From the Shadows, Into the Ashes

The sun was high overhead, and its heat was overpowering, and sweat was building up on his brow. He wiped the sweat off with his arm and looked over his shoulder. Dust was being kicked up from the retreating carriage. One of the towns local businesses decided to be generous, and gave them a ride close to the moblin encampment, but they refused to take Kalvar and Terentia any closer, for obvious reasons. The desert wasn't getting any hotter, at high noon, it was uncomfortably warm. The hope was that the Moblins would be just as uncomfortable.

Kalvar looked in the direction of the camp. He could barely see anything, several watch towers and a wall was all that was visible, dust from the desert was making it hard to see. Reaching down to his belt, he grabbed his hawkeye that was hanging there. Placing it on his face, he zoomed in using its telepathic control. Everything was easier to see with it equipped. There was only one Moblin actually in one of the watchtowers, and he seemed fairly lax, if not sleeping even. It never ceased to amaze him how incredibly stupid these things seemed to be. That is, until you had to fight one.

He looked over his shoulder at his companion. She just topped him in height, and he felt short around her. He hated feeling short. The only problem was that Kalvar was afraid that he red hair might attract unwanted company. But he guessed that she made up for it in her fighting skills. He had seen Gerudo fight before, they were like a well oiled fighting machine. "The encampment is at the foot at mountain." Kalvar said to her. "Shall we head up the mountain somewhat to get a better view?"

The job ahead was quite simple, which was what drew Terentia to the request in the first place. Fighting was something that she found herself quite good at, for reasons brought on obviously just by her race. Peering off to watch the kind driver take off before he became monster bait. Turning to her partner in all this, a Hylian whom she knew only the name of, she stood off to the side peering off at the distant target, using her shield to block the sun from her eyes. The heat was what one would expect from the desert, though the warrior paid no attention to the normal feeling of sweat clinging to her flesh.

"I'm always a fan of getting a good look at my foes," she nodded at Kalvar's suggestion, but paused before moving out. Pulling off her shield and planting it into the sand at her feet, she yanked the white cloth from around her neck to loosen it up. Wrapping it tightly around her head with a grace only endless repartition, she soon stood with her flaming hair covered by the scarf, pulling the bottom part up to cover her mouth and nose from the sand. "Ready," she assured her companion as she donned her shield once more, following the shorter fellow in the trek across the sands.

While stealth might not be her strong point, she was a fan of fighting, not recklessness, so she was always willing to sneak around before an engagement.

Kalvar watched as his partner pulled the white scarf off her neck and wrapped it around her head. Such a brilliant idea, Kalvar thought to himself. Her hair is covered, and it would help keep her cool. He wished he had thought of it himself. Nodding his approval, Kalvar turned around and starting walking towards the mountain. He grabbed his Hawkeye, and was about to take it off, but figured that it would help keep the sand out of his eyes. So he let it remain on his face. After all, it was like an extension of his own self.

Up ahead, almost right above the encampment, there was a small overhang that overlooked the monster camp. It was a little ways up the mountain, but it seemed like the perfect spot, perhaps even safe enough to sleep if need be. Without turning around he asked "See that cliff up there? Right above the camp." Kalvar stopped walking and attempted to point it out. "That seems like a safe place to go."

He zoomed in on the cliff edge, and saw a single Moblin archer. The monster looked more alert than the other one he spied earlier. It had its bow drawn and seemingly was on watch. Kalvar hoped this was the only competent Moblin. "Though there does seem to be a Moblin up there, I'm pretty sure he's easy prey for our bows." He explained.

Trekking through the sand was much like any other day to the Gerudo, though partnering with a Hylian was a different story. Even amongst the Hylians during her training days, the Gerudo were seldom ever grouped with them while doing desert combat exercises. Luckily, this one seemed at least adept at what he was doing, using his Hawkeye to scout ahead and picking out tactical locations and possible threats. Bringing her hand up to her eyes to shield them from the sun once more, she noted the ledge he spoke of but not the enemy upon it, likely the distance making it too far to see.

