The Missing Ice Princess [Ice Cavern] Horus Falconer, Refugee of Ikana Kingdom (3/2/4 Hylian) [Blonde Panther] Reward: +40 Rupees. While this RP is a Horus/Luna thread, it is unusual in that only Horus features prominently enough to qualify for a reward. The snow was falling around her. It felt strange, foreign; they never had snow in Ikana. She held out both her hands to catch the snowflakes. A cold, unfamiliar sensation, but not uncomfortable. What made her uncomfortable was that she was all alone. Where was he..? When had they gotten separated..? She couldn’t remember, but she missed him. There was a more pressing concern though… she sensed something approaching. Something with powerful intentions… ill intentions. She had to protect herself… but how was she going to do that? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “T- that wasn’t here before!” Horus skidded to a halt, falling flat on his face as he slipped on the suddenly icy footing. As he scrambled to his feet, he and his companions all looked up at the enormous mountain of clear, white ice. In a large radius around it, the floor had been covered in a thin pack of snow, crisping underneath their boots. “This is the place where I lost her,” Horus reinstated, pulling his coat more tightly around him. “But there was no snow and certainly no ice.” His blonde companion looked at him warily, perhaps fearing that Horus’s sanity had finally snapped. “I admit it’s a little unusual,” he said, leaning on his massive battleaxe as he looked up at the glacier, “finding these amounts of snow and ice in the middle of spring. But Horus, you’ve been away from here for what? Ten minutes?” “Are you saying I’m crazy?!” “I believe him, Bertrand.” Both interrupted their argument to look at the more magically-inclined member of the trio. Frederick had walked up to the glacier and now held his hand less than half an inch away from the ice wall, apparently doing magical things that Horus had never understood and likely never would understand. “This is no natural ice formation. It’s magical in nature.” Magical, huh… as Horus looked at it, himself, something hit him. “Luna’s an ice mage,” he said, “Did SHE do this?” Frederick took his time, waving his hand up and down in front of himself frantically and frowning in frustration. “There’s no telling,” he finally said. “I’m picking up something that feels similar to Luna’s magic, yes. But it’s very faint, and it’s hugely overpowered by something completely different that I don’t recognize.” “But she is in there?” Bertrand asked, straightening himself and pulling his axe from the ground, holding it in two hands. Frederick nodded. “That is the implication: Luna is somewhere inside this glacier but I can’t find her because of the other overwhelming force.” “Then I’m going in as well.” Horus had already drawn his sword when Bertrand held out his arm. “Easy there H,” the blonde said, grinning. “Let me handle this.” Knowing what he was planning, Horus stepped back. He did acknowledge that Bertrand had a good deal more raw power and weight than he did himself. As the smaller man stepped back, the larger vaulted himself forward, raising his axe above his head and finally crashing full-force into the ice wall. “Would you look at that?” he said as he caught himself with one foot, “It’s a tunnel! What are the odds?” Horus didn’t care what the odds were. He jumped in feet-first, landing and assuming a sturdy position to balance himself as he realized the floor was as solid ice as the walls were- and slanted, at that. He slid down the entrance tunnel, noting that Bertrand had a point- all the large warrior had done was open up a way to a tunnel that seemed to be pre-built into the glacier. Was this a maze? Horus hoped not. He was terrible at mazes. …how much longer was this slide going to go on? Not that his balance was bad, but constantly shifting his weight to avoid crashing into walls was starting to get annoying. Suddenly, the moment the thought was clear of his mind, the side of his foot hit a low ledge –not higher than an inch, really- and he tumbled forward, although he managed to retake himself and avoid falling face-first into the snow. For it was snow, that the ice slide had given way to. As if this place wasn’t weird enough yet, he thought to himself as he walked around, looking up at the ceiling and turning. The ceiling was smooth, but he thought he saw something akin to little blue flames crackling overhead. He recognized the flames. They were the same ones Luna always had around her feet when she used magic to enhance her kicks. Why they were so high up at the ceiling, he didn’t know, but he jolted and turned around, drawing his sword and pointing it at the tunnel, when he heard more people approach. To his relief, it was just Bertrand and Frederick who stepped over the ledge a lot more elegantly than he had, and he put the blade away again. Frederick pulled his mantle more closely around him while Bertrand simply looked around, much like Horus had. “Something’s off about this place,” the blonde said, “And not just the fact that it