Trouble in Little Yetiville [Snowpeak] (Genzo with Devilsteel)

Gyoma, Sandal, and Hanno entered the next room. It appeared to have some relation to the last room as a swinging chandelier and some platforms were above them to form some sort of platforming trick. Around them on the ground level were some benches and chairs carefully placed along the walls so that anything foming from above would land on flat ground. The frost-crusted brown wood furnished the scenery nicely somehow.

Moving forward, they gathered to the next door for lack of anything to do in the current room. Forcing the door open, the group noticed a sort of armory. Pooky and Casara's heads were peeking out the far side of the chamber, and they seemed to be busy. On the bear side of the room were two Mini-Freezards blocking the way. The skating little enemies did not stand a chance with the three bruisers there to smash them to little bits. Gyoma flung his Kukri and wedged his blade into one of them, directly in the weird little red eye.

On the opposite side, Pooky was thrusting weapons. None of these weapons seemed to please him when he stabbed the way that his trident did. He put down a number of things, losing his patience quickly. It was true that if he made room on his back he could haul some of these items back to his shop. Wary that he would need space for the herbs they were looking for, Pooky let the weapons go. He was sure if somebody fpund something they wanted they would take it regardless of his advice.

"Pooky doesn't want these. Will have to do without." he admitted, glaring down the other side at the others arriving.

"Look at all this gear!" Gyoma exclaimed. "We could equip a small army to help us haha."

Pooky rolled his eyes. Where were they going to get a battalion anyway? Strongholds like these were built in the past to combat Ganon and turn the meat of his forces elsewhere. It sort of explained all the scattered about Hylian weaponry. Pooky was sure there was nothing to be worried about. He started to leave as he saw Gyoma start toying with the weapons. The Lizalfos had taken a liking to a big axe.

Meanwhile, Briggson wandered the hallway. Somewhere on the eastern part of the building had to be those pumpkins. He held out a meaty hand as he saw the Kokiri buzzing about. Aware of their time limit, he tried to give the little scamp a more focused direction.

"Hey there! Enough with the radishes little sis. That loopy yeti ought to give us keys if we find that pumpkin of his." he explained, stopping the girl.

"You're right old man. We hafta save those kids in town!" she realized, still holding a crate.

"Well don't just stand there! Did ya find any more rooms? Any new storage we can check?" he replied, hastily.

"None of the storage rooms have pumpkins. There were some other super boring rooms past here though." she explained with an air of ignorance.

"I'm not waiting for you, I'm checking that side." Briggson blustered.

"N-no! Wait up for me!" Eve snapped, dropping her crate of spicy radish.

Following Briggson at this point, Eve went along to the next set of rooms. Her assessment that it was boring aside, there did seem to be a larger percentage of empty or ordinary rooms in this facility compared to what they had considered dungeons up to this point. Careful to explore the side the others hadn't discovered yet, they started prying open doors. The first door past the pantry revealed another dining room. This was probably the intended dining room for receiving dishes directly from the kitchen. At least, that's what they assumed although it wasn't really a direct path through the pantry.

Meanwhile, Gyoma with his new big axe followed Pooky back to the kitchen. The Miniblin held a stack of cheese. Knowing he wouldn't make much progress along with the entire group unless they got directions from the Yetis, Pooky had to offer them the cheese. Forcing their way down to the back door, the two monsters turned the corner into the kitchen. They approached Yetter and offered armfuls of cheese.

"Uh, great job. I knew I put that somewhere nearby." the Yeti mentioned, somewhat confused.

Yetter put several lumps of cheese on top of the soup, allowing it to melt a little before turning and folding the dairy substance into the growing portions of stew. To aid the cheese he followed up with a generous portion of spices which he ceremoniously sprinkled into the pot. The increasingly cheesy soup started to smell really good, even without the hearty pumpkin in the pot yet. Yetter wanted to distribute the soup, but maybe not before the pumpkin. He tasted a small spoonful, somewhat delighted with the concoction. He gave a small key to Pooky.

"Help yourselves to uh, the soup. The first key opens the far hall but not the tower above. For that uh, we need to find that darned bedroom key. I'll give you another key if someone finds my pumpkins, but as I said the bedroom is locked. Uh, feel free to find the way first though." Yetter continued, making sure those nearby could hear his instructions.

Briggson and Eve opened the next door after the smaller dining room. What met their eyes was deeply shocking. All around them was what could only be described as modern art. Things like statues missing limbs or heads, other strange shapes and unfinished looking artwork. There were things like paintings on the wall of broken objects or people made out of lots of tiny objects. There was entirely too much to take in. Eve and Briggson sat dazed in the art room, unable to gather their thoughts properly or continue for a considerable amount of time.

