Temple of Droplets - Areyal, the Curious Zora (1/5/2 Zora) [Magnere] Reward: Snowshoe Ring (event), Blizzard, -5 Rupees. - Eri, the Lonely Arsonist (1/4/5 Skull Kid) [Blonde Panther] Reward: Blue Fire (Event), +35 Rupees. Both characters will Rent a Gnat Hat for the duration of this Dungeon, at the cost of 5 Rupees each.Dungeon Music "Hee hee!" Eri tilted her head to the left, giggling at the jingling noise that came from it. She tilted her head to the right, looking up at the mountains around her. She tilted her head back to the left, looking down at the infinitely deep ocean beneath the rock she was sitting on. She swung her legs back and forth, too, but that wasn't as fun- they didn't have any jingly bells on them. Actually, the mountains around her weren't mountains, but normal, albeit large rocks- and the ocean beneath her wasn't actually an ocean, but a small puddle of water. But they had turned into these enormous versions of themselves when she had taken her normal, straw hat off and put on this funny-looking red one with the jingly bell on its end. It was fun, and Eri had taken the hat off and put it back on a few times just to see them change. Now, she stood up and skipped along the top of her perch, before jumping off to the ground, where she landed without any sound or dust clouds. Baw. She looked around, seeing a gigantic version of her own hat laying not far away from her. On her other side, though, was something much stranger. She hadn't seen it when she'd taken the silly hat off, but right now, she realised she was standing near a crack in the ground. She skipped over to it, immediately realising the ground was a little slippery, and stopped right at the edge, teetering on the balls of her feet as she tried to look down the crack. Cold air came from it. What was it?
"This is where it should be." Areyal said to no one in particular. She had had heard from the nearby village that a there was a whole ice temple hidden in the ground nearby. Asking around, she discovered that the temple was really small, and required a special hat to even enter. This special hat shrunk you down to a very tiny size. Almost so small it was hard to see anyone wearing one. She couldn't find one in the local store, so the owner suggested she ask around for one to rent, since she only needed it for one trip. After spending some time trying to convince someone to loan her their Gnat Hat, Areyal finally found an old man who had once visited that very temple. After several minutes of begging he finally consented and willfully lent her his hat. However, he did warn her about the dangers that lie within, saying "You never know what you will find in that temple. You better take care, I want my hat back" Ignoring the man's warning, she quickly ran off to the general direction of the temple. Upon arriving, she didn't find much of anything. Nothing more than some stones and a puddle. Slightly discouraged, she quickly looked around for an entrance to said temple. However, a straw hat nearby attracted her attention. Surely this belonged to someone. "Hello?" She cried out loud. "Is anyone there?" With no obvious response, she picked the hat up, and gently placed it on her head. Giggling, she got the image of some farm boy without his hat. "I guess no one's here." She said to herself as she kept looking around for the entrance to the ice temple. Surely something cold around here wouldn't be too hard to find.
Hey! That giant fish person had stolen Eri's hat! The Undead little girl spun on her feet and scrambled for her lantern, hoping to catch up to the person and tell her to give her hat back. Maybe she could stop them! She swung her lantern over her head, finally bringing it down in front of her and sending a fireball speeding from it towards the person's ankle. Of course, she was so much smaller than them that if they felt it at all, they dismissed it. Eri pouted, running at top speed to catch up to the person. "Stupid giant fish person," she mumbled to herself as she ran, finally catching up and throwing herself onto the person's foot. There, now at least she wouldn't get separated from her hat again. As she sat there, she decided to make the person small again, like the rocks and puddles around her, and tore the silly hat off her head. Immediately, the fish person grew to a normal size, only for Eri to abruptly slam into their chest with her head! "Ow!" she called, grabbing her head and spinning in place for a moment, clutching her head with both hands and dropping both the silly hat and the Deku Stick that her lantern hung from. "Ow ow ow!" When she finally remembered why she'd done that, she turned around and realised that the fish person was still big. "Um, um..." she shyly pointed at her hat, hoping the person would get the hint.
