Stone Tower Temple [Blonde Squishy Cats]

With the Garo now dealt with, Luna grit her teeth and started climbing again. The strain on her arm made her want to scream in pain and let go, but she fought the urge with everything she had. Falling was not an option, not now. Finally, she reached the beam the other two were standing on, breathing heavily as she hauled herself onto it and stayed in a crouching position, clamping her hand over her injured arm. Blood still flowed from it freely and it burnt, hurting more than the initial strike that had caused it to bleed. Now she understood why Horus always swore when he'd been injured. This was not a pleasant sensation at all. Still clenching her teeth, she willed her hand to grow cold, an unformed ice spell lingering just overtop the skin of her palm, to cool it.

With Luna safe, Horus made no more effort to still the rope, climbing up it as fast as he could while still rolling it up as he went. He made it up to the beam considerably faster than she had done, pulling himself on top and dislodging the hook. "Well that was one story," he said, groaning as he craned his neck to look up. Would Luna hold out that long? He looked at her, cooling her wound and trembling. "Does either of you have any medical supplies?" he asked, putting a hand on her uninjured arm to stabilize her. "She can't keep climbing like this."

"I'll be fine," she protested through clenched teeth, "I just need-"

"-medical attention." Horus squeezed. "Short of me carrying you, you'll be stuck here without it." He turned to Tessa, swallowing painfully as he spoke words he never thought he'd say, not to this girl. "Tessa barely managed to save you as is. For which I thank you, by the way."

Tessa turned to Morgan with an excited and satisfied grin.

"Telepathy!" she exclaimed. "I sent it that dude the most worst string of phrases I could possibly think of! Apparently I distracted him. Exactly as planned. I guess we'll never know if it was the language or the message arriving at all. Too bad. I would have loved to know for future reference."

Her triumphant expression said that, yes, this was exactly as she had planned. In spite of the insanity of what she was saying, although Tessa really had possessed no other options. To sum it up, she added one more comment:

"I literally talked a Garo to death."

Horus and Luna reached the top right about then, drawing Tessa's attention away from Morgan. Luna looked bad, but it could be worse. She'd seen arterial spray before, and this wasn't it. So, deep. Muscle damage was a possibility. That might matter more to she, Morgan, or Horus, but it probably wouldn't cripple Luna as a spellcaster. Horus seemed upset- wait, did he just say thank you?!

"Um, yeah, no problem," Tessa managed through the surprise. Huh. "I usually have a couple strips of cloth for like, cuts and making slings," she added, digging through one of her pouches. She handed Horus a roll of plain cloth; it wasn't a proper bandage, but it would suffice as a tourniquet if needed, and if some was used to hold the rest in place as padding to staunch the bleeding, it would work well enough.

Horus urgently took the clean cloth from Tessa, busying himself winding it tightly around Luna's arm to both staunch her bleeding and force the edges of the cut together. She winced, but had stopped protesting. She wouldn't be able to use that arm, to her frustration, but she knew better than to try and change Horus's mind. She knew better than anyone how stubborn he could be, and she didn't doubt that his obstinate nature, more so than the magic in that odd stone, had staved off death for him. She suppressed a jolt and a yelp when Horus used the remains of the cloth to hoist her arm up a little and tie it behind her neck, tightly enough that she could barely move it. "H-Horus," she said, turning a little red. "It's not broken..."

"No, but it might break if you're not careful with it and I don't want you using it until we can take some time to take a really good look at how deep the cut is." He sighed. "I'm afraid we have a bigger problem, though." He placed his hands on his hips, looking up along the wall. When Luna followed his gaze, she frowned as she realised the problem as well. There was nothing within reach that Horus could attach his hook to or Morgan's Hookshot could dig into to drag them up- from here it was just a big, empty column upwards. She watched as Horus walked towards the end of the beam that was firmly attached to the wall itself, running his hand over the rough wall. "Cryo can only carry two of us," he said. "And one of those will have to be Luna."

"Depending on how complicated the flight will become in the upper levels," Luna said, deciding to designate up and down as they currently experienced it, "It may be better to only have one person on his back. That way he can twist without risking losing the second passenger."

