Shadow Temple (Tsubori and Blonde Panther)

Harena followed Qamar until she was suddenly handed the priestess’ glaive, she indeed clutched the weapon, but was surprised when she was put into a bridal carry. She made a face that screamed “Really?” But was perfectly content to just lean back, enjoying the lift from her silent guide. “What, no vows?” She said, chuckling to herself. Eventually she looked down for the reason why she was being carried, and saw the void below. Her smirk faded and she actually did clutch Qamar a bit around the waist, the idea of a fall being rather undesirable.

Eventually they reached the platform, and upon Qamar setting Harena down, she handed the woman her glaive back. Suddenly two stalfoses dropped from above, ready to fight. Harena struck a defensive pose, noticing that Qamar was labeling the one she was to take care of. It dashed towards the Gerudo, slicing low with its sword. Harena jumped over this slash and latched onto it’s chest, using flame choke to erupt off and land safely again. She didn’t expect the stalfos to recover so quickly though, and was thus surprised when it dashed forward, smashing her face with its shield before thrusting it’s sword downwards at her.

Harena mostly managed to get out of the way, despite a now bleeding nose, though the blade still grazed her thigh. She fell to one knee, the undead creature coming in to finish her off. But when it raised it’s blade, she struck forward with her good leg, sweeping the stalfos onto it’s back where she leapt forward, landing down with a long strided special triangle punch to the jaw. The undead beneath her crumbled to dust upon the blow, and the Gerudo then turned to see how Qamar was doing with hers.

While the girl set to attacking her foe, Qamar pushed back the sword from the Stalfos that had charged at her, subsequently pushing the Stalfos itself back. Taking a stance from which she could easily lunge and stab, rather than slash, which would be too slow. The Stalfos raised its sword, but bringing it down didn't go quickly enough for Qamar, who used the opportunity of the skeleton dropping its guard to stab her glaive into its ribcage.

This sent the thing reeling, but not quite over the edge of the invisible platform. Pulling back her glaive, Qamar dodgerolled out of the way of another sword strike. She then pulled her weapon back, charging it with an ominous purple glow as the blade started to color black instead of red.

Normally a slashing motion with a long weapon like the Shadow Glaive was far too slow to hit the Stalfos. However, the Gerudo Dragon technique more than made up for that. When the blade of the glaive hit the shield of the Stalfos, an explosion of black flames ensued, causing the Stalfos to stumble. Not stopping while she was ahead, Qamar twirled once on the ball of her foot and brought the glave down, splitting the Stalfos' skull. She didn't wait for it to finish falling apart, instead grabbing the girl and leaping off the invisible platform before the Stalfos would resurrect.

The fall was relatively long, but Qamar let go of the girl in time so they could both catch the fall. Qamar crouched deeply, ending up in a semi-kneeling position between the two Traps circling the plateau.

Harena landed much less gracefully than Qamar, the girl landing on her side and rolling for a moment. The wind had been knocked out of her and when she finally managed to breath again, she stood shakingly and glared at Qamar. “What the HELL?! Give me some warning before you break my ribs next time, okay?!” Most other times, Harena was just screwing around or being a bitch for fun, but she felt she was fully justified in reaming the priestess out here.

“Not only that, why didn’t you just kick the head off of the platform or something? That would have made much more sense…” She then just shook her head, taking a scrap of rag from inside her ‘Victoria’s secret compartment’. Or rather not so secret anymore, the invasive priestess. She began cleaning her leg wound and looked up at Qamar. “Where to now? And how much more freefall that you’re not telling me about?”

Qamar got to her feet, leaping past the two Traps and getting to the door. She ignored the girl's remark about free falls and kicking Stalfos skulls off the edge. Regardless of what she did, they would still have had to leap off the platform- the Shadow Beast was not going to seal itself, and it was deeper still into the Temple. Too deep to seal it from here.

The priestess passed through the door, holding it open for the girl and looking up. To her left and above them, was the cage the girl had fallen down to earlier. They had navigated the maze-like Shadow Temple correctly if they had already gotten this close. Right ahead of them was the ferry.

Knowing the ladder was rotten and unreliable up until a point too far above their heads to just jump to, Qamar walked over to a block standing a little ways away from it and started pushing it. For anyone else, it would have been very heavy indeed, but for the Shadow Priestess' great physical strength, it was nothing. She pushed it against the ferry, climbed on it and grabbed the reliable part of the ladder. She then walked up to the Triforce symbol on the stern of the ship.

