Keera Elodie (40 Rupees) Serina DeLotte (Roc's Cape *Updating Function*, +10 Rupees) __________________________________________________________________________ "Ah, I've found it Serina." Keera shielded her eyes from the sun just to be sure, but she had been correct in her assumption. As the trees cleared eitherside of the off-track pathway, the Kokiri spotted three stone mounds, each supporting an intricate carving of a worm-like creature. As Serina caught up, Melda chimed into Keera's ears before flitting off to one of the mounds. "Here's the keyhole!" The fairy called. Keera approached, fishing the oddly-shaped key from her pocket. For a moment she recalled the Great Tree shaking the key from his wise branches. He had felt a 'disturbance' in his roots, certain that it had something to do with burrowing creatures. The Tail Cave was a long distance from the Kokiri Woods, but Keera wasn't going to question her given task. Looking back once more to Serina for reassurance, she turned to the keyhole, slotting the key inside and twisting it. With an earth-shaking rumble, the stone slabs which blocked the entrance to the cave beyond the mounds sank into the ground, blowing a cloud of dust out into the otherwise clear sky. The gloomy interior looked menacing. "...Are you ready?" Keera asked, turning to Serina, along with Aria who was close by.
Serina drew her cloak around her, glaring down upon the cave. Its emergence made the animals uneasy... that disturbed her a bit. The kokiri was not about to back down, however. If it would protect the woods, protect her friends, nothing was too terrible to face. That was what she'd promised herself. She had brought her bow, her cape... she was as ready as she could ever be. Thus it was that she nodded, a severe look on her face. Aria, too, blinked fiercely. "No way we're letting something like that scare us!"
"Let's go, then." Keera replied. She wished she was as confident as her Kokiri partner seemed to be. "It'll be fine." Melda said quietly. For once, her fairy had taken a soft approach to encouragement. Usually, she would have been considerably more peppy. Stepping inside, the sunlight pouring lazily through the entrance was soon swallowed up, replaced by eerie torchlight provided by braziers attached to the grimy walls. She knew it didn't do much good in a fight, but Keera removed her wooden flute from her belt, holding it like a baton. There would be monsters, and no amount of wishing would make it otherwise. After traversing the entrance, the girls found themselves in a rectangular room. Before them, sidelined by two large pits, was a menacing, bronze-wrought door. Atop its frame was a terrifying black mask, while the door itself was riddled with spikes. Keera swore she heard a roar creeping past the door's fortuitous presence. There were no monsters yet, which Keera was glad of. "You'll need to find the key for that." Melda chimed. "I think that's where we'll find what we're looking for." Keera grimaced at her fairy's words: she would never intentionally go looking for danger. "I suppose it's left or right, then." Keera said, spotting two open-mouthed doorways adjacent to each other across the room.
Serina nodded. The biggest door certainly looked the most ominous, and definitely gave her a sense of danger. She gulped as she stared at its frame and... decor. Still, she made no conspicuous show of her fear. "Hm... Let's go left," she said quietly, after a moment's deliberation. She trembled a little as she hefted her bow and notched an arrow, but she forced her hands to still themselves. Serina knew her duty. No monster was going to deter her from it... "You'll be fine!" Aria chimed, bouncing a bit. Cautiously, Serina edged out in front of her companion, bow held aloft. She wasn't sure what was in this dungeon... but she wanted to be ready. She took a few tentative steps through to door, to whatever greeted her on the other side.
"Right." Keera said: anything to delay moving deeper into the cave. To her relief, Serina notched an arrow in her bow and took the lead. She followed closely behind as they made their way through a narrow passageway linking the doors, the light from their fairies glaring off the walls. Keera decided to lag back slightly: the last thing she wanted was to be whacked in the face by Serina's elbow if she decided to shoot an arrow. The room the two Kokiri found themselves in was wide and circular. Four braziers lighted the far corners, providing illumination enough to gauge the circumference of the room, but little else. After lingering at the entrance for several moments, Keera stepped past Serina, her ears straining to pick up the presence of any monsters. Although her thumping heartbeat made it difficult, she didn't hear anything. Stepping slowly in order to make as little noise as possible, Keera made her way towards the center of the room, stopping abruptly as the gloom intensified on the ground before her. "Oh... Oh! It's a pit..." The girl took a step backwards. She realised too late: her voice was echoing off the ceiling. Low rattling rose around her, but she couldn't see anything. "Serina?" She called out. "Keera! Move!" Melda screeched in her ear. From the darkness crawled a long, bulky shape. As it approached the rattling increased in intensity. Keera ran back towards Serina, glancing behind her to see the beast snaking in a semicircle, in pursuit of her. "Mini Moldorms, I should have known..." Melda said, flying into Keera's back in an attempt to get her back to relative safety. More rattling rose in the room.