"Well, if we can get close enough for a shot, we should take it. I'd like to get a good visual on the camp before we get knee-deep in it," Terentia said as she came up beside Kalvar to speak easier. "All we would have to do is watch when we take the guard down. Last thing we need is his corpse falling and alerting them someone is here. I'll trust that shot to you." Looking ahead, Terentia waited for Kalvar to continue forward so she could follow behind. If they were going to be climbing, she wanted to be the one to intercept anyone who could chase them if they were spotted.

Kalvar nodded. "No problem." He was glad that his partner was as smart as he was. Turning around, Kalvar continued walking, trusting Terentia with his back. The sand was only slightly difficult to walk on, but being barefoot, he had more traction than if he was wearing shoes. He had spent many years of his life without wearing shoes, all in the name of stealth. They were so calloused, that the heat of the sand didn't really bother him. Within a couple of minutes, they were able to reach the bottom of the mountain. Looking up the side, they seemed to be no actual path to get up to the ledge. If there was, it was well hidden, or at least on the other side of the mountain.

They were lucky so far, and had not been noticed by any of the few Moblins actually keeping watch. Kalvar had only seen two, but you never could truly tell how many were out there. Down where they were standing, a large pile of boulders stood in front of the unlikely duo. Kalvar walked up to one and placed his hand on it. "We probably could climb up these rocks." He said to his partner. "There are several small ridges the rest of the way up to that big ledge, but we'll have to climb." Kalvar scrambled on top of a smaller boulder, and leaped up and grabbed the edge of much larger one. He quickly pulled himself up, and started to figure out how to get up the next one.

The remaining distance across the sand was easily covered by the pair, luckily reaching the cover of the mountainside without any obvious alarms being run. Hopefully their luck held up as they reached a large pile of rocks where Kalvar had stopped. Terentia eyed up the rocks before them as her companion stated they would likely be climbing to reach ledges above. She could see the ledges up high, and while small, would likely lead them where they needed to go. Measuring the size of the boulders before them and the distance they needed to travel, the Gerudo was confident that she could climb these no problem.

To begin, made followed Kalvar and quickly jumped up behind him, gaining purchase on the slant of the boulder easily enough as she turned to a different rock then the Hylian to continue. She grabbed on with her free hand and pulled herself upward with relative ease, before turning to the next boulder. This required a bit more finesse on her part, this time she swiftly jumped and quickly placed her foot on the rock beside her and kicked herself upwards to the next spot. Another short rock gained her more height, and placed her in a spot to wall kick once more. Finally, she held her shield arm back as she leaped forward, kicking upwards off the rock and releasing the energy in her shield in a rapid spin of energy, twisting upwards in the air giving her the extra distance she needed to land on the edge of it.

Turning back, she looked to find Kalvar and make sure he was likewise making distance up the rocky terrain.

Kalvar couldn't believe how fast the Gerudo was able to scale the rocks. He had no idea how she was able to kick her way up on the wall. He frowned, there was nothing worse than being shown up. Gritting his teeth, he attempted to climb up the next boulder. He leaped off, and was just able to grab the edge of the next one and scramble to the top. The next rock proceeded to be a challenge. There seemed to be no easy way to get up this boulder. It was more like a giant wall of rock. By this point, his partner had just reached the top and was looking down at him.

He frowned, this was getting embarrassing. He stood on top of a smaller boulder and attempted to leap to the top, but he fell way short and came tumbling down, landing on his feet. Kalvar started to get really angry. How was someone supposed to do this. He started fuming, trying to figure out how to get to the top. He attempted to calm himself down, but was unsuccessful, until he saw some footholds.

Walking over to the rock wall, there seemed to be several small footholds that he could possibly climb. Putting one foot on the wall, he reached up and started to pull himself up. It was difficult at first, struggling to find another hold, but it surprisingly got a lot easier. The farther up the wall, the less and less footholds there were. Yet Kalvar seemed to still be climbing the wall, if not even faster than when he started. It wasn't obvious to Kalvar at first, he just was so determined to get up the boulder, that he didn't seem to notice. Reaching the top, he pulled himself over and stood up.

