Should've Been Lily [Eevachu + Chaos James][Skyreach]

As Rika thought, he figured out a method to get out, though it was somewhat risky. If he could have the ice cover a wider radius than the spell, it would free him. However, there were two problems. First of all, his arms were still bound, and without them he couldn't do anything. Secondly, he didn't currently possess the means to cover a wider radius with the ice spell. At least, not practically. On a theoretical level, Rika knew what he had to do; Enchantment. He had researched enchantment in depth previously, especially during the week or so he had been in Kokiri Village before all the previous events happened. Along with this, he had seen it used before. However, due to the events that had happened, Rika had not actually attempted it seriously, only theorized and toyed with it somewhat. As such, the concept was still mostly theoretical to him.

However, that didn't mean it couldn't be accomplished, it just meant it may not be at its full potential. First, he would have to do something about the vines strapped to his arm. Looking upward, Rika saw where the vines moved; They wrapped through a large bundle of seemingly tangled vines, mixed around one another in an incredibly thick knot. Maybe that could play to his advantage. . . Although Rika's arms were somewhat tight, it didn't restrict movement entirely, though he feared as soon as he took action the vines would respond, so he would have to be quick. Pointing his finger behind him, a large, glowing circle formed a couple feet behind him, around but not quite under the large knot.

As soon as this was cast, Rika pulled forward with all his strength, tightening the vines and pulling them forward. Immediately after, a large spire launched out of the ground, tearing through the vines and ripping the vine on his left arm off. Immediately following this, Rika reached for his second dagger, drawing it and severing the connection with his right hand. He wouldn't get away quite so easily, not if the vines could have an action. Two vines darted at Rika, this time aiming for his body. He sliced at one with the dagger, launching the newly cooled, figuratively, ball of ice at the second one and sending it running back.

Now, three vines darted at him from the front, intent on attacking him. They had realized that with the dagger came short range, so he would be unable to defend from all three. He just had to have a wider arc of ice, that was all. It was simple, theoretically; When channeling magic to form the chilling orb of ice to create the Ice spell, instead channel this magic through the intended weapon. This will cause the weapon to become empowered by the ice, and disperse in a chilling burst on impact, similar to Ice. It was a spell he had cast numerous times, just applied differently.

Channeling magic through his palm and into the dagger he wielded, a light blue glowing aura started to form around the hilt, but that wasn't enough. More energy surged as the blade was enveloped in a bright, blue light, but it seemed almost unstable, as the light surged. It would serve good enough for now, as Rika swiped forward, a chilling ice trail sticking in his path as he sliced at the vines. Though he didn't hit all three with the dagger, the ice would do the work. It wasn't perfect, as Rika could feel his hands freezing slightly, probably a misfire due to the lack of practice. Nonetheless, it was good enough, as the vines retreated from the freezing cold.

The Kokiri took this opportunity to dash out, slicing at the vines in front of him with the dagger. He had to leave the other dagger behind, but it would be a minor loss. The vines poked at his sides as he burst through, collapsing out the other side and falling to the ground as he tripped on the vines getting out. Way to ruin a cool moment.

Stumbling to his feet, Rika didn't have time to lie down and rest, there was a Bulblin chasing after the Kokiri girl, and she couldn't flee long. Sheathing the small blade, Rika dashed over and picked up his scythe. His left hand was fairly stiff and rigid due to the cold backdraft caused by the spell. Although there would likely be no long term damage, his hand was far too un-dextrous to effectively use. Wielding the scythe with a single hand would probably be enough to take down a Bulblin, however.

As he retrieved his scythe, Rika saw the Kokiri burst out of the nearby house in a panic, stumbling slightly as she passed through the curtains covering the entrance. The Bulblin followed closely behind, club in hand, though was slowed slightly as its club got caught in the doorframe. However, it pulled the large club out with relative ease, as the opening was still quite wide. Upon closer inspection, the Kokiri girl didn't just stumble, she seemed to be limping. Did something happen to her leg?

There would be time to find out in a moment, as Rika rushed the slightly distracted Bulblin. It wasn't enough, however, as he held his club up, blocking the scythe easily. Although normally the small creature would be around the same level of strength as Rika, due to the advantage of arms, the Bulblin won. With his superior power, the Bulblin pushed Rika back, pushing him onto the ground. Lifting his club into the air, he swung down, eager to smash Rika.

