Mint-y Fresh OGRELOAD! [Woodfall, Cloud/Genzo]

Julius was taking a considerable amount of time off. His time with the Hyrule Guard was quickly coming to a close; whether or not he would reenlist... Well, there were more important matters at hand, anyhow. He was boarding a ship-- one that would, hopefully, take him to see the various sites and islands around the Great Sea. As he was standing in line, he noticed a particularly burly Goron, with many belts and ropes around his person. These were most likely used for climbing, as using those for defense would be largely pointless.

They were steadily boarding the ship, now. Nothing especially unusual happened-- except they tried to keep a rowdy group of people from getting aboard, which Julius was frankly thankful for. Eventually, they set sail, the smoke billowing out from the smokestacks.

Julius, for once in his entire life, just enjoyed the view. For a while, he lost himself amidst the azure waves, gently rocking the boat to and fore. Julius actually enjoyed it.

"BROTHERRRRR!" boomed a friendly voice back from the direction of the jacked Goron.

"You look like you are exceptionally FIT! Not like all these other Hylians! We should train some time, I would like to share secrets with you." the Goron proposed, jolly and enthusiastically.

As his voice reverberated across the ship, somewhere behind a barrel was a shivering of sorts. Strong but very sickly, a familiar girl stowed away just out of sight. She didn't already know her acquaintance would be on the ship, it was a coincidence. She had come aboard in hopes of reliving her history of sailing the seas. For after being cursed and used by the military, it was finally time for a real break from the mainland.

"By the way, the name's Briggson. Don't forget it brother." he finished.

He reflected on the majority of his life; the majority of it being spent in the Hyrulean Guard and its associated forces. The things he'd done... Could they really be described as just? His scar, most importantly; he'd been assigned an especially important mission, one he'd failed to complete... He remembered how the blade struck his face, how he'd ended up completely, utterly defeated... Perhaps that's why they saw it fit to keep him in the Guard, then, but only as a Guardsman.

Then, he thought, why would they? Because his father, Faris, had been a founding member of the Knights of Hyrule? An order separate from that of the Royal Guard, to be certain, but at the same time, sworn to protect the Royal Family no less. An important, yet expendable, force. Drawing from mostly the Hyrulean Guard for its members... He remembered when he'd been reselected for it. Having seen his improved prowess, his impressive durability; all because of that earlier moment, when he'd gained the scar that ran across his left eye.

He traced a finger over it. This was the reason for so many things in his life. Had he not been told he'd be great, destined for great things; born to a lower family, he thought, he would have most likely enlisted in the Kakariko Guard, and most likely been killed defending it.

He thought back on his decisions in the midst of the Great Winter that swept Northern Hyrule; had he handled that properly? He swore, in the moment, that it was all necessary... But was it really? There were more people that he could have saved, certainly, but... Had he really handled it properly? His thoughts were interrupted as a Goron, bearing the name of Briggson, approached and commented about how he seemed exceptionally fit.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess I am. I don't know; it seems like I'm expected to be, all because of the group I'm associated with." Then, he thought, what it really meant to be a part of the Knights of Hyrule. Was it really such a formal title?

"A knight?? Haha." Briggson chuckled. He seemed lost in thought.

"Your armor gives it away, brotherrr. You're a member of the service." he mused, squeezing a tuft of his mustache.

Briggson knew but a few things, mostly botany and fitness. He was intent on studying the build, the fitness regimen of anyone he met. He was astute to what Julius had been doing, and also aware of the brutal training required of the court of Hyrule Castle. Among some things, it was a local legend along with stories of how the Royal Guardsmen stand in silence outside the castle walls for hours on end. It was certain he knew how Julius trained, but someone he was about to meet would slap his expectations in the face.

"I smell something off, actually. I don't have my sea legs. I might get myself to the edge before I blow pebbles." he added punctually.

The smell was evidently something nearby. Upon hearing the words "the service," Evelyn's ears perked up. She adjusted the cloth over her eyes. As this wasn't some form of teen challenge she managed a look at the Knight. There he was, the boy himself.

"Mister shines is that you? Don't tell the ship captain I'm on board. You look shiny today." she grunted, working her way over to him.

She was dressed in something befitting herself, a style-of-the-day gown. Which is to say, not her guardsman armor. This raised a lot of questions, although it served to explain why she was missing for all these months. Today she was also sporting a sort of fur boa, either a costly accessory or something she recently killed. The scent hinted of the latter.

