Skyview Temple [Soulvis & BP]

"That I am," Ni'Ran said, suppressing a chuckle at Vayrin's surprise at his wings. Honestly, how -had- she missed the beak covering most of his face? Or maybe it had just slipped her mind, which was fair; most Rito weren't exactly known to be sword fighters. As she clambered onto his back, he noted that while she wasn't heavy for her age, she was certainly heavier than his armour, and he had not told her that he wasn't used to carrying passengers. After all, Rito weren't Loftwings. Still, as long as he didn't have to fly for long with her on his back, he should be able to manage. "Alright. Hold on, my takeoffs aren't designed for passenger flights." He bent his knees, a little deeper than he usually did to account for Vayrin's added weight, and gave the ground a kick, leaping up and frantically flapping his wings to gain altitude, to not lose the head start his jump had given him.

Normally he would glide on the thermals and take his time ascending, but indoors as they were, there were no thermals to take advantage of. As such, he had to keep flapping in order to gain and retain altitude, which was undeniably more tiring, especially with Vayrin on his back. Fortunately, his wings were huge and his large wingspan allowed him to displace more air and flap more strongly, giving him better altitude than the average Rito. Finally, they were close to the ceiling, and he looked around to find a large hallway opening up in he nearby wall. Turning to face it, he moved forwards to land on the solid ground in the hallway, stopping to let Vayrin dismount.

"Not my most elegant flight," he admitted as Alice caught up to them and landed on his shoulder, "But it got the job done. Are you okay?"

Vayrin's eyes widened as they lifted off the ground. This was definitely a different experience for her. She gazed at he ground below them as it got farther away. She looked back up and noticed Ni'Ran's straining face as he flew up towards the canopy. She held on tighter. A few seconds later they had reached a hole which resembled a hallway. She then let go of the Rito, feeling dizzy for a moment. She slowly looked back down at the room from whence they came. She couldn't help but feel a tiny bit jealous of the Rito. It seemed every species in Hyrule had some unique feat they could carry out except Hylians. Gorons can curl up into balls and roll around a fast speeds. Zoras can swim through water at fast speeds without needing to paddle. Ritos could obviously fly. Hell, even the Deku Scrubs could bury themselves into the ground. The longer she spent with this Rito, the more insignificant she felt.

"Yeah, I'm alright." She said still staring at the ground below them. She turned to look a the hallway. Another dark tunnel it seemed. Something was wrong though. She got a really dark vibe from this place. Not only the temple but something in this tunnel was unsettling. Vayrin slowly reached for her blade, her hand gripping the hilt but not reacting. "Lets go." She said suddenly. The sooner they found a way out. The better.

"Alright then." Seeing Vayrin tense up, Ni'Ran retracted his pinions and drew his own blade. He walked out front of her, following the dark hallway and brushing one hand over the wall to help guide him. It let out in another large room, but as he stepped inside Ni'Ran felt his foot slipping and he jolted back, holding out a hand to stop Vayrin. In front of them lay the upper portion of another enormous room, with more branches and vines littered across the walls and stretched out in front of them. Cautiously, Ni'Ran stepped out onto the branch he had stepped beside earlier, looking around.

"I won't be able to fly here," he said. "Everything is packed too close together, I can't put my wings anywhere. We're gonna have to clamber." He looked down. Below them, there was something, something he couldn't place. A living, sentient being, for sure, sitting hunched over. "There's someone down there," he said. "Maybe they know a way out, or they might need help..." He started scanning the room. Walk off this branch, hop onto that one over there, grab that vine to swing across to the furthest branch, and then use the ivy on the wall to climb the remainder of the way down.

He explained the path to Vayrin, pointing at the various stations as he mentioned them. "I think that's the fastest and safest way down. Ready?"

By now Vayrin had been used to see large rooms in this temple. She was not as overwhelmed by their sights, she only expected trouble from them. It seemed this one they were far from the ground though, the thicket covering various areas in the air. Her attention perked up though when Ni'Ran noticed something in the room below. A person. Finally! Maybe they had found a way out? Who would be down here without a path leading back to the surface (Aside from them of course, that was out of the question.) his posture was rather peculiar, though. He had been sitting hunched over. Maybe it was another monster...

