Woodfall Temple [WillowthePanther]

Floating down gently through the leaves of the tree, a spinning deku leaf attached to his back, Olias was deep in thought. A mysterious temple... he thought to himself, all at once intrigued, yet frightened, of the prospect. He was here both on assignment and personal agenda; on the one hand, he was to search the temple, and eliminate that which would be a threat to the Business Scrub Association. For himself, he wondered if perhaps there would be powerful magic here, for how else does a large structure simply appear from thin air? He toyed with the metal bound around his wrists absentmindedly, like an itch that never went away.

So consumed in thought was he that he never noticed the Female Scrub beneath him, that is until she froze the water near the entrance of the temple, jumped onto the resulting ice, and to the other side. Drawn out from his inner musings, he looked down at what he considered to be an intruder upon his business. Blinking a few times, unsure of how to react to the situation, he simply kept silent as he quietly continued to drift down, on course to land behind her as she started her way into the building. "Hey!" he called out, hands forming an "O" around his snout.

He landed not long after his shout, feet grazing the ground, then planting themselves firmly upon it as he removed his Deku Leaf. "You there! Are you aware that this place is dangerous, and could pose a significant threat to your health? More over, do you even have a warrant to be here?" Olias spoke loudly, pulling out crumpled papers from on of his varied and many pockets. Brushing them off and straightening them as best he could, he presented them as officiously as he could. Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing that the "warrants" that he held had probably originated from the female standing before him, in the first place.

Olias was so taken aback for a moment that it took him a moment to respond, simply standing there in silence now not-so-proudly displaying his papers. "... Oh." He managed to say, thankfully without a squeak to his voice, or weakly whispering it out. Folding his papers neatly, though they would never crisply do so again, he placed them into an inner pocket of his vest. Coughing in a balled fist awkwardly for a moment, while he regained his composure, Olias seemed to be trying his very best not to appear the fool. But even he could tell that his efforts were contrived. "I see." He continued, in response to Prici so kindly letting him know that it was her signature that he'd been holding just a few moments earlier.

There was something about this Scrub, however. Usually members of his own race rubbed him the wrong way. While he did find her authoritative manner to thus far be grating, she didn't seem to harbor him any ill will; rather it was as if he were a minor inconvenience, getting in the way of her job. He couldn't decide if that bothered him or not, but at the very least, he respected it. When otherwise he might have decided to simply ignore her, Olias actually decided to introduce himself. Neither of them would be going anywhere, of that he was sure: he wasn't about to leave, and if he was right about her, neither was she. For the time being, for better or worse, they would be walking the same path.

"Olias Storm, Business Scrub, though perhaps I don't exactly look the part." He said wryly, gesturing to his body, which was small and compact like that of a normal Deku Scrub, rather than an actual Business Scrub. Scratching at his wrists again, feeling the cold metal against his fingers, he continued. "Here to investigate the anomaly that is this temple, and exterminate anything that might be considered a threat to the Association. Moreover, should the opportunity present itself, I am to take any action that would be beneficial to our cause, such as acquiring any monetary treasure, or otherwise, that might be of use to us." He chose to be frank with her, for he sincerely doubted that he knew anything more about this place than she. If he lied to her now, about his presence and intentions, who could know what disaster would befall him? It wasn't as if he was altogether invested in the Association's "best interests" anyways.

Olias nodded his head in agreement, fully aware that removing anything from the temple could easily bring harm to himself, and those who come into contact with said dark magics. Despite the seriousness of their discussion, he couldn't help but be distracted by the opposite scrub's rather curious tic. He wondered to himself if the "pii" she added at the end of each sentence was significant of anything, or if it was simply a part of the way she spoke. He chose not to bring it up, though. I've got some strange habits myself. he mused, feeling the cold burn of the iron manacles. Returning back to their conversation, Olias could only laugh as she mentioned his lack of appearing like a seasoned warrior. Which was largely because he was not, but as she said, the Business Association had not sent him without cause. "I will try my best to not burden you.... Miss." The words felt a little strange, Olias unused to the stiff and formal word. But he didn't feel comfortable calling her by her name; perhaps it was because he felt she would be slighted by it, or that they simply were not familiar enough to address each other as friends would. Either way, he was not sure.