The height was staggering, did he just climb that whole thing? Kalvar asked himself. Peering his head over the edge, he realized that almost all the footholds stopped about halfway. Kalvar smiled, he had just scaled a flat wall. He turned around and examined the next boulder. It was alot less taller than the previous boulder. He ran at the boulder, and jumped up. Grabbing the wall with his bare hands and feet. He scampered up the wall much faster than the previous wall.

Finally, he reached the same place where Terentia was. Kalvar smiled, clearly happy that he was able to get up, without asking for help. Without even a pause, he ran right past her and leaped at the next wall. His hands and feet just seemed to have a mind of their own, climbing up to the next ledge. The first of many other smaller ledges that lead to the overhang.

Terentia watched as her companion attempted to climb the rocky escarpment, seeming to have a bit of trouble a little ways up. As she watched him fail to get a grip, she thought he might lose his temper until he seemed to get his head back in the game and started climbing again. After a bit, he seemed to get the hang of climbing and Terentia was intrigued when she noticed he was climbing the smooth stone without issue, not a place to hold on even as he went. As he got to the top, Terentia smiled, "impressive," she said as Kalvar ran past her, grinning and eager to keep climbing.

With a shake of her head, Terentia decided it would be best to continue as well. The Hylian was already rushing ahead, leaving the warrior to take her time as she leaped up to grab each ledge in turn. Sometimes she would kick off the wall first for a bit of extra height, but most times she found she could get her fingers on the ledge and pull herself up. It would go faster without the shield, but considering what they were climbing towards, it was best that she had it on her. She could afford to take her time anyways, as Kalvar would need the time to set up a shot anyways before they could get a look down below.

He was able to climb the rest of the mountain as easily as he could walk. Every rock wall might as well have been flat ground. Nothing seemed to be able to hinder his ability to climb. His hands and feet knew just what to do. Climbing up every wall, with a smile on his face. After a much shorter time than expected, Kalvar was easily able to reach the next to last ledge before the main one.

Kalvar now had a much better view of the ledge. The moblin he had saw earlier was all by itself. A small firepit was next to a tent. Apparently the moblin was staying up here on the ledge, all alone. The moblin was covered in different rags and random pieces of armor that it probably scrounged up. A small blow horn was hanging from his neck. If he missed, and that moblin blew its horn, there was going to be trouble. Suddenly, the moblin turned its head.

Kalvar quickly ducked down out of sight. He hoped that it had not seen him. He peeked his head up a minute later, and the moblin was no longer looking his way. He sighed silently and pulled out his bow. Pulling an arrow out of his quiver, as silently as he could, he notched it on the bow. With careful precision, he aimed straight for the head. Less than a second later, the arrow shot out of the bow faster than the moblin could react. Before the monster knew it, an arrow had embedded itself straight in the back of its head. "Perfect shot." He said to himself. The monster fell flat against the stone, clearly dead.

The remaining ledges took little time to climb, Terentia pacing herself as she climbed upwards towards where Kalvar would be waiting. Hopefully he had already dealt with the lookout, giving them a perfect location to scout out the camp. Pulling herself up the remaining ledge, she climbed to her feet and took a low stance as she moved forward. She could see Kalvar had already dealt with the Moblin, as she could see a feather growing out of the back of its skull. First things first, she wanted an idea of what the Moblins were capable of, so she took to the corpse and searched it.

"The armor is patchwork at best, his knife is also poorly sized to his hands, and his quiver is full of mismatched arrows," she noted as she checked the archer's gear. She could see arrows from quite a few fletchers, even noting some much like her own. "These bandits have been busy, so we can expect their gear to range from home-made to soldier-quality." Snagging the few Gerudo-made arrows from the quiver to add to her own, Terentia took to the ledge to look to the camp.

"I trust you can give us a good idea of what we are against," she told the Hylian as she started to look over the defenses, "and hopefully before his relief comes."

