When I Said I Could Go For Sushi, This Was Not What I Meant (Mag/Ink)

Mermaid's Cave
-Marina (5/2/1): 1/2 Silver Scales (-10r) + Level 2 Outfitter (-20r) + Glow Iron (-5r) + a Kinstone (-2r) 20 rupees.
-Seven (3/1/4): 1/2 Silver Scales (-10r) + 44 rupees.

Dungeon Music

The job was fairly simple. Go in, kill anything inherently evil inhabiting the cave, and leave. The locals were getting increasingly worried about the rumors of evil beasts. As well as one particular old man who wouldn't stop rambling about how his perfect picnic spot was ruined. She couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly at the thought. The worst thing he could think of was his poor picnic spot. Regardless, if there was actual danger threatening people, and she was definitely going to do something about it. Although, more importantly she was getting paid regardless.

In almost no time at all, she arrived at the location. A small waterfall hiding the location to what appeared to be a rather impressively sized cave system. Making sure her trident was strapped onto her back tightly, she dove into the water and underneath the waterfall, surfacing on the other side. As much as she didn't like to admit it to herself, her curse did have it's nice uses. Sometimes being underwater was much more pleasent than being on land. Plus, her gills were no longer so uncomfortable from being dried out for so long.

Just as she surfaced, her eyes blinked in surprise as she saw some strange child poking around the entrance of the cave. Didn't they know it was supposed to be dangerous in there? Letting out a long sigh, she pulled herself up onto the land, only now getting a better look at them.

Lots of purple clothing, and an interesting attire at that. A half cape, lots of pouches... and was that a sword she saw? For a second, she almost thought it was a Kokiri. However, that was highly unlikely. A Hylian child playing adventurer would make more than enough sense, if a poor sense of judgement on their part.

Clearing her throat, as well as spitting up just a little bit of water to clear her lungs, she spoke in a rather deep-toned voice. "Excuse me, child. Don't you know how dangerous it is here? You better go home. This is no place for you right now. Come back later after I've done the dirty work." As if to prove her point, she quickly unstrapped her signature trident from her back, and held it in one of her hands.

Seven nearly jumped out of his skin at the abrupt voice, whirling around and drawing Fairy Blue with a look on his face that was probably meant to look fierce but just managed to make him look like he'd been caught sneaking food from the larder at midnight.
"Who're you?" he asked raggedly, the long scimitar in his hands looking overlarge but ready for business. He barely stopped himself from asking 'What are you' when he registered the oily blue skin. His mind immediately jumped to the last blue-skinned creature he had met; that irate squid-headed Zora.
"Are you a Zora?" he asked suddenly. "You look like you're half Zora. What're you here for? I can help! I can totally help! I'm really good at fighting, I promise,"
Shut up, Seven. You sound like an idiot.
"You can shush," he told his sword crossly, then felt a little dumb for talking to her aloud. As if in response, the sword pulsed and Fairy Blue emerged from the blade.

"Lower your weapons," she said in a commanding tone, and Seven swallowed. He really hoped this sort-of-Zora-lady wasn't stab-happy, or Fairy Blue would probably get herself impaled, talking to her like that. "There's no need to get aggressive,"
Seven hesitated but sheathed the scimitar.
You sure about this, Fairy Blue?
"She could probably help us find the eggs, you know."
Yeah, but...she doesn't really look like a Zora. She has hair.
"She's a River Zora. They look more human."
Fairy Blue sounded very sure in this fact, despite the fact that her assumption was completely wrong. Being smart did not mean she knew everything.
Seven was slightly less than convinced, but he didn't call the sword spirit out. Instead he squared his shoulders.

"My name is Seven," he said to the stranger, hoping she wasn't some kind of monster that was about to get stabby with the trident. "This is my friend, Fairy Blue,"
"I'm the spirit of his sword," Fairy Blue said nonchalantly, wandering towards one of the stagnating puddles. She crouched and stuck her hand in a puddle of water, sniffing it curiously before shaking it off- wouldn't do for her to start rusting. She caught the look Seven was shooting her. "What? I'm free to tell people what I am,"
"You usually don't," he murmured. "You usually leave me to make excuses. Pretend you're a cat or something,"
"Eh, I think this lovely lady might be able to help us!" Fairy Blue said brightly. "Ma'am, are you heading deeper into this cave?"