The club was too slow though, and Rika was too fast. Rolling to the side as he swung down, Rika swung the scythe in a wide arc. The scythe sliced against his leg, although due to the decreased potential of the swing, it did not slice through. That wasn't Rika's intention with such a swing, though. Pulling back as he swung, the blade dug into the creature's leg, pulling him. The sudden pain combined with the small amount of force caused the Bulblin to trip, falling forward and slamming his face onto the club he had just swung.

Continuing his swing, Rika's blade sliced against flesh as it withdrew itself from within the cut. Rika stabbed down, penetrating the Bulblin as it cried out in pain. However, there wasn't enough force to kill him with that, it seemed. Drawing his scythe, Rika cast Spire, a large circle forming underneath. That would be more than enough to finish him. Turning to the Kokiri girl, who was rather injured, he looked at her. Not someone he recognized. From the look on her face, a mix of fear, relief, and curiosity, Rika figured she probably didn't recognize him, not that he minded, that was for the best.

"Are you okay? Your wounds not too bad to move?" Rika asked, looking at her arm and leg from where he was standing. Along with the many small cuts along her body, the arm puncture looked pretty bad, but it wouldn't impede travel. It was the limping that would do that. "Mm. I. . . think I can." She muttered, wincing slightly as she took a step forward. Rika sighed slightly, before looking at the direction that lead to his house. "Do you know any other survivors around here? You're in no condition to head back to my place at this moment, especially if Bulblin are about." She seemed to pause for a moment before giving a brief nod. "I. . . think I do. I'm not sure if they'll be there still." She nodded, before slowly walking towards the east, supposedly heading to the other survivor's house.

As the duo walked, Rika kept an eye out for any enemies, any at all. They mostly snuck from house to house, careful to not run face first into a large group. Although Rika could likely defeat them, he would have to worry about protecting the Kokiri girl too, which would be a large disability. His hand felt like it had loosened up slightly, the muscles starting to relax and allowing better movement. It would still probably be best if he took caution when using the hand, though Rika didn't really care, if he had to then he would.

As they walked, the girl started to speak slightly, presumably to break the silence. "So. . . What's your name? I've never seen you around the village before, especially since you don't seem easy to forget." Rika seemed to hesitate slightly. She may not recognize him, but would she know his name? He decided to tell her anyway. ". . . Well, that's what I'm hoping will happen. I'm Rika." She smiled breifly, though dulled by the pain her wounds felt. "I'm Viole." Rika felt a slight wave of relief clear his mind as she didn't seemed to react at all to his name. Perhaps she was a younger Kokiri, he was gone a long time. Or perhaps Rika was just being really self conceited by assuming everyone would know and remember him. Regardless, the less Kokiri that did, the easier this would be.

Soon, they came upon a small house. It was in a tree adjacent to a small hill, but luckily for the two of them they could still reach it by climbing the hill. The girl wasn't in any condition to climb ladders, after all. Heading around to the entrance, it was barricaded by a series of small boxes and crates, preventing entrance or vision completely. "At least they're smart here. . . " Rika thought to himself, though the upper houses already seemed relatively safe. Banging her hand onto one of the boxes, Viole shouted, causing Rika to wince slightly. "Hey, Bapi, it's me, Viole! Let me in!" Rika quickly tried to interrupt her and cover her mouth. "You idiot, don't shout! You could attract more enemies, we don't know what's around!" He hushed to her before removing his hand from her mouth.

"I'm. . . I'm sorry, I didn't think of that, I was just trying to talk to my friend." Rika sighed and shook his head. "Just don't shout again." No wonder so many Kokiri were dead. There was a stirring heard behind the boxes, as the bottom box shuffled, before popping out and revealing a small crawlspace inside. "Crawl in through here, hurry." A light, feminine voice commanded. The two of them obliged, quickly crawling through the hole. As Rika popped out through the hole, he was met with a face of shock.

"It's. . . you, what are you doing here?!" She angrily shouted at the male Kokiri, causing him to jump back slightly in retaliation. Shit, did she know who we was? Why even such an angry reaction, anyway?

