You Can Heal Wounds, But Can You Heal Fear? [Eevachu + Blonde Panther]

Dungeon: Temple of Courage - Phantom Hourglass

Players/Characters:

• Eevachu - 40 Rupee Total
  • Belladonna 'Bell' Threshrow - 40 Rupees
• Blonde Panther - 40 Rupee Total
  • Lyra - Song of Healing(-20 Rupees), Sonata of Healing(-10 Rupees), and 10 Rupees

The clacking of horse hooves and the wheeling and turning of carts filled the air, met by the light jangling and bouncing of metal against metal, a clear indicator of armor. A small caravan made its way through a narrow, forest path, the thin, open trees surrounding them to make what would be a calming, peaceful stroll. A small handful of armored figures on horseback made up the perimeter surrounding the caravan, forming a rectangle with their formation. A lone girl in the back end of the caravan slumped over on her horse, staring blankly into the trees, a look of dissatisfaction on her face. Her objective was simple; escort this small caravan of merchants to and back from their destination. It wasn't a long journey, either; about a half of a day's journey from Hyrule Castle Town to a smaller village in the forests west of the city proper, and there was even a trail leading through the forest to the village. The problem was the mission itself.

The small caravan requested the protection of the Hyrulean Guard in response to a small bandit attack that had happened to another caravan recently. While it was reasonable, the job was still rather boring to Bell; bandit attacks were not very frequent in the area, and she had learned before departing a small band of thieves had been apprehended and jailed shortly after the assault, their likely suspects. Because of this, their protection was likely unnecessary, but Bell knew that this job wasn't just for a 'just-in-case' scenario. She was still being punished for her disobedience, by being assigned minor jobs such as this. At least she was getting a job that allowed her to leave Hyrule Castle Town again, though.

As they winded across the pathway, their destination came into view; a large clearing in the distance had various buildings and structures situated in it, likely houses and buildings of public domain. There was another building, however; set on the far side of town, a massive, round structure seemed to sit, stretching higher than than the trees that surrounded them. Bell's head perked up slightly at this, her interest slightly growing; it wasn't something she expected to see in a place like this. They would likely be in this village for some time, so it would be something worth investigating if she found herself lacking anything to do. That would come in time, though, as the caravan began to make its way into the village.

As the caravan passed through the sturdy gates to enter the village, small crowds formed to meet the merchants. Familiar, friendly terms and words came out from the merchants and villagers, a clear sign that they were well acquainted; these merchants likely came to and from this village relatively often. The caravan made its stop in front of a relatively smaller building, with well-formed openings cut in the wall to replace windows. As they moved with purpose once reaching the village, this must have been their go-to spot for business. A small handful of merchants began pulling bags, crates, and various other items out of their cart, leading them into the building.

As Bell climbed off of her horse, one of the merchants approached her. The girl stood tall and saluted as he approached. "We do not need protection while in the village, so you and your soldiers are free to do as you wish while we're here." With an affirmative nod, Bell responded, "I understand, sir. When will we be leaving?" The merchant seemed to think it over for a moment, before saying, "Likely tomorrow afternoon." Inside, all Bell could do was sigh defeatedly. She would be in this village for an entire day? There wasn't even any point in her coming here. However, the only words that escaped her mouth were, ". . . Yes sir. Please let me or my men know if you need any help." The merchant gave a nod, before returning to assist with unloading his merchandise.

As Bell stood there, contemplating what she might do for the remaining day, her silent thoughts were broken by an echoing scream. An older, female voice cried out, reverberating through the nearby buildings with loud, heart-wrenching cries, sobs, and screams. Jumping into action, Bell ran in the direction of the sobs to investigate. As she neared their origin, she found a Hylian woman sobbing and crying in a pile on the ground at the feet of a small handful of children, seemingly around the ages of eleven to twelve. Bringing her run to a hesitant stop, Bell slowly approached to find out what the problem was.

