Frozen Wood [Closed]

The Deku pulled the cloak around him tighter, hoping not even a flake of snow would penetrate his defenses. Yet, despite all his efforts, the chill wind buffeted against him, tore the edge of his cloak from his fists, the brown cloth fluttering in the wind behind him. A snow drift opened its maw and swallowed him for a moment, the small figure staggering under the elemental force of the blizzard. Rising up from the pile, the green-clad duke clambered out through the top of the small mound, snow slipping from him. He shivered once, twice, and again he wondered to himself why he had come.

He checked his back again, to make sure the case to his bow was still tightly shut. He could not afford to lose his priceless bow, that he had crafted with his own hands. The moisture of the snow threatened to destroy the binding glue that held the bow together. That would be disastrous, considering their goal; there were reports of a massive, furred monster living in these parts of the Northern Hills. Should his bow fall apart at the wrong time.... Dante did not want to think about what might happen. As it was, Dante was already short some of his weapons. Thorn, his pair of spiked gauntlets, were no longer with him. Since he had returned to the outside world, he had not truly found them particularly useful, and as such, he'd sold them to pay for his way from Nabooru.

The journey had been long, and the rates the innkeepers charged these days were highway robbery. Back in his day, it had only cost a few rupees for a night's stay, but apparently those days were passed. Realizing that he sounded like an old man, he chuckled to himself. Looking behind him, searching for his companion in the snow, he called out. "Guy! Any idea where we might find our quarry?"

Dante grimaced. He would have made a rather discontented face, had that been particularly easy for a Deku. As it were, his solid face tried to contort itself into shapes it could not, resulting in Dante looking only mildly cross. "North, huh." He mumbled, lifting his legs up as high as possible, trying not to sink below the surface. "We should have bought snow shoes...." He muttered to himself. Even though his was fairly light, light enough to not simply sink into the snow entirely, making his way through the powdery dust was not easy work. Both Dante and Guy, who were light on their feet, seemed to be having an inordinate amount of difficulty. Making his way towards a large pine, Dante stopped at its base. The snow below it was significantly reduced, due to its long boughs. Taking a moments rest, he climbed up to a relatively dry limb and took a seat.

"This damned snow, Guy. It's almost as bad as all that blasted sand we dealt with, back when we were in the Gerudo Fortress. In fact, it's worse. Not only does it get into everything, it's cold, too." He said, more out of complaint, than anything. It was true though, this unnatural blizzard was both obnoxious, and large in magnitude. "If the king was right, saying that these fell creatures are somehow related to this dark blizzard, I hope we can end it soon. I'd rather not be living in a place full of this stuff." To make his point, he kicked at the snow just below him, the limb on which he sat only barely off the top of the snow.

Dante was slightly taken aback with Guy's display of passionate - for him anyways - emotion. Dante smiled inwardly, but decided not to press it; knowing Guy, he'd probably take offense, if Dante even suggested that his counterpart was anything less than "manly". Outward displays of emotions were, of course, not very manly. Dante hid his chuckle with a bought of coughing, the steam from his mouth quickly forming a small cloud and drifting away. Once he was done with his fit, he shrugged and looked at Guy. "I haven't a clue. None of the artifacts that I possessed have started working again, either. It's as if the magic simply left them. But this blizzard smells of magic, so perhaps this might lead to a something capable of restoring your Hover Boots?" He wondered aloud.

It was certainly feasible, trying to restore the magic to Guy's boots. If there were some way to infuse it with enough magic, there was a chance that it could start working again. But it was no sure bet. Not only that, but where would they find magic powerful enough for the boots? The boots had held powerful energies, the likes of which even Dante had no knowledge, nor mastery of. Had Dante lived another hundred years, perhaps he might have been able to restore them, but even then, it probably would have been temporary. No, what they needed was something incredibly powerful, if Guy's Hover Boots were to work once again. "Perhaps we should move on, then. Your boots certainly won't start working of their own accord."

Looking around, Dante tried to find their best course of action. Eyes trailing up the mountainside, which was covered in snow, and still falling snow, Dante was not able to see much. However, he saw a shadow in the distance, a dark splotch on the mountainside. It was different from the rocks that jutted from the mountain; this appeared to be an inlet, perhaps a cave. Pointing to what he saw, he called out to Guy. "Do you see that over there? That might be suitable shelter for us, as this blizzard doesn't seem to be letting up." Though it was hard to tell, it was starting to get darker. They had to find someplace in which they could stay, and soon.

