's small frame as he just barely managed to deflect the oncoming blow. It scrapped and skittered over his shield, landing just a little to the left. Its attention seemed to be focused on Guy now.

Julius ran, as fast as he could, sword poised to jab at the monster. He raised his blade, leaping at the damned soul, as it turned and faded just in time. Julius, though, kept flying for just a moment before twisting backwards and landing on his feet. He met its enormous blade with his own, seeming like a toothpick in comparison. The force with which it struck his blade could have very well broken it -- it seemed it was getting stronger, faster; angrier. Soon, a flurry of wild, unrelenting strikes tore into both his shield and sword. More pain.

Julius pushed through it, for the first time gaining footing upon the spirit. One foot. And then another. Julius kept pushing, learning the ghost's pattern and parrying what strikes he could manage. It continued tearing through his shield, through his mai; or trying to, at least. He kept stepping towards the ghost, charging his Spin Attack, making him move slower than he would have normally. He eventually got so close that the ghost had no option other than teleporting again.

"Now!" Julius yelled, loosing the familiar wave of energy. It tore into its ethereal form. He had hit his mark. Turning to see the ghost veer back in pain, he rushed it with his own flurry of blows. It had taken the defensive now. Julius kept swinging his blade, blow after blow being knocked away by the creature's enormous sword. Hopefully, he would be able to stay on the offensive.

Guy · Dec 27, 2014

Whether by luck or skill, Guy managed to leap to the chandelier and swing off, landing right behind the monstrosity as Julius drove it back further and further. This opportunity could not be missed--he wouldn't let it be missed.

The spectral beast was driven back further and further, seemingly unable to find an opportunity to escape the captain's onslaught of strikes. Just when it seemed like it was about to push Julius back, its sword was forced into the air to block a flying hatchet--at least Alice was good for something. Julius took the opportunity to tear into it with a vicious strike, letting Guy propel like a bullet right towards its head, his blade stabbing right into the back of its neck, twisting it as he ripped it out. Not letting up even a second, a Keese flew out of nowhere and took a bit out of the ghost's arm, making it flinch just enough for Julius and Guy to both get in another ferocious strike--blades cleaving it through it simultaneously, like a ferocious pair of giant scissors.

The creature's eyes grew wide, its top half visibly torn off from its bottom half, landing head-first into the ground. Its dislodged torso made out last desperate sweep at whoever was nearest--Guy hovered over the blade effortlessly, before both he and Julius cleaved into its head and neck with a pair of full-power blows.

"...Damn," Guy caught his breath, "It almost seemed a shame to kill it." He looked at Julius, then Alice, a slight grin on his face. It was difficult for him to not enjoy such an intense fight. He wondered, silently, if he or Julius would have been able to take down that thing so easily on their own. It certainly seemed to be a stellar fighter--better than any specter Guy had faced before, and he had faced many.

The Keese fluttered quietly, landing atop Guy's leafy green hair. It seemed risky summoning one in the midst of the battle, but, "The little fellow turned out to be surprisingly helpful." He wanted to add that Alice had been literally as much help as a Keese in that last fight, but restrained himself. She wasn't here to fight, anyway. In fact, she was already inspecting the giant sword of the monster... though as Guy expected, her sinewy arms were struggling to completely lift it off the ground.

Looking back to Julius, Guy asked, somewhat hesitantly, "Are you alright?" He witnessed the man take some ferocious blows--blows that Guy himself knew he wouldn't be able to take so easily.

Cloud · Dec 27, 2014

"Ugh," Julius groaned, dropping to the floor. He lay on his.back as he continued, "I'll be fine, I think. And you?" He asked, staring at the cieling. He looked over at Alice, who was trying to lift the blade. "I think this would make just the perfect gift for Sienna," he said, picking himself up and walking to the blade. It seemed his odd companions' sense of sarcasm was beginning to rub off on him. He tried to lift it. It was incredibly heavy, even for his immense strength. Grasping the handle with two hands, he hefted it onto his shoulder. "In the name of the Golden Goddesses," he said, somewhat exasperated at the weight, "I don't understand just how in Din's name that thing was able to swing it like that."

He tried swinging it. Halfway through the swing, the blade dipped and bit into the floor. He could hardly lift it, let alone control it in a fight. "In Din's name," he said, exasperated, "Let's grab it on our way out. No way am I lugging that thing around." He approached the door on the other side of the room. It was neither sloped nor curved; in fact, the entire wall seemed to be one huge, enormous door carved from sandstone...and whatever the dark stone this room was carved of was. He pushed forward, through it, before asking Guy for some help.

