[IC] Legend of Zelda: Templar Ascension

[GambolMuse]

"My magic isn't all sunshine and butterflies, or were you not paying attention on the bridge?" Caelan asked, frowning as he pat the waterskin at his hip, "Healing just so happens to be something I can do, it's usually used for fighting whatever monsters are in ruins." He didn't want Link getting the wrong idea that he was some saint or something, he wasn't. Anyways onto the traps... Experience said there would be booby traps down here, but then how much sense did that make? If these were escape tunnels there shouldn't be any, you didn't want to risk killing the people trying to get out. Recalling the map Caelan could see the spiderwebbing of the tunnels meaning there was more than one route; one probably had no traps in it, the others were littered with them. If that were the case, as Regol's shadow was kind enough to show, then he had his work cut out for him. No pressure, he always loved it when other people's lives were on the line because of him. Nodding when pat on the back he let out a sigh, figuring it was no or never for them to get moving.

"Well if we keep our eyes open and don't do anything stupid we won't be included among them." Good thing about pressure plate traps was if you knew how they triggered you knew how to disable them as well. Applying pressure onto the plate itself released a catch below, and that catch often retracted lines which pulled the wraps, be it a swinging axe or a wall of spikes. If you removed the plate though, disabled the pressure sensor you were completely fine. Going to where Regol's shadow had been shredded seconds earlier he stopped and picked out the plate, taking a knee as he prepared to do his work. "Uh... You two might want to stay back, just saying. Never know when one of these could screw up and kill you," he joked grimly.

With no blade to use he formed a shard of ice in his hand, thinning it to have the thickness of a blade itself. Then using it to pry beneath the pressure plate, and being especially careful not to press on it, he pushed the blade in further until he broke the seal, using the edge of the hole to push the plate up and off. After that it was a simple matter of finding the wires connected to the spike traps, which he did, he encased them in ice to freeze them in place and prevent them from moving. Just to test himself he gritted his teeth and pressed two fingers down on the sensor, smiling when nothing came of it.

"And there you have it, one disabled trap... And probably a hundred more to go," Caelan said as he dissolved his makeshift blade, wiping down his hands then on his pants before continuing ahead. They didn't get more than 50 meters along before he found a tripwire trap, and with some careful scanning of the walls he found an axe suspended in an indent, just waiting to fly out and take someone's head off, or cut them in half. "With tripwires there's two ways of dealing with it... Either set it off, let the trap do its thing and try to pass by, or clog up the hole and hope it works..." He'd try the latter, and he happened to just have the tool for it too. Pulling the plate from earlier out of his pocket he pressed it up against the opening in the wall, using ice magic again to freeze it firmly in place. Using just the tip of his foot he then released the axe, watching as it swung and slammed into the plate, denting it but remaining put. "Sure neither of you want to go it a try?" Caelan asked, glancing back with a smirk, "There's nothing to it really."

[ColonelCaboose]

THREE HOURS LATER...

It had been a long three hours at a snails pace. All in all it was obviously for the best, rather safe than filled with spikes head to toe or being squished flat like paper. Regol had expended a decent amount of magic on the whole endeavor, but he would survive and would be fine after a short while. Link had definitely helped, while the map wasn't detailed enough to show exactly where the trap was and what kind, he was able to read it and give them enough of a heads up before they walked into one. Now they were underneath the Garden, a old wooden ladder went up into what looked like a large bush. This was it, the moment of truth, to dawn their masks and see if they could pull it off. All in all, their mission was simple. Go in castle, find princess, leave with princess, avoid countless soldiers and Fiona the dreaded Marksman of the Brotherhood.

Regol made hand motions for the two to put their Templar masks on that the Mask Salesman had given them. Regol would duke it out as himself, use his authority as Father Thallus' second-in-command. He figured it would work for a while, enough to at least find the princess, but if Fiona was lurking too close, she would without a doubt catch wind of his return or would move to finish what she had failed to do to him earlier. The thrust for power corrupts all, women and men alike, Deku and Goron, it had no gender or race. If he could speak he would have tried to speak some encouraging words or give a pep talk, but he had lost his ability to talk long ago through normal means, and he himself was a bit nervous. He had turned traitor (or in his eyes turned to the side of justice and liberty) and wondered what punishment awaited him at the hands of Thallus if he were caught.

