Shadow Temple (Tsubori and Blonde Panther)

Shadow Temple​

Harena Tenebris: The Sands of Darkness: Reward - 25 green ones and a couple battle scars.
Qamar Artwaltz: Priestess of Shadow: Reward - Promotion from Lv 1 shadow priestess to Lv 2 and 5 rupees.

Temple music

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The shadow temple... It was a place for her to start. She walked forward near the entrance, a long piece of rolled paper on her side. She'd decided that if she were to gain Ganon's favor, she'd have to start things herself. The woman sat down in the doorway, going inside slightly. She unrolled the paper out, instructions on it. 

She looked over it, making sure she had everything she needed. It wasn't an overly complex ritual... She had the rupee for greed, a yellow rose for jealousy... And for hatred... She removed her gauntlet, taking her dagger. Slicing along her hand, she winced in pain, though a smile still crept along her face. The blood filled her hand, and she rubbed it between both of her hands, soaking both in crimson. Now with the rupee below the yellow rose, she placed a handprint on either side of the offerings, then drew a line with her bloody finger underneath.

"Shadow temple... Here is gathered Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred... Arise, Phantom Shadow Beast: Bongo Bongo!" And with those words, the scroll begun to glow briefly, then burn from the outside edges in. Enveloping the blood. Enveloping the offerings.

Harena became giddy... It would finally happen! She was about to meet a mighty minion of the Dark Lord Ganon! She stepped back as darkness swirled about. Hands clawed the ground and up came her desired creation. It's grotesque figure was intriguing and fascinating. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. She ensured that her book of Mudora was beside her. "Shadow Phantom beast. Minion of Ganon. I have summoned you to wreak havoc as you once had."

At first she was met with silence. Then a fist launched forward, too fast for her to avoid. "Insolent girl. You believe one as pathetic as you can command a being like myself? You've revived me, yes, but I would kill you as fast as the others." He grabbed Harena, who looked up, still in wonder, though fear had started to settle in.

"But... I wish to become a minion of the dark lord!" She shouted. Laughter spread through the air as the grip tightened around her. She couldn't breathe! 

"One as pathetic as you could never be a minion of Ganon." As her face started to turn blue from lack of air, he threw her outside of the temple. "Foolish girl. This will become my home as it used to be." He turned invisible and hands retreated back into the temple walls. 

Harena gasped for air, rolling on the floor in agony. She didn't know what to do... She laid on the ground briefly, tears of frustration welling up.

Back in Rauru, in her grim little house, Qamar jolted up. She had been lost in prayer, until she sensed the pure evil. Over the years she had grown to be much like the beasts she fought: sensitive to changes in the atmosphere that indicated the arrival of evil forces. The priestess did not bother finishing her prayer, instead grabbing her glaive and tugging on her Hover Boots. She had hoped not to need them this quickly... but if she had to go where she figured she would have to go, then she had little choice.

As she opened the door to the town, she was immediately faced with a skeleton wielding a sword and shield. It wasn't the first time the Gerudo faced down a Stalfos (although it WAS the first time she did so under broad daylight), so she stepped into position immediately and took a few quick swipes at the monster, prompting it to bring up its shield. Qamar then braced herself, pulling back her glaive for a few seconds before thrusting it forward and breaking through the shield.

After that, the Gerudo needed but two strokes to destroy the Stalfos and move onward. She soon saw that many monsters, even those which normally did not show themselves until nightfall, were headed in the same direction... the direction of the Shadow Temple.

Qamar found that as long as she did not disturb them, the minions of Ganon did not attack her. This was pleasing- it meant she could make her way to the temple without much of an issue. As she entered the temple of death and decay, she was just in time to see two large, claw-like hands retreating into the temple walls. She leapt forwards, but her glaive only hit the stone wall, as she was too late.

Behind her, at her feet, was a girl that the beast had manhandled. Something had happened... and it had brought the Shadow Beast Bongo Bongo back into this world. Qamar had managed to drive it away once before, but it had taken her much of her strength and she was not sure if she could do it again... Still... She pulled up one leg and reached into the boot, from which she drew a small, silver key.

No use crying, better start trying. She walked over to the door in front of her and stuck the key into the lock.

Harena looked up at the woman who'd shown up, and she had unlocked the door to the temple, glaive in hand. Did she know that Harena was the one who'd summoned him? She couldn't tell right now, but the woman stood up, unsteadily walking closer to the door.

"W-wait! What are you doing? Who are you?" She thought briefly... What better way to get Ganon's attention than to prove her power against one of his own servants? "Are you going to take back the temple? L-let me come with you." She was still gasping heavily from being crushed.

