The Winds That Howl... [Snowpeak TP, Saria/Ya Boy Clooby]

Julius stepped over the frigid permafrost of Snowhead Mountain. His Scorching Socks adequately created heat and warmth as he marched, setting his trail ablaze as he wandered through the mountain pass. He knew, with good reason, that somewhere amongst this pass lay a mountainside mansion. It was supposedly overrun by ancient creatures, known only to the frost of Snowhead. He had found this mansion weeks ago, studying possible targets for whatever was slowly pervading the realm of Hyrule. His superiors, few though they were, had shown approval of his drive to eliminate external threats to the realm. Though he was more than just a good captain in the ranks, they decided that expending Julius alone was less of a burden on their resources than moving out entire battalions.

He looked at the map he had stowed in his Adventure Pouch. He was grateful for the gift; though he wondered if it was proper to call it that. Having obtained it from the Holiday Moblin approximately a year ago, he wasn't sure what to make of the beast's intentions. You could see his twinkle, even know, overhead. The first snowfall had already come and gone. It was only a matter of time until the New Year came about.

Stowing these thoughts for the moment, he turned his attention to the woman trailing behind him. A fellow Guardsman, Julius had convinced her to come along, not knowing the perils of the place just yet. He didn't even know if it existed; all that he had known, for now, was its approximate location upon the map he held. He surveyed his surroundings once more. They were on a winding slope down from a mountain. The wind wasn't blowing, yet, but it was rather cold outside; cold enough that Julius occasionally huddled around the flames he left on his trail for a moment before continuing on. He had grown up accustomed to the heat of Southern Hyrule; he had never experienced cold quite as cold as this.

The winds began to howl, a slow, white fog rolling through the valley underneath, slowly climbing to the peak of the mountain they were steadily climbing down. Soon, they were enraptured within a full blizzard.

"Navina!" He yelled over the roaring winds. "Follow my trail back!"

They had come across a cavern some time prior, stopping to rest as they continued their trek. It took time. Julius could hardly see five feet in front of him, as he stumbled into a large wooden door. It was clearly in a state of dire neglect. He opened the door, its hinges squeaking and grinding as he shoved it open. A blast of warmth blew past their bodies as snow settled inside. Scuttling behind the door, he shoved it closed as Navina entered.

They were treated to the view of a full kitchen, complete with a bubbling cauldron in the center of the room. As his nose unthawed, the smell of a hearty stew entered his nostrils. It was exquisite. His stomach growling, he grabbed a glass jar from one of the nearby counters filling it to the brim with the stew, he ingested nearly all of it in a single gulp. He immediately felt refreshed, as a gruff yet friendly voice sounded through the room: "Ahaha! So, Hylian like Yettez soup, yes? Is good, is good!" He spoke in a thick accent, clearly being a native resident of Snowhead. Turning to meet the giant, Yettez still stood at least a foot and a half over Julius. Startled by the large man's sudden appearance, he stumbled back into a chair. As he gathered his thoughts, he stood again.

He returned his boisterous laugh. "Ahhh! Yes! Very good soup!" He shook hands with Yettez. "I am Julius Surgate, Captain of the Hyrule Caste Guard. No doubt you have seen men like me before, no?" He said as he removed his helmet. "Well, except maybe their ears were pointier. And perhaps they didn't have the scars," he chuckled, puttimg his helmet back on.

"We came here in search of a certain thing," Julius continued, explaining exactly what they were searching for. There was a type of energy tied to certain places, all across Hyrule, and he was searching for some such energy here in this very estate.

"Ahh! Is good, friend! Place not Yettez anyway. Already here! Yettez just find. What about lady?" He asked, looking at the frame of Navina.

"Yes, I suppose we should," he said, looking towards Navina. "I must say though, that soup is quite delicious. Compliments to your cooking, Yettez, it was nice meeting you," he said in parting.

