RPG The Legend of Zelda: World of Ruin

[Boba Fett]

[COLOR=green]Rokar walked south through Kakariko Village, using his sword to destroy any unwanted object that could possibly contain rupees.

He walked into the overgrown garden of a house on the east side of town. Didn't look like anybody lived here...

He went to work, hacking away at the weeds in the garden, and finding a rupee here and there along the way. After ten minutes of furious work he sat down on the fence and cleaned his grass stained sword on a rag. He counted the rupees in his pocket. Only 78, it wasn't a huge amount, but it would do for now.

He was about to leave the newly cleared yard when he heard a shout behind him.

[B]Man[/B]: "Wait!! Thank you stranger for cleaning up my garden. Would you like to come in for a bite to eat?"

[B]Rokar[/B]: "Uh, no thanks I'm in a hurry. Thanks for the offer."

[B]Man[/B]: "How could I ever repay you? I am too old to weed my garden, and you have done it for me without a though of reward. Here, take these rupees."

[B]Rokar[/B]: "You keep them."

The man presses the rupees into Rokar's dirt stained hand.

[B]Man[/B]: "Keep them.

[B]Rokar[/B]: "Thanks!"

He watches as the man returns to his house, and then continues through the town, looking for rupees. He passed by several houses, none of which looked promising.

As he approached the edge of town he noticed a huge patch of weeds outside an abandoned house. Rokar smiled, and went to work on the weeds. After all, who knows what could have fallen out of the owners pockets while he or she lived here.

He found many things around the house: seven green rupees, five arrows and chicken which had been hiding in the weeds. Rokar watches the frightened chicken run back across the street to its coop.

Then he counts his rupees. His pouch now contained 172 rupees, in small change. His pouch was full and getting heavy. He would need to get change before they went on their journey. No sense lugging more than a hundred one rupee pieces around... [/COLOR]

[Guest Zeh]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]On the opposite side of the village, at that same time Tasis was casually walking along, thinking of how retarded all the people in this town must be, leaving rupees all over the place, he had already found 43 one piece rupees and one big 50 piece rupee! Who would drop something like that???

He was also thinking of all the random chickens running around town. Maybe they were like monsters and rupee's spawned from their carcass'. It was worth the try, and it wasn't like people didn't eat chicken after all.

He chased westward after one until he had one cornered between a barrel and a house. He took a swipe at it with his keyblade. This seemed to anger the chicken, let alone hurt it. It started shedding feathers and squaking madly. Tasis took a few steps backward. He heard more feathers ruffling behind him. He turned around slowly.

I don't think anyone can be much more shocked than Tasis was. He turned to find the biggest swarm of chickens he had ever seen, racing towards him with angry looks on their features.[/i]

[b]Tasis:[/b] Oh.....m-m-my.....GOD!

[i]In a single bound Tasis leaped over the barrel and dashed off towards the southeren most part of town. There he saw a shack, or was it an old abandoned house? Did it matter?

Still running for his life, Tasis jumped over the recently cut weeds and into the door. Slamming it quickly he sighed with relief.[/i]

[b]Tasis:[/b] Note to self: chickens are [i][u]not[/u][/i] defenceless little creatures.

[i]He dropped down in exhaustion, and heard the un-sheathing of a knife. Immediately Tasis was up, his blade drawn. He heard a friendly laugh, as an old lanturn was lit[/i]

[b]Rokar:[/b] Chickens? You were almost killed by chickens? A-hahah!

[b]Tasis:[/b] It isn't funny, you should see those blood thirsty things...

[b]Rokar[/b]: No matter, how many rupees were you able to get? I've managed to get 172.

[i]Rokar opened his rupee bag and showed Tasis the rupees. Tasis searched for his own bag and opened it. 93. Together thay had 265 rupees.[/i]

[b]Tasis:[/b] That should be enough, come on, it's almost noon. we have places to be. Elsyan should be waiting for us at Glen's inn. I've gotta remember to thank him for all he's done.

[i]with that Tasis got up, stretched and opened the door. He had to shield his eye's aginst the sunlight, it was quite dark in that room, even with a light.[/i][/color]

[Charles]

The beast's hushed breath made the forest shiver. Its belly growled beneath its own muted murmur. The wolf bore its fangs, its upper lip twitched and curled at the corners.

Through a veil of darkness, two emerald orbs, its glowing eyes, shone with the Devil's guidance. The stalker's hunger simmered, bitter and fresh, a deep stab in its agonized belly as it slinked in and out of nightfall's most protective shadows, shadows as deep and endless as its growing hunger.

A powerful monster, living down in the darkness, it growled in pain, impatient in blood's lust. It had grown tired of the pair of girls' songful laughter and giggling.

Samantha noticed how the ground glittered at night, sparkled like the stars hanging above. June floated through the air, doing a lazy backstroke, while the girl chased after her and frolicked playfully. Everything was bathed in a luminescent coat of blue. The moon smiled down upon the two adventurers.

Trees swayed back and forth enjoying a cool breeze. Small droplets of mist rolled off their leaves, filling the air with spray. The fairy's aura infused them with angelic light. Samantha stared in wonderment as the small glowing orbs drifted about her, floating perpetually. She caught one in her palms and raised it above her head laughing.

Samantha was living her dreams, there was almost no need to go to sleep. All she wanted, she could be, there was no need to be afraid. For the first time, she knew who she was, and no one could break her.

The beast's paws sank into the earth, its claws ripped at the fresh ground below as it sauntered out of the concealing darkness. The following events played out in slow motion reality. Sam's eyes grew with fear, her body numbed--she was paralyzed.

[The Vampire: Ed]

Sairo's slumber was once again plagued with nightmares, his body slick with sweat and in his sleep he constantly gritted his teeth as talked in his sleep of Ganondorf. Suddenly, he awoke hearing a blood curdling scream of a woman, Diana in fact. Sairo quickly got to his feet, and look around the dimly lit room, there was no sign of his father's sword nor his armor. He had forgotten to ash Diana what she had done with them, but now there was no time. Sairo dash towards her scream, it seemed to be coming from outside. Throwing the door open Sairo runs toward a shack nearby of which the shrieks are coming from, he runs around to the side seeing a monster face to face with Diana as it is pinning her against the side of the shack.

The monster's eyes had a reddish glow to them, and it appeared to be rather large with a bull dogish head. Sairo's gauntlet made a 'clang' noise as he ball it into a fist, pointing at the creature with his other hand he yells "Release her!" The creature turns it's attention towards Sairo, and grows as it shoves Diana aside immediately charging Sairo's for his interruption. The large beast tackled Sairo to the ground, and grabbed him by the throat attempting to either choke the life out of him or simply break his neck. Sairo's struggle for a moment grabbing at the creatures hand, but breaks the choke hold with a stiff punch from the gauntlet hand. The beast was sent rolling off of Sairo with a loud metallic ringing, it didn't waste much time getting back to it's feet. Sairo rose to his feet as staring at the creature grunting it's distaste for him.

Diana hid behind the shack peering out at the battle that would follow their brief skirmish, Sairo called for the beast to charge and it did not disappoint. The monster ran full steam ahead at Sairo, but Sairo didn't budge he stood his ground and when head to head with the beast. They clashed together with such force that the ground shook a little, if had not been for Sairo's gauntlet being a Titan's Mitt he would have been crushed under the creatures strength. Sairo repeatedly bashed the monster in the head with his gauntlet, it's senses were becoming lost. It swatted Sairo across the face a couple times, it attacks becoming weaker with each strike but it was enough to bust Sairo's lip causing him to bleed as well as leave some bruises.

Diana opened the shack and searched around for something inside. As the battle raged on the creature seemed to be dazed, but Sairo kept beating on it. Suddenly Diana calls Sairo's attention towards her, looking over he see Diana emerging from the shack carrying his father sword, the Bronislaw. Sairo smiles at the sight of his father sword happy that it had not been lost, and that he would have a means of finally dispensing of this creature. Suddenly, Sairo is blindsided with a surprisingly powerful shot to the face knocking him to the ground. Looking up Sairo watches the creature slowly approaches him, looking toward Diana he yells to her "Throw me my sword!"

She does, all though a bit of a weak throw from it's weight, Sairo managed to catch it by the hand just as it was about to touch the ground. He swung the blade forward and sat up impaling the beast on the blade. It screeched with a pain filled scream, and it dropped dead after a few moments. Sairo got to his feet, and ripped his sword from the creatures carcass. It's body just disappeared in a puff a smoke at that moment, and it left a couple rupees behind for Sairo to take as his own. Diana rushes to Sairo to check on him, "Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

"Yes, I am fine. A little sore, but I'll live. But how are you?" Sairo replied seeming more concerned about Diana then himself. Diana blushed slightly at his concern for her, and just replied "I'm okay, thanks to you." Sairo just smiled, and looked back to his sword. "It's been a while since I've held this in my hand, but I feel as if it was just yesterday that I wielded it against Ganon. But I suppose sleeping is like that, no matter how long the slumber is. Anyway, why did you come out here at this time of night?" Diana paused for a moment, then just pointed towards the sword and spoke "I figured you would be leaving tomorrow, so I decided to retrieve your weapon for you."