Meanwhile Eve and Briggson were running around. They had stopped being hypnotized by the art room and had opened the next door to see a small stash of fortified pumpkins, just what they were looking for. They sat in a large laundry chest in a massive walk-in closet loaded with valuable clothes. The ornate and luxurious outfits were somewhat ancient and full of holes or caked with dust that would be impossible to remove. The moths that had helped destroy the pieces of clothing were long gone.

Having ample time to make it back to the kitchen, they unloaded a few of the pumpkins they had found. Like Pooky had, they brought back more than necessary in case the portion was too small. Chopping large square chunks, Yetter filled the pot with hearty pieces of gourd that gave the soup an aromatic flavor and practically-magical properties. The soup had to simmer for a little more, but with the new ingredient it would be complete. If the party helped themselves to servings of the dish they would find themselves filled with energy and more resistant to opposition. At the very least, even if it wasn't magic it would revitalize the weary team by way of its diverse and satisfying ingredients.

Pooky followed Hanno and Sandal to the undiscovered room. There were other doors that required keys but that would be the responsibility of those behind them who had retrieved the other ingredient. Curious, Gyoma trailed the others to this new room, although he was late to noticing their departure and was only just catching up. Sandal had led the way into the room, and what he would see was different from anything else they had seen in the castle. There was a large stone hall dimly lit with small torches, walls lined with shields and weapons. Within the hall was a huge cage-like structure made of woven metal. An opening led into the cage, and the end of the structure contained a locked door and a single chest. In the very center of this cage was a standing suit of armor, this one suspiciously likely to have something inside. Across the floor was strewn a large heavy metal ball decorated with various spikes and surrounding the single suit of armor with a hefty sturdy chain.

As the stew simmered, Briggson and Eve readied themselves to scoop helpings of the food into various containers. With a metal mess kit scoop Briggson took a taste of the soup. He wasn't used to this type of food, as Gorons didn't get much nutrition from human-style foods. But this very rich stew gave Briggson a feeling he couldn't describe. Maybe on some philosophical level a fortified pumpkin was somehow similar to a nutritious rock. That's how he felt about the flavor as he chewed. Having eaten less than everyone else due to her previous fever, Eve enviously took a few spoonfuls of the soup herself. Liking the concoction, the two planned to bring the collected soup to the others to give them a try.

The light of life entered the helmet of what had appeared to be a statue. The glowing eyes of the knight lay their sights on Sandal. The metallic enemy started to swing its heavy ball and chain. The ball dragged on the ground at first, the chain working its way to taught. This gave Sandal ample time to get out of the way if not to try to fight back. After that moment, the creature brought its heavy ball into a circular swing along the ground, and then airborne as it continued this motion. Some type of magic or mechanic allowed the ball to fly more easily, something the group would probably want to keep in mind. Turning, a tail appeared and seemed to suggest the armored creature was some type of lizard, maybe even a Lizalfos like Gyoma. The aforementioned monster approached from behind, catching up with his compatriots Hanno and Sandal. Just in time to see the group being attacked by a recklessly swinging ball, Pooky appeared and slowly considered to himself how to help his teammates as he crept forward.

On the front-side of the massive building were Briggson and Eve. They noticed Corbin take a healthy swig of the great soup. This wasn't unnatural but it sparked a question to the pair. Where did everyone else go? This question tickled the two in the brain but they didn't stand around to be consumed by this feeling. They immediately rushed with the many helpings of soup to go search for the possibly-in-danger bulk of the group who were missing. As they almost dropped everything to go look the helpful Yetter spoke up.

"Uh, first couple keys go to the fighting cage. Pretty normal room with evil armored guy inside." he announced, seemingly proud of himself.

"Why didn't you say that sooner?!" Eve complained.

"Yeah what are you trying to pull brotherrr?" Briggson added, concerned.

The Yeti stood and looked at them. He had personally not considered the knight that much of a threat but considering the mixed and unawares nature of all his guests he had forgotten to warn them of the very real danger. Knowing the harm he may have caused, the towering Yeti had a confession to make all of a sudden.

"UH. My mistake. Didn't realize these monsters could hurt everyone very badly. Me and wife summoned icicle men too, simple guards from badguys." he added, scratching his very furry chin.

"You made all those Chilfos?! There was an army of them out there!" Eve yelled at him. It was almost no use at this point.

"Forget it kid! We gotta go save everyone!" Briggson shouted. He tugged the K0kiri's arm and they both quickly departed for the "fighting cage."

Eve conceded to her fate, taking a ride in the Lynel's arm. She had yet to be picked up in a way that outright bothered her. Her head twisted in a strange way, she watched Briggson disappear behind. It was at this point he abandoned his load and curled into a ball and started spinning. The speeding Goron caught up to them with little trouble. His top speed could match a sprinting Lynel, and he was almost at pace with them at one point. He did however struggle with the turns and had to back up a few times to get through the winding halls.

