Showdown at the Shokay Corral [Doc Genzo]

Ruairi sighed. He really didn't like the idea of walking through such dark tunnels and trigger something he couldn't even see! He did consider just taking the lantern once they passed one, but then Eve would probably complain that everyone could see her when she was in the light…

So he made sure to walk after her, so she would have to deal with whatever might have bumped into her in the dark.

There was some kind of source of light up ahead, too. The clone was sent ahead, and stealth was nowhere in sight as her flippers loudly smacked down the stairs. And then… A splash of water? Ruairi looked at Eve, and then started to head down himself as well. There was indeed water there. A lot of it, like something had flooded the whole area. A whole… Little town?
"Are those… Koroks? Are they thieves?" The Rito asked, unsure what to make of the scene. Little wooden creatures waddling about, hardly looking like the fast thief they had chased all the way there.

And the clone was still out there in the water. They had clearly been noticed, but nothing had happened. Yet.
"…If we have to go in the water, I refuse. I put on some nice clothes today, and I am not going to have them ruined!" Ruairi hissed.

Ruairi was not a baby, nor was he going to go in the water. It looked… Dirty and cold! Definitely not something he wanted to subject his precious clothes to. No way. Nuhhuh. The Eves were already in the water, but he considered just turning around and leaving them.

…But his kinstone piece. He couldn't let the thief just get away like that! He couldn't trust Eve to actually get it back for him, either!

What a dilemma! To not go in the water, but to still somehow proceed. Could he try to make it over there with his hookshot somehow? Maybe it could be possible, as his eyes scanned the flooded town. It was hard to say – and the failure could lead into him still being stranded with nowhere to go but the water, with the way back also being blocked! How horrible. Was there nothing he could do? Couldn't he just walk over the water like–

That was right. He had seen it before. When he was a young fledgling. Back when Granny Andma was more limber and could take part in some more physical shows. He could remember the dance on water – literally. It was magic of some kind, but all the times Ruairi saw her practice, it didn't seem too involved. How did it go again? He motioned with his arms as he was trying to recall how she did it. And the feet went like… The Rito did a sweeping motion with his foot along the ground. Hopefully he wasn't required to have the fans that were a part of the dance.

Ruairi kept swaying and practicing for a while as Eve waded through the water. He didn't care much about what she was doing, nor what the Koroks were blabbering about. He just focused on recalling the ritualistic dance, which may have looked a bit strange without the giant fans he remembered Granny Andma waving about, but he went through the motions in any case. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath that he allowed to release with all the air in his lungs. Light as a feather. Fortune favored the bold.

He took a step forward. And then another, and another. He didn't know if he was stepping on water or ground, his eyes still shut. His foot swept along the surface of the water in a wide arc, and he turned and motioned, fluid as the water itself. A step, and another, and another. A deep breath to fill himself with buoyant air. He quickened his pace a bit, but only by a little. It was a slow dance, after all. Ruairi's face was that of full concentration as he finally opened his eyes, knowing that he was much further than where the steps stopped. He didn't look down, however, as he continued to take steps and twirls, gently swaying along the watery surface.

"Me? Zora clothing? Please," Ruairi huffed as he kept dancing on the water's surface. Now that was a style far removed from anything he wanted to do! Not to mention his makeup! Or hair! All completely ruined by water! He didn't rush through his performance – no, as he was getting more comfortable with the dance on top of water, he was putting more effort into it, as he had an audience to entertain. His motions grew more pronounced and elegant as he kept dancing on top of the water. The lights from lanterns and torches illuminated the surface, giving him a very moody stage. There he danced, in the darkness, in the midst of the balls of warm light.

The Rito did eventually make it to the other side, hopping off the water and looking rather pleased with himself. Not a drop of water on him, perfect. It was all worth it. Ruairi was in a good mood again, which may have just saved the weird bard's life, as the Rito wasn't there to question any of the strangeness around him at the moment.
"Oh, I like songs."

Ruairi listened to the song, closing his eyes. It certainly had some… Interesting lyrics, he had to admit. He hadn't paid much attention to what kind of an agreement Eve and the thief-bard had made while he was making his way over the water, so all he could do was shrug.

"Well, I don't know anything about thief passwords. It was a strange song. Maybe thieves are weird – they are thieves after all," the Rito mused. He couldn't really say anything else about the topic at hand – though maybe no artist wanted their work to be called weird, thief or not. If the bard even was one. Had to be, when he was here, right? Ruairi did keep humming the tune for a moment.
"Oh, but don't you even think of stealing anything from us!"

Ruairi was happy to continue. They already had lost sight of the thief who took his kinstone, and he didn't want to consider the possibility that his precious stone may have been gone forever. They had to be quick if they wanted to catch up, but where should they even go next? The strange town with all those dark paths looked like a maze to just get lost in underneath Castle Town. Not to mention all the eyes that were watching the pair as they walked by. …It was better to keep their belongings really close to them, for now.

"You don't have to tell me twice," the Rito agreed with Eve's assessment. It might have only been a matter of time before one of the thieves decided to try something very stupid – and he was even wearing some nice clothes! Alas, his rupee purse was quite empty, which any pickpockets would have to learn the hard way.
"Is that… A weather vane? Why in the name of the Goddesses is there one underground where it would never even do anything?" Ruairi ended up basically wondering out loud as he looked at the most prominent features ahead of them.

"A puzzle? Right here in this town?" Ruairi asked. What a strange thought. He had heard of strange mechanisms inside all kinds of old ruins that had to be solved and manipulated – though he had yet to really see nor solve one. The dungeon they went to with Eve was old and decrepit, not looking like it was really in working condition. Was this an actually working piece that had to be activated somehow?

