Right 2 Life (TsuRazSenDude)

Right 2 Life


The sun was still high in the sky, but the young gerudo known as Chimera knew that her looting would be short tonight. It had been a long hot day under the burning skies of Southern Hyrule. Eventually a town came into view, and this town was slightly bigger than the rest. Some of the buildings even looked slightly intact. 

Walking closer, a sign was visible, but definitely busted up. Dawndera. That was the town's name. She walked through the shattered gates and into the place, seeing the same thing here as everywhere else. Destruction and emptiness were familiar sights to the woman, hardly noteworthy anymore. The corpses had rotten and withered away for fifteen years, leaving little more than fowl spelling bones where a person's fleshy limb would have normally been.

The most intact building appeared to be an inn, and thus Chimera went inside. Perhaps she'd even be lucky enough to not have a vermin infested bed to sleep on. A cauldron sat toppled on the fireplace, but within a few minutes and a short trip to the oddly intact well just outside the inn, she was boiling water in no time. 

This was something she'd learned very quick on her own. Many times she'd drank the water as it was, she'd gotten very sick and even almost died once or twice. All she knew was that fire made it healthy. As the cauldron heated the water, Chimera cooked a bit of food for herself, but before that she blocked the door with a chair. Nothing was getting into the room without her knowing. Hm... Maybe they had some of that funny water downstairs...

Kalik flew over the endless dunes of dust beneath him, he had been traveling like this for four days and no sign of life or death; just emptiness: abyssal, hollow, forgotten nothing. In that time he had had little to eat or drink and even those supplies he rationed had run dry. The boy who had been used to hunger was now starving.

A fragment of hope remained in the young soul however, as he soon came across an abandoned town. With his swimming vision and physical weakness he couldn't last long however, and immediately went for the well. Soon the sweet nectar it brought forth was consumed by the famished Rito.

He would look for his other need, but night's dark shroud was hastily approaching; with water, it would only be another hungry night, he would survive. The hardiest structure there was an old inn, but a small black cloud flowed from the chimney. This wasn't entirely a dead town now was it? Clearing at small patch in the corner of a window, he looked into his would-be shelter, hand on hilt.

Wasteland.

It stretched before the girl, extended and filled her entire vision. Not a soul traveled the dead, desolate, land. She knew not whether she should be thankful or unnerved by that. Her only company was the beating of her heart and the silent, lonely clouds of sandy dust she kicked up moving about the wastes.

Abigail sighed and swept her hand across her forehead to clean off the sweat. It was the first time she'd gone quite so far from the caves. She knew that Ganon's minions had ravaged the land, but for it to be this bad... she'd not seen another living thing out here for what seemed like ages. And the scent of death was overpowering. She tried to block it out.

Across the dry, dusty plains, though, a small town loomed. She didn't think anyone could survive out here, so how was it that this sight greeted her?

The girl closed her eyes. The day hadn't yet quite burnt out, but she definitely couldn't get back home by nightfall. She hoped the others in the caverns wouldn't worry much. For the time being, Abigail would simply have to make do in this town. Perhaps she could find some water?

She slipped in quietly, and glanced around in silent query. This place looked as dead as the area surrounding it. Was it just a remnant, a shadow of its former self? That would make sense, she supposed. She checked around, but the one structure that seemed the safest and most intact was the rather large-looking building. Was this an "inn?" It certainly seemed capable of housing several tenants, but she'd never seen one before.

Hesitantly, she stepped into it and looked around. She must've looking like a lost child, gazing about so curiously.

There was something haunting about the Southern plains. The air hung heavy, thick with the taste of dust and decay, the sound of long finished battles whispered at the edge of the wind. Balder shivered, pulling his cloak tighter around his body. Night was approaching fast, and he didn't want to be caught out on the fields, exposed and alone. The dark had long been the assassin's friend, but something the drawing dusk felt... wrong. The hair on Balder's neck was poised at attention, as if to salute a coming horror his eyes could not see. There was no way the man could reach the Western Caves by nightfall, no matter how fast he moved. However, he had passed a small village, not more than an hour previous. The burnt husk, undoubtedly a remnant from the Great Invasion, had shown no sign of promise to Balder. There would be nothing worth scavenging for the collector, he would find no use for a site of such sorrow, or so he had thought. Now though, even the most ramshackle of locations would be better than the open plains. Glancing around, and letting out a sigh or frustration, Balder turned around silently. There was no other choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawndera.

