Frozen Poultry on Aisle 2 [Nameless and Genzo]

Ruairi was happy to take the lead as the torch-bearer, stepping out into the hallway and searching for the way back up one step at a time. There was an odd haze in the basement – was that because of dust or what? Whatever the reason was, it was a bit difficult to see very far up ahead, so he had to remain vigilant. A wet splish under his foot made him frown as he looked at the disgusting-looking sludge beneath – they really should have given this basement a proper flush at some time, right now it looked like there was a lifetime supply of rotted material and who knew what else still clinging to the path ahead, compared to the relatively dry stones up ahead. Nothing was exactly dry in this damp place, but this… The Rito supposed all the moisture eventually must have made its way down where they now were forced to walk. But they wanted to go up. Was this a sign that they were only going further down?

Strange sounds caught his attention. Ruairi squinted, but couldn't see anything up ahead – nor could he see through the walls, unfortunately. What was that sound? He couldn't even try to name it, it just sounded that odd. Perhaps a part of it was like… Flapping? And it was coming closer. Before the source revealed itself, the walls were bathed in a sickly green light, as if the fire in someone's lantern was somehow given such a strange hue. The Rito had stopped and looked like he had braced himself as well, his expression serious.

And then, it appeared. A gigantic skull, that was what it was. Wreathed in strange green flames. Another, even bigger skulltula, the revenge of one that had been burned in the past?! No, this one was not that. It was not the strangely shaped back of a spider, but an actual, real skull. Ruairi could hardly believe it, but that was what it was. And it was… Flying. And it was still on fire. And coming closer to them. And practically took up the width of the path they were on!

The Rito glanced at Eve quickly when she seemed to be just as confused about what they were looking at. Usually the Kokiri was the one who knew what kind of monstrosity they were up against, but this one was strange even to her. He looked back at the skull – and it had kept approaching them. It had clearly noticed them – and it was clearly coming right at them. Ruairi's body was preparing for something, but whether that something was a strike of some sort or a tactical retreat, even he didn't know that yet.
"I don't know about you, but usually hitting something that is quite literally on fire isn't a good idea!" He spoke up, practically through his teeth as he tried to figure something, anything out. Were those actual green flames, or just something that looked like flames? He wasn't close enough to feel it. Still, getting hit by them didn't seem like such a great idea – could they extinguish them somehow?

Ruairi watched as Eve threw her knife at surprising competency and accuracy – only for it to helplessly tink as it hit the approaching skull monster and spin off onto the floor. Actually, did it even manage to hit the skull? Was that the fire that had acted as an impenetrable barrier? When he was worried about the flames, that definitely hadn't been the reason, but it seemed like he had still been right, in a different way. He thought ranged fighting would have been the way, but it seemed like even that didn't help as long as that thing was on fire. What could they do to–

The time was up. The skull had gotten too close. By now, trying to outrun it didn't seem very plausible, and those green flames felt so bright that they almost burned the Rito's eyes. But that was all it seemed to be, bright. He couldn't feel the heat of fire – maybe it wasn't fire, then? Still, he didn't want to touch it, magical fire could have been so much worse than normal fire! All Ruairi could do at this point was throw himself at the wall and squeeze himself against it. He didn't even dare to breathe as he sucked his stomach in and squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the rush of the skull flying past him. He quickly opened his eyes to look at it go – and luckily, it did not turn around to try to smack them again. Or eat them? Whatever giant skulls did, anyway…

He finally dared to breathe, too, as the sound of the skull got further. Eve had managed to avoid it as well, with a roll – not a suggested maneuver if Ruairi was asked, considering how dirty the floor was.
"I don't know if sharp weapons are very good against something without flesh," he hummed to the Kokiri's laments. Bone wasn't easy to stab, but it could be crushed, surely. He was hoping that they would never see that thing again, but if they did… Maybe the next time they didn't have the option to avoid it.
"But that fire… That fire is the biggest problem. It almost seemed like it protected the damn thing…"

Would even water extinguish flames like that?

Ruairi was not as interested in other treasure now that they had gotten what they came here to get, but that didn't stop Eve from skipping over to the little treasure chest in glee. His gaze lingered after the floating skull for a moment, before he too walked over to check out what was inside – of course he was a little curious, in case there was something interesting in there. No rats this time, which was great, but the light of the torch caused whatever it was at the bottom to glint. Maybe it was a rupee? Or some kind of a gem? That would be pretty nice!