Julius scrunched his nose. It seemed that horrible smell, that he was just now noticing, was emanating from Evelyn. He answered Briggson, "Yes, I am a Knight of Hyrule. Not a Royal Guardsman, though, and I doubt I'll ever become one, if I'm being real with you," he paused, looking at Evelyn.

"Aren't you supposed to be on duty right now?" He remarked, not really caring about the answer she gave. "Anyways, I doubt I'll reenlist. Getting too goddessdamned old for this." With that, he turned his back to Evelyn. "Y'know, due to my position as a Knight of Hyrule, I could technically strip you of your rank and pretty much exile you from the Hyrulean Guard, but something tells me you've already deserted your post, yeah?" He looked back at Evelyn. "Well, regardless, I'll not be worried about that." He turned back, gazing at the ocean waves.

Then, the announcer spoke over the loudspeaker, "Annnnnd here's our first stop, folks! This island is renowned for it's Deku! Beware, though, because it's also home to a great, DANGEROUS temple! Dubbed, 'Woodfall Temple' by the locals!" Then, the loudspeaker shut off, its magical connection ended.

"Hm. Well, that sounds like a job for us, no?" Julius posed the question to Briggson and Evelyn. "Either way, I'm gonna scope the temple out," Julius confirmed, patting the sword at his side. "Got a bow, too, if you need it, Briggson," Julius commented about... Briggson's lack of preparedness. Maybe he would use his exceptional FITNESS to pass through, and eventually, come out on top.

"A deserter?" Briggson questioned, working his way off the boat.

Briggson sized the girl up immediately. Something besides the smell was off about her. It was probably more than impolite of him to stare, but he was an expert at fitness after all. The feet, the legs, the abdomen, the torso, and those arms. . . He scratched his head and suddenly came down with a worried expression.

"Who cares what you did or didn't join, girl. YOU have committed a horrible crime! Your arms and legs are toned, taught skin and hard musculature. . . but nothing else! You worked ONLY YOUR ARMS AND LEGS and not your core, your back, your neck. . . nothing! I'm surprised you can even stand with such imbalance, such imposture, such. . . blegh! Have you spent all your life bench pressing and walking or have you spent all this time swinging something around without exercising? I'm not even going to ask about that thing on your face. Just let me cool off for a while, I need silence." the Goron ranted. He was running out of steam thinking of all the fitness sins the girl had committed.

Eve still had Surgate's words spinning about her head. The Captain was thoughtful and forgiving as always, too much for her own good. She wasn't sure exactly what caused her to leave. But looking back, it was probably the fact that they were using her to guard posts like a tool, her "fist eyes" taking down random brainless monsters and keeping the peace. It wasn't even so much that the work was mindless, but how they treated her. Court Mages were just as useful, but above the work of a commoner. Although there was that Red guy, he was somewhat like them but more of a freelancer. Evelyn was called out for those dirty missions, the ones rarely spoken of, where some kind of giant rat had to be touched.

"You know Surgate, I don't know what that Goron was on about. Most people only care about whether I can hit things. Which I was doing in the guard, you know. But I don't like when they think of me as a hitting machine. I've got a couple of curses to get rid of, mind. I'd gladly go back to being a hitting machine if I had a hammer again. Oh! Thanks a bunch for that knife, it's the handiest most not-cursed thing I have. I really appreciate your work and craftsmanship, it makes things seem not-so-bad." she responded to Julius, thoughtfully.

It seemed that Eve was actually quite hygienic for once, as the smell was coming solely from the weird animal skin she had on her neck. Noticing the Goron's reaction to it, she decided to toss the dead animal off to the side. It was kind of a bad idea in the first place. The island seemed familiar, she noticed. It was like many of the wooded areas in Hyrule, with a few marked differences. There were some large exotic plants and dragonfly-like monsters roaming up above. She wondered if this wasn't going to be more of an ordeal than usual.

Cool, so Briggson ignored my question in its entirety, Julius thought to himself. After Briggson finished and went somewhere to, quote, 'cool down', Evenlyn spoke. It seemed he was beginning to become quite dear to her for forging that knife.