She quickly snapped her attention back to Ni'Ran as he spoke. He had apparently found a possible way down while she was looking at the surface below. His plan didn't seem very difficult to carry out. If there was one thing Vayrin had, it was agility. She began to follow his instructions, placing one foot on the branch, making sure it was stable. Satisfied it would hold her weight, she began jogging across it, and hopped to the other branch. She then leaned out to grab the vine, as she did so, she let go and swung towards the wall of the cavern. Her feet landed on the side while holding on to the vine. She then let go and grabbed on to the thick ivy growing in front of her and began making her way down to the ground.

She let go of the wall when she was able to land. As she did so, she quickly brushed herself off, then turned her attention to the person who had been in the middle of the room...

Ni'Ran quickly followed behind Vayrin, his physical strength making up for his greater height and making the manoeuvring no more difficult for him than it was for the more agile teenager. She had scarcely set her feet on the ground when he grabbed on to the vines too, starting to clamber down himself. However, the figure in the room had stood up, revealing himself to be tall and slender, and turned around to them. Pale white skin, one ear rounded and the other pointed, an excess of eyeliner... Ni'Ran wasn't sure what to think about this person. Or even whether it was male or female. "Ohhh," it said, "And who might the two of you be, then?"

"Ni'Ran and Vay," he said, cautiously. He never freely gave out his real name -although he hadn't used it in years- for fear of being targeted by some mind-crushing spells. He'd omitted half of Vayrin's name for the same reason. "We're lost..."

"Are you ever!"

"And there was an accident at the main entrance, so we were hoping you might know a way out, sir..."

"That's 'Demon Lord' for you, whelp!" At those words, Ni'Ran hurried to draw his sword, only for the other man to sprint forward and ram his shoulder into his chest- the worst of the impact was stopped by his armour, but he was still sent skidding back with the momentum.

"Demon Lord," he muttered as he regained his balance, "Are you in cahoots with the Demon King Ganon, then?!"

"What do you know about the Demon King?!" Ni'ran still didn't know what he had said to set the other man off, but one thing was certain- he was an enemy. And judging from his build, he was accustomed to combat. "Well... there is a way out of here." He pointed over his shoulder. "It's right behind me. Sadly for you, it's been firmly sealed off by my magic, so for you, this is the final stop!" With that, he charged forward again, but this time Ni'Ran was prepared and dodged out of his way. "I can't very well let you escape, after all, not now that you've seen me try to learn the magical notes in this temple. No no no, that would never do."

"Be careful, Vay," Ni'Ran said, taking a defensive stance. "He may not look like much, but I don't think he's an amateur."

Self-Proclaimed 'Demon Lord'​

???​

By this point Vayrin had already unsheathed her blade and was ready to move into attack the strange man. After seeing what he did to Ni'Ran, she knew he was no pushover like the Rito stated after regaining his footing. Vayrin slowly started walking behind the figure as he had is attention focused on Ni'Ran. When she thought she was in the right position, she started running towards him with her sword drawn. As she was about to strike, the figure flipped his head sideways, looking at her for a split second before giving off a grin.

"HAH!" Vayrin quickly hit her sword on the stone ground in front of her... The man had just..Disappeared? She could have sworn he was right in front of her only second ago. "Heh he he..." Vayrin lifted her head as she heard the chuckling behind her. She quickly turned around to see him standing several feet away from her, but something was with him. From what she could tell there was about 12 tiny red lights floating around him spinning. Vayrin's eyes widened when she figured out what they were. She quickly dove out of the way as one by one the lights became tiny spikes flying towards her. She somersaulted back to her standing position and sprinted towards him again. She lifted her blade and thrust it downwards onto him. Her arms locked into place as she held the sword above her. Something stopped it. She quickly noticed the slender figure was holding her weapon by the blade, preventing her from hitting her mark. He smiled and then twisted his wrist, making her sword slip from her hands and into his. She then felt a sudden pressure in her stomach and flew backwards. He had kicked her. She rolled on the ground and struggled to get up. He had her weapon in his hand, and she was defenceless...