allegedly appeared out of nowhere. There’s definitely something hostile in here.” “You’re telling me this,” Horus said, putting a hand to his forehead. He had a massive headache, easily twice as bad as he normally did when he was in danger. “…and whatever it is, it’s after Luna, too. We have to find her, first priority.” “I was under the impression finding Luna was our only priority,” Frederick said. “Do either of you have a means to scry for her?” “No need,” Horus said. Before he realized it, he had stretched out one hand, pointing at one of the walls. He didn’t know how he knew she was there. He just knew. “She’s in that general direction. I don’t suppose we can break down the walls?” “Not unless you want to risk taking down a load-bearing wall,” Frederick said. “Let’s be careful. It wouldn’t do for us to find her with you dead. Are there any exits out of this room?” “There have to be,” Horus said, looking around once more and this time looking at the walls instead of the ceiling. One of the walls, not too far from where he sensed Luna, was suspiciously warded by a veritable mass of bluish stalagmites. Stalagmites weren’t walls, so Horus felt safe in tearing them down. Drawing his sword and casually strolling over, he crashed the blade into the first row. As he hacked through them, he gradually saw a passage appear. And not just a cave either- there was definitely more to it than just a dead end, as he saw a faint, white-blue light in the distance. Hacking more feverishly, he finally got through them all and his allies joined him. “Calm now?” “Shut up and follow me.” Horus stepped forward, the snow in the passage crunching under his boots. He noticed that as he progressed in the passage, with the light getting brighter, two things changed: first off, the number of animal-like noises lessened with every step he took. Second, he sunk deeper and deeper into the snow. Progressing through the passage became harder, and he glanced over his shoulder to see if the heavier Bertrand was holding up. His armour weighed him down, and Horus had gained greatly on his companions, but even he had to grab on to the edge of the exit to this passage and drag himself into the next room. He fell forward, landing softly in a pack of much softer snow, and pushed himself up to shield his eyes from the light. It seemed to have no real source, and it took a few seconds until his eyes were accustomed to it. When he looked up, he saw a large block of reddish ice. It was easily as tall as a man and half as wide, and it radiated, strangely enough, hot air that warmed his face. He crossed his arms around himself in an attempt to keep his body heat in, the warmth on his face reminding him how cold the rest of him was. It wasn’t until he took a second look at the ice block that he realized what was inside it. Or rather, WHO was. Frederick’s voice was audible behind him. “Is that…Luna?”
Horus blinked and looked back up at the ice. Maybe they were all just seeing things. But no. This time, too, he saw his beloved companion inside the frozen water, her eyes shut and her features placid as though she slept. He would know. She sat on her knees and her hands were clasped as were she praying, although Horus knew her to not be any more religious than he was. Perhaps she had been in the middle of preparing a magic spell when something had come along and frozen her? He cried out her name as though she could hear him and slammed his hands into the ice as though he could break it that way, ignoring Frederick’s warning that he shouldn’t touch it. Immediately his hands burnt with frostbite and a flash of cold fire seemed to lash out from the block, launching him back. He crawled to his feet, helped by Bertrand, as Frederick walked forward and raised one hand over the ice. “It’s magical in nature,” he said, “Much like everything in this cavern.” He turned around to the other two. “And much like the place itself, the block only partially consists of Luna’s magic. The rest is the same as outside; something I don’t recognize.” “It is the magic of the plain,” an unknown voice said, and all three men whirled around, drawing weapons and looking for the source of the sound. Horus’ eyes at last came to rest on a tall man with gaunt features and a long, dark mantle, who had stepped out from behind the ice. Oblivious to the fact that three men were pointing weapons at him, he continued. “This is a place where magic flows freely and reacts to the feelings of particularly powerful magic users.” He looked up, turning to Horus. “Did you say her name was Luna?” “Let’s have YOUR name, first,” Horus said, frowning deeply. “Who are you, why are you here, and how do you know this?” “Of course,” the man said, “Where are my manners?” he sighed, shaking his head. “My name is Reginald. I am a scholar of sorts, versed in magical matters. Not a very proficient user of magic, though. I specifically sought out this place to study its properties, but when I arrived this enormous glacier was here.” He smiled. “Can you fault me for growing curious and investigating?” Horus glanced at Frederick, who