My Worst Enemy [Moonshadow]

Dogath shivered at the biting cold, and was terrified that this wasn't even to be the worst of it. "Yousef, you bastard..." He muttered under his breath. Sure, he liked the Hylian, and he certainly owed the man a favor. But for him to call one in like this? Whatever this portal was, out here in the frozen north, it would have to be very, very interesting, if Yousef didn't want to find himself on the wrong end of Sharon. At least he wasn't alone, though: Samanosuke had come with him, also intrigued by reports from the north. It had taken them some time to finally reach the base hills of Snowhead, but here they were. As the official orders had mentioned, it seemed that there was a fair bit of activity, as it appeared a small supply caravan was preparing to trek those snows. It was guarded by a small contingent of two yeti, and a handful of Hylian soldiers, but to Dogath's eyes, they looked green. He desperately hoped they weren't ambushed.

Dogath looked over at his companion. "I'm going to go check with the caravan. I have the sneaking suspicion my heavy robe won't cut it for the cold. Hopefully they'll have something for me." With that, the Subrosian ran off, not waiting to see if Samanosuke would follow, or not.

-------

Boris sat in the back of a canvased wagon, looking around at the grim faces surrounding him. These weren't soldiers: rather, they were being sent afield for their particular skills. Among them he counted a surgeon, a cook, and a blacksmith. All were shivering, their breaths coming out in foggy clouds. The surgeon's eyes perked up, as he looked over at Boris. "Are you not cold, Kokiri? This is a far cry, from the warmth of your forest." He shook his head in disbelief.

In reality, Boris couldn't feel it, any of it. In fact, he wasn't even breathing, and his body sure wasn't warm to begin with. It was a slip of the illusion spell he'd used: he hadn't compensated for the cold, and what that might look like. A simple mistake, really, but it reminded him that if he wanted to even present himself as being mortal still, he'd have to remember such things in the future. For now, though... "No, but thanks. I should go check the supplies, to see if they have everything I need." He brusquely exited from the wagon, jumping down into the soft snow.

Boris quickly made his way towards where the supplies were being kept. He hadn't lied, at least. He'd have to make sure they'd brought the herbs he needed, at least for him to function in the capacity of a basic herbalist. Even though he'd retained his skill with plants, anything involving Alchemy was still hazy... His book had been wiped clean of all alchemical information, all of his findings over the years. Even his memories... Boris shook his head, trying not to think about it, over the horrible, horrible man. Still, as the snow crunched beneath his tiny feet, he couldn't help but wish he could feel the cold, feel the chill air about him. Some would kill to not be able to feel the cold right now, but for him, it was the opposite. That would have been a sign that he was still alive, still breathing. What did he have now? So lost in thought was he, that he didn't realize what he bumped into, until he was flat on his back, staring up at a white hood, shrouded in darkness.

Wordlessly, the Subrosian grasped the "Kokiri" by the shoulder, hoisting him to his feet with ease. "A-apologies." He stammered out, though it was clearly from the cold. Just proved my point. Boris thought to himself. But what was one of the strange, fiery people doing this far up north? He had no business in Snowhead, if he didn't possess some way to ward off the cold, and by all indications, he did not. Clearly, a similar thought crossed the Subrosian's mind, who spoke again. "Need to find supplier. Looking for Yeti T-t-tunic." Boris was all to happy to help, to ward off the thoughts that had been plaguing him. Thankfully, they were both headed in the same direction. "Sure, I'll get you there, though I don't think it'll come free." The two ran off quickly, towards their destination.