As Bell approached the woman, she saw a young girl dart out from the crowd of children to comfort the woman. Her daughter, perhaps? At least, that was what Bell thought until the girl spoke, dispelling Bell's notions that they may be related due to the girl's unfamiliar tone. The woman, tears pouring from her eyes like a roaring waterfall, choked out, "M. . . My baby, he's. . . !" She couldn't seem to find the words to finish, so Bell stepped forward, standing tall and proud. "Ma'am, I am a soldier of the Hyrulean guard. Please let me help you, what happened?" As she did, the woman proverbially threw herself at Bell's feet, crying out, "M-My baby, p-please save my . . . my baby!" Her baby? Bell slowly nodded, before speaking, "Of course, ma'am, I will do everything I can. For me to help, though, you need to calm down and tell me exactly what happened."

The woman tried to stabilize her breathing and stop her tears, and though she didn't succeed at quelling her emotions, she appeared to at least be able to speak. "Y-Yes. . . My baby- my son-, he w-went in the temple with his friends, even though he knew it was dangerous! I should have- I should have warned him more, about how dangerous it was, it's my fault!" She cried, causing Bell to shake her head. "No ma'am, it isn't your fault. It'll be okay, because I'll find your child." The woman didn't seem to react, though her crying had mostly subsided; instead, she was now just trembling on the ground, trying to recompose herself and stop her emotions from leaking out once more.

As Bell finished speaking to the woman, one of the children from nearby spoke up. "U-Um. . . miss?" A young boy around ten called out. "A-Are you really gonna save Henry?" He meekly questioned, to which Bell smiled at the boy. "Of course, it is my duty as a knight of Hyrule." As she said this, the boy suddenly spoke up, "T-Then please b-be careful! I-I'm Henry's friend, we went in there, a-as a trial to prove our courage, but then we got split up! I think I'm the only one that got out, the others are prolly still in there. . . Please save them miss knight!" The boy cried out, tears welling up in his eyes as he did so. That settled it for Bell, steeling her resolve towards her objective; Bell would have to save the children.

As Bell readied herself to leave, she was interrupted by another child. Turning to face her, it was the child who had been comforting the tear stricken lady. Yet, to her surprise and shock, this girl was not normal; she had green hair! Bell had never seen such a thing before, it was quite the surprise for her. As the girl introduced herself, Bell thought about who her parents might be. She looked to be a young teenager, yet she gave off an aura and presence of maturity that Bell had rarely seen in an adult, much less a child. Then, she did something completely surprising to Bell; she offered to join her and help. She seemed to be serious about assisting, and it was true that she rushed to the aid of the crying woman. Plus, she referred to herself as a healer; while Bell wasn't sure whether to believe her claims, she knew very little about the ways of magic beyond that it was a complex system capable of making itself known in many ways. With that in mind, she wouldn't be surprised to hear of a child that could cast restorative magic.

"I see. Having someone who knew the layout of the inside would be helpful. Truthfully, I'm not even sure where the temple is." Yet, despite that, the thought of bringing her still didn't sit right with Bell. "However, there are children trapped inside as is. I can't bring another child along, it is too dangerous inside." Even if she seemed somewhat odd for her age, she was still just a child, right? Somewhere like that was not where you would bring a child unless this were a JRPG.

Bell's eyes widened in shock when Lyra proclaimed her age. Surely she was joking, right? She was just a child, how could she be so old? Yet, her words and posture seemed to betray Bell's notion. Upon hearing it, Bell felt as though she had heard the term Kokiri before-yet, she couldn't place it. Her surprise widened even further as she pulled out a glowing, clearly magical fey-like creature. The girl had managed to accomplish one thing in regards to Bell, at least; Bell certainly didn't believe she was just a normal little girl anymore. While her words had no hard evidence behind them, they did not seem to hold any malice or deceit, and her demeanor and magical fairy were so abnormal Bell felt she had no choice but to believe her.