[Mogtaki]

Link was starting to feel kind of strange as time marched on, he didn’t really know why and was just marching on hoping it would go away. Maybe it was a combination of tiredness and fear, especially when they had been wandering for so long and didn’t appear to be getting any closer to the Princess. He was beginning to wonder where they might be after so long and with tired feet and a stressed out mind he was beginning to wonder if he might as well just go to sleep for the day. Nobody would find where they possibly were if this map did turn out to be wrong, even if it was indicating that they were probably very close. Feeling worn down when he turned the corner he didn’t feel relief that there was a ladder where the map said there would be, but rather exasperation when it meant he wasn’t going to get a rest after so many hours of wandering. Slowly placing the map away he looked to the others, his attention soon going to Regol completely when he gave them an awkward motion to use the mask finally.

While this meant they were finally going to see some action and get out of these traps, it also meant he was going to have to be very sneaky and hope they won’t have to fight. Placing on his mask he sighed and glanced to Caelan, shaking his head. “Well…I guess here goes nothing. I hope you can fight good still”. Taking in one final breath he quickly grabbed hold of the ladder and started to climb, feeling a little dizzy once he was a few feet off the ground but carried on upwards. He had to admit he didn’t really know what was going on with him or whether it was the amulet messing with him, but either way he had to stick it out and wait for the mission to be over. “Oh man, I don’t even know what the Princess looks like…” he sighed lightly, keeping his eyes up as he near reached the top, “I’m sure she’s got fancy clothing, but everything else…” Not having time for contemplation he reached the top, pulling himself around the bush the ladder lead to before he crawled around and turned to stare at the other two, waiting for them to get ready to go.

[GambolMuse]

The walk into the castle grounds had been a slow and painstaking one. Traps weren't a particular issue, nothing Caelan hadn't seen before, but gods there were a lot of them. He'd never seen any ruins with even half this many, really went to show just how intensely these people wanted to keep invaders out. Seeing the occasional skeleton along the way didn't do much to instill confidence, yet with Link's guidance they managed to get through unscathed. Rather than finding a door or a staircase at the end of the tunnels they approached a rickety old ladder leading into some greenery, and beyond that who knows. They were officially inside the castle now, no turning back. Compared to his ventures before this was considerably more nerve-wracking, he'd never had to contend with Hyrule's guards until now.

"I can fight, good is still up in the air," Caelan responded with a meek laugh, placing on his own mask and watching Link head up the ladder. If it were just the regular guard then he was confident they would be fine, he knew enough to handle them. What had him worried was this Fiona woman more than anything; Regol had told them to be wary of her, and the man was no pushover. Just how bad was she? He preferred not to find out, and provided they kept themselves hidden they wouldn't have to. Going up after Link he moved along slowly, finding the protesting creaks of the ladder to be awfully telling. A little paranoia perhaps that they might be found out so easily, best not to take any chances all the same. Climbing through the hole he ducked low to hide in the bush, giving Link a silent glance before parting some leaves, seeing the open space they were in. Definitely inside the castle, whether they were clear or not was another matter.

[ColonelCaboose]

The Castle Gardens was a very breath taking sight to see, definitely a vibrant and nice change of scenery for once. Lush soft grass filled the very large area, bushes in various shapes of animals and races were spread about the edge of small creeks and fountains made of marble. Statues of beautiful women in togas, and men of muscular physic took center spotlight on most of the fountains or near stone pathways that stretched to every corner of the gardens.