Sairo sensed that it was a lie, and called her on it. "I see....Diana, I can sense when someone is being deceitful. Being a Knight of Hyrule prepares a knight for such a moment, this way he would be able to tell when he is being lied to. Now, do not lie to me. What were you doing out here?" Diana looked shocked that he could sense her lie, and decided to come clean. "All right. I won't lie. I wanted to hide your sword somewhere else in hopes that you would no find it. If you didn't find it, then I figured you might not seek Ganon out. Then....I know you wouldn't die at his hands. I don't want you to die like my husband did, same thing can be said with your father. I don't want you to go off and get killed by him like your father, and my husband." Diana said with a mournful tone as tears streamed down her face.

Sairo held her, and told her everything would be all right. Sairo then led them back to the house, and carried her to her bed laying her down. "I am in debt to you for taking me in, and caring for me. But you need not worry about me, I will slay Ganon and avenge my father and now your husband. Now, you get your rest. I will depart in the morning after you wake." Sairo said as he held his hand on her cheek to soothe her worries, before he got and left the room shutting the door behind himself. Sairo just sat himself in a chair, and stared at his father's sword thinking of his former life now lost to him. In the morning his journey with begin, and he will find a way to finish Ganon off once and for all.

[Boba Fett]

[COLOR=green]Rokar followed Tasis out of the abandoned house, out into the bright friendly, midday sunshine.

They walked lazily back to the village inn, each lost to his own thoughts. Rokar was ready for the journey, his weapons sharp and his supplies packed. Something kept nagging at him, a feeling of remorse or regret. What had he forgotten this time? Was he missing something? He shrugged off the mysterious emotion and followed Tasis into the Village Inn.

Glen the innkeeper welcomed them and showed them the supplies he had gathered for them. He seemed to be especially proud of the sturdy leather with which the backpacks were constructed. Rokar tried his on and found it comfortable, as far as backpacks went, as well as surprisingly light.

[B]Rokar[/B]: "How many days worth of supplies do you estimate we have?"

[B]Glen[/B]: "About Ten to fifteen days, depending on how you ration it."

[B]Tasis[/B]: "That sounds good, for now. Do you know of anywhere we could pick up more supplies along the way?"

[B]Glen[/B]: "Sorry, I don?t know of anyone else who sells supplies on the route you seem to be taking. While you're in the light world you should be able to live off the land. But if you enter the dark world; be sure you have enough food to last at least twenty days. You must even bring your own water; the rain in the other world is unfit to drink."

[B]Rokar[/B]: "Thanks for the advice."[/COLOR]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=royalblue][size=1]Lalia stared at Ami as she told them that Kiln had departed on his own.

[b]Lalia:[/b] So Kiln is going off by himself?

[b]Ami:[/b] That's what he tells me. And he didn't want you guys to know about it. Probably sick and tired of seeing you guys being all lovey-dovey.

Lalia stared at her, feeling her throat burn as she fought back tears. That was a weakness of hers. Whenever people scorned her, she wanted to cry. But she would not cry in front of this woman.

[b]Lalia:[/b] Look, I don't know you, but you need to just lose the attitude. We're doing the best we can as of now. If you have a better idea then tell us and we'll see what we can do.

She put her hands on her hips. Drake put his hand on her shoulder.

[b]Drake:[/b] Don't worry about her, Lalia. Don't let her words get to you. Now we're at a dilemma. Go find Kiln or head on without him. I'm favoring go ahead, but what do you two think?

[b]Ami:[/b] I think we're wasting our time just standing here talking about it. But if it makes you happy, I'll follow him so he's not alone. In case he has one of those "attacks" again.

[b]Drake:[/b] Lalia?

She stood there, looking as though she was in deep thought. Finally she spoke up.

[b]Lalia:[/b] Well, if Ami is going to follow him, then I wont be as worried. Just make sure you take care of him. Those attacks are going to hinder him and he doesn't need to be alone, no matter how stubborn he is. Remember that.

[b]Ami:[/b] Alright then. It's settled. I'll catch you guys later. And if you need help, take this...

She handed Lalia a beautiful whistle carved out of crystal.

[b]Ami:[/b] I'll be able to hear that no matter where I'm at. I'll try to get to where you are as fast as possible. See you two later and try not to be so lovey.

Drake and Lalia looked on as Ami headed off in the direction that Kiln supposedly went. It was already midday.

[b]Drake:[/b] Well then, let's be off again.

Lalia took his hand tightly and they began to walk down the path once again. Her heart ached already for home, but she knew that now that she had chosen this path, she couldn't turn back. Drake needed her.[/color][/size]

[James]

[color=#507AAC][i]A large pair of blue eyes moved slowly from left to right, staring intently. They happened to belong to Hikaru and he happened to be staring at a little beetle. Both he and Calle had sat to have breakfast, whilst his mother was behind them, busying herself at the kitchen counter.

On the patchwork tablecloth, a little beetle ambled along slowly. It paused after every few steps to inspect its surroundings with its furry antennae (which prompted muffled giggles from the two boys). Hikaru took a small bread roll from the table and tore a small portion from its side. He carefully broke the portion into even smaller pieces and scattered them on the table in front of the little beetle.

The little beetle approached the portions of bread with caution at first. It waddled along slowly over each square on the elaborately decorated tablecloth. It gently touched the crumbs with its antennae, as if to check that they were okay to eat. But it didn't eat them. Instead, it carefully arranged the crumbs in a single line, one crumb after the other.

The pair of blue eyes looked up at the pair of brown eyes from across the table. Neither boy had seen such odd behavior before.

The little beetle carefully lined itself up at one end of the line of crumbs and began trundling forward, eating each crumb as it went.

The two boys giggled again. And when the little beetle finished off the very last crumb, it stopped and looked up at Hikaru momentarily as if to say "thank you". And then, suddenly, the little beetle's firm shell clicked open, revealing its white lace wings. The shell casing itself was very odd; it was deep green but occasionally a small flash of colour snaked its way over the surface. Neither boy had ever seen a beetle like [i]this[/i] before.

Finally, the little beetle slowly hovered its way off the table and toward the nearest window. But as it did so, Hikaru noticed small flecks of golden powder cascading down from the beetle's wings as they fluttered. The powder seemed to glow and cast a very soft light around the little beetle. Hikaru had never seen anything like it and being the curious boy that he was, he decided to investigate. Right after breakfast, that is.[/color][/i]

[Desbreko]

Right, sorry I haven't posted in a while. Been busy with Christmas related things... I should be back and posting steady now.

While I've been away, though, I've been thinking of story related things. There's a big plot point coming up soon, where some of what's going on will be revealed. It's gonna be cool...really. :toothy:

Zidane, I'm not going to kick you out, but please do try to follow the maps and stuff as best you can. You seemed to be doing decently, except for those couple things. Just remember, no all powerful items and no warping across the world, heh. :)

One thing, for the group of people with Tasis, Rokar, and Elsyan in it... Drake's group isn't going to be heading into the Dark World any time soon, if they can help it. Right now, they're on their way to the Graveyard.

One more thing... There's a seal on Ganon's Tower, making it impossible for anyone to get in right now... That is, unless Ganon lets them enter, which doesn't really happen. It takes some serious power to break that seal. In the game, it took all seven of the crystals that the seven maidens were trapped in to break it. ...Just so people know

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[color=indigo][b]Drake: I hope Kiln is alright.[/b]

Lalia gave his hand a little squeeze, and a small smile.

[b]Lalia: He'll be fine. I think he can take care of himself okay.

Drake: Yeah, but...I've never seen anything like that happen to him before. I'm kind of worried. He's one of my best friends.

Lalia: That's understandable.[/b]

The pair traveled on in silence, walking in step, holding hands, until they came upon an old broken gate and fence surrounding what looked like a dead garden with a small path running down the center of it. Past that was a pair of old, straggly trees, and a run down building built up against the mountain cliff.

[b]Drake: That used to be the Sanctuary. Link took Zelda there, after he rescued her from Hyrule Castle. Agahnim found her, though, and recaptured her before Link could stop him. ...I wonder what's in there now.

Lalia: How do you know all that?

Drake: Sahasrahla told me. About a year ago, I came and asked him what he knew about Link, and he told me pretty much everything he knew. He sounded like a true hero, unstoppable, but...I guess that wasn't true.[/b]

The two stood in silence, the only sound being a slight breeze blowing through the almost dead trees and bushes, in front of the path to the old Sanctuary. Finally, Drake took a step down the path, and Lalia followed, still holding his hand.

[b]Lalia: Are you sure we should go in?

Drake: I need to see it...[/b]

Drake stepped up to the great double doors, and turned the knob on the left one. It creaked open as he pushed the door inward. Stepping inside, he looked around, seeing the rows of broken and decaying wooden benches, and light streaming in through cracks in the boarded up windows.

Against the far wall was a large, ornamental block. Drake stared at it; there was something not quite right about it. Walking closer, he noticed that it wasn't centered. It was, in fact, pushed a little over to the right, revealing what looked to be the edge of a doorframe.

[b]Drake: Lalia, I think there's a--[/b]

Drake was cut off by the leathery flutter of wings, and something hitting him in the back of the head. Ducking, he pulled Lalia down with him behind one of the benches.

[b]Lalia: What was that?

Drake: Keese. I'll take care of them.[/b]

He motioned for her to stay down, and unclipped his Hookshot from his belt. [i]Time to show her she's not the only one good with projectile weapons.[/i] He allowed himself a small chuckle as he stood up and took aim. Firing, he impaled a Keese that was diving down at him, dropping it a few feet away. As soon as the chain of the Hookshot retracted back to him, he fired again, dropping another, and another, as he spun around to face all around them. After a minute, six dead Keese lay on the floor of the Sanctuary, and Drake clipped the Hookshot to his belt once again.

