Snowhead Temple (MM) [Ink, Sinistrari, Cataphractoi]

Seven [Electronic Ink]
Faust [Sinistrari]
Tessa [Cataphractoi]
Layla [Cataphractoi]



Snow whistled across the mountaintops, bringing the imposing promise of bitter cold, howling winds and driving sleet.
A thin figure with long hair was silhouetted against the stark whiteness, the dark outline all sharp angles. At his waist hung a long, curved cavalry scimitar; an apparently odd choice for one such as him, being without a horse here, but his mount had been left at the base of the mountain.

Seven sniggered as the third Yeti child in the last twenty minutes stumbled up to him.
"Yous losts?" it asked in broken Hylian. He gave a toothy smile.
"I'm not lost," he said. "Why, are you?"
The yeti stared suspiciously for a second before making a dejected sound of assent. "I don'ts know where my friendses have go,"
Seven's smile widened and the blade at his belt lightened in colour.
"Why, that's easy, kiddo," he said jovially. "I know where your friends are! Just over this way!"
He stooped to take the little furry creature's hand and skipped off through the snow, huffing as his boots slowly filled with the stuff. It was like misery in a small flakey form.

When they approached the enormous chasm leading to the dungeon, the yeti wailed.
"They didn't goes in there, did they?!" it cried. Seven looked upset.
"They did," he said mournfully. "They said they found treasure or some similar nonsense,"
The yeti's expression changed faster than should be physically possible, its little monkey face splitting into a grin.
"Treasure?!"
And without another word the yeti raced across the ice bridge with an ease born of years of ice-crawling. It raced up the spiral-shaped obelisk and disappeared inside as Seven laughed.

"Nayru, that's three of them already, Fairy Blue," he said. The blade shimmered as a butterfly faded into view, settling on Seven's shoulder.
"I know, right? How dumb are these yeti? All you have to do is say 'treasure' and they're out of here! Whee! Death!"
Seven laughed as his Fairy smacked her wing tips together to illustrate her words.
"You reckon any more will come by?" he asked. The wind was picking up, the promised snowstorm whisking itself into existence as Seven blinked.
Fairy Blue fluttered her butterfly wings expectantly.
"Possibly. I mean, it's been a day. But we can't stay out in a freakish snowstorm like this one!"

Seven looked at the temple.
"I hate my life," he complained. "I don't want to go in the temple. I just tricked three kids into going in there, I don't intend to follow them!"
"Stay at the entrance. I don't see any other shelter from this storm,"
The butterfly was knocked straight off Seven's shoulder by a sudden onslaught of sleet, and Fairy Blue shrieked.
"Well get inside!!" she howled, vanishing back into her sword. Cursing, Seven looked behind him, then raced across the ice bridge, terrified the howling winds would knock him off. Sliding and slipping, at times on all fours to get across safely, Seven made it to the main spire and raced around the spiral path, stopping in the doorway to the temple. He huddled against the wall, safe from the snow, hugging his warm tunic about him.
"Gah, we didn't think this through," he said.

Constant snow had left a thick blanket across the landscape of indeterminate depth. It was entirely possible, at this point, that anyone or anything which sank into its cold embrace would never emerge alive. Sadly, the only way to figure out how deep it really was would likely be to dive in.

Layla thanked whatever deity had dropped a Snowshoe Ring in front of her not long ago. At the time, it seemed meant to get her across a frozen body of water alive. Now, she rather suspected it was to get her through here alive. Even her strength would not suffice to push straight through a mound of snow taller than she, and that much snow would surely overcome the thick plating and padding of her armor to freeze her to death in the attempt.

But, instead, she needed only walk across the surface. The magical ring she wore would have allowed to do that while wearing her Iron Boots if she so chose. Wind battered her relentlessly, however, and if she could not reach her destination in the next, oh, hour, it was entirely possible she would begin to freeze to death. She stomped up to the edge of a long, thing ice bridge and stopped. Hopefully reinforcements would arrive shortly, and they could head in.

----

While Layla plodded across the landscape, Tessa sped across it like the wind itself.

Part of that was because she was freezing right now. Extra layers of clothing mitigated the outside temperature, but currently it was somewhere between 'damn cold' and 'hell just froze over,' so the help those layers provided had dropped steadily. On the other hand, the wind was behind her, and she had Hover Boots. The snow was irrelevant; she could ice-skate over it with the gales at her back like that going at speeds that would put most animals to shame.

That was a boon, because from what the message she had received said, the situation was dire. Yeti were immune to cold, but deep snow was still an inconvenience to them, and Gorons had no such protection. The event was centered around Snowhead Temple, so Layla had asked her to come meet her at the entrance. Being nowhere near Snowhead at the time, getting here had been a challenge- nothing short of an airship or a ice-adapted Loftwing could traverse the mountains right now, although that hadn't stopped her from relaying her way across Northern Hyrule right up to the foot of the mountains.