"Well, I try. I consider my smithy my second home, basically." He explained. Looking at the over-sized Dragonflies, he sighed. "This place is probably going to be quite exhausting on us indeed." He stepped off the boat, and onto the pier. It was surprisingly wavy-- they must have used a flotation device or something like that, he idly thought. "Evelyn," Julius asked, looking behind him, "did the Great Deku Tree ever tell you what happens in the life after death?"

"Well, regardless, I don't believe we go up to the heavens or whatever. And I mean, for us Hylians, that's a bit of a blow to take. But that doesn't matter. I think our patron deity, Hylia, doesn't exist... or, if by some chance she does, she likely walks among us as some unassuming female. Either way, I'm not too happy about the near future," he spoke of his impending death. "...That's if I don't die sooner."

The island got increasingly swampy the more you walked into it. Near the center, but not quite, sat the temple-- Woodfall. That was their eventual goal. First, he assumed, they'd be led on some kind of local tourist-y tour. Then, they'd probably be forced to take pictures or something. Not that Julius was dissing photography or anything; he just thought it should only be used in especially important situations. Like him taking a picture of that... thing in Starsend.

Chills still ran down his spine; not from how it physically appeared, but how it looked once you got into the spiritual realm; it looked similar to... a Great Old One, from beyond those stars that hung in the night sky. Ironic, then, that was where they fought that... thing.

Snapping back to reality, he looked where most of the people were going. Some tourist shop, ran by a rather burly man. Likely to be taken on a few boats, and tour the immediate surroundings, and then be off for a bit to chitter-chatter. "Well," Julius said, overlooking the crowd, "at best, we've got maybe two hours, and that's if we're lucky. Clean and clear, that's how I want it," he told Eve. "That's not a direct order or anything by any means. I just want the temple, if we can call it that, to be cleared before the boat leaves."

"About all this. . ." Eve started, thinking to herself. Before they entered the Temple, she felt like she should get something off her chest.

"As awesome as it would be if I deserted the guard, I actually, um. . ." she wasn't sure if she was ready to say yet.

It had a lot to do with what Julius was talking about, so it was probably better said now than later. She thought about what it meant to serve Hyrule, what it meant to have done something right for once. But she knew it was just another part of what she normally did. Yes, it was time to tell him.

"Well, you see, I told the commanding officer my real age. They all said I was about old enough to retire, to resign. I don't feel like I'm going to die soon but, um. I pretty much took that as confirmation that I had done enough and that it was time to go back to doing things my way from now on." she admitted.

Briggson took a look at the bow. He was afraid he would snap it in his arms. Oh, well. he thought. He would just have to teach these whelps about real fitness. He reached in his pouch, his seeds were all there. There was a bit more to him than fitness, it seemed. However, he was ready to climb whatever ridiculous thing they had before them next.

"You'll die sooner than that, lassie. I have a prerogative for you. It is your exclusive opportunity to train with me, the best of the best. Nobody is going to die of weakness on my watch!" he commanded with his booming voice. It sounded like this outing was not going to be easy.

"Well," Julius commented, "we still need to take care of those fist eyes and your, uh, hands."

With that, he turned away, intent on finding the Deku tribe that was located somewhere on the island. "I suppose we'd better ask the, uh, guy that's leading them. We can probably find our own way," he said, heading over to the rather... burly man.

"Wha' do you want?" He asked, giving Julius a rather firm look. Probably not too enthralled with any sense of authority over anyone.

"I was just wondering where the Deku tribe was? I heard about them and thought I'd get to know them better." He explained, hoping for this man to be none the wiser to his actual plan. "At least point me in their general direction."

"Fine. They're that way then," the man pointed to the northwest. "Now get out of my hair and leave me be."

He turned to Evelyn and Briggson after they had gotten a considerable distance away from the rather burly looking man. "Well, what he doesn't know is that thanks to some fruit I ate, I now have an impeccable sense of direction," he says, still traveling, "but I think it's going to take us at least thirty minutes to an hour to get there... Maybe sooner, depending on how swampy the area gets."

With that, he led them onward. "Well, I wouldn't put it quite as a keen sense of direction... But I pretty much know exactly where I'm going, and can tell if I've been to a certain location before. I'm pretty bad at explaining it, but that's the best way I can put it into words."

Pondering what the Captain had just told her (although she was too dumb to really have thought of it) she realized she never actually tried to get rid of her Twists. It was mostly that she didn't remember what that entity had told her. Hopefully, some bullshit ahead would jog her memory.

"Well I never actually tried to remove these curse-things." she noted to Julius who was leading the way.

