Weeding [Terrel/Willow/Closed]

Breathing out heavily from the sudden burst of activity, Dante swept on foot behind the other, quickly turning about face to finish off his impaired opponent. Around him, a bolt whistled through the air, and rustling clicks and the clash of carapace against steel rang out from behind him. The noise did not distract him, nor did his worry for both Rua and Terrel. From what he heard, his back turned to them, they were handling themselves fine. The spider in front of him continued to flail in vain, though whether it was to stand or to turn to see its former prey, Dante was unsure. Dante sprinted forward, jumping into the air, as a crossbow shaft tore through the body of another spider as the first stab of a blade found its way between layers of chitin.

Like a guillotine, gravity took hold of the blade and was the executioner. Still holding his blade in the reverse grip, Dante's weight bore down upon the the handle held beneath him, its point ready to drive through the Skulltula and into the ground. Dante felt the jar of recoil as the tip made contact with the spider's back, but his weight was enough, the point piercing like a spear. A wet pop sounded as the sword emerged from the other end of the spider, the spider entering its death throes. Holding tightly to his weapon, Dante remained atop the beast until it shivered its last. Withdrawing his blade, he chopped at the air, the fluids of the now slain spider spattering across the ground. His kukri returned to its sheath with a serpentine hiss.

Terrel crammed another bolt into the mechanism she held, cranking it back until the force in her hands was quite deadly. Glancing up at the darkened ceiling, the woman watched closely for more monsters to descend on them, but for the time it seemed the madness was over. Both Rua and Dante had successfully defended themselves from one of those things, which was much more than she could say for herself. If she'd gone wandering into this room alone, she would probably be dead by now.

Southern Hyrule was a different land, just like Marcus had told her it would be. At first she'd been skeptical over how different these people might be, assuming Rua and Dante would not be much different than herself, but she had been wrong. Taking a breath for what felt like the first time since entering the room, the woman slumped onto the ground, removing the bolt from her crossbow and unwinding the mechanism. After a long moment, she managed to lift her head up to face her companions and swallow an ounce of her pride.

"Thanks," she said, the word not coming particularly easy. "I'd probably be all wrapped up and bloody paralyzed right now if not for you two. Are these things common down here or what?"

"Underground and in the deep parts of the forest, yeah," was the mercenary's nonchalant reply to the shaken-sounding woman. He looked unconcerned while wiping the Skulltula's blood from his sword as he talked, but he did not return it to its scabbard. The actions spoke volumes of what kind of encounter the battle had been to him. "That's about as big as they get. Smaller ones stick to walls."

Glancing back up at the ceiling to make sure there was nothing else, he motioned for Terrel and Dante to get back up. "We'll need to keep an eye out for others as we go in deeper," Rua said. He was fast slipping into his bodyguard mode, telling his companions how to look for danger when they're in groups. "Skulltulas aren't too much of a problem on their own, but they might decide to ambush us if we're holding off something worse."

Dante nodded in agreement with Rua. Skulltulas were fairly common, even before the spire appeared, plaguing the darker parts of the forest. "He's right. I wouldn't be surprised to see more in the future. It's not the Skulltulas I'm worried about, though. As you said, Rua, there is likely worse in here. If we're in luck, the rest of the spiders will take their dead brethren as a strong warning. If not..." Dante's voice trailed off as he jumped down from the carcass beneath him, landing quietly on the ground.

"Anyways," Dante started again, looking at Terrel, "you handled yourself pretty well. But I'm worried about what would have happened if Rua hadn't been fast enough." Looking her over, Dante noted a distinct lack of a sword or dagger, or any other sort of close quarters combat weapon. Well, she was good enough with her crossbow to warrant not carrying one, but perhaps they'd have to be more cautious in the future. "It might be best if either Rua or myself led the way, as we are better equipped for handling any unpleasant "surprises" that may show themselves upon entering a new area." the Deku looked back and forth between the two Hylians, making his suggestion.

Terrel caught her breath at Dante's words, frustration flooding to her face. So she'd just hang out in the back then, it seemed. Take up the rear, watch their backs, make sure she didn't get her nails too dirty? Resisting the urge to kick at the ground, toss her hands up in the air, or utter some foul curse, the woman instead just ground her teeth, grimacing all the while. She wanted to say something, but at the same time the mud on her pants still felt fresh. As much as she wanted to say something--and she still hadn't necessarily made up her mind not to--even she had some sensitivity to her own embarrassment.