Slowly waking from her daze, Bell nodded. "Y. . . Yes, I suppose there would be monsters inside." Bell responded somewhat dumbfounded. The girl was ready to leap into the temple with no knowledge of what laid ahead to rescue the children, when meanwhile this girl had done research on the temple without even planning on entering. She was actually somewhat amazed by it, and it put into perspective for her how reckless she was about to be. With that in mind, child or not, there was no way she could refuse this girl's help, of which she had already provided quite a lot. She would likely have survived better in the temple than Bell alone, really!

"Then," Bell paused somewhat hesitantly, but continued after a moment, "it would be wonderful to have your help, Lyra." With a bow, she continued, giving her speech she typically did when introducing herself, "I am Belladonna Threshrow, a knight of Hyrule sworn to protect her people against those who would threaten to harm them. You may call me Bell if you wish." With her introduction, Bell returned to a standing position, adding, "Then please lead the way, Lyra." Hopefully this girl was as she said. If the guard found out about bringing a normal child into a situation such as this, Bell could forget being punished with reserves; she would be completely stripped of her title as a knight of Hyrule.

As they approached the temple, Bell was met with its full figure. Its make seemed to be primarily of stone, and it towered high above the girl; likely a few stories, at least, if she had to guess. It was hard to tell how long the temple was from her location, but it wouldn't surprise Bell if it went rather deep. The thick, imposing double door, possibly the only entry point- and exit point- of the temple, rest open, daring anyone that gazed upon them to enter. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Bell could feel the intensity of the temple wallowing up in her chest; once she entered here, she would be at constant threat from monsters and traps alike. Her gaze was broken as Hector spoke, snapping the knight out of her trance. "Right. Stick closely behind me." She responded, drawing her glaive and slowly proceeding ahead of Lyra past the front doors into the temple.

A dim light illuminated the wide room, the sparse torch resting upon the wall and providing at least enough light to visualize the interior. Occasionally, brown banners hung from the walls and carvings were engraved into them typically directly above the torches; they were all embroidered with a strange symbol Bell didn't recognize, though it was clearly important due to its repetition within the temple. Two staircases set on the other end of the room across from one another, leading up to another, wide connected floor. Though it was too dim on this level to make out other details, Bell could clearly see a door directly between the two staircases, illuminated by the symbol on it which let off a slight green light, beckoning the entry of those who surpassed the wide door entries. Glancing back at Lyra for a moment, Bell began to move forward, her muscles tensing anxiously as her grip tightened on the pole of her glaive. It seemed as though that was the only way for them to go, unless Lyra had any better suggestions. The Hylian kept alert for any monsters hiding within any dark spots that may choose to launch a surprise attack, whether on her or Lyra.

As Lyra called for Bell to stop and then for the boy that was trapped inside, Bell looked at her with an impressed gaze. That was a wise idea; if the boy was able to hear his name being called out, he would probably respond, which would make finding him far easier. Bell waited anxiously for any sort of response, but unfortunately for the two of them, there seemed to be nothing. ". . .Don't worry, it was a good idea. We can try again when we're deeper in." Bell consoled the girl, though she seemed to be focused on the next objective. As the Kokiri girl approached the torch, Bell nodded to herself. A source of light would be helpful to have; Bell wouldn't have been able to carry it while progressing with her glaive, but for Lyra she could.

However, the girl seemed to have difficulty reaching it due to her smaller size. With a hint of embarrassment in her voice, Lyra requested the aid of Bell. "Of course." The girl smiled, lowering her glaive and walking in the direction of the torch Lyra tried to reach. To be honest, Lyra wasn't that short; Bell was only half-a-foot taller than the girl, and while that was certainly a notable gap, it was not as severe as it would be for most Kokiri. Reaching the location of the torch, Bell reached out to grab it, pulling it out of its sconce attached to the wall. As she did so, however, Bell was met with a nasty surprise; the flame on the torch turned wicked, a foul grin forming on the flame as the torch came to life. It dropped from Bell's hands as the girl jumped back, her face inches away from being seared off by the flickering flame.

