Snowhead (Tsuill RP)

Kasumi laughed a bit at Loft’s reaction, glad Marcus had given her the opportunity to try this. It took away some of the stress Loft had instilled in Kasumi, and for that, she was thankful. She then took it further to poke fun at Loft. “That’s what you get for freaking me out to wake me up.” She then had a devious idea. “Now... If you freak me out like that again, I’ll crack out my mega-hyper Ember inferno seeds and we’ll see what cooked Loft tastes like.” Of course, it was a bluff. Not only did she not have such seeds, Kasumi also doubted they existed. Very heavily doubted. Additionally, Kasumi had no interest in eating Loft.

“Anyway, this mountain almost seems to be guiding us. We walk into a room, it gets sealed off, we do something, then the way is opened to us. I doubt the formula’s going to change, so there’s only one thing we can really do. Let’s go.”

Loft gaped at Kasumi, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "Cook Loft?" He stammered. "But- but-" He stopped, and a grin spread across his face. "I bet I'd be the tastiest thing ever!" He hugged Kasumi, and skipped back and punched the air. "Yeah! Heck, I'd cook me, I'm so yummy! Must be all that jell-O!" He walked down the newest pathway, his feet bouncing as if springs were attached to the soles of his shoes.

Marcus, not quite sure what to say, shrugged at Kasumi. "I think it worked," he said, not quite honestly. It was never easy to tell with Loft, but, "I don't think he'll give you much trouble now, but still, be ready." He rolled his shoulders back and followed Loft. "I think you're right," he said to Kasumi, "and hopefully this path will lead us to the next crystal. Maybe even the last crystal, if we're lucky."

Kasumi sighed as her plan instilled less fear than she’d hoped. The guy was just far too unpredictable to make any plans around. She followed Loft, walking into the next cavernous hallway. Torches adorned the walls, but these ones had no runes around them. She then jokingly turned to Marcus. “I don’t know what’s better, freezing out there, or toasting in here...”

She found herself wondering something next. If this place was sentient, or at least guiding them, what if it wasn’t being nice about it? Leading them to their deaths would be a bretty evil thing to do, but in a place that houses a monstrosity like Goht... Anything was possible. Then again, it’s not like there are any options in ways they could go. So all she could do was trust the creepy cave to lead her out.

This was a true room. It was completely enclosed, the pathway leading through the open door-shaped opening and into the long hallway they were currently in. There were no runes on the walls on floor, but when Marcus turned to look through the opening they walked through, he saw that it was completely surrounded by the glowing mystical symbols. He nodded; there needed to be something to keep them from frying, after all. That would mean that the stone was completely air-tight... Marcus whistled. These architects were amazing! Torches hung on the walls, burning merrily in the otherwise gloom of the room. The only other light source came from the opening behind them, but even that was of little help. The hallway was wide enough so that the torches, while many, could not completely light the room.

Marcus could not see an exit, but he walked forwards anyway. He had to trust that this, as the only path, would lead them true. If it didn't... well, he would worry about that when it happened. He felt something squish under his feet, and he looked down. "Snow," he said, "in here?" He looked doubtfully at Kasumi. "I don't know how that's possible," he said slowly, "it is cool in here, but not nearly cold enough for snow to be present."

The snow beneath his feet quivered, and Marcus jumped back. "Watch out!" He cried. The snow all around them rose up, gathering into definite shapes. Dozens of mounds were formed, eyes glowing at them as arms slowly emerged. "Run!" Marcus yelled.

Kasumi saw the snow beasts rise up, an arm grabbing for the Zora. She managed to avoid it, making a dash for the next hallway. Snowballs flew all over the place, Kasumi ducking and dodging. Loft and Marcus were on their own for this part. She managed to avoid all but simple grazes, taking a stance at the doorway to the next room. She yelled to her companions. “Guys! Through here!”

She fired a fireball into the masses of snow, getting rid of a few of them. She quickly followed it up with an Aquarang toss. “I’ll cover you, move!”