"Okay, so Luna is the only one who'll be riding Cryo, then," Horus said. Looking at the wall one more time, he turned to Morgan and Tessa. "I hope the two of you are experienced rock climbers. We'll be scaling this thing straight for a while."

"I mean, I climbed several mountains to get here, so why not. Up and away." Tessa shrugged and started up the wall. She winced every time her shield arm had to support any weight- yep, definitely fractured- but she really didn't weigh enough to cause any more damage than she had already accumulated. The flying blue ball of insults hovered ever upwards next to her, keeping pace out what Tessa assumed to be self preservation.

For a moment, however brief, the world faded into climbing. Handholds and footholds. Then she got into a rhythm, got bored, and started wondering how long this damn climb was going to be. At least with the mountains she'd had scenery. And the occasional monster-killing break. This was just...a wall. Straight up, never ending.

She hardly even noticed that words were spilling out of her mouth; mostly complaints. The fairy did, but the muttering was so faint that even a foot away, she couldn't make out the words. Just keep climbing, just keep climbing, just keep climbing...

Eventually, minutes later, she pulled herself up onto a ledge of some sort and examined her surroundings as she waited for the others.

[Cutting in as discussed with Squish!]

Before Yuku arrived in Ikana… (open) Before Yuku arrived in Ikana… (close)

It was promising to be a calm and somewhat chilly day, the ocean breeze nipping at Yuku’s fins as she walked closer to the water. A child in each arm, the third giggling while holding onto her leg, Yuku tested the water’s temperature as it lapped against the stone of the rock pools. The water was gritty with sand and somewhat pointed underfoot, each step a tentative venture onto old, crusted barnacles.
“Alright, you three,” she said, crouching to put her children in the shallow pool and unsuccessfully attempting to pry Taku off her leg. “Come on, let’s go for a swim,”

Her child’s stubby tentacles made a pitiful popping sound as she finally pried their grip free, and he plopped into the salty water beside his brother and sister. The children were uncertain, and she supposed that made sense. They had spent most of their life in rivers and streams, always in places where the water was calm and the bank nearby. Here, as the gentle waves of low tide covered her children’s stubby legs past the knees, the world seemed a whole lot bigger. The vast coast of Great Bay stretched as far as the eye could see, and the horizon held naught but the pearlescent shape of the Great Bay Temple in the distance. With a little encouraging, Taku fumbled his way deeper into the rock pool, moving much more fluidly once in his native aquatic habitat. Maku, emboldened, was quick to follow, with Saku tumbling after her in an abruptly frantic effort not to be the last one in. Yuku laughed as she walked deeper into the relatively small rock pool, sitting down alongside them. What was deep water for her children wasn’t even up to her knees, and so she made sure her children stayed close as she enjoyed the salty air.

Yuku turned in surprise as she heard the strange sound of enormous wingbeats, catching sight of the approaching figure as they came in to land on the shore. She stood up, water trailing off her scales as she cautiously stepped between her children and the new arrival, but as they stepped forward Yuku recognised the mail carrier’s uniform the Rito wore.
“Have I found Yuku?” the Rito woman asked.
“Yes, you have,” Yuku nodded, looking around.
“You’re a hard woman to track down, miss. This letter was posted express for you, but your last known address didn’t match up. It was sent half a moon ago,”
Wincing, Yuku made her way back onto dry land, taking the envelope offered. To her surprise the letter had been addressed in the rounded characters of Zoran, rather than Hylian. The handwriting was familiar, and Yuku frowned as she carefully opened the letter.

Dearest sister,

It has been too long since we last saw each other, and while I understand you must keep your distance I confess that the home is much quieter without you around. The last few years have been stressful upon the family, but that is not why I write.

I am writing because we are concerned. Three moons ago mother received a letter from an old Gerudo acquaintance hailing from the Eastern Caves. She was asking for mother to travel south, to lend her healing magic as there was danger from Ikana. Mother refused - you know how she dislikes travel, let alone that far - but father was perturbed and offered to go in her stead. Mother disagreed, but father went anyway. He had been sending letters periodically as he travelled, but two moons ago returned to the Domain, injured. He is in no condition to travel, but has made clear that he intends to go south again as soon as he is able to swim.

