Pirates' Fortress (BP/Tsu)

When Kasumi handed her the bottle, Thria clambered onto the tank and lowered herself into the water. It was warm, a lot warmer than Thria liked, but a perfect temperature for keeping the egg healthy and on its way to hatching. She unsealed the bottle, first allowing it to fill with water and then picking up the egg.

At a first glance, the egg was probably too big to fit through the opening of the bottle. However, and Thria knew this well because she'd had an egg of her own in the past, Zora eggs were funnily squishy. They weren't strictly eggs, per se- there was no hard shell around them that would spell doom for the baby if broken. Thria could safely squeeze the egg a little to make it a wee bit smaller and... PLOP! it fit perfectly through the mouth and ended up in the bottle. After making it back to the surface, Thria sealed the bottle again, making sure there was enough water in there to sustain the egg.

"They're keeping the eggs in different places because you questioned the quality of their security before," she joked, "I told you not to jinx it." Handing the bottle back to Kasumi, she crossed her arms. "In seriousness, though. It makes sense. They were probably expecting us to send someone to get the eggs sooner or later. Spreading the eggs means they require more manpower to guard them, yes, but it also makes it much harder on us to retrieve them, considering we don't know the fortress like they do and the battles with the guards will tire us out."

It was a sound plan, but it wouldn't work. They had gotten one egg, and they'd get the other two as well, no matter HOW many Gerudos Thria had to kick into oblivion for it.

Kasumi shrugged, letting Thria go in front. "Well, they may know the fort, but they DON'T know that enemies are in it." The zora took out her aqua-shot, pointing it this way and that. With a click of the trigger, she shot a small box and brought it to her as she walked. She chuckled, opening the box. When it was something useless like a shirt, a drabby one at that, Kasumi put the box back down. "Jeez Thria, this thing's awesome."

When she found herself looking at the Aqua-shot more than the halls, the put the thing away. Wouldn't want to blow their cover. "Heh, sorry."

While Kasumi played with her new toy, Thria allowed her mind to wander off, as long as it promised to snap back to attention when she picked up something. Kasumi had said something earlier that she now found worrying. What DID the Gerudos want with the Zora Eggs? She had assumed they were to be sold off for rupees, but Kasumi had a point. Not even keepers of the most exotic of aquaria should be interested in owning a Zora as a pet, she didn't peg the women for running an interracial adoption agency, and Zoras from the bay were physically frail unless trained, so they were unsuited for slavery. So what did they want, if they weren't going to sell them?

Thria had gotten a good hint to that by looking at the tank the first egg had been in. It had been a perfect place to hatch a Zora Egg in, as perfect as one could get without the mother present. How had the Gerudos known? And why had they been so diligent in it? There was not so much as a scratch on the film covering the egg, if anything, it looked like Thria had been rougher with it than the Gerudos had been.

While pondering all this, Thria slowly and carefully opened the door at the end of the hallway, immediately diving behind a crate to the side of the doorway. They were now out in the open, in the central courtyard of the fortress. It was very heavily patrolled. "Guess that answers where all the guards were..." she muttered to herself, looking around the premises. They had to find a way to get back inside, preferably somewhere else than from whence they had just left.

Kasumi looked all over the courtyard, until she looked up and to the left, seeing a rather colourful and decorated building. She whispered to Thria, looking across at the guard tower. “That looks like a good place to check. There’s only one guard on that tower… I’ll go up there and take her down, then direct you up the pathway from there where I can see all the patrols. Sound good?” Before she even let her friend respond, she pulled out her Aquashot, zipping up to the tower.