"Fine," she muttered, catching it just in time before it became a hiss out of her mouth. Maybe a great big nasty spider would fall out of the sky and land on one of them first. They could see how much they liked that.

Rua's only response to Terrel's agitated remark was to give her a short nod, then give another one to Dante before taking the lead in front of the group. His experience as a bodyguard urged him on, his mind telling it was natural--he was strong and experienced, and carried adequate protection against any larger creature that they might encounter within the Skyreach Tower. He also felt it made sense that Terrel was to stick back--she was obviously a good shot with that crossbow of hers, and there was no point in wasting that talent by keeping her up front.

He approached the unblocked door and opened its latch, pushing it open. Its hinges squeaked with protest, as if they were old and possibly rusted. That bothered him somewhat; this tower was a recent addition. What in the hell was going on to make it appear in the middle of nowhere, and act as if it had always been around? The damp corridor he saw past the door, arching around the base of the tower and covered here and there with moss, added to the illusion of the structure's permanence. He grimaced, and the action pulled at the scars on his face. He glanced over his shoulder at the others. "It's clear," he said, entering. "Let's go."

Dante shrugged. It wouldn't do anyone any good if Terrel wasn't able to support them properly. Either way, Dante didn't think much about her reaction; in the end, this was in the mutual interests of them all. Dante distractedly removed his bow case from his back while walking, stringing it more out of habit than any conscious decision to do so. Keeping his periphery vision ahead, he assembled the Farore's Wrath quickly and without too much event, his bow clicking into place. This was the first time he'd had to put it back together, yet it came as easily to him as walking. Must be the magic... Dante thought to himself as they approached the door, an arrow shaft loaded into the weapon.

Nodding to Rua, the deku followed after the Hylian as he entered the next room.

Terrel followed at the rear of the group, still not particularly thrilled with the prospect of getting stuck in the back with a wonderful view of everyone's heels. But there wasn't much for it though except to follow along, whether she liked it or not. There was still the joyful prospect of something nasty falling on Rua's head up there in the front. Besides all that, though, the corridor they entered wasn't really wide enough for anything besides going single-file on the way forward. She kept her mouth shut.

The place was dimly lit, damp like the rest of the swamp, and looked older than dirt. These two swore it was a new addition to the area, but Terrel wasn't so sure she believed them. It wasn't like a place like this just popped up out of nowhere, after all. Perhaps it'd been hidden before, but not existing at all? That was as far fetched as she had ever heard. These things didn't just appear overnight.

Glancing behind them, the woman ensured that the rear was still, indeed, completely devoid of anything interesting at all. Yep. No problems there. Sighing, she studied the floor, wondering if there was an upward slant in it or if she was just imagining it. The corridor seemed to run along the edge of the tower itself, following the perimeter, but she was still surprised to notice windows gradually appear in the wall, facing away from the heart of the tower and overlooking the rest of the swamp.

Indeed, they'd been going up, though not terribly quickly. The windows were small, hardly big enough for a person to fit through, and they were mostly covered by overhanging vines and other vegetation, making them difficult to view through at a glance. It was while trying to get a good look out of these windows, though, that Terrel nearly walked headlong into her two other companions. Had she been walking too fast? She looked ahead and groaned, muttering aloud with dread and irritation, "This has got to be a joke."

Not unlike the other door in the first room, the corridor in front of them had seemingly collapsed, caving in on itself and quite successfully blocking the way forward. The only ways to go were back the way they came or out one of those windows.

Rua grimaced once more, having studied the wreckage of the pathway. He shook his head in irritation while shouldering his shield over onto his back. "Looks like we've got no other choice," he replied to Terrel. He turned and approached the nearest window, pushing himself out of it a ways to see what their options were. "Looks like there's platforms sticking out of the walls," he told them once he pulled back inside. "There's also vines that we might be able to climb with."

Not that he wanted to. The scrub wouldn't have an issue on those, but being hylians, he and Terrel using them was dangerous. What's more, he could hear the drone of the creature atop the tower still crooning outside. Hopefully the scrub could stand it.