"What in the goddesses' name. . ." Bell called out in surprise as the dancing, aggressive torch on the ground came to life. Bell had never seen anything like this before. Were they some sort of magic? From a handful of torches across the room, a small number of other torches jumped out of their containers, bouncing towards the duo menacingly. Though they were mysterious and unknown to Bell, Lyra may recognize them as nothing else but Candleheads.

Bell's eyes widened as the torch collided with the wall, letting out a burst of force and tearing at air. It was like an animated bomb, bouncing towards its foe while its fuse slowly fizzled away. As Lyra spoke of keeping them busy, Bell nodded; the girl likely knew more of these creatures than she did, so perhaps she could discover a way to disable them quickly. It would be quite a trial of endurance to withstand them until they all inevitably exploded, after all.

Dropping her glaive, Bell quickly drew her sword and armed herself with her shield; the two of them, particularly the shield, would prove more useful in defending herself against these Candleheads than her glaive. As she did so, with a quick swipe, two of the Candleheads were lit. One frantically charged at Bell, while the other staggered shortly behind. The charging Candlehead leaped at the knight, intending to slam into the girl and explode, its fuse dwindling away with every second. With a quick jab of her shield, Bell bashed the Candlehead, bunting it away and sending it hurdling backward into the other torch lagging behind. The two collided with one another, sending them bundling back onto the ground before promptly exploding a short distance in front of the crouched and guarding girl.

As they dissipated, a few other torches bounced toward Bell from the side, though unlike their brethren she had dispatched a mere moments ago, they were unlit. With a wide swing forward, Bell arced her blade across the three Candleheads, attempting to slice the three of them to bits. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw that they appeared to be relatively unharmed by her slash, and what would have been a clean victory now left her wide open for retaliation. The three Candleheads pounced on the girl, knocking her to her feet. With a swing and bash of her arms, the girl threw herself to her feet, flinging the Candleheads off her body and onto the ground. Though they seemed to have sturdy bodies, they were seemingly harmless while unlit, and could do little to cause injury to her aside from knock her over. When they were lit, however. . .

Bell warily eyed down the Candleheads as they moved in a circular formation, as if they were attempting to catch the knight off-guard by spreading outward. Her eyes shifted between the three of them as they moved, her stance ready but unmoving; there was little she could do to harm them right now, so her job was simply to keep them pre-occupied while Lyra tried to figure out a solution. They appeared to be at a stalemate for the moment, but Bell would quickly learn she did not have the luxury to lower her guard even against them. Her eyes caught glance of a speck of flame, and turning to face it, she saw a Candlehead recklessly barreling towards her, its wick burning brightly in its trail. With a lash of her sword, Bell swung it like a bat and bunted the crazed Candlehead away, the wax creature bouncing back a short distance before mostly harmlessly exploding. With little time to react, her eyes caught wind of a second Candlehead, its head burning alight with flame as it leaped at her. Her shield arm lashed out to smack it away, but her reaction was a tad too late.

As her shield collided with the animate candle, it flew back a few feet before violently exploding midair, sending the girl catapulting backwards onto the ground. A groan escaped her lips as she desperately attempted to guard against the attack, but her extended shield arm left it difficult to block. As she came to, she felt a sharp pain coarse through her shield arm; a quick grip of her shield showed it was still functional, but the force of the blast against her shield definitely left her arm in an uncomfortable state. She would likely damage her arm to a degree that would affect her combat capability if she took another blast like that.

Her senses quickly began to return as she saw Lyra struggling on the ground with a creature. At first, Bell thought that the unlit Candleheads had overpowered her and were beating on her, but it quickly proved to be the opposite as Lyra stopped struggling and brought herself to her feet, a lone, inanimate torch resting at her feet and a thick, brown banner in her clasp. As Lyra shouted at Bell and tossed the worn banner to her side, it all came together in Bell's mind; that was brilliant of Lyra!