Pushing through the kitchen door, they were met once more with the frigid air of the mountains. They were in a courtyard. The architecture of the mansion was exquisite and lavish, the place having been decorated and constructed from grey stone. It was colder here than it had been outside. Frost coated the ground, not so much as snow, but as the dusky piling of permafrost. Whatever this place had been, it was clearly through a loop with the weather.

Stepping onto the ground, Julius found it a great deal slick. He stumbled at first, later regaining his balance. "Careful. It's worse than it looks," he warned to Navina. Moving further into the courtyard, a peculiar scene came to his eyes: there was a cannon, het no cannon balls. He had absolutely no idea why a cannon, of all things, was laying in the middle of a desolate courtyard in one of the most desolate regions of Hyrule as a whole. "Looks like a war scene," he mumbled, carefully stepping across the courtyard. He made it to the lawn, though it had faired no better than the stone. The blades of grass were entirely frozen, and layered with snow. Statues lined the wall, and soon he found a door. Two statues stood in front of it... but they were different. They were constructs of ice, in a roughly humanoid shape. They seemed to wield spears or javelins of a sort that seemed to merge with their bodies.

As they neared the door, it became clear to them both that they were by no means ordinary statues. One of them lifted its spear, chucking it at the pair. Julius was the first to react, batting it away with his shield. The thing grew another just as easily as it had thrown the first. Julius knew Navina had enough experience behind a blade, so he left her to her own devices. Charging the one that had thrown the first stone, so to speak, he tore into its layers of frost blow by blow. The thing just seemed to shrug it off. It lurched into Julius with its spear, though Julius had avoided it closely. He begam to charge his blade.

Julius could feel the chill emanating from the room. It was like a living, breathing entity. And it was breathing right down his neck. He looked around the room, noting several stacks of... boxes? They were large, about three meters in size, he estimated, and roughly cube shaped. He couldn't tell if they were blocks or maybe...

Looking above, he narrowly dodged an Ice Keese swooping at him. "Ugh," he groaned in boredom. He summoned a Keese of his own to help fend off the pests. A simple slice and one of the few inhabiting the room wouldn't bother anyone ever again.

Satisfied that the immediate threat had been dealt with, he redirected his attention to the top of the room once more. Just as he thought, there were doors at the top of the room. These boxes were most likely intended to be walked on. Looking at the.keese once more, three of them decided to challenge him. Keese were brave, but stupid. A single spin attack vanquished the trio in a second. Making his way through the maze of walkways, a corridor as wide as the boxes opened before him. At the end was a massive behemoth of ice, dragon-like in shape, with about a dozen -- if not more -- red eyes. It watched in every direction and bobbed from side to side as it saw Julius approach it. It made no noise, but a cloud of freezing gas quietly seeped through its pores. It seemed to have limited reach and no way to move. This was good, he thought. But... how would they deal with such a creature?

Julius nodded, decisively. This was definitely the place. "Whether we have the capabilities or not," he said, arms crossed, "we still have to find whatever's here." He pondered her question as they exited the chamber.

"These boxes," he motioned, looking above to the high cieling. "We can climb." A chill ran through his body as his gauntlet reached out and grabbed a ledge. He pulled himself up along the three-tall stacks of eight foot boxes. His mail jingled and his sword sheath rattled as he pulled himself up to the top, reaching out to Navina and pulling her up the last few feet. "Anyways. No, no kin as far as I'm aware. Last of my line."

Julius's senses began to alert him as he rolled out of the way of an incoming javelin. More Chilfos. Julius eyed the catwalk not far from where they stood. Three more of whatever they had slain earlier. He raised himself, and his shield, beginning to cautiously walk himself over. There was no telling what could happen here... More icy javelins thudded against his shield. He drew closer, before lashing out at one. Kicking its abdomen, a very clear hole burnt through it in the shape of his foot as it began to melt and dissolve, wasting away.