This didn't look good at all. Their enemy could stop sword swings with his bare hands, had a presumably infinite supply of ammunition he could summon to his side and launch at his adversaries at will, and teleport short distances. He might have given Ni'Ran trouble even if he hadn't had Vayrin to worry about and protect. Still, the Rito was determined to not allow his past mistake to be repeated. Even if this guy was a hell of a lot more trouble than a Moblin, he would not let him.

The Demon Lord vanished again, re-appearing behind Vayrin and preparing to bring her own sword down on her as she recovered. Fortunately, this had put him between her and Ni'Ran, and the Rito Swordsman only needed a few seconds to prepare his new technique. Sheathing his sword, focusing, and shooting forward, he lashed out. His adversary realised what was going on, vanishing from where he stood once more but dropping Vayrin's weapon. "Ohh," he said as he appeared not far behind Ni'Ran again, "You're something else, aren't you?"

"Care to pick on someone your own size?" Ni'Ran taunted, "Or are you not so tough as you want us to believe?"

"You know, I've heard about you. Ni'Ran, the Rito who did a number on our 'agents' in the Forest Temple." The Demon Lord chuckled. "I've been meaning to put you in your place." So he was with Ganon's cronies. All the more reason for Ni'Ran to keep him away from Vayrin! "Here, birdie birdie birdie!" With that, the Demon Lord shot forward again, but this time Ni'Ran was prepared, replying in kind with Quick Draw. The Demon Lord had no weapon ready, so Ni'Ran's sword collided with his midriff. Any other enemy would have been bisected from the sheer momentum, but not this one. He just stepped sideways, out of Ni'Ran's way, admiring the cut.

"Who's gonna put who in his place, now?" Ni'Ran said, probably more cocky than he should have been. As in slowmotion, he saw his foe's face twisting into a visage of rage once more...

At this moment, Ni'Ran had distracted the man long enough for Vayrin to grab her weapon and get back on her feet. She stood ready, in case he decided to come after her again. While she watched Ni'Ran she heard their conversation. Apparently this was not the first time Ni'Ran had been fighting one completely linked to the Demon King. Vayrin, on the other hand had never fought anything who was afflicted with Ganondorf. She quickly used Ni'Ran's moves as her distraction, she lifted her sword and charged another shadow ball, She then lunged towards the man as he sidestepped Ni'Ran's blow, releasing the black ball at him. Using it as a cover, Vayrin sprinted behind the shadow bolt, and as the man once again teleported out of the way she ducked and rolled, assuming he would reappear with more ammunition. Sure enough, she heard the swift whistle of the magical needles inches from her head ash she rolled onto the ground. She regained her footing a moment too early and saw two more needles flying at her. Her instinct kicked in and She held her sword up, blocking both of them.

As the Demon Lord sent more projectiles flying at Vayrin, Ni'ran lashed out at him once more, hoping to capitulate on his distraction. However, he had no such luck, as this time it was his sword that was caught almost effortlessly in their foe's hand. Ni'Ran's blade was longer and heavier than Vayrin's, so it was harder to flick out of his hand- but at the same time it was more unwieldy, and he struggled to regain it. Swearing under his breath, he tightened the grip his right hand had on the hilt so he could remove his left hand from it, snatching one of his throwing knives from his thigh and throwing it at his adversary.

He had not expected the knife to hit and was not at all surprise to see the Demon Lord leap out of the way, but as he did so at least he let go of Ni'Ran's sword. When next he vanished, the Rito was prepared, and the moment he heard the distinctive sound indicating his foe had reappeared behind him, he used his race's natural ability to manipulate the air around him, summoning a gale around his body to knock his foe back. Once again, he had caught the Demon Lord by surprise and the winds blew him off his feet, where Ni'Ran could strike once more.