The thought of pouncing on a lit torch was reckless and dangerous, yet the girl did it anyway as a last ditch effort to succeed. She risked herself just to find a solution, yet what if it didn't work, and the Candlehead exploded in her arms? The thought trailed Bell's mind as she brought herself to her feet, face to face with the final Candlehead that was lit alongside a new, burning Candlehead that was surely the source of the other's flames. Bell quickly cast her thoughts aside; if a small girl like Lyra had the courage to attack a Candlehead like that, it would be a disgrace to the knights of Hyrule if Bell were to back out. Dropping her sword and lunging forward with the banner, she swept the two Candleheads that mimicked her in her arms, gripping them tightly as the banner enveloped them. She grit her teeth at the pain in her arm; though the small candles could not struggle greatly against her strength, the pressure she was putting on her arm was not pleasant. The resistance quickly came to an end as the rustling between her arms stopped. Tensely releasing the banner, two unlit candles rest in her arms, causing the girl to drop the banner in relief. There didn't seem to be any other Candleheads approaching her, either. Had they exterminated all of them?

The fight had come to an end and the heat of battle began to fall, and with it, so did Bell's adrenaline. She began to become aware of the pain within her arm; a few quick squeezes of her hand revealed it was still intact, yet she felt a sharp pain course through her forearm during one of the squeezes. As Lyra and Hector inquired about her well-being, Bell looked over her arm for a moment before responding, "I. . . think so. I think it might just be a light sprain. It's not in perfect condition, but if it doesn't take any strong blows, it should be fine." Bell glanced up at Lyra as she finished speaking, the words the Kokiri girl just said dancing around Bell's mind as if she was attempting to decipher a hidden meaning behind them. "You can. . . help?" Bell's thoughts rushed back to earlier when she had met Lyra, and it all became clear. "Oh, right, you said you were a healer, right? Then, my arm is still usable, but if you could fix it, that would be the best option."

It was then that Lyra addressed the necklace wrapped around Bell's neck. "Ah, this?" She grabbed at the pendant, presenting it towards Lyra with a somewhat eager gesture. "This is a gift from my late grandpa." She answered, gazing at the heart-shaped, yellow daisy pendant with a look of fondness in her eyes, as if she were reminiscing of her days as a child. This only seemed to last for a moment, however, as she returned her attention back to the girl in front of her and continued explaining. "It's not just a sentimental necklace, though; it's actually magical. I'm not sure how it works, but when I wear it, I feel tougher- like I'm full of energy and can take hits I couldn't before-, and my body heals much faster than before. In fact," Bell continued explaining as she slid the necklace back underneath her armor, boasting with confidence about the necklace's effectiveness, "if it weren't for this, I bet I wouldn't be able to use my arm right now."

As Bell was finishing up her explanation, she went to retrieve her glaive. Perhaps a two-handed weapon isn't the best thing to rely on with my arm how it is, Bell considered, but for now it was likely a better option than resorting to her shield again. Even if her attacks would hit weaker than before with the glaive, if she took another strong blow it would spell bad news for her arm. Perhaps it was time to change up her fighting style.

As she returned to Lyra's position, Bell nodded to the girl and said, "Anyway, we have no time to waste. You said that you have seen maps of this temple, Lyra, so you choose our path and I will walk it." There only seemed to be two options ahead of them for where they could proceed, but Bell had little idea whether either path would lead. So, she trusted Lyra, mostly because she said that she had studied the layout of the temple, but more than that, the girl seemed quite intelligent on her own part. She had a strong sense of judgement and was quick on her feet as well. These were traits Bell felt like she was lacking in, so it was somewhat strange for the Hylian to see a child more skilled than herself. Yet, despite that, it had been made abundantly clear to Bell that the Kokiri's appearance was literally skin deep; Lyra was certainly no child. She was certainly someone Bell could rely on in this place.