Pouring Rain (Will & Tsu)

"Let's destroy it. It'll just be a hassle for us later, whatever it is." Nochtis scratched at the back of his, not entirely sure what the weird statue was, with its eye. Whatever it was, though, it seemed to be watching them rather intently. In fact, whenever he moved, its eye seemed to follow him, yet it didn't move. Obviously it was dangerous, otherwise Harena wouldn't have asked if he wanted to just go around it instead. So, either it couldn't move and had a limited range of what it was able to do, or it was waiting for them to do something. Nochtis found the former to be more plausible. Hm. Perhaps she would be more useful to me, alive. I've been away from the world far too long. A guide to this strange, changed place could be most fortuitous.

"Good news, Harena. I've decided that you're better to me alive. This thing in front of us is something I have never seen before, nor even heard of in the span of my lifetime. It has shown me that there is a rather large gap in my knowledge of the current world, outside of the Lost Woods. Instead, I propose that you be my guide, for a time at least, and help me get acquainted with whatever era this is. Of course, you won't always be needed around here, so it's not like you'll be working for all the time. Just a part-time minion." Nochtis said, nodding his head emphatically. "As for this odd statue, we should probably get rid of it." With that, he released his grip on his leaf, which he'd grabbed while he'd been speaking. A sprang to life as another wooden puppet, which obediently stood at his side.

"You, minion, go walk to that wall over there." Nochtis said, pointing to a wall opposite of him, the body of water making the path towards the statue the only viable way. Yet, the puppet began to walk towards the water, and was soon walking upon it. "You're welcome to try walking on the water yourself. I've cast a minor spell, that allows us to walk upon relatively calm waters. That doesn't however, mean that we can run on it." He explained, watching as his puppet continued forward, getting ever closer to the odd eye that was tracking it. It was clearly meant to be a distraction, for as the puppet approached, a red hot beam shot from the pupil of the statue, colliding with Nochtis' Leaf Puppet.

(Just so you know, Nochtis was talking to his Leaf Puppet, and not Harena, in reference to calling something a minion I like it better your way, it's funnier :P )

As Harena flew through the air to deliver her mighty kick, a single lizalfos appeared against the far wall bedecked in several throwing spears, among other weapons. As the statue blossomed into a cloud of stone, Nochtis was already on the move, moving past the Gerudo woman as she landed. The Lizalfos missed; whether that was out of shock from the exploding Beamos, or just poor marksmanship, Nochtis was not sure. Either way, he was glad to not have a spear sticking from the other end of his body. That was an experience he most certainly did not need. "Fine by me." He muttered to Harena, not particularly happy to be taking orders from her, and much less by the fact that he was actually abiding them. That said, she was right; it needed to die, and soon, before whatever allies it may have left came to its aid.

Things would not be nearly quite so easy. The Skull Kid would need to jump across to a platform in the water, then to the other side of the cave, all while dodging thrown spears. While it may have missed its first shot, he couldn't depend on it missing another, especially if he was quickly getting closer to the thrower. So how would he close the gap, much less kill the lizalfos, before he found himself floating face down in the murky waters of the cave? Thankfully he both was resourceful and had the resources needed, at least to overcome this obstacle. Grabbing a hazy-glassed bottle from a pouch on his hip, he ducked low, skirting the edge of the platform that formerly held a Beamos. Dipping the open end of the bottle into the water as he ran, he quickly filled its contents with murky, poisonous liquid. As quickly as he filled the bottle, he was rid of it; he hurled at the lizard, contents spraying everywhere, yet never seeming to empty...

His adversary was momentarily taken aback; jumping backwards, it meant to dodge the makeshift projectile simply out of reflex. That is, until it realized the Skull Kid had literally just filled the bottle with water from the cave, and while it certainly was toxic, it could do him no harm if he didn't submerge himself in it or drink of it. Letting out a snort, it walked into the still spraying bottle, never noticing that the level of the water was not dropping. The glass clattered to the floor and did not shatter, as if it were held together by magic, spinning in circles as water began to pool at the feet of the Lizalfos. Taking aim it lifted an arm--then stopped, and blinding pain shot through its entire body, pure white obliterating his vision.

While the Lizalfos had been preoccupied with the flying bottle, Nochtis had sent a bolt of magical energy behind it, masked by the dark waters that were flying through the air. As it his the ground and exploded, it sent jolting electricity through the water, and then into the overgrown lizard, paralyzing it as the energy coursed through its muscles. Hurling over the second jump, he was there before the Lizalfos could move again, jammed Heartrend through his enemy's ribs, through a lung, and into its heart. Yanking the dagger out brutally, his now dead opponent slumped to the ground. "Glad this was finally of some use..." Nochtis quietly mused, grabbing the still spouting bottle and corking it.

Nochtis nodded in agreement. The key most certainly did appear to be this lock's mate. "Hm, I may have to consider making this my lair. It seems strangely well equipped. And it's certainly spacious." He commented, sliding the key into the lock with a hiss. Turning it, he felt and heard the signature click! of the opening of a lock. Carefully removing the key from the lock, he pushed on the door ever so slightly, the light of a pit fire shimmering out from the crack. Hearing grunting, and what sounded like the tearing of meat, Nochtis put a finger to what would have been his lips if he'd had any, signaling to Harena that it would be in their best interest if they were quiet.