Boy did that burly man look familiar. It was probably a coincidence. . . he just seemed important somehow. As if the man had done a horrible job of parenting and left his child's mind to rot. It was of no consequence.

"Halt!" A diminutive voice squeaked.

Briggson looked down from where Julius was standing. A pair of Deku Scrubs with spears stood firm.

"Only Deku Scrubs and Mad Scrubs may pass here. Stand down!" the leftmost one commanded.

Briggson scratched his head. Were these little men supposed to be threatening? He looked at Julius, who seemed to remain firm. He then looked at Evelyn. Her face was all twisted up with rage. He figured she was either upset about them being condescending to her or she was upset because something about what they said was racially hurtful to her.

She didn't say anything.

Briggson felt honored to be the one to try to scare the little twats. He dropped a Boko Baba seed nearby. A tall plant with a vicious mouth sprouted and snapped about. Briggson chuckled as the two guards got nervous. Briggson clapped his two hands together in front of his torso. The Goron's own stature was imposing enough as it was.

"Sir Knight, after you Brotherrr! Let's go seek audience with the tribe." Briggson boomed.

The pair of Deku Guards teetered and tottered and ran in small circles until each one bopped their heads into each other and fell over with boo-boos. Owie.

Julius stood resolutely, positively terrifying the two Deku guards as they held onto their spears. "Move," is all he said, as the Boko Baba sprang up. With that, he continued on, undaunted.

He responded to Briggson's comment. "Yeah, let's do that."

"Anyways," he continued, "the only thing I can think of involving eyes, other than helmets, are... black eyes, I guess. They happen all the time during recruit training. Not sure if that's of any help to you or not." They were in the Palace officially now... though it was difficult to call it a palace. Julius cast a look at his surroundings; all wood, bereft of movement. There were a number of leaves scattering the floor, making it difficult to know where their troops were coming from. "Interesting," was all that came out of Julius' mouth.

Eventually, they made it to what could be called the Throne Room, attended by the King and all of his servants. Julius cast one look around the room, acknowledging everyone in the room. "We've come to clear the temple, named Woodfall, I believe?" Was all that came out of his mouth. "If my, uh, appearance was too sudden then I apologize. We would have sent you a decree in advance, but that's difficult to do when you've just arrived with a tourist group."

Silence swept across the room. Eventually, the rather short king stood up, cleared his throat, and spoke thus: "Very well! Let it be known that many Deku have fallen in that temple in our attempts to clear it! Perhaps you will be the first! And only!"

Julius looked at Evelyn and Briggson, as if to convey an emotion. He felt like they were making a bigger deal out of this than it needed to be.

Briggson shrugged, he was used to the wide open of the wild. Maybe temples were actually some sort of death trap for all he knew. Did he think something that could kill all these little guys could probably kill him? Of course not. He joined in with Julius in looking at Evelyn.

The girl still had her blindfold on. The comment about "black eyes" actually rang a bell to her. The Twister actually mentioned something about that, to the best of her knowledge. She remembered punching Julius when she first met him, maybe if he was nice enough he could punch her back. This was all irrelevant at the moment.

"She seems lost in her own head at the moment." Briggson observed. He wasn't wrong, but it was hard to tell underneath that cloth.

"Maybe if we had even more reason to go in there, I mean besides these guys being too weak to survive it." she whispered to Briggson.

"Hey! King Deku Scrub! What's even at stake here?" he finally asked, shining a light on the elephant in the room.

"Doesn't that man holding the bucket know already what we suffer? Surely you all came because you heard my Daughter was missing? The darling Princess of our tribe is somewhere in that sacrificial monument with an untrustworthy simian! You two! Just help that Knight 'clear' that awful place of danger, you can have access to any of our services for now." the King rambled, he gestured toward an impressive amount of servant Deku.

"I could use a back rub." Briggson mentioned to one of the Deku holding a strange plant-fiber towel of some sort. He followed all of the suspiciously spa-themed civilian Deku off to whatever ridiculous relaxation facility they seemed to run.

"Well! He right betrayed us, that Goron. Now that he's off wasting our precious time I think I want to find out what these creeps can equip us with." Eve confided in Julius. She seemed like she wanted answers still, contrary to what she said.

