Why Do the Forests Cry? [Eevachu + Clooby]

As Rika finished off the blue, scaled Tektite he had been fighting, Lucian took care of the other, final Tektite. With the Tektite slain, there didn't seem to be any immediate threat posed against the duo. Rika finally had a chance to get a grasp on his sense and the situation, swimming over to the old, wooden ladder hanging off the side of the ledge. Slowly lifting himself out of the water, a torrent of liquids dripped from his body as he broke contact with the larger pool of water, running out of his clothes and recombining with the small pool. As he reached the top of the ladder, Rika took the time to examine the room in its entirety, as they had been unable to see the area beyond the very ends of the ledges and ceilings up above.

On the side they had just climbed upon, there wasn't anything of particular notice, other than a large piece of wood, with fainted, red swirl markings that Rika noticed were very similar to the symbol of the Kokiri. No, not just similar; Although this marking had faded slightly with age, it was indistinguishably the red swirl used as a symbol for the Kokiri. It wasn't particularly abnormal to find such a symbol inside the remains of a Great Deku Tree, but it was still somewhat of a bothersome sight for Rika. Across the room, on the opposite side, was clearly another door, also bearing such a mark. However, there didn't seem to be anything else of note, other than a couple slow burning torches that lined the walls.

His train of thought was quickly broken by Lucian's comments about his magic. "Did you make that? The ice thing, I mean," He pointed in the direction of the Spire, which had been formed entirely of ice. "Oh, that? Yeah, I did." Rika said between pauses as Lucian continued. "I want to learn that one first, I think," Lucian stated with a tone of confidence, and perhaps a bit of excitement towards the subject. "After we get out of here, I mean," He added, before biting his thumb.

Rika looked at him for a moment before shaking his head in disagreement. "While I do see your excitement, as it's one of my favorite spells, it's not as simple as just teaching you it. It is a complex spell, and it would be far easier to teach you something easier to get you started. However, I have a book dedicated to Spire back at my house. I don't need it anymore, so I'll let you use it once we get out." Rika proudly stated as he started talking about the complexities of the spell, such as how it can be made of many different types of material and ice is but one choice. However, the Kokiri quickly realized he was getting away from the current situation, which was the Great Deku Tree. ". . . Erm, well, we can discuss the complexities later, for now let's focus on the matter at hand." Rika quickly removed his jacket and wrung it out over the side of the edge, making sure to at least get the water it had absorbed out. The Kokiri quickly did this for his undershirt too before putting them both on.

Removing his hat, it was fairly soaked too. Although it would dry, the feathers on top were ruined, and he would have to find replacements once they got out. For now, he put the hat back on his head; Replacements could come later. As for his pants, although wet they weren't really a problem, and would probably fit themselves quickly. Finally, he quickly emptied his boots of any excess water before proceeding to the door at hand.

He looked at it for a second before pressing his hands up against it. "I think you can just. . ." He muttered to himself as he pushed. Although at first it didn't budge, the door slowly started to budge, dust being spat out from the sealed crevices as it opened. The door slowly rolled completely open, and the duo found themselves faced with the next room.

Before even stepping in, it was clear what this room held; Deku Baba. Dozens of Deku Baba littered the ground from every corner of the room, the floor almost nonexistent. Other than this excessive infestation of Deku Baba, there didn't seem to be anything of immediate note. However, a large portion of the room was currently not visible, so who knew what secrets lay deep within. As the door first opened, it was clear the Deku Baba seemed rather inactive, but the noise generated when the door was opened caused a violent echo of clashes and clamps as they all jolted awake, furious for no particular reason other than they were Deku Baba. Their jaws crashed against air as they scratched against virtually nothing, probably angry at the world. The Deku Baba economy is pretty hard out there, after all.

However, although the opening of the door seemed to have riled them up, they didn't seem to notice Rika and Lucian just yet.

"Yeah. I guess," Lucian responded as they moved on.

Rika shuffled his tiny body towards the door, the wooden slab rolling open. The room was dark, yet it was still plainly observable exactly what it held: Deku Baba. They lined the floor, the groaning of the door awakening them as their buds suddenly shot upwards, snapping and biting in every possible direction.

Lucian groaned. Without any more than that, he stepped into the room dutifully. He drew his axe from his side as he dove headfirst into a veritable sea of Deku Baba, all of which were now totally aware of his presence. The first he came to bit towards his arms immediately, but Lucian was much too expecting of it to be caught off guard. After all, what else could a simple Deku Baba do? It didn't matter however, since at this point Lucian had already sliced cleanly into its blue bud, it purple tongue shooting out through its many-fanged maw. Another that lay aside the now-slain bud snapped as his legs, though he simply evaded improvising use of his Helm Splitter technique. He cleanly glided over the bud of another just barely behind the corpse of the first, his axe striking it forcefully and sloppily. Viscous blue fluid sprayed from the plant's bud as he segued into a Spin Attack as he landed, taking out no more than five at once. The rest of the room would be more clearly visible to him now, were he not so engaged in fending off the many Baba as they continued to hopelessly perform the only offensive action they were capable of: biting. Many of them fell before his axe, his technique remarkable to the untrained eye, yet to a highly-skilled fighter would have been regarded as rubbish.