The village was in worse shape than Balder had original assumed. He had come to expected destruction and death during his forays to the south, but sight that lay before the man was more than he could take in at once. No matter how many times Balder took a life, he still shuddered a Burnt and cracked husks of wood, once proud buildings, surrounded Balder. Every few steps filled the air with the sickening crunch of bones underfoot, the overwhelming stench of rot, putrid blood, and terror. No matter how many times Balder took a life, in these moments, he couldn't accept this senseless destruction. Shaking his head, Balder pressed on. The sturdiest looking building stood close to the edge of town, suggesting that had been an inn of some sort when the town still stood. As he approached the building, the man rubbed his eyes on confusion.
"That... can't be smoke, can it?" Wispy trails of black wafted skyward, a stark twinkle of life in the barren wasteland. Rubbing his eyes again, beating back the drawing drowsiness he could feel creeping into his mind, Balder crept around a neighbouring building. He planned to enter the inn from behind, foiling a possible ambush. Stepping out from the shadows, the man felt a stark presence emanating from his left. Scanning slow and deliberately, Balder could make out the vague form of a man peering though a smudged window, his hand resting upon a hilt upon his hip. Drawing his blade staff and his heart pumping, the assassin crept forward with is blade poised and hissed, "Stand. And release your weapon."

Chimera heard the homemade alarm fall over, indicating someone had entered. She whipped around, hooking her foot under a chair and whipping it across the room at the one who'd entered. The gerudo then used this distraction to take cover behind an overturned table. She'd gotten a look at the person as she did so. Another girl, similar in age to herself, not heavily armed...

She had her scimitar at the ready, and upon standing up, she used mortal draw to immediately sprint towards her target, blade primed for stabbing.

Abigail didn't notice whatever she had managed knock over; she had been too busy inspecting her strange new surroundings. Assorted rubble, bookcases, cauldron, table, chairs, flying chairs...

Oh, right. The chair that seemed on an inevitable death course towards her face was a tad more difficult to ignore.

In an instant she cast Jump and hopped to the side of it neatly. However, in the blink of an eye she found a blade at her throat. It unnerved her how quickly that had happened.

"Oh, my," she murmured as she kicked off and flitted backwards. "Am I not allowed in?" She wondered if everyone got such a reception. It certainly wasn't very hospitable, and she would have been a bit rattled if she weren't so preoccupied with the town itself.

Kalik peered through the grimy glass and into the darker but equally grimy room. There seemed to be a commotion inside, quite obviously whoever was inside inside wanted you to knock first. Well at least there wa-

In an instant his head snapped to the side, his instincts told him that there was a threat beside him.

And they had yet to fail. A few metres away was a Hylian with a strange double-sided scythe. Not much use in an alley, then again, neither were javelins. And so the bird-man choose flight over fight, at least hoping to bring the battle into a more open area.

Even in the shadows, Balder could vaguely make out the large appendage protruding forth from his target's young, fair face. It was a Rito, eighteen or nineteen years of age, if he had to guess, who turned and fled without hesitation, a show of grace and speed only found among those of the bird man race. And the stubbornness, as he hadn't bothered to show the respect of obeying Balder's order. Really, he thought to himself, what is this world coming to?

Half smiling, the assassin turn and jump, landing hard against the building who's shadow had been providing him with protection and cover. Balder pulled himself up the wall as his muscles popped, and his aging body protested the sudden exertion. By retreating out of the alley, the Rito had given Balder a look into his mind. Either the bird man did not wish to fight and meant him no harm, or that close quarters were not an ideal location to throw down. Of the two which were true, Balder knew naught. Rather, the man decided he would shadow his target from above, flitting across the broken and collapsed rooftops he felt so at home upon.

Chimera withdrew her shield, smashing it upwards to flip a table. She then leapt behind the mostly damaged wood, placing her shield to block most of her head, and with her sword ready for defending. 