Marcus rushed through the mass of white-gray blobs, wrenching through half-formed arms and dancing around clods of mush that grabbed for his tunic. He felt something bitingly cold take hold of his arm, and he experienced a moment of panic. Two glowing eyes rolled into view in a large mound of snow, glaring spitefully at him as its other arm raised high, an enormous ball of snow in its grip. Suddenly, its midriff glowed bright red, and it collapsed onto itself. Loft stood behind it, his Red Candle outstretched. "Go!" Loft yelled, pushing Marcus forward. The two of them raced through the mass of snow, and Marcus hoped that they were following the general direction of the hallway.

A ball of glowing fire burst through several of the two eyed, two armed mounds of snow. It was closely followed by an Aquarang, and Marcus looked up to see Kasumi standing battle-ready by the doorway. They sprinted towards her, wrenching the door open and diving through.

The room was octagonal and rather small. In the center, a square hole lay carved in the floor. Four ladders could be seen leading straight down, and red light shined from the bottom. At the beginning of each ladder, however, stood a stone statue of a round, horned warrior. Each was holding a shield in one hand and an upright sword in the other. They were not shaped like Hylians, but were instead rounded. Stamped between their eyes was a three-toed pawprint; the symbol of the Gorons.

"The crystal must be down there," Marcus murmured. "Kasumi, any idea what those are?"

Kasumi crept closer to the statues, inspecting them closer. When she got nice and close, however, she was smoked onto her back by a blunt object. She sighed in pain. “Well everything else is attacking us, why didn’t I figure the statues would too?” She rolled back, now next to Loft and Marcus. She remembered that Triton had mentioned these things before. Armoses, he called them. All they take is one shot to go into a more rampant state. She primed her Aquarang, targeting each one.

With a flick of her wrist, the weapon smacked each of the four statues, making them hop around the room quickly, waving their weapons wildly. Kasumi turned, grabbing both Hylians and dragging them out of the room. “Those things will wreck that room and everything in it. If we’re in there, that includes us.”

After a few seconds of shaking, Kasumi walked back into the room, seeing destroyed floor tiles and dents in the walls. “That’s how you clear a room.”

Marcus was pulled out of the room by Kasumi, and he found himself once again in the room filled with snow-enemies. Thankfully, they all seemed to have reverted back to innocuous little lumps of gray powder, but Marcus didn't trust them. They began to quiver and rise slightly, but thankfully Kasumi pulled them back into the room before they could fully form and chase them again.

Loft whistled at the destruction to the room. "Nice job," he said appreciatively. "I call dibs on the ladder!" He rushed to the stone ladder and slid down. Marcus hurried over to the hole and peered down. It was like a well- the floor was stone, with the upper half of the crystal protruding through the stone. He guessed that the bottom half was submerged in magma.

"There isn't really a reason for us to go down," he said to Kasumi, "there's nothing down there but the crystal. Loft," he called down, "hurry up and destroy it so we can leave!"

"Roger!" Loft called. There wasn't much space to stand, so he climbed back up the ladder a bit and kicked the top of the crystal off with his foot. It took a few kicks, but it eventually snapped off. The color faded from the previously glowing gem, and Loft climbed back up the well. "Do we have to go through the Frosty's cousins?" Loft asked.

As if in answer, the room they were standing in rumbled and shook. One of the walls crumbled to dust, and a new pathway was visible through the wreckage. "I guess not," Marcus said. "After you," he said to Kasumi.

Kasumi smirked as Loft went down. At the very least, she wouldn’t have to climb down and pray Loft had the decency to not look up. Eventually, the boy did just as he was supposed to and destroyed the crystal, coming up to find the new pathway. Marcus motioned her forward, and she accepted, taking point. After walking over yet another rune covered walkway, she found herself at a familiar sight. “Huh... This is the staircase we used to get down here.”