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It wasn't too long before Dogath was headed back towards Samanosuke, Yeti Tunic wrapping him warmly beneath his robes and armor. The Subrosian took a moment to look over at the Kokiri next to him, who had assisted him in finding a tunic. He seemed a good fellow, but troubled: despite the Kokiri's friendliness, Dogath couldn't help but feel bothered by him. Dogath knew his feelings for what they were, of course. Always a man of action, and never one to ponder morality overly much, those prone to brooding and self-absorption always seemed so preoccupied with staring at their feet, and never at what lay ahead. Something felt off about the Kokiri, too, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

The two had gotten to talking, however, and it seemed their destination was the same: the portal. That, in fact, likely made them comrades now, in the loosest sense of the term. Sure, Samanosuke had been a bit green when they'd met, but at least the Hylian made up for it in skill. He hoped the Kokiri wouldn't slow them down. Dogath looked back forward, just as they approached said Hylian. "Managed to get a Yeti Tunic. The cold shouldn't be an issue anymore, so now all we have to worry about is any ambushes we might run into. Oh, and this kid's coming with us to the portal, apparently." Dogath pointed a thumb back at Boris, who waved weakly. It was clear by his tone that the Subrosian was not pleased by this development.

Boris would look at Samanosuke hesitantly. Both Dogath and Samanosuke seemed to be accomplished warriors, judging by the equipment they carried and how they carried themselves. Boris was going to be dead weight. Still, the Hylian had asked him a question. "I'm... I'm Boris. Good to meet you, too." Boris had completely missed Samanosuke addressing him as a "kid", so subsumed in his own thoughts. Meanwhile, Dogath winced at the weak introduction. He desperately, desperately hoped the Kokiri would show more spine in the portal.

Dogath quickly took control of the conversation again. "Introductions out of the way, I seriously think Yousef is a complete bastard for asking me to come to this portal, of all places. I'm thinking we need to have a lynching when we get back down south. He knows I hate the cold." Dogath grumbled angrily, jangling Sharon for emphasis, which hung at his side. "Let's just hope that whatever is behind that portal is a lot less cold, and a lot less wet."

Boris couldn't dash the Subrosian's hopes: reports had already begun to mention that the place behind that portal was covered in water knee-deep. And, if he was looking for interesting, Boris wasn't sure that was the place for it, as most returned saying that it was water as far as the eye could see. In fact, most expeditions into that beyond had either come back, with nothing of interest to report, or had gotten lost in that endless sea. The army itself seemed to have little interest in sending further troops in, at least not until this new shipment arrived. A number of devices were being carried in this caravan, meant to aide in finding something, anything, that would tell them more about the plane. Well, at least that's what Boris had heard. In the meantime, the army was looking to dig in for the long haul around the portal, as they fought off increasing attacks from monstrous enemies.

Sharon was, in fact, not loaded. In fact, she was still wrapped in copious amounts of hide and canvas. It wouldn't do to have her get rusted, what with all this moisture in the air. He'd have to do things the old fashioned way. "Hey, boy, get back with the others!" Dogath snarled out to Boris, who was looking around in fear in confusion, clearly unable to decide what to do with himself. He'd only be a liability, or might even get himself killed. While Dogath wouldn't mind having that burden taken from his shoulders, he wasn't about to have the Kokiri's death on his conscience. No, it was better if he got out of the way.

"But I can he--" Boris began, but it was too late, the Subrosian taking off at break neck pace towards the right. "Help." He finished, gulping, a bit wide eyed. Could he really, though? But, he wasn't about to sit around helplessly. That was the entire reason he'd twisted away all of his alchemical knowledge! He wouldn't be content anymore, to be at the mercy of everyone around him, powerless to actually help others. He ran off, pulling out his mace, darting behind a small outcropping of rocks. With a tiny switch of his concentration, soon he had himself looking like something else entirely: his features morphed over the span of a few moments, and soon he was completely indistinguishable from an actual Miniblin. He crept back out from the rocks, hoping to catch one of his "allies" unawares.