They opened it with their combined strength. What he saw shocked him, somewhat: there was an enormous skeleton littering the room, in the shape of perhaps a dog, or maybe a buffalo of some kind. Whatever it had been in life, it was surely something to have been feared. The sand pit which it was stored in spread around the majority of the room.... if it wasn't an extension of whatever was through the columns in the back. Seemingly the only sophisticated architecture without the purpose of torture and pain, those Greek-styled columns provided some sort of entryway into the desert. Julius traced his hand along the rough sandstone of the outer edge of the wall. And yet, as he drew closer, a deep rumbling filled the room. Julius craned his neck up, almost immediately... only to see the mammoth skeletal figure form and float into place.

"Of course. Of course this thing was really alive. Or undead, or whatever. How did I not see it coming," he said, deadpan and monotone. He didn't bother trying to block its sweep with its immense claws -- after all, with his arm in the condition it was, it was impressive he still carried his shield at all. Instead, he merely fell back, out of the beast's reach, as it bellowed a mighty roar.

"Oh man," Julius said with a degree of false excitement in his voice. "What should we name this one?" He asked, jokingly, as he drew his sword. The beast's reach was limited, he knew... there didn't seem to be much to it; really, they didn't even have to fight it... but Julius doubted they were just going to leave this thing unharmed, especially with that Twilit Crystal rising prominently from its snout. It looked like a spear... or maybe a sword... it didn't matter; if this fight played out as the one in the derelict city had, it would wind up destroyed either way. "You know what to do," he said, charging the creature. Julius was beaten, but by no means was he broken.

Guy · Dec 28, 2014

Alice gave up and crossed her long arms, eyeing Julius with a bit of a grimace. Her face twisted into a mischievous, chuckling sneer as she wateched him, however, "I guess none of us can lift it.~"

"I was thinking the same thing," Guy said with a smirk, "about Sienna, I mean." He tilted his head when the man tried to lift it. If Julius couldn't lift it, could Sienna? ...Probably. Both of their strength seemed a tier above his own. Still, he was more than a bit surprised when Julius gave up.

His head tilted, "I thought that bag on your waist was an Adventure Pouch?" He glanced towards Alice, motioning to try to get her to lift one edge. She reluctantly obliged. Guy pulled the pouch off his hip, and just barely managed to hoop its mouth over the hilt, then stretched it around the blade, and finally pushed it all the way down into the sand. As he picked up the bag, it seemed significantly heavier. Even while shrunk, it was still more than he would have liked to carry. Still, he re-attached it to his hi, without much difficulty. "...I just hope I don't reach in there and cut my hand, or something. All my knives are in sheathes..."

He offered a nod at Alice, "Thanks"--only for her to just glare at him, giving nothing but an audible, "Tsk." It seemed something had put her in a bad mood, but Guy didn't care to ask. She proceeded to elaborate anyway, "Assuming this place is an ancient torture chamber, or jail, or both, I'm a little disappointed we haven't found more... interesting trinkets."

Guy shrugged a bit, "Considering how old this place is, I'm surprised we've already found so much. The tales about this place--and its sinister aura--have probably scared away more than a few would-be looters." Alice silently scowled at him, her mouth twisting into an uneasy frown. There was a bit of acceptance on her face, but it was obvious she didn't like it.

...

After Julius and to some extent Guy shoved the door open--how the hell could he still do this shit, Guy wondered--they soon found themselves face-to face with what was unquestionably the largest, most ferocious anything either of them had likely every seen. And that was certainly saying something, considering both of them had been slaughtering monsters for nearly a century between the two of them. Guy had to double-take when Julius suggested, no, insisted on fighting it. As if it wouldn't still be here when they came back with a dozen Powder Kegs to throw at it. Before he could even stop him, Julius was charging straight towards it.

He looked towards Alice, who promptly said, "Fuck that," scoffing, "I'll see you outside." Without a care in the world, she abruptly floated across the edge of the chamber and out into the sunlight at the far end...

Guy facepalmed. Sienna was rubbing off on Julius. He didn't like it. With a sigh, his hand slid carefully into his adventure pouch, drawing a knife into his free hand. He hover-skated behind the Hylian, looking to hit the monstrosity with the knife the moment Julius took its attention.