Chimera then studied the girl. She didnt have a weapon suitable for combat, and she didn't look too battleworn. She did have a physique for it though, meaning she could have some sort of trick

Coughing to clear her throat, Chimera spoke for the first time in several months. "Girl no ready for fight... Why here?"

The girl in front of her spoke, albeit in a raspy, unusual manner of speaking. It seemed like she was somewhat unused to it.

Abigail inspected her assailant a bit, now. Well, she planned to, but the latter had already hidden herself behind cover. Poking out from the top of the shield, she spied a bit of light blue hair.

"Um, it's okay," She started, trying to circle herself around to get a closer look at the person who had just attacked her. "I don't want to fight. I'm just here to spend the night..."

Kalik chanced a glance back at his attacker, who had oddly not pursued him out the alley. His pace slowed and eyes searched frantically around the empty street for the threat. His instincts told him little, but that just meant he wasn't close.

In a last ditch effort, he took to the skies hoping to avoid an ambush; gaining height fast to throw off any assaults then.

As the bird-man circled the settlement in echo to the vultures that surely did years ago, he spotted his prey on the rooftops, and dived to land on the building in front of him. A javelin left its sheath and the Kukri soon followed ready to taste battle and blood.

Balder watched from the shadows above as his opponent shot skyward, gaining height and speed at a staggering rate. He cursed to himself for having fallen into such an easy ambush point. The rooftop Balder was perched upon left him as an easy target for any flighted foe. Taking a breath, he reminded himself that there was still a chance that the Rito was simply fleeing from Balder, no intending to return. Any hope that the birdman would run was dashed though as he circled round, spotting Balder's dark form and dropping fast and low into a dive, towards the roof. Balder threw a quick glance at the surroundings, searching for any escape, any advantage he could press. Fleeing sideways was out, what with the charred poles and shattered beams from long destroyed buildings littering the wreckage. Behind him though, all that blocked his path was a boarded window to the inn, decayed and cracked from age... “That's it!” he muttered, a look of glee in his eyes. Balder turned back just as the Rito touched down, raising his bladestaff, edging slowly backwards.

“I have no quarrel with you Rito. Lower your weapons, and I will do the same. What say you?”

Chimera heard no words. Motions spoke far louder. This girl was circling her, making the girl nervous. Did she use magic like that man so long ago? She pointed her blade at the Hylian, her head still tucked partially behind the shield. "Still!" She commanded intimidatingly. "Still or fight!"

Outside, a strange noise rang out into the village as the sun vanished beyond the horizon. It almost sounded as if a clock tower bell was ringing out with a single low gong. The odd thing though, wa that there was no clock tower in the place to produce such a noise. 

Following this noise, one running figure could be seen in the new moonlight. Followed by another. Then two more. Five. Ten. Fifty running figures headed towards the village. These Redeads made their way into the place quickly, filling streets and the main plaza quickly. Normally Redeads weren't the fastest creatures around, but they could certainly take a hit. These ones were a bit different though, as evidenced by their glowing red eyes. They were quicker, and willing to run, but at the cost of less durability. 

THE NIGHT BEGINS​

"Okay," Said Abigail as soothingly as she could manage. She put her hands up and back away a few steps. "Okay. I'll just back up now. I don't want to fight, o-"

A strange, bell-like sound rang out. That was odd. She didn't remember seeing a bell tower or anything like that coming in. Following the signal of nighttime, or whatever it was, she began to hear some sort of hurried steps. What? The girl had seen no sign of living things here, either.

"...kay?" She turned around and faced the door. The sounds were increasing in volume and frequency, as though running closer and closer...

Kalik kept his javelin raised and spoke in loud, commanding voice, more at home on a bloody battlefield than a deserted town "He who threatens shall receive a single mercy. Now why threaten those that have no business with you?" He lowered his javelin, but kept both it and the Kukri in a firm grip.

"One does not mean many, explain now or-" suddenly a loud ringing could be heard, as if from a church bell at a funeral. "-It seems Valoo has spoken, seek whatever penitence you will from your gods, we will soon join them."