Eve wandered off, past the outfitters, straight to the Mystics. There was a group of more zen-oriented Deku than had brought Briggson off to the spa. Silent and absorbed in their work, Eve followed the magical tribesmen down the hallways. Someone around here could help her get her memories back, she hoped.

"You, mister wizard beard. Do you know if there are any oracles among you who can see into my mind?" she asked bluntly.

"Why, what an interesting question. You look like some kind of oracle with that thing on your head, why won't you look any of us in the eye?" he asked back, a question for a question.

"It's complicated, but if I look at you someone will get punched. I'm trying to fix some hexes of sorts. I think you would call them that, right?" she added.

"Follow me, strange Kokiri. We don't have anyone who can 'read your mind' or 'see the future,' but we have something close enough. Our head Mystic has a special pool of water that will show you a clue to your fate! But interpret it carefully, it will be vague and confusing in most cases." he explained in an expository manner. Looked like this was happening no matter what.

A basin sat atop an altar of sorts deep in the living chambers of the Deku druids. The stone of the basin contrasted all the wood and reeds of the Deku furniture, the swirling ornate highlights of the stone reaching around the structure like watery branches. It seemed just a bowl of water to the girl, and she'd seen some freaky tribal masonry before. She dipped her finger in the water. A thick green color whisked about the bowl, an opaque liquid forming. It was like the bowl was filling with minty fresh ogre load. Eve dunked her head into the liquid, eager to find out what she was supposed to do next.

--


Silence, darkness.

Eve floated around the void, unable to feel her arms and legs, unable to see her flailing limbs. It seemed like too long, like hours or maybe a whole day had passed in this place. But sooner than expected, somehow was a pale orange light. Inside a massive cloud, like a the thunderhead of a superstorm was a growing shape. It was the outline of some kind of Fairy. The orange light behind her was either flames or magma, most likely both.

--

She awoke in a fit of exasperated breathing, her usually pale neck red as a scarlet beetle. The Kokiri spat the clear water from her mouth. The enchantment had ended abruptly and without anything further. She choked on the floor, unable to touch her own neck as flames burst from her palms. The final bit of water hiccuped out of her throat. She had no clue within a million knots of outer space what any of that meant. She was going to rush to Julius' side, there was no point in staying.

She made it down the hallway, water still dripping from her outfit. Briggson was already done with his entire spa routine, standing beside the captain. But where had Julius been that entire time?

Julius had also been getting his fortune told. Seeing his death on the horizon made him seek that more than anything; would he die in the near future? Would it be much farther off? So many questions; so little time, for Julius at least, to answer.

"...And that is how I predict the future." The Scrub said, completely confident in his fortune-telling abilities. So, something about a ship, a distant isle, and... other than that, the Scrub's vision was clouded. For some reason, he refused to believe this. Could the ship be the same one he was already one? He asked this, but the Scrub refused to answer. "I only know select bits and pieces. My foresight is only so broad."

He accepted this. He got up, and met with everyone else in the main chambers. Or, nearly everyone. They still needed to wait on Eve, who arrived shortly after. "So, you said some untrustworthy simian, yes? Would you mind describing him?"

"Oh, but of course! He's this hulking BEHEMOTH who could easily crush us with but a step! He is so tall; so firm! (Well, really, I wouldn't call him firm, but...) Anyways! He also wears a mask. But that doesn't matter! Bring me my Daughter BACK!"

Julius was silent, looking at the other two. Acknowledging their reactions, he said, simply, "Alright, but we've wasted enough time here. We've got, at best, another hour, hour and a half before the boat leaves. Where exactly is the temple, by the way?"

"Right through here!! Hurry!" And he moved his throne aside, revealing a doorway.

"Alright then." Julius said. It was rather unbecoming of the King to act in... such a fashion.

"Why is he rushing us in?" Eve immediately pondered.

"HAHAHA, Sis the boat is leaving didn't you hear?" Briggson retorted.

Briggson shoved and ushered the girl out the door alongside Julius. The Kokiri understood what was going on but also wondered whether she had taken the right boat. To make things worse, what was that comment about the monkey being huge? Eve zipped her mouth and continued into the light of the sun. Briggson looked a little flustered. He looked upon the large, toxic swamp that stood between them and the temple poking out from the center. He turned to Evelyn and made something of a face.

"What it sounded like back there, is we need to give you black eyes in order for you to see straight again?" He entertained for a moment.