Pondering for a moment in mid-run, he hastily considered Julius' question. This thing was obviously a gigantic Stalfos. Stalgig? Hugefos? No, "Stallord."

Cloud · Dec 28, 2014

"Good name," Julius commented, hacking away at the claws of the beast. It was huge, that much was true -- but it was by no means as strong as what they had just finished fighting. Compared to the sword ghost guy -- Death Sword? No, blade -- compared to Death Blade, it seemed this fight was going to be a cake walk.

Julius batted away another of its tremendous claws -- it was still fairly strong, the steel grinding into its bone. It pushed, harder and harder, almost having lied about its strength. Julius continued to push his blade against it when he suddenly became very aware that it had not one but two clawed hands. He very deftly -- which is to say, not at all -- dove forward, coming back to his feet in hardly a second as he saw the freakish green irises staring down at him. Its maw was open. Shit.

Julius raised his shield nearly instantly -- he didn't know what he expected, but his shield had rarely failed him before. He started to circle off to the side -- another claw was coming at him, faster, harder than before. This beast was playing them for fools. He let himself be battered with the claw. It didn't exactly harm him much -- mostly, it just knocked him over, and shook him around a bit. He was thankful that he was able to wear armor as heavy as he was.

As the claw collided into his side, it knocked him across the sand about three meters. Maybe it did a little more than just knock me down, Julius thought, raising himself from the ground. And then, he felt it: a subtle tremoring, something rising from the ground. He looked around. Just like before, those tiny pike-wielders rose from the sands once more. He began to wonder if they were even really dead, or undead as it may be -- he'd heard of a spell, Leaf Puppet, with which a user might summon a marionette creature.. It was no time for idle wondering, however. The beast was waking uo, speeding up, growing in strength. The little pike men didn't help, either. At least it wasn't more of those damn near-invincible Stalfos.

He jogged back to the animated skeleton -- Stallord -- once more, this time slashing down and igniting the skeleton minutemen as he went about his way. He saw it reach for Guy, who was just inches away from its face. Julius panicked for a second -- before summoning a Keese, much like Guy had done before, and sending it after the beast. Julius would reach it soon -- the Keese would reach it much sooner. As it flew behind Guy, the monster instead hesitated -- opting to lash out at the flying nuisance instead. "It's as you did -- these things really are useful," he yelled, hacking at the base of its spine. He couldn't anticipate the results it would yield -- but he hoped it would distract from his companion for long enough.

Guy · Dec 28, 2014

While Julius was tumbling with an undead beast twenty times his size, Guy was busy scurrying around through knives at it from every different angle. He started with more obvious weakpoints. After a few throws to the eye, he finally got one blade to hit dead-on, only for it to simply fall out of the eye socket altogether. Who has eyes like that. He tried slinging knives towards the strange sword stabbed into the beast's face, but even when he could strike it, his knives just bounced off impotently. There's no way this thing was invincible. Nothing was invincible. He just feared that his current arsenal lacked what was necessary to kill it... like whatever was needed to kill those Stalfos earlier.

His last two feasible options seemed to be the brain--did it even have one?--or the spine. The prior would require to race up the wall, make a dramatic leap at just the right moment, and hope he stayed on its skull long enough to get in that key strike. Even for Guy, that did not seem like the wisest option. Instead, he abruptly sprinted around to the creatures side--starting to hover mid-stride so he could begin skating for even more speed. Taking a wide turn, he came zooming into the creature's backside. He tried to ignore the ground trembling--but could see more of those Staltroops swarming Julius on the other side. It didn't matter, he could handle them.

Just as Guy thought he was prime to zoom in with a Propelled strike to the spine, however, the giant thing abruptly whipped around and glared right at him, its face parallel to the floor, completely blocking its path. To Guy at least, this made something obvious: "Strike the spine!!" The damned thing, in Guy's eyes, was so desperate to protect it that he shoved his own face in Guy's path just so he himself couldn't.

Guy was sliding too fast to stop now, and barely had enough time to Propel himself backwards and away from the giant skull. He assumed the horrendous thing would've eaten him if he kept going forward. As he slid, back, however, he failed to realize a giant claw was in the perfect position to strike. He could no longer change his directory. He desperately held his shield up, only to abruptly feel the claw slashing through the air above him...