During her search, she found nothing of super importance. She found a pretty looking rock, but not much else. Suddenly, she felt a little sensation on her foot, as if someone had tickled her. Areyal giggled a little bit at the feeling, it was probably a leaf or something. Hopefully she would find the entrance to the temple soon. Areyal was starting to lose hope that she would ever find a temple with such a tiny entrance. Even though she had only been searching for a couple minutes. Just then, what felt like a rat had scampered up onto her foot. Looking down, she saw a little man, or was it even a man? It was a little thing that resembled a man, that was for sure, but she had trouble seeing what it was with it being so small. Suddenly, the thing grew really big, and slammed it's head directly into her chest. Areyal cried a sharp burst of pain, with more shock than actual damage done, she was rather surprised. Stumbling backwards, she grabbed her staff tightly, and it started to glow with an icy aura. She was not at all prepared for a fight, and would more than likely lose of this man took away her staff. Areyal gripped onto the staff even tighter. Preparing for the worst. The man, if it even was a man, looked really disoriented, he spun around for a moment, and then dropped both things it was holding, a little lantern on a stick, and a hat similar to the one she was renting. It didn't look like it was going to attack at all, it looked like it was in pain. She let the icy enchantment fade away as the thing slowly relaxed a little bit. Whatever it was, it pointed at the straw hat, and mumbled something. It took a few seconds, but it finally dawned on her. "Ohhh! This is your hat!" She quickly removed it and handed it to the little thing. Whatever it was., it looked extremely strange, and nothing like she had ever seen before. "Are you um... okay? What are you?" Areyal asked the strange being, curious as to what it was.
Her hat! The fish person wasn't so bad after all, if they handed her hat back to her so easily. Eri beamed when she took it back, and put it on her head, where it belonged. She wondered if she could wear it and the silly one together. But hey! Something else was nice of this person. Often, when Eri showed her face around tall people, they would scream and try to hurt her until she'd run away. This fish person did none of that, instead asking who she was. Eri scuffled her feet a little bit, wanting to talk but nervous to. "...Eri..." As she whispered her name, she grabbed the part of her mask that wrapped around her chin and lifted it, pointing at her face and smiling. Maybe they'd understand if they saw she had a normal face. She knew she looked a bit funny with all that black web. Wait! This person had a silly hat, too! Eri reached forward and grabbed it to get a closer look at it, and sure enough, it was just like hers, except it didn't have the jingly bell! She shoved it back into the fish person's hands and picked up her own, showing it to them and shaking it so they could hear the bell.
The thing looked rather nervous as it spoke. "Eri" it said rather quietly, and lifted up her mask to reveal a sharp row of teeth smiling. Slightly taken aback, the creature, or Eri, as it was called, was rather unnerving, but in a strange sort of way. It seemed not to know how to talk to people, and scuffled her feet somewhat. It was rather cute, if something this strange could be cute. Suddenly, Eri took the hat hanging from her pouch. "Hey!" Areyal exclaimed. "That's my hat, well, I borrowed that hat!" As quickly as it was taken from her, it was handed back to her. Eri shoved it back into her hands. She was immensely confused until the little thing picked up a hat of her own. It had a bell on the top of it, but that was the only difference. The Eri creature shook it's hat rapidly, making a lot of noise with the little bell on it. "That's just like my hat" She said aloud to it. "I'm assuming that's why you were so small." Examining her own hat she spoke to the strange creature once again. "I've not actually put it on yet" Areyal shifted her eyes back to the Eri. She was unsure whether the creauture name was Eri, or whether it was an Eri, it didn't seem to specify. "So uh..." She stuttered slightly. "May I ask what you are?"