Wind and snow rendered the passage of time impossible to track, but eventually she came across a snow-coated statue in the road. No one else wore armor like that, so she had no doubt she'd arrived. The snow lightened past here, almost like the eye of a hurricane, allowing her to see a long, narrow stretch of land connecting to a distant, lone mountain.

"Yeesh. That does not look safe. Maybe we should get some railings installed before we cross?" She had to shout over the wind, but Layla turned to regard her, so she must have heard. Tessa mentally deactivated her boots, so as not to get blown off a cliff, and she sank into the snow right up to her knees.

"Nay! There is no challenge to be found in crossing a well built bridge. Our adventure begins even now, my friend! I shall assist you in the crossing, of course."

Tessa attempted to say "Wait, what do you mean by that?" What actually came out was more along the lines of "Wait, whaaaaa," as Layla plucked her off the ground effortlessly and draped her across one armored shoulder.

"Lovely. I get to live out my dream of being a sack of potatoes," she groaned. Layla's armor was icy to the touch, but she had little control over her positioning right now. "While I'm fulfilling lifelong dreams, maybe I'll try becoming the first human kite. The wind seems up for the attempt."

"I fail to understand why you might wish to become a bag of foodstuffs," Layla stated as she began across the bridge. How it supported her wait, she had no idea, but worries like that were half the fun, after all. "However, I would recommend you wait until you at least have a length of rope before attempting the other one."

"...wait, are you serious? Layla, remind me to have a nice long chat with you about these wonderful things called sarcasm and humor later."

"Humorism? Was that theory not disproven long ago?"

Is she talking about bodily fluids? That's what she thinks humor is?

"Not- what? No. Funny stuff. You know, jokes, comedy, that sorta thing." She shook her head limply. "Good goddesses, am I trying to explain comedy to a giantess while draped across her shoulder and an inch from plummeting to my death? I always thought I'd go out that way."

"You are gifted with the sight? I wasn't aware you are a seer!"

"Yes. That is me. I am a seer. I predict we'll either tumble off this bridge, break it in half, or get carried across by a giant bird," Tessa replied monotone. It was hard to be funny under the circumstances, but dammit, she was going to try anyway.

"We are already across. Perhaps the cold has interfered with your ability?" Layla theorized innocently. Not even fake-innocent. She actually believed it. Tessa found herself hoping the monsters inside the Temple might be smart enough to understand her humor. Layla wasn't stupid, by goodness was she gullible.

"Does that mean I get to walk again?"

"The path ahead is steep. Worry not, I will bring you to the entrance." Tessa made a face from her position behind Layla's helmet, but she gave up trying to reason with her. A few inane and theoretically funny comments later, she found herself dumped inside the cave atop the path while Layla looked around triumphantly. At least that part was now over.

I can't believe how much of a rambling mess this post is and it really is long. I'm so sorry but you must read it. It's just one of those posts that just don't improve.


There must be madness in my blood. Faust growled to himself. His breath gushed out in thick, smoky heaves, whipped by howling gales from before his lips the same moment it passed them by. If not madness then masochism. Madmen. All of them, madmen. Bloody ancestors.

With laboured trudges the walking titan of fluff ambled through the knee-high snow, near blinded by the white blaze but suitably dressed: a woollen scarf wrapped tightly around nearly his whole face with a set of black goggles blurring with condensation at his eyes. His gloves were so thick he could barely move his fingers. His tied hood was so well insulated a redead could be screaming at him and he probably wouldn’t even notice.

Home sweet home, right?

Faust had hoped he wouldn’t have to deck himself in this ancient gear again for another decade at least. That damned pang of homesickness made him feel more ill now than it did two days ago, only this time with bitter regret. Fucking idiot.

Nonetheless, he was already at it now.

Naming every curse under Din’s blinding rays, Faust huffed and puffed his way up Snowpeak, trying his very best to keep his grouchy temperament intact even as his legs found their old habits and routines again. No matter how little a comfort he was allowed by the subtle adjustments of his body temperature or the fading of an itch on his nose, the doctor found his favourite comfort in complaining. And complain he damn well would; while no-one was around he’d have one fantastic time at it. Instead of fighting off the cold he was fighting off boredom after all.

But if only mother’s soup was waiting for me, like the old times. He sighed only to scoff at himself for talking like a man already retired. Well I do have one qualification already: my hair colour. Thanks, Mum. He liked it really but he may as well complain about it too while he was at it.

“YOU!”

Oh. Now I’m hallucinating! Good. Things will get more interesting then. Right on cue a tiddly little babe of a Yeti came clambering through the snow like a puppy bounding through a cornfield. Well, not quite that elegant but a man was entitled to exaggerations - especially when hallucinating.

“YOOOU!” The child wailed again, tears in his eyes. After a hobble, trip and tumble he effectively attached himself (fearfully for permanent) onto his left leg. Faust was ground to a halt whether he liked it or not. “Friends gone!”

“Hold on there, kid. Just because I’m out here alone doesn’t mean I have no friends.”

“FRIENDS GONE!”