Their presence was quickly noted, no one had seen where they came from, but immediately Castle Templars made descended upon the heroes. They were adorn with more decorative armor, it was engraved with various designs and jewelry dotted the torso and shoulders. Their capes looked to be made of very soft material and had a shining glimmer to them and adorned a large Templar Cross. The colors were however very standard of the Templars, red and white. "Halt! Who let you greenhorn Templars into the Castle Gardens? This area is restricted for the Nobility and higher officials...." The head Castle Templar said of a group of three, his shoulder plates carried the rank of Captain. While his face was hidden behind a helmet, his trailing voice gave away his bewilderment expression as he noticed Regol. "Brother Regol you are alive? We had received word you had died at the hands of the savage heretics at the Pirate Fortress in Great Bay. This is truly a surprise, we must tell Sister Fiona, there will be much rejoicing in the Brotherhood tonight to know that a lost sheep has return home!"

Regol was quick to nod profusely in a no manner. He gestured to Caelan to tell him other wise. He made a tired and fatigue expression, adding that he had a long and exhausting journey with hand motions, barely escaping death. Regol was quite the actor, but he had to be at times. Regol could only talk through the shadows to those who could hear them, and through typical ink and parchment. Regol trusted that even if Caelan was not able to quite pick up 100% of what he was saying, he would be able to say enough to keep the Captain quiet about their presence and to send them on their way so they could find the princess. While he wished to place more faith in young Link, this was neither the time or place to do so, and besides Caelan was the more experienced one with getting out of sticky situations.

[GambolMuse]

The gardens sure were nice, but they weren't here to appreciate the views. Nor could they, this mission they were on was far too heavy on the mind. Where one might see beauty Caelan saw a potential place where a confrontation might happen. Where their cover might be blown and the guards come after them. Or, worst case scenario, where that Fiona woman found them. If it came down to a fight here he was skeptical if they could even retreat, never mind win. No, they had to do their absolute best to stay hidden and keep up their cover, otherwise this was all over. Like hell he'd meet his end in some courtyard anyways, there wasn't even anything to steal here!

Walking out onto the pathways they had a moment where no one noticed them, and Caelan almost dared to think they would go undisturbed. That quickly changed when a voice called out to them, commanding and blunt in its tone. One look at the man and he could tell he was some big-wig around these parts, he certainly carried himself as one. All of that glamor and design in the armor meant nothing to the mage though he was smart enough to assume the man himself was higher up in the chain, probably commanding a decent amount of respect. Had they seriously been found out this quickly?

What should they do? Fight? He was just one man, and from their entrance he hadn't noticed any others, surely they could beat him right? Between himself, Link and Regol they ought to be able to do it swiftly and without being noticed, carry on and hope for the best. Caelan nearly began to prepare a spell before the man spoke again, taking pause and hearing him out. So he recognized Regol then, but not in a manner to cause alarm. In fact it seemed that they were saved by the fact he was in their presence, go figure. He hadn't a clue what the man was on about even if he could guess who the heretics were. If the situation were not so tense he might have laughed at that, finding the irony to be too great. They just might be in the clear unbelievably enough, perhaps this wouldn't be so bad.

"Fiona...?" It was under his breath he'd muttered it, yet even in that utterance Link could probably pick up on the sense of dread. Absolutely not, if they were seen by that woman then it was as good as over, they had to avoid her. Glancing briefly at the other boy he swallowed nervously, looking then to Regol who seemed to be gesturing. Was that what his plan was? Well it was a long shot, but it was probably their only shot too. He just hoped he was a convincing enough liar to pull it off.

"If it's all the same sir, Brother Regol would like to rest first," Caelan interjected, unsure what to do with himself as he spoke. Keeping his eyes off of the captain he straightened up, clearing his throat before continuing. "We're all exhausted from the journey, him in particular as he fought to see us safe. We'd like to request time to settle in before we see anyone. Surely Fiona doesn't mind waiting a little longer, if she doesn't even know. Even just an hour would do, time to hang up our boots and breathe." It wasn't a complete lie, they really were exhausted from the day's events. Caelan just hoped he'd been able to twist that enough to make the captain buy it.