"I'd rather not be stuck in a cave, too, if that's what you mean." He replied dourly. As time continued on, their journey seemed to only get more grim. Still, he was determined to complete their goal. If the creature was as powerful as was thought, Dante suspected that there might be great power to be found with, or near it. He fully intended to find and posses said power, be it a strong magic or an object of some sort. That, and Dante found himself extremely curious about the state of things currently; there was clearly something moving this great blizzard across Hyrule, and Dante wanted to know who or what it was. Even if it meant trekking through miles of snow.

That did not, however, ease his extreme discomfort. Luckily, the cave was not quite as far as it had initially appeared. Not long after setting off from the tree, the two came upon the cave entrance. Dante shivered in the cold. There was something about the cave, something about the darkness within. It was as if a veil of shadows had settled in the mouth of the cave, a great gaping maw now, that beckoned to the two Deku, ready to devour them. Dante half expected an incomprehensibly large monster to rise up from the snow, and bear down upon them. Yet, the air was fraught with power. Dante's nerves tingled with electricity, as he felt the energies flowing through him. He let out a gruff sigh. "Do you feel that, Guy? There's something of great power, within this place. Something dark too, but immeasurably powerful." He breathed out quietly. Guy was not as sensitive to magic as Dante was, but there was no doubt if Guy could feel the power or not.

He drew Talon, his kukri, the fine steel of his blade hissing as it exited his scabbard. The metal of his sword glinted in the darkness as he strode into the cave, then disappeared from existence as shadows consumed Dante. Two pairs of orange eyes glowed in the dark, but that did not help to penetrate the deep, bone-chilling blackness. Dante shuddered, as momentary fear gripped his heart. This was not a natural darkness in which they stood, it was a magical shroud meant to conceal the cave from curious wanderers, thieves, and adventurers like themselves. Dante was sure of it. Concentrating, Dante felt strength well up within him, banishing the fear, bringing life back to his body. A green glow enveloped his blade, the power of wind lending him its strength. He held it up as a torch to light his way.

The light did not travel far, but Dante could now see Guy. The light seemed to be pushing away the darkness, leaving only a have sphere of light around the two Deku. Or, perhaps it was the other way around, the darkness pushing against the barrier of light. It did not matter. Dante wanted to leave this accursed shroud as quickly as possible. "I can't even see anything, in here..." He could not see past the edge of his bubble of light, only inky black swimming around them. "There's not much else I can do about this darkness. What about you?" Dante said wryly.

"In retrospect, we should have seen that coming." Dante replied dryly. And it certainly would not be easy to dispose of these Keese. There was one good thing, however. It seemed that the combined magical power of the Cursed Keese had been generating the magical darkness, and now that they had been disturbed, the curtain had fallen, now replaced by a moving wall of wings and hissing. Not much of an improvement, but Dante would take whatever he could get. Grunting, grasping his Whirlwind with his left hand, he drew it forth from its holster and aimed it at the fluttering monsters.

His sword dimmed ever so slightly, a part of the Wind Enchantment transferring to his Whirlwind. Pulling the trigger, the windmill-head of the contraption span, generating magical winds, augmented by the enchantment. A powerful burst shot forth from the device and collided with the undulating wall of enemies, gouging a hole and sending them careening into the wall. Several fell dead to the ground, and the others were left dazed and unable to properly. Dante repeated this action several times, but many keese still remained. Those remaining, now fully awake from their slumber, dived at the two, angered for being woken.

Pushing back with one foot, Dante ducked as one keese dive bombed his head, pirouetting as he crouched. His sword collided with the diving keese, catching its breast, the wound exploding into a flower of red as the wind of his enchanted blade blasted open the wound made by the sword. Sending up another blast of wind towards another keese above him, Dante completed his spin and took a step back, needing a moment to reassess the situation.

Dodging from left to right, Dante realized that he simply could not dodge the keese for forever. They were too many in number, and certainly far too many for him to keep track of at the same time, much less disable. Grunting as he weaved through several diving keese, several of which opened small gashes in his cloak, the Deku watched as his comrade was at first able to repel the keese, then was quickly overwhelmed by them. Even though the noise created by dozens of flapping keese threatened to drown out all sound, he was still able to make out the two words that Guy had yelled out to him. His comrade shot past him, already making his way towards the cave entrance, probably their one hope of escaping this alive.

Thinking quickly, Dante replaced his kukri in its sheath near the small of his back, the steel closing with a Shck! Pivoting on one foot and facing towards the cave entrance, Dante began to fall forward. bending his knees, as he did so, Dante waited for the precise moment at which he was nearly parallel to the ground. Aiming the Whirlwind behind him so that it was pointing slightly at the ground, Dante pushed off the cave floor while simultaneously letting out a blast of wind with his device. Translating his downward momentum into a horizontal one, Dante rocketed forward, feet dragging behind him just barely inches off the ground. Setting his feet below him once again, his legs pumping at a rate barely enough to keep up with his speed, Dante lunged at Guy, grabbing the Deku by his luxurious "hair" as he flew past. Dragging his comrade behind him, the two burst out of the mouth of the cave, sending out a flurry of snow. The keese followed shortly after, expelled from the cave and into the blizzard.