“I just said, just because-.”

“GONE! GONE! GONE!”

“Alright already. Ok, I admit it. I don’t have any fri-.”

“MY FRIENDS GONE! ALL GONE! GONE IN TEMPLE!”

Faust paused to properly leer down at the child with an expression that would’ve been menacing if it wasn’t for all the ridiculous gear it carried. He was so very tempted to ask why exactly it was his problem but that face though…and those eyes…those big, shiny pleading eyes on that stupidly overly cutesy little face. Shame about the snot.

“So it’s their fault.” The doctor finally sighed, the pieces of the jigsaw finally fitting into place. Snowpeak wasn’t exactly the most hospitable place but it wasn’t usually this bitchy. The goddesses and their toy Nature had their moments but Faust had a feeling this blizzard was a little different when he had come across his same personal patch of yellow snow – five times. It couldn’t have been anything but magic. Serves him right for being bored.

With a resigned grumble he hoisted the child from his leg and instead mounted it on his shoulders, burdened by the weight but silently adamant that it was the least annoying option available. Constantly looking out for a wild child was far more fuss than it was worth, and since he didn’t have a leash and collar his own two hands would have to suffice for now. They kept the kid imprisoned, safe and chained down.

“Hold on tight then, kid.” He commanded, attempting to be stern but lacking the proper motivation to put the proper force in his voice. The kid stopped blubbering and instead snuggled his head into Faust's hood with the goofiest grin that could fit on his face. Manipulative bastard.

The following journey was surprisingly easy. Incredibly in an enchanted blizzard you never really have to worry about getting lost if you just change your direction to the right one. As soon as Faust accepted that he was doomed to play a hero he was sailed away – not quite literally, though almost – towards the Snowhead Temple with hasty ease. Bit by bit the depth of the snow faded. His legs broke free of the restraints and weight, meeting only a brief respite before the bite of the gales was notched up to a dangerous level. It hissed and wailed and screamed as before him that dreaded, slippery road of ice loomed over an abyss: silently terrifying as always. This was not a childhood memory he wanted to revisit.

The Yeti child sniffled and Faust’s grip on the creature’s legs tightened, chest twisting in a vice of apprehension. One step. Two step. Three. He could actually feel the frost crack under his feet, splintering into cobwebs that halted his breath each time. I swear to all of you golden bitches, if I die right here, right now, like this, I will not be happy. The doctor’s face crumpled and with a sudden surge of wild abandon he strode rapidly across the rest: far too quickly and unbalanced to look as courageous as he may have wished. He made it to the other side, for better or for worse, and the rest of the ascent uncurled with nothing worth mentioning.

Well, except for the woman. Yeah, that one, who stood inside the relief of the cave, mercilessly murdering any prior comfort Faust had just begun to feel. …Are you serious? Even here? In the middle of nowhere? The hulking wall of solid metal armour right beside her didn't make things any less intimidating either.

The doctor pulled to an abrupt halt like a man who’d just witnessed a poe for the first time. For once he was actually thankful for the mess that entirely covered his face, no matter how ridiculous it was. Yet while the Yeti child on his shoulders grinned and outstretched his arms – clearly found of the strangers for whatever mad reason – Faust just stood there, motionless and silent. Words were beyond him: excluding the hard, round “Oh” that fell from his mouth. If that could count.

Seven stiffened in surprise as his cave was invaded by two other people.
Oh, hell, he thought. Fairy Blue emerged from the sword in her crow form, invisible to all but Seven. She flew in front of the duo.
"We have a hulking woman and a little woman," she informed Seven, who silently moved further back in the cave. "And we have a huge furry something at the other end of the ice bridge. It's either a yeti or someone wearing a great deal of clothing,"

Seven signed his thanks as the crow flew back into the blade soundlessly. Carefully lifting himself to his feet, the small Hylian shifted himself to he centre of the cave. Why were there other people here, again? As far as he knew, only head cases came to the Snowhead Temple. And yeah, he was aware that he had just classified himself as a head case, but he was exempt from his own judgement.

He couldn't quite believe that the two girls hadn't seen him. Girls? Women? Whatever. How had they missed him? Was it his clothing? The lilac shades might have been enough to blend in with the odd turquoise-blue of the ice. He watched the fur-bound figure who hadn't entered the cave but seemed like he was making his way to join them. And scowled as he realised there was another yeti on his shoulders. Crap. He knew where this was going.

The little yeti was looking for the friends that Seven had sent inside the Temple. He briefly considered scarpering, but he didn't see any way out of the cave without alerting the two women, and he sure as hell wasn't going further into the temple solo. No way would he stick a toe past the door without a meat shield to stop himself from getting murdered by whatever was on the other side.

Like, I don't care about the death as such, he thought to himself, but that stuff hurts. A great deal.

Looks like he was waiting, then. Planting his hands firmly on his hips, he assumed a cocky smile and waited for either the fur-bound figure to arrive, or for the two women to see him. Whichever came first. He was screwed either way, really.