Almost as soon as she regained her focus on the Demon Lord, Ni'Ran had already launched himself at their foe. After a few seconds, Ni'Ran had successfully knocked over their opponent. To her surprise. She didn't count on something like Ni'Ran's ability to be able to knock him over. She didn't waste any time thinking about it though, she immediately gripped her sword tighter and ran towards the Demon Lord, trying to mimic Ni'Ran's movements as they both attempted to land a hit. To no surprise though, he vanished once again. Although, with their current position Vayrin predicted where he would show up again, and she then turned her body and somersaulted towards Ni'Ran, and lashed her sword out at the Demon Lord when he appeared behind Ni'Ran. This time he barely missed her blade, as the whistle of her steel flew past the slender figure as he leapt out of the way. He was panting just a tiny bit.

Ni'Ran was about to compliment Vayrin on a job well done when the Demon Lord straightened himself. "Hmph. Now you've made me get serious. Sorry, lassie, but you're collateral here." He snapped the fingers on both his hands, summoning a pair of identical black swords out of nowhere. It was a technique Ni'Ran had seen before, but what was more worrying was that there were two. All styles he knew using dual weapons focused on fighting one enemy, and he'd never seen anyone use two weapons to take on two enemies. Surely the Demon Lord didn't have THAT ridiculous level of skill?

But he did, he proved as he ran towards the two and lashed out at them both. Ni'Ran barely managed to parry the strike coming his way, having to look away from Vayrin and only hoping she would be alright as well. He circled to one of the Demon Lord's sides, hoping Vayrin would get the hint and circle to the other side. If they could put as much distance as possible between the two areas the Demon Lord's attention was divided towards, they might have a chance, he thought.

Vayrin quickly gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her blade as the Demon Lord summoned two blades into his hands. At that moment, he rushed both of them. Expecting this, Vayrin quickly rolled out of the way onto her feet, attempting to block his incoming sword blows. She then entered a dance like movement, quickly parrying and slashing at the Demon Lord's Sword as he did the same to Ni'Ran. With his skill level, Vayrin didn't expect to be the victor of this segment. As she predicted the Demon Lord had swished her blade from her hands, as it slid on the ground far from her reach. He smiled as she was defenceless once again. In that moment, Vayrin thought of something that may prove stupid within the second she stood there. She simply ran at their foe and tackled him to the ground. To her surprise it worked. This move had been so fast and sudden, that he couldn't have predicted she would do something like that. The Demon Lord's slender figure was no challenge to move either. The both of them tumbled to the ground. Vayrin hoping Ni'Ran would take advantage of this opportunity as quickly as he could.

(Sorry for the ungodly late replies. Lots of stuff have been keeping me busy lately.)

When Vayrin was disarmed and tackled the Demon Lord to take him down, there were a number of things Ni'Ran could have done to end the battle then and there. Sadly, all of them would have harmed Vayrin too, so he sheathed his sword, dragged the girl off of the Demon Lord, and while their adversary got up, drew his sword and launched them both upwards.

Although the Demon Lord was knocked off his feet once more, Ni'Ran failed to catch him on his sword and slice him in two, flying up towards the ceiling alone. As the momentum from the Shuttle Loop wore off, though, he did not extend his wings to fly, instead holding on to his sword and channeling the same momentum again, this time downwards. He plummeted down to where their adversary was getting up, but once again the Demon Lord was faster, rolling out of the way and bringing down both swords before Ni'Ran could pull his own from the ground.

The Rito opted to leave his sword where it was for now, bringing up both arms to catch the black swords on the gauntlets of his Black Armour. The resounding BANG was almost deafening as the armour's magical properties violently clashed with those of the swords, significantly lessening the blow to his arms so they jarred, but didn't break. The Demon Lord looked surprised, while Ni'Ran only grinned in relief. "Rupees well spent," he said. "May want to tell your master that."