[ColonelCaboose]

"And who are you to speak for Brother Regol, young Templar?" The Captain said in an aggressive tone. Regol stepped between them and poked his mask's beak into the man's face. The Captain backed off a bit surprised. He took that as a sign that the young Templar was allowed to speak in Regol's place. "My apologizes Brother Regol... As you wish, I am sure there will be much praise of your return and I can imagine that such a crowd that would draw could be overwhelming after a long journey. We shall wait to inform Sister Fiona..."

Regol bowed and turned away from the three Castle Templars and made his way down the path that led towards a massive stone arching door. It seems they had bought themselves some time, but no doubt word would travel among the whispers of the guards that Regol had returned alive. As the trio approached the massive wooden doors two guards who were a bit surprised as well opened the doors as a wave of his hands. Once inside it was quiet and only faint footsteps could be heard echoing down the long hallways lined with statues of knights, chandeliers, and red carpets. Finding a dark corner for them to huddle in, Regol used the shadows to construct a crude three dimensional drawing of the castle and where they were. They were on the first floor and he most likely suspected the Princess to be confined to her room on the top floor of the central building. It was at least 15 floors up if not more.

[GambolMuse]

Caelan promptly stiffened up when questioned, keeping his eyes off of the Captain as not to betray his fear. Had he seriously blown it that quickly? He had no idea how these people operated but clearly he must have spoken out of turn. Glancing over at Link he again debated on attacking the man, yet once more that wouldn't be necessary. Relieved that Regol had averted a fight breaking out he sighed, his posture relaxing somewhat as he shook his head. This was just so dang stressful, he'd never had to sneak around like this before under constant scrutiny of guards. Maybe a few monsters or other treasure hunters, but you could deal with them and move on. If they tried doing anything here it'd be an all out war, one he was positive they wouldn't win.

So they had a bit of time to themselves at least, and hopefully enough to come up with some plan. Following Regol's lead for the time being they passed through another doorway and into a long hall, one which thankfully they seemed to be alone in. Just to be sure they moved over to a darkened corner for privacy where Regol constructed a model for them, one of the castle apparently. The building was larger than Caelan had originally thought, and if the Princess wasn't on this floor then they had quite a lot of ground to cover. Fifteen floors and counting, all of them no doubt sprawling with guards looking for their heads. How long would news of their arrival go unspoken?

"There has to be a faster way around, sneaking like this is going to take all day," Caelan muttered, inspecting the model closely. Secret passages, stairways that passed through every floor, something to quicken the pace. Scratching at his head for a moment he trailed a finger along one of the corridors as he tried to find some kind of route that would get them around the quickest. "Jeez... Link? I don't suppose your magic could help us any?" he asked, looking to the other boy hopefully, "Or... Maybe you've got something to help us get around quicker? I don't know... A rope or something?" They could always scale the walls, albeit doing so in the middle of the day, with guards all around? Maybe not.

[Mogtaki]

The moment Link had heard the guard he was terrified that he would somehow manage to screw this all up and blow their cover, knowing one wrong move could send them all into a massive world of pain before they could even think about a possible way out. This was really bad, this place really was heavily guarded and if it wasn’t for the masks they would certainly be caught and pursued before extra plans could be made. Turning and standing still as he stared at the Captain, A constant frown remained on his face but behind the shadowy cover of the magical mask his eyes stared on in fear. Just how tall did he look to these people with this mask on? He was already short for his age so hopefully that didn’t project with the magic because otherwise he would be considered too short to be in the military.