The manhandled girl had gotten up, and although unsteady, she joined Qamar at the door just as the Shadow Priestess turned the key. Qamar turned around, holding up her free hand to indicate that the girl could not follow her. What was she thinking? She was injured. It was true that worrying about a single injury was never a good idea, but Qamar did not need the girl's help anyway. She had ventured into the temple before, she knew her way around it. That was more than could be said for that girl.

Assuming the girl understood her, Qamar entered the temple through the simple, steel door, but left it unlocked as she had to duck into cover immediately. She stepped behind the large bird statue in the middle of the room and surveyed. Three... four... no, five ReDeads, and on the ceiling, she found two large Skulltulas.

If all of the temple were infested like this, she was in for a long trip to the basement in order to perform the ritual of sealing Bongo Bongo.

The woman before her had held up her hand as if to say “Don’t come” But Harena was far too deadset to care. She walked in immediately behind Qamar. Redeads… She had read about them in some of her books… But she’d never actually seen one. Regardless, she dashed ahead of the priestess, she had her special triangle punch, and it was perfect for this. Running right at the redead, before it could even bellow in horror, Harena palm struck the demon in the face, banishing it. The creature burned up upon dying, and there was soon nothing left of it.

Harena’s victory was short lived though, as she felt a presence on her back. She tried to get it off, but felt a sharp pain in her neck and thrashed once more before raising her leg high into the air. She ignored the growing pain and after a few seconds, struck her foot down, making the explosion blow the redead from her back, killing it as well. Her sari had blocked much of the hit, though she still felt blood running down her body. She turned towards Qamar, seeing how she fared, a hand on her neck where the bite had been.

Qamar shouldn't have left that door open. The girl rushed in after her and carelessly took out two of the ReDeads. However, the second of those ReDeads did not go down before biting her in the neck, causing substantial blood loss. The third, fourth and fifth ones starting closing in on the girl, and Qamar saw the Skulltulas coming down from the ceiling, too.

Se did not hesitate. Taking her Glaive to hand, she started charging power while she ran towards the girl. She then pushed her out of the way, took a preparational stance between the ReDeads and waited until they came within range of her weapon.

A Spin Attack with a Glaive was undoubtedly a strange sight to see... but it worked. After two or three spins, the ReDeads were on the ground, and they didn't look like they would get back up anytime soon.

Harena was surprised to see the lethality of the priestess, but after being pushed aside, she set her sights on the skulltulas. They were still too high to hit, but that was by most people's standards. Harena sprinted towards the wall, leaping as high as she could with Roc's feather. She then kicked off the wall, jumping even higher. Roc's feather was one of her favorite ways of getting around.

Now on even level with the skulltula, Harena landed on it's soft, fleshy side, making it swing on it's web. In the motion, it accidentally cut the line for the other giant spider, sending it down into melee range for Qamar.

The skulltula was trying to attack Harena in any way it could, but the creature was just unsuited to deal with anyone on it's belly. She took out her dagger, still fresh with her blood, and dragged it across the underbelly of the spider. She then reached into the hole, taking a hold of the most important feeling part she could find, though she didn't know what it was. She then started using flame choke, making the entire spider burst into flames as she reached the ground gracefully on top of her fallen enemy. "You doing alright back there?" She asked, more sarcasm than anything.

The girl recovered from her shock, leapt up, and killed one Skulltula after throwing the other one down to the ground. Skulltulas were the easier enemies of the ones inside the temple, so a single downwards slash with her glaive took care of the giant spider. The other girl reached the ground. Qamar could not say she liked this girl. Her way of fighting was far too complicated.

Combat was an exchange of blows, in a set pattern, until either party broke the pattern and got a wounding hit in. She had taken far too long on that Skulltula's final blow... if it had been Qamar, she would have struck back and killed the girl before she could have dealt that deathblow.

The Shadow Priestess turned around, her glaive still in her right hand, and pointed her left hand at the door they had used to get in. "Leave." her throat hurt after not having spoken for so many years, and her voice came out raspy. She was impressed with herself for even remembering how to speak.

Harena scoffed at Qamar as she said to leave. The gerudo woman put her knife away and put both hands on her hips. "Heh, as if I'm turning back just because some chick with frog-in-her-throat commands it." And with that, Harena took off running down the next hall, not even stopping when she reached a corner and rounded it to find no floor. She used her speed to jump most of the way across towards the wall, then leapt off of it, finding herself at the dead end.

"What the hell...?" She walked closer to the massive smiling skull on the wall and stopped a foot in front of it. She went to push it, and in a moment of extreme lacking in grace, she fell through the illusion, landing on her face on the stone floor. "Great, this place has a sense of humor..." She thought, surveying the next room.