He looked around him. He was nearly totally surrounded by them now. Blues and violets and similar colors quivered and snapped and swayed in anticipation in his vision. Reaching into the pouch hanging on his side, he pulled out an orb, similar in size albeit slightly smaller than his fist. Grasping it easily, he tossed it into a pile of the hostile flora as it exploded hardly five seconds later. The buds that remained were sparse; many of them destroyed by the blast. He could no longer Sense any immediate threats, either. He dropped from the trance like state he had entered. He finally drew in the totality of the room; the ivy vines that decorated the walls and ceiling, the large Skulltula web decorating the wall opposite the doorway. A large crevice, which very well could have been a hole in the center of the ceiling, gaped as darkness shrouded the majority of it. Lucian simply stopped moving for a while. It seemed, to him at least, that there was no longer a means to progress.

Rika stood, watching, as Lucian tore through wave after wave of Deku Baba, making use of his array of techniques and skills he had acquired. As the loud explosion echoed throughout the room, it quickly halted, dropping to a silence as Lucian finished slaying all of the creatures that had littered the floor. Rika gave Lucian a slow clap as he smirked, perhaps impressed by his display of strength. "You say you want me to teach you magic, but you've gotta teach me some of those expert techniques you used, haha!" Rika jokingly laughed out, not completely serious, though whether Lucian would pick up on that was a mystery. After all, it appeared to be more of a casual laugh than any sort of insult, though perhaps that may have been intended, if slightly. Though, it wasn't that he wasn't actually interested in learning the skills used, quite the opposite actually. It was that Rika didn't think Lucian could teach him very well, and that he could probably learn them more easily on his own.

The room fell to a bit of a silence once more as Rika looked over the walls and ceiling a little. "Skulltula webs, glad they're empty. . . " Rika thought to himself as he looked over the room. If there was a Skulltula web, though, where was the Skulltula? There was no way out of the room, unless. . . Looking upward, Rika saw the small crevice in the ceiling, shrouded in darkness. Could in be in there? Was it even big enough to hold something? Maybe it contained something even more foul than a Skulltula, the worst possible thing. . .Goat milk? Nah, that's just an old legend.

Though the room set silently for a brief moment, that silence would quickly be broken as the duo heard a rumbling from above. Maybe it really was goat milk, oh shit! Luckily, it wasn't quite as deadly. A couple small, spider-like creatures fell from the crevice as another, and another did. Immediately, dozens and dozens of the miniscule vermin rained down to the center of the room, scrawling across the ground to flip upward as others of their kind fell on top of them. It was Gohma Larvae, tons and tons of them. They fell and fell, and it seemed to be an endless swarm.

If Lucian were to look at Rika's face, it would be a look of pure shock and terror. Fear struck the Kokiri as his legs collapsed, falling back as he saw them rain onto the ground. "N-No, stay away!" His weakened voice shook as he shouted, chucking the crystal clear orb of water forward. It collided with the ground towards the right, exploding and killing a few of the many Gohma Larvae, making no sort of notable impact to their numbers. Some of the Gohma Larvae then started to scurry towards the duo, finding their new prey. Not all of them did, however. Some seemed to attempt to consume the currently deceased Deku Baba, while others tried to eat other Larvae. It was still a sizable group hunting after the Kokiri and Hylian, though.

Rika seemed to have lost all power in his legs, as he continuously failed to pick himself up. The Kokiri started crawling away towards the door, though at this rate the Gohma Larvae would probably catch up to him before the door could be shut.

Lucian watched as the larvae rained from the cieling, the hole in the center of the chamber containing an innumerable amount of larvae. The masses poured and poured through the hole as their forms came together like a solid, black mass, be it a coordinated one or one with so much confusion that it attempted to eat itself from the inside out.

"Oh shit!" Lucian yelled, dropping his torch to the floor as he fumbled his fingers around the string of his Bomb Bag. It was finally undone. He reached in with great haste, seeking to destroy the menace before the mass could overwhelm them and thusly cause the demise of the duo. He hurled the bluish-black orb into the mass, as it exploded, taking away a fourth of the current group.

But it didn't matter. More just kept coming and coming, pouring forth from the abyss. Lucian started frantically hacking and slashing away at the group, gripping only one axe with both his hands. It was a true act of deparation. Briefly, he wondered where Rika was, but jis overstressed mind turned to the most pressing task at hand: escape. There was too many to kill, even with his bombs handy. The most simplistic, and indeed the action that would save their lives, would be to leave the room and reseal the door, tighter than these beasts and their tremendous numbers could hope to budge.

He turned, looking towards the entrance of the room. There, he saw Rika, sunken to his knees, fear gripping his mind so tight it could have shattered. It was indeed the same fear Lucian had felt that day, though this time it would be different. This time, running would be the right thing to do. This time, he wouldn't watch as his comrades fell.

Already the larvae were beginning to swarm towards him, swathes of black insectoids crawling along the ground. "No!" He yelled, breaking into a fervent sprint towards Rika. He was his friend, his comrade, and maybe even his mentor. He wasn't going to let him go. He dashed towards Rika, nearing him as quickly as the swarms were. Rushing past him, he picked up the child-sized kokiri by the collar of his shirt, slinging him out of the room with an arm as he yelled at him, "Shut the door!" Turning to face the overflowing supply of Gohma Larvae, he smirked, just barely. Reaching for his Bomb Bag, he said a final, solemn set of words. "I'm ready."