Layla had expected the boy already in the cave to say something by now, but apparently he was expecting the same of them. He may not have even realized she'd seen him, but then, her face was entirely obscured by her helmet. After having a moment to warm up, Tessa noticed him too- not because she'd even glanced in his direction, but because she'd sensed someone looking at her. Two someones, actually. She stood, glancing at Layla long enough to shoot her a silent message: turn around.

Tessa ignored whoever was behind them and stepped forward to greet the boy instead. He looked young. Too young, really. She offered a wave and a grin to indicate she was friendly.

"Hey there! Checking out the source of the storms too? Or just hiding? Kind of a rubbish hiding place though. I mean, why would you'uv been out here to begin with? It's mostly just ice. And snow. And cold. Did I mention the ice? Not very interesting! Wait, how old are you? Teens? I can't really talk I guess. I was fighting monsters at your age too. Mostly running from them, but also fighting. Western Caves militia represent! Now that I think about it...huh, I guess my parents were really irresponsible. And so were the other militia. I was like literally ten! Wait, kinda off topic. What was I asking? Oh, right. What're you here for?"

Through clattering teeth, Tessa rambled. She bounced and flung her hands everywhere to animate her comments and warm herself up, and at a couple points she literally forgot to breath and had to pause mid-sentence. It was a miracle she remembered the original point at all, really.

Meanwhile, Layla turned to face the entrance, wondering why Tessa hadn't just spoke aloud. It was two words. It took her a moment to recognize that she was looking at two people, rather than one.

"Greetings!" she boomed cheerfully. The man had a Yeti on his shoulders, so he probably wasn't evil. Her voice was deep; a singer may have referred to her as a 'female baritone,' and between that and her mask, it was entirely possible that greeting might be mistaken as coming from a man. "Have you come to challenge the evil being casting snow upon the mountains as well? I always welcome the presence of a fellow warrior! Join us and share in the glory of cutting down this most heinous of foes."

You know that awkward feeling you get when you confidently walk into the wrong room? When your gut drops and the surprise wipes your face so clean and wide with stupid surprise you'd have to kill anyone who took a pictograph of it? Then the dread sets in and indecision swiftly follows. And all the while you're just stood there like an idiot.

Yeah. That was Faust right about now. Still frozen to the spot as if he'd walked in on a party of moblins: well, one Darknut, one Miniblin and one Stalchild. Nayru bless that kid, Faust didn't blame him for not saying anything. At least the Miniblin woman talked more than their fair share too, which was rather comforting in its own quirky little way. If he wasn't quite so scared of her Faust would've almost found it cute.

Was she okay though? She'd probably get frostbite at this rate.

"Sounds about right." The doctor gruffly admitted rather than declared to the zealous warrior before him. His brow crumpled with strain as he tried to work out the gender, eyes then swiftly searching for cleavage or a waist or anything of the sort to give him some identification. He came out empty-handed thanks to all that armour. None. No clues at all. Well, I guess ignorance is bliss. Perhaps it was better he didn't know - just in cause this was one was female too.

Scanning the room for any other unwanted visitors and to his relief finding none, Faust relieved his shoulders of the Yeti child who then promptly attached himself onto Layla's leg and started rambling at her - instead of him - about all his problems and his friend's problems and their mothers' problems and so on and so forth. At least that issue was partly resolved. Good riddance. Seven was safe, for now, from any emotional accusations as the kid was too busy blinding himself with tears.

"But rather than a warrior I'd call myself something of a doctor." Faust continued, clarifying his side of the situation. "I have used amputation saws and some rather brutal knives, but that's about as big as my blades get." The armoured thing looked more than capable of knocking any threat out with a single blow however, so he wasn't really worried about that. Perhaps, just perhaps, maybe he was even lucky to bump into her-...him, them, it. He decided to nickname it Darknut for the sake of his sanity. And Darknut was male.

Pushing down his hood, Faust pulled off his shaded goggles and unwrapped his thick scarf revealing his stark white hair and remarkably deeply tanned - and often scarred - flesh. The one eye was blatantly damaged and felt naked in the absence of its usual monocle. Bloody idiot. Of all things you forgot that.

At least he had his lollipops, one of which he quickly located, unwrapped and popped in his mouth. This one was pink: smoked White Wolfos meat flavour. With mint.

Not risking another look in her direction because eye contact, but sure of his aim, Faust abruptly launched his scarf at Tessa. A throw that would result in a blinding hood if she didn't catch it.

He debated offering the kid and the Darknut some candy too but quickly thought better of it. He could be a real greedy bastard sometimes and this was one of those times. "Are we all here for the same reason then? To purge the curse to get rid of this bloody blizzard? Oh, and the children. To save the children."