Meanwhile, Dogath had already sent a Wolfos careening into the ground, its entire rib cage shattered by the cannon-club the Subrosian was wielding. But the weapon had the tendency of obscuring his sight, and overall being unwieldy, so after the first strike, he dropped Sharon into a snow drift. So much for not wanting the thing to rust. he grunted. He'd have to wipe her off, after the battle. Shoving a hand into his pocket in quick succession, he now found both fists wrapped tightly around dense, iron cannonballs. With a charge, he ducked underneath the thrust of a Moblin's spear, before lunging out with his fist into the thing's side. The Moblin let out a squeal, its padded leather armor not a strong enough defense against the strike. Spinning around, Dogath caught the Moblin's leg with his arm and lifted it from the ground, its feet easily losing traction in the snow. With a thud! the pig-like humanoid fell to the ground: without hesitation, Dogath held out a cannonball towards the Moblin's head, and willed his Magnet Gloves to push. The metal ball shot out quickly, and though not nearly as powerful as the cannon might have released it, it was certainly enough to crack open the monster's skull. A quick Pull! command, and it was back in his fist, though now a bit dented, and certainly unclean.

"Hey, I haven't seen you befo---" with a Crack!, the Moblin was falling to the ground, brought low by an unexpected strike from Boris' mace. The Deku was breathing heavily: his body had no reason to keep on breathing, yet he still clung onto some of those basic functions, as a child their favorite stuffed animal. In most cases, it was comforting. Here, though, it betrayed his instability. A momentary lapse in his concentration briefly revealed his true, twisted form, but he quickly restored the facade. Now a Kokiri again, he looked at the body nervously, then about with worry. You can kill him. It would be easy! A cold, cruel voice said in his head, and he began to raise the mace. Boris shook his head, trying to banish the thoughts from his mind. He's a monster, isn't he? You should kill him, it's the right thing to do. Insidious words. "No, I can't." Boris whined quietly. He grabbed the Moblin by its armor, beginning to drag it back behind the boulder he had hidden behind. No, he couldn't kill the creature: wasn't he, too, a monster? Maybe it would have been different, if it were a creature with little to no thought, like a Chu Chu, but this was different, this was a person. Monster? Certainly. But, he'd come to realize that just because something was a monster, that didn't mean it didn't have its own hopes, its own dreams. No, for his own sanity, for his own salvation, he couldn't kill the Moblin. He covered it in snow, then ran back to the caravan, watching in awe and Dogath took down a second Wolfos with his fists, caving in its skull with a metal ball.

The third Moblin was approaching him warily with sword and shield, having taken out the one Hylian that had been keeping him busy. Dammit. Dogath cursed under his breath. With a grunt, he dashed quickly at the approaching Moblin, who was unfortunate enough to not have seen Dogath's Magnet Gloves in action. The first iron ball was launched at the Moblin's shin, cracking against bone loudly. The Moblin cried out, taken down to a knee, though he valiantly held up his shield. But his tenacity would be his undoing. With his now empty hand, he aimed the glove at the Moblin's shield, affecting it with a pull. Unable to use one leg to stabilize himself, and already off balance, the Moblin fell forward: it was only a moment before Dogath was atop him, his other fist bearing down on his exposed neck. Dogath broke it with one, clean strike. But he'd been too distracted to hear Samanosuke's call, so as he was straightening himself, a third Wolfos lunged out of the snow, its fangs bared for his neck. Reflexively he brought up a hand to guard against it, but it wouldn't be in time: however, Boris was.

His small bludgeon whipped down at the Wolfos' side, finishing off the wounded animal. He panted heavily, looking down at the kill, trying to get rid of the terrible thoughts in his mind. And yet they wouldn't go, no matter how hard he trie--A slap on his back sent him staggering. "Thanks, boy. Try not to think too hard about it." Dogath strode past Boris, shattering any semblance of thought for a moment. "Y-yeah..." he managed to stagger out, before following the Subrosian back into the main group, in order to assess the damage.