Rika quickly found himself leaving the ground as he mindlessly tried to crawl to safety, his mind taking a moment to register this. Flying through the air, Rika slammed against the ground outside. Lucian seemed to shout something, but the words didn't register in Rika's mind; they were indistinguishable and muddled together. Looking down at his arms, Rika slowly came to the realization that he had been injured; Since he didn't even attempt to catch himself, slamming into the ground outside scraped him up quite a bit. What were they even doing, again?

Oh, right, the spiders. They were free now, right? Rika slowly turned to look at the door, seeing Lucian and the massive swarm of Gohma Larvae ahead of him. The fear of the spiders seemed to strike Rika once again as it re-registered with his mind, his face clenching tight with fear as his body tensed up. However, he also recognized that he was not in any immediate danger. If the spiders were left alone, what would they do? They'd probably destroy the remains of this Deku Tree over time. . . Would he allow that to happen? COULD he do anything to stop it?

Such disrespect to a Great Deku Tree was not allowed by any means, but the Kokiri found himself unable to move. He had to though, or the two of them were dead for sure, and the Great Deku Tree's corpse would decay in a way it shouldn't. That's right, he had to. If he didn't, he would be succumbing to death. Slowly pushing himself to his knees, he hesitantly shouted to Lucian. "M-Move!" Wind channeled at Rika's palm as the orb launched forward, presumably passing by Lucian and tearing through the horde of Gohma Larvae. The spinning wind blades ripped the small, fragile creatures apart, tearing a deep hole in the horde. Following this up was an orb of flames, exploding on contact as the creatures were burned alive, then finally an orb of ice, creating a large, frozen block to slightly impede the progress of a couple larvae.

However, the most important part was on the ceiling above. As the trio of spells were cast, a large, intricate golden circle illuminated the small area. Shortly after, a massive wooden spire launched out from the side of the crevice, tearing through the Gohma Larvae currently falling and covering the crevice almost entirely. Although there were still small gaps for Gohma Larvae to fall through, and eventually they would probably break the Spire due to buildup, this would freeze them almost entirely.

Following this, the Kokiri pushed himself up, staggering to his feet. Along with the fear, casting so many spells at the same time dazed him slightly. Creeping closer to the door, Rika shouted at Lucian with a hint of frustration in his voice. "Hurry up and get over here, damn it!" He then attempted to start pushing the door shut, but in his current dazed state he probably wouldn't be able to push it shut in time, at least not alone.

He heard a faint shout from Rika, barely heard from within his concentrated mind. He nimbly stepped aside, the multi-elemental spheres tearing clean into the crowds of larvae swarming into the room.

"Atta boy, Rika!" Lucian shouted, loosing another bomb into the overcroweded room they sat in. He cursed silently, the bugs not seeming to stop, though they had slowed to a manageable level now, thanks in part due to Rika's casting of what was most likely Lucian's favorite spell. It didn't matter now though, they had to seal the room off before they were overwhelmed once more. He sprimted out of the room, noticing the red-garbed Rika meekly trying to roll the stone door back into place. With a heave, Lucian's great strength slung the rocky circle back into its slot as he pressed his back flat against it. He looked around the room once more. There were other torches still, so he didn't necessarily care much for the fact that he had dropped his in their hive...but that fact that it was burning may pose a bit of trouble, though the larvae would presumably smother the flames after a while.

He assessed his inventory briefly. He had one axe, the other having been dropped while throwing the door back into its place. Thankfully, nothing of value had been lost. Both of them were still alive, though the consecutive castings had left Rika surprisingly drained. Under normal pretenses, he would have asked if casting like that would leave him as drained, but he had witnessed the fear in Rika's eyes, how it froze him in place for the better part of five minutes.

"So, what should we try now? I could try to blow the lock off the door over there," Lucian said, pointing towards the opposite side of the room, "or we could always just look around for an alternate entrance. I think there was a spot or two we missed up there," motioning towards where they had fought the Stalfos, "but that's honestly if we can even make our way up there any more." He looked at Rika while awaiting a response.

As the door slowly came to a halt, Rika collapsed to his knees, letting out several slow, deep breaths of air. However, these weren't of exhaustion as they may have seemed, but of relief. Rika took one final deep breath, exhaling before turning to Lucian. His mind still wasn't completely sure what had happened, as it was a tad scatterbrained, but Rika was sure of one thing; The two of them were alive. Turning towards the wall, Rika looked at the small entranceway that spat out a small, steady stream of water. "Well. . . I don't think there's any possibility of us returning through that path, unless you think you can swim in a small tunnel against a current, I mean." He glanced over to the other door they could somewhat see. "Although breaking the door wouldn't be much of a problem, getting over there may present some sort of issue. This distance looks a bit too far for us to jump, especially due to the elevation of the flooring over there."

Rika stopped and stared at the ground, trying to get a grasp on his thoughts. "Give me a moment, I may have a solution." Rika stood still, seemingly doing nothing at all. However, he was doing far from nothing. Rika's mind raced as thoughts clashed against one another, concept after concept and idea after idea. There was one spell he knew of that would help here, the Jump spell. However, his knowledge of how to cast the spell was a little limited. What would help him cast it. . . ?