Marina let out a soft sigh as the kid asked if she was a Zora. Of course, she should have probably expected to be asked what she was. Especially by a child who, stereotypically, had less tact. She was about to answer when suddenly a... a spirit of some kind popped out of his sword, as strange as that sounded. It looked like a Hylian, but could in no way be mistaken for one. Especially not with its floating arms.

Clearly there was more to this child than she first had assumed, and that spirit of his definitely looked rather powerful. The strange spirit even called her lovely. If there was one way to get on Marina's good side, it was to compliment her. Smiling softly, Marina planted the dull end of her trident against the ground, speaking up.

"My name is Marina Davell, and yes, I am going to be heading deeper into the cave. I was hired to investigate, and eliminate any signs of evil infesting these caves. A simple task, really. But one easily suited to my particular set of skills." She slowly walked over towards the cave, looking inside.

The cave just went on forever, or at least, it seemed to. It was really too dark to be able to see clearly in there. Although a steady sound of dripping from above echoed around. Perhaps some assistance would be a good idea... Although she wasn't entirely certain about Seven's ability in a fight, nor was she sure on her own morals regarding allowing a child that young to fight. Then again, they did have that spirit... A magical spirit. Clenching her fist tightly around her trident she pulled back.

"And what exactly did you need my help with?"

“It’s wonderful to meet you, Miss Marina,” Fairy Blue said smoothly. “You’re here to eliminate signs of evil? That’s quite the daunting task. I’m impressed- I don’t think Seven would have the guts to do that alone,”
Seven swallowed, feeling mildly resentful. Apparently this Marina had tickled Fairy Blue’s fancy. Which was...offputting. That was Seven’s spot!

“You’ll have to forgive Seven,” Fairy Blue continued. “He can be tactless at times,”
The Hylian boy could swear he almost had a heart attack at those words- was that Fairy Blue lecturing about tact?? In what universe was she more tactful than he was?!

She flicked a hand at Seven, a clear signal for him to hold his tongue, and he grudgingly settled down. She probably knew what she was doing. Right?
“Miss Marina, I believe we might be able to help eachother,” Fairy Blue said, with the air of a businesswoman. “Seven and I were attempting to look into this cave for evidence of Zora inhabitation- we’re looking for a substance that’s currently kept in the Zora Domain, which we couldn’t possibly access. We were hoping that the name of this cave indicated that Zora once lived here, and that we could find some of this substance inside. In return, I can offer you Seven’s services as a swordsman- he is small, yes, but strong. And my blade is not one you want to be cut with.”

The spirit offered a dazzling smile, gleaming teeth set in her silver face. “What do you say, Miss?”

Marina couldn't keep the smile off her face if she tried. For a being, she assumed, entirely composed of magic, they were pretty decent. Obviously she was going to keep a close eye on her, but that was with every magical being. Hylian or otherwise. Nodding her head, she listened intently.

So... They wanted something from a Zora? Well, that would at least explain why the child asked if she was one. Obviously they've never seen a real Zora before. She definitely looked strikingly different, having none of the fins or even the head shape of a Zora. Plus the hair. That was an obvious giveaway.

She was incredibly hesitant to accept their assistance even still. Sure he might be a competent swordsman... but they were still a child. Granted, they had a magical talking sword. What was the worst that could happen? Well, they die obviously. But she wasn't even considering that an option. They'd just stand all the way in the back as she stabbed everything, as far as she was concerned. No need to immediately put them in harm's way.

"I see no direct harm in it. As long as I don't deem it too dangerous for him to continue, then I see no reason why you two can not follow behind. Just be careful. If you fall, I am not responsible for your deaths. Is that understood?"

Seven's face split into a smile, his delight at being allowed to join Marina evident. He gave a little cheer.
"Thanks, Miss Marina! Promise I won't stack it and die!"
He pensively undid his cloak and rolled it up, shoving it with some difficulty into his adventure pouch, then clicked the little golden collar back over the turtleneck of his tunic.
"There, now I'm more mobile," he said brightly. He also took the liberty of removing his bow from the pouch, slinging it over his shoulder. "So, you take the lead, then?"