[b]Drake: All clear.[/b]

He held his hand out, and helped Lalia up to her feet, before glancing at the ornamental block again. [i]Is it just me, or...[/i]

[b]Drake: Uh, Lalia... I think we should be leaving... Now...[/b]

Drake grabbed her by the hand once again, and dragged her at a run out of the building, not stopping until they were back on the main path again.

[b]Lalia: What is it, what's the matter?

Drake: That block was moved back more than when we entered. I could see half of a doorway behind it, and I think something came out of it.[/b]

The two looked back at the doors of the Sanctuary, as if waiting for something to break through and come charging down the lane at them. Nothing did, though, and after a few seconds, they started walking again.

[b]Lalia: Drake...how did Link get Princess Zelda out of Hyrule Castle to the Sanctuary?

Drake: ...I don't know. I don't know how he got in, in the first place, actually.

Lalia: You don't think that was a secret passage to the castle, do you?[/b]

Drake blinked in surprise. The thought hadn't even occurred to him. He had just thought it was a basement or something, and that the former occupants of the Sactuary just kept the doorway covered behind the block so people wouldn't wander in and out.

[b]Drake: You may just be right.

Lalia: I've heard that there are lots of secret passages in and around the castle.[/b]

The two stared over across the river to the south, at the high tower of Agahnim's Castle stabbing up into the sky. Drake shivered at the sight of the tower, knowing that Link had met his doom at the very top of it. Drake held Lalia's hand a little tighter, and looked back down the path they were traveling.

[b]Drake: It's almost like you can feel the evil coming off of that tower...

Lalia: It's okay, I don't think anyone will notice two people traveling along this path.[/b]

Drake thought for a moment, before replying.

[b]Drake: Is it just me, or does it seem like you're the one that's mainly taking care of me?[/b]

Lalia blushed slightly, and Drake released her hand, only to slip his arm around her waist and pull her a little closer to him.

[b]Lalia: Drake...maybe you'd better stop.[/b]

Drake looked at her, and saw her face was dead serious. [i]Dangit, now you've done it; gone and ruined it. You think you know what you're doing, but you really haven't got a clue. Stupid![/i] He was just about to withdraw his arm, when she spoke again, a smile now spread across her face.

[b]Lalia: I think this is what Ami would call being "lovey."[/b]

Drake smiled back and laughed as they continued walking, almost to their destination. [i]Okay, so maybe I have got a clue.[/i]

Little did they know, something was lurking below the Graveyard; something that had been released by the shifting of the worlds. Something that had been all but destroyed long before Agahnim appeared in Hyrule. Its vile claws were now imbedded deep in the soil of the Graveyard, growing stronger with every day.[/color]

[Boba Fett]

[COLOR=green]Rokar, Tasis and Elsyan say their goodbyes to Glen, and then head for the northern gate of the village.

Each one of them wore their weapons out, hoping to deter attacks by bandits. Rokar adjusted the pack on his back, and then continued walking with the others.

The village looked so peaceful, it's trees standing strong and proud against the gentle breeze. The villagers went about their daily lives, and then Rokar realized it. This was the [I]only[/I] place in either the dark or light worlds were peace to be found. Civilization was rapidly disappearing from the rest of the universe, leaving this one village to serve as a beacon of light and hope to the rest of the world. If it ever fell...

Rokar shrugged off the thought. Everything would be fine. They would catch up with Drake and do whatever it took to restore the worlds to peace. They had too.

[B]Rokar[/B]: "Tasis, is that a fortune tellers hut?"

[B]Tasis[/B]: "It looks like one..."

[B]Elsyan[/B]: "Oh no you don?t. There is now way in the world that you two are spending our hard earned Rupees on some crackpot old fool's fake magic. This money has to last the rest of our journey."

[B]Rokar[/B]: "Ok, mommy. I'm so terribly sorry. I'll go clean my room now..."

Tasis begins to laugh, and Elsyan gives Rokar a dirty look. Then even Elsyan begins to laugh, and together they continue to walk towards the graveyard, laughing hysterically.

In fact, they are laughing so hard that they fail to realize that something or someone seems to be watching them from a nearby tree, following them as they travel...[/COLOR]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=royalblue][size=1]Lalia walks with Drake as they reach the graveyard. She stares at it, not wanting to enter. Even in the bright midday sun, there was an eerie fog seeming to surround it. She shivered. She felt something was definately not right.

[b]Lalia:[/b] Drake, I don't want to go in...something's not right around here....


Drake looked at her. He tried to smile, but he could feel it too. Lalia began to shake uncontrollably.

[b]Lalia:[/b] I'm really scared...

She sounded as though she was about to cry.

[b]Drake:[/b] Lalia, it's okay. This is only the beginning. I'll take care of you, don't worry..

He looked at her and noticed a silent tear running down her face. He drew his hand into a fist. He had to protect her. He hated seeing her like this.

[b]Drake:[/b] It's now or never...[/color][/size]

[Red]

[color=003399]Kiln kept running, driven by the adrenaline caused by his recent flashback. Even Xian was finding it difficult to keep up, especially in the sweltering heat that was growing ever warmer as the pair came closer to the desert.

All of sudden Kiln came to a stop and he looked around. Nothing but vegetation surrounded the pair as they stood in the middle of a forest close to the Desert of Mystery. Xian felt uneasy, buzzing back and forth around Kiln's head.

[b]Xian: Shh, for one moment Kiln..[/b]

[b]Kiln: Wha? Why?[/b]

Xian let out another sharp hiss, signalling for Kiln to stop asking questions and just go along with Xian.

[b]Xian: There![/b]

Xian sharply flew towards a small shrub, where he exposed a wolfos, crouched in a pouncing position. Kiln fumbled for his sword which was sheathed at his side and ripped his Deku shield from it's position on his back.

[i]I'm ready.. it's nothing really. Oh what am I saying? I can't defeat a wolfos![/i]

Before Kiln could choose between standing his ground and running, the wolfos pounced. Kiln quickly reacted and dropped behind his shield, which the wolfos landed on. Confused, the wolfos scratched at the wooden surface of the shield.

[b]Xian: Kiln stand up![/b]

Kiln listened to his companion and put all his strength into standing up. The muscles in his legs burnt as he desperately lifted the Deku shield, with the wolfos still clawing at it, off the ground. Letting out a final cry, Kiln flung the wolfos to the ground, at which point he quickly made a dash into the trees.

[b]Kiln: Move it Xian, move it![/b]

Xian was virtually flying backwards, trying to keep an eye on the trees behind to make sure they weren't being pursued by an angry wolfos.

The tall Kokiri and his fairy companion burst through the shrubs at the edge of the forest, to meet a familiar face.

[b]Ami: Hi..[/b][/color]

[Deedlit]

[color=009966][i]Everyone gasped for air once they were finished laughing. Rokar, Tasis, and Elsyan wiped their eyes with the back of their hands as tears blurred their vision. [/i]

Rokar: "Seriously, now. Why can't we go take a look at the fortune teller's hut? I'm sure he or she has some worthless junk that can bring us some rupees. All it takes is a little slash, and we get free rupees! Elsyan, you can distract him while Tasis and I hack apart some vases or his lawn. It's a great idea!"

Tasis: "No it's not. Look."

[i]Tasis jurked a thumb in the hut's general direction. Elsyan and Rokar turned to look around. [/i]

Elsyan: "I don't see anything. Just the path, trees, the grass, the hut, a chicken walking around outside the hut---"

Tasis: "That's just it."

Elsyan: "What?"

[i]Rokar hid a smile.[/i]

Rokar: "Tasis is afraid of chickens."

[i]Tasis shot Rokar an angry glance.[/i]

Tasis: "For a good reason! You didn't see those blood-thirsty beasts in action!!"

Elsyan: "It's just one chicken. What's to be afraid of?"

Tasis: "Oh sure, it's just one chicken now, but if you attack it, MILLIONS come after you and try to KILL you!!!"

[i]Elsyan and Rokar stared at Tasis blankly. Then Elsyan spoke slowly.[/i]

Elsyan: "Oooookaaaay. Um....It's alright to be scared of chickens, Tasis, but....I don't think they try to kill anybody....Maybe you're just paranoid, or....you have a bump on your head from when you were attacked."

Tasis: "I'm just fine!! You'll see. One of these days, the chickens will attack. THEN you'll believe me."

[i]Tasis walked ahead with a smug grin on his face. Elsyan and Rokar exchanged glances, shrugged, and walked after him.

The creature that was watching them from the underbrush watched on in silence, then hurried forward, staying parallel to the path, staying slightly behind the three as they got even closer to the graveyard.[/i][/color]

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo][b]Drake: We have to go. Look, there's the grave we're headed for.[/b]

He pointed over to a large grave over in the northeastern corner of the Graveyard. The mist actually seemed to be thicker over and it.

[b]Lalia: Drake...[/b]

Drake could here her voice waver with fear. He pulled her closer into a tight hug, trying to give her some reassurance; reassurance he didn't have himself. He felt himself start to shake slightly, but stopped himself almost immediately.

[b]Drake: If you want...you can stay at the entrance, while I go in a little ways and take a look around. I won't go out of sight.