Perhaps the properties of some of his current spells could assist. Straight Shooting is somewhat similar of a concept, after all; An empowerment that allows the selected target to ignore natural laws. In the case of Straight Shooting, it applies to the forces of wind, and in the case of the Jump spell, it was gravity. Although their actual effects had quite differing effects, the spells themselves didn't vary much on a base level. Along with this, he had the Wind spell. The air force generated by Wind has the capability of lifting lighter objects into the air. Although this is due to the wind and not some sort of magical effect, the wind itself is still magically created, so perhaps it could be applied too.

Rika stood there thinking in silence for a few minutes brainstorming, completely shutting off Lucian and ignoring him if he said anything. Suddenly, this dead silence from Rika was broken as he happily exclaimed, "Alright, I've got it! Damn I'm smart!" Running over to Lucian, he slapped him on the back. The Hylian would feel a surge of magical energy wash over him as his body would feel incredibly light. Though he would not be anymore agile than he was previously, he would find that he could jump far more than before, easily able to clear the gap in front of them.

"It's not as good as it could be, but sadly my mind's still a tad scattered, I'll think about how to improve it while we're not doing anything." Rika quickly said with a tinge of joy in his voice as he ran, leaping over the gap to the over side and landing on his feet. It was probably a bit strange of a sight to see him in a joyful mood after having just been so terrified, but that is what massaging someone's pride can do, and Rika was extremely prideful.

Lucian leaned against the door for a moment while Rika gathered his thoughts. Magic must be a pretty amazing thing, he thought, determined to make its power his own after this adventure. There was a brief moment of respite between the two, before Rika had a bit of an epiphany, it seemed, as he complimented his own intelligence and slapped Lucian on the back before making an astounding leap to the other side of the chasm. A strange, though comforting feeling of....power, seemed to rush through him. His body strangely felt much lighter, like he was but a feather on the wind. Amazingly enough, that's almost equivalent to what he actually weighed, he found, as he too attempted the same leap.

It was a rush he had never felt before. More than the adrenaline, pumping through his veins in the heat of combat, while he anticipates the every move of his opponent. It was an ethereal, weightless feeling fluttering through his heart, surging through his muscles and stretching through his bones as he landed his powerful leap, rolling onto his side as a result of landing somewhat unevenly on the wooden walkway. He rolled onto his knees, eventually making his way back onto his feet. He walked towards the door, where Rika was waiting. He took a look at the lock. It seemed like a fairly secure, sturdy, and complex lock, but the same couldn't be said of its chains. They were corroded, and began to show sign of breakage along several points in its links. A bomb, if not a sturdy blow from his axe, would be able to remedy their dilemma thus far. A single bomb was plated alomg the chain. It was ready to blow.

It fuse burned, Lucian counting the seconds. By the time he got to one in his head, the bomb exploded and steel shards went flying. Some of them flew past his face harmlessly, while others collided and cut or embedded themselves into his skin. The sting of the cuts, they hurt the most though. The slight stings and faint red lines of blood tgat slowly dripped down his face after concentrating in the lowest point of the line. It looked fearsome, but it still hurt like hell.

He walked into wherever the door lead, a replacement torch held in his right hand as his feet struck...surprisingly solid ground. More solid than the water and wood they had grown accustomed to here, though. It felt far more sturdy and compact beneath his feet than the decaying wood of the Deku Tree ever could. The path had moss growing along the sides of the path and along its earthen walls which surrouned the path, which was barely any taller than Lucian and only about three feet wide. Ahead of the duo, the path seemed to elevate and head towards the right, possibly curving up, but for now the most they could do was follow the path to its end.

And so they did. The path spiraled upward for what Lucian guessed was about ten to fourteen feet aboce their original location. They came to a sort of roundish opening in the dirt, which really seemed like more of an oval to Lucian. He entered into the hole, and as his torch shined through the darkness, it was easily apparent that they weren't alone. Inside the room, which was barely ten feet high but at least twice, if more, as wide. There were a few things wrong here, the first and foremost being the presence of a Snapper, apparently being ridden around by an orangish creature known as a Gecko. Lucian shouted something at Rika about it and began to engage the Gecko and its pet.

Rika's joy turned to surprise as he saw Lucian set the bomb on the chains, then stand in range. Rika clung to the side of the wall as he shouted, "What are you doing-", but it was a bit too late. The explosion went off, and Lucian found several small fragments of steel chain cutting into his flesh. Rika was hesitant to give a reply, as he didn't think someone could really be that dumb despite having used bombs so much. Rika sighed and hung his head, shaking it. "You're just gonna get yourself killed. . ." He muttered aloud, following Lucian into the door.

It was immediately strange to Rika that they had entered a dirt pathway instead of wood, considering the lack of earth around the Great Deku Tree. Well, it wasn't impossible for it to be in the Deku Tree, considering there are doors inside of him. Eventually, the pathway reached an end point, breaking off into a rather short but wide room. This was immediately strange to Rika. Although before they had encountered undead creatures and vermin, this was a sentient, living animal. What was it doing in here? Rika wasn't going to hesitate to find out. Quickly establishing a link, Rika channeled his thoughts to the creature's mind. "What are you doing here?" The creature let out a croaking laugh with his voice, before telepathically responding to the Kokiri.

"Fresh meat?~ This'll be fun, kill, kill!~" The Gekko shouted as its voice rung in Rika's mind, just before the Snapper dashed swiftly towards Rika. Jumping to the side, Rika fired the Ice spell at the ground, forming a medium sized chunk of ice where his feet just stood. The Snapper, unaware of its surroundings, hopelessly charged into the block of ice, flipping over onto its back several feet away as it was carried by the momentum of the impact. The Gekko leaped from its back as this happened, gluing itself to the wall as it frantically scurried across the sides, almost untrackable to the unattentive.