Nodding to Guy, Dante also made his way back to the cave, although the two had slid more than a few feet from its entrance. Already the height of the snow had risen a couple inches, since they had last been out in the storm. Dante silently cursed to himself. Even if they made it into the cave, and killed whatever was in it, they faced an even greater trail in trying to leave the Northern Hills. Perhaps, though, if they killed the source of this blizzard, it might end. Dante dearly hoped so. He was not fond of rotting in a cave until the cold finally took him. That would not be a suitable death for either of the Deku.

Pressing onward, he clawed his way into the cave, pushing aside some of the snow that had been displaced by the explosive force of the keese. Already it was much easier to see within the cave; light from the outside leaked in, and although it was little, it was enough for the two to see fairly deep within. As it were, the cave did not seem to lead anywhere. There was no tunnel at the back of the cave, nor a ledge they could climb up to, only a large fissure in the wall. On closer inspection, Dante saw that the crack was relatively thin, but quite tall, at least the height of two Hylians or so. Stepping up into it, wedging himself between the walls and finding that he just barely fit, Dante called over to Guy.

"This seems to go further back, though I'm not sure how deep. It's a natural crevice and may not lead to anywhere, but" Dante waved to the rest of the cave, "it doesn't seem there's much of a choice." He grimaced. With that, Dante was off, groping his way down deeper into the bowels of the earth.

Of all the things Dante had expected to find, this certainly was not one of them. Certainly he had expected a tomb perhaps, or another barren cave. However, this room contained a torch, and a large pelt, perhaps used as bedding. When he'd received the description of the monster they were hunting, he had imagined it as an unintelligent beast, living in squalor and fetid conditions. This went against his preconceptions; now, Dante wasn't so sure. Was this Yeti intelligent? Did it expect them? These questions brought a slight twinge of fear, yet it sharpened his thoughts, too. Dante would not be caught unprepared, and he doubted that Guy would either.

"I didn't actually expect someone to be living here." Dante spread his hands wide, motioning to the entirety of the room. Dante let out a hefty sigh, rubbing his hands together to warm them by the dying torch. "Give me a moment. Now that we're in a dry place..." Setting his bow case down from his back, he unlatched it and removed his bow. Stringing it in one fluid motion, and testing its pull with a pluck, Dante notched an arrow, kept it at the ready. "Should we rest here, or are you ready to move on?" Dante asked Guy, looking at the door. If the other Deku decided to move on, Dante would be ready to send a shaft or two into anything that might appear.

Dante shook his head. "I still feel the thrumming of power that I did before, but nothing has changed. It doesn't seem to be growing stronger, or weaker, the deeper we go into the cave. It's as if this entire cave system is coated in magic, rather than all the magic being concentrated in one place." Dante explained, releasing the bowstring and putting it back to resting position. "Normally there would a source of magical energy in cases like this, and I would be able to track something like that down, in the way that you might think. But in this case... Either there is no definite source, or the font of magic is so powerful, so beyond me, that I can't even sense a change in power as we get closer to it." Dante was slightly embarrassed to admit to such a failing, but it was true; there was magic in this world that he hadn't the slightest comprehension of.

Still, now was not the time to speak of such things. Not yet. Surely whatever lived in this room would return shortly; the deep rumble in the cave that would have been caused by the exiting of dozens of Keese would ensure that. Thus, it seemed, Dante would be quite obviously present in the room, while Guy would, with luck, go undetected. Not a bad plan, considering Dante had enough distance from the door to use his bow. Stepping backwards slightly, so that he was in clearly view of the opening of the door, Dante placed his bow at the ready again, waiting for anything to come through the door.

It was not long before they could hear footsteps beyond the door, and getting closer. They were hurried, and sounded more like sandals slapping against a stone floor. Of all the things that would come bursting through the door, a middle-aged Hylian was not what Dante had expected; nor, did the Hylian expect to see a small Deku pointing an arrow straight at his chest. Eyes wide for a moment, he let out a short-lived gasp before collapsing. "Well." Dante said, confused. Walking up to the Hylian for closer inspection, Dante saw that the man was fairly short, and had very little flesh on him. Chicken feathers stuck out of pepper gray hair that was little more than tufts and wisps, while dark bags made the man's closed eyes seem almost like empty sockets.

Dante looked over at the pelt. "What now?"