As soon as Vayrin tackled the Demon Lord, she braced for the thud of the ground. Although, as soon as it came she felt another force from behind. Ni'Ran had pulled her off the figure. At first she didn't know why he didn't just slash their foe, but she soon realized his thinking. As soon as Vayrin regained her balance, she held out her blade, ready to strike again. To her surprise though, she watched as Ni'Ran had seemingly disarmed the Demon Lord, and handled his own weapons. Shortly giving off a cocky remark after. To this Vayrin couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. Seizing her opportunity, Vayrin rushed at her sword which had fallen on the ground far away. As she became within reaching distance, she heard another familiar sound of her enemies spikes. With haste, Vayrin ducked and rolled across her weapon grabbing it at the same time. As she rolled back to her fighting stance she held up her blade, blocking few of the incoming ammunition. Seeing her foe disarmed, Vayrin charged a smaller shadow bolt off the edge of her blade and launched it at him. Doing the same before she sprinted straight at him. She smiled as her plan fell together. As she predicted, the Demon Lord teleported away. She turned and gave a quick slash behind her, seeing as he teleported there. The slender figure dissipated once again, only this time that's what she wanted. Vayrin turned around again to see the Demon Lord manifest in front of Ni'ran. Seemingly distracted to his presence.

This time, Ni'Ran was fully prepared, having started to swing his blade out before the Demon Lord even appeared. He got his adversary in the midriff once more, this time drawing blood, and the Demon Lord leapt back, out of his range. Ni'Ran stayed in between him and Vayrin, his sword held in front of him as a warning. There was plenty more where that had come from, and he would have to go through the Rito to get to the girl. "Bah," the Demon Lord said, running his finger over the cut and tasting his own blood, "I grow weary of this game. I think I'll take your advice, Rito." He pointed at Ni'Ran accusingly. "I will make sure my master knows of the tricks you have up your sleeves. This is not the last time we've met! But until next time..." he added, bowing elaborately, "I bid you and your young companion adieu."

"You are not going anywhere!" Ni'Ran exclaimed, but by the time he'd Quick Drawn his way over to where the Demon Lord had been, he had already vanished. This time, he did not reappear. "Damn!" He sheathed his sword, turning to Vayrin. "Vayrin, are you alright?" He was mostly winded, himself- the temple had been much vaster than he had anticipated when he had told Vayrin to collapse the entrance. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drag you into this as well. But at least it looks like we might have our way out." To illustrate his words, he pointed at the archway in the wall, which had opened up as the Demon Lord had vanished. "You did good, kid. You did real good."

Her planned worked! Vayrin quickly leapt backwards as Ni'Ran carried out his role. With a successful blow the Demon Lord moved away from the duo. Vayrin gripped her blade with both hands, ready to rush at him anytime. She stood here and listened as the two spoke. Vayrin had honestly no idea what they were speaking about. Apparently Ni'Ran had been involved with Ganon's forces somehow. But that's all the info she could get from their talk.

Vayrin slowly sheathed her blade once she realized the Demon Lord would not return. She let out a quick sigh of relief. As Ni'Ran turned back towards her and asked her if she was alright. She simply gave off a nod. She had not sustained any wounds in that battle surprisingly, but she had been out of breath. That was by far the most difficult battle she had faced.She returned his question, even though she already knew the answer. "You okay as well?"

As the Rito apologized, Vayrin became confused. He thought it was his fault they got involved in this. "What? Heh. Don't apologize. I'm the one who got us stuck in here. I should be the one saying sorry." She said again. She was relieved that neither of them had gotten hurt. She would have felt terrible if her mistake killed her companion. She smiled up at her taller companion as he praised her. "Nah. I just acted as bait. You did the heavy lifting." She replied jokingly. Vayrin then faced towards the door for a moment. Staying silent as she thought. She then turned back to the Rito. "Hey, forgive me if this is personal but...What was that about? You and that..'Demon Lord' guy seemed to be acquainted already? Or at least he knew who you were..."