Eri tilted her head in confusion. What she was? She was a person like anyone else! Well, except she didn't sleep. Oh, and she didn't get hungry or thirsty. Huh. Okay, she guessed maybe she wasn't so much like anyone else as she thought. Anyway, that wasn't important! This person had a hat too, and that meant they could come with her to see what was so cold inside the crack in the ground! Putting her own hat over an arm and holding her lantern with that hand, she grabbed the person's wrist with the other hand and began to drag them back. Finally, she reached a spot she recognised as having the crack in the ground, turned around, grinned widely, and put on the hat. The world around her grew again, and within seconds, Eri teetered on the edge of the crack again. She looked up, waving and pointing at it enthusiastically.
Areyal had no idea where the Eri creature was dragging her, until they suddenly stopped. Eri let go off her hand, and turned to face her with a wicked grin before placing on her hat and shrinking right before her eyes. She blinks a few times, a little confused at what happened. She bent down and examined the Eri, or rather, where the Eri was standing. After a close examination, she saw the little creature right at the edge of a small crack in the ground. Being so gentle as to not hurt the Eri creature, she placed her hand near the crack and felt a cold breeze coming from it. Was this the Ice Temple entrance? She was told she needed to wear the hat to get into it, but she had figured it would be a little more obivous than a crack in the ground. Regardless, it was cold. That was a better start then most. Areyal gently placed the hat on her head, and shrieked in awe as the world shrunk around her. The rocks grew to the size of mountains, and the trees seemed to literally touch the sky! It was so amazing. She had never felt more impressed with nature than at that moment. It was a few moments before she remembered what she was doing. Looking down, she realized that she was standing on a patch of ice. Taking a step forward, Areyal quickly fell down onto her back. "Ow!" She cried in sharp pain. "Remind me not to slip again." She said to no one in particular.
Yay! She got the hint and came down to Eri's level, shrinking before her eyes. Ohhhhhh, so THAT'S what the hat did! It didn't make everything else big, it just made her small! The Skull Kid giggled when the fish person slipped and fell on her bum, but quickly skipped over to help them up. Her helpfulness quickly turned to deviousness, however, as she started to push her new companion forward towards the crack. At the edge, she pointed into it, her hand shaking. If one looked closely, something was visible under the crack. A floor of sorts, looking like white stone covered in ice. Giving her new friend a few moments to take that in, Eri then gave her a hard shove, sending her falling into it, and jumped down behind her with her lantern over her shoulder. She fell for what felt like at least five minutes, and landed completely safely and painlessly on a hill of white rock. She looked around, clapping her hands excitedly. It was so pretty! The white rock was on the walls and ceiling too, although it was smoother there, and the floor below the hill was completely covered in ice. "Pretty!" she said, but then realised something else and wrapped her arms around herself. "Cold," she added, shivering.
The creature giggled before helping Areyal back onto her feet. But before she had the time to thank it, it started to push her, stopping right at the edge of the crack. Being immensely careful as to not fall in, Areyal kneeled down slightly and peered into the crack. At the very bottom of the crack, there was a floor! It appeared to be white, layered with ice. It must be the Ice temple, or whatever the temple's actual name was. All she knew was that it was covered in ice, and that caught her interest. Before she could do anything else, she felt a sudden pressure to her back, and she flew forward, down into the crack. That Eri must have pushed her! What else could have done so? Turning around in mid air was easy enough thanks to her fins, but what she saw she was not prepared for. The Eri had jumped in after her! Why did it push her down if it was going to follow her anyways? Such a weird creature. Areyal want to learn more, but currently, the reasoning of the creature was the least of her concerns. Almost as soon as she was pushed, she landed on the ground with a thud. However, Areyal felt no pain from the impact. Confused, she quickly got back onto her feet. The temple looked absolutely gorgeous a white stone made up the majority of the room, with ice covering the ground in a thick sheet. "Pretty." She heard the Eri say, and she had to agree. Nothing in her life had prepared her for the beauty of the temple. But then again, everything surprised her lately. But then Areyal heard the creature say another word, "Cold." It said as it wrapped it's arm around itself. As the creature started to shiver, she felt sorry for it. Even though that was crazy, as it had just pushed her down a giant crack in the ground. Perhaps it was just as curious as her? She might never know if it didn't ever speak more than one word at a time. "Well, it's cold because it's an ice temple silly." She said to Eri. The cold didn't bother her much due to her time swimming around in cold waters, but the tips of her fingers and toes were quite numb from the cold. Perhaps some form of heat would be helpful down here.
