Linkle rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet until they heard the sound of approaching footfalls and the click of the door unlocking. Slowly it opened up to reveal they're skittish quarry. "Hello!" Linkle greeted warmly, Frisk following her up with a punny explanation as they both presented their presents to her.
All they accomplished was changing the expression on Treat's face from wariness to confusion, but as far as Linkle was concerned that was a step in the right direction. Still, it took a little doing to convince her that this wasn't some kind of wolf hunt and that the presents were safe to take. As she took them her face turned as red as her eyes and she buried he face in her hands, a posture that Linkle empathized with recognized. "No, no, it's fine. They're not even really my ears, they were more like a parting gift from a friend. It's complicated. I'm not even offended."
Albedo affirmed that she didn't have anything to apologize for in his own logical way. He had a way of pointing out things that should be obvious, but somehow wasn't at the time. Frisk on the other hand laid a comforting hand on Treat, held up a stick, and just offered to bonk anybody that messed with her. Linkle found it hard to argue with that because it was the solution she would have gone with. It was the solution she had gone with, when she was their age. Still, that would end really badly in this world. "I wouldn't go that far. They'll bonk back, trust me. That would cause a riot."
The inside of the house was dark, but not dark enough that what little light there wasn't didn't gleam eerily off the eyes of the dolls that littered the house. At least it was confirmed that Treat wasn't the one obsessed with dolls, given the portrait hanging in the parlor. The dark woman depicted in the frame was contrasted by the white garbed, putrid looking doll seated on her lap. Linkle got an inkling of a suspicion about this situation, one that was confirmed when they entered the living. True to its name, Treat was living in this room. She had her whole life set up here in front of a dingy little fireplace. She didn't live in this house because it wasn't hers, she just occupied it. Linkle guessed that the portrait must depict the mansions true owner, from before it was picked up and flung haphazardly into this world.
The sight of her operating the Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace and the short conversation about the relative coldness of this place and Albedo's outward camp inspired a few more questions in her. First of all what kind of magic ran that fireplace and where could she get one, because she found it just as enchanting as the shower back at the motel. If she had had one of those things back when she was a kid she wouldn't have been able to resist throwing all manner of item in there, especially if money popped out whenever you burned stuff. The other question, though, she quietly asked Albedo before settling down next to Treat and Frisk as close to the fireplace as she was able.
"How cold is it in here?"
The answer she got was that it was basically the same temperature as it was outside.
As she watched as the wolf girl start on opening the gifts Linkle offered, "I've got some real logs on my sled we could throw in there." That line of thought stopped as soon as Treat pulled out her first gift. Appropriate enough it was a treat, what looked like a set of candies in their own crisp packaging. From Linkle's she extracted a long black shawl, something that Linkle nodded approvingly at. Good choice, destiny. From Frisk's she pulled out a weird hat that Albedo identified as a drink dispenser and a pack of what looked like potions that glowed a bright blue. She had to resist asking to try one.
Overwhelmed, Treat broke down in tears. Linkle didn't mind this time. There was a difference between good and bad crying, just like with good and bad stupid. This was a good cry. It was lucky Frisk was there to wrap the girl in the hug Linkle didn't feel like she could give her in her state. Instead she leaned in closer. "If I left someone as good as you worse off for having met me I wouldn't be any kind of hero at all. I really am sorry that I scared you, Treat. You want to be friends?"
@Lugubrious Sorry for the absence, if I could have known I'd have told you. I truly enjoyed this RP. And I'm well aware that I'm out of the RP, but thank you for having me.
Link didn't understand anything. Tidehunter had pushed them away, he had pounded the ground, and then something had unfurled under him and he had tasted sky. It any other situation he would have whipped out his glider and turned this attack to his advantage, but there was no way. The tendril that had knocked him up had also coiled around his mind, locking him in a daze. He fell back onto the waters surface, still standing but like a limp puppet. At the mercy of the hunter before him.