Smart of her to examine the Moblin, he had heard some stories of well equipped moblins, but that was usually closer to the bulk of Ganon's army. At least, so he hoped. The Hylian followed his partner to the edge of the ledge, and immediately started to scout the encampment. The first thing that he noticed, was the absolute madness of the campsite.

The only thing that seemed to make sense, was the area that seemed to be the storage area, was in the back of the camp. The strangest, but perhaps most expected part, was that a rather large area that was full of food, was right by the entrance. Kalvar guessed that by the time they got back from their escapades, that they were too hungry to get any farther than the entrance. Kalvar laughed to himself. "They have their food right next to the entrance." He explained to his ally. Right next to there, lied an area which seemed to house the various Moblins.

Four watchtowers were placed on opposite corners of the camp, all but the fourth one, which was actually near the center of the right side. There were a few more Moblins on the watchtowers than before, but nothing they couldn't handle. Another area seemed to be the location of some sort of training area. Several dummies were propped up around the place, taking shapes of Hylians, Gerudos, and even horses. But stranger still, there was a section above that which seemed to make no sense. It was almost completely pointless. Nothing struck Kalvar as a specific purpose.

Kalvar stood back up, for he was laying over the edge, and said to his partner "This encampment isn't set up well at all." He laughed a little bit. "The storage is located far away from the vast majority of the monsters. Not very well protected, the problem, is that our goal is to wipe the camp out, not retrieve the stolen goods." A smirk appeared on his face. "Its tempting though." He pulls his hawkeye off his face and hands it to Terentia, "Here, take a look."

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BEHOLD! MY AMAZING MS PAINT SKILLS!

Terentia waited as Kalvar scanned the camp with his Hawkeye, watching the occasional Moblin walking around far below. It was a sizeable camp for sure, and she had her doubts they could slaughter every single one of the soldiers down there. Of course, not all of them had to die exactly. If they broke their ranks, killed some higher ups and caused a panic, they would likely send the remaining bandits running. Even burning down a building or two would be sure to send some of the Moblins out. As Kalvar explained what he saw, he handed the Gerudo his Hawkeye to give her a better look herself.

Glancing through the magic lens, giving herself a close-up view of the camp, she started to scan the area as her she started to develop a plan. "Perhaps a visit to their warehouse would be a good idea. Let us assess the stolen goods, then make a choice. If we can, I'd gladly burn the storage to the ground, the fire would likely attract attention and confusion," she explained as she looked from the storage to the towers. "Alternatively, if the supplies could be salvaged afterwards, we burn the towers." Handing the Hylian back his Hawkeye, Terentia moved away from the ledge and made sure her shield was tight.

"Either way, I would like to clear out as many troops without alarm on our way there. With the fire, it will help cover more of our battle. If we can find their commander though, that will help in further scattering their morale and forcing them to flee. Thoughts?"

"I do have somewhat of an idea." Kalvar said. walking over to the small tent the moblin was using. "Perhaps we don't even have to go down to the camp to light the fire." A loud ripping sound was heard as Kalvar tore several strips of cloth out of the tent. He then walked over towards the smoldering firepit, and discovered there were still some hot coals remaining. Kalvar stoked the fire and started to get a small blaze going.

He then proceeded to wrap a few of his arrows with the cloth strips. "If I can succesfully light some arrows, I can set them into a panic before we even get close to them." Each about half of his arrows were now wrapped in these cloth strips. "Hopefully the the arrows won't be destroyed by the time I retrieve them." He looked over at Terentia and smiled, "What shall we burn first?"

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Sorry for it being so short, I didn't have much time to write this.

Terentia thought carefully at the suggestion, but eventually shook her head. "While it would save us some time, I wouldn't want to risk burning down valuable resources if we can help it," she explained, stopping for a moment to muse further. "Flaming arrows is a stroke of genius though. If we both have a few of those, we could probably light most of the camp aflame. A couple volleys on the Mess Hall should send those monsters running." Terentia was still thinking on the situation, wondering what the best course of action would be, eventually settling on something that seemed like a good bet.