Seven tapped a boot.
"Well, isn't this a lovely little gathering?" he said sarcastically. "I guess introductions are in order. My name is Seven, and if we weren't trapped in the Snowpeak Temple I would say it was nice to meet you. But this isn't a particularly good time, so..."
He looked at the older guy.
"That too, but my quest right now is to ask what in Din's name you are eating," he said in confusion. "I have never seen a pink food that is okay to eat and won't give you rabbit fever,"

He stepped forward to be able to see the fronts of the two others in the cave. Despite the fact that one looked and sounded distinctly masculine, Fairy Blue had claimed that there were two women and so that's what he believed. He did a little mock bow.

"So. I'm glad you guys did show up, in a sense. I wasn't looking to do this myself. But is anyone gonna address the elephant in the room here? How the hell did kids wander in here thinking it was a good place to play or whatever?"

He crouched to look at the yeti currently babbling attached to a leg. "You know the answer to that?"

"Tessa Smith's the name! Why's your name Seven? Are you the seventh child? Were you born on the seventh? Or in the seventh month? Did the birth last seven somethings? Were there seven stars out? Oh! Were you born with seven toes? Or maybe-oh goddesses why is everything black?" Layla cleared her throat, shutting Tessa up momentarily, although the scarf that had just enveloped her head may have had more to do with it. She almost looked like she was vibrating from the effort it took to keep silent, though it was somewhat mitigated by her efforts to uncover her head.

"It matters not, I think, why they are here. This may be addressed once we've brought them to safety and slain the creator of the accursed storm outside," Layla cut in. She paused for a moment as something clicked in her head. "Hold. You said 'kids.' Plural, as if you know of others that have wandered inside. How long have you been waiting here? And why do I suspect you know the answer to your own question?"

Layla loomed over the boy menacingly- although, she supposed, that was really her default state anyway. She radiated menace simply due to her size and the design of her armor. The mask was inhuman, and the uneven horns enhanced that image perfectly.

"Speak true, for I have little patience for equivocation."

It was hard not laugh at Tessa. Faust had originally believed her earlier outburst to be some manifestation of nerves and/or the result of freezing temperatures, but to discover that it was her natural behaviour was amusing. Well, amusing so long as it wasn’t directed at him. As long as she kept it well over there, leaving him be as nothing but an observer and with the Darknut keeping her in check, all was well and entertaining. Faust’s laugh struggled into nothing but a little cough on his lollipop.

Then things really started to bubble and boil.

There wasn’t much chance to properly answer the kid’s prod at his candy before he started targeting someone else. Trust the kid to be the one to question my sweets. A possessive, defensive narrow of his eyes was about as much of a response as Faust got in before the Darknut reacted to Seven’s somewhat threatening behaviour towards the Yeti babe and starting barking at him. It was a very blatant stand-off that probably wouldn’t end well. Once again, Faust was glad he wasn’t Seven.

“If we’re going to go into accusations, then aren’t we all a little suspicious?” The doctor boldly interjected. He cocked a languid brow at the Darknut, not by any means wanting to taunt to his bloody wrath but having to serve the itch on his tongue nonetheless. Faust far from saw himself as the protector of the ‘wrongly’ accused but failed to see the warrior’s logic as airtight.

“We’re later to the crime scene so we’re innocent?” He added, a slight jeering smirk finding his lips. “For all you know I was carrying the last child here, and for all I know, you two are just looking to pin the blame on someone else and chose the gutsy kid as your prime target.” The smirk grew and a brief, hard laugh thrust heavily through his nostrils in a sharp exhale. “There are many ways to approach this.

“But you know what? The sooner I get this shit smoothed out the better.” Faust turned towards the only door in the room, sealed from the front by a series of giant icicles. After a testing nudge of his boot he found the spikes to be fragile, easily shuddering at a casual push. “Honestly,” He continued, blatantly distracted. “Let’s just work together and throw each other in prison afterwards.”

He stepped back, turned a little, took one last strong suck of candy, and then in one wide, strong swooping arc of his right leg shattered all the ice. The way was clear.

Seven spluttered.
"What? No! I don't have seven toes! None of that stuff! I don't know why my name is Seven. Maybe it was mum's lucky number or something. I dunno,"
He crossed his arms, a disapproving frown directed towards the larger woman clad in armour. Huh. Flinging accusations around when they had just met! The audacity!
...of course, she wasn't entirely wrong, but still! Where was the evidence, woman!

Seven looked at the fur-clad man again.
"Huh," he said slowly. "I misjudged you. Sorry about that."
Hand on his sword, he looked at the other two women as Pink-Food-Man kicked in the icicles that had quickly formed. He dubbed the other woman Feisty-Tin-Woman. The third had been nice enough to actually introduce herself, even if she was more hyper than Seven on a sugar high. Tessa. A decent name.

He took a step closer, looking into the temple. A dark-ish room, with a kind of frosty light shining through the not-quite opaque ice walls. Three doors led into unseen rooms, and Seven briefly wondered what kind of room needed four equidistant doors.
"Someone needs to fire the architect," he muttered.