The first thing he remembered coming out of that haze was the Princess calling his name. Not his princess, but close enough. He shook his head as his senses came back to him, the sight of Princess Peach locked in a mortal tug-of-war for Tidehunter's very soul greeting him as he awoke. For a moment he thought he was having another nightmare, Peach's form momentarily taking on a dark and terrifyingly slender aspect in the moonlight as she drained something out of the fish man. Then she gave the order and his body was propelled by instinct along. He drew his steel sword and held it out behind his as he skated in, a glint of light traveling up the edge of the blade, and then spun. The blade cut an arc through the air and right across Tidehunter's unprotected neck. A gout of cold black blood spewed out as he fell, the link with his spirit severed along with is life. "To the bottom I go," he managed to gurgle out before his body began dissolving.
Link, unmindful of his own pounding injuries, skated over to Peach and the spirt she had collected to make sure she was okay. As he did so, he noticed that the sounds of fighting had quieted. He looked around, and to his relief was able to see everyone had made it out of this one with no more than a few injuries. The only unknown element left in the area was the Stalfoe's that had shown up unexpectedly, who stood off to the side sharpening its weapon for the next battle. He couldn't help but wonder if that battle included them.
He skated over to it, approaching slowly as the creature turned its head slightly to fix one of its sockets on him. "Thank you for the help." Link said, trying to be diplomatic.
The only answer he got was the SCHEEINK, SCHEEINK of the stalfoes whetstone across it's blade as it stared at him.
"We're here to battle the boss of this island. The strongest creature here. If you know anything about what it's like deeper into the island any information would be apricated. Are there other survi...uh...sane people besides you?"
SCHEEINK, SCHEEINK
"I would be willing to pay you."
SCHEEEEEEEINK, SCHEEEEEEEINK
Maybe it couldn't talk without a tongue. Or maybe it just wanted to be left alone. "Well, we're going to headed back to the mainland after we're done. We could carry you with us if you would like."
SCHEEEEEEEINK, SCHEEEEEEEINK
This was getting him nowhere. Luckily, before he could annoy the stalfoes into a fight, a commotion was kicked up on the other side of the basin. A wrathful roar cut the air, and he turned to find the monster the fish people had been harvesting whipping its tentacles at a super sized Koopa King. "Bowser!" He called, instantly turning tail and skating across the basin toward the source of the disturbance.
Situation with the sea monster thoroughly handled, and richer for it, the hero of the wild road back to where the others had gathered to start distributing the spoils of the battle. He wanted to start stomping Murlock's looking for a shield, but he held off because he was already looking to claim one of the bigger prizes. The one he had left with the Princess. "Can I see Tidehunter?" He asked her, taking the big burly shark man in hand. Northampton's modifications to his body weren't all back, but there was one he had to correct. Besides, if he were going to be as fast on the water as a Zora the least he could do was semi-look the part. Without a moments hesitation he slammed the Tidehunter's spirit into his chest.
Link wasn't the only one that went through a dramatic transformation, either. Or at least that's how it looked. The newcomer, Delsin, rose up into the air as they were about to travel down the route Hat Kid had found into the depths of the island. He rose into the air, glowing as though he too had just absorbed a spirit, but when he dropped he still appeared the same. Save, of course, or a new power. A new way to use a few of those fireballs he had cast at Tidehunter, an ability that he had seemingly lost due to Galeem's diminishing effect on all that came under it's power. He had never seen so clear an example of someone getting something back.
Regardless of that strangeness he descended down the well after everyone else.
The grotto they found themselves in was, thankfully, dry if you had the good fortune to be part shipgirl and were able to stand on the ankle deep water. Link, having spent enough time in the rain to wash off Scylla's stomach gunk, took the opportunity to put his cloths back on and pull out one of the lanterns he had acquired to give them a little more light in the dark of the cave. He tensed up, bracing for the ambush, but none came as they traveled through the caves.
Eventually they came to a wooden balcony, which Ms. Fortune investigated and then recoiled back in disgust. It didn't take Link long to realize why, as he walked over and looked out across the literally writhing floor. The smell was worse than the sight, like what came out whenever he had tried to combine fruit and fish. The sickly sweet smell of rot, combined with cooking meat and the briny stench of the sea all rolled into one. If he hadn't had a cast iron stomach it would have made him gag. The worst part were the shapes slithering out of the shells, pale and slender. Almost beautiful in an ethereal way, though he doubted that that assessment would last if he got any closer than this to them. He pulled out the slate and zoomed in, concluding they were either once women or every dedicated mimics before taking a picture right as one lifted up.