The fish person pointed out that it was normal for the ice temple to be cold, but how had Eri been supposed to know? She'd just found this place, she didn't know it had been an ice temple! Pouting under her mask, she thought for a few seconds, and then snapped the fingers of her free hand. Idea! She raised her lantern over her head, waving it around quickly and waiting until it trailed little wisps of flame behind it. This was a sign it'd been lit, and she pushed it against the fish person's face so she'd know Eri had a source of warmth. They had landed on a little hill, with a staircase leading down it that Eri quickly skipped down. As soon as she set her foot on the ice sheet, she slipped, sliding further on the floor until she came to a standstill against the wall. Wait. Not the wall? A block of ice, about as big as the fish person, blocked her way. Hmmmm. Eri put her hands against it and tried to push, but she was too small and not big enough. It wouldn't budge.
At first, Areyal was quite confused over why the little creature was waving it's lantern back and forth, until she realized that Eri had somehow lit it by doing so. The excited little creature shoved it's lantern in her face before wandering off down the little hill. Well, at least they now had a source of heat, even if it was a little strange. Perhaps the little creature was smarter than it appeared to be. Areyal felt like she would never know, but she tried her hardest not to get discouraged. Perhaps while she was stuck with it down here she would learn more about it? Areyal carefully stepped down the steps before her. Taking her time so she doesn't slip and fall like she did earlier. Upon reaching the bottom, she realized that the Eri creature was pushing on a block of ice in the doorway. Forgetting that the entire floor was ice, she started walking towards it, and lost her footing. Her right foot slid forwards, and she almost did a split before she fell over on her side. Her head banged against the hard icy ground. She cried out a little bit as she tried to straighten herself back upright. Finally able to just sit herself up. She gripped her staff tightly, and pulled herself upwards. Finally standing back on her two feet, Areyal carefully made her way over to Eri. "So umm... Do you need help pushing?"
Eri shook her head, even though she wasn't making any sort of progress with the ice blocking her way. Well, she'd tried pushing. Time for brute force. Or rather, brute fire. She took her lantern in two hands and gave the stick a powerful swing, connecting the lantern to the ice block. The fire began to melt the ice, and within seconds, the block was gone. Eri didn't move, though. She was too stunned by what she saw beyond it. The ice had blocked a doorway, and when Eri walked through it she found herself in an enormous new room, completely covered in ice and even colder than the one before. Ice blocks and spikes were everywhere, but the biggest eye-catcher in the room was the gigantic block of ice in the centre. It was impressive enough in and of itself, but it was made even more interesting by the giant Octoroc it was encasing. And she did mean giant. There was no way that was a normal-sized Octoroc, even if Eri was teeny-tiny at the moment. She looked at it, clutching her stick with two hands. As she stared, however, she didn't see the large yellow-bodied beetles approach and didn't hear them clicking their oversized blue mandibles threateningly.