Rika stood, shocked at her reaction. Did she really remember him after so long? He quickly shook off his dazed expression as he spit out a reply. "What do you mean, what am I doing here?! I'm cleaning up this shitty mess the forest is in!" The girl seemed somewhat surprised by this, but didn't hesitate long before continuing. "S-Save?! After you just left?! Do you think you can just come back and play the hero, Rika? Just come back, fix everything and have everyone like you for once? You haven't changed a bit, even after being gone for so long."

Rika wasn't sure what to say, but the words hit him. She was wrong though, he had changed a lot. Perhaps it wasn't for the best, though. "And what are the rest of you doing? All I see is a diluted mess of bodies. I've saved someone's life already, and I haven't been in this mess long. What have you done so far?!" He shouted, and she seemed stunned by this. He saved someone? Saved? Turning her eyes slightly to glance at Viole, the girl looked back, worry in her eyes.

She noticed the various wounds covering her body, and the torn clothing covering the two's bodies. "You saved someone? Who, Viole? H-How could you possibly achieve that?!" She slowly spit out, running out of things to argue. As she said this, Rika started to get angry. "How could I? How COULD I? How could you NOT? What have you all been doing for the last 100 years, sitting around playing games, playing around, pointless shit like that?! Me, I've been-" His voice came to a shout as he spoke, but he was interrupted by a loud, feminine voice next to him.

"Stop, Rika! You just told me not to shout, now you're doing the same. This isn't the time to fight, we're both hurt and there are those creatures throughout the village. If you want to fight, do it later, but for now we need to work together to survive." Rika glanced away from her, avoiding eye contact. "Tch, I can survive by myself. I learned how to." He spat out, as a dull silence filled the air. It lingered for a few moments, before a loud vibrating created noise.

The tree shook as a loud smack was heard against the opposing side of the house, coming from the hill. "Shit, an attack?!" Rika yelled as he stumbled to catch himself. "We were pretty loud, they must have found us. Damn it. . . " He muttered under his breath, realizing part of it may have been his fault. He glanced over to Bapi, not wanting to look at her. "Listen clearly. I will go take care of them, and I alone will. You will both get in my way, stay here. I don't know if you have access to healing magic, or have any sort of bandages or medical equipment, but attempt to treat her wounds. I'll be back shortly." He commanded as he ducked down, crawling halfway out of the room before following up with another comment. "I'll show you what I've accomplished." With that, he completely exited, crouching down as he inched close to the tree's wall.

He didn't know what was assaulting them, who was assaulting them, or their numbers. This would be rather tricky, but he had to do it alone. He had survived all of his life alone, he didn't need the other Kokiri's help now, he never would, he'd rather die than have them save him.

Peering over the corner of the tree, Rika's eyes were met with a large, brown humanoid creature with rippling muscles. Shiny skull jewelry decorated his neck and hands, and large, leopard-like pants covered his short legs. He had a large, pug-like dog head, with wide, drooping ears and a gaping jaw. His intelligence seemed to reflect this, as he continued to pummel the tree side on his large Bullbos, completely oblivious to Rika's appearance. He pounded against the tree wide with his large, wooden club decorated back to back with small, pointed spikes while the Bullbos mindless slammed its thick skull against the wall. It was a Big Blin. This was perfect for the Kokiri, an easy picking.

He was far faster than the Big Blin, even if the Bullbos could present some problems. Along with this, he had not only range, but the element of surprise. He would have no problem taking the dumb creature out and proving his skill. Not that he cared about proving anything, of course. At least, that would have been the case in any normal scenario. Rika heard movement from behind, and he saw no other than Bapi rushing out. "W-What are you doing you dumbass?!" He stuttered, trying to stay quiet. "Showing you -my- skill!" She angrily spat out, rushing out into the line of fire.

--

As Rika ran off, Bapi felt a sickness, a hatred stirring in her chest. He was going to just show up and save them? He thought it would be that easy, didn't he? Slay a few Mad Scrubs or Bulblin and impress the other Kokiri, get on their good side. It wouldn't be like that with her, she wouldn't just fall for him like that. Where did he get off ordering her around, anyway? Was he really that good? No, of course not, he just thought he was, like he used to be. He really hadn't changed a bit. Rushing over to a table and completely ignoring Rika's commands, Bapi picked up a small slingshot and a small bag of seeds. "W-Wait, what are you doing Bapi?!" Viole asked, panicked as she struggled to get up from the seat she was in to rest.