He heard Delsin comment on the horror of the place and grinned. "This place isn't as bad as the last one we were trapped in." Experiencing The Maw made you look at things differently. At least no one was being tempted to jump down and eat those snail women. He hoped.
On being asked where they should go, he pointed out the walkways leading around the sides of the room. "I don't relish jumping down there. This is either a trap or a nursery. Kid?" He turned to face their intrepid little scout before pointing across the way to the wall of fog. "I'm guessing through there though, right?"
Luckily for them it was Albedo to the rescue. According to him Treat lived on a mountain on the village outskirts, and led the way down the street. "Right! Let's go." She said, grabbing the handle of her sled. She noticed as she did that Frisk had set their own gift beside hers. They didn't need to apologize for anything, so they must have grabbed a present just because they wanted to give one. She couldn't blame them, giving gifts was almost more fun than getting them.
She also noticed Albedo's dog following them out into the snow. "Aw, are you worried about her too?" She asked it, leaning down to dog level. That also involved leaning down into the snow, so Linkle picked up the little pooch and set it on the sled as well. It immediately leaped down. She set it up there again, only to have the same thing happen. She tried a third time, and this time the wagging of the dogs tail as it jumped down told her that the dog thought of this as a some kind of fun game. She sighed. "Fine, you win. But hop on if you get cold, okay?" She told it.
During this exchange she failed to notice the man she had been eager to meet all day stepping past her into the restaurant. It did, however, serve to hammer in the notion that other people got cold. So, when they began to set off, it kind of gnawed at Linkle that Frisk seemed to be making due with only a sweater over their shirt. "Can we stop somewhere first?" She asked. "I have to pick something up before we leave town."
So they made a quick stop at the motel where Linkle had spent the night before, the hylian ducking into her room for just a moment before emerging with the cute hat she had gotten from crushing that monster spirit. "Here you go. Don't want you catching your death out there." She said, handing the hat over to her new friend and enduring that it fit snugly. She had had that one earmarked for the other mysterious kid she knew, but she supposed she would just have to find Hat Kid a different gift. As it turned out Frisk had somewhere they wanted to stop as well, but for the life of her Linkle couldn't figure out why. Frisk led them to a spot that, as far as she could tell, didn't have anything of important and then walk up to seemly random random spot. They stood there for a little bit, seemed satisfied, then moved off. As they did Linkle to a moment to step forward and stand in the same spot, watching the child's retreating back. She couldn't feel anything different. "Huh." Maybe it was a local custom, like the tree. Stand in this spot, get good luck on your journey. She would have to ask about it later.
After that they were really off, leaving Snowdin and it's cheery light behind for a trail that was so dismal that she could feel the Skull Hearts approval for it radiating from the back of her mind. The trees were twisted enough to blot out the light of the midday sun and cast the entire path in gloom, but not so covering that they managed to keep the snow off the path. She kept a wary eye on them as the trio moved along, hands on the grips of her crossbows ready to blow up a third forest today should it prove to be as hostile as the first two. From among the branches black birds watched them with beady red eyes, but more disturbing than that were the dolls. From the branches of the trees hung down many dead eyed dolls, swaying in the breeze and making as uncomfortable knocking noise against one another and the branches. "Looks like she either really likes dolls, or really hates them." She said, trying to get a sound out that wasn't that knocking.
Soon she got her wish. She was the first to pick up on the constant, relaxing sound as they neared the edge of the forest. When they found the stairs Linkle looked back at her sled as the dog began clambering up them. She parked it behind a nearby tree, and as she picked up her gift she thought for a moment before sliding the big intimidating firearm off her back and placing it on the sled. It took another to take her crossbows and lay them beside it. Nothing had harassed them in the forest, after all, despite its spooky nature. If Treat was able to take this road safely by herself there was probably nothing to worry about, especially not thieves. If the wolf girl wanted to be alone this place definitely did the trick.