Remaining very quiet as Caelan tried to speak around the possibility of trouble with Regol doing his little routine to try and keep the situation at a minimum, Link stared at them all as he thought through a possible plan if things did go wrong. There was a few exits, but none of them would lead further into the castle. If everything came to the worst scenario then they would probably have to kill these guards and hide the bodies, but he didn’t want to have to think about having to do that. Killing guards just didn’t feel right, especially when they were probably as innocent as the townsfolk. Remaining stiff and at attention he gradually eased up when Regol decided it was time to get moving, walking with Caelan in what he hoped was a calm manner. With his shoulders tight and his attention remaining forward, he gasped when Caelan spoke his name before frowning deeper when he mentioned using magic, opening his mouth to speak before closing it tight and looking away. He didn’t know what to say to that, he didn’t even know if he was able to say he had his magic sealed away as well as the Master Sword. Letting out a groan as he remained tight lipped he eventually spoke if in a slight mutter. “Is there…nothing in those supplies that were…uhh, you know…at the shop?” he spoke, slowly looking back to Caelan, “Maybe he gave you something, b-but it’d have to be quick because there’s still a lot of guards around here…otherwise, I guess we head inside...?”

[ColonelCaboose]

Regol had not paid much attention to what had been in the crates given to them at the shop, but he did remember seeing or he believed he did at least, a few clawshots inside one of them. With his crude map representation that was made out of shadow, he indicated to a courtyard that wasn't too far from their location. There were several balconies on the next floors that were being renovated and rebuilt. Though that was a while ago, there was no telling if they were still under construction, but if so there was bound to be things for the clawshots to grasp. He indicated with small shadow puppets clawing their way up to at least the 10th level. That was where the construction stopped and there were no more balconies at least in that courtyard that went higher up.

It was there best bet to climb fast and hopefully unseen, the courtyard was rather small and served more of just letting sunlight into the inner sanctums of the castle rather than for decorative purposes. It wouldn't take them all the way, but perhaps they would bypass the chance of running into a number of guards and alerting Fiona to Regol's return who she would no doubt seek out to confront after she received the news. The courtyard was only down the hallway they were in and then another would lead them right into it through a pair of metal doors.

[GambolMuse]

"I have no idea, I haven't had a chance to look into them yet. Being able to scale the building somehow is safer and faster, we just have to figure out how..." Rarely was the front entrance ever ideal, and if the palace was crawling with guards the more they passed the greater a chance their cover would be blown. Then there was that Fiona woman to worry about and Caelan would much rather they didn't cross paths with her at all. Wracking his brain for a plan he looked to Regol as the map was brandished, following his gestures and nodding understandingly at what was being proposed; find the courtyard and scale up there. That made sense, it was little more than a garden he imagined and there would be no real reason for guards to patrol there. That wasn't to say it would be utterly devoid of guards, but it should be far easier than going through the entire palace.

"Just keep the map out a second longer, let me memorize it," Caelan mumbled, his eyes pouring over every detail, every hallway and doorway he could manage to glean from it. Often times when seeking treasure with a group you only had a single map among everyone and, as he'd found, rarely did people share or even provide wholly accurate replications. For his own sake then he had gotten into the habit of memorizing maps as best he could so he could navigate without one, and compared to some labyrinths he'd been in the palace's layout was remarkably simple. A cuple of branching halls that in large circled back around on themselves and for the rest it was like a grid, easy to remember. Gesturing for the map to be stored away he made a mental of note where they were now for future reference, even going as far to look at whatever paintings or plants might be in the corridor, anything for a mental snapshot. "So the courtyard, then up to whatever windows we can reach. Really wish we knew the schedule for the guards, post changes and all that. Would make sneaking around so much easier."

[Mogtaki]

Link hoped they were onto something with this whole possibly using tools to get up into the building, at least in a way that was better than how he might had done if he still had his powers. He didn’t know what else would had been a suitable method to get in other than going all the way around and going into the front door or through a window which would look really suspicious. If there was something to get up into the castle quietly other than breaking things then it was probably in the supplies they had been provided previously. Looking to Caelan expectantly just so he wouldn’t bring up his powers again he smiled nervously behind the mask. “Oh uhh, that’s okay. Maybe you can have a look when there’s nobody around…” It was going to be difficult avoiding the whole ‘magic’ secret, but luckily Regol was there to provide the shadow magic where he couldn’t even if he still didn’t much like the guy.