Serina had shuddered as she entered the room. Something about it... unsettled her. Cold? No... She had her cape around her. What was it? The dark...? Her answer crawled out of the abyss soon enough. A great segmented insect hefted itself out of the gaping void and showed its horrible visage. Serina froze for a moment, transfixed, fear gripping her. For a moment there was nothing but the rushing of the blood in her ears, the pounding of her heart against the cage of her chest. Aria would have none of this. "Hey! Come on! Shoot!" Jolted back to reality, Serina took aim and fired. She'd hoped to hit its eye. While the arrow was a direct hit, it didn't hit the sweet spot she had aimed for. It flinched, then roared. But this forced its mouth open, and Serina threw a needle volley into it. That seemed to do the trick. The mini Moldorm fell over with a groan. She heard another one rising behind her, and, turning, leapt back towards Keera. As she did so, she spawned a shadowy vision of herself, rushing the great bug with needles of its own. The beast reared and lunged, but struck nothing, clearly confused. Serina let out some harsh breaths as she attempted to get a read on the exact quantity of enemies... if they were too many, it might be best to beat a hasty retreat.
As Serina was spurred into action, Keera turned to face her pursuer while continuing to step back. Her fellow Kokiri had always been better in combat than she, but the healer was still astounded by the feats she attained. She had little time to appreciate the save, as more Mini Moldorms squirmed out of the shadows. There was no way Serina could battle them all... And she shouldn't have to. Bradishing her flute, Keera stood her ground as the next Mini Moldorm approached. Melda's voice buzzed somewhere behind her, but she phased it out. I can fight, I can do this. The Mini Moldorm reared its head, lunging at Keera, jaws wide. With a timely strike, she caught the creature's attack. Whether Melda or her foe was more surprised by the counter attack was unclear, but she didn't stop there. Jumping forwards, Keera swiped again with the solid wooden instrument, smashing the worm across its upper body. As she hopped briefly into the air, her hair fanned out wildly as she brought her flute down once more, landing a skull-shaking strike. The beast flopped to the ground, leaving Keera towering above it, panting. It felt empowering. Distracted by her astounding victory, both Keera and her fairy didn't see another Mini Moldorm slithering behind them. With a blow from the worm's tail, she was knocked to the ground, her flute flying from her hand to roll across the floor.
Serina ran her eyes over the room and the horde of oversized bugs. Including the one she's defeated, and the one Keera was fighting... four in all. Two down. Two to go. One skittered behind them... "Aria!" Serina shouted, her commanding tone all that the fairy needed to know. She flew rapidly to the flute, carefully avoiding the other Mini Moldorm. The kokiri she served, meanwhile, turned her attention to the monster that'd knocked her friend's instrument away. Quickly, she flicked her wrists, summoning the familiar weapons to her hands. She only needed two for this... Drawing on the cape's power, she hopped over it as it stood above Keera, and Serina, landing upon its back, jabbed the needles into it. The beast gave a terrible cry and tried to shake her from it, but she held tightly to the needles. She eventually ripped one from its thick hide and sunk it again, repeating this motion as the beast's struggles grew more and more feeble. It collapsed in time, and Serina hopped tiredly off it. She was breathing hard when the other one lunged at her. The red-headed Kokiri managed to narrowly brush past its jaws, her cowl being caught by it... but the monster reared its head up, knocking her into the air. She fell half on the ledge of the pit, knocking the wind out of her. But still, she dared not let go... She had no desire to see what was on the other end of the hole. Aria flew up to Keera, having rolled the flute back to her feet. "Hey, come on!"