As expected, Vayrin asked about the words the Demon Lord had spoken to him. Ni'Ran turned around to gather his thoughts before answering, distracting himself by picking up what seemed to be a few pages of sheet music. "I have... reason to call Ganon a personal enemy," he finally said. "Reasons related to why I've been protective of you. I'd rather not go into detail, but there was someone once... and because Ganon stuck his minions where they didn't belong, that person is gone now. I've vowed not to rest until I've avenged him." He didn't explicitly say that in addition to the age gap, that was the reason for the gap in their respective skill. She could infer that.

"However, that obviously puts me at odds with his servants. I've encountered a few in an old mansion about a few days' flight from Castle Town once. They knew who I was," he said, frowning, "Even though I'd never seen them before. My companions at the time and I got rid of them, but they must have informed this fellow here about it. I didn't expect to run into another one so soon, much less with someone so young in tow. He might have come in after us for the explicit purpose of hunting us... in which case you having to fight him was my fault. On the other hand, though..." He looked at the sheet music in his hands. "He mentioned notes of power or somesuch, didn't he? Maybe he was after these." He showed her the notes on the paper. "You know how to play an instrument; do they ring any bells?"

Vayrin listened intently as the Rito told his situation to her. He had something in his past he didn't want to speak of, and it had something to do with the Demon King Ganondorf apparently. He certainly had motive for being out here fighting off Ganon's minions. Unlike her. She was just searching, and she prayed that the reason why she was searching had nothing to do with the Demon King.

"Here, let me see." Vayrin said as Ni'Ran offered her the sheet of notes. She took them and stared at the notes for a few moments. They seemed simple enough. With that thought in mind, she knelt down and took off her pack, grabbing her small Ocarina from one of the pockets. She then placed the sheet music on the ground and began to play it. The tune was catchy but short. After she finished playing the notes, she stood. Listening or waiting for something to happen. For a few moments nothing. Then, she heard a faint crack of lightning. She was surprised, seeing as they were deep underground. How could they have heard anything this far under. Her gaze quickly turned to the doorway in the room. A cool breeze was blowing through it's cracks. She could only guess what this song did.

Ni'Ran turned when a stiff breeze forced its way into the room and thunder clapped audibly. "Er, wow. Shall we go see where that leads?" he asked. He probably should have suggested it before he'd shown the sheet music to her, but how had he been supposed to know this would happen? Well, at any rate it was the only way they could go. He led the way, walking towards the arch in the wall and stopping there to look out. On the other side of it was certainly outside... he didn't need more than a few seconds to ascertain that. But the weather had certainly turned foul!

He stepped outside cautiously, spreading his arms to catch the drops of rain. He didn't care too much about it- his armour didn't rust easily and besides, a little rain wouldn't kill him. He walked out onto a beautifully paved garden with a large pond square in the middle. On the other side of it was a gate that led back into the untamed wilds of the forest they had been traversing before. Grinning and turning to Vayrin, he asked: "So... what do you want to do? Wait out the storm, or press on right away? I don't suppose there's anything dangerous left in our direct vicinity, and we've already been delayed so long we won't reach Castle Town today anyway."

Vayrin soon followed the Rito into the expansive area beyond the glowing door. Like she had predicted, it was raining, accompanied by thunder. Vayrin slowly looked down at the sheet music. Mysterious notes indeed. Could come in handy she thought. She slowly put them inside her bag as Ni'Ran spoke.

"Well, I guess we could camp out here for the night." Vayrin replied looking up at the sky. Even though dark clouds covered it, she could tell it was almost evening due the light behind them. With that, Vayrin let down her pack and slumped on the ground, leaning against a pillar beside the entrance. That was a pretty exciting adventure she just expereinced. Never in her life had she had to fight as hard as she did in that temple. The more she thought about it though, the more her thoughts wandered back to the supposed "Demon Lord" they had encountered inside. If Ni'Ran continued his travels, he may run into him again. Assuming what the Demon Lord said was true in fact. Now that she had gotten involved in that fight, she wondered if she just placed herself on Ganon's watch list for assisting Ni'Ran. She did not regret it if that is what happened. No one needs any excuse to upset the Demon King that had invaded her homeland. She then remembered to say something. "Uhh...Thanks. You know, for being my guide and all. i would not have been able to get through that temple without you."