As she supposed she should have expected, the girl talked back and rather than leaving, she ran on ahead, further into the Temple. Why were humans so much more complicated than monsters? Qamar took her time following after the girl, keeping in mind the less peaceful inhabitants of the Temple. As long as she did not disturb them... she passed by ReDeads and Gibdos without being noticed, as she rounded a corner the girl had ignored.

There, she opened a small box with some silver adornments and took out a scroll. On it was a blueprint of the Shadow Temple, on which Qamar had marked all invisible pitfalls and fake walls over the years. As expected, the girl had ran straight towards one. Qamar still didn't hurry towards the pitfall in case. A good scare might put the girl in her place...

Ah, yes. She had fallen in. Qamar double-checked her map. She should now be in the room of the Ferry of the Fallen... but the only way she could go was up, seeing as she was in the cage portion of the room. There was nothing that could happen to her there, though. Qamar looked at the skull on the wall and waved her hand in front of it.

'The Shadow will disperse only for he who holds the eye of truth, handed down in the village of Kakariko...'

Well, she didn't have it. She had always managed to just look through the shadow.

Harena stood up, brushing herself off. What she saw before her was a massive boat, but she was caged in. Walking up, the gerudo felt the bars. Illusions... Illusions... After feeling all the bars, she was indeed sure that they were all real. She scanned for a way out of here, and noticed that the wall had enough handholds to climb. 

But before she started climbing, her eyes fell on the small chest in front of her. She kicked the lid gently, the cover coming up, revealing a shiny silver key and a compass. A smirk spread across her face as she tucked both away in the cleavage of her sari. She climbed the wall, leading her back up to the room where Qamar now stood. 

"Oh, hey, look who it is." She came to her feet, and leaned against a wall. Before leaning though, she felt it with her hand to ensure it was real. The scene would be much less amusing to her if she fell through a false wall and botched it. She brought the key out of her sari. "I was just hanging out down there... You know, checking out the boat, and I found something interesting." She tucked it back into her cleavage, out of sight. "I think I'll be holding into this until we need it."

The girl came back from the cage which once held those sentenced to death as they waited for their ferry. She was fortunate. Had she been a few hundred years earlier, she would not have gotten out that easily. She flaunted a key she had found, before sticking it between her breasts.

Qamar considered getting it back. She needed it. That girl had to leave the Temple and she, herself, had to go on. Then again, she supposed she could wait until they had passed the door that key would fit into- what rested behind that would probably send her running.

The priestess started walking again, ignoring the voices of the deceased. They mattered not. Another Skulltula came down from the ceiling, but Qamar cared little, only running the blade of her glaive past its soft belly.

Finally, she reached the chasm. The fence on the other side was raised, courtesy of the beak of the stone bird pointing to the one actual skull. Just like she had left it last time... so at least no one had intruded between then and now. Double-checking whether or not she had her Hover Boots on, Qamar walked off the edge and increased her pace, running over the chasm towards the mostly destructed bridge on the other side. She made it within the nick of time before her Hover Boots would run out of juice and looked over her shoulder at the girl. Maybe she'd finally understand this was not her place.

Harena looked angrily at Qamar as she used those boots to get across the pit. Now this was obviously the priestess just trying to be rid of her... The gap looked like it'd be too much for the Gerudo to just jump, even with her Roc's feather. Frustrated and desperate to continue on, Harena looked around her for anything that could help. And then she saw what would help her... The skulltula that lay a few feet back would be perfect for what she had in mind.

Picking up the deceased massive spider, she carried it over to the pit, rearing back with all her strength before throwing it up and outward into the air. Once it had reached it's peak height, Harena jumped from the edge, using the now falling skulltula as a stepping stone before leaping again. The combination of the two jumps and her Roc's feather made her able to land on the platform quite handily. Harena then walked through where the gate had been, talking over her shoulder. “Shall we, priestess?”

Alas. The girl managed to cross the gap. Qamar knew she should have lowered the gate. She sighed. Apparently, the only way to get the girl out of the temple now would be to take her to the lair of the Shadow Beast and keep her alive in there... so she could use the so-called back exit. She shook her head. "Stay close," she said, her voice still not back to normal.

Facing a locked door she knew to match the key the girl had, Qamar waited for her to catch up. Then, without warning whatsoever, the Shadow Priestess brought up her hand and snatched the key from the girl's cleavage. From what she felt, her cleavage was that girl's favorite place to carry small items.

As she suspected, the key fit the lock. She left it in when she passed through, hearing a familiar sound further down the hallway. It was a downward slope from here on out... and she knew there to be invisible enemies hanging from the ceiling.

And she wasn't just thinking about the Skulltulas.

When suddenly Qamar reached into Harena's cleavage, the girl jumped back, but too late to save the key. A dark red blush set in as embarrassment came across her. "Jeez! Personal bubble invasion!" She played it up while she was at it to make it awkward for everyone. "And you didn't have to feel it up while you were in there! All you have to do is ask." She was of course joking, but at this point when she started continuing, she just wanted to get a hilarious reaction. "I'm kidding. Don't ask."