He sliced and pounded the other two. Attacking with sword and shield alike, heavy thuds resounded in the room, ice breaking, the sharp hiss of ice melting as it met flame. He broke one of their javelins with his shield, following through with his blade and decapitating it. A foot landed on its chest as he repositioned himself to the side of the final opponent. But, just as he was poised to strike, a door opened, sliding to the top, and a massive ball came crashing into the monster.

Julius just barely managed to evade so that he wouldn't be hit. He watched as the ball was dragged by its chain into the chamber, before it came down and abruptly locked. Julius looked around for other entrances. On the other side of the room, on a catwalk parallel to the one he lay on now.

"Well, I'd guess that's where our destination is," he said, picking himself up off the ground. He pointed to the other catwalk, "And I'd say we visit there first." He approached the other side of the room, watching the frost caked in its groves spread and crack. He could hear the howling winds pierce its heavy stone. He rolled it, sidelong, into its groove.

He was immediately blasted with a blizzard. Three, maybe five, snowy, fuzzy forms appeared. A howl was loosed from the pack. White wolfos. He put himself in a defensive stance as the creatures began to herd them. Trailing along their semicircle of perimeter, they trotted along from one stone wall to the other. Julius approached the group.

"You don't have to tell me," he yelled over the whipping winds of the blizzard. He charged one of the three other forms, Navina having already occupied herself with a pair of the creatures. He jabbed his blade deep into the back of one creature.

Another leapt upon him before he could react. With its fierce, jagged claws it attempted to mangle and wrench the plate of his armor; but it wasn't on him for more than a second. He rolled, flipping the beast onto its back, its wicked fangs gnashing the air beneath Julius's several hundred pounds of flesh and steel. His senses allowed to him to feel the presence of one, charging into his side; it was met with his shield, before being stabbed more than thrice in its torso.

The Wolfos thrashed about under his weight. His shield slammed into its snout; fangs flew from its maw as blood began to congregate on the fresh snow. He put his knee on its neck before silencing the creature, slitting its throat. He looked for the final one... it was snowy, a blizzard no less; somewhere where the Wolfos would naturally be at home... he tuned his senses once more.

About fifteen feet in front of him, he gathered. He could still sense Navina and the two others about ten feet to the right. He pounced on it; but it was ready. While it wasn't quite strong to deflect the few hundreds pound of his mass, plus a hundred of force, it did succeed in evading his almost-certain killing blow.

He sailed over the creature, landing with a thud in the already cold snow. The creature was on top of him within a second, it seemed like. Julius struggled, fiercely, with the creature -- its maw snapped at his helm, inches away from his face. He had hold of both of the beast's limbs -- though he relinquished his grasp to slug the creature across the snout. It roared in pain and raked its claws across his helmet. He reached out, one hand still tight around its limb. He bashed it with his fist, again and again. Again and again and again! It was until he'd realized it had stopped rearing in pain that he knew it was dead. He looked for Navina. Perhaps they could skin this one...

Julius shielded himself from the ongoing bookish assault. It looked like he'd really need to put this... on the books. He stomped the ground in front of him, setting it ablaze as book after book ricocheted off his shield. They started falling into the fire. The fire, naturally, began to spread.

The books already on the floor helped to fuel the flames. Eventually, they reached the oak shelves -- which promptly caught flame as well. Soon, it got to the ice. The flames flickered out of existence -- anything which could have given it sustenance was far too wet to feed it much.

Julius lowered his guard. He looked around in the room -- the carpet in the center of the room was scorched and scuffled. The fireplace continued to flicker and pop with life, its flames seeming to dance in joy.

And then, they came to life. Julius shielded his eyes as the white-hot flames of the Flare Dancer filled the room. He leapt back -- he had never faced something like this before. It whirled and spun about the room -- thawing and drying the shelves and books as it loosed an eerie laugh. They were trapped in an inferno now -- with that thing. "Shit," Julius said through clenched teeth. "I think I messed up."