Mother is refusing to be concerned, she feels that his quest was codbrained but not dangerous enough to be worrying about him, and that he will not be so foolish as to try again. Father is insistent that Ikana needs assistance and that if not him, somebody must go in his stead. Phidon attempted to go himself, but mother found out before he left and has forbade any of us from leaving the Domain until father is well. I feel that something is wrong and mother must know it, but she has been against us even talking to the guards or postmen about this.

I fear you are the only one of us able to venture without mother’s scrutiny right now. Please reply when you get this letter,. I’ve enclosed a copy of the map to Ikana that was in father’s travelling pack. Mother has been sleeping deeply through the night, so it should be safe for you to come then.

Yours,
Grimmau
P.S. I do hope the children are doing well.

Yuku looked up in time to see the Rito woman turning around.
“Wait! Can I send a reply back with you?”
The Rito hesitated. “Normally you’re supposed to post letters in a post box…”
“Please,” Yuku knelt beside her bag, digging through it in search of writing materials. “This is urgent, and I’ve already read this too late.”
“Alright,” the woman relented, “but please be quick. I have rounds to continue making,”
“Thank you!”
Unable to find any paper, Yuku turned Grimmau’s letter over to write on the back and pulled out one of her charmed quills. It wouldn’t do to have their mother intercept the letter and read that Yuku was returning to the Domain. The Zoran letters shimmered slightly as she wrote them, the magical nature of the quill sinking into the paper as it left its jet-black ink that would only be visible to her brother.

Grimmau,

I apologise for the delay. The postwoman tells me I have received this letter weeks after you sent it. I am in Great Bay right now and can come to the Domain to meet with you. I should arrive within two days of you receiving this letter. Let the others know so they don’t think you are being burgled.

See you soon,
Yuku

Stuffing the letter hastily back in the original envelope, Yuku adjusted her grip, waited for the magic to fade, and wrote RTS plainly in large letters on the outside of the envelope. “Thank you for waiting. Here. How much is express postage? If possible it should be delivered directly to the person who sent this originally, not to a public mailbox.”

“Understood. Postage from Great Bay to Zora’s Domain would typically be 10 rupees. 20 for express post,”
Knowing it wasn’t optional, Yuku dug out her wallet and handed over the rupees. “Sorry about the small change, I don’t have any reds on me,”
“No matter,” the Rito woman zipped the rupees into one of her pouches and the newly shut letter in the other. “I’ve a few more deliveries to make in the Great Bay area but will be able to take this letter to Zora’s Domain today.”
“Thank you very much, miss..?”
“Fremeli,”
“Thank you very much, Fremeli,”

Fremeli’s wingbeats churned the sand around them as she took off, flying further out towards the surface post boxes of Great Bay. Yuku watched the Rito postwoman depart into the morning air before turning her attention back to her children. The three of them were still playfully splashing around, safely contained by the rock pool, and Yuku sat down on the sand. She would let them play a while longer before journeying towards their ancestral home.

---

It was the following night when Yuku swam up to the side of her old home to find the window to her and her siblings’ room unlocked. She quietly pried it open, to be immediately met with Moira’s sharp gaze and a hand offered to help her in.
“Made good time,” she whispered. “I’ll go wake the others.”
Yuku ushered her children in through the window, holding a finger to her lips.
“Quiet now,” she told them.
She turned around to be met by Grimmau’s dark eyes. They spent near an hour discussing the situation, and it was agreed that Yuku would travel south to Ikana to fulfil their father's quest. She hesitated, however.
“Normally I would ask Phidon to look after the kids, but… if mother is on edge, has she been visiting his house? I would hate for her to discover them, I doubt she’d believe that suddenly he and his wife had children of their own no matter how well he lied.”
“It should be alright,” Moira responded. “If you want, I can take them over there now, he knows you’re visiting tonight.”