Lalia: ...Okay.[/b]

Drake released Lalia from the hug, slowly, and drew his sword and shield. He walked forward towards the large grave, Lalia following a step behind. Arriving at the grave without incident, Drake set his shield down, and pulled a Bomb from his Bomb Bag. Placing it at the base of the grave, he lit the fuse and picked up his shield again before backing away a few feet.

The two of them covered their ears as the Bomb exploded in a large blast of fire and smoke. When the dust settled, the grave was gone, and a staircase below it had been revealed. It was dark, dank, and musty, yet surprisingly, there were faintly burning torches hung along the walls of the corridor below.

Slowly they crept forward and descended the stairs, which led down about fifteen feet. Inside was a plain, nondescript corridor, with a treasure chest at the end, the torchlight shining off its bright golden surface.

[b]Drake: Maybe this won't be so hard after all.

Lalia: It still feels...wrong...

Drake: I can feel it too... Do you want to stay here while I go and get it?

Lalia: No...no, I'll come with you.[/b]

Slowly, carefully, looking for any possible traps, they made their way down the corridor. Drake was almost in reach of the chest... And then it seemed almost as if he disappeared. Falling through what he had thought until a moment ago to be solid floor, he landed on soft, damp ground, 20 feet below the corridor. He landed, and his legs collapsed beneath him from the force of the impact. Lying on his side, he could just glimpse a large, white thing looking over him.

It was tall, with a long neck and small head, and it looked as through there were long arms poking out of the ground in various places around the room. Although he didn't know it, this beast was called a Dead Hand, and was notorious from catching prey with it's long arms sticking out of the ground, and then killing them with a strong bite to the head.

His legs still burning from the pain of the impact, he could barely move them. He yelled, as loud as he could, hoping that Lalia would be able to do something. It would take a minute for him to be able to stand again, and fight the monster.

[b]Drake: Lalia![/b][/color]

[Boba Fett]

[COLOR=green]Rokar and Tasis walked behind Elsyan, talking of a strange feeling the both shared.

[B]Rokar[/B]: "It's just a hunch, but I think something is watching us."

[B]Tasis[/B]: "Whatever it is, it's also following us."

[B]Rokar[/B]: "Elsyan hasn?t noticed yet, should we tell her?"

[B]Tasis[/B]: "No, no need to get her frightened. We can both charge the bushes on either side of the path and destroy it."

[B]Elsyan[/B]: "No need to get me frightened? What do you think I am, a little girl? I'll charge the bushes with you."

The three travelers draw their weapons and begin to plan their attack. Tasis would strike to the south; Elsyan to the north and Rokar would draw his bow and be ready to assist the one who found the follower. They all gave each other a parting glance, then sprang into action.

Tasis charged into the bushes on the south side of the road, using his sword to hack away at the dense undergrowth.

Elsyan went north, and began to demolish the undergrowth with surprising speed.

Rokar stood alone in the middle of the path; nervously waiting for a cry that would tell him that one of his friends had found the monster.

[B]Tasis[/B]: "Almost done over here. Only one more bush that needs clearing."

Tasis hacks at the bush with his sword, and out pops a fearsome beast.

It has an orange beak, skinny orange legs, two stubby wings, two beady eyes, and is covered in white feathers. It also bears a slight wound to its wing from Tasis's sword.

[B]Tasis[/B]: "CHICKEN!!!"

[B]Elsyan[/B]: "Oh no! Everyone run for your lives! A bigger threat than Ganon!"

Rokar and Elsyan break down laughing as Tasis stares in horror at the wounded chicken. Then all three travelers stand up and look towards the sky as they hear a great flapping of wings... [/COLOR]

[Deedlit]

[color=009966][i]Elsyan slowly turned around as the flapping grew louder, then the sun was blotted out. At first, she thought it was just a low cloud, but this was a cloud of feathers, squaking, beaks, wings, and angry eyes. Elsyan almost dropped her sword.[/i]

Elsyan: "Oh.....my...."

Tasis: "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!"

[i]Everyone turned and ran in the opposite direction, running as if a squad of monsters were on their tails. Tasis, being a faster runner, took the lead, shouting madly over his shoulders.[/i]

Tasis: "I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU CHICKENS WERE EVIL!!"

Rokar: "Why'd you have to get it pissed off, Tasis?!"

Tasis: "How the heck was I supposed to know it was an accursed demonic chicken?!"

Elsyan: "Quit talking, more running!!"[/color]

[PiroMunkie]

[color=indigo][i]Voleur by now had reached the base of the pyramid of power. Her journey to it was less than perilous, none of the greater evils of this world wandered onto the main paths. Sure she had to defend herself against the occasional Anubis, Gekko, and perhaps her most threatening adventure was being chased half of her distance by a small pack of Nejirons.

That was now behind her. Her mission now was to get to the top of this pyramid without being killed by whatever may be guarding it... or at least just on it at the time. She scurried up the first flight of steps with no problem. As she began walking to the next set, faint scratching sounds could be heard. She looked above her on the upper levels of the pyramid, but could see nothing. Her paced quickened nervously as the sounds continued. There seemed to be a couple of them. She was not alone. That was for sure. Voleur hopped her way up the second set of stairs and sprinted to the next. As she reached the base of the flight and lizardous bark ripped through the air from an undeterminable location. Voleur looked around somewhat frantically. A deeper toned bark soon followed. This time, whatever it was, it was above her on the pyramid, but she still could not see it. An airy screech came from above as some dark creature could be seen leaping from over the peak of the pyramid. Voleur took a few steps back reaching to her scimitars, just in case, as the ominous creature came to its harsh landing at the top of the stairs at which Voleur was about to ascend. Voleur gripped the handles of her scimitars in preparation as the Lizalfos in front in its spiked armor and mighty sword let out the higher pitched bark. Immediately after the deeper bark came from the right. Another Lizalfos flew through the air. Voleur, knowing it is better to get the first hit, snapped into action releasing her scimitars and quickly drew her bow and an arrow and fired at the airborn monster. The arrow stuck into one of the creature's legs. It hit the ground and crumbled on the leg rolling down the other flight of steps. Before should could return to the other Voleur was knocked violently to the ground as the first Lizalfos leaped from the top of the stairs and came down upon her. It raised it blade on high. Voleur quickly rolled away as the sword struck the ground where she had been. She hopped to her feet and drew both scimitars in hand. She took a glance behind her, the wounded Lizalfos was just now trying to get itself off of the ground. The first monster charged Voleur weilding its sword high to the side and swiping it across. She ducked her shoulder into letting the blade strike her armored plates as she jabbed a scimitar to the monster's stomach. The Lizalfos caught the blade with his bare hand and threw Voleur aside, nearly off the edge of that level. She scrambled to her feet running to the other side of the creature so she could keep an eye on both of them. The wounded was nor barely up, and trying to remove the arrow from its leg. She did not have much time before it would be two on one. The active Lizalfos slinked toward her with malic as the wounded left the arrow in it leg and crept toward her from the far side with only a slight limp. Voleur dropped her scimitars to the ground with a quick idea as she grabbed her longshot and aimed it right at the nearest monster's chest. It was covered with an armor, but it did not matter. The creatur's eyes widen and the anchor and chain shot toward it. Caught by surprise it was unable to move in time and the anchor sunk into its armor and continued pushing it backwards. The first Lizalfos smashed into the wounded one as they both proceeded to be pushed back helplessly. Then, just as Voleur had hoped, they both fell over the far edge. She let out a sigh of relief, but just a moment too soon. The chain tightened and jerked her forward and off balance. She dug her heels into the ground, but this did little to slow her as she was dragged closer and closer to the edge. She came to it and her feet locked themselves on the small bricks that lined the outer rim of the level. Voleur leaned back as the chain retracted, but on the other end one Lizalfos hung on. Suddenly, the end reached the top and the monster grabbed the edge with one and threw its sword forward with the other. The longshot snapped back to its original position as Voleur fell back causing the Lizalfos to miss full contact with its blade, but still the sword sliced into Voleur's left thigh. In blind response, Voleur kicked with her right foot, fortunately nailing the monster in the face as it nearly fell off the edge again. She frantically rose to her feet, hopping along wincing at the pain of her newborn wound. At an easy pace she made it to the other side where she had dropped her scimitars. She picked them both up and put one of the away, keeping the other in hand. She turned around as the Lizalfos was now limping across the path.

The limp. It was the one she had shot in the leg. It now was bloodthirsty for revenge. With all of her effort she charged up the stairs to the next level, now one away from the peak. The deep bark filled the air as the Lizalfos lept to the next level. There was a quick staredown as both were at opposite sides of the landing. Voleur was not going to waste anymore time and sprinted into a head start almost ignoring the pain from her wound as blood oozed out of it with every beat of her heart. The Lizalfos charged her from the other side with its sword ready in hand. Voleur was the first to reach the staircase to the next level as she made haste in going up them.

There she was at the top. To her delight, a portal lay in the center. She spaced off the Lizalfos as she approached the portal, thinking she had a big enough lead on the monster. She reached the edge of her exit out of this world, when her moment of bliss was interrupted by the familiar deep bark as it came from right behind her. She wipped around coming face to face with the creature as she fell back in surprise. The Lizalfos grabbed onto her and she grabbed its chest plate, both prepared their blade for the final blow as they both then fell into the portal...[/i][/color]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=royalblue][size=1]Lalia stared in horror as Drake disappeared before her eyes. She looked around the room, her eyes darting back and forth. She was scared to move, fear had frozen her body. Then she heard Drake scream her name. That immediately made her start and she screamed herself. As Drake heard her scream he thought that something had happened to her, too.