Staring at the shadow map that was created by Regol he frowned when Caelan mentioned memorising it, finding that to be a strange talent to have. Staring at it as well for a moment he soon looked up again, sighing lightly, giving the instructions that Caelan was giving out to be basically the same as what he thought was going to be best to do in the first place. “Okay, okay great. This and that way and then…up and along…” he spoke lowly before looking to Caelan again expectantly, “We have eyes so just watch where they are then find a way up. Now would be a good a time as any to look in those supplies so that we can get to a window without smashing it…like a rope with a weight or something mechanical. Magic is too risky in a place like this, even if the soldiers know Regol…” If Regol could speak then a lot of this wouldn’t be a problem, but he couldn’t so instead they had to hope they knew a variety of code words that the soldiers may use to identify infiltrators. He was feeling quite terrified of what could happen, especially with this Fiona woman being around here somewhere. All he had was a mask, at least Caelan wasn’t on the ‘kill on sight’ list quite yet so he might end up with a lesser punishment.

[MULTI_MEDIA_MAN]

"You're sure this is the correct way, Sophos?" Chunks of earth moved to the side, an old ruin destroyed in the pair's attempt to reach their separated compatriots. "I can hardly tell one rock from the next." Gaios took a moment to stop and rest, his breath heavy and labored. Behind him, Sophos did the same. They'd been travelling for what felt like hours through the ruins beneath Castle Town.

"Oh, do not worry young son of mine, I've been down into these ruins on more than one occasion. There are many alchemical reagents that one can only find outside our kind's reach." After a moment of looking around, a frail hand pointed forward, and a small mote of light appeared near a small passageway that angled upwards. "If we go through there, we'll be at a juncture of sorts. A spot where many entrances into Castle Town can be found." Gaios only nodded and walked towards the light.

"I only hope we'll find somebody soon, even if it's Templar forces. Any indication that your friends are near would be a good omen."

[ColonelCaboose]

Regol let the others try and commit the map to memory as quickly as they could, he knew the castle like the back of his hand. The map he had created before them was all from memory, not a legitimate map that he just had lying around his back pocket. Once they were done he ushered for them to move. A guard patrol was sure to come back soon and them huddling around in a dark corner just screamed unusual, the castle Templars were not the average shmuck, they were the pick of the liter when it came to common sense and intelligence. If they saw something out of the ordinary, it would not go unnoticed and without a very convincing excuse would definitely be reported. Getting to the courtyard would be quick and hopefully simple, clawshotting to several balconies without being noticed may be the tricky part unless they did it quickly. Regol took the lead and began moving down the hallway, with the others at his side it would look like a usual escort for higher ranks or official.

One thing that had Regol a bit worried though were his Dark Templars, knights who specialized in Shadow magic like him. Link would no doubt remember them from their first encounter in the milk bar so very long ago. Hopefully Father Thallus had them tasked out on espionage or spy missions, if they lurked around the Castle then it might be harder for the trio to discuss plans with them hiding in every shadow in the Castle.

[GambolMuse]

"Well, we should probably wait until we're not in the middle of a hall, don't want to pull out ropes here do we?" Caelan smirked, reaching back to pat the pouch secured on his belt. Once they were in the courtyard proper and somehow having reached it without any issue he figured it was well time to decide on a course of action. Since they would be scaling the walls it made sense to try and go as high as they could, cover as much ground as possible at once. This of course was risky as they longer they climbed the higher the risk of being spotted was, yet traveling through the halls on foot was just as dangerous. Climbing seemed like their best, and really their only option, unless they wanted to risk discovery.

Finding a spot where some plants would in large obscure anyone's sight Caelan set down the pouch, rifling through its warped contents to try and find their hookshots among the other items. One by one he laid them out on the ground, keeping the remaining items where they were for the time being. "Right... So we want to try and reach the tallest balcony we possibly can, and we'll have to do it as quickly as we can too. So that would be..." Taking pause he got to his feet and craned his neck, scanning the walls above for the possible points to which they would ascend. There were numerous balconies, some likely well out of their reach, and others so low he questioned the point in aiming at them. Depending on how long the ropes were as well he would know how far they could expect to climb.