Pressing his eye to the opening, he searched the room. It was a large chamber, with a collection of Lizalfos standing near the back: six, Nochtis counted. While the two were more than capable, even that many would be difficult to handle. Especially if one of those six was gargantuan, standing around fifteen feet tall by his estimates. It held a large cleaver, that despite its rather apparent dullness, could likely still cut through Harena and Nochtis simultaneously, and then some. If silence weren't so pressing a need at the moment, he'd have sighed rather heavily.

It wasn't that he was afraid. But he wasn't stupid either; six Lizalfos against the two of them was hardly fair odds. They were all well equipped, for while the large lizard-man's weapon was the most apparent, the weapons of the other five were just as deadly. One held a trident, another a bow, the third a sword and shield, the fourth a claymore, and the last a wicked looking scimitar. All looked more than proficient in their weapon of choice. But the two had the element of surprise, for the Lizalfos had not heard the unlocking of the door. They would have to be quick about it, but they could even the odds before their enemies could properly react.

Turning to Harena, he began to sign to her, motioning the approximate shape of the room, and the position of each of the six lizalfos. The five stood closer to the door, though were still at least twenty feet out, with the large one being at the very back, likely thirty or forty feet. Trying as best to tell Harena that she should sneak in and hide in the shadows, while he distracted the five Lizalfos, Nochtis thought through his own plans in his head. He could fight the five Lizalfos, but only if they were impaired. That, then, was his goal. Slipping into the next room, Nochtis hid in the shadows for a moment, waiting for Harena to come through behind him.

Not bothering to see if Harena had bothered following, or even hiding, he began to run forth, feet quietly padding against the smooth stone of the floor. He let out an eerie chuckle, a wonderful trademark of his kin, alerting the Lizalfos of his presence. Clamoring up from their seats upon the ground, discarding their forgotten meat, they fumbled for their weapons. They were clearly practiced, though, for they did not spend long doing so, quickly assuming formation. At the front stood the Lizalfos who wielded a spear, and just behind him the archer. To his left and right were the Lizalfos wielding a claymore and scimitar, and behind him the one with shortblade and shield. The spat upon the ground as they identified their enemy; after all, one would be hard pressed to find a single person in all of Hyrule that bore love towards Skull Kids. They didn't have to think twice about killing this one.

But they did not underestimate him. Clearly the Skull Kid had made it this far into the cave without being torn apart, and so was clearly a dangerous opponent. And they were right to be wary. Now running at full sprint, head on towards the diamond formation, Nochtis grabbed his blowgun in his right hand, loading it swiftly with his left, which then grabbed tightly to his leaf. the head of the group stepped forward, lunging with the spear in a clearly practiced motion. But such weapons were predictable at such a range. Ducking low, Nochtis used his nimble and compact body to his advantage, dodging the prongs of the deadly steel. Casting his left hand forward, the leaf parting from his fingers, a wooden puppet suddenly materialized between himself and the foremost Lizalfos.

Continuing its forward momentum, the shoulder of the dummy crashed into the chest of the Lizalfos, its weight enough to throw him back. Using his superior agility, Nochtis jumped onto the doubled over dummy, then to the Lizalfos' shoulder. Vaulting into the air, he brought the entrance to his blowgun to his mouth, simultaneously aiming his still outstretched left palm towards the face of the Lizalfos to his left. The first Lizalfos was still falling backwards, just beginning to fall into the not-so-welcoming arms of his bow-wielding compatriot behind him. Expelling the wind from his lungs, a gray streak cut through the air, while a bolt of magic was birthed from Nochtis' hands.

Both projectiles hit their marks, the dart the eye of the scimitar wielding lizalfos, and the magic bolt the nose of the one with the claymore. Curling his body into a ball, his right hand passed across his hip, re-storing his blowgun. Landing upon his right foot foot, bending his knee, he immediately twisted his torso to its limits, far beyond what a living being would have been capable of. Jerking his body into an unnatural pirouette, Nochtis did an about face just to see the tip of a shortsword shooting towards his face. Falling backwards upon his left foot, he further bent his knees, then rocked forward. Ducking just beneath the blade, he surged forward, grabbing the Lizalfos at the wrist with both his left and right hands. Spinning around yet again, this time to his left, he pulled with all his might upon the Lizard's arm, his back foot solidly planted behind him, just in front of the Lizalfos' own.

Twisting the wrist of the Lizalfos as the lizard man flew above him, flung into the air by his own forward momentum, Nochtis caught the falling shortsword he had wrenched from his enemy's grasp. Continuing to turn to his left, he whipped around as the front Lizalfos was now firmly colliding with the archer. The red lenses of glass that were embedded in front of his eyes pin pointed the vulnerable areas upon the archer's back. Running forward, the Skull Kid threw himself into the blade, using his entire weight to plunge it into the Lizalfos, left of his spine. The steel parted scale, then muscle. It sheared through a lung, then emerged from the other end in between two ribs, lodging itself into the shoulder muscles of the still falling Lizalfos.

Stepping back from the collapsing bodies, he drew his main-gauche, preparing himself to face four wounded, and very surprised lizards.