[b]Drake:[/b] Oh no, Lalia!

Drake was just getting the strength back to stand up. He felt a bit of blood trickling down his leg and he knew that he had cut himself somehow. He tried to think calming thoughts, but he felt as though he was beginning to panic. Then he heard Lalia again.

[b]Lalia:[/b] Drake, where are you?

[b]Drake:[/b] Well, that's sort of hard to explain...I'm down here...I've been pulled down by a dangerous monster...I need you to help me because I think I'm injured!

He felt a sharp pain go through his leg and he looked at the monster. He gritted his death. Lalia, still unsure of what was going on, pulled out her Fire Rod. She would attempt to attack the monster with this.[/color][/size]

[PiroMunkie]

[color=indigo][i]Voleur's eyes flickered open as she was immediatly forced to squint as blinding light poured into them. She rolled her head slowly from one side to the other. Through her narrowed eyes she could see white brick and green grass...[/i] Where am I? [i]She thought to herself. She waited some time until her eyes adjusted to the new light, definitely something she was not used to in the Dark World. She sat up rubbing her temples gently with her fingers. Such light had even made her head hurt. She dropped her hands back down to her sides, still sitting, and looked around now with her eyes fully open. She looked left; looked right. It seemed she was within the walls of some sort of castle... She slowly rose to her feet and turned around. On the ground she noticed two familiar things: a portal, and the Lizalfos. The monster was apparently dead with one of her scimitars shoved through its exposed torso. Its chest plate lay not far from it on the ground. It was at this time she became notice of a stinging pain on her right forearm. She held it up and found that the Lizalfos did not go down without a fight. A deep two inch gash lay open beneath her torn sleeve. She ripped off the sleeve from it tear and tied it around her wound so she at least had something to stop the bloodflow. She recalled the cut on her leg and looked down to it. It was not as bad as her arm. The bleeding had stopped, and it was beginning to to heal.

She walked over to the Lizalfos and removed her scimitar from the creatures chest and put it back at her side. She began to check everything she had. Everything was present, except that she was now down to nineteen arrows. She looked to the monster's leg and saw her arrow was still in it, but broken off. Useless. She slung her quiver across her back once more. Voleur peered towards what seemed to be the main entrance to the castle, which, surprisingly, was open. Lightly, she jogged towards it slowing down to a walk once she was out. She looked around as she passed over a bridge and stopped as she removed her bloody scimitar and went down to the river side dipping the blade into the water. She watched as the water around it slowly became tainted with the blood of the Lizalfos. When it had been cleaned, she took it from the water, and returned it to her side. Voleur looked down at the water, though it was a vast improvement over the water in the Dark World, it still seemed a bit dirty. Not pure enough to clean her wound in...

She stood up and looked around, not sure as to where to go... Even though she knew the Light and Dark World were mirrors of each other, she still had not been here in several yaers. Things could have changed. Her state of confusion was interrupted by some yelling from above...[/i]

[b]Soldier:[/b] Hey! Gerudo! You best take your business out of here! We do not take kindly to your types!

[i]Voleur looked up at the soldier who was patrolling along the outer wall of the castle.[/i]

[b]Voleur:[/b] If you would tell me where it is exactly that I am, I shall surely leave.

[b]Soldier:[/b] This is Agahnim's Castle. Now leave before I am forced to put you under arrest!

[i]Agahnim's Castle... It sounded familiar enough to Voleur, but she still was confused.[/i]

[b]Voleur:[/b] One more thing! Could you tell me where it is that I might find fresh water?

[i]The soldier scoffed in irritation.[/i]

[b]Soldier:[/b] Lake Hylia, of course! Follow the path, and take a left with you come to the three-way intersection. Now beat it!

[i]Lake Hylia! Yes! She remembered that name. Voleur, no longer needing to be at the castle, set out towards Lake Hylia, following the directions the guard had given her...[/i][/color]

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]The pain subsiding a little, Drake managed to stand up, though he was leaning on his sword, which was stuck in the soft ground like a cane.

[b]Drake: Lalia, there must be a trap door or something in the floor in front of the chest![/b]

Lalia slowly crept forward, and probed the floor with her foot. It wasn't a trap door, though--it was an illusion. Her foot went right through, and she quickly stepped back before she fell in.

Back down in the pit, Drake was stumbling away from the large white creature. [i]At least this thing doesn't move fast,[/i] he thought... And then he found out why it didn't have to. As he stumbled backwards, a large hand wrapped itself around his neck, squeezing, trying to suffocate him.

Struggling back forward, he looked up at the hole in the ceiling. He struggled to yell, as he saw that the monster was now directly below the hole.

[b]Drake: Lalia, fire straight down the hole! Quickly![/b]

Lalia, hearing the strain of Drake's voice, quickly poked her Fire Rod down through the fake floor, and fired. The fiery blast hit the monster straight on the head, and it reared back, moving away from the hole. The hand holding onto Drake also went limp, the monster no doubt distracted for the moment.

Drake, now free, quickly stumbled away from the arms protruding from the ground. [i]Now I've got you, you nasty white bugger,[/i] he thought as he hefted his sword. Stepping forward, he swung at one of the long arms, chopping it off midway from the hand and the ground.

The monster roared in pain as what was left of the arm quickly receded into the ground, and again, as Drake cut off another. Advancing toward the large white thing, he cut down arm after grasping arm, and was finally standing before the beast once again; this time, however, he wasn't defenseless. He lunged, and slashed at the thing's body, making a large gash in its side. It let out a shriek, so shrill that it hurt Drake's ears, and disappeared into the soft soil below.

[b]Lalia: Drake, are you all right? What's happening?[/b]

Drake returned to the hole in the ceiling, still gasping for breath a bit.

[b]Drake: It's okay. I think I got it.

Lalia: Are you hurt?

Drake: My legs ache from the fall, by I'm pretty much fine. I think you might want to come down now, though. There's a passage leading off this room down here, and I don't want to go alone.

Lalia: How am I supposed to get down? Just jump?

Drake: I'll catch you. Don't worry.[/b]

He said this as he sheathed his sword and returned his shield to its holder on his back, and held out his arms, ready to catch her. Behind him, though, a hand started to dig its way up through the soil.

[b]Lalia: Okay, I'm coming down.

Drake: I'm ready.[/b]

Lalia stepped forward and fell, but the hard impact she was preparing for didn't come. Instead, Drake caught her out of the air and kneeled down to absorb the shock of the sudden weight on his arms, and set her on her feet at the same time. Standing up, he smiled at her.

She didn't smile back, however. Her eyes widened and she let out a small scream as she saw the hand reaching for the back of Drake's head. She quickly raised her Fire Rod as Drake jumped to the side, and fired. The hand quickly retreated to the safety of the soil as the blast sailed by overhead, and charred the wall behind it.

The main body of the monster was back again, the gash in its side gone, and it was looking angry this time. Getting a better look at it this time, Drake saw that it was a tall, white, blobby thing, with a long neck and small head. It almost looked as if it oozed its way along the ground, and its large, yellow, razor sharp teeth were bared, and it was moving along with more speed than before.

[b]Drake: I can take this thing... Just keep out of reach of the arms.[/b]

Drawing his sword and shield, he took a step forward, preparing to meet the monster.[/color]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=royalblue][size=1]Lalia stared at the monster as it came towards them. She moved out of the way as Drake immediately began to attack it. The monster looked like it was just becoming more angry and more powerful with every blow that Drake delivered. She sat there, watching helplessly, her mind racing quickly. She knew that her fire rod would only burn it but maybe....

The ice rod had the ability to freeze it completely, into a large block of ice. That would give them enough time to attack the monster and kill it. She knew what she had to do. She pulled out the Ice Rod and stood behind Drake. He was continuing to attack the monster. It lashed out at Drake and make a loud noise, but he continued to fight. Just then Lalia put her arms around him, using him as a shield, and shot the monster with the Ice Rod. It was completely frozen. Drake just stood there, breathing heavily. Lalia smiled a bit, satisfied that she had done something right, and her arms still around Drake, hugged him tightly from behind.