Keera, who's head was reeling from the blow, was aware of a slight voice ringing in her ear that wasn't Melda's. Her own fairy had flown to Serina's side oddly. "Don't you dare let go!" She wailed, clutching at one of Serina's taut fingers. Keera could just about hear her own fairy's voice over the snarling of the Mini Moldorm. What was going on? Wearily, she crawled to her feet, taking her flute back into her hand. The sight that welcomed her was horrifying. Serina's form all but swallowed by the gloomy pit, while the last remaining foe was craning between them. She couldn't help Serina, not yet. She had to deal with the Mini Moldorm, and fast. The healer was all too aware of her quivering knees. "Don't just stand there! We don't have much time!" Aria said, clearly concerned for her master. She tried to think about it logically: she'd already beaten one. The only real danger was those jaws, but she could heal herself if she had to... At that moment, the Mini Moldorm made to move towards Serina, giving Keera the boost to act. Her tiny feet pounded the cave floor as she bounded towards the worm. Hearing her advance, it turned, slimy teeth on show. Halting suddenly, she weighed up her foe, who was reared for a strike. As the worm clumsily lunged forwards, Keera side-stepped, lashing out with her flute and scoring a blow to the beast's head. This only seemed to irritate it, however. This one seemed somehow tougher than the one she had bludgeoned unconscious earlier. As she ran sideways to avoid another bite, her eyes rested briefly on Serina. "Ah!" Turning suddenly, her back against the pit, Keera lowered her guard as the worm crawled towards her. her entire body was alive with adrenaline. Time seemed to slow slightly. The worm attacked relentlessly: Keera could even see inside its mouth... She tried to evade, throwing herself to one side. She mistimed however, and the beast's fangs caught her lower arm. Crying out in pain, Keera was dragged to the ground as the Mini Moldorm dangled over the edge of the pit. She could feel herself slipping... Desperately she pounded her foe's head with her flute, until eventually the grip painfully loosened. As Keera snatched her hand back, the beast cried out, before a sickening thud silenced it. Having no time to tend to herself, Keera crawled towards Serina, grasping her fellow Kokiri's hand and tugging as hard as she could. Aria did as Melda was and tugged on one of her master's fingers. With heaving breaths and groans, Keera eventually pulled Serina up enough that she could finish the job herself. Immediately she fell back, slouching into herself. Absently her left hand glowed a bright white, curling around her injured wrist before the wounded flesh was knitted whole. "D-Do you need any healing?"
Serina collapsed, fingers and arms trembling, painful, stiff. It took several moments for her to be able to get them to do her bidding again, and then only shakily. She was, in most senses of the expression, all right. But inwardly? Her mental state? She was frustrated, trembling not only with exertion but also with fear and a twinge of anger. Fighting was her job; that was what she'd asked to do. Being tossed around like that only proved she needed more training. What was more... She examined her cape. She'd felt it get caught by the monster's jaws. Looking closer, her heart sunk. There was a sizable tear in it. This cape was special; she'd gotten it from a friend... and now it was... "...I'm fine," she managed, shaking her head. This was no time to be sentimental. There were still enemies about in this cave, of that she had no doubt. In all likelihood, they would be worse than those they had faced in this room...
After breathing a sigh of relief at Serina's health, Keera now had to deal with a darting green light that dominated most of her vision. "That was insane, you could have been knocked down the pit!" Melda cried. What else could I do? Sprang to mind, but Keera was too weary for a debate. They had to carry on: whatever else was lurking in this cave would surely know of their presence now. "I'll be more careful." Attempting to go for the guilty approach seemed to be enough to appease her over-protective fairy, as Melda soundlessly drifted away from her breathing space. "And I'm sorry I wasn't more use, Serina. I'm trying to learn how to fight, but..." Mimicking her fellow Kokiri, she shook her head. "We should get going." Offering a faint smile, Keera rose from her knees. "Think you might be needing this." Came Melda's sage voice. Keera searched the gloom for her fairy's familiar glow, finding it reflecting prominently from an object laying by one of the Mini-Moldorm's immobile bodies. As she approached, she identified it as a key. Clutching the cold metal sent a brief shiver through Keera as she scoured the room once more. Beyond the pit stood a door, the gloominess most strongly concentrated in the shape of a keyhole in its centre. Wordlessly, Keera approached, taking extra caution to walk around the pit. As expected, the key fit the lock perfectly. The gears in the lock moved smoothly: something she had not expected. She held the door shut, however, glancing over her shoulder to see if Serina was ready.
"Don't worry about it," Serina said numbly, her thoughts about her own performance not much better. She shuddered as she eyed the key. Was this thing in one of them? Ick... She nodded, though, and forced her legs into movement. They were still cold and the kokiri still hadn't gotten the feeling back in them, but she had to press on. She walked through the door with her companion and their fairies... and then stopped. She held her arm out to stop Keera from proceeding into the room. She'd seen with eagle-eyes the shine of something smooth. Serina scanned the room a little more, not daring to step over the threshold. A very small, turtle-like creature emerged from just outside her field of vision. A black shell covered the thing, which would make it very difficult to deal with, but it thankfully crawled on, having not noticed the pair. Serina took that opportunity to poke her head very cautiously out of the doorway to take a quick look out into the room. The next door was, predictably, locked. A stylized torch burned in the center on the room, but Serina couldn't see any sort of mechanism to open the door... was there, perhaps, a switch on the wall from which they came? She hoped not; the torch lay on an island, so the speak, surrounded by a large pit, which was highly dangerous with those beetles running amok...