Dogath shook his head as Samanosuke approached. "We came out mostly unscathed." He looked around one more time, to verify his accounts. "With the exception of a single casualty, and a few wounded, everything seems to be mostly intact. We'd have been a lot worse off, I think, if you hadn't spotted them early. Might have to get me an eye like that." Dogath joked, though his tone was still quite serious. "Still, our skirmish here might attract unwanted attention, so we should be off as soon as possible. Kid, if you can think you can handle it, go help out with the others, try to get them ready to move again." He asked of the Kokiri. Boris had done a good job, surprisingly, but he was still too weak in the knees. He had to wonder what drove a man to do something so clearly dangerous: it was likely that the Kokiri had a very, very good reason. Dogath made a mental note to ask about it later. For now, they had to get there first.

Boris nodded, before wandering off in the direction of the rest of the group. There wasn't much left to be done, aside from putting some crates back into their carts, or similar tasks. Though the horses had initially been frightened, none had actually bolted, for which many were thankful. These few tasks complete, Boris hollered up to the front. "All good back here!", before hopping back into the cart he had been in before. Hopefully they could make the rest of their journey without event.

About half a day passed, before they reached their destination. Though Dogath had a solution to the cold now, he still found it extremely unpleasant, so he was glad to see a large number of bonfires being maintained at the main camp surrounding the portal. He might have worried that they would be attracting too much attention, but with the hard work of the Yetis accompanying them, it seemed they'd already managed to erect some fairly solid defenses: a large wooden fence surrounded the camp, hewn from what was assumed to be the coniferous trees nearby, if the clear cut areas were any indication of things. The camp was busy, especially with the new arrivals, who'd come with new supplies. Food, medicine, clothes, it was all needed, so the soldiers wasted no time off-loading the crates. Honestly, Dogath had expected something far less organized, so this came as a very pleasant surprise.

A thin Sheikah man ran up to Dogath and Samanosuke, followed by what appeared to be a rather brawny Yeti. Despite his bulky appearance, though, his face seemed aged and wise. "The two of you must be Dogath and Samanosuke. Word was sent that you'd be accompanying that caravan," he motioned to the group they'd come in with, "as auxiliary guards, but from the reports, it sounds like the two of you did quite a bit more than that. Thank you." He held out his hand to each of them, to give them a firm handshake. "Knowing full well that neither of you are military personnel, it means a lot to us. Both Leif and I," the Yeti merely nodded at his name, "desperately wish we could reward, but there's precious little we can do without. Still, if there's anything either of you need, ask, and we'll do our best to provide. Even more so, if it's anything you'll need for your incursion into that blasted portal." He jammed a finger at the clearly visible thing, that swirled at the center of camp with eldritch power.

It seemed that something came to Leif's attention, though, which was soon made apparent as Boris walked up to the group. Boris had deducted that Dogath and Samanosuke had encountered the commanding officers in the camp, and considering his own purpose there, he'd need to introduce himself anyways. "You must be our third volunteer. Boris, correct?" The Yeti said, his baritone voice warm, despite the frozen environment in which they found themselves.

"Yes, sir. I'm also here to report as a volunteer to enter the portal, as these men are." Still no mention of why, Dogath noted, but he could ask later.

"Then, it seems that our first three volunteers have arrived. We will prepare the camp for your departure, so notify us when you are prepared to leave. Before that, though, you may need to visit the armory. Part of your shipment will have included some tool that is supposed to assist you within that portal, a wand or rod of some sort. If you come looking for me, just ask for Lysurg." With that, the two departed, off to do more important work.

The three walked towards their destination, though Boris began to lag behind a little as Samanosuke asked his question. If only he knew. If it's my life he thinks I'm risking, he's sorely mistaken. He thought glumly, looking down at the wet dirt. "I know it may seem strange to you, as it should be clear by now that I am no fighter. In fact, while I do not have healing magic, I use more mundane remedies to heal people. I live in the town of Nabooru, near the edge of Northern and Southern Hyrule, and there I run a local clinic for the villagers. Only... something happened recently. In many ways, I think I have come to realize that I wasn't having an impact, that my meager skill wasn't enough to really help people. I'm here, to enter the portal, because perhaps in there I might be able to make a difference." He said quietly, seeming to grow smaller by the moment. Why did he have to ask that? The less the know about me, the better.