[b]Lalia:[/b] Let's get out of here...[/color][/size]

[Guest Zeh]

OOC: Sorry, i've been to busy to post in the RPG lately. By the looks of it a lot of others have been too.

~~~~~~

[COLOR=royalblue][i]Of course they didn't believe me... no one ever does, until they themselves witness it.

Why am i thinking? Don't think. Just run. One foot in front of the other. Run. Run. Run.

Hmmm? Elsyan's slowing down... i only hear one set of steps behind me, and they belong to someone heavier than her. Maybe, she fell?[/i]

[b]Elsyan: [/b]Seems like they stoped. I haven't heard anything for a few minutes.

[b]Rokar: [/b]How are we to know they just haven't stooped flying, and they're just behind the hill we passed?

[i]Tasis sat down. Not breathing too heavily, he opened his bag. He took out a canteen of water and took a long swig, then he closed it and put it back. Before shutting the bag he took out a pair of shoes. He slipped them on his feet.[/i]

[b]Tasis: [/b]Well, just for some reassurance, i'll go see whats going on with them chickens.

[b]Rokar: [/b]Checking on chickens too see if they're not gonna kill us.... what is the world coming too?

[i]With this Tasis left, dashing up the hill, and beyond sight.[/i][/COLOR]

[Desbreko]

Yeah, a lot of people have been busy, what with Christmas, New Years, and whatnot, myself included. Don't worry about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[color=indigo][b]Drake: Note to self: Body shots don't do a thing against it. Wish I'd known that earlier, before I put fifty slices into its gut, only to watch them heal instantly.

Lalia: Well, now you know, in case we ever run into one of these again.

Drake: I agree, though, lets get out of here.[/b]

The two hurried down the only passage coming off the room. At first, the ground was wet and soft like in the room they landed in, but as they went farther along, it became harder. Although there were no torches to illuminate the corridor, they could see; it seemed like there was something in the walls giving off a faint light. The pair didn't notice this, however, as they had more important matters of their minds. First of all, how to get back up to the surface.

As they walked down the tunnel at a quick pace, they finally noticed that they were going downhill, and that the floor was a hard, black stone. The air was also getting stuffier and drier. Then...a dead end.

[b]Lalia: We're not...we're not trapped down here, are we?

Drake: I don't know. I didn't see any other passages, though, did you?[/b]

Lalia shook her head, and Drake let out a long sigh.

[b]Drake: Well, lets rest here for a minute. That fight was tiring.[/b]

Drake started to lean against the wall of the dead end... And then fell right through it, onto his back.

[b]Drake: Ow.

Lalia: You seem to be quite good at finding these fake walls.[/b]

Getting up, he stepped back through the wall, and rubbed the back of his head.

[b]Drake: I kind of wish I wasn't, though. At least not like I have been.

Lalia: Well, lets keep going. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.

Drake: Me too.[/b]

The two of them stepped through the wall, and continued along the tunnel. After a while it began to slope back uphill, much to the relief of Drake and Lalia. For a long time, neither of them spoke. They just walked, both determined to get out of the dim tunnels beneath the Graveyard.

Eventually, they came out into room. It was much like the room that they had fought the Dead Hand in, but this one, like the tunnel, had a sturdy rock floor. As they walked in, torches around the walls of the cave sprang to life, a stone door slammed down behind them, and a deep, growling laugh echoed from the shadows of the room.

Quickly unsheathing his sword and readying his shield, Drake stood with his back to the wall in a fighting stance, with Lalia behind him.

[b]Drake: This could be ugly...[/b]

Out from the corners of the room stepped three Stalfos Knights and one Gibdo. The three knights glared at the intruders, the red glow in their eye sockets glowing bright. The Gibdo just stumbled towards them, arms outstretched, looking as if it was going to grab onto you and suck your life away.

Drake jumped to the side as the nearest Stalfos struck, the blow clanging off Drake's shield. Then another Stalfos was on him, and Drake was ducking and dodging with all his skill to avoid the blows of their swords. Clang after clang, Drake used sword and shield to deflect the slashes and stabs, until he saw an opening: A slight hesitation by one of the Stalfos. Lunging forward, he stabbed his sword through the ribcage of one of the knights. It fell backwards and disintegrated it small puffs of white-purple light.

At the same time Lalia was having trouble. Running from the Stalfos and Gibdo pursuing her about the room, she deflected a blow here or there with her rods, but there had been too many close calls. Then she heard Drake yell something as he jumped past the second Stalfos after defeating the first.

[b]Drake: Lalia, use fire on the Gibdo![/b]

And then he was back fighting off the remaining Stalfos assailing him. "Use fire on the Gibdo!" The words echoed through her mind, as she realized just how effective her Fire Rod would be against the giant mummy.

Grasping the Fire Rod tightly, she turned, aimed, and took a shot at the Gibdo hobbling after her. Not being as quick as the Stalfos Knight, the mummy took the shot directly in the chest, and immediately burst into flames, and fell over twitching and flailing about with its arms and legs.

Then the Stalfos was upon her, charging straight at her. She tried to jump out of the way, and partly succeeded. She managed to dodge the swing of the knight's sword, but not the bulk of its shield. The shield hit her in the side, spinning her around and dropping her to the ground. She let out a cry of pain as she went down, and Drake's head snapped around to face it.

Seeing Lalia lying on the ground, the Stalfos standing over her, he became filled with rage. He couldn't let this happen. He had to save her. [i]I swore to protect you, and I will![/i]

He glanced up, and saw an old knarled tree root sticking down out of the ceiling of the cave. Several thoughts flashed through his mind, the last one being the plan he executed.

He ran forward, shield raised, and bashed into the Stalfos Knight fighting him, momentarily stunning it. Drake used this time to quickly return his shield to its belt loop on his back, and unclip the Hookshot from his belt. He aimed quickly, fired, and the next thing he knew he was flying up to the tree root.

As he reached the root and the chain dislodged from the wood, he moved fast as lightning, clipping the Hookshot back on his belt, and swing his sword around to point straight down, both hands on the hilt, and grim determination in his eyes as he fell. The Stalfos Knight standing over Lalia looked up as he heard Drake's yell, just in time to see the sword point pierce its skull. The sheer force of the fall drove the blade straight down the knight's spinal cord, splitting the monster in two, only to have those two halves crushed as Drake's boots came down upon them.

A cloud of dust arose around Drake, some from the floor and walls of the cave, but most from the crumbling bones of the Stalfos. Drake was in a kneeling position next to Lalia, sword and shield raised, ready to defend or attack. He stood up, quickly looked around the room, and saw the last remaining Stalfos on the other side of the room.

One would think it would have been frightened, seeing its comrade dispatched in such a manner. But Stalfos do not know fear, they do not know any emotion... Except hate; hatred for anything good and right.

It came at Drake, the fire in its eyes burning as bright as ever, the grin of its fleshless mouth grinning at him, and sword upraised, ready for a fatal blow. And it would have been a fatal blow, if Drake had not had the strength left in him to dodge. The sword stroke swept by his head as he jumped to the side, but he was too slow. The blade caught his shoulder, slicing a gash in it. A minor wound, but enough to slow Drake down.

The Stalfos had won. It knew Drake could not fight effectively without his shield arm. Drake raised his sword up in a parry, knowing the blow was coming... But it did not; there was only silence. He looked up, to see the Stalfos frozen in block of ice, Lalia smiling triumphantly from her sprawled position on the floor, Ice Rod in hand.

[b]Drake: Are you all right?

Lalia: Nothing serious. Just a bruised rib and an aching arm.[/b]

Drake sat down next to her, panting, trying to catch his breath as he pulled his bottle of Red Potion from a pocket of his tunic.

[b]Drake: I guess I'll get to use this, then.[/b]

Taking a long swig, he drank the potion, and almost instantly his wound healed.

Lalia sat up next to Drake, the two resting their backs against the wall of the cave. Lalia leaned against Drake, resting her head on his shoulder. For the first time, they really looked at the room they were in. It was roughly circular, growing narrower the higher it went--and it went pretty high. There was even a staircase spiraling around the edge of the room, leading up to something at the top. Drake couldn't tell from this distance.

[b]Lalia: Drake, what's that?

Drake: Huh?[/b]

Drake looked back down, to where Lalia was pointing. It looked as though something was sparkling in the shadows against the far wall. Drake squinted, trying to make it out. He could just bare make out the outline of what looked like a big box. [i]Big...sparkly...box?[/i]

Standing up slowly, he walked carefully across the room, until he could see what exactly the thing was. It was, in fact, and big sparkly box; or, rather, a treasure chest. Drake opened it, reached inside, and...

[b]Drake: The stories were true after all.[/b]

...lifted up a Magic Cape.

Drake walked back to Lalia, and helped her up before slinging the dark red cape around his shoulders.

[b]Drake: I guess if I just...[/b]

And suddenly, Drake was invisible, only a slight shadow on the floor to give him away.

[b]Drake: And then if I...[/b]

And then Drake was visible once more, grinning broadly at Lalia.

[b]Drake: You know, I could really get to like this.[/b]

Lalia laughed, smiling at Drake as he tried out his new "toy."

[b]Lalia: I think we should be going now, though. Lets see what's through that trap door at the top of the stairs. Maybe it's another secret passage under a grave, if we're still under the Graveyard.

Drake: Yes, lets go. I don't want to spend one more minute down here.[/b]

And with that, the two of them set off up the winding stone steps leading up to what looked to be a trap door.[/color]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, just a quick note... See how the picking up of items works, there? Drake used his Red Potion, bringing him down to three items. This let him pick up the Magic Cape without having to drop an item. If you have your character pick up, drop, or swap an item with another character, you'll probably want to write down what items your character currently has. I'd recommend editing your sign up post whenever there's a change in the items that your character has. That's what I'm going to do.

[Queen Asuka]

[color=royalblue][size=1]Lalia and Drake headed up towards the trap door, and they opened it cautiously. As they did, sunlight poured in upon them. It was obvious that they had come out of the ground outside the graveyard somewhere. Drake stepped out and helped Lalia up behind him. She sighed in relief.