"Going to show up that smug jerk. Just wait here Viole, I'll be right back." As Bapi headed off to the exit, Viole held her hand out, pleading. "W-Wait, please don't! I-I don't know why you don't like him, but he saved me twice. He's very strong, he will be fine Bapi, but it's dangerous out there, so we'll just get in the way! So please just stay here!" Viole's words were like daggers piercing into Bapi's flesh. She knew in a way they were true, but she couldn't admit it.

"You're a kind person, Viole, so you wouldn't understand. I will never let him think he's better than me, though, that he can order me around now, all of a sudden. I have to go teach him a lesson, don't I? Just like the old times. Just wait here, I'll be fine." She said, smiling slightly at Viole to mask her frustration before ignoring any of Viole's further pleas and crawling out of the small hole to the exit.

Bapi rushed out from behind the tree, pulling the cup back on her slingshot as a seed rest inside. Pointing it at the unaware Big Blin, the seed flew through the air at quick speeds as she released, knocking against his head and bouncing harmlessly off. However, he didn't seemed to be injured in the slightest, but simply angered. He cocked his head in Bapi's direction, a furious look of anger on his face. He let out a fierce battle cry, roaring at her as the Bullbo turned and stomped its feet fiercely into the ground just before catapulting forward in a swift charge, aimed at Bapi. Her feet seemed to freeze in fear, unable to move out of the way. A look of horror washed over her face as she shielded her front with her arms, attempting to cushion the blow in any way.

As she tried to block the blow, she felt her feet leaving the ground, but not due to the impact of the Bullbos. She felt a frame similar to her own tackle her body, sending her flying to the side, colliding with the ground. On top of her rest Rika, who had leaped and pushed her to the side. The Bullbos charged past them, unable to stop its run. The Kokiri girl pushed and shoved at Rika, desperate to push him off. "What are you doing, get off of me!" She shouts, shoving at his shoulders. Rika shouts back at her louder, clear irritation in his voice, "What are you doing?! I told you to stay inside, now you're getting in the way and you were about to die! This is why I said not to come out!" She bit her lip in frustration as he shoved him off, quickly coming to her feet. "I'm not, you're in the way! I'm not useless, I just didn't see the Bullbos!"

Rika just hissed angrily, it was clear she was going to stay in the way. "Fine, just stay out of my way, I don't have time to protect you!" Gripping his scythe somewhat loosely, Rika didn't want to exert too much pressure onto his hand. Though he could wield his scythe, the hand was still somewhat tender, preventing excessive power to be put into swings. His feet glowed a light, light aura of blue, signifying that the Jump spell had been cast, presumably before he leaped to push Bapi out of the way. It would be pretty useful here, if he didn't have to defend the stupid girl.

Looking over to the other Kokiri, Rika quickly spat out, "When I touched you, I cast a spell, you can jump higher. Use it to stay out of the way, I can't save you again if you get hit." Before turning to face his opponents once more. The girl glared at him due to his statement but he was too focused on his foes at hand to notice. The Bullbos riding Big Blin had come to a stop, and the Bullbos frantically snorted and scanned as it searched for its prey. Upon realizing it had not collided with and trampled them, dragging the two Kokiri behind as it ran, it turned, snorting and sniffing loudly. Stopping its leg wildly, it stirred up a small dust cloud as it charged once again, intent on trampling Rika.

Gripping his scythe with his right hand as the dominant hand to reduce impact from blows, Rika pointed his palm in front of him before re-establishing contact with the scythe. A massive, shimmering golden circle formed in front of him as Rika backed up, the Bullbos charging recklessly after him. As it ran over the large circle, a massive spire erupted from the base, tearing and piercing through the flesh of the bull like creature as it cried out in pain. It was the only enemy to be defeated then, however, as the Big Blin leaped from the animal's back, his club held high in the air.

Rika had no choice but to jump to the side as he came down, slamming the club forcefully into the ground where Rika once stood and creating a small crater. However, what the Kokiri didn't see was prior to unleashing this swing, the Big Blin's club shined and was enveloped in a white light. Upon slamming into the earth below, the ground shook, as Rika fell to the ground, unable to keep his footing. The Big Blin lifted his foot back, kicking Rika in the stomach and sending him rolling away as the Kokiri grasped for air, almost choking from the impact.