"Hmm..." Layla narrowed her eyes at Seven, her suspicions far from allayed. Faust's unwelcome intrusion annoyed her, but his heart seemed to be in the right place. Or at least a place that didn't enjoy the thought of Seven becoming a smear on the ice. The kid wasn't running, though, so she would have ample time to get the truth out of him further in.

Not that he could outrun her anyway, whatever he might think.

Layla stepped up behind the other to get a look at the next room, but Tessa simply slipped past them and into it. The older man's scarf was now secured at the waist in exactly the same configuration as before, leading Layla to expect a counterattack at some point when Tessa saw an opportune moment. She could have intervened then and there, but a bit of levity was always welcome and Tessa wasn't so malicious as to pull something in a manner which might put them all in danger. She would hold off until Faust's guard was down, yes, but also until they were in a safe location.

"Wow, those walls are really pretty. I wonder where the light is coming from. You'd think there would be lights in here too. We should open all the doors. Then we just pick the safest one! Or the one that's unlocked, or even the most dangerous one just for the fun of it. I vote for that last one. I'd just love a good fight right now. Eeny, meeny, miny...moe! Door on the right let's gooooooo-"

Over tongue and through teeth, Faust's lollipop bounced in thoughtful rolls. The room looked empty and harmless enough, but it was only after Tessa assured its safety by not abruptly dying that the doctor strode in after her. He paused in the very centre, candy halting in one cheek as a massive bulge when his eyes took notice of the scarf at her waist. Oi. I gave it to you for warmth, not as a fashion accessory. With a rigid jaw he restrained a regretful sigh - and the urge to nab it back after a clip of her ear - and instead grumbled something unintelligible under his breath. His ears were already stinging a raw red in the absence of the scarf's comfort but hey, what was gone was gone. Besides, conversing with the woman was completely out of the question.

Faust's pointed glare swiftly averted and as he properly took in the room's layout himself. With freshly irritated spite still alive and kicking in his chest, the last thing he felt like doing was following Tessa's suggestion of direction yet...did he really have a better plan? He'd been peer-pressured here once as a kid by his older brothers but it was so long ago the only thing the native Hylian could recall clearly was that particular shade of frosty blue that lingered in everything from the floor to the light. There were no important facts or tips to recover, just that odd sense of deja vu. And while something itched in the back of his thoughts, no matter how hard he attempted to pry it from its dark corner it simply wouldn't budge. There was honestly nothing for it but to act on impulse and instinct.

"Right it is."

The doctor turned on his heels and strolled towards his chosen destination in a few long, leisurely strides. As boldly composed as he appeared however, Faust didn't simply stand in front of the door and open it. Instead, as soon as he could hear the grind of stone on ice, he stepped cleanly to one side, back pressed against the freezing shelter of the wall just in case a bastard of a Freezard breath was fated to shoot right in his face.

Seven walked over to the right door, rapping his knuckles on the blue frame before opening it and poking his head inside.

“Okay,” he said, once the moment of careless abandon had passed. “We’ve got ice-statues in here and I think I just saw one move. I may be wrong. They’re too far away to get us here but as a general rule inanimate objects should be avoided once they start moving,”

He cautiously stepped inside the room, boots crunching on ice. Across the room there was a square archway with stairs visible; the only way to reach it was a narrow plank bridge. Wandering over to it, Seven stamped on the edge to test its strength; the thing didn’t even wobble.


“Wow,” he said. “I take it back. Don’t fire the architect. This is an amazing bridge,”

”No duh,” Fairy Blue said to him privately. ”This temple was made by Gorons for Gorons, remember? The bridges would have to support one of those enormous boulders-on-legs,”

Seven frowned at the ice statues that were on ledges, the ones he swore had moved earlier.

“I don’t trust that statue,” he said. “I’m going to try and shoot it,”

Pulling his small recurve bow out of the wide-mouthed adventure pouch at his belt, he nocked an arrow and pulled the fletching back to his cheek, focusing on a spot slightly above the nearest ice-statue. A sharp noise like a muted twang followed him releasing the arrow, which curved in the air and struck the statue...and snapped in half.


In disbelief Seven watched the two halves of the arrow clatter off the ledge and into a pool of...Din, was that lava? The arrow dropped into lava several metres below their bridge.

“Okay. Let’s lay some ground rules,” he said slowly. “Let’s not let the statue get us. Lava baths are not good for your health,”

"For your health, maybe," Tessa corrected. "I, on the other hand, am fireproof!"

She strolled into the newly revealed chamber, taking in the sights. Big bridge, angry ice sculptures, somehow lava that wasn't increasing the temperature enough to melt said sculptures...Tessa was no scientist, but she was fairly sure this room was physically impossible. Either the lava should be cooling, or the ice should be melting. Not that silly things like 'the laws of physics' and 'universal constants' tended to be more than a polite suggestion where magic was concerned.