[b]Lalia:[/b] I am so glad to no longer be in there...I am still aching from the blow I took...

[b]Drake:[/b] I hope you recover quickly. We still have many places to travel.

Now that they were above ground, they took a look around. To the right you could see the Graveyard not far in the distance, still covered in an ominous fog. Small lights shown here and there throughout it. Lalia shivered and turned away.

[b]Lalia:[/b] Where do we head to now? You acquired the first item you were set out looking for. What would Sahasarala's council tell us to do now?

Drake looked at her and smiled a bit.

[b]Drake:[/b] Well, right now we take a well-deserved break, now that we are back out in the sunshine. Let's go sit on the edge of the water there and take a bit to eat.

He took her hand and lead her over to the water and there they stood, gazing at it's blueness as the sun reflected in golden ripples. Lalia sighed. He looked at her.

[b]Drake:[/b] What's wrong? Something troubling you?

[b]Lalia:[/b] Just a little homesick, that's all. But I'm glad that I am with you and not with someone else.

She squeezed his hand a bit and smiled, looking back out at the water.

[b]Lalia:[/b] I just wonder if my mother is looking down on me and watching over me from wherever she is. I really miss her, you know...

She took her free hand and gently rubbed her side. She had acquired a nasty bruise and she didn't want to tell Drake how much it was hurting her. It was painful to intake breath. But she continued to smile anyway. She didn't want him to worry more than he already was. And she didn't want him to think she was incapable of going on this quest with him.[/color][/size]

[PiroMunkie]

[color=indigo][i]Voleur walked the final path towards Lake Hylia. Her senses were already becoming aware of the fresh, clean atmosphere. At the end of her lengthy walk, she finally approached the edge of Lake Hylia. Unfortunately, she noticed it was a bit of a drop down into it. She could very easily climb down the wall... but still, it was just one more thing she had to do with her arms; one of which was injured. "Damn that soldier..." she thought to herself.[/i]

[b]Voleur:[/b] "Figures he would not give me the easiest way to get into the lake..."

[i]"No matter..." she thought, "it is not like I cannot swim." Voleur reached to her shoulder and removed her armored plates setting them down on the ground. She unclipped her sleeves at the shoulder and removed them, placing them both by the plates. Then she removed all of her equipment, but keeping one scimitar with her as she sat down on the ground and proceeded to remove her boots. Lastly, she unclipped her pantlegs and removed them leaving her in a bit of a two-piece. Before she stood up, she untied the piece of cloth around her arm exposing the wound. It was still very red. Dried blood stained her skin as the wound had barely begun to heal over. Voleur stood on her feet dropping the cloth to the ground as she stood at the very edge of the small cliff. The drop was no more than maybe two, or two and a half, measures of her length. She took several paces back from the edge and stopped, facing the lake. She paused for a moment, then took off in a dash towards the edge. When she reached the end of solid ground, Voleur leaped into the air straightening her body out into a dive. With little disturbance of the surface, Voleur entered the water. She opened her eyes and looked around. The water was cold, clear, and refreshing as she moved about under the surface. Soon enough, she could no longer hold her breath, and propelled herself up to the top. As soon as she cleared the surface taking in a well needed breath of air, she opened her as a rock flew past her head and smashed to bits against the cliff wall not far behind her. In quick defense she amred herself with her one scimitar that she had kept with her as she looked out to where the rock came from. She waited for a few seconds when an odd looking creature emerged from the water with a snout aimed at her. Not to her knowledge, this creature was an Octorok. Notorious for surprising unsuspecting enemies by firing rocks at them. Both Voleur and the Octorok waited in a dramatic pause to see who would make the next move. The monster became impatient and reared its snout as it then thrust forward hurling a rock at Voleur. Quickly, she took evasive action and dodged the object only to turn back around and immediately have to avoid another. Regaining control sooner this time she turned back to the Octorok as it fired another rock. This time, Voleur held her scimitar in both hands high above her head and propelled her self up a bit as he she brought her blade down smashing into the rock and sending it back at the monster who, taken by surprise, was hit by its own attack. Before it could recover, Voleur dived under the water. The Octorok shook itself off and looked around. Voleur was nowhere to be seen. Everything was quiet for a moment. Then, the Octorok shrieked loudly as a blade erupted from the top of it head. It squirmed a bit, but finally became still in death. Voleur emerged from under the water with her scimitar in hand upon which the Octorok was impaled. She swam towards the cliff and wielded her blade back as the then threw it forward and up. The dead Octorok flew off the blade and soared through the air coming to its rough landing just over the edge of the cliff.[/i]

[b]Voleur:[/b] We shall see if you hold any nutritional value later...

[i]With that, Voleur put her scimitar back at her side and continued her swim...[/i][/color]

[Break]

[color=crimson]It had been an hour or so since Dareigen had entered the canyon area at the east of the Desert of Mystery. Despite being attacked by a more gangs of Leevers on the way, he arrived at the Swamp Ruins virtually unscathed.

He had been here before, when he had set out a year ago before the Fall. The Swamp was less green than he had remembered and it now had a disgusting stench that was carried by a gentle breeze that made Dareigen feel cooler than he had done, but it was also rather humid in the swamp. He would sweat a lot here, he could already feel droplets of perspiration running down his forehead.

"[i]I would have said that the Desert is worse,[/i]" he thought, "[i]but this breeze is hardly a sandstorm.[/i]"

Sighing, he walked further into the muddy plains of the Swamp Ruins, his boots squelching as they had been since the middle of the Desert. He felt that his feet were swimming in sweat almost, although it was better than having them full of sand, which was very itchy and annoying as he had found out too.

His nose was almost hurting from the reeking smell of rotting.. things and his ears rang with the sound of buzzing flies in every direction. He swatted a few with his hands whilst he walked around a huge, green colored puddle that bubbled every now and again, a strange gurgling noise escaping when the bubble popped. He stood for a second, motionless, looking at the puddle with a feeling of disgust and amazement running through him. Something inside Dareigen was telling him to walk closer to the mud. He decided not to do this when he saw a large pair of angry-looking green eyes staring at him from the mud's surface. He shook his head and backed away from the large puddle slowly, then he turned around and carried on walking, with occaisional glances over his shoulder.

He noticed the trees were very different to how they had been since his last visit. At least last time they had some foliage, but right now, they were just gnarled and dead-looking Swamp Trees. He had noticed that these were host to a number of black birds, that he knew as Guays. They looked like they were roosting right now, but there were so many of them that Dareigen didn't know what he would do if they were all to wake up and attack.

He gulped as he imagined what that many birds could and would do to him. He found his throat to be dry and deprived of any moisture, struggling slightly to swallow again, he stopped, took out his bottle of Leever Juice and hurridly gulped down the remainder of it. Not liking it, but being glad that he was rehydrated, he put the empty bottle back into his pouch and exhaled loudly.

A loud, throaty squawk alerted Dareigen of impending danger and turned his attention to the roosting Guays, who weren't roosting anymore, but rustling their feathers and getting ready to fly. Not liking this site one bit, Dareigen took out the dagger from his boot, figuring that his huge Scmitar would be too slow against these birds.

He held his dagger behind him in a fighting stance and jumped at the first bird that flew towards him, grabbing it by the neck and driving the dagger through its back, resulting in a low squawk before it became limp. He took his dagger out of it and threw the dead Guay at another, knocking it out of the sky into some sinking mud, which swallowed it instantly with a gurgling sound. He failed to notice another bird flying for his chest until it hit, knocking him backwards slightly. He looked at the bird that hovered there for a moment, a bad move on its part, as Dareigen took this small amount of time to deliver a round-house kick to the bird, smashing it into its tree roost with a cracking sound.

The next two that came to attack him were caught off guard as Dareigen delivered one horizontal slash, catching both of them in the middle before they hit. Both Guay fell squirming on the floor before he kicked them away, awaiting the next bird which--

"OW!!" Exclaimed Dareigen out loud.

--had already attacked his left forearm with its sharp beak, leaving a small cut. Blood started to run from the wound straight away. He wiped it clean and brought his knee smashing into the head of the Guay, killing it instantly. Only three Guay remained, hovering on the spot twittering angrily among themselves. Suddenly they darted toward Dareigen in a triangle-formation, but this wouldn't help them, as he had already thought out his move.

As they flew even closer, he ducked, so the birds merely flew over and stopped once they had noticed that there was no impact. Dareigen backflipped and did a half-twist in the air, so he landed facing the three birds. Smirking, he delivered three lightning fast slashes with his dagger in exachange for three thumps as the Guay hit the muddy ground; Dead. Wiping the warm blood from his dagger off on his cloak, he put the dagger back in his boot and stood, looking for signs of anymore Guay.

"[i]I guess there aren't any--[/i]" He started to think, before a huge number of squawks sounded in the distance.

Suddenly, countless black silloettes came into view, flying toward Dareigen with a furious flapping sound accompanying them. He staggered backward, astounded at the huge number of Guay that were not accounted for.

"--more. Dammit!" He finished his thought quickly, turned and began running.

He bolted his way through the Swamp Ruins, scuffing his boot on the odd gnarled root that poked out the ground, almost wanting him to trip and fall to his death. He guessed that he was in the center of the Ruins right now, because he could not tell the difference between the ground and sinking mud (unless he stepped in it, of course), but he managed to avoid the liquid-looking ground.