He shrugged to himself, as she walked away from him. There was naught for it. As she began to play her music, Olias felt the tell-tale rumblings of stone shifting. Bracing himself as she did, he watched, not entirely surprised, as a set of stairs slowly rose up from the ground, then settled into place. Not waiting around to see if anything else happened, the Deku jogged up the steps briskly, wooden feet clapping against the hard rock. Cresting the top, he took a moment to take in the gaping, dark hole that was the entrance to the site. Without hesitation, he plunged into the darkness.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the dim light of the temple's interior, Olias was rather unhappy to discover that they were, indeed, not on the ground floor. In fact, the entrance put them upon a ledge in a large room, with a rather long fall to the ground, where who-knew-what was waiting for the unfortunate. There were other platforms, sparsely splattered across the room, though none in jumping distance. And across the way, on the opposite wall, stood a door that presumably led deeper into the temple. Olias let out a heavy sigh. He looked back at Prici. "I don't suppose that song of yours would build us a bridge to that door over there, would it?" He asked wryly, though he secretly hoped the answer was yes.

Olias sighed. Well, at least that solved it, though it certainly seemed like a lot of work. At least, that's what he kept thinking to himself, watching her fly around wildly in the air. Grabbing upon his Deku Leaf, he stepped upon the large pink flower, allowing himself to be sucked into its depths below ground. He could not get over the unsettling feeling of being underground, in a small, enclosed space. It made him feel like a root vegetable. In his opinion, plants were meant to breath, and being underground certainly did not help with that. Shot up high into the air, Olias was not long after Prici in landing upon the opposite side of the room.

"I am glad to be with someone so capable." He said rather dryly, though he was completely serious. She seemed very much able to handle herself, if her antics just now was any signal of that. He knew very few Deku, much less people at all, that would have been capable of the same feat just now. In all honestly, he felt bad for the bug whom she had commandeered, held hostage, then unceremoniously dismounted from. But at least the two had made it across without too much event. Well, if you considered leaping onto an overgrown bug, and threatening it to do your bidding, to be nothing out of the ordinary, anyways.

So far this strange "temple" wasn't so bad, but it was bound to only get worse from here on out. "Ladies first, as they say." He said, motioning to the door with a slight nod. Business scrubs were known for their shrewd business sense, not their sense of chivalry. If there was something beyond that door that could tear him apart, Olias at least wanted to know about it before walking to his demise. But it was more likely that whatever was behind the door would get torn apart by Prici, instead. Which was all for the better, all things considered.

Glade I let her go first. Olias quietly thought to himself, watching as she damn near stumbled into the foul looking liquid. She seemed to dance off the top of it, flying though the air relatively gracefully. As she landed upon her self-made ice, she looked around the room, Olias doing the same. As before, several large dragonflies flitted about the room, their silvery wings casting near-invisible rainbows along the walls. Olias would have been happy to paint this room, or some other sedentary activity to admire its beauty, but that was difficult when the room itself was deadly. "Ah well..." He muttered, shrugging to himself. Too bad.

"You certainly are courageous!" Olias yelled out to Prici, as she jumped atop a flower, his hands cupped around his mouth. He wasn't lying, either, but he didn't exactly feel that she was being as wise as she should be. At the very least, though, she was making it apparent that he shouldn't come into contact with the water, and that the plants were safe to them. At least, for now. The poison wasn't much of a problem though, at least for someone with a deku leaf. There wasn't a flower in the room, at least as far as he could see, but he wasn't one to be left behind. Grabbing one of the lead pellets in his pouch, grasping it tightly in his right fist, he began to pour magical energy into the small projectile.

Simultaneously, he waved his other hand in the air, muttering a few words, tiny translucent wings appearing by his feat as his incantation finished. Then grabbing hold of his Deku Leaf with that hand, he began to run at the water ahead of him. Casting forth the pellet, covered in blue eldritch energies, he continued running with abandon. The lead sphere struck the surface, freezing it solid just as Prici had done several moments earlier. Leaping from the land, Olias flew high into the air, his jump enhanced by the Jump spell. Landing upon the newly made platform, skidding across it, the Deku used it as a launch pad to throw himself into the air again, his Deku Leaf held up into the air. He floated down gently next to Prici, once again chanting his words of magic, the same tine wings appearing at Prici's feet. "You should be jumping higher now, though it may take a few tries to get used to." He explained matter-of-factly.

(Oh, I totally didn't notice you posted. You should bug me to post more )

Olias wasn't long in following Prici, landing upon the other side very shortly after her, having vaulted into the air and used his Deku Leaf to gently glide over. She seemed to be deep in thought when he got there, but he decided to speak nevertheless. "You know, I find this place strange, and in more than just a 'How did this get here?' sort of way." he began, looking back down at the acidic liquid down below. "While that, in and of itself, is a very good question, the very nature of this building strikes be as odd. It's not so much a temple, as it would seem a stronghold, or maybe even a vault. All this," Olias motioned to the whole room, "would suggest that there is something in here worth protecting or containing. What that is, your guess is as good as mine, but it might explain the sudden appearance of this temple."