Fairy Blue smiled lightly, moving back to put her hand on Seven's shoulder.
'You shouldn't be so excitable," she said reproachfully, but with a light grin all the same. "Ah, you're always like this."
"You're acting funny," he told her unhappily. "What's wrong?"
She looked at him.
"I'm not using my baby voice,"
"You're nasty," he complained. "I'm always nice to you,"
"I know," she said comfortingly. "I love you too. Lead the way, Miss Marina."

Sighing softly to herself, she just nodded her head in passive acceptance and started walking into the cave. Hopefully there was an impassable body of water, and the kid had to turn back. While the assistance would normally be handy, she would hold off on that statement until after she saw him fight. If he was as good as he claimed, then hopefully it would be alright.

Pressing forwards, Marina held her trident carefully in her left hand. The cave was dark, almost painfully so. Thankfully, she was used to seeing in dark environments. Once inside, the temperature must have dropped at least 20 degrees. It wasn't that cold, but enough to give her the chills. Something about it made her instantly dislike the cave. Picnic spot? What kind of insane old man used this place as a picnic? He'd freeze his butt off.

The dripping sound only got louder and louder, and it seemed like there must have been a pool further down in. The cave walls did slowly press in closer and closer, narrowing down. Knowing that it wasn't nearing an end, she continued pressing forwards. Supposedly the cave system was rather vast.

After only a minute more of walking, it started to get lighter. However, instead of torches like she expected, it was a body of water right up against a wall. From what it seemed like, there was some source of light coming from underneath the water. Cracking her neck, she smiled a bit. This was more her style.

Carefully, she kneeled down and stuck her upper body underneath the water to look around. Right away, she could tell that there was another dry patch behind the cave wall. The lights were from torches on the walls of the cave further on.

Sighing, she pulled her head back out. It was only a quick dive. Well, perhaps quick for her. Not so sure about the kid. "Think you can hold your breath for like, 30 seconds or so and swim underneath? There's dry land on the other side."

"I'm sure he can," Fairy Blue said jovially, seizing Seven by the collar and hurling him bodily into the water. His yelp was cut short by the splash that echoed through the cave, and Fairy Blue lightly shoved him down with one hand before vanishing back into his sword. Seven must have swallowed half the pool of water by the time he clawed his way out of it on the other side, coughing up freezing water. Fairy Blue emerged from the blade and landed on the bank perfectly dry, ponytail waving in a nonexistent breeze.

"You shouldn't drink random cave water, Seven," she reprimanded him with a slight smirk. "It's bad for you,"
"You're such a meanie," whined Seven, his voice raspy as he sat up. "Was that necessary?"
"Well, I knew you would dither around on the other side for an intolerable amount of time, so I hurried you up,"
"Meanie," he said, miserably. He flicked Fairy Blue's blade to clear the water off of it, ignoring the way it was glowing a light, amused purple at his predicament.

Marina raised one of her nearly non-existent eyebrows as she watched the sword through her wielder into the water. That definitely wasn't healthy. She quickly dove underwater to try and help the kid back to the surface, but by then he had already climbed to the other side. Guess there was no getting rid of him that easily.

Surfacing herself, she leapt out of the water with a practiced grace. Thankfully, her hair was tied back, otherwise it would be a total mess. As always. Once she herself was all set up, she immediately kneeled down to get a better look at the kid. Seven, she reminded herself that was his name.

"Hey Seven... You okay man? Not everyone is meant to breath in water like that." Carefully, she kneeled down and gently began to pat his back to help him cough up any water in his lungs.

This wasn't just like any other magical weapon she had seen before. Sure, sentient weapons existed, but she had never seen one that treated their wielder with such disrespect and disdain. Frowning to herself, she couldn't help but stare at the sword. She was going to keep an eye on the situation, before doing anything rash.

"I'm all good," Seven coughed once more before clambering to his feet. "It was just...colder than I was expecting, is all,"
He was slightly jealous of how gracefully she had exited the water- how did people do that? He always had to drag himself from the water like a heifer with no limbs, and he somehow managed to look twice as awful. "So...you know where we're going? Because I have no idea whatsoever,"

He jammed his sword back into the sheath as Fairy Blue examined the cavern they were in. She seemed particularly interested in the torches.
"I wonder who lit these," she said, fascinated. "Did they know we were coming? Or do they just not go out?"