Knowing what awaited them behind this door, Qamar took her Glaive with both hands and ignored her companion's comment. The room behind the door was dark, with floor, walls and ceiling appearing as nothing but dirt stomped closely together. Qamar knew this room to not be very sturdy, so she decided she would not take her sweet time with the monster.

In the center of the room, eight pale, long, skinny arms protruded from the ground, in a perfect circle. There were more of them yet again. Last time there had been only four... but then again that had been years ago. Qamar walked to the arms, grabbing the pale, skinny hand sitting atop one. It immediately grabbed hold of her, as a grotesque heap of what seemed to be white flesh rose from a small whirlwind of dirt in the center of the circle of hands.

Qamar raised the arm in which she held her glaive and performed a quick Spin Attack, freeing her from the Dead Hand's grasp, and ran over to it, grabbing her weapon with two hands and delivering an upwards blow. A hideous shriek came from the heap of flesh, which lowered a relatively small head with an equally hideous face right into the rapidly approaching blade of the glaive.

It turned around, fleeing away from the Shadow Priestess and to a safe place where it could return to its cover underground. Qamar tried another Spin Attack, but the waves did not reach far enough.

Harena froze for a moment in what could have been described as fear. But it wasn’t. It was far from it… She was excited. She saw the terrifying nature of deadhand, and knew that the power would one day be hers. Until then, she had to continue her façade. Unfortunately the creature retreated back into the ground. She stepped out front of Qamar, slashing one of the monster’s arms. The hand put distance between her and it, and that’s when she saw it. Deadhand was coming up behind Qamar.

She jumped over the shadow priestess, complete with a flip for momentum, raising her leg for an explosive heel. By the time she landed, it hadn’t been charging long, but it gave a fiery blast upon impact, knocking it back. It once more, sank into the ground, so Harena turned towards Qamar, still alert to any incoming attacks. “Eyes open, lass.”

For the second time, Dead Hand retreated back under the dirt. It was an extremely annoying tactic it employed, suggesting intelligence above that of any other monsters in the Temple, which elevated it to a higher danger level than the normal Skulltula, Redead or Stalfos.

Right now its intelligence only resulted in a major annoyance for the Shadow Priestess. She raised her glaive with two hands, heading over to where the monster had gone underground. Once there, she allowed the hand to grab her hair, so that the monster would appear once more.

Once it did, she raised her glaive overhead for a destructive blow...

But the weapon refused to come down. When Qamar looked over her shoulder at her weapon (which was slightly painful due to Dead Hand still having her hair in its grip), she saw that the second-closest arm had stretched to its max and grabbed the glaive.

Not good.

Harena was about to spring forward and attack Deadhand before it got away again, but she felt a tight grip on her shoulder. On of the strange hands clutched her, though not for long as she jumped, sweeping her leg in a powerful kick. When it connected with the arm, she heard a sickening crack, followed by the hand letting go of her. She'd probably snapped the bone like a stick. 

Now with that hand gone, she leapt towards Deadhand, using a gerudo dragon to stagger it again before it could devour Qamar. This time, however, Harena was ready for it. She leapt off a nearby dirt wall, landing on it's back and stabbing it with her knife. If shrieked, and leaving her knife in it, she placed her hands right onto it's head, letting loose three flame chokes in a row. On the final, the monster's head engulfed in flame and exploded with a screech of pain from it. 

All the arms went limp, their owner falling to the ground, Harena picking her knife off the ground and standing up. She leaned against the wall, not much caring that it was dirty. "So, I'm not as useless as you'd expected, huh?"

With Dead Hand taken care of, its magic holding the bars on the door on the other end of the room was broken. The door was freed, and Qamar went through it, holding it open for the girl. Much as she hated to admit it, the girl had been invaluable in defeating the monster.

Together with her, she walked into an area that seemed to be one great chasm aside from the plateau the two were standing on. Without an explanation, she shoved her glaive into the girl's hands and picked her up, carrying her bridal style as she walked over to the chasm.

Her hover boots allowed them both to walk on the thin air, but they suddenly stopped as Qamar reached the invisible platform in the middle of the room. She glanced to a side, where she saw enormous guillotines, but didn't walk over to them quite yet. Instead, she walked to the wall opposite the door, not setting down the girl until she leapt onto an invisible platform which was being drawn up to a higher ledge.

It was on that platform that she set down the girl and took the Shadow Glaive back. Just in time too, because a duo of Stalfos came falling from the ceiling. Qamar pointed at one, making sure the girl saw it, as a sign that that Stalfos was all hers, before blocking a sword stroke from the other one.