Again he looked over his shoulder to see where the Guay were. He gasped as he found they had caught up to him considerably and were now nearly in range to attack him. As he faced forward, he had not noticed the big root that protuded out in front of him. Before he could stop, his foot got caught and he hit the ground hard, covering his front in dirt and mud.

He closed his eyes for a moment and just listened to the hurrendous noise of the incoming Guay. Then suddenly he sprang up to his feet and took out the empty bottle that once held his Leever Juice and he threw it down on the ground, just in front of the Guay. It shattered, sending shards of glass everywhere and made a huge crash. It also seemed to slow them down slightly.

"[i]For some reason, I thought that would work.[/i]" Thought Dareigen as he sprinted to a grey-stone building a few metres away.

The Guay continued their pursuit until Dareigen made it to the grey-stone building. He remembered someone in Kakariko Village telling him that there is an old Watergate in the Swamp Ruins, so he thought that this must be it. He carried on running at full speed but saw a tunnel, so he dived straight into it, the birds just sped past, sqauwking and flapping loudly.

Dareigen got up inside the dim tunnel and brushed all the dust and mud from himself. Glancing around, he noticed that he had dived in pretty far since the entrance of the tunnel now appeared as a doorway for faeries or something. Apart from the gleaming light from outside, the passageway inside was nearly pitch black. He wiped his forehead with a gauntlet and gently took his Scmitar from its sheath and then procceeded to walk forward very slowly.

"[i]I don't like the feeling I get from this place one bit,[/i]" he thought warily, still breathing heavily from the mad sprint from the Guay, "[i]If there was any light in this stupid tunnel then I'd know where I'm goi--[/i]"

His thoughts were again cut short when his slow and careful walk through the tunnel was intercepted by a flight of stairs, which he went on to tumble down. Many "Ow!"s, "Oof!"s and "Argh!"s sounded before he reached the bottom, bruised and aching. He lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, trying to figure out what just happened. He stood up, and picked up his Scmitar, which had slid a few feet away from him.

This tunnel was different, because it wasn't a tunnel. He was slow and was startled to find out that he was actually in a lit room, with four laterns burning brightly on each wall. In front of the staircase he had just fallen down, on the other side of the room, there was a massive statue of a monster or beast of some sort. One thing very strange about it, well two things is that it had one, huge fierce-looking eye on its head. And it was also wearing a Power Bracelet!

Dareigen had heard about this amazing item, once you put it on, you became much stronger than you were and then get the ability lift things that were very heavy, like boulders. But, he had never heard of it making you more powerful in battle situations. But, maybe the one this monster was wearing was different than the others, stronger somehow.

Dareigen, wanting the Bracelet, walked slowly to the statue, sword ready in hand and touched the hand the Power Bracelet was on. Instantly, he was thrown back the sheer magical power of it and the beast's eye exploded with light, almost blinding Dareigen. He stood, sheilding his eyes from the white explosion until it had gone back to its normal brightness. He slowly took his arm away from his eyes and struggled to beleive what was in front of him.

The statue was one of the legendary Hinox beasts he had heard tales about, but he thought they only lived in the Dark World. This Hinox stood as tall as the Geldman he had fought in the desert, but maybe twice as broad. Muscles bulging out from the skin, looking as if they were going to burst. Dareigen, still not able to take in the greatness of his new foe, took a step back to where the stairs were. He bumbed into something solid.. iron bars now blocked the way out. Perhaps the only way was through the Hinox. Gritting his teeth, he made the first charge at it.

The Hinox merely swiped his hand to the side to knock the charging Dareigen flying to the right, landing painfully on his left shoulder. It seemed that it was the Hinox's turn to attack now, it clenched one of its huge fists and made a slow attempt to crush Dareigen with a massive punch. While it concentrated on trying to hit him, Dareigen sidestepped and jumped into the air, bringing his Scmitar down into the creature's shin. He landed uneasily again, but managed to keep his fighting stance.

The Hinox did nothing in turn for that hit but grunt and try again to hit him with a fist. Dareigen backflipped and then tried to inflict some damage on its hand by delivering an upwards vertical slash; Nothing. This annoyed the Hinox slightly and it sent another hand to attempt to hit Dareigen, but this time, it opened up and grabbed him. It began to squeeze him with its hand, all of the air slowly being forced out of him, he was losing his breath slowly and painfully. He desperately sought of means to hurt this monster in anyway whist the Hinox grunted with joy.

"[i]The eye![/i]" He thought suddenly, it was worth a try.

Then the Hinox let him go and he fell heavily to the floor. He got up weakly, but took his dagger out from his boot quickly with his free hand and threw it straight into the centre of the massive beast's eye. This resulted in roars of rage and revenge as the Hinox stupidly waved its head around, trying to get the dagger out. Smiling slightly at this, Dareigen ran to the beast and jumped up onto one of its fists, and the Hinox caught him again in his grasp. But this time, Dareigen made sure that his hands and Scmitar were free from the grip.

As the Hinox squeezed him hard, Dareigen threw his Scmitar like a spear into its eye. A jerk of pain rippled through its body and it threw him a little way into the air, just enough to land on the beasts head as he shook it. He held on tightly to the hilt of his Scmitar, trying desperately not to get thrown off. With all the strength he had, he continued to drive the sword deeper and deeper into the Hinox's eyeball, he twisted the blade and moved it from side to side, boring a bloody hole into the beast's head.

It roared louder than ever as Dareigen pulled his sword out and again, with mighty strength, stabbed it back in again so forcefully that the tip of the sword could be seen protuding from the back of its head. Deciding to give one final blow before it died, the Hinox took a revenge punch and caught Dareigen on his already injured left shoulder, crushing it against the wall as well.

As the beast fell, so did Dareigen. And then it was quiet. Silence, apart from the tiny patter of falling dust and small stones. A loud groan signalled that Dareigen was still alive and wearily sat up, propping himself up against the wall. He gave a big sigh and forced a smile as he took out his bottle of Red Potion.

"I knew I'd need this.." He said aloud.

He took out the cork and drank the rest of the potion down quickly. Since he only had half left, it didn't heal his shoulder completely, but all other injuries seemed to fade away. He got up, dusted himself off and put the empty bottle away in his pouch. Then Dareigen walked over to the fallen beast and took both his sword and dagger from its unrecognisable eye. He sheathed his sword and put the mukky dagger back in his boot.

Now for him to take his prize.

He edged slowly around the body of the Hinox and gently unclipped the huge bracelet that would have fit around Dareigen's waist, but it shrank slightly to his wrist size and he excitedly clipped it onto his own wrist. He grinned at his new found item and was eager to test it out. He looked at the Hinox and hurried over to its head, he put both hands under it and began to lift. Magically, Dareigen was slowly lifting the massive dead beast into a sitting position.

"Wow.. I did that?" He said blankly, not believing what he had just done.

Suddenly, he looked over to where the statue had been and noticed a boulder blocking something.

"[i]What? That wasn't there before. Was it?[/i]" He asked himself, puzzled.

He glanced at his Power Bracelet and wrapped his arms around the boulder, then began to lift. It was easier to lift than the Hinox had been, strangely enough, so then he set the boulder down next to the square hole that he had just uncovered. He could see a ladder that led into a black nothingness. Not wanting to fall down any stairs this time, he decided to "borrow" one of the laterns hanging on the nearest wall, he tied it to his belt. Now he was all set and began the descent of the lader, the latern brightly lighting his way for him.

He got down from the ladder, untied the latern from his belt and held it up for better sight. It only let him see a few metres in front of him, but he was glad he had something to light the darkness. This tunnel was smaller and Dareigen had to bend his back slightly to travel through it. Nothing was in here, nothing at all, it was just a tunnel going in a straight direction.

He had walked for about twenty minutes when he caught sight of some stairs at the start of the latern's light. Glad he was on his way out of this mind numbingly long and boring tunnel, he smiled and began the ascent of the stairs that let off a great sunlight..

..He emerged into the warm sunlight, the smell of fresh water and grass floating in the air. He looked around and saw that he was at a huge lake, he couldn't remember the name, but he thought it was something along the lines of Lake Hylia. From where he was standing, it looked nearly as if this was one of the places he had always dreamed of when he was small.

He walked over to the edge of the small cliff that lead into the Lake and peered over it. He could see a small figure swimming around slowly in the water, he then noticed he was standing next to some clothes, a sheathed scmitar (much like his) and a death Octorok. Finding this discovery rather strange, he looked down again at the swimmer.

"[i]I need to wash, all this sweat needs to be washed off. I need to clean my Scmitar as well..[/i]" He thought, so he edged over the edge of the cliff and carefully made his way to the bottom.

Here, he unsheathed his Scmitar and waved it around in the water, trying to get the Hinox blood and eye gloop off of the normally shining blade. He used his gauntlet to rub it off as the water soaked the blade and washed all the stains away. Admiring its restated shinyness, he sheathed it and tried to get his dagger out of his boot. This was hard, because he was trying to grip to the cliff with his other hand and his feet.

"Come on, why won't it budge? Nnnnghh--Aah!" He exclaimed as he finally got the dagger out of his boot, but he also succeeded in slipping off of the cliff and splashing into the cool water below.

It took his breath away at first, the extreme cold of the water, but he quickly adapted and enjoyed the feel refreshing water on his skin. He almost forgot about cleaning his dagger, so he quickly rubbed off the blood and other strange thing that were on it and placed it back in his boot.

Dareigen looked over at the swimmer who was coming towards him, he thought that the clothes and stuff on the shore belong to her. Maybe even that smelly, dead Octorok. He got a hold onto the side of the cliff with one hand and hung in the water and called out,

"Hey, is that dead Octorok yours?"[/color]
_____________________________

[b]Current items:[/b] Power Bracelet, Latern.