A greedy hand only suffered. The Kokiri snatched it up and ended up letting out a yelp of pain. The treasure was no treasure at all, not in the monetary sense or just in the sense of being something one would want to carry around. It was a shard of glass, quite literally garbage. The Rito's expression soured as well.
"Why would they put trash in these chests," he muttered. Was there someone who was so lazy they couldn't bring themselves to carry them outside and take care of them properly? Was there someone who walked around stashing bits and pieces of trash into empty chests for fun? He couldn't understand…

But Eve was indeed bleeding. Ruairi frowned as he looked at the blood pour out of her hand. Glass always cut so deep, it seemed, causing very painful injuries like that.
"That might leave a scar," he was forced to give the devastating news. If it wasn't taken care of properly, it might not even heal properly! How horrible was that.
"We really need to get back upstairs and fast…"

Ruairi seemed to be more concerned about the prospect of scarring than anything else as he eyed the Kokiri – seemingly even she was allowed the grace to remain unscarred, even if the girl herself didn't seem to be as worried about as that as he was. He was certain that they were so close to getting back up already – surely a basement like this couldn't be too large, right? He couldn't help but frown when Eve mentioned her strange theory of this place being a trap, a dungeon.
"Well…?" The Rito asked, cocking his head slightly. Eve had mentioned a well a long time ago, at some point, and how there used to be one here. But this was no well! There certainly was water, but that made sense if this basement was built where a well used to be. There surely was a lot of water below the ground and it needed a place to go to. He kind of waved his hand at everything around them: a well with such wide hallways and large chambers? Surely not!

But a familiar sound made his skin crawl and pull his attention away from that. Ruairi spun around to be greeted by the same sickly green glow they had seen earlier, along with the flap of leathery wings. It was another one of those skulls, coming at them! Indeed, its ugly skull-face soon peeked around the corner, and the Rito's body tensed up like a snake coiling ready to pounce. Not that he really knew what they should be doing, when an attack hadn't worked before! How could they try to extinguish that thing's flame to test out their theory?!

They didn't have to. Suddenly, the fire went out on its own. Why? How? Could the skull only keep it up for a certain time before it would go out? Whatever it was, this was their time to strike and see if that made the difference!
"Go!" Ruairi cheered as Eve threw her dagger again. He was a bit worried that a sharp blade wouldn't be able to damage something made of bone… But his worry was unnecessary. It struck its target, and caused the skull to just start crumbling as it fell.
"That is the trick!" His confidence and excitement was at an all-time peak as he spoke about their victory – he of course had done a lot to make this become possible, obviously.

The Rito practically skipped over to the remains of the skull to see if there might have been something useful left in its place. At least he was easily distracted by his main goal of just wanting to find the stairs.

Ruairi stopped in front of the little key that now remained, waiting on the floor where the monstrous skull creature had been slain. So it was carrying a key all along – would it have been an important key that they should have taken with them? …Surely they wouldn't have locked the stairs leading out of here, right?! Then again, maybe they would have, if this was a basement for extra storage. He gingerly picked up the key and showed it off to Eve like it had all been thanks to him that they could have such amazing spoils, and there was now a different sort of bounce to his step as they kept walking ahead.

They might have taken the long way around, but Ruairi didn't seem to be bothered. Perhaps he hadn't even noticed it. Finally, there was something to change the monotony of the stone walls and damp corridors. A door. With a lock. The Rito was certain this was where the key would go – but before he could test out this theory, the key was snatched from him by the Kokiri, who just went and opened the door instead.
"Hey!" He just huffed, annoyed, but the deed was already done. The door had been opened… And a strange room was on the other side.

Instead of stone, this one looked more… Earthy. Still wet, something Ruairi learned when his step made a disgusting squish and he frowned, lamenting how his boots would look after all this. Was there still actual bricks under all of this, or was it all wet soil? Why would a room like this be locked up? The room was hazy, with whoever knew what floating in the air, and the torchlight did not manage to brighten up the whole place. Still, a strange glow could be seen in the back – would that be the way back?

The Rito was bolstered with new confidence as he stepped in. Something was growing out of the ground, though. They looked like… Arms! Long arms. Were they some sort of strange mushroom? No way would he ever eat anything like that, Ruairi had decided right then and there, even if someone offered. But as he pondered this, a sound from the center caught his attention and he stopped in his tracks, even taking a step or two back. Something… Was digging its way out of the ground!