As this happened, Rika pointed his hand at the immobile Snapper, a large circle forming underneath. Mere moments later, a massive, dirt Spire launched from the ground, slamming into the Snapper's shell and sending it flying into the air, bouncing as it spun like a pinball machine before eventually landing. However, its shell was incredibly durable, and it barely seemed to even have inflicted even a scratch.

The Gekko bounced back and forth before leaping at Rika, swiftly swinging at him with its left fist and swiping with its right claw as it flew past. The Kokiri attempted to dodge to the left, but was a little too slow, its claws slashing across Rika's cheek and drawing blood. The Gekko landed a few meters away and immediately stopped to lick up the small drops of the Kokiri's blood it had gathered from the swipe. Without taking his eyes off the Gekko, Rika spoke seriously to Lucian. "This thing is bloodthirsty, and fast. -Extremely- fast. Cover my back and I'll watch yours, our blind spots are the biggest weakness in this fight. . . But don't forget about the Snapper." The Gekko had already finished lapping up the drops of blood it had collected, returning to rebounding off the walls like a child made of sugar and goat milk.

"Gotcha."

He eyed the Snapper-riding Gekko caitiously, searching for a vulnerability. A high speed and a strong shell...that could work against him, Lucian thought. It was a simple matter of directing the shell, which he could easily manage through a spin attack and a few clever bombs...but how would I separate them? Maybe I can fake him out with a helm splitter as a diversion, but plant some bombs along the way..., all of this ran through his mind a moment of concetration and study.

It would have to do. "Hold the torch and give me some cover," he said, passing the torch back to Rika without taking his eyes off the Gekko. The Gekko moved first, unfortunately. Without any distance between he and Rika, he couldn't possibly counter with a spin attack unless he wanted to lop him in two, which wasn't an option, frankly. Thinking quickly, he parried the Snapper's sell with a single axe, forcing it to a screeching halt as its durable shell grinded against the iron of his axe. Deftly, he drew his second axe into his left hand, and swung wide at the Gekko on top, not caring if hit or missed. Anything for some distance, he thought, as he felt the sharp claws of the Gekko whiz by his face in a blur. It didn't matter any more, he knew he wasn't going to gain any distance unless he moved and made it himself. For just an instant, he dropped his axe and dextrously worked his way into his Bomb Bag, pulling out a single sphere.

Its fuse was lit. He began mentally counting down the seconds, from five to four, then four to three. Then a short, lackluster toss llanding it directly behind the Snapper. A bit of a distraction for the Gekko, perhaps. Perhaps more than enough for him to manage a helm splitter, but it's likely that the bomb would detonate before he had the opportunity to finish his maneuver...but he had to try. Within an instant, he was already gliding through the air, his axe swinging down towards the gekko...his eyes shut tight as he braced himself for the detonation of the bomb.

As Lucian passed the torch to the Kokiri, he frowned slightly. How was he supposed to fight with a scythe while holding this? The Gekko had gotten back on the Snapper, and the duo charged at Lucian, the Hylian man stopping them in their tracks with one of his axes, following by a swipe of the second axe towards the Gekko. However, it quickly jumped off, the Snapper bouncing away as it landed back on the turtle creature. Dropping his axe, Lucian drew a bomb, tossing it behind the Snapper. Just as it exploded, he rather recklessly leaped forward towards the Gekko, axe held high in the air as he soared. However, the Gekko somewhat unsurprisingly abandoned the Snapper, leaping off and letting it take the blow of the attack. The bomb exploded, shrapnel penetrating the fleshy belly of the Snapper as it spun back, flying towards Lucian.

His axe collided with its bottom, tearing into it and almost ripping it apart if not for the thick shell on the other end. However, the Snapper was sent flying back and most likely did not survive such an assault. The Gekko was still alive, however. Bouncing to and fro, it was almost difficult to keep track of. However, one thing was for sure, while it was fast, it wasn't smart. It acted purely on instinct and bloodlust, and that could be abused. Taking his hand wielding the scythe, Rika lightly brushed his cheek, blood running over his fingertips as he did. Lashing his arm forward, blood lightly splashed in the air, causing the Gekko to go wild. It croaked louder and louder, leaping viciously at the Kokiri without any hesitation, dashing for the blood that was now on the floor and the Kokiri's feet.

However, the Gekko was met with a surprising reaction. The Kokiri leaped high above the Gekko as it passed underneath, far higher than expected. Rika spun around as he jumped, deftly throwing the lit torch towards the ground. It collided with the Gekko, setting it alight. Croaks of pain and terror could be heard as the Gekko panicked, flailing and rolling across the ground as it scrawled around, attempting to stop the pain. Stepping forward, Rika impaled the scythe end through the Gekko's body as it predictably rolled, killing it. The corpses seemed to rest there for a brief moment before exploding in the strange, light black smoke.

Looking around the room, aside from the hole they had climbed out of, there seemed to be a small tunnel to the right. Lucian would have to crouch, but the two of them could still probably fit. Rika bent over to pick up the still lit torch, turning towards Lucian and extending his arm to give it back to him. He wasn't going to carry it. Following that, Rika headed through the small tunnel, able to simply duck and walk through due to his size rather than having to crouch like Lucian probably did.