Gyoma came shoulder-to-shoulder with Sandal and Hanno, making the knight surrounded. As the other two tussled with his imposing weapon, Gyoma sought to help out. Unable to slash through the thick armor, Gyoma threw Mini-Bombs to try to put the creature off balance. The small blasts surely seemed to irritate the creature. Taking a full blow from Hanno in the head, the knight doubled back. He was uncertain of focusing his blowback on the Zora or the Lizalfos. He took a great heave to his chained weapon and attempted to swing it across both of them. Gyoma raised his shield but was painfully disarmed as the massive weapon threw his shield out of his hands.

Pooky leapt past the taller allies' legs and turned his incredibly recognized flagged pitchfork at the enemy. The narrow point of his weapon was perfect for causing trouble to the knight's weak spots. He jabbed at the legs and threw the knight into a disadvantageous position. Having pushed the others away, Pooky was left to keep the foe occupied so that Sandal could stage a counterattack. Or, failing that, Corbin had made a ruckus with his hooves as he was soon on his way. At this point, the would-be miniboss was now greatly outnumbered. Gyoma picked himself up, grabbing his shield and equipping his kukri. He turned his attention to Hanno who had been in the way of that attack just as he had been. . .

Getting to his feet, Gyoma kited the monster. He remembered his haul and equipped the double axe that was strapped to his back. With a single motion, he knocked the weapon into the knight's head. The axe snapped from its age and lack of maintenance. In this motion, the snapping weapon dulled his attack. Gyoma backed off as Corbin approached.

Propping herself up on Corbin's shoulders, Eve raised her arms forward. She concentrated as she had done earlier. There was a flash in her eyes like the sparks from an exploding lightbulb. At that moment, the skeletal flaming appearance returned to her forearms and the flames from Corbin's breath transformed into a large fist. This oversized shape collided with force with the struggling knight. Completely surrounded, this was beyond the last chance for the enemy to turn this situation around. Briggson appeared to their side, and almost right away he sought out the ball and chain. The Goron caught the ball in his arms and clung to it, removing the knight's only way of holding them all back.

Meanwhile, in the massive tower bedroom. . . there was a haul of herbs that Casara was collecting. Nearby, on the low dresser there was a cosmetic mirror. Below this mirror was an artifact. It appeared to be a cracked jewel. There was a labyrinth-like pattern of lines surrounding the slightly broken jewel's exterior. It was attached to a long string of beads. In the company of the disarming bedroom surroundings, the jewel was definitely out of place. Its appearance came with it an emotional aura that gave way to its diabolical nature. However, the peaceful silence of Casara's harvest would end soon when the others finished their fight and could make it to this place.

"We're all okay!" Eve celebrated. "I'm not okay." Gyoma admitted.

The group gathered as the enemy shrunk into a pile of dust under the pile of armor. Sandal appeared to take possession of the discarded weapon. It seemed to suit him in a way. His large frame swinging that ball seemed to be fitting, anyway. Eve couldn't see herself throwing that thing even with her own love of big hammers.

In the far tower, Casara waited. The group converged with each other in the wake of the knight falling. Various team members took a swig of that effective soup-like medicine. They were feeling at the top of their game in moments as the various ingredients tickled their throats and soothed their soreness. The group continued up the tower, ignoring the huge Freezard blocking one of the major hallways. If that Freezard were such an obstacle they'd have ways of dealing with it in time.

Almost forgetting the Yetis, the group entered the bedroom through an interestingly shaped hole. There was a silence as the group watched Casara and his herb pile. The group approached him and started to help him gather the invaluable product. Pooky for one started running tests on the plant to discover its properties. meanwhile, Eve started to move closer to that strange set of jewels. . .

As the group gradually gathered in the chamber, Eve drew closer to that jewel. If her eyes weren't already golden they would have seemed so in that moment. Her black gloved arm stretched out and held the round necklace as if she were trying to carefully lift a bunny rabbit. Briggson placed the herbs he was checking at his side for the moment. Concerned, he shifted his attention to the girl.

"Hey careful with that, we don't even know what that is." Briggson growled, his beady eyes bouncing out of his head to see the ominous artifact before him.

"I know exactly what this is! It's magic treasure!" Eve delighted, cupping the string of jewels.

As the group sat the herbs in a safe location to the side of the bed chamber, Eve continued to hold the piece and judged for herself where she was going to try to smuggle the thing. At this point the entire group was going to suggest she put the ornament back. But before they could do so, a presence hung over them. The round shape of Zzeta appeared near the doorway-- they had not even heard her open the door. She was adorned with a disturbing expression, inquisitive but wary all the same.