It was a strange shape. It couldn't have been called completely humanoid, strangely amorphous with a long, skinny neck that looked like it would snap under the weight of its own head. Such a horrific, slack-jawed face, the pale skin stretched so tight over it that it almost looked like a skull and nothing else. Ruairi even let out a small gasp, just barely having enough time to notice the manager label on the creature's shirt. Oof. How unfortunate. He had seen the workers above, the state the work had reduced them to. Was this what the managers of this store would end up looking like? What was causing all of this? This poor… Man? looked like he was completely bald as well, as the fake hairpiece shifted on top of his head. But even if the Rito pitied him… It didn't excuse everything they had been through.

"Finally! A manager!" He exclaimed as he crossed the distance between them with quickened steps,
"Seriously, what is up with your store?! It's in such poor condition that we fell in here and have been trying to find a way out for who knows how long!" Ruairi started to lay it on the poor manager – conveniently ignoring the fact that they had went into areas that were off-limits and that was why they fell, but he wanted to take out his anger on someone.

Perhaps someone else would have felt a great deal of pity for the manager as he not only had to deal with Ruairi's complaints, but Eve quickly joined in on it as well. Of course Eve's ranting wasn't making much sense, but either the Rito didn't care or didn't notice as he too kept approaching the retreating manager, whose pale skin somehow was looking even colder and clammier from the cold sweat. Eve had already pulled out her weapon, and Ruairi was just completely in the moment.
"Yeah! Yeah! What are you going to do?!" He basically backed the Kokiri up, even if her words had started to be weirdly drawn out and slurry, harder to understand than normal.

Of course he was on board for a coupon or something, but the killing part made him snap out of it for a moment as he looked at her.
"Wait what," he asked quickly – he was pretty sure threats weren't supposed to involve killing no matter what, as that kind of defeated the purpose of getting someone to work with them. The weird hand-looking things sprouting from the ground that he had assumed to be the weirdest mushrooms had already tangled around Eve, almost like they really were hands trying to stop her from getting too close. A strange security measure?

Oh well. There were two of them there, so the Rito was able to keep moving while Eve was restrained… If they even managed to keep her still for very long.
"We definitely want compensation! Coupons! A way out! Or I'll tell everyone what a lousy experience we had!" Ruairi approached the poor manager with new vigor, who just couldn't back away fast enough. Despite being smaller than the strange, bloated manager, he still somehow managed to feel imposing, like he could loom over the poor man threateningly.

"Hey! I'm talking!" Ruairi huffed once he noticed the manager's attention shift elsewhere, somewhere to the side. Towards… Eve, who was still struggling with the weird hand-like growths, that really did look like actual hands. Were they hands? Impossibly long arms just sticking out of the ground, ready to grab anyone who got near? That felt absurd – perhaps it should have felt alarming, but right now the Rito had his feathers ruffled from problems that had been caused by themselves but made into someone else's fault, and now he fully believed to be a victim who needed justice. The weird fairy had been freed again, too, and the entire scene just was strange to look at. Why was the manager even heading in Eve's direction? Would he have actually helped her?

He never found out the answer to that as she finally managed to squirm free after a few stabs – the strange arm-like things were acting very much like hands now as they coiled in pain. But what he managed to witness was something much more inspiring. It would be a moment Ruairi was going to try to forget, one he wouldn't dare to admit had actually happened. Definitely not to the Kokiri, but also not anyone else. Not even himself. It all was denied. But as he watched her make her demand, her eyes glowing… It almost felt… Inspiring? Him, inspired by Eve? How the whole room almost felt like it grew brighter and pulled attention all to herself, the figurative spotlight, demanding respect and feeling like she actually deserved it.

She was quickly back to her usual self as she started a fight with the arms, whacking them with her hammer with wild swings. A strange power felt bubbling inside him, as if something had awakened from this inspiration and filled him with a great power. A power that could be too dangerous to wield – a power that was too dangerous to use. The Rito slammed his foot down as it was now his turn to command the presence of the room and demand everyone's attention, his own gaze only a smidge less intense than that of Eve's as he glared at the manager without that golden hue.
"That's right" His voice was powerful and almost booming, like he had tapped into the combined strength of all the shopper complainers in the world. It must have been the trick of the light, a slight flickering of his torch, as if an otherworldly wind had picked up and fluffed up his hair.
"Or I will make a formal complaint!"

Ruairi glared at the manager, who despite his rather imposing size, was now starting to feel smaller and smaller. And somehow even sweatier. Those many, strange floor hands reached out into the manager's pockets and started pulling out… Coupons? The Rito's expression brightened, that intense posture of his melting. Just like he had requested. Once he looked back at the strange manager, however, he still was small – and just getting smaller as he burrowed deeper and deeper into the soft, wet soil, disappearing completely. How… Strange. This store was strange. And doing some really strange things to those who worked inside it.