…Would a song really be what did that? That felt strange. The Rito knew well that songs and words had power, but the song he heard did not seem like it had any kind of mystical power to it.
"Is the water wet? My memory isn't quite that poor," Ruairi boasted. Well. He was pretty sure he remembered it, at least – it hadn't been that long! Though the lyrics had most certainly been odd…

Well, he might as well open up his voice, if nothing else. He stepped closer to the weather vane as Eve got into vandalism – would anyone dare to stop her, they could only wonder. The Rito cleared his throat and started singing a few notes to ready himself.
"A smart thief fears the boss' wrath – I'd rather be on a maypole dancing around the shaft!" His voice was strong, considering how it was coming from someone with a rather lithe build like him. Eve had already heard his singing, so it was not much of a surprise for her – even if this time around he was less of a comic relief character, and more of a dashing hero.

Though gosh, the lyrics were certainly embarrassing now that he was saying them out loud…
"Sometimes it hurts too much in my lungs! Ya'd think knowledge is power, but I… Burnt my tongue!" Was that how it went? Was it even rhyming anymore? No, he couldn't have forgotten the lyrics already…
"Every time! I say I am a-leaving… This accursed life! Sets me right back to thieving!"

…He was getting into it anyway…

The sudden sound made Ruairi stop – he might have even jumped a little, not having expected anything to actually happen. The base of the weather vane had a panel that now suddenly slid open. It actually was a mechanism that would be activated with the right song? He could hardly believe it! Was this actually some kind of an ancient ruin, or just something someone created for fun? It definitely was strange…

The Rito peeked in through the newly opened way after Eve. There was a guard there, who… Was willing to let them go as they knew the password. Ruairi immediately straightened his back and fluffed his hair.
"Oh, you know. Can't pass up a moment to put on a little performance," he pretended to be a modest star – though he was constantly glancing in the direction of the guard to see if he was going to give him any praise or be awed. He definitely should have been.

He had almost forgotten about the real reason he was there! Mentioning the kinstone and the thief got Ruairi all fired up again.
"Oh I don't even care who that no-good thief is! Once I get my hands on her, she's, she's… In big trouble!" He threatened, stomping past the guard in a great big huff. That stomping did soon dissipate into a much more careful step as they entered a very strange room. How did something so large fit underground? It felt like he couldn't even see the ceiling. Or the walls. Or the floor. A deep darkness all around, with only suspended, metal walkways where they stood.
"How far down is the ground…?" The Rito couldn't help but ask as he peered over the edge.

Ruairi frowned. How could he not worry about where the thief might have gone? There were so many paths to take! The air was thick with the smell of metal. The lattice made hollow, dull sounds as he stepped upon it, sounds that disappeared into the vastness of the space they were in.

The sound of Eve tripping and some kind of machinery whirring into life was startlingly loud in the silence. The Rito immediately took a step back – was it a trap that had just been triggered? The Kokiri was being moved away by the strange, moving floor.
"If it's tough to walk back, then it's probably a trap for clumsy trespassers, no? I don't think we should go that way!" Ruairi called out to Eve. Could she even get back?

Ruairi let out a groan. Of course she was already stuck taking whatever path the conveyor belt had decided for her. Definitely a trap of some sort, no question about it. And here he was, making the same stupid leap and landing on the same moving path so they wouldn't at least get separated in this hostile environment full of horrible thieves.

With his sense of balance, it was easy enough to stay on his feet. Running along made for quite the fast experience, actually! The Rito glanced up at the balls Eve pointed out, taking note of the various contraptions and walkways that crisscrossed all around. His hookshot could probably attach to many things if he wanted to get off the conveyor belt. …Would it be enough to potentially pull both him and Eve, though? It was made for quite a light user, and a Kokiri definitely wasn't heavy, but…

"There is no way this could be leading anywhere good! Maybe we should head up?" Ruairi huffed once he joined up with Eve, suggesting at least one idea to her before it was too late and the choice was made for them.

Ruairi looked up ahead – Eve was right, shockingly. What was there indeed looked like iron bars one might expect to see locking someone up in a cell. Not that he knew anything about that.
"What establishment," he frowned at her excitement. Normally, perhaps he too could have been pulled into that, but they were in the lair of thieves.
"What kind of people get locked up by thieves, of all people? Even worse thieves?" The Rito questioned. Innocent people… Or complete monsters that shouldn't be released under any circumstances?

He followed the Kokiri in deeper, looking like he was ready to fire his hookshot at anything coming too close. Or firing it up for a quick getaway, it was hard to say which was the case. The conveyor belt had led them right into what looked like a dungeon – the kind where people got locked up. Was this a place meant for intruders? Maybe anyone who had gotten themselves locked up was more innocent than he immediately thought. Maybe there were traps. They had to be careful.

Ruairi definitely didn't want to step on the strange floor tiles, once Eve pointed them out along with something above. An orb… A switch. She claimed it would activate the contraption that surely was underneath her feet. Maybe it would. But clearly, they'd have to test it before he would try it himself!

Before he had the chance, a voice called out from above. A… Woman? An intruder, someone who got themselves locked up by accident? Try as he might, he couldn't see up there, unless…
"Let's see if your theory's correct!" The Rito said, before he shot the hookshot in the direction of the orb, hitting it quite nicely to activate the mechanism and change its color. He, of course, did not want to stand on the tiles. Eve would have to be his guinea pig…