The pirate had just turned around to head back over the bridge, but Kasumi placed her arm around her neck, choking her out, and finishing with a punch to the side of the head. Once the Gerudo fell unconscious, Kasumi laid her down, flashing a thumbs up to Thria. She laid on the guard tower floor to avoid being seen, looking over all the patrols. When she saw a good opening, she pointed towards the ramp up. “Wow…” She muttered. “This is kind of fun…”

Urgh. Thria just hoped Kasumi knew what she was doing, or at least that it wasn't acting. Admittedly the guard didn't have stealth for a specialty, herself, but Kasumi could well have been seen by, oh, only just about EVERY SINGLE GERUDO GUARD IN THE COURTYARD.

She kept an eye on the patrols herself, double-checking them when Kasumi gave a signal that she had to come up. Her flippers made running on the ground difficult, not to mention climbing ladders, so Thria was happy to reach the top of the tower unharmed and seemingly unseen. The bridge connected to a single building, so Thria wasted no time getting inside, holding the door open for Kasumi.

"Looks like their commander's quarters," she whispered. "I'm not expecting any water to travel through. Try not to make any noise."

Kasumi nodded to her friend, looking all over the place. She didn't want to get caught in the commander's quarters of all places. They were in a room that merely had a high ceiling, but large doors, obviously leading to an important chamber. Kasumi walked towards the door, placing her ear against it. "Well, let's see if anyone's in there..."

Instead of voices though, Kasumi heard footsteps, with voices following after. And the footsteps were directly towards them. Kasumi dove towards Thria, hugging her with one arm and aiming her Aquaclaw up, bringing them onto the ceiling just as the door opened. A very formidable looking Gerudo came out, stopping in the room as two other guards caught up. "Send another guard out to the storage room and another to guard this room. I don't want anyone trying to take these three eggs back. I'm not too worried about the one in my bedchambers, but if anyone's going to come to try to take them back, those will be prime targets. We're NOT losing these eggs. Make the arrangements and let's go."

The three women walked out of the room and down the ramp, making Kasumi lower the two of them down onto the floor. "Alright then. So one in here, and one in that chick's bedroom? Let's quickly look in here and get out fast, before that other guard gets sent here."

The locations of the remaining eggs were now known to the Zoras. Thria would call that good progress for five minutes. As soon as she stood back on solid ground, she wasted no time in turning around and kicking the door out of its hinges. She was immediately met with a sword flying by her ears, with a Gerudo attached to it. She jumped back gracefully when Thria brought up her Electric Aura, dodging its effects effortlessly.

Seconds later, a second Gerudo entered the room from a door in the back, and she wasted no time in recognizing the situation and drawing a couple of swords of her own. Thria would have liked some time to stand back and judge their stances, but they left her no time, attacking her and Kasumi immediately. Thria threw a fin at one and a fireball at the other, hoping to hold them back.

"They're not amateurs," she said to Kasumi. "They're in a different league than the ones from before. Be careful that you don't underestimate them."

Kasumi nodded, looking at the Gerudo she was going to face. She held her rapier in one hand, her aqua-shot in the other. She circled the woman, eventually taking a risky swing, but staying defensive. The slash was blocked easily, but Kasumi then leapt back anyway, almost catching a scimitar to the head.

Kasumi placed her guard up, parrying a swing herself as she made a riposte, slicing her foe's chest. Unfortunately the leather resisted much of the cut, preventing a deep wound. The pirate took this, slashing for Kasumi's head vertically. Though Kasumi dodged to the right, she felt the metal pierce her flesh as it dragged up her right shoulder.

Kasumi dove back in a roll, feeling her bloody shoulder. "Grrr... You..." She scowled at the Gerudo, fire in her eyes. She aimed her aqua-shot at the Gerudo, but jolted it down at the last second, shooting the floor in front of the Gerudo. This resulted in Kasumi landing in a tight roll, using the momentum to stomp the Gerudo's leg with enough force to make it bend in the other direction with a sickening pop and snap, followed by a stunned whimper. Kasumi didn't even let the scream follow, covering the Gerudo's mouth and pressing her elbow to her throat until the pirate passed out. "Thinks she can tarnish my body and get away with it..."