shrugged. If anyone here knew about mages and scholars and their quirks, it was the wizard, so he lowered his sword. “I guess not. I’m Horus, and these are Bertrand and Frederick. The girl trapped in there is Luna, our companion.” “She’s not trapped,” Reginald said, looking at her. “She combined her magic with that of the plain to construct the ice around her, as a means of protection.” He cocked his head to a side. “It seems the dungeon itself has been constructed in a similar way, too.” “Protection,” Bertrand repeated. From both his voice and the facial expression Horus saw when he looked at the blonde bear of a man, the redhead could tell that he didn’t trust Reginald in the slightest. “Protection from what?” “That, I cannot tell at this point in time.” Reginald stuck a stray pluck of dark turquoise hair behind his ear. “However, if you gentlemen could help me, I might be able to thaw her out.” Horus perked. If there was something in this place that Luna needed protection from, then it was even more important that they thawed her out so she could hide behind his sword. Apparently seeing the change in his eyes, Reginald smiled. “I got lost, and was beset by fierce beasts, not far from this room. I succeeded in escaping, but in the process I dropped my Fire Rod. If I can get that back, I may be able to defrost the maiden.” “We can thaw her out now, then,” Frederick said, conjuring up a small fireball hovering just above his hand. “We have fire magic.” “It will not be enough,” Reginald warned. “She is encased in Red Ice; heat will not melt it. Cold will. My Fire Rod has been magically enhanced to cast just that.” Horus supposed that made sense. Frederick crossed his arms, dispelling the fireball and raising one eyebrow. Seeing that Bertrand wanted to protest as well, Horus intervened. “You two. I run this circus; I call the shots. We’re helping Reginald find his Fire Rod, and then we get out of here with Luna.” Glaring at the other two, he added, “That. Is. Final.” If Reginald was surprised, confused, or amused at the youngest of the men claiming a leadership role, he hid it well. “The room where I lost it is just beyond this passage. Be careful though, the floor is slippery and there seem to be treacherous pits in the path.” He turned around, walking around to the back of the ice that encased Luna, and led the other three towards a tunnel that led out the back of the room. Horus walked in undaunted. He had been in shock when he had seen Luna encased in ice, but hearing that she could be saved and that she had done this to herself had given him his strength back. He would have to ask her for details when she thawed out. He looked over his shoulder, seeing Reginald speaking with Bertrand. The blonde had his massive axe raised slightly, causing Horus to frown… and his loss of attention meant he lost his balance, falling over and landing flat on his arse. Reginald hadn’t exaggerated when he’d said that the floor was slippery. It was easily as hard to retain footing on as it had been on the slope he’d used to enter the dungeon. The problem was that this time, he was moving uphill, so it worked against him. To make matters worse, the ground seemed to just… vanish in some spots in the path. Horus knew these were the pits that Reginald had spoken of. Falling into one of them would probably not be a good idea, and he was grateful for the profile on the soles of his boots. He didn’t want to know how hard this would have been with smooth soles. “So, Master Falconer…” He heard Reginald behind him, but didn’t turn around. The path ahead was very narrow, between two pits, and he didn’t want to risk a fall. “You seem quite blessed with leadership and strength for your young age.” “Get to your point,” Horus said, not appreciating the distraction. “I am merely curious. These men are quite a bit older than you, but you give them an order and they obey without second-guessing you, without protesting openly.” It was something Horus had found funny for a long time, but when he had asked Bertrand about it a while back, the blonde had explained. “I take after my father,” he said, “Pierce Falconer. He was a born leader, and if the other two are to be believed then I’ve inherited that. Bertrand is a follower by nature, and Frederick seems to care little as long as he survives.” “Survives?” Horus didn’t answer for a good long time, having to put one foot in front of another now, and Reginald pushed. “However do you mean?” “Look, can we talk later?” Having passed the most narrow part, Horus finally looked over his shoulder to glare at the scholar. “I have other things on my mind than share my life story with you.” What he hadn’t shown to Bertrand and Frederick, and certainly not to Reginald, was that he didn’t trust the newcomer fully either. “Careful!” Reginald called behind him as he turned around, “The floor is still slippery and there’s falling stalac-” Horus roared in pain as an icy stalactite came down upon him and crashed into his back, shattering upon impact. He fell forwards, hitting his head on a nearby rock, and passed out on the spot.