As he landed, he coughed harshly, the air completely escaping him as he struggled to contain any. The Big Blin slowly stomped over, ready to smash Rika again with his club.

The massive, hulking creature stomped over towards the small Kokiri lying on the ground, knees arced and hands clenching painfully at his stomach. He lazily held the large club over his slouched shoulders, as if he were casually strolling along and not in a serious combat situation. From behind, Bapi's body shivered in fear as she struggled to move. Could she really do anything here? Of course she could! She would save Rika and prove he was nothing compared to her and the others, and everything would be perfect. It was that easy, right? Slowly pulling the slighshot back, she tried to steady her shaking head, though it wouldn't stop entirely. It'd be fine though, right?

Releasing, the small seed flew forward, rebounding off the back of the titanous Blin and falling to the ground. He didn't even seem to stop or hesitate slightly. She hissed slightly, and pulled back another seed, this time aiming for his head. Her hand seemed to calm, and she would be able to hit the target this time. Releasing yet again, the tiny object collided with the back of the Big Blin's skull, bouncing off just like before. He scratched the back of his head as if there were an itch, not stopping in the slightest. Was. . . was she really useless? No, if she had something more, a better weapon like Rika, she would do just as well! It was just the slingshot that was useless, wasn't it? It had to be. . .

--

Rika clenched his eyes shut as he coughed, pushing tightly as his stomach as the pain echoed throughout the lower side of his upper body. Though the Big Blin had lightly kicked him, his massive strength was still not to be underestimated, as it hurt quite a bit and knocked the wind out of Rika. Managing to peek open his eyes to get a grasp on the situation, Rika saw the, from his location, gargantuan Blin relaxedly towering over the Kokiri, shoulders slumped slightly and massive club slugged over his shoulder. He snorted slightly as he looked down at the Kokiri, a look of unamusement on his face. How many Kokiri did he kill this way, Rika wondered. Such disrespect he gave to his race, to -him-. This was an insult to Rika's pride he couldn't, wouldn't allow. Clenching his teeth as he glared at the Big Blin, the monster lifted his club up, casually swinging it down.

Rolling away, the club slammed where Rika just was, not even impacting the ground. Such a weak swing, did the Big Blin really underestimate Kokiri that much? Says a lot about how he looks at the race. Forming a small, liquid orb in his hand, Rika clumsily tossed it forward as he stopped rolling. Though it was not the best of throws, it would serve adequate enough, as the creature was rather close. An explosion of water expanded directly in front of the monster, soaking him as a violent torrent of highly pressurized water pierced into him, a severely weaker blast of water soaking Rika.

The Big Blin hadn't been defeated yet, as although Aqua Grenade possessed quite the power at close ranges, the Big Blin had quite thick skin too. It certainly damaged it, as the beast roared in pain, clenching his face as flesh was pushed off the bone by the powerful jets. Gripping his scythe, magical energy poured through the pole and blade as a chilling, icy aura enveloped them. Pushing himself forward and swinging, Rika shouted as the blade collided with the Big Blin's chest. "Don't underestimate me!" He shouted as the glowing scythe touched the Big Blin's chest. Though the impact itself didn't pierce flesh, both in part to the lack of force in Rika's swing and the still rather thick hide the beast possessed, that wasn't the intention.

The Big Blin was enveloped in ice as it surged from the blade, freezing the impact point and spreading along his body, freezing the soaking wet Big Blin's body. The Big Blin was quickly turned into a Blinsicle, collapsing to the ground on his club. Rika panted heavily, still reaching for air as he coughed further, still having not caught his breath, especially due to shouting like that.

From the house, Viole came running out, having apparently been watching from the sidelines. "Rika! Are you okay?!" She shouted, rushing over to the injured Kokiri as he slowly brought himself to his feet, his scythe down below next to them. "I'm. . . I'm fine." He coughed out, his breathing beginning to stabilize a bit. However, it would be another moment or two before he was fine, so hopefully they wouldn't be attacked any time soon. Bapi looked at the Kokiri male, hesitant to move forward. He saved her. . . But it was Rika! He probably just wanted the glory, her friendship! That had to be it, right?