"What are you doing with my. . . my precious heirloom?" she started, hulking over the kid as she scooted into the room. "JEWEL IS MINE! NOBODY TOUCHES."

The Yeti creature raised a paw and snatched the hideous necklace. She draped it over her neck with her strange stringy limbs. As the piece connected with her neck her eyes continued to let off a menacing red light. Spreading her shape across the chamber, an almost hairy-looking crust of ice formed on her body. Shouting, the ice formed a thick body around her. It grew, an ice armor forming around her so large it dwarfed many things in the tower chamber. The floor became slick with ice, creating a large mirror. Zzeta's form continued to emerge and was then adorned with a massive face, patterns and a ton of spikes forming around it. It was soon clear she would use this form to attack everyone.

Bewitched Ice Mass
Blizzeta​

Certain Sandal had the ball and chain from the previous enemy, many of the group were sure they'd be able to shatter that thick layer of ice on the monstrous Yeti. As Blizzeta curled up into a sort of nesting doll shape, Briggson rushed in for an attack. The Goron loosed a hefty punch at the solid ice. Blizzeta spun like a top and bounced off the walls of the chamber, leaving a wake of ice dust as she careened toward the group. Knocking over Gyoma, she started to slow back down. She instantly started to summon more ice spikes, large frozen shapes that looked like inverted obelisks.

As Blizzeta hid behind her spikes, Eve ran across the room. The Kokiri lifted Gyoma to his feet so he could run to safety. The others' attacks seemed to be chipping the ice so far. But they would need a more significant strategy or the raging creature could outlast all of them. Eve remembered that incredible blow she had struck on the ball and chain knight with her flame control. Maybe if they coordinated together again with a flame attack Blizzeta would be more vulnerable to their strikes. This seemed likely as the most effective hits so far had been from Corbin's enchanted attacks. And while it was worth mentioning Pooky was there, his own variety of attacks were not effective on such an enemy.

"Let's blast 'er with flames! I just need you to aim at her." Eve appealed to Corbin who was nearby.

At this moment, several of the spikes fell around the team. Most of the group were able to avoid the spikes but Briggson on his own had to catch one falling on him and attempted to throw it aside. The Goron looked over and saw Eve attempting to line up and attack. He took a sumo stance and readied himself to possibly catch the oncoming boss if she tried to rush them again. It would be possibly the largest thing he had ever tried to grab, however. He sure hoped they would manage to attack her first.

As expected, Blizzeta twirled off the wall and came careening at the group. Sandal and Briggson braced to catch her as she charged the entire group. As Corbin dashed, approaching the monster with Eve on his head, they unleashed an attack. The spikes on the mass of ice dug into Briggson's skin. He wasn't sure he could hold her for long. Eve's Fire Control reactivated, small flashes coming from her eyes as she focused. This created boned skeletal hands where her arms were, as it flipped the switch back on her once-twisted arms. Two huge arms of fire erupted from her and constricted around the sides of the large ice creature. The others including Casara and Pooky riddled the boss with various attacks. Now that it was being pressed against a large source of flame, the various attacks increased in their effectiveness.

Gyoma regained his footing and added to the assault, smashing his boomerang into the wall of ice. Suddenly, the air shattered with powdered snow as large chunks of ice flaked off of the monster. At least two major layers came off as they pelted the Yeti woman. Briggson stepped back, clutching his wound. The Goron avoided the falling ice and witnessed a much smaller version of the boss emerge from the fragments of ice. Eve hopped off the Lynel and retrieved a hammer from her bag. She smacked away fragments of ice to clear the way for the group.

Everyone took formation as the twirling, spinning boss started to lift into the air. Its previously furious ogre face on the outer layers was now replaced with a twisted little doll face with large red cheeks. The creature was surrounded by magical ice spikes again, and used telekinesis to aim the swarm of icicles at the group. Gyoma dove ahead and attempted to catch the ice on his Lizal Shield. Pelted by three spikes, the Lizalfos fell back mid-air. He landed poorly and was cut by a spike, feebly rolling over. Pooky hopped up the flying spikes, bouncing on them like little lily pads. He jabbed with his fork at the boss, doing little damage and soaring back down to the floor on the other side.

As this all happened, Briggson grabbed a spike out of the air and swung it like a bat. He charged forward and swatted down a couple of the other oncoming spikes. As the powdered snow and dust cleared, the area was layered with many random chunks of ice. The cloud dissipated and revealed Eve standing over a spike which had narrowly jettisoned between her legs, she had barely managed to jump over it. Now she was angrily stomping on it with her boots. The group side-eyed the flying boss expecting another attack, but turned their attention to Hanno making his medicine. They'd have to fall back and try to drink it as many of them had been hurt. . .