Dogath looked over at Boris quietly. Huh. That wasn't quite what he had expected: in truth, he'd thought that the simpering Kokiri had led a sheltered and pampered life, and had only just left his home for a life of adventure, without really knowing what that meant. If only a bit, he had a small bit more admiration for the Kokiri. It was always a good thing, to want to become stronger. "If it makes you feel any better, kid, my reason isn't nearly as admirable. I'm just here to find a good fight, and push myself to greater heights of strength." Dogath chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a little. Boris smiled weakly.

A small Kikwi seemed to be organizing the supplies, and upon their arrival, he immediately turned their way. Without a word, he moved over to a small wooden box, with an ornately carved symbol on it: the Royal crest. Again, without speaking, he merely approached them. removing the lid which came off with a slight rasp!. Apparently the three had been expected. He placed it upon a small table in the room leaving it open for the three of them to inspect, and it was immediately clear that there was a note left for them.

Boris, being the closest to the table, took up the note and began to scan it, all the while reading its contents allowed. "To whomever it may concern. These tiny wands," Boris indicated the slender things contained within the box, "have been crafted from branches of the Great Deku Tree. While grasping them, you need only think upon your heart's desire, and the Dowsing Rod will show you the way." Huh. That was it, and there was no name attached to the end. Though, the paper was nice, and considering the box, it was likely it had come from somewhere in Castle Town.

Dogath was the first to grab one of the wands, holding it close to his eyes for inspection. With a closer look, he began to truly believe that this was no normal wood, the grains moving in a constant twisting and turning, as if he held a python rather than a mere stick. "My heart's desire, huh?" He muttered to himself. Well, no time like the present to give it a test. Considering his location, and despite his new armor, he was still quite cold, he began to think of a warm, stoked fire. Any, really. But several moments passed without event. Dogath looked inquisitively at Samanosuke.

Dogath snickered. He knew what Samanosuke was thinking about, or at least he had a pretty good guess. Pity the girl was still afraid of himself, and probably didn't approve of their association. Still, Ruto was a sleepy little town, and seeing as he had no interest in going back to Subrosia, it was effectively home. And, of course, it was far warmer than this blasted glacier they'd been sent to. Thoughts of home in mind, too, Dogath nodded his ascent to Samanosuke. best to get the over quickly, and return to a warm hearth.

Boris, meanwhile, was thinking as he looked down at his own wand, as the three made their way to find Lysurg. Objectively speaking, of course, the wand would point to some object of his desire. But ever since his change, from that horrid twist, he'd begun to worry about his own goals and aspirations. The Twister had mocked him for giving up something that was so dear to him, and perhaps in some ways it had been right. Perhaps if he had continued to work towards greater knowledge and skill, maybe then he might have been able to make a difference... But that was in the past. Beyond knowing that he wanted to make a difference, he knew nothing else: even here, at the portal, how was he going to see his wishes realized? He prepared to enter the portal with heavy heart.

----

Of course. Of course Yousef would send them to a place covered in water, or something much like it. Dogath looked down unhappily, the liquid sloshing against his shins noisily as he fidgeted uncomfortably. "Remind me to have Yousef pay double, when we get back." He griped. Even with the light Boris was producing, though, he could barely see anything, not even his own feet. That, though, was more due to the shimmering liquid in which they were partially submerged. Eerie. That was the word to describe this place. Beyond just being cold, or desolate, the darkness, and the way light reflected from the surface of the water, was nothing short of unsettling.

"I don't like it here..." Boris whispered out, holding a tiny magic bean up into the air. It glowed with light, though not of its own accord, Boris covering it with illusory magic. It didn't put out much light, only that of a weak torch, but it was something at least. Something to hold onto, in this dark place. The first few moments had been jarring, when they'd been surrounded by absolute, suffocating darkness. Even he, who should have fear for relatively little in his Undeath, was shaken by the purity of the absence of light. He shook his head. "It doesn't feel right... All of it."