"Well that's almost correct. I have this thing over my eyes because they'll go berserk and punch the shitting crud out of any new person or enemy I look in the face." she mentioned offhandedly.

"Well that's a new one, kid. I thought I'd heard everything. . ." he added "Well take that blindfold off and hold still! Here comes my chiseled form!" Briggson wailed.

What happened next was probably more than unsettling with Julius just standing there. Eve ripped the cloth off her head, cleanly once and for all. Her jeweled tiara, the Muscle Band finally showed true upon her forehead once more. Little shapes like fists showed plainly in the irises of her tired and baggy eyes. Briggson twisted his arm around and got ready for a softened but determined punch. Eve yelled out in pain as the massive beefy arms within her eye sockets jumped out without her permission. Slam after blow poured out of the strong ephemeral arms, grazing and slapping against Briggson's Stone Skin. It was clear that with the right maneuvering, Briggson could avoid getting his ass handed to him by the out-of-control arms. He wrestled with the arms, his own fitness showing through as he managed to grab the rightmost one with his own right arm.

Soon, the left fist-eye punched Briggson's grasp off with repeated strikes. He began to throw in punches himself, grazing and glaring fist collisions in unison. His ability to keep up with the flurry spoke to his own skill, but also his will to not be beaten to the sidelines so easily. Briggson roared and kept beating against the ghost arms. Eve had never encountered even a single enemy that could categorically injure the arms. Briggson slammed down, his entire elbow and shoulder shoving Eve's left fist-eye arm into the ground. He beat it down and crippled it with his might while the other arm attempted to punch him off.

"Don't you dare take me lightly! I have trained with the highest mountain peaks of all Hyrule!" the Goron yelled as he swatted away the other arm.

The leftmost arm was twisted and crinkled like a disposed drinking straw. Briggson wrangled the remaining arm in both of his arms, starting with a bear hug. He pinched his arms closed around the beefy ghost arm, in a crushing full body grip. He squeezed harder until a small popping sound could be heard within the appendage. Both of the arms flopped on the ground, turning from a sunlight-white slowly to a deep and dull purple, then all the way to a bluish-grey. The pair of arms flopped back into Eve's face and both of her eyes were unmistakably black and blue.

"You didn't have to do that! It hurts more than--!" Eve screamed at the Goron. She put a hand to her mouth, she looked sick.

A black, swirling cloud of mist formed around the crown of her head. Evelyn began to puke a sort of magical vapor that swirled slowly to the ground. It seemed the Fist Eyes were "defeated." But what was supposed to happen now?

A fun sort of freedom-freedom built within Eve, an all encompassing chaos-chaos that reminded her of her youth in the deep woods serving the ones in masks. The pair of organic eyes in her face began to shrivel and wrinkle before the two men. They watched as the gooey pools of eye dribbled out and fell onto the grass. The heat of molten gold blared out from her eye sockets, and a pair of featureless golden orbs formed to replace what was there before. Her blank expression was distressing to say the least, but they had little over an hour to complete the Temple.

Briggson grabbed her as she stood there and threw the Kokiri over his shoulder.

"We don't have time! Consider her healed, Sir." Briggson told the commander.

He threw his stoney feet into the toxic swamp. It was getting deeper, he couldn't reach the temple if he walked further. Seeing no other option, Briggson grabbed onto a log and started his way to the strange wooden structures of the swamp. A survivalist at heart, any damage the swamp could do to him was not important to him.

"Just grab a log or something, it's not like we can jump on those lily pads. Try standing on the wood!" the Goron yelled back.

Julius looked on in awe of the apparent ass-whooping Evelyn was receiving.

After that... Would a fight be apt to call it? It was obvious that Evelyn's eye-arms were fighting against Briggson, but that... Could the eye-arms even be counted as a separate entity? Regardless, he was still rather... unnerved, let's say, by Evelyn's pale yellow-looking eyes. "Evelyn," Julius started, "please don't stare at me for too long. It freaks me out."

With that finished, he listened to Briggson. "Thankfully, I should have a remedy for this. I got this huge ass anchor splashing in water tattooed on my back; apparently it'll allow me to swim, even in armor, so let's test that out." With a splash, he began doing a sort of backstroke. "Well, apparently it works."

With that, he swam the rest of the way to the temple, his ample constitution more than making up for the apparent damage that was being seeped through his pores. Getting up upon dry land, he simply shook himself off, making a vague comment about how, "This'll never hurt me; I'm more than proficient in my own constitution."