"No clue. Deep in the cave, I imagine. Let's hope this place doesn't have too many branching paths, or too many deep bodies of water, hmm?" She chuckled very quietly, standing up to her feet as well. No time to waste. Get in, get out. The less time they took sitting around the better. Whoever was here, could already know they were here by now with the racket he made with his cough.

As the spirit mentioned the torches, Marina rolled her eyes in response. "Don't know, don't care. Probably some form of magic or chemicals in the torch to keep them lit. Either way, it's best to keep walking. The more time we spend thinking about the ins and outs of this place, the more time any enemies have to prepare for our arrival. They surely heard us by now, so that's going to be fun."

That is, if it was even any intelligent form of evil. It could be as simple as a massive Keese infestation, or something else. The villagers never truly explained that much. Hopefully it was something she could stab, to be quite frank. It had been quite a while since she had seen some good combat.

Pressing forwards, the cave opened up rather quickly into a huge cavernous area. Dark, asides from a few torches seemingly scattered around at random on the stalagmites. Perhaps most strange, in the very middle of the cavern was what looked to be an incredibly misshapen stalagmite, but it was pitch black compared to the rest of the cave.
Perhaps most obvious, was the huge water pools scattered around the place. One wrong step, and you could possibly slip deep underwater. No problem for her, but definitely for Seven.

Careful not to have her voice echo around the cave, she spoke quietly. "Watch your step, kid."

Seven followed after the piscine woman, brushing wet hair out of his face and wringing out his hat. The sound of water droplets hitting the ground seemed louder than logically possible. Fairy Blue finally stopped playing with the torches and instead simply wrenched one out of the bracket, thrusting it at Seven.
"Here. Hold this,"

Seven fumbled with the torch, burning his hand slightly in the effort. He shoved the burn in his mouth once he had a firm grip on the torch, looking at Fairy Blue petulantly. The sword spirit glided forwards, catching up with Marina.
"Enemies? How fascinating," she said. "What kinds of enemies do you anticipate running into?"
She flicked her ponytail as she looked around, reaching back. "Seven, come on, move ahead, I can't see,"
"There are torches everywhere! Why do I have to carry one?"
"Because they're too far apart," Fairy Blue said patiently. "Come on,"

When they entered the larger cavern, Fairy Blue kicked a stone into one of the pools and, rather than simply landing in the water like a puddle, it vanished entirely. "Ooh, those are deeper than they look," she said. "Hey, Seven, you should dive in, see how deep it is,"
"Do you want me to get hypothermia?" he asked, teeth chattering. "Going up that mountain was bad enough but this cave is freezing,"
"Wuss," Fairy Blue said, ruffling Seven's dripping hair. "You don't have to, I guess. But if you fall in you're obligated to dive down and see how deep it is for me,"

"Nobody is going to dive down to the bottom asides from me. What kind of sentient weapon would purposefully endanger their wielder?" Marina's eyebrows furrowed a bit, leaning down to gently place a hand on the kids shoulder. The obvious disrespect that Fairy Blue had for Seven was angering her bit by bit. This was the last time she tried to trust a being of magic.

"Listen kid. You're the boss." She gripped his shoulder ever so slightly to get his full attention. "Don't let that bit..." She cleared her throat to cover up her language. No cursing at children. "Don't let her tell you what to do. You're her owner, not the other way around. She's worthless without you."

Standing back up to her feet, she turned and stared angrily at Fairy Blue making her motives clear. If this kid was even remotely hurt because of her insane and disrespectful suggestions...

Before her thought could be finished, a sudden fluttering sound echoed across the cave. Guess her loud talking woke something up. Gripping her trident, she immediately shifted into combat mode. Her eyes immediately scanned over the dark cave, before finally locking onto the giant misshapen black stalagmite in the middle... It was wiggling.

Suddenly, a wave of keese flew off the stalactite and towards them. It was like a huge wave of darkness just began to descend towards them, just how many keese there was, Marina had absolutely no idea. There was no way she could take on this many at once! They'd be scratched up to bits.

Cursing silently beneath her breath, she did what her first instinct to do was. Quickly, she dropped her trident on the cave floor. Grabbing Seven tightly, she quickly dove into one of the many pools of water just as the wave of keese struck up above. Thankfully, none of them even dared to go under the water.... But how long could Seven hold his breath? Not to mention, what else was down here in the water?