Julius howled in frustration aa it kept twirling around them, the same foreboding laugh echoing around the room. Julius slammed it with his shield -- hard enough, evidently, to knock its gray core loose from the mass of flames. It skittered around the room once more, like a ball a child had lost control of.

This time, it was his blade that met the Flare Dancer. He followed it around -- hacking at all the while, until he finally camebupon a better idea. "Navina! Duck!" He yelled, as he charged a Spin Attack. Within a second, the slicing vortex of energy stemmed from his blade, tracing its path through the air. It sliced its core cleanly in two.

In a flash, the room was empty -- the flames had subsided, the fire in the hearth had been put out, seemingly long ago. There was never any trace of an inferno. Julius wondered, briefly, if it had even been real. It was no time for questions. He continued through the room, pressing further into the ruined mansion. He came to the next door. Its doorknob was the same blistering cold as the rest of the mansion.

The next room... was somewhat of a mystery, at least at first. It seemed to be themed as a study -- there was a recliner next to an empty fireplace. There were even bookshelves, lined with such classics as, "Taming Cold: Volumes I-XIV" or "Expert's Reprieve on Ice Magic". So on and so forth. But, as they came to study the place more, it became apparent as to whom really lived here... "HO! HO! HO!!!!!!" No, not the Holiday Moblin, you dunce -- but it kept echoing throughout the spacious study, time and time again. Julius began to wonder if he was suffering from the onset if an illness. "Surely, you're hearing this as well-" He was cut off by a sudden flash of brilliant energy. A scarcely dressed man appeared in front of them, his skin pale...blue. It was almost like looking at a corpse. "So, you avoided my books hmmm? And, I simply must thank you for ridding me of that awful annoyance -- the Flare Dancer, I mean," before casually spraying off a bolt of ice at the pair. Julius, though simply batted it back at him.

"Ack! I see you came prepared. No matter," he said, beginning to fade. "I'm sure you won't be leaving this room..."

Julius scoffed. Apparently the deluded fool wasn't aware of what his sword was made of. Clearly, he needed to be taught a bit of a lesson on the properties of Mirror Silver, and just how incredulously prepared he was to deal with an enemy of this type.

He brought his blade to bear, dropping into a stance his father walked him through many times before. He held it overhead, parallel to his body. Normally, you'd use two hands, but his shield only allowed him to use one. He didn't have time to take it off, however unnecessary it was in this fight. He steadied his breathing. The room fell silent, to him, as he reached a sort of zen state. Navina was about to witness why he, Julius Surgate, was captain of the Hylian Guard.

He brought his blade down on the bolt, deflecting it an angle that it struck the ground. Julius knew his opponent wouldn't have been affected by it much; considering the circumstances, it could have even helped. He followed through the motions as the being warped once more. Behind him, to the right. He deflected another bolt, and with deceptive speed, moved nearly ten feet. It was all a matter of perceptive, his father's words echoed in his head. This time, he knew where he would spawn from the magical current in the room. Or, in more literal terms, from the noises his teleportation made. Zen.

His foot sprung out at the hand of the Wizzrobe, knocking the blade loose, lodging it in the wall. The Wizzrobe was alarmed at first -- but then much more clearly distressed when he burst into flames. "Study your opponents," he said, the Wizzrobe engulfed in flames. He brought himself to the first movement. He disengaged himself from the form, bringing the Wizzrobe to an end. A chest opened. "Another key, I'd wager," waving the almost silver implement around. Another door, cloaked by illusions he presumed, but it was not locked as one most likely would have presumed. He faced Navina, "Would you like to go first?"

Julius sneered at the room, part in amazement, part in contempt. "Normally, I'd advise against stepping into the room. However," he continued, slowly pulling open the door, "I've got a way to deal with this ice."

He stepped into the chamber. While his balance was shaky at first, he soon found himself steady on the now melting ice. Flames wafted around his feet, steam rising to the cieling. He took another step. Eventually, a trail of his gargantuan footprints provided workable ground for the fast moving Freezards.