Dante looked at the window, quietly. Dante would have the easier time climbing up, and looking ahead for the rest of the group. But every window that they passed made his headache even worse, as if there were rocks tumbling around between his ears. It was no small wonder, he thought to himself, that many of his once sane brethren had gone mad. He didn't want to tell the other two that if he went out there, that there was any sort of guarantee that he wouldn't go mad. Kicking at the floor in annoyance, he stepped up to the opening.

Wincing, he looked over to Rua and Terrel. "I'd have no trouble climbing the vines, since I am lighter, but it might be difficult to find sturdier vines for the two of you..." Dante told them, thinking over the problem as he presented it. Looking around, he found a a long stick, and despite quite clearly having had been dead for some time, it seemed sturdy enough for his purposes. Drawing his blade, he cut off a small section and formed a stake from it, cutting it down to a fine point. Walking back over by the window, this time standing to the side of it, he loaded the stake into his Farore's Wrath.

"I hope this works..." Dante pulled the trigger. With a whir!, and subsequent thud!, the wooden projectile flew into the wall, embedding itself deep within the wood. Dante moved closer to look at the peg. Sticking out about a foot from the wall, it seemed to be quite stuck. But Dante wouldn't be able to test that for himself. "If this is stable enough to hold the weight of each of you, we might be able to reduce some of the strain on the vines with some footholds like these. I'd go up first, placing these on the outside wall as I climb up." Repeating what he had just done, he shot another stake into the wall, so that Rua or Terrel might be able to stand on them and test their stability.

"That should help," came Rua's reply to the scrub. He leaned out the window to check the creature's handiwork. He honestly didn't think it'd be able to hold up much weight; he'd probably be enough to knock it out of the wall again, strong bow or not. He pulled back out again and looked at Terrel, and motioned for her to head out. "You first. You're lighter, so there's less of a chance of you pushing one of those things out when you step on it."

Terrel took her spot at the window, angling her shoulders so she could pass through the gap smoothly. Looking up, the woman contemplated the challenge. Already the forest creature had gone ahead and forged a path of sorts headed upward, and Terrel could see the undersides of platforms above their heads for resting, though they were not a suitable path themselves. It was hard to say just how far she would need to go in order to find an entrance back into the tower, but the vines were fairly thick. If they wanted, they could travel upwards a good distance just with the vines alone.

Of course, there was the worry of tearing those vines right out. She didn't know how heavy a Deku Scrub was, but apparently they were lighter than a Hylian. For Terrel, though, it might not matter after all. Those two might have honed their skills with a sword or a shield, killing creatures and protecting allies, but she had spent her whole life doing this sort of thing. Making sure all her gear was secured, the woman hesitated only a moment before moving out of the window and grabbing a thicker vine.

She took a moment to glance down. Some people swore it was a terrible idea, that it would only make you nervous, but she held that it was good to know what you were up against. The forest floor was only a couple of stories beneath them--the fall might not be fatal--but the tower was tall indeed. Keeping her eyes down, the woman moved her weight onto the first stake that Dante had planted for her. It held.

"Looks like your stakes work good enough for me," Terrel replied loudly, "I'll let Rua test the rest though." With what might have been a trace of a grin, the woman sprung off the stake and grabbed another vine with her free hand. At a decent speed, she found the next and then the next, climbing up the face of the tower with apparent ease while using the vines for her hands and the occasional crevice for her feet. After a dozen or so feet of climbing, she had bypassed all the stakes and joined Dante on the platform above.

"Looks like you're up," she shouted back down, pleased by her own accomplishment. "If you get stuck, I can guide you to where the stronger vines are."

Rua didn't have nearly as easy a time as the scrub and the woman had. They could both see the greater strain of his weight--that of his body and his weaponry--put on the vines. He could hear them stretch in a protesting manner, causing him to grimace. He pushed on, setting his weight on the stakes for only a moment before moving on. Twice he had a close call as his foot slipped as the weight broke the stake out of the wall, and he clung to the weakening vines almost desperately.

A third time near the top did he lose his footing, and this time the vine pulled out of the wall with it. He cursed loudly, a coarse oath that'd make even Ayls screech, and threw himself upward, narrowly grabbing the ledge the others were on and another vine. He continued to mutter as he pushed the rest of the way up the wall and onto the platform. "I'm beginning to hate this place," he growled.