"Okay, not entirely true. My earrings are pretty good! Just not quite that good. Uhhh okay what do we have here. Arrows don't work. I could get to them with my boots but I can't break them...I guess we could try another door for now but where's the fun in that? That bridge looks pretty tough. Oh! Oh!" She spun toward Layla as the Iron Knuckle entered the room, gesticulating excitedly to help describe her idea. "You! Boots. Bridge. Probably built for Yetis or Gorons right? I figure even with all that armor you can't weight more than on'a them. Think you can run fast enough to get to the other side, then follow the ledges and hit'em from the side?"

Layla stepped past Tessa, stopping at the edge of the bridge. She tested it carefully, steadily applying more weight, but the sturdy logs used to make it were up to the task. The jump to the nearest Freezard from the ledge was probably doable as well, but it was also risky. She had no protection from lava. If she somehow bounced off the nearest Freezard- more than a possibility when magic was involved- then she would no doubt die.

Normally, she would be fine with the risk. More risk, more glory. But...this was no simple adventure. There were lives at stake. She needed to act in their favor, not her own. Finally, she backpedaled for a running start.

"Easily," she replied shortly- and then she was off at twice the sprinting speed of a normal Gerudo. She was plated in over a hundred pounds of steel armor, but she was also as strong as a Darknut. The two sort of cancelled each other out. The real problem was slowing down again with all that momentum. The first Freezard had only just begun to spew ice when she reached the other side, and the only thing that kept her from slamming into the wall was a quick switch to Iron Boots.

At that point, smashing the statues was practically an afterthought. A quickly accomplished one, at that.

((if I wasn't clear yes she smashed the Freezards so you can continue on the assumption they're gone :D ))

Well, then. If things continued on in the same manner as just now, Faust had very little to be concerned about. In fact it might even be worth setting up camp here for a little while and make snowmen with the Yeti kid until the more capable adults finished up the job for them.

In all honesty the doctor seriously debated it. Rolling and patting lumps of fluffy ice sounded a lot more calming than continuing onwards, fretting at every door they opened. More fulfilling too. One person had certainly been crossed off his 'may-hurt-soon' doctor's list, and though the remaining two looked capable of bleeding he wasn't sure they'd ever get time to.

"Impressive."

Amused with a crooked grin that still adamantly refused to let go of its candy, Faust felt a soft laugh of surprise rumble his throat. He admired the promptly cleaned scene as an indolent series of small - but nonetheless earnest - claps sounded from his gloves. "What was your name again?" Calling the warrior by the very detached nickname of a Darknut now felt somewhat lacking. Besides, maybe he'd get a proper hint of his gender.

"I'm Faust. Faust Dragomir." He might've even shaken hands but the knight was a little too far away - and almost precariously balanced - to risk that awkward attempt. Nonetheless he did at the very least risk properly entering the room: after ordering the Yeti child to stay safely seated in the first, way out of harm's way. Even after having been safety-tested by the whole group making his way over the wooden bridge to the stairs opposite still proved a little nauseating however: whether from the height, the sudden overwhelming (and definitely odd) heat from below, or even both.

What the fuck is lava doing here anyway? Bloody magic. Not that he risked looking down at the pit as he walked over it with anything more than peripheral vision.

Seven blinked.

“Problem solved,” he quipped after a short pause, skipping back over to the bridge. “Anyone know what the ice statues are called?”

He watched as shards of them toppled off the edge and into the lava below; he scowled at the lava. How was the temple doing that? Lava and ice in the same room? Logic. He looked back at Layla and the newly introduced Faust.

“Dragomir is a cool surname. I want it!” he said brightly, swinging his bow back over his free shoulder. Glancing around, sure there were no other dangers, he skipped across the bridge as if he hadn’t a care in the world, joining the Tin Woman.


“Stairs,” he pointed helpfully. “Shall we go up them?”

He looked back across the room. “And I think there’s a chest in that ice! Can we smash that?”

He sidled across the ledge where the ice statue once was, avoiding its jagged remains, and drew Fairy Blue, swinging her overhead as hard as he could. The blade bounced off hard, earning a furious shout from the spirit and a tirade of telepathic cursing.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” he murmured to her quietly. He rapped his knuckle on the block of ice.

“What’s the bet there’s something good in here? Do we want to waste time trying to get it, or come back later, after we’ve found the whiny one’s friends?”


He glanced back over the bridge, then looked at Tin Woman. He got the sense that she could probably blaze through this place in like half a second and hoped that he’d get the opportunity to fly the coop before she went crazy on him for what he had done. He started thinking of a contingency plan.

Hey, Fairy Blue, help me here. What do I do if they find out?

“Run like hell."

"Freezards!" Tessa called out enthusiastically. "You can tell because they can't move. If they're mobile they're Chilfos. Oh, and they breath ice which Chilfos can't do and-" Tessa continued to monologue on the differences between Chilfos and Freezards. Meanwhile, Layla approached the block of ice guarding the chest, failing to hear Faust from the other side of the room. Distance and full-coverage helmets seriously hampered hearing, and she had no magical aids to make up for it.