She started walking up the stairs, and from there it was merely a case of backtracking. The invisible platforms were even dispelled now, able to be viewed and walked upon. In no time, they found themselves at the mouth of the cave, the blizzard having settled down as well. “Well.... It seems that’s that. Everyone should be back on their feet. Except...” Her thoughts drifted to the gorons they’d passed on their way there, but nothing could have been done for them.

Marcus nodded. "We have to tell the leader of the village about them," he said. "Come on." They headed down the mountain, glorying in the clear weather and blizzard-less skies. Generally, it was more difficult to go down a mountain than up, but in this case the reverse was true. Without the wind freezing their skin and the snow matting down their hair and eyelashes, the descent was very smooth. They passed a piece of glinting metal protruding from the snow. Marcus knelt down and pulled it out. It was a long pike. Its owner had released it upon falling asleep, and in death it would be forever unowned. Unless, Marcus thought, sticking the bottom firmly into the packed snow so that the pike stood straight into the air, its owner had children. He wondered whether the Gorons preferred to bury their dead with their weapons or give their weapons to their children. He decided that it was better not to ask when they arrived at the village.

He wasn't sure what to expect when he walked through the village gate. Pandemonium, sleepy questions, and quiet discussions, perhaps? Instead, there was nothing to show that anything strange or unusual had just happened. The village seemed perfectly normal. Shopkeepers cried out from their stalls, people bustled to and fro different buildings, their arms ladened with merchandise, and little rock babies cried from inside parents' arms. Marcus felt bewildered and slightly cheated. How could a whole village not notice that they had been asleep for so long?

Then he realized, as they walked down the road to the village leader's house, that there really was no way for them to have noticed. They were hardly in close contact with another settlement, and the entire village had all been put to sleep at the same time. They probably didn't remember falling asleep, so the biggest shock was probably just that they were on the floor. The Gorons ate rocks, so it wasn't like anything ever expired or went bad.

He thought about the party of Gorons heading up the slope, off to confront Goht. Well, they knew something was wrong, even if they couldn't remember being cursed. They knocked on the door of Snowhead's leader, the house where they had seen the clues to Goht, and were soon met by a large Goron.

"What is it?" He asked. "May I help you?"

Despite everything, here they were. Through hell and back, almost literally when it came to theme, and yet these people were blind to it. But they couldn’t have known, they were asleep. If anyone were to believe them, it’d be Durak, the mayor. He’s the one who told Kasumi the tale to begin with. She saw as the Goron opened the door, looking at Loft and Marcus quizzically before seeing Kasumi. “Ah, Miss Gallota. I thought you’d be out training at this time of the day.”

Kasumi chuckled a bit. “I think we’d best come in, Durak.” She walked inside the house, motioning for her companions to follow. Once inside, she closed the door. “So... A few days ago, you told me a story. The one about Goht?”

Durak suddenly seemed much more serious. “Yes, I told you that legend. Is that the purpose of this visit? You want me to tell these two?”

“No... I just wanted to let you know he won’t trouble you any more. You don’t need to send anymore soldiers. And... You should hold a funeral for the ones you sent to stop Goht before.”

The goron tensed up a bit. “Wh-what? You mean... they didn’t stop Goht?” Good, now he was being forthright.

“No. Me, Marcus, and Loft did. We went into the caves and put the thing down. I don’t need anything for it though. Like you said before, I’m training. It was... certainly very good training.” Durak was silent for a moment, taking in the annihilation of a threat, but also the death of some of his people. Kasumi sat on the couch, crossing one leg over and leaning back. “Take your time. This is pretty major...”

Evidently, Kasumi knew the Goron mayor. That was good; familiarity and an established sense of trust would make belief much more likely. The mayor seemed to be taking the news that his raiding party were all dead very well, all things considered. But then, he was the mayor of a village. Leaders needed to be able to deal with things like this. Kasumi relaxed into the couch, and Marcus did not blame her. They had been walking and fighting for hours, and it was no wonder that she wanted a rest.