He gave a quizzical look towards Julius, before realizing what must've just happened. Was this creature really so stupid that it swatted down a Keese instead? It must've really hated the damn things...

Still, he saw Julius hacking into what he assumed--he knew--to be a weakspot. Hopefully his theory would ring true...

Cloud · Dec 29, 2014

Julius kept slashing the the beast, dividing his attention between it and the soldiers that kept emerging from the the sands. The beast reared in pain, letting out an agonizing screech: its spine had been broken. Just slighty, but it was enough. He looked at the crack for hardly a second before he knew what to do. A second later, a Spin Attack's vortex sliced through its spine completely. It was severed.

The beast howled in pain as it fell to the floor, disassembling as it fell. It started when it fell, its spine broken. Its claws fell from its shoulders. It roared out in defiance, one last time, before going dormant. "That... was a little disappointing," Julius scoffed. He wasn't even sure why he had fought the creature -- and then he remembered. Grabbing the blade from the creature, knowledge -- imprints of whomever had planted it there -- began flooding into his mind.

A palace, cloaked in eternal twilight... he knew it to be the source of whatever threat was invading their world. He knew how to get there: with the device stationed in this very temple. That was why they had fought the creature. It was why they had come here, of all places. "Guy. I've got something left to finish up, here. You can wait or leave," he said walking forward to the pillars. "But I have the feeling I'll be seeing you, or one of our companions," he walked through the pillars. "Rather soon," be echoed through the room.
---
He stepped out into the desert... at least, he assumed it was the desert. He glanced around -- the gothic architecture, the enormous plateau just ahead of him -- this had to be where it was. He was correct -- but it was missing. The entire thing -- the mirror -- was missing. There was a sliver of the white-silver of its frame. No. It was destroyed.

A rage-filled scream rang through the peculiar environment. His fist destroyed the last of it. He thought of something. The shards -- the fragments of magic that he'd collected -- he wondered if... could they be used as a means of transportation as well?

He hurried back into the chamber. Perhaps they could.

Guy · Dec 29, 2014

Alice herself was already outside, sorting through some of the fragments, curious as to their origin... "A mirror, seemingly magical." Then, all of a sudden, Julius roared and smashed it. Alice was speechlessly gawking at him.

"...Damn. Talk about issues," she mumbled, before floating back to Guy, who himself had wandered out into the sunlight. His eyes squinted, having not seen such bright light for hours, now. He beheld Julius, then Alice--who had an almost concerned look on her face. The two exchanged glances, then looked towards Julius. There was obviously something he wasn't telling them.

It seemed they had made it through this place, suffered all--or nearly all--there was to suffer. Guy still didn't understand what point there was in killing that gigantic Stalfos--and it went down almost strangely quickly. Still, he couldn't help but feel as though the morbid air in that place suddenly grew... lighter... when it crumbled to the ground. Maybe it was the Arbiter? He doubted anyone was alive who could really say for certain...

If nothing else, he had at least a badass sword to give to Sienna later. Alice seemed to at least get a handful of trinkets, even if she had called them all useless--Guy assumed she would call everything useless unless it was the goddamn Triforce, though.

Not an overwhelming success, but a success nonetheless.

~ ~ ~

By the way, this was Arbiter's Grounds, from Twilight Princess.

Clooby's character Julius gains a base of 40 rupees...
-15: Lens of Truth
= 25 rupees leftover

Guy's characters gain a base of 50 rupees...
-15: Guy gets the Cane of Tremors
-15: Alice gets some Mini Bombs
-25: Guy advances to Lv5 Profession: Thief
+5: Alice pays 5 roop to make up the difference
= 0 rupees leftover

Bonus rupees...
- Guy gets 25r from Lv5 Profession: Thief
- Alice gets 20r from Lv4 Profession: Witch
- Julius gets 6r from Lv3 Weaponsmiting

WillowtheWhisp · Jan 1, 2015

"Stalgig? Hugefos? No, "Stallord.""

This all appears to be in order. Time for loot.

Flesh + Wood + Shadow = PROFIT!

Guy Admin admin

Cloud friend admin

Guy Admin admin

Cloud friend admin

Guy Admin admin

Cloud friend admin

Guy Admin admin

Cloud friend admin

Guy Admin admin

Cloud friend admin

Guy Admin admin

Cloud friend admin

Guy Admin admin

Cloud friend admin

Guy Admin admin

Cloud friend admin

Guy Admin admin

WillowtheWhisp Admin admin