Only slightly confused at first, Areyal wasn't for long. The lantern on the end of the Eri's stick melted the giant ice block into a giant puddle. Carefully following her strange companion through the doorway, she saw one of the most impressive sights she's ever seen. The room was covered in ice from top to bottom, and random spikes were scattered throughout the room. That wasn't what caught her attention however. In the middle of the giant room, an enormous ice block sat in the very center of the room. The Ice block must have been several times Areyal's current height. Inside the ice, lay an Octoroc. It looked to be practically as big as the ice block that it was contained in. "This is incredible!" She said aloud. How did a place like this hide inside the ground? Why was it built so small? And why was there an Octoroc frozen solid? So many questions, she doubted she would have time to discover the answer to all of them. As her eyes started examining the room from top to bottom, she took several steps into the room. This time, succeeding in not slipping at all. Suddenly, Areyal heard some strange clicking sound. Quickly looking around the room, she saw several large yellow beetles walking towards them. They started clacking their blue mandibles repeatedly, and Areyal was immediately frightened. Bugs, she had no problem with. Large bugs that could eat her in several bites on the other hand, freaked her out immensely. It was either run, or fight. There was no way Areyal could convince herself to leave this gorgeous place. Scared as she was, she decided she would have to fight. Concentrating with all her might, an icy spire started growing out of the ground directly in front of Areyal's feet. The spire seemed to radiate cold as it grew, reaching just below her chest. The moment the spire stopped growing, she quickly grabbed her staff with both hands, and struck the spire with all her might. With basically no resistance, the icy spike shot forward at an alarming rate towards the threatening bugs.
Eeek! Eri jumped when a large hunk of very sharp-looking ice shot past her. The landing was rough, involving her slipping on the ice and falling on her bum. She didn't bother getting up, instead looking in the direction the ice was going, and squealed in terror. Those were the biggest bugs she'd ever seen! The ice crashed into one of them, knocking it onto its back and sending it skidding away, but the other one clicked its mandibles again and made a swishing motion with its head. The blue claw-like appendages came off, flying towards Eri more quickly than she was comfortable with. She rolled over, dodging it narrowly, and as it flew back to reattach itself, she crawled to her feet and swung her lantern. Instead of the fire within the lantern flaring up as it had done before, it formed a small fireball that left the metal construct and sped towards the bug in pursuit of the mandibles. They reattached at roughly the same moment the fireball connected, and the recoil made the bug lean its head back- thus exposing its neck, where the fireball connected to set the whole thing ablaze. Eri cheered as the beast burnt to a crisp, and threateningly brandished her lantern towards the remaining one, which shuddered as it got up.
Her ice shot had just knocked the big ugly bug out of the way, didn't seem to harm it at all. Eri's attack however did much more damage. The fireball launched from it's lamp had burnt the creepy bug to a crisp. It's flaming body flailed wildly before it finally stopped moving. The smell of cooked insect was very prevalent in the air. Surprisingly, it smelled not too different from roast Cucoo. The bug she had previously shot at was back up. Areyal held her staff in front of her. After seeing that it could launch it's mandibles, Areyal didn't want to waste much time. Tossing her staff to her left hand, she held out her right. Suddenly, a strange greyish blue vine erupted from the palm of her hand and a large ball of blue fire erupted from the end of it. Just as the beetle shot forward it's mandibles towards Areyal, her blue fireball ran straight into the now empty face of the bug. It exploded in burst of cold and covered the entire bug. The bug was taken care of, but it's mandibles were still in the air. Areyal tried to step out of the way, but ended up falling onto her butt. Luckily, that was just enough movement to keep from being struck. The mandibles flew over her head, and then returned to a dead cold flaming corpse.
Eri didn't have to do anything, since her new friend did it for her. What was really funny was the fire she used to do it though- it was blue! Now, Eri knew a lot about fire; she knew it was hot, she knew it was supposed to be orange or yellow, She knew it came out of her lantern and she knew it was powerful. But she didn't know blue fire existed! As she skipped and slid over to it, she realised that it wasn't hot either, but cold. That was so cool! In so many ways! Eri was about to skid back over to the fish person to ask how she made her fire blue and cold, when she saw something. Now that she looked further than the block of ice, she saw a passage to another chamber a few yards away from where they were standing. And on the other side of that, she saw a bug with no legs crawling away from them! A caterpillar! Instead of turning to her friend, Eri gestured that she had to follow her, and began skidding over to the other room. That caterpillar looked funny from far away, she hoped she could see it from up close if they chased it!