As they did, Rika started to think a little, now that his mind was a bit clearer. All of those Gohma Larvae. . . He shuddered to think back to it, but it was strange to him. So many, where did they come from? If there were that many, it could only mean one thing, there had to be a mother nearby. Was that the reason this Great Deku Tree had died? And what about that strange bunny they saw earlier? There were so many unanswered questions, but Rika decided to put the fact that there may be a colossal spider queen somewhere nearby in the back of his mind for now. He could worry about it later, like when she's trying to eat them.

As they reached the exit, they could hear the sound of a slowly running stream of water. As Lucian came out, the light illuminated the vicinity, though the room was a tad too big to be illuminated completely by one torch. The ground they were standing on currently seemed to break off into a small river-like stream of water, heading downward. Looking up, the duo would see small windows of light breaking into the otherwise complete darkness, but it was quite high up. Upon investigating the walls, they would find small torches fixated within, though they happened to be unlit. There didn't seem to be anything else immediately around them, but there seemed to be plenty more to the room than this.

Turning to face Lucian while still looking up, Rika nodded to himself as he spoke. "This is likely where we fell. Be careful not to fall in again, it'll be a lot of tedious work getting back up here."

"Yeah," Lucian said, studying their surroundings, "wouldn't want that to happen." He eyed where he suspected they fell from...that was quite a drop. Though perhaps the shock, and his own personal worry of drowning, had made it seem much shorter. Though it seemed their objective now was to instead move upward, this place seemed too wide and open to not have anything else to it. He moved around on the floor, carefully stepping around the currents that lay tangled on the floor, similar to a snake devouring itself.

A step here, a cautios, calculated leap there, feats of an acrobat which made him seem spectacularly more agile than he initially was. Having remaneuvered himself to the west, it became apparent that something...something horrific, was making its nest here. A small opening transformed into a large, rocky cavern. It was dark, but his torch provided some light...it became all too readily apparent to Lucian precisely what was happening here.

An enormous deflated red sac had began to decay in the corner of the room, with greenish-yellow liquid seeping from it. It was surrounded on all sides by eggs, though unlike its parent, these eggs were very much so alive! Red, pulsating egg sacs, with an offwhite membrane surrounding it...but what, what were they? Lucian couldn't possibly keep his mind off of it. His attentiin tention had been drawn in by the slow, rhythmic pulsations they produced. He began to crawl towards the eggs, cautiously, though not entirely aware of evertthing that lay hidden within this cavern...

There was a faint skittering from somewhere on the cieling of the cave. Lucian looked, but didn't see anything. And it happened again. And again. Lucian looked up finally, only about fifteen feet from the eggs now. A humongous, orange colored eye with a green iris stared back at him before nearly killing him as it dropped to the floor. It let out some kind of...chitter, bringing its hind legs up, it seemed, as well as revealing a large stinger, similar to a scorpion's tail. It stabbed at Lucian, yet just barely missed, Lucian rolling out of the way in the nick of time.

The Kokiri carefully traveled to the other side of the room, made easier due to the Jump spell. He could easily leap over the various twists and tangles of currents that decorated the floor, not succumbing to the liquid pitfalls. Soon, they reached a small opening in the wood, which opened up into a massive cavern. As they entered the cavern, Rika shuddered in fear upon seeing the egg sacs. His worst fear had been realized. His mind trailed back to the Gohma Larvae and the thought of a queen. Maybe they would get lucky, and she wouldn't be here. . .

Rika heard a fairly faint skittering, and frantically scanned the floor for a sign of the spider-like creatures. More Gohma Larvae? More skittering. His eyes scanned across the walls and finally reached the ceiling, before spotting it. "Watch o-!" Rika stopped, mouth agape in shock as he saw the target; the queen. Its massive, pulsating orange eye sporadically zoomed left and right, as if examining the ground below before locking its sights onto Lucian. The creature slammed into the ground, lightly vibrating the area as it landed where Lucian just was, the Hylian barely managing to avoid being flattened.

Rika was quite familiar with this creature; Gohma, the parasitic armored arachnid. It was a parasitic, spider like creature known to enter large host bodies and slowly sap their life away. The Great Deku Tree was no exception, and this was probably the cause of the death of the Great Deku Tree. It was a vicious queen known to lay numerous children, Gohma Larvae, which swarm the insides of the host body to take control. It would explain the outbreak of Gohma Larvae the two saw earlier, though such a number seemed rather large. It would had to have been in here for quite some time to lay such a quantity.

As the Gohma stabbed at Lucian, it swung its body at Rika, but the Kokiri couldn't move. His legs wouldn't. He was knocked to the ground, landing on his stomach. Why couldn't he fight, why?! It's not even like this was the strongest thing he had fought. Was he just going to let the Great Deku Tree die for no reason and allow the creature to survive? What was even the reason for leaving the forest to obtain the power to protect it, if he can't even defeat the creature destroying it?

That's right. . . protecting the forest. That's why Rika left in the first place. That's why. . .