Once she saw the girl climbing aboard, Qamar turned vher glaive around and shoved the blade of it halfway into the wood, in the middle of the symbol at her feet.

Harena followed Qamar’s exact motions though the bizarre areas of this place, until they were at the massive ferry she’d seen before. It was huge… Though with a simple block push, the two Gerudo were on the boat and Qamar activated it. It started moving along, though as Harena noted, there was no water out front. While she wasn’t ready, she heard a noise behind her, and ducked quickly to avoid a slash from one of the two stalfos who’d dropped down.

“Dammit! We’ve got company!” Harena exclaimed as she drew her knife, preparing for another battle with these damn undead.

The ferry moved, as expected, and Qamar pulled her glaive back out of the triforce symbol as it moved, slowly and calmly relocating to the ship's bow. She fully expected the two Stalfos, as they were the designated guards of the powers that were. The deeper they came into the temple, obviously the more of them they were encountering.

Qamar knew this battle would not last long, though. She didn't have time for complicated manoeuvres and plunged her glaive forward, using a Shield Breaker to scatter the Stalfos' shield and then forced him to dodge her attacks until he dodged off the site of the ferry. Repeating the process with the other undead, she then ensured their location and, once more, grabbed the girl by the arm and dashed off the side of the ferry.

Before the girl could complain, after landing Qamar immediately turned her upper body and pointed at the vehicle. Just in time, too, as it without warning sank into the abyss the two Stalfos had fallen into as well. And fast.

Harena blocked a swing from the stalfos and parried, dashing in for the death blow... Until Qamar stole the kill. She was about to let out a sigh and make a kill-stealer comment, but the evil Gerudo was yet again yanked forward, her guide jumping off the boat with her.

Even after Harena saw that the boat sank, she rubbed her shoulder, starting to get sore from being manhandled all the way through this wretched place. "Seriously, priestess. You've really gotta learn to communicate better. And you totally owe me for if I need a massage after. Masseuses aren't cheap."

Qamar got to her feet, inspecting the leg that had screamed when she had landed. It looked like she had to lay off the fighting for a little while after this. Oh, well, as long as she could successfully re-seal the Shadow Beast, it would be fine. The two Gerudo found themselves between two voids, one being the one where the ferry had sank into. Behind them was a solid wall, but ahead of them was a door.

Qamar wasted no time in going through it, immediately finding herself in a tomb-like area, skulls lining the walls. She knew some of the walls in here were fake, and that one or two of them led into new rooms. She needed to check both of those rooms, as she could not sense where the evil was.

Voices called out to her, reminding her of the wretched place the Shadow Temple was. Qamar ignored them, walking through one of the fake walls and opening the door she found behind it.

At the other side of the door was a seemingly empty room, but when Qamar stretched her arm, her hand hit a solid wall. This room was the exact opposite of the rest of the temple- the walls forming the maze were invisible.

Harena yet again followed Qamar, wondering to herself about this Bongo-Bongo thing. She'd prove to Ganon that she could fight. She'd destroy this minion, summoned of her own blood, and show him she was worth something. There was nothing to say she couldn't simply summon him again further down the road. 

And this priestess. She wasn't any fun to be around, but she was very very helpful. Harena knew she would need help getting too much further. She'd... Probably kill her after.

When they reached the maze room, Harena smirked. "Oh, a maze. Now this could be hard. Or..." She raised her foot above her head, fire energy spinning around her leg and reaching an apex at the tip of her toes. After a few seconds of charging, she smashed her leg forward, striking the invisible wall and decimating most of the things between them and the door. "That.  Good ol' dungeon bypass." She then motioned for Qamar to lead. "Aprez vous, Madame."

Well... Qamar supposed that was one way to get through the maze. The girl just up and burst through it. However, despite following up to the mockery of her companion, she simply pointed straight ahead as a warning. It was too late. Seconds after tearing down the wall, the girl was knocked over by a Floormaster that had been hanging around behind it.

This was why Qamar just went through the maze, usually. The inhabitants of the Temple didn't really like it when she broke the sequence they expected her to follow. Floormasters were uncomfortably aggressive as they were, but they became several times worse when enraged.

Assuming the girl would need help getting the giant, bonebag but extremely strong hand off of her, Qamar stuck the blade of her glaive between the girl and the Floormaster, the sharp end of the blade cutting the palm. She then tipped the hand off of her companion, using the long handle as leverage. The Floormaster rested on the tips of its fetid nails, apparently deciding which woman to attack, but Qamar gave it no time.