Yuku bit her lip, but nodded. It was very rare that the kids had the opportunity to spend time in Zora’s Domain; her brother had occasionally cared for them before, allowing her children valuable social time with other young Zora in the creche, but she’d never travelled so far away from the Domain while they were in his care. Regardless, it didn’t seem that she had much of a choice.
“Just be careful,” Grimmau warned. “None of us have ever been that far south, but… from what father said, things aren’t the same there as they are here. The Kingdom of Ikana doesn’t seem to make sense. The monsters there… they’re not exactly true monsters. Please, be careful.”

“I will.”

The towers rose ahead of her, looming above Yuku in a way that made her swallow uncomfortably on a dry throat. Being so close to one of the ancestral homes of the River Zora made her anxious; she had not had an encounter with any of the monstrous echoes of her people since the fateful day her children had been attacked in the Great Bay Temple. Eyeglass Lake was not far from Ikana, and her journey had been lengthened by her avoidance of the freshwater waterways nearby. Still, the towers had been the destination her father was summoned to, and the imposing architecture certainly felt as though they carried the weight of disaster.

She approached carefully, the emptiness of the area ringing in her ears. Yuku would be the first to admit she wasn’t well versed on the nature of the Kingdom of Ikana; she had never especially held ambitions of venturing so far south, knowing the lands were so heavily populated by the monstrous sort. Still, her brother’s words rang in her head. Within the bounds of Ikana, some monsters were not exactly true monsters. It left her ill at ease to not know what actually constituted the kingdom of the undead, but if the urgency of her brother’s letter was justified, she had little choice but to press on without time to learn more. She hadn’t the time or the ability to speak to her father about his quest, either - though truth be told, Yuku wasn’t certain if he’d have told her anyway.

The entrance to the tower seemed still, the wind howling through the area and pulling at her clothing. She felt watched, but glancing around revealed no onlookers. Regardless, Yuku gripped Lonomeru tighter, the chilly metal of the weapon soothing in the empty space. She approached carefully, unnerved. There was clearly nobody around for miles, and the Zora pushed aside the thought that her father had been seriously wounded here as part of a group, while she adventured alone.

Nothing happened until she crept through the entrance, a moment of silence suddenly punctuated by the clacking sound of bone on bone. Yuku flinched as several Stalfos lifted their heads, their spinal columns following upwards shortly thereafter. Her immediate instinct was to lash out, to slice or freeze the lot of them and force her way past, but she hesitated. Not exactly true monsters. What did that mean? Her hesitation proved dangerous as one of the Stalfos stumbled towards her, its bones moving in uncoordinated ways. Yuku yelped as another Stalfos grabbed her arm from behind. She had clearly woken them from some kind of stupor, and as much as she knew they weren’t exactly true monsters, their gaze evoked a horrifying feeling up her spine. They felt wrong, worse than many other monsters she had encountered. But there was something else unnerving in their eyes.

Yuku yanked her arm backwards, trying to loosen the Stalfos’ grip. It rattled at her, undeterred, until she swung Lonomeru and struck the Stalfos with the haft. A clear note rang out alongside an uncomfortable crack as the Stalfos’ finger bone fractured, and Yuku took her opening to leap backwards and grab onto the wall, racing up it. The Stalfos wandered below, a few spilling out from the entrance, ambling unsteadily. She had clearly disturbed them from some sort of stupor, and she shuddered as she watched them rattle about so close to her. Something was very wrong here.

There it was. The interior of the Stone Tower. The scope of the area was shocking, spiralling upwards almost as far as Yuku could see. What was howling wind outside was deafening here, and she cringed against the force of it. But near the top, something bright graced an enormous stone carved shape that stood out so much she could only assume it was her goal. The Zora hung back a moment, watching as stones and even boulders fell at points, jostled by the wind. She could tell ahead of her was some way to access, but she had no familiarity with Ikana or its systems at all. Perhaps another more familiar would have made quick work of the way to the front, but Yuku stared at it a moment before taking the way she knew better - walking up the sides of the tower. She was glad of the small caverns lining the walls unevenly, providing space to rest; before long she was opting to climb and use all four of her limbs rather than walking as she normally would. Much better use of her energy. Even for someone who was more than accustomed to moving vertically with ease, the climb was exhausting. Only once did she grow careless enough to slip, hastily grabbing hold of the wall again and latching on before she could plummet into the abyss below.