That's why he's in this part of the forest. Lucian is fighting to protect it too, even though he didn't even know of its existence until now. Can he really just sit around doing nothing when others are fighting too? Wait. . . the forest! The forest's conditions were pretty poor, a single Gohma couldn't have inflicted this much damage on it. It wasn't just a matter of avenging this Great Deku Tree, if he died, the forest's condition would become more and more severe. He had to act, he had to find the true source of this damage inflicted upon the forest, there was no way an excuse like fear would be accepted.

Gripping his scythe, Rika rolled onto his back, slashing forward. The Gohma, approaching to finish its prey, was met with a horrid surprise as the scythe's sharp edge slashed across its delicate, squishy eye. Mad chittering noises echoed through the cavern as the Gohma cried out in pain. It heard a voice echo in its mind as Rika spoke. "I cannot- no, I will not allow you to do whatever you wish in my forest!" He pushed himself back, jumping back a short distance due to the help of the Jump spell.

He quickly barked out a command to Lucian, a newly found determination in his voice. "This thing is strong, we'll have to attack it together! It won't be able to attack both of us at once, get ready!" Though fear still shook at the very core of Rika's emotions, something even stronger than that emotion allowed him to continue moving. It wasn't survival, however, but pride.

Lucian rolled to his stomach as he pushed himself up of the rocky floor. He got up soon enough to watch as Gohma attempted to attack Rika but aa squishing noise filled whatever ambience was left between the sounds of combat -- the eggs had hatched! Lucian shifted his attention to the larvae as he prayed Rika could fend off the Queen for now.

Six of them, total. These larvae were different, however, appearing with more chitinous shells than regular larvae, larger eyes, and developed stingers that waved above their eyes menacingly. They stood upon two long, thick legs similar to their mother's own. Yellowed retinas turned an alarming red, as they closed onto Lucian. A jabbing strike from of them was parried with his axe; though, his other hand still grasping their light source, he would be unable to niether attack nor defend against other attacks. Rika hollered at Lucian about a combined attack, though he was currently too pinned down to do anything about it. "Think you can fight with a little less light?" He shouted towards Rika, struggling to parry their attacks.

The torch dropped. The room darkened to but a blaze, shadows stretching towards the cieling. He deftlt drew his other axe, executing a spin attack in an effort to at least distance him from the group. He struck four of their soft, jelly-like eyes, a screech of anger resounding from them. Their eyes flashed a brief red before yet again jabbing at him. He could better protect himself now, though, and with quick, powerful strikes nearly severed at least two of their tails. He executed another spin attack, slaying all but two as their brethren's shells clattered to the stony floor. This was more manageable, he thought, as he struck quickly at one during the brief period it flashed its reddish color. Easily, it was slain, though one still remained. Flipping over his last opponent, he executed a helm splitter, nearly slicing its stinger in half as bluish juices splattered onto the surrounding environment. His axes, at this point, looked like a child had absentmindedly and carelessly scrawled paint on them. A moment later, and he had sheathed an axe and held the torch yet again. This would be simple enough, he supposed it not being capable of taking much more than it already had.

"Rika! Arebyou ready?" He yelled, closing in on Gohma while keeping his eyes on its larva.

As Rika shouted at Lucian, he noticed several Gohma Larvae spawn. No, they weren't just larvae, they were beyond that. Lucian shouted about light, and Rika felt himself wince slightly. He was able to move now, but in the darkness? He had no choice though, he had to if Lucian was to fight. "Drop it!" With that, the area darkened, illuminated only slightly by the glowing Gohma eggs. Along with this, Gohma herself provided vision, or at least a target. Her pulsing orange eye glowed brightly, revealing her body within the shadows.

Pointing his palm forward, wind surged and launched, flying straight for Gohma's eye. However, the eyelid slammed shut, the wind seemingly dispersing against nothing. Worse for Rika though, was the darkness. Gohma was completely and utterly undetectable by sight. "Shit!" He panicked, quickly starting to run for anything to provide cover as the stomping rampage of the arachnid was heard. Stumbling in the dark, Rika dropped his scythe to catch himself as he jumped forward, leaping ahead. A second later, the walls shook as Gohma collided with the nearby wooden wall. Though she couldn't see him without giving herself away, Rika couldn't see her either during that, and it was a far bigger disadvantage for him, he had to make some light somehow.

Looking around, Rika saw the large, nearby eggs that had not quite hatched yet. Maybe those would work. . . He apologized internally to the Great Deku Tree as he pointed his palm towards it, light generating as flames were channeled at his hands. Firing forward, the egg exploded in a mass of flames and caught fire, illuminating the room and creating more shadows. Though not completely visible, it was far superior to pitch darkness, and such a large creature as Gohma couldn't hope to hide in the remaining shadows. Hopefully the fire wouldn't spread, at the very least.

The Gohma had made its way up the wall and to the ceiling during the time Rika spent lighting the eggs on fire. Without his scythe on hand, Rika would have to resort to his seldom used backup weapons; his daggers. Gripping one in his left palm, Rika leaped high into the air, swiping at the Gohma's eye as it opened to perceive the situation. However, due to the shorter length of both Rika and the dagger, he fell short of the eye's striking distance by a few feet, falling to the ground. "Shit, I just need a little more. . . I can figure this out!" Rika swiftly rolled up and to the side, ducking behind one of the few pillars decorating the room as the Gohma landed just where he was.

As he contemplated how to go higher, he heard Lucian call out from somewhere in the room. "Yeah, a little busy here, thanks!" His voice echoed, followed by the sound of rocks being destroyed as the Gohma's scorpion-like tail slammed into the pillar Rika was just under and destroying it.