Quickly looking around, it just appeared to be a large underground lake, but she couldn't exactly see to the other side. What if something worse was down here? She gritted her teeth in anger. This would not be pleasant.

"Hey!" Fairy Blue said crossly, fixing a gimlet glare on Marina. "I'm just playing around. Wow, don't be so uptight,"
Seven looked at her with owlishly large eyes, as if she had sprouted a second head rather than just (almost) calling Fairy Blue a bitch.
"Uh," he said, not having much of a response to offer in return to Marina's unprecedented attack on his sword. He was her owner, yeah, but she was his guide- and if he was honest, sort of his keeper, as well. She knew what she was doing, even if her sense of humour could be nasty sometimes.

Fairy Blue's gold eyes darkened as she returned Marina's glare, humour gone. "Step off, Zora," she said darkly. "I doubt you could do any better at looking after a child. You know nothing about how looking after a child works,"
Her lips twitched slightly, as if she were about to smile, but she broke off when she registered the flapping of the monsters they had awoken. Fairy Blue was left standing alone in the cave, barely registering the splash of Seven and Marina disappearing underwater, and she blinked in bewilderment for a moment before receiving a Keese to the face. She yelped and all but flung herself back into the sword, fleeing the Keese.

Seven didn't even have time to take a breath before the world flipped sideways and he was underwater, and it took him a moment to realise that Marina had grabbed him and dived into the pools that just moments before she had been advocating that he wouldn't go into. Bemused, he twisted in her grip, trying to escape to the surface and breathe. He hadn't even noticed the Keese.

Knew nothing about how to take care of a child? Pfft. She just saved his life. Of course, Marina had to chuckle inwardly at Fairy Blue being left up above. She'd be fine, clearly. But for now, she had more important things on her mind. They had a child struggling in her arms to get away. If Seven escaped her grip and stuck his head up, his face was definitely going to be scratched up. She'd never forgive herself for letting the kid go blind from a Keese attack.

"Hey now, quit struggling kid. You're going to have your eyes clawed out by keese." Her voice was incredibly warbled and distorted underwater, but being so close to Seven it was likely he was able to hear her. Luckily she could actually breath under the water. It tasted horrible however, like one would assume stale cave water to be. "Hold your breath. I got an idea."

Her idea, was of course a little disturbing to her. But there was no avoiding it. Seven couldn't go above the water or he'd probably die. What kind of death was a 'Death by Keese?' There was no worse way, or embarrassing way, for someone to die. Sighing to herself, she knew what she had to do. Closing her mouth, she swallowed the disgusting cave water. Puffing out her cheeks with air, she did what had to be done.

Marina pressed her lips against Seven, slowly exhaling her breath. Hopefully this didn't freak the poor child out too much. She was saving his life.

Seven stopped thrashing very, very quickly, going still in pure shock. Did- did the- what-how..?
It took him much longer than it should have to compute his current situation, and when the ends finally connected he didn't really understand that either. It was a few moments after that when he finally registered that he no longer felt like someone was standing on his chest wearing Iron Boots.

Still, though. That was a kiss in his books. And a kiss was not what he had come here today expecting. At all. Anytime in the foreseeable future, actually. Cue the furious blush, because Seven was pretty sure his face was winning magic contests with its red glow. He'd never have to worry about bringing a lantern anywhere again. He'd just...think back to this moment and let his face guide the way.

He ended up just kind of floating there like a ragdoll because he honestly had no clue whatsoever what he was supposed to be doing at this point. He was pretty sure he should be doing something but given that he had no idea what that something was he couldn't exactly act on it. He just...floated.

There. That was better. No thrashing, and he was coming to his senses. Of course, Marina just rolled her eyes immensely at Sevens blush. Typical. Although she couldn't really blame him. The situation must be incredibly strange, being kissed by a girl twice his age underwater. In fact, Marina couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction. He just went plain limp in her arms.

Pulling her lips away, she looked upwards. The keese's shadows reflected off the water, and were still moving heavily up above. Definitely thrashing at the water to try and get to them, but to no avail. Marina frowned immensely, cursing internally. She had left her trident up there. Without it, she was useless. Taking another breath, she exhaled yet another puff of air into Sevens lungs.