With that, he turned to Briggson. Deciding to further explain the capabilities of the bow, "That's made of Ironwood and Everwood. It's also got both Light and Force gems on it, in addition to being able to shrink down. It is also immune to most forms of natural damage; thanks to the Nullrock I imbued it with. Any more questions about the bow?" He looked to Briggson, before moving on, into the temple.

Inside the temple... There were high wood walls; apparently beginning to waste away, given the humid climate of the swamp. There was a partially decaying walkway, winding gradually around the temple; there were also... Lit torches? Julius eyed them carefully, beginning to look up. He feared there were a great many things unseen here.

And he was right. Upon the far ceiling, there were a number of all different sorts of bugs; Skulltulas, beetles... A lot of creepy shit, he thought. But that wasn't the thing that freaked him out most; there were clouds of bugs surrounding the torches. A chill went down his spine; those bugs would be more trouble than anything else in this temple.

"Well, here we are." Was all that was said, as they stood at the entrance of the temple.

"Not a bad bow, Brotheerrrr!" Briggson admitted. "But what about this kid?"

The Goron lifted Evelyn off of his shoulder and onto the dank wooden walkway. She seemed to be standing up alright, but that eerie stare and dead silence continued. Briggson bothered his mustache. He figured at the very least if she was going to stand up that maybe she would respond to commands too. He readied his bow and made ready to push forward.

"Just follow me Kokiri kid. Follow me closely." he outlined to Evelyn.

Briggson began to stride along the old walkway. Eve teetered along behind him, still silent. It must have been a big shock to suddenly have everything change like that. Briggson knew she would come around. The hulking figure knocked an arrow to the bow he was given. He loosed a quick and brightly flashing shot out toward the ceiling, hitting a complacent Skulltula.

"This will work for now. Which way should we go, Commander? It looks like some of these doors might be locked. But that way ahead of us smells like fresh monster waste. But mostly like Deku Babas, which are my botanical specialty." Briggson mentioned lightly.

Julius considered Briggson's question about Evelyn. "Well, for now, I'm gonna say to ease up on her. You did just beat her arms' ass." With that, he pressed forward, impressed that Briggson was using his bow so adeptly. "Impressive shot," he said, angling his head up. "Anyways. It doesn't especially matter which way we go; I've got enough bombs to last me several lifetimes over, so we could just blow the hatches open." With that, he thought for a second.

"...I'm surprised that these doors haven't rotted out, actually. Pretty remarkable craftsmanship." He said, examining a door. "Lead us wherever you see fit," he told Briggson, idly examining all the vines and various fauna and flora which called this temple home. "I had no idea you were into botany. I'm a bit of a Weaponsmith myself, as I'm sure you can tell." He'd follow Briggson pretty much anywhere; he wasn't so concerned about the temple as he was the boat leaving them behind.

He thought to himself. Something about an island... Hm. It was unlikely that this would be the island; after all, they'd not encountered anything especially dangerous so far, and he doubted that this place could bear true harm to anyone within his party. Except Evelyn, given the state she was in; but besides that, they should be in the clear. Funny, then, that despite him doubting his future in the Knights of Hyrule, and the Guard as a whole, that he continued to worry about others' safety first. Perhaps that was simply in his nature; after all that training, after the event that gave him his scar, him being re-endowed knighthood... It had certainly made an impression on him.

He headed forward. Wary of the ever-present Deku Baba threat, he tried to avoid them, but they'd not bite through his armor; they were plants, after all. The amount of force required to puncture armor would be much greater than that that they could provide; but not so much that it rendered his bow ineffective. "...It also has the capabilities of puncturing armor, thanks to the way I designed it. Longbows are able to pierce through armor as well; but the amount of draw strength traditional longbows require would be much too great for any one man to make good use of it. I read one report where a man used a one hundred and thirty five pound draw longbow. I was in awe," he murmured, continuing to idly slash away at the Deku Babas.

The walls lit up with some indescribable grime lining the stone patterns. As they pushed forward, more sturdy bridge-like walkways guided them around what seemed to be more poisoned water. A thick, darker purple infested this water though, it was probably more poison than water. Luckily for them, there were more torches. Yes, and these were closer to the body. A swarm of moths inhabited a single torch in the corner. Stone platforms connected each bridge together, forming a support for the large torches. The moths began to migrate, possibly sensing warmth or food in the tender party.