"Let's see, if we figure there's roughly a 3 meter clearance between the ground and the top of the arches, that means we take 3 meters off of the rope for that..." Caelan muttered to himself as he squatted down, picking up a hookshot to examine it, "And if I had to guess... Each balcony looks to be about 2-3 meters apart as well, so... Assuming this rope is maybe 20 meters long, we're looking at... Maybe scaling four levels comfortably? Five if we push it, but that's assuming I've done this right. Hard to say without actually checking it..." Frowning as he thought it over a second time he looked to Regol for some information, holding the hookshot out to him. "You know this place better than we do, if we went up say... Four floors from here, would be be close enough? We should obviously try getting as close as we can now, minimize the walking we have to do." And hopefully minimize the chances of their cover being blown.

[Mogtaki]

Link didn’t like how much hanging around they were all doing, they really needed to get out of there as quickly as possible and to the Princess before they were seen as too suspicious. They probably already looked rather suspicious, what with their hanging around. Even though they were with Regol it was probably weird to have a couple of guards follow him so closely to random spots. There wasn’t much out there thankfully, but there was definitely the feeling that they would soon run into trouble if they didn’t get their plans together. Looking to Caelan as he hoped he had a plan he frowned before looking around, trying to be casual about it. “I know that…I just hope it’s all ready so we don’t end up stumbling around…”

He really wasn’t cut out for this sneak work, but it wasn’t as if he had many abilities he could use if there was ever danger. He was concerned by how little he could do without his magic, but of course it wasn’t as if he was particularly skilled in the first place. Too much he had learned without any sort of teacher giving him lessons, all of it more or less done without any prior knowledge that he would be fighting for his life at some point. Right now he was the least skilled in the group by far and probably the one who was likely to cause a problem. He didn’t even know if he could climb up using a rope, he wasn’t strong anymore without his shadow magic.

Walking with Regol and Caelan he looked to Caelan as he went through the supplies to bring out what they needed, looking him up and down before up at the walls of the castle. This was going to be just great, but he had to at least try. Frowning as Caelan went over the plan and how much they had to climb, slowly phasing out as he continued to make it sound incredibly hard. He wasn’t a treasure hunter like this guy, nor was he a guy who could move shadows like Regol. “Are you serious…?” he frowned, looking up again before to the hookshot as it was handed out to Regol, “…I thought maybe one level at most…” He may have blacksmith fingers but he didn’t have the strength to hold his own weight. All he could think of was how much effort he was going to have to put into this, but he didn’t know how well he was realistically going to do. "I really don't know if I can manage four floors..."

[ColonelCaboose]

Regol agreed with Link, moving one level at a time might be more reasonable. Moving four or five levels would definitely cover more ground and faster, but exposing them for perhaps a greater time and could lead to a mistake if they didn't take there time. The courtyard was L-shaped all the way up, so they could cross back and forth between sides. There was plenty of construction and hook points for them to shoot up. Slow and steady on this part at least might be the safer route to take. Plus if Link didn't feel like he could handle such a distance and there was no pressure to go four levels at a time, then best they only go one by one. Regol knew something was off about Link, his connection to the shadows seemed to have all but vanished or been severed. Regol was a master of shadow magic, he was born of the shadows in the Twilight Realm, if someone had a connection to the shadows he could sense it no one had ever hidden this from him. It definitely raised questions as to how such a young boy could pull it off, he had proven his shadow abilities to be that of a master, but they seemed undisciplined and reckless when used. Though it was nothing to be concerned with as of right now, they had to focus on other matters.

Regol took the hook shot and aimed it at the first level and then pointed across to the second level and so on and so forth to convey that thought they should go one level at a time, though he pointed at Caelan and then pointed at the fourth level and so on to try and say he could go ahead if he wanted to, perhaps having a scout might be beneficial, keep an eye on patrolling guards from a high level, if there were any.