Yuku had no clue how long it had been before she finally reached the entryway. Her footsteps felt loud as she walked towards the open area. The room was spacious and bright, and she squinted as she looked up. It made sense for a tower, she supposed, that there would be great height above here as well; the clouds rippled above. She pulled out her flask and drank, her throat dry from exertion. One of these days she would need to find herself one of those bags that could carry anything in them, to carry a far larger quantity of water with her. Looking up, she mused on the strange shape of the structure overhead - three prongs of stone and metal meeting in the centre, with no clear form or purpose.

Yuku’s progress through the temple was slow. Ducking past the unnervingly enormous insects - one of which took a swipe at her with its tail - Yuku rushed through the right hand door. Over the next two hours she worked her way deeper into the temple, freezing and slashing apart Bombchus, and to her delight eventually reaching an area with clear, cool water. Part of the passageway of the temple was underwater - and for an area she doubted had been truly irrigated, the stone and water were shockingly free of algae and murk. She eagerly leapt into the water, a sigh of relief rippling from her throat and her gills. The water was clean enough to fill her flask, too.

A thud from the path above the water sharpened her attention. Something was up there. The ornate grille separating the path from the water was sharp, but she managed to climb over it eventually and turn around. A strange creature stood there, a single enormous eye staring unblinkingly. Was it a creature? It looked like stone. The Eyegore. Her musings were cut short by the abrupt sharpening of its gaze, and she swore. The flashing of its great eye made its intention clear. She’d been identified as a threat, and was being treated accordingly.

Yuku panicked. This narrow walkway was not to her strength. No walls to jump to, the grille close enough to prevent any swinging of her halberd, nowhere to duck behind as protection. She could only move forward or backward. The Eyegore’s gaze flickered between colours as it slammed its hands into the ground, the force of it nearly knocking Yuku off her feet. She tried to press in to strike, but its next swipe caught her hip, and she yelped and jerked away from the sharp pain and unpleasant grinding sensation of the joint. Already she could tell her scales would be a brilliant mauve within the half hour, but while the joint felt unstable it didn’t seem to have fully dislocated. It ached but bore weight. She could work with that.

With little other choice, Yuku ducked the next swing and rushed the creature, wondering if she could bury Lonomeru’s point in its eye before it attacked again again; as its eye lit up, she knew she’d been too late, and did the only thing she could think to do. Nayru’s Affection bloomed around her, the momentary crystalline shield carrying a sense of warmth and trust. It couldn’t protect her from the swing of the Eyegore’s arms, and Yuku found herself pressing herself against the foe to get under its attack, risking it grabbing her and ending her chances altogether. The crystalline shield shattered, the majority of the shards clinking harmlessly off its stone body, but those that embedded themselves in the Eyegore’s eye left the creature stumbling backwards, flailing enough to allow Yuku’s escape. With a quick pivot, Yuku plunged her halberd into its eye.

An hour later, her lack of direction was beginning to give way from confusion to frustration, before long. She’d found at several points she’d had to walk up walls and then walk along ceilings to find different areas, with there even being doors located on the roof at times. How on earth was anyone meant to navigate or even access this temple? Even with the ability to walk along the ceiling she was unbelievably lost. Her hip ached, she’d whacked her elbow quite hard slipping off an upside-down ledge, and she was beginning to realise she wasn’t entirely sure on the way back to the entry, a very dangerous mistake for anyone dungeoneering. It was lucky she’d paused for a break. With no apparent cause, the entire temple suddenly started shaking. Yuku gasped. An earthquake? She clung to the wall beside her, which would prove to be what saved her when the world suddenly, inexplicably, inverted. Gravity yanked the other way and she slipped before being able to correct for it. The door was now in a different spot, and when the building stopped moving Yuku let herself flop to the floor. She thought she could maybe hear something out that door, but Nayru… she needed a breather.