"If we can get closer to the camp, setting the Mess Hall to flame might give us an easier time crossing the camp to the storage. I'll worry about firing the flaming arrows though, as I'll want you to take out the watchtower guards. That way we shouldn't have many eyes on us as we make our way through the camp. Thoughts?" she finished with, already drawing pieces of her equipment to double check then testing her bow to make sure it was still in working order.

"As much as I'd like a full stealth approach," she added casually, "if we need to wade in mid-panic I'm fine with that as well."

Kalvar stopped what he was doing and thought for a second. "It does seem more appropriate that the careful aiming be left to me, doesn't it." Standing up, he handing the majority of the cloth straps to his Gerudo partner. "You might need these." Pulling out his bow, he started to check his equipment, following the example of his ally. He pulled back the string on the bow, and was greeted with a weighty pull. Smiling, Kalvar sat the bow down and pulled out the rest of his arrows. A few had some nicks in the rods, but he was fairly certain that it wouldn't affects its flight though, he rarely missed a shot because of a faulty arrow.

Next, he examined his longsword. It wasn't the appropriate weapon for a man who focused mainly on stealth, but he liked the extra reach in close combat. It had served him quite well so far. He gripped the handle, and swung it once at an imaginary foe. It still seemed just as fine as he had last used it. No rust was dulling his blade. Resheathing his blade, he looked over at Terentia. "I think taking out the guards first seems like an excellent idea."

He replaced the Hawkeye on his face and attempted to locate the majority of the guards. Two were located on the closest tower, and a total of four were found on the farther two. "It might be smart to also locate the vast majority of archers, and burn them out first, I have a feeling a massive volley of arrows might be difficult to avoid." Kalvar said. "The monsters purely equipped with melee weapons can be easily taken out from afar."

The Gerudo warrior nodded in agreement, noting the tower locations and moving along the ridge to the mountainous wall. Looking down, she could see what was likely a climbing route, rough with few resting points. Terentia imagined it would be a one-way trip for her at least. Estimating the climbing time to possible burning time, Terentia went back over to where Kalvar was and sat down to begin preparing her arrows. "I don't know about your shots," she said as she prepped her arrows, "but I can make mine from up here before I make my way down. Either way, we'll want to get to ground level swiftly enough, lest our distraction be for naught."

Standing up with bow in hand, her shield laying on the ground nearby, she glanced off the cliff with a measured glance before bringing one of her primed arrows to hand. "When you are ready," she told her companion, waiting for him to ready his first shot. Once he was ready to fire, she would dip her arrow into the embers and then notch it to draw, firing at the Mess Hall down below. She would follow this up with the remaining four arrows she had prepared, then she would have to start down the route towards the camp itself.

Kalvar scoffed. "I could shoot them from the top of the mountain if need be." He grabbed his equipment and walked to the far edge of the ledge. He pulled out his bow and drew back the string, feeling the hefty tug of his 60 pound bow. Standing still, he waited for the perfect shot. The Moblins were completely unaware of his presence. They seemed to be celebrating something with some vulgar drink. Kalvar didn't want to think of what was inside. After a rather long wait, one of the moblins called out to his friends, and they all turned towards him.

It was the perfect timing, they were so unprepared for an attack. Kalvar shot his first arrow. It found its mark, and the Moblin dropped dead. Before the other monsters could react, he let loose a flurry of arrows at the closest tower. Each arrow striking just where he aimed. Some arrows missed, but Kalvar counted that towards the beasts moving around. Only about half of the Moblin guards pulled out the own bows, only to struggle to find his location. Two of the beasts found him, and were able to shoot several arrows, but only one of the shots were anywhere near him. The Hylian smiled, it was almost like playing with babies. His Hawkeye gave him a definite advantage of his prey. Kalvar naturally attributed this to his pure skill, instead of the Moblins being slightly intoxicated. Drunk Moblins do not make good archers.