Oh well! Ruairi pushed that out of his mind for now as he turned back to the coupons, starting to look through them. Some of them were lying directly on the muddy floor, so those would have to be discarded anyway, as there was no way he would be touching them. But whatever had landed on top of everything was safe. He hummed as he sorted through the pile.
"Oh, these are good. And this, and that… We'll be having such a large discount! No, it'll probably be free! No, no – they'll have to pay us!" Ruairi just basically beamed at the thought of a good deal. This day hadn't been so bad after all!

"Tea?" He asked the Kokiri, his pockets stuffed with coupons,
"I guess I can think about that," he ended up nodding after a moment. He had just agreed to considering it, though. The Rito's gaze turned towards the stairs, and he nodded, taking his first step towards freedom. The floor was still soggy and made disgusting squelching noises, but the stairs looked solid enough. He'd have to get rid of the torch soon – it would look pretty weird if he brought it all the way up.
"Well, that's that. I still have to go get my coat… But that wasn't so bad," Ruairi just nodded to himself. The fact that Eve was basically poisoned and bleeding out had been completely ignored.
"But this place… I can't believe a store would make its workers look like that. It's like something is wrong. I mean, they look like… They're half dead, or something."

Quite literally undead in the case of many of them, but it seemed like Ruairi had managed to completely miss that fact and just assume that normal people would start looking like the living dead after working at this crappy giant store. Surely anyone would assume he was referring to the actual living people, who also were looking off and overworked, and not the undead monstrosities.

Ruairi walked up the stairs – and of course did not help the Kokiri in carrying the very heavy bag she had. While it certainly must have looked comical to most to see a child be forced to carry the burden, the truth was that she was actually the stronger one of the two. …Not that the Rito even thought about that, he just wasn't the kind of a person who would go carrying someone's bag for them. Especially not Eve's bag. Who knew what was in there, and he didn't want to find out, much less touch it. It would probably be sticky anyway.

The torch was extinguished before they made it to the top and tossed aside. Ruairi was forced the shield his eyes from the brightness above – he had forgotten just how much there was in the form of lighting up in the storeroom. The basement had only been lit up by the light of a single torch, and the silence had almost been deafening. Right now the section they were at looked awfully calm compared to what they had gone through before. Like locusts, the customers had picked everything off the shelves already and dispersed elsewhere to keep hoarding extra stuff… But they were off somewhere close. Ruairi could hear them.

"Well, I'll go grab my coat. After that, hm, well if we get separated and can't find each other, we can meet up once we have to pay for everything. We can just wait by the checkout," he spoke to Eve, not very interested in more shopping now that he had the one thing he came here to get. He definitely didn't want to try to squeeze into any large crowds!

Ruairi made his way to where they had first entered the staff area easily now that the masses had moved inside the store. His coat was luckily still there, not having been noticed by anyone, be it staff of customers. It was picked up and carried in his hands, as it was still way too warm to be wearing such a thick coat indoors! After that it was just a matter of finding out where he was supposed to meet up with Eve. Many of the signs had already been trampled, so they wouldn't lead anyone anywhere… But the Rito had a hunch that if he followed where the crowds gathered, he would eventually with the checkout.

And he was right about that. After all, eventually all the customers had to head in that direction, and a bottleneck had been formed. With just a handful of lanes that could tally up the purchases and take rupees, the lines had grown awfully long. Ruairi looked around – there was no sign of the Kokiri anywhere. Of course she was short enough to be easily swallowed by crowds… But he felt like she would also be pushing people around now that everyone was mostly stationary as they waited to get out. He made the bold move of stepping into a queue, even though he didn't have any of the goods – Eve was the one carrying them, after all. Everything moved so slowly, he was sure it would take ages before it was his turn…

It indeed was taking ages. The Rito let out a yawn, only able to take a step closer every now and then. It was a good thing he had taken a spot, as once he finally noticed a familiar girl waddle her way through, it would have taken even longer for them to be able to make their purchases!
"Here, here!" He called out to the Kokiri – and anyone who tried to object to her cutting in line would get a rather dangerous stink-eye in return. By now it was almost their turn, and Ruairi wasted no time in ushering Eve to put everything out for the cashier to check.
"Oh, and I have these. And these, and this, and this, and some of these," he started to pull out the copious amounts of coupons from his pockets, getting more and more ridiculous discounts and refunds from everything. The pile just kept growing, much to the horror of the poor cashier – and the ones in line behind the Rito. Processing everything surely would have taken another eternity.