Their feet taking them away from the coming moths, they were pushed away. The gay gaggle of grinning Deku Babas waited in a group for them to be pushed into range.

"Okay buddy this is either a real fine coincidence or an obvious trap made by a sadist." Briggson bemoaned.

Eve teetered behind, slowly forming awareness after the ordeal before. Her arms raised up from her sides and caught fire. It was likely an instinctual response rather than an attempt at fighting plants with fire. In any case, Briggson was not okay with her trying to choke out a whole group of Deku Baba in this state.

"Not right now, little lady. Wait until we have the advantage." Briggson pointed out. His tone still weirdly condescending. He wasn't all that good at guessing ages.

Briggson knocked an arrow again. He got lucky last time with the Skulltula not even aware of him. Hopefully he could hit these waving, flailing plants. Their movement was all too familiar, with his work in seeding Boko Babas. He prayed briefly and took a shot. One of two Babas got its head ripped off.

"I'm sorry brotherrr! We gotta rush 'em." he announced as the moths drew closer.

There was at least, exits at this corner of the room: a doorway behind the Babas, another locked door to the immediate right, and finally a stairway that lead from that wall upward and to another exit at the far back.

"Sure," Julius said, idly walking over, thoughts of death still weighing heavily on his mind. Well, he thought, activating the blade's apparent cursed abilities, at least I won't die here. Then, in an instant, he unleashed a devastating Spin Attack; cutting the stem from each Deku Baba. "Uh," he raised his voice, "I could probably blast that lock open. God knows it's swampy enough in here, at least."

Then, he realized the moths were drawing closer. Not exactly taking his mind off death, but he was still uncomfortable around bugs. "On second though, let's go through the doorway." And so, Julius opened the door, rushing everyone through. With a final glance backwards, he rushed through the door himself, before slamming it shut.

Julius breathed somewhat heavily, leaning on the door for support. "By all that's good in the world, bugs still freak me out. There was this time where I cleared out some deserted island with the help of a Yeti that was absolutely infested with bugs," Julius said, getting off the door and walking forward.

There were mushrooms -- or what looked like mushrooms -- in the water and on the walls. Taking a step forward, Julius noticed that there was a bunch of goo and goo-like substances on the floor. "Gross," he responded, but still kept walking forward, until he appeared to be in the center of the room, on some kind of circular platform. Still noticing the gooey, well, shit on the floor, Julius scrunched his face. "Who put all this shit all over the flo-" And with that, he was cut-off by a giant, purple Chuchu forming up around him. He could only scream a muffled cry for help. Chuchus were gelatinous by nature, so if he breathed, he would likely suffocate. It was only a matter of time.

The iridescent mushrooms gave off a glow and sparkle. It was a cloud of spores; coming out of every cap. Briggson focused on that Chuchu attacking Julius. Evelyn wandered off, her flame-spouting hands drawn to all of the mushrooms. The Goron rushed the amorphous monster and clung to the goo with his hands, trying to rip piece by piece off of Julius. Things were not looking hopeful. The dark dampness of the cave-like area made everything seem dismal.

After finding the mushrooms to be noxious and impossible to beat up, Eve turned her blank eyes back to the Chuchu. She was slowly coming back to her senses. That was the kind officer who helped her out. The purple goo soon started to curdle and peel off of Julius's armor. Evelyn's flaming arms were causing the dark slime to recoil. Following Briggson's lead, she had put both hands on the mass of Chuchu around the captain. The girl pulled out her dagger and continued to attack the wet matter.

"I didn't forget!" she gasped. "Now hold still."

Briggson leapt backward as the goo tried to cling to him too. The girl had a huge reality check smash through her skull. Briggson planted a tough Boko Baba, it clawed and snapped its head at the encroaching slime. Eve used the activated Ice Gems in her dagger to start to freeze large chunks of the Chuchu. It was breaking and crumbling off of the men. The Boko Baba chewed large chunks of the creature off of the armored soldier. With hope returning to the three of them, they moved away from the dissolving monster.

However, a trio of new Chuchus dropped in to block the way forward. each one was equipped with a thick stone helmet, their goofy beady eye-stalks poking out of the holes in their helms. Hanging around the helmet of the center Chuchu seemed to be a key on a chain, dangling enticingly. Briggson put up his fists, unsure of whether he could put a dent in these monsters.