One came zooming towards him. He batted it away with his sword, sending it colliding with another. Rather than breaking, as one might have thought, they simply rebounded off of each other, unharmed. "Navina! Get ready!" He yelled, the majority of the little pests coming their way. He stood, his shield outstretched and blade readied, as he prepared a Spin Attack for the umpteenth time in this place. There was no fault with this technique; in fact, it was even one of the more useful ones he'd ever known. Suffice it to say, it was not the signature technique of the Hylian Guard for no reason.

The herd pushed ever closer, their speed increasing. He hoped Navina wasn't too close, to as he loosed his Spin Attack, the slicing wave cleanly chipping, cracking, the icy exteriors of the Freezards that surrounded them. They were definitely smaller now.

A chill wafted through the room; he hoped they'd find their way back to more sustainable heat soon. Maybe Yettez still had some of that absolutely marvelous soup . . . No, that was no way for him to think under the circumstances. He steeled himself as the Freezards came their way again. Rather than subduing them with another Spin Attack, he opted to execute a different maneuver: the Helm Splitter. While it would only work on one at a time, perhaps, he thought, he could use his motion to meet his foes on their turf.

He cracked his mirror blade into one, sending it flying yet destroying it at the same time. He landed on his feet, stumbling onto the ice -- was he about to slip? The familiar steam began to rise up from his feet as his body continued forward. He scrambled onto his feet as his cuirass clattered onto the icy ground. The cold was getting to him; perhaps he really did need to skin that Wolfos...

Either way, he soon found himself in the path of another Freezard. He readied his guard as best he could, its red core slamming into his shield. The creature's insane momentum laid into him and, to little surprise, sent him adrift on the ice as well.

Julius knew that someone, somewhere was watching, and presumably having a laugh at their plight. Whether it be any combination of long forgotten dieties and forces, or even the Golden Goddesses or Ganon himself -- Julius knew that someone was having fun seeing him and his companion flounder about.

Julius steadied himself on the ice, still sliding upon its slick surface. He sliced and spun at the Freezards that remained, totalling perhaps three; with each slice, his blade wore them down just a bit more. Eventually, he started to get the hang of how he skated around; Guy had demonstrated plenty enough for him, anyways. Soon, he began to execute Spin Attacks by the helping, and before he knew it, all of the Freezards were gone.

He skated, in a sense, to where Navina sat. He grabbed her hands, pulling her up with surprising strength and grace. There was a trace of tenderness in this motion as well; he hels her as though she was a delicate flower, whose petals he could not help but to not wish to harm. He spun her about on the ice, stil grasping her hands, helping to aid her unsteady movement. He began to count down, from three to one, before he abruptly let go of her hands. Whether she could control herself well enough on her own was a different story entirely. Julius skated to the end of the hallway.

It seemed to open to a wide parlor area, with a velvet carpet strewn across the staircase which lead to underneath a huge chandelier. At the bottom of the staircase, a meter, perhaps more, away from where the chandelier hung, was another hallway. This one, however, was filled with Chilfos.

It was at this point that Julius, in all his glory, slid down the steps, the carpeting still glossed with frost. His traction increased as he neared the longer hallway -- he eventually came to a skidding halt, stopping just shy of the peculiar being. It wasn't really a Chilfos -- it was a suit of armor, cased in ice. Still, Julius sensed a malicious presence down the hallway... He wondered what it could be as he progressed, slowly but surely. He was making excellent headway, and soon came upon the serene light of the manor's exterior once more. It was a calming, if not chilling spectacle -- for what beauty this place held, danger seemed to lurk around every corner.

And, it seemed he would grasp the meaning of this danger when he came to face with numerous White Wolfos, being lead, and oddly enough, seemingly commanded, by a pair of Chilfos.

Julius focused on the Chilfos for now -- Navina, he knew, could deal with the Wolfos easily enough.