"Shit!" Lucian yelled as he heard the pillar collapse. He looked towards towards the barely mobile hatchling; a single blow would most likely dispatch it. Gripping his axe loose, comfortably, he struck like lightning, his axe caught by the eyelid of the creature. He felt it cease whatever movements it had left, a sure sign it was squashed like the pest it was.

He looked towards Rika, the torch beginning to burn again. He managed to watch his failed attempt at hitting Gohma, and began looking for its single, almost glowing eye. Right above Rika. Lucian reached into his bomb bag and hurled a bomb at its eye, hitting it directly in its central ocular organ. Its eye immediately began bubbling from the searing heat. It released whatever grasp it had on the sealing and immediately plummeted to the floor. Lucian ran as the insectoid began a frenzy, hellbent on striking flesh, though due to its rended eye, could barely manage to even detect the outlines of their bodies.

"Do whatever you need to do, Rika, I can hold it off for now," Lucian spoke calmly, defending against whatever attacks came towards the two.

Rika dove out of the way as fireworks exploded overhead, followed by a large spider landing where he just was. Was Lucian trying to kill him or something?! However, it seemed to visibly damage the arachnid, literally, its orange eye bubbling hot and almost completely ruining its vision. The queen was nothing more than a violent, thrashing mess at this point, unable to make out any semblance of detail. She rushed directly past the duo, slamming into the wall before climbing up and thrashing violently against the ceiling. What was she trying to do, was she just going mad and lashing out against whatever was around her?

Regardless, they couldn't fight her up there, but they couldn't reach her as they were now. Rika just had to give it a little more magic. . . Focus on the wind. Rika took this moment while Gohma was on the ceiling to contemplate the spell. It shouldn't be too difficult, if he already had the spell, it just required a little creative thinking. The time for thinking was over, though, he had to do it. Leaping high into the air, he seemed to almost freeze midair, for just a moment, as if there were a platform under him. For just a moment as this happened, wind seemed visible underneath him, as if pushing him down, but the nearby Lucian might notice that he did not actually feel any sort of gust.

Landing once more, he turned to Lucian and slapped him on the back. "Alright, time for our combo while she's blinded. Go up there and knock her down, you can jump like I just did." Rika's eyes widened as he noticed that Gohma wasn't simply rampaging at all. A small hole had started to form in the ceiling from her rampaging, and it would just grow. "Hurry!" Rika barked towards Lucian after noticing this. She couldn't be allowed to escape, she would die here.

Lucian rose. He rose faster than the yeast in baking bread; he rose faster than a soaring eagle, and finally with a swift, decisive stroke of his axe, Gohma fell to the floor. A smooth, clean strike penetrated her eye, cutting through the jelly like materialcof it so easily that for a moment Lucian pondered if he would simply slice her in half. But he didn't, though the speed and force of his attack managed to make the bug lose its grip on the cieling, revealing the small tunnel it had burrowed underneath itself as an impromptu escape route. However, it would not leave this place alive. This place it had desecrated would be its grave.

Lucian rose like boiling water, slamming his axes into the Gohma's eye like fine noodles splashing harshly against the searing water. The squishy eye tissue separated like rich spaghetti sauce as the axe blade tore through, Gohma letting out a chittering cry not unlike the hissing heard from a lid over boiling spaghetti. Gohma's legs disconnected from the ceiling above, dropping as they flailed at anything, anything at all to hit. Its stinger swung wildly, but like a hand to spaghetti it was unable to grab anything. As it fell, a massive, glowing circle formed under it.

Inches away from colliding with the ground, a massive, wooden Spire shot up at incredible speeds, piercing through Gohma's thick outer armor like a starving man devouring a bowl of spaghetti. Its body moved one final time, before quickly coming to a halt. There was a brief, still silence in the air as Rika's mind felt relief was over. This Great Deku Tree's death was avenged. The silence was short, however, as it was soon replaced with a shimmering, a glowing.

The Deku Tree was, specifically. A powerful, blinding light shone, lasting for several seconds and completely denying Rika and Lucian of any vision. The Kokiri attempted to shield his eyes, but it didn't help his vision in the slightest. The light soon died down, and when Rika opened his eyes once more, he was met with a completely different view. They were outside, where the Great Deku Tree's corpse once was, but the Great Deku Tree was nowhere to be found.

Along with this, the immediate area's previous sickening swamp-like appearance had been replaced with an open, peaceful looking meadow. "What. . . just happened?" Rika asked himself aloud, looking around and trying to regain his bearings. Why was it so. . . peaceful looking? Were they in a different area? No. . . although healthier, it definitely looked like the area they were in before entering the Great Deku Tree. Plus, looking further, beyond the fresh green grass, Rika could see more sickness. Their work wasn't over just yet, it was only this small part they had healed. This. . . curse still had a long way to go.

As Rika was about to talk to Lucian, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, light. It was a glowing yellow hare, the one that had led them here. Was this its intention? Upon seeing the two of them notice him, the hare quickly darted off, into the sickening miasma that lay deeper into the forest. It was leading them to the places to cure the forest, it had to! "Let's hurry and follow it!" Rika shouted to Lucian, before darting after it. While taking a short rest would be nice, saving the forest is far more important.

-Continued in Skull Woods-

End​

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