It was a crying shame that no one came here, because as they reached the top of the stairs the view was breathtaking. She had seen a lot of beautiful vistas today, but none of them had contained a waterfall. The torrent of water roared over the top of the mountain, loud enough to her now to almost hurt, and from the lake it filled snaked away rivers to other lakes that spread as far as the eye could see. She wondered if this waterfall fed all those rivers that she had passed on the way to Snowdin?
The waterfall bathed the gloomy mansion that sat on the edge of the of the cliff in mist, and Linkle though that with a bit of love and elbow grease you could turn this into a fetching place to live. Put some warm candles in the windows, beat the iron fence back into shape, maybe convince the sun to shine a little harder, and anyone would want to stay here. As it stood, though, she could see why the only inhabitant was someone that wanted other people to stay away. As Frisk pushed their way through the gate she added oiling the joints to that list of improvements as it let out a cliché and audibly annoying SCREEEEEEEEEE. Linkle followed after them, noting that they were a little on edge.
"You know, in The Legend of the Twilight Princess," Linkle began as the four of them crossed the courtyard, "the Hero had to explore a spooky mansion at the top of a frozen mountain. And while it really was haunted by vicious old monsters, it was mainly the home of a big nice yeti and his adorable yeti wife. They made a stew together, and the yetis taught him how to snowboard." She left out the part where the adorable Yeti wife had been possessed by visions shone to her in an accursed mirror and the hero had had to beat her up with a giant iron ball until she was better. That probably wasn't how this was going to go down. Best to keep optimistic.
When they reached the front door Linkle made double sure her hat was on, her hood was up, and she had the brightest smile she could muster on her face before reaching out and giving the door three loud knocks.
His arrows weren't finding their mark as effectively as he would have liked, but that was fine. He hadn't intended to stop the fishy foursome with arrows, just soften them up a little bit. As it turned out the person he was softening them up for was Sakura, who zoomed past him to take them on. He was about to follow when the giant shark monsters stepped past them as the brawl began, interspacing himself between them as he marched on. "I am Tidehunter," he grumbled.
Link scowled. He really should have been used to talking monsters by now. That wasn't all though. He eyed the arrow buried in the monsters pectoral flesh warily. He hadn't even reacted to being shot. Even Lynel's reacted to being shot, albeit with swift retribution, but the Tidehunter hadn't even broken his stride. Which meant that he either hadn't taken any real damage, or was tough enough that he didn't care. He certainly had the size advantage on Link, but that was mitigated someone by Princess Peach skating up beside him. Link felt his heartbeat quicken as he saw the monsters pure red eyes set on the Princess. "More prey?" Tidehunter said, a wide grin splitting his face and showing off his impressively sharp teeth.
The pair answered with another pair of shots, the roar of The Princesses shotgun splitting the night as Link loosed another arrow. Tidehunter, ghastly smile never leaving his face, dived forward. Both shots missed as shark monster disappeared into the deeper waters of the basic where neither of them could follow. Link looked around for any tell-tale ripples in the water, but found no sign of the Tidehunter save for the eerie feeling of being watched. He swapped out his bow for his Broadsword, not daring to move forward without knowing what his opponent could do.
There was a splash beside them, and it only took a moment for Link to identify the monster emerging from the briny depths, anchor raised to bring down on their heads. "Amphibious Assault!" Called the Tidehunter as he swung.
"Scatter!" was Link's response, he and Peach skating in opposite directions as the anchor came down where they had been, throwing up a spray of water. Peach fired into the spray as Link reversed course and charged in, leveraging his speed to punish the monster for his attack. He didn't notice one more ball of water among the spray, at least until it was too close for him to dodge. The gush of water the Tidehunter had fired from its mouth hit him full in the chest, knocking the wind out of his sails as he felt a sticky wetness begin to cling to his body. The effects were immediate. The liquid was heavy somehow, it felt as though it was trying to drag him down into the drink, and he found his charge slowed. The Tidehunter laughed, swimming toward Link at his own languid pace as he shrugged off the next hail of buckshot pumped into his back. He brought his anchor up again, swinging it forward at Links side. Link really wished he had a shield, but the only thing he could do was try and pull a Sakura by bringing up his arm. He felt the hull blade of his rigging absorb some of the impact even as he lashed out with his own blade to give a cut across the monsters head.
He was surprised