". . .Rika-" She hesitantly spoke, but was immediately cut off by the Kokiri. "Listen, Bapi!" Rika sternly shouted, causing him to cough before continuing. "I don't care what you have to say, I don't care about you. If you're going to yell at me, I don't care. If you're going to apologize, I don't care, an apology won't change anything. We can't stand here though, we've made too much noise, and by the looks of things this guy was a boss. If we just linger, it's likely we'll meet reinforcements. We need to head back to my house, now. You're welcome to stay here if you want, but you will die if you do." Rika turned away from her and bent down to pick up his scythe after speaking.

Bapi's mind was filled with a multitude of emotions, mostly frustration. Any possibility of compassion or sadness she may have felt a moment ago vanished, replaced only by anger and frustration, at Rika both for what he said, and the fact that it was right. Viole looked at the two of them, unable to think of what to say. They were about to fight again, weren't they? It seemed to fizzle away as Rika started walking down the hill, only saying, "Let's go, Viole." The Kokiri girl looked at Bapi, nodding at her to follow them, before walking after the Kokiri.

Bapi stood in place, her hands shaking with anger. By the time Rika had reached the bottom of the hill, Bapi shouted at the two of them, "Wait, damn it!" just before rushing down after them.

As Nicholas climbed the ladder and entered Rika's house, he was met with a strange sight; Though when wasn't he upon entering this house? The two Kokiri he had saved greeted him as he entered, but there was no such greeting from the Mad Scrubs. As he entered deeper, he would learn why. Wollo laid flat on the ground, his legs sticking out with his snout inched from the ground. In front of him, the trio of Mad Scrubs did the same, almost appearing to be Octoroks with leaves for hair and large legs sticking out of their backside. The Mad Scrubs stared intently at the Octorok, before one of them spoke. "Is this right?" Wollo let out a squeak and the Mad Scrubs squeaked back before contorting their faces slightly, seemingly to match Wollo's more.

They didn't seem to notice Nicholas at first, but upon noticing he was watching, one of the Mad Scrubs jumped up in a panic, standing tall. "N-Nothing wrong here, captain mister! The treehouse is under control, thanks to the defense of commander Wollo and his three generals, the scrub brigade!" The other two quickly followed suit, jumping up and standing tall, as if looking at Nicholas for some sort of approval.

--

As the trio headed towards Rika's house, at first Bapi kept trying to speak, shouting for Rika's attention. "Stop shouting unless you wanna get killed." Was all he told her at first, and he ignored all of her other comments. He had more to focus on than her complaints about him, such as the forest and how it devolved into such a state. Come to think of it, he never asked Viole about it. When they returned to the house, perhaps Viole, one of the Kokiri Nicholas may have helped, or even Bapi would be able to shed some light on the situation. They had to move a bit slowly due to Viole's injuries, but otherwise made it there with little problem.

As they reached the house, Rika simply leaped up onto the balcony with Double Jump, while the other two climbed. It was a little difficult for Viole due to the injuries she had sustained, but she managed to climb up nonetheless. Walking in, Rika saw that Nicholas was already there. "Oh, good, you're-" He was cut off as he saw the trio of Mad Scrubs on the ground in a row in front of Wollo, faces contorted to all shapes and sizes. Was. . . that supposed to be Wollo? ". . . " Rika stared blankly, unable to fathom what he would even say.

The Mad Scrubs quickly noticed Rika walk in, and jumped to attention as they did with Rika. "G-G-General mister! We, the scrub brigade, have defended the treehouse in your absence thanks to the help of commander Wollo! Awaiting further orders, general mister sir!" Rika stared directly at the trio of them, turning his head to look at Wollo in confusion. The Octorok didn't seem to quite understand either, but didn't seem to mind. Turning to look at Nicholas, Rika hoped he would understand, but Rika could tell he probably didn't. ". . . What?" Was all he could mutter as he looked back at the Mad Scrubs, who had begun to get nervous due to the lack of the reply.

"S-Sorry general mister sir, we'll fix it immediately! How about the Kokiri Assault Squad?!" Rika looked for a couple more seconds before his hand collided with his face in shame. Turning to walk away, the Mad Scrubs jumped up, commenting again. "R-Right general mister sir, it's dumb, I see! We'll just be the Octo Squadron!"