It charged at her, its nails scratching her bare skin, when she drove her blade deep into it. When it split into threes, all three smaller hands tried to attack her as well. Qamar had anticipated this, though, and followed up with two Spin Attacks, just in case the first one didn't take them all out.

She then extended her hand to the girl, amusedly wondering if she was going for Sequence-Break and Dodge the Severed Hand round two or just do things as they were supposed to be done this time.

Harena had tried stabbing the giant weird hand when it had landed on her, but in the end it was Qamar who'd killed it. That thing was weird. When the evil Gerudo stood up, she dusted herself off and saw Qamar almost challenge her to try again. 

"You know, for a mute you sure are snarky. I'd certainly rather not have another face full of zombie hand. We'll do it your way." She then stepped forward to navigate the maze but saw... Nothing. "Oh. I can at least do this." She made a light punch on where she assumed one of the walls to be, and thanks to the special triangle punch, the maze slowly faded into view. 

"Alright, let's go." She said, beginning to navigate the now visible maze.

Very wise of her. Qamar admitted that she was rather impressed with the girl's capability to not only deduce that every time she angered the spirits, her punishment would be less tasy, she also managed to make the walls visible. Not that it was really necessary- if not for the departed, Qamar could navigate the maze with her eyes closed.

Making her way to a door she knew to be hidden behind the illusion of a wall, Qamar pulled it open and passed through it, only to walk directly in the direction of a small, elaborately decorate box that sat on the floor right in front of her. The Priestess opened it, pulling out a golden key decorated with a ruby, but the weight of the key leaving the box set off a trap.

The walls, made out of wood with a lot of sharp spikes on them, suddenly started closing in on the two Gerudos. Qamar looked at the phenomenon, quickly going over the range of her attack in her head and waiting until the walls came within that range. As soon as that happened, she pulled her leg up, waiting until she saw the familiar flash, and then firmly planted her foot on the ground.

The Gerudo Dragon of the black flames incarcerated the wooden trap, leaving it burning and smouldering as Qamar comfortably left the room again. The key, she tied to the shadow glaive so she wouldn't lose it.

Harena just followed Qamar as the priestess knew the way far better than the Ganon worshipper did. Of course it was a trap though once they got the key. And of course it was as easy to break out as it would be out of a paper bag. Once the girl began following Qamar once more, she looked at the key. It was so much more detailed than the others… This was an important key, yes… “So, what’s that one do?” She ask curiously.

Once more opting not to answer her companion, Qamar pressed onwards through the other half of the maze. Suddenly, as she drew near a large door with a golden lock on it, she knew she was in the right place. She couldn't say why- she'd never experienced it before, either. She just... knew.

Using the ornate key to unlock the door, she walked in, immediately seeing the two massive hands that belonged to the Shadow Beast. So you've come, Priestess. Sadly for you I have no intention of letting you seal me a second time. One of the massive hands lashed out, too quickly for Qamar to react to, and shoved her and the girl forward, into a invisible pit in the floor.

This won't end like it did last time, Priestess. The hands slowly floated down, as Qamar activated her Hover Boots at the last possible second so she wouldn't crash. This time we fight according to MY terms! The hand that had not shoved them in here gave a whack on the ground, which shook a little and, strangely enough, caused Qamar's Hover Boots to activate. The Priestess was unfazed by the Shadow Beast's words, and assumed a battle-ready stance.

She could only try.

Phantom Shadow Beast
Bongo Bongo​

Harena once again followed wordlessly as she was led by Qamar towards the large door. It was indeed foreboding and ominous. When they walked through it, Harena could see her metaphorical child taunting them. It knocked the two down, and then turned to Harena. And you. I’m surprised a pathetic girl like you made it this far.

“Oh, I’ll show you what a pathetic girl like me can do.” Harena said angrily, bouncing every now and then from the bongo hits. The Gerudo then jumped as a hand tried to hit her, latching onto the back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bongo Bongo go invisible, but that wouldn’t help him. She made him, she could feel him. He was getting closer, oddly. Jumping from the back of the hand, Harena launched a special triangle punch, hitting it in the eye. It let out a spectral grunt as in a flash of darkness;,the shadow beast became visible again. Bongo Bongo was stunned, but managed to throw Harena away with one of its hands, making the girl skitter along the massive bongo.