[GambolMuse]

The further up they could get like this the better, that seemed obvious. The less floors they needed to cover on foot the less a chance of being spotted by guards, obviously a good thing. There was also the chance that using the hookshots would end catastrophically and someone would see them and, call him crazy, but Caelan couldn't imagine their being able to explain their way out of that one. If this was the route they wanted to take then they had to do it quickly. After fetching the tools from their supplies he prepared his own, taking pause when Link began to question his plan. He wasn't sure if Link was against climbing itself or trying to do four floors worth, or if he thought he meant four at once. He wasn't even sure if these tools could reach four floors on their own, one likely had to land on the balcony above and keep going up from there.

"Well then you start with one floor, I'll go on ahead and keep an eye open for you," Caelan explained, moving beneath the far wall and craning his neck to look up. From here none of the balconies seemed to be guarded, of course he couldn't see inside of the halls where the guards would more likely be posted. Taking aim he fired off his hookshot at the second level balcony, just to test the reach of the tool, and was satisfied to find it reached it easily enough. Giving the line a tug to make sure it was secure he glanced back at Regol and Link with a smirk, pulling himself up and using a nearby pillar as a foothold. Letting the line itself be reeled back in he began scaling the walls with relative ease, pausing at each balcony and listening for any guards moving on the other side. With no issue he managed to make it to the second level and pulled himself over onto it, peeking into the hallway to check for patrols. Lucky break, no one was around on his side. Leaning over the balcony he flashed a thumbs up, deciding to wait where he was before continuing on ahead.

[ColonelCaboose]

Regol moved onto the next balcony, if he ran into some guards it might be easier for him to weasel his way out of it on his own than if Link or Caelan were caught doing it. The third level was clear so far, he decided to move onto the fourth and cleared it as well. Leaning over he gave Caelan and Link both the clear. At this rate it was going to take a bit for them to reach the 10th floor, and from there they had to travel another 5 floors to the royal chambers of the princess. This process would be so much easier if they had someone on the inside... Well Regol was sort of the man on the inside currently when he thought about it. Regol began making his way up to the fourth floor, when his patience got the better of him and he aimed his clawshot to the 7th floor. He began to reel himself in when it jammed and he was caught dangling there for a moment at the sixth in front of two Templar Knights.

"Uh!!! Brother Regol... Wha, what are you..." The one knight was cut short as he and his comrade found blades in their necks and fell over the side of the balcony. Right as they were about to make a large splat, two dark portals of shadow opened up and swallowed them whole and leaving no trace of their bodies. It didn't sit well with Regol having to kill those who so highly trusted him, but they had all been lied to by Father Thallus and there was not enough time to explain his treachery to all his fellow Templars in hopes of them turning sides...

[Mogtaki]

Things seemed to be going pretty well for them, that was pretty good. There was nothing happening so far regarding who might notice them or whether everything they were doing was just going to blow their cover anyway by hoisting themselves up balcony after balcony. Link still didn’t know if this was the best plan but it was probably the only way they were going to get up there without being noticed or seen as suspicious, the alert probably remaining on high despite everything that had happened previously to them. There was nothing telling the Templars that Demoko and everyone else was still alive or not so there was no doubt that they would continue to look for them and be on high alert. Every single level they took their time on felt like it was taking a century to climb, namely the physical effort getting to him by the time they passed the third one. He was not as strong as he could’ve been without his magic, he knew that, but something else was just draining him pretty badly. Maybe it was the stress, he wasn’t sure, but he was fair tired after five of them.

Getting ready to get up the 6th balcony once Regol had gone up he gasped when he thought he felt something happening, his heart having a brief jump and dizziness overcoming him momentarily. While he thought he heard something on the floor Regol was checking out, he was sure it wasn’t that which caused him to feel so strange. Trying to pull himself back together he sighed and rubbed his head, trying to pull it together. He didn’t know what happened there but he was feeling fair weird now, almost unsettled by something within him after whatever happened up there. Looking to Caelan he stepped back slightly so he could get some space. “I-I just need a moment before I go again. Just uhh, need a short break from this climbing…”