But the Snapper remained frozen, and Olias fully intended to take advantage of that. His hand fell, finger pointed accusingly at the Snapper. "Hold it!" He barked out, his words like a death sentence to the Snapper. A rune of magic gleamed to life just below the overgrown turtle, but it was helpless to save itself. Simultaneously, Olias' other hand darted to a pouch at his side, grasping a Glow Seed. Casting it forth to the other Snappers, the tiny projectile collided with them, exploding in a cascade of light particles, temporarily blinding and distracting them. "Take that!"

Now that he had bought himself time, he ran towards Prici, his snout glowing a bright green. This was going to be awkward, but he wasn't sure how else to go about transferring the spell. Well, there was naught for it. Grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her to face him, he looked her straight in the eyes, with complete and utter seriousness. "Shall I steal a kiss from thee, o fair maiden?" Without even waiting for so much as a reply, he plunged his face into hers, their snouts crashing together with a Clack!. As the green energy siphoned itself into Prici's face and snout, the Spire spell he had cast before came into being, skewering the frozen Snapper.

The strike sent him staggering back, his torso firmly frozen to the wall that he now rest upon. "I've been given the cold shoulder before, but this is ridiculous..." Olias muttered to himself, all together amused and annoyed at the same time. But he couldn't say he was surprised at all, by her actions. At the very least, he took satisfaction in the watching her proceed to discover the magic he had imbued her with, and subsequently make short work of the remaining snappers, the two remaining shelled creatures flailing about on their backs. Olias cursed himself for being stuck to the wall, a very awkward position to land the finishing blow on their enemies.

Grunting, hands glowing red with magical fire, he proceeded to melt the ice on his chest using his Fire Enchantment spell, the heat enough to melt away the ice in a few moments. However, the two snappers were already beginning to rock themselves back and forth, quickly building momentum to throw themselves back onto their bellies. he did not have time to attack both. "I'll get that one!" Olias yelled out, pointing a finger at the first Snapper that Prici had downed. Pulling out his sling swiftly, he loaded it with a bullet and began to swing it in circles methodically, the thrum of the cord singing out. Channeling the red energy still surrounding his hands into the sling bullet, he let go of the release cord, the sling bullet whistling through the air.

Crack! The heavy pellet struck the weak underbelly of the Snapper. Olias was glad that his target was large, else he may not have hit it upon his first throw; thankfully, it was. The bullet struck the shell loudly, causing the brittle material to crack, then shatter, as the turtle exploded into flame.

Olias sighed in relief. Glad that was over. Now he had to deal with the rather awkward aftermath of the battle. Walking over to Prici, he scratched at the back of his head. "Sorry about what I did. That particular spell requires contact with the area I want to empower. The alternative would have been essentially a hand straight to the face. I opted for a more... gentle alternative. I, uh, hope you aren't too offended." he awkwardly patted the other Deku's shoulder, not really sure how else to handle the situation.

Olias yelled out in alarm as the Dinolfos descended from the ceiling. This was not good, not good at all. The business scrub was more than able to handle himself against smaller and easier foes. Hell, he even felt comfortable doing battle with a Moblin. But Dinolfos were in a class of their own; not only did they wield a weapon anathema to all Deku Scrubs, but they were noted for being skilled combatants. To Olias, someone who relied more on trickery than actual skill to defeat an opponent, this was one of the worst enemies he could face. Both he and Prici were in significant trouble, and as much as he wanted to run, he knew that they likely had little choice but to stand and fight.

Reacting quickly to the situation at hand, shaking though his hands were, he deftly retrieved a small seed, star in shape and green, with a slight glow to it. Red power flowed into the seed just as he threw it, the Glow Seed hitting the ground at the Dinolfos' feet. The seed would flash brightly, the light given off by its particles enhanced by a momentary flash of flames. Olias already knew that the fire wouldn't do much, but harming the Dinolfos hadn't been the goal; a thick cloud of light would now surround the lizard man, obscuring its view ever so slightly. The hope was that it would be distracted enough to give Prici a moment to recover from her initial shock, and give her a chance to ready an attack, herself. Olias began to move as the seed left his hand, his tiny feet carrying him quickly towards a flanking position behind the Dinalfos.