Without warning, Rito suddenly readied and threw his weapon with a speed and precision that was undoubtedly inhuman, hitting his target through the skull. Dead long before it even hit the ground all those storeys below.

"I will let not innocents be killed so the dead may imitate life. The inn looks like the safest place, although there are at least two others inside and none of those abominations."

Balder froze as the javelin flew past his head, stunned not only by the speed the Rito moved, but the voice that carried forth from the man's chest. It was a strong voice, a commanding voice. This was not a creature Balder wished to make an enemy of. Shaking the shock out of his mind, Balder turned to see what target the javelin had found.

"I will let not innocents be killed so the dead may imitate life. The inn looks like the safest place, although there are at least two others inside and none of those abominations." The Rito's voice continued it march into his back, like water against a rock. There was something below them... something... hurrying. "Abominations..." Chancing a glance over the edge, the man of courage and fear, who had laughed at death and destruction, felt his heart stop. Hundreds of ReDead's lined the streets, some climbing above their brethren to mount the charred husks, remnants of life now their dying playground. "We have to go, now! Through that window, we have to jump it!" Balder pointed to the window he had spotted moments earlier. The urgency bled into his words, a wild look in his eyes. The demons would be upon the building at any moment, a flood that they could not hope to survive. Death had come for the town.

Death had come for them.

Chimera too, noticed the noises. With her blade still pointed at Abby, she too, circled around. Secretly, she poured her focus into her blade and feet, ready to let loose a spin attack. She then saw two Redead run in the door, one running at Chimera, the other at Abby. 

Letting her power loose, Chimera jumped lightly towards a spot between the undead and the intruder. Mid air, her body spun, sending slashes out that bisected both creatures. Landing, Chimera didn't even look to Abby, just keeping her eyes on the door. "Hide. Will kill things." 

Something about this was wrong. Abigail's instincts were wildly telling her to flee, but she had no idea where to; danger seemed to lurk in every direction, radiating a constant, crushing pressure. Suddenly the town that had fascinated her mere moments before gave her instead a terrible sense of foreboding.

In light of such a sudden, heavy presence, her nerves were not at all steeled when two disturbing, vaguely humanoid figures burst through the door... and even less steeled for the merciless cutting that followed it.

She stared in stunned silence at the two figures. Inspecting them closer, they were almost human, but... not. The effect was chilling. It was so close to being a Hylian just like her, and yet...

The gravity of the situation slammed into her like a carriage full of bricks as her heart rate elevated. It began to dawn on her. Twice. Twice she had been nearly killed today, within not five minutes of each other, and once had been the attempt of some awful creature she could not fathom being a natural inhabitant, only as some sort of vile servant of Ganon.

Abigail whispered, coldly, in the tense night air,

"What is going on in this place?"

Kalik knew the urgency with which the assassin spoke, the ReDeads were numerous, and far faster than the stories he had heard. These creatures moved with the shamble and lack of grace or balance that was expected of such beasts, but that they could move with such speed and force made them dangerous in the extreme. Should one catch a being as a Hylian than both would be knocked to the ground, and from there he would need a quick recovery or suffer a slow death.

His situation did not allow for thought and meditation on a course of action, only sudden action. With that, he launched a near-by wooden board through the window and followed after before even the dirtied and glistening shards came to rest.

Shielding his face from the spray of shattered glass and splintered wood, Balder glanced to the roofs below his current perch. Red balls, devoid of life, the flicker that danced behind all creatures eyes, the soul, gone. He shuddered, and turned towards the opening the Rito had created, broken glass and cracked boards hanging in the wind, a fresh wound on the side of his sanctuary. What ever was on the other side of the hole had to be better than his current whereabouts. Regardless, he had to go now. The hands clawing up over the edge were a dead give away to that. Balder bolted forward, his eyes never leaving the edge of the roof. In the instant before he hit the edge, Balders eyes locked with a pair of crimson eyes. Fear knotted his stomach as he threw himself into the air and the tug he felt as something grasped onto his leg only compounded the sickening feeling. Balder felt the air explode from his lungs as he hit the wall, his body just high enough up the wall to grab the window ledge. Wheezing as stars danced before his eyes, Balder called out for help as the dead began to gather and moan below the Hylian.