"Listen. We are going to be down here for a while until those Keese settle and I can grab my weapon... Then we are going to be exploring for a little while under here. It is safer this way. Nod if you understand what I am saying."

Marina quickly glanced back up again, the Keese were indeed starting to settle down, but she'd still get mauled if she popped up. Patience, she told herself. Who cares if she had to keep breathing for the kid? As long as he didn't die, that would be good. "Squeeze my hand whenever you need to breath. Alright?"

Seven could do no more than blink, owlishly and bewildered, when Marina first pulled away and then ducked in for another. The more rational part of his brain registered that she was actually just breathing air into his mouth but that didn't stop him from being still completely floored. Was that honestly the best way she thought to keep him breathing? Was he supposed to object to this?
Fairy Bluuuuueee... he whined mentally. I don't know what to do...

Nothing but a rather prickly silence from the blade. When Marina started talking, he had to blink himself back into attentiveness, eyes stinging in the water. Explore underwater for a while? That sounded okay-ish, although Seven baulked slightly at the idea of the secondhand breathing continuing. Still. Not like he was keen on going up and saying hi to a swarm of furious Keese.

He nodded a few times, looking around in the dim water. Yeah. He could deal with this. Sort of. Hopefully.

The situation was obviously less than optimal for Seven. Without her, he'd die. Which meant she had to grab her trident rather quickly from above and dive down into another pool to give him another breath. She mentally groaned, this was going to be a pain.

"Stay here." She said aloud right before she exhaled another breath for Seven. The moment that was done, she let go and shot upwards out of the water.

Luckily, the Keese had settled back on the roof of the cave at this point. Unfortunately however, the noise of Marina splashing up and climbing out of the water attracted their attention again. They dropped off their perches and began to dive straight towards her. The very moment she picked her weapon up the fastest ones reached her.

Their claws began to dig into her back which was thankfully covered with leather armor. However, her arms and neck were easy targets for the rest of the bats. As one dove down and clawed at her shoulder, she yelped a bit in surprise. Cursing, she quickly slid down into another pool of water.

A few of the Keese weren't quite smart enough to let go of her before she hit the water, ending up floundering on the surface. Ignoring the sting of her blood spilling into the stale cave water, she quickly swam over towards Seven with her weapon in hand.

Without a word, she quickly swallowed the water inside her mouth and gave Seven another breath. Taking his hand carefully, she began to swim forwards. Hopefully there was a safe place where she could let him breath by himself.

Passing underneath the cave floor, she stayed near to the surface, giving Seven a breath every time he squeezed her hand. Thankfully, at the very far edge of the underground lake there was another passage. Without a second's hesitation, she surged forwards through the water.

The cave passageway eventually angled up to back above water, and Marina was quick to pull the Hylian child above water. After quickly glancing around this new passageway for Keese, and finding none, she turned her attention towards Seven.

"Hey kid, you doing alright?" As she spoke, she just now realized how badly her shoulder stung. Digging into her Adventure Pouch, she pulled out a rather long bandage and began wrapping it around her shoulder.

Seven spat a little water and sniffed slightly, his nose running from the prolonged submersion.
"All good," he said nasally, reaching up to grab his hat before realising he'd lost it. "Aw, damn,"
"Language," chimed his sword in a distinctly bitter voice, and a moment later a disgruntled and rather venomous-looking Fairy Blue emerged from the blade. A streak of the metal had been scratched from her face, a line of blue glowing faintly across the wound.
"Oh my- what happened?" Seven asked frantically, reaching up as if to touch the cut. She slapped his hand away.
"You two left me to get assaulted by those infernal Keese," she snarled, and Seven looked contrite.
"Will it heal?"
"Yes- no thanks to you," the sword spirit added bitterly.

Seven bit his lip, swiping some of his dripping hair out of his face. He felt weird without his hat.
"Where do we go from here, Marina?" he asked, missing the filthy look his question earned him from his sword spirit.
"Well, someone disturbed the Keese and didn't want to fight them despite being such an all-powerful warrior hired to purge evil," she snarked. "I'd say her guidance isn't the best,"
Seven's only response was a distinctly torn and confused face.