Seconds later, all the watchtower guards were dead, or dying at least. He took great pride in his shots, and he had taken most of the beasts out with head and chest shots. If they had not found this location, it would have taken much longer to take them out, especially since they would be prepared. Their sneak attack had taken them by surprise. Of course, several of the monsters down below noticed. Several had fallen off the towers, and their bodies attracted attention.

As the first arrow loosed from Kalvar's hand, Terentia swiftly lit her own arrow and nocked it, pulling back on her bow until she felt it was drawn enough. Lining up her shot at the Mess Hall, she steadied her breathing and when she had her shot her fingers released the flaming arrow. The streaking flames rocketed through the air, the force of the bow and the downward angle causing the arrow to swiftly find its mark. Without waiting for the first attack to finish, the Gerudo was setting a second arrow to flame. Nock, draw, aim, release, and the second arrow was sinking into another roof.

Arrow three unfortunately failed to catch flames after landing on the hall, the arrow breaking on impact and scattering bits of fire about. It wouldn't be a speedy burn, but it would eventually do something. The fourth and final arrow found itself sunk through a tent into what must of been some kind of foodstuff, as the tent was already alight by the time Terentia had her bow away and shield in hand. "I'll meet you in the camp when you are done planting feathers," she told her companion as she moved towards the downward path.

Hopping down to the first ledge, Terentia swung herself over the edge and slid down across the stone to the second one. From there, she likely would need to climb down, spying some rough stone she could use for grip as she continued down. Nearing the bottom, all she had to do was jump down, hitting the roof of a building in a hard roll, tumbling from the roof onto a tent and collapsing it.

She would be sore for sure, but at least she was off the mountain and ready to charge into combat.

Returning his bow to his back, Kalvar followed his ally downwards. The rocks here were easier to climb down, and seemed to have been used by the moblins often. Running and leaping down as fast as he could. Just before he reached the bottom, his ally leapt over onto a building and rolled onto one of the tents. Kalvar followed suit and jumped on the building. Rolling as he landed, he sprung himself forward and jumped off. Landing right next to Terentia, he quickly pulled out his bow.

Several moblins started to charge at them. Knocking things over on their way, they were making it more difficult for others to follow them. Kalvar quickly dispatched a few of the beasts. It was much easier shots now that they were much closer. From behind, a moblin charged at him. It raised its hand, holding a long, gnarled scimitar, ready to swing. Kalvar's instincts took in, and he quickly turned and shot the moblin right between the eyes. A blank look appeared on his face as it fell to the ground. Dark red blood started to spread along the ground.

Turning back around to the main source of enemies, a set of two moblins, each wielding long spears charged at him and his ally. These brutes don't know when to give. Melee weapons only worked if you got close enough to hit him. Pulling out another arrow, he notched the string as fast as he could and pulled back. Aiming for the eyes, he fired the arrow, only to just graze its head. Kalvar growled something unintelligible, and jumped backward. Before they could get any close, he quickly turned around, and threw his bow on top of the building. Jumping up, Kalvar scaled the wall and reunited with his bow. Hopefully we would be less threatened up high.

Recovering from her tumble, Terentia saw Kalvar drop down nearby, bow back in hand and firing at the charging foes. Drawing her sword from its scabbard, the warrior charged forward as her companion narrowly missed the foe charging him. As the archer darted away to higher ground, Terentia intercepted the spear with her shield, deflecting the blow and using the Moblin's momentum to run her blade into his chest through the ragged armor he wore. Spinning to her right, she pulled the blade from her foe effortlessly and blocked the second spear as it came towards her. Stepping forward, she bashed her shield into her foe before slashing at his throat.

Moving forward, Terentia crossed blades with a third soldier, the gnarled blade it used was surely intimidating to a normal person, but in combat it was inferior to her own sword, which allowed her to throw the monster off-balance before slamming her blade into his chest. As she removed her blade, she decided getting caught up in more battling would slow her down and quickly made for cover behind another tent. Kalvar could cover a few more as long as they didn't have ranged weapons, but the Gerudo hoped her companion would keep moving so they could meet up past these buildings.