Layla placed one hand on the ice and examined the spot Seven had struck it with both sight and touch. The ice was completely unblemished. The kid was had nothing on her strength, but not even a scratch? He would have at least nicked it; more probably there should be a few shards of ice broken off. Briefly she considered using her Gerudo Dragon to destroy it, but that was a combat technique. It was incapable of even harming allies- would it melt magical ice? Or would it be as if she had struck her bare axe against it instead?

"This ice is enchanted," she said after a few moments. "I cannot attempt to destroy it without risking my weapon in the process."

Finally winding down from her rambling speech, Tessa strolled over to join them at the ice. She cocked one head to the side and noted the same things Layla had, but for different reasons- Layla had noticed because of her wealth of experience with physical attacks, while Tessa was intimately familiar with the sorts of obstacles present in dungeons.

"Yeeeeeah, you're not getting through that without fire. Like, real fire. The sorta fire that goes all 'fwoosh!' Or maybe a fireball. I am not an expert on magic. But fire would do it! Seven, go dip an arrow in the lava! Wait no don't do that that's a terrible idea I take it back. You'd have to be up here to hit it...okay I got nothing. Oh! What if we can find a torch up ahead?"

Blanked. Completely. Faust was glad he hadn’t attempted to be polite for once and shake hands in greeting because that would’ve been even more awkward. Or…maybe the Darknut would’ve actually been forced to take notice – excuse or not. He was having a hard time trying to decide whether he should believe in his hope that the warrior simply hadn’t heard him. It was possible. Possible. But was it the truth?

Regardless, at that point everyone soon began flocking around a discovered, suspicious treasure chest, leaving the doctor to sulk in abandoned solitude. He watched on from a distance as they tapped at the ice and chattered amongst themselves, exploring almost everything at their disposal. It was only when Tessa suggested a keyword that he found his voice again. After a few moments of enduring it itch up his throat he grumbled quietly, “Fire would be half of the solution, yes.”

With a disgruntled sigh, the doctor cleared his throat and in a much louder, clear voice added. “Tessa’s right. Unless the whole place is illuminated by oddly glowing ice“ which isn’t unlikely, but let’s omit that bit “There must be some form of fire about. And if all else fails…” An anxious frown narrowed his eyes down at the intimidating lava pit. “I’m sure(?) we can figure something out.”

And if they did? If they actually managed to melt the ice would they even share the treasure inside? Would it even be shareable? A curdling flicker of regret and displeasure crumpled the doctor’s brow but he soon thought better of it. As nice as it would be to line his own pockets – no doubt about it, he was no selfless fool – it was far better to stick together as a team than debate stabbing someone in the back and risk your life in the process. Besides, the Darknut seemed interested and Faust wasn’t going to cross that one. They could have it!

Seven muttered as he sheathed the long violet cavalry scimitar.

“Of course it’s magic ice. Because normal ice is just too mainstream,” he said crossly. He gave the oversized icecube a kick out of spite before turning back around.

“Okay, right,” he said brightly. “We’ll find some fire later. How about we go up those really inviting stairs?”

He skipped towards them and his feet slid on the ice and he landed on his rear before he even had time to register that he had slipped. The jolt straight up his tailbone into his spine was what clued him in.


“Ow,”

”Ha. You suck,” Fairy Blue snickered rudely, her high-pitched laughter echoing in his head.

Shut your face, he responded unhappily, a bubble of laughter exploding out of his throat despite his sore tailbone. That would probably bruise, he figured. He went to pick himself up and started laughing again, falling back down a second time before finally making it to his feet.


“Can we not mention this later?” he tried to say seriously, still giggling, before he met the Tin Woman’s eyes and sobered in a hurry. She seemed like the kind of person who wouldn’t appreciate his sense of random humour.

“Okay. Stairs. Got it,” he nodded. “Up we go,”

He looked over at the others. Strange company, indeed. A grumpy man eating something pink on a stick, a woman dressed in enough armour to stop a giant, and an impish little wisp of a carrot-top. And him. Mustn’t forget himself. That would be odd.

To the contrary, on any other day Layla would have found a great deal of humor from Seven's accident and comment. She was still suspicious of him, however, so the comedic effect was muted. Tessa burst out laughing, then glanced at Layla.

"Why so serious? Where's the big, booming laugh that shatters ear drums?" she asked wryly, bopping Layla's plating with one fist. Softly. Hitting that for real would hurt. Layla merely shook her head, but Tessa caught the meaning. Not here. Or maybe not now. Either worked, really. "Fiiiine, be all quiet and taciturn. I'm gonna catch up with the kid before he trips into a pool of lava or something."

If she knew 'quiet' and 'taciturn' meant effectively the same thing, she failed to acknowledge it.

Tessa jogged to the stairs and climbed them carefully, although still at a faster pace than Seven could accomplish. Walking on Hover Boots was just like walking on ice, and she'd done the former plenty. Layla shrugged, a very overt gesture given the size of her armor, and looked at Faust.

"Come, doctor, let us follow close lest they leave us behind in their dust." She stomped up the stairs behind the others.