"But," Durak said slowly, "I only sent out the raiding party a couple hours ago. How?"

Marcus decided to step in for that one. Kasumi had delicately avoided the issue of the curse, and it looked like it was up to him to break the news to the village mayor. "What day is it, Mayor Durak?"

"The sixth," he answered, "but I don't see why-"

"It is the seventh," Marcus said. "Goht knew that you were sending warriors after it, so it cursed your entire village. You all have been sleeping for over a day."

"That's ridiculous," the mayor said. "Kasumi, you can't honestly believe this?"

Kasumi shook her head. “Well, considering I walked into this village after training, only to find all of you asleep on the ground, yes I do believe it.”

Durak was shaken by this news, but couldn’t let it stop him. He turned towards the three people before him and sighed. “I... Didn’t think he’d realize we were sending anyone...” The goron seemed anxious now, as was obvious.

“I’m sorry for your losses, but at least your village is safe now.” Kasumi sat on the couch, eyes closed. She was exhausted, knowing that was likely the toughest situation she’d been in.

Mayor Durak nodded. “You’re right... At least their deaths won’t be in vain.” He reached into his pack, pulling out a few rupees. He handed some to Kasumi. “This is for helping my village.”

Kasumi didn’t really want to accept. She hadn’t done it for money... But at this point, it’d be rude not to accept. She held the rupees, but remained in resting on the couch. Durak then offered rupees to Marcus and Loft as well.

"Thank you," Marcus said, bowing his head slightly in thanks. Beside him, Loft sniffed his rupees loudly.

"Ah," he said, "nice and sharp!"

Durak placed his bag of rupees onto the table, leaning against it and sighing. "You're sure Goht is dead?" He asked without turning. "It won't be coming back?"

"It fell into the magma," Marcus said, "I watched it melt. Goht is gone."

Loft dug into his pocket and pulled out the mangled mess of what had once been a mechanical eyeball. "Except for its eye," he said, pretending to look through it. Goht had regenerated pretty quickly, but this had still been left in Loft's hands after he had carved it out.

"Put that away," Marcus said, and Loft sadly returned it to his pack. "Yes," he said to a slightly confused Durak, "Goht is gone." He frowned. "There must be magic in that volcano; we were led straight to where we needed to be."

"Yeah," Loft said, "the paths were alive!"

"The Mountain Goddess," Durak murmured, "she protected you." From another room came a piercing wail, and he muttered a hasty farewell before bumbling away. The cries subsided, replaced by gentle shushing noises.

Marcus turned to an exhausted Kasumi. "I suppose that this is goodbye," he said, pocketing his money.

Kasumi frowned when Marcus said it was goodbye. She always hated goodbyes... That was why she left Zora’s domain without telling anyone. She paused, then mentally kicked herself. The was such a stupid thing to do... Why wouldn’t she at least tell Triton? Oh well. Not much she could do about it now. She smiled at Marcus, still just flopped on the couch. “Well... I don’t like saying goodbye. Let’s just think of it as a “See you later” because... Goodbye feels final to me.” She stood up, walking over to the door. She had to go pack.

“So... See you guys later.” Kasumi gave Marcus a small hug and left for the house she was staying at. Partway there, she noticed a Hylian in armor, walking through the village. He also took note of her.

“Hm... You must be the one who saved this village.” She saw him analysing her.

“Yes... Though I wasn’t alone.”

“Still, impressive for an actress. Why would someone like you come out here?”

Kasumi looked surprisedly at the guy. Who was he? Why was he so curious? “I need to be stronger for my home. Right now I’m weak, so I came out here to get stronger.”

He seemed to be thinking for a moment. Then he smirked. “I may be able to help you with that, Kasumi. My name is Christopher Denolle, founder of the Hyrule Castle Town HAREON division. I’ll give you a hand with your training.”

Ya we're done. Ready for grading!

After much delay, approved.