The second Bongo Bongo became visible, it roared out in pain. Not from the girl's punch, but because it suddenly found the blade of Qamar's glaive in its eye. Using her right hand to keep the blade in, she pulled her hand back and made a fist. Before she could launch the Gerudo Dragon at the eye though, one of Bongo Bongo's hands soared by faster than a keese with a tailwind and grabbed her, pulling her away from her glaive, which was pulled out of the eye by the other hand.

Qamar was then slung through the room, recognizing the floor to be a giant drum when she looked down, and when she suspended herself against the wall with a half-prepared Wall Kick, her glaive was thrown after her. Thankfully, unlike the Gerudo who had practised with it and was of decent size in proportion to the weapon, Bongo Bongo was an awful throw, and when Qamar kicked against the wall to send herself flying back onto the drum, she could catch her weapon in mid-flight.

When she landed on the drum again, Bongo Bongo started pounding it rhythmically, in an attempt to throw her off. When her Hover Boots didn't allow this, it became mad and started to slam its hands together. Fortunately Qamar was faster, and when her Spin Attack connected with the hands they recoiled, saving what could well have been her life.

...where was the main part of the Shadow beast?!

Harena stayed back a little bit when Qamar was dealing with Bongo Bongo's hands. She waited until it focused both hands on Qamar, then jumped onto the back of the left hand, stabbing into it to latch on. This time she didn't get the chance to find the body again, as the other hand had recovered from Qamar's spin attack and slammed into Harena, tearing her off of the hand and throwing her onto the bongo. 

The gerudo slid along, plunging her knife into the bongo's material and tearing it in a long streak. At first this was just to slow her slide down, but when the massive hands started hitting the bongo again, the torn material became nonpercussive, making it so Harena didn't have that annoying bouncing to deal with. She then looked around. Her punch had landed, so bongo bongo should be visible! Something then occurred to her and she looked under the bongo through the tear, seeing the shadow beast underneath. "He's under us! He's hiding scared!"

Below them. Yes, now that the girl mentioned it, Qamar heard the familiar rushing noise of the Shadow Beast's movement from below them. She raised her Glaive above her head, charging her Gerudo Dragon, and plunged it into the eye of the beast when it hit her. Bongo Bongo screamed, but continued to propel her upwards despite its pain.

No more, it shouted, no more! Slamming Qamar into a solid part of the ceiling, pumping all air from her lungs and leaving her gasping, Bongo Bongo rested one hand against her. Your strength will be mine, Priestess! You will not keep me imprisoned here for any longer! Its other hand lunged back, ready to plunge its nails into her.

She had bounced back from worse... she just needed a second or two...

Harena was combatting one of bongo bongo's hands when the other pinned down Qamar. Thinking quickly, the girl switched to a jumping stance as the hand tried to smash down on her, and when she jumped on top, it wasted no time in flipping her upward. 

Perfect... She raised her foot over her head as she flipped, landing her heel right down upon the hand pinning Qamar. The blast ravaged the already decayed flesh, putting a hole into it and setting it aflame. "I certainly hope you're left handed!"

Immediately after she landed, the other hand slammed into her from the side, hitting her against the side. Now was Qamar's chance. Nothing stood between her and the body of bongo bongo... Unfortunately. This was her creation, SHE wanted the kill! Regardless... It was survival or humility...

The girl created an opening for Qamar. An opening she gladly used. One hand had disappeared and the other hand focused fire on the other Gerudo... this was the Priestess' chance. Wall Kicking off the ceiling, she slammed the blade of her glaive back into the eye and prepared her Gerudo Dragon in the palm of her hand.

When it connected with the Shadow Beast, the dark flames did not fade. They continued to trap the monster in a ring of fire while Qamar stepped back, uttering silent prayers. No, the beast cried, It will not end like this! I will not- Qamar kneeled, punching the bongo at her feet. The beast cried out again.

You! It cried more loudly now, as Qamar retrieved her weapon, You brought me here! You brought me here and now you destroy what you created! But I am not so foolish! The remaining hand lunged for the girl, but Qamar quickly stepped in and cut it in two with her Glaive.

It took a good ten to twenty seconds, but finally, Bongo Bongo turned invisible once more and the last flames died down, indicating that the Shadow Beast's invisibility wasn't its own doing but a result of its actual disappearance from the mortal plain. Qamar sighed, resting her weapon against her shoulder, and glanced sideways at the girl.

So she had brought the Shadow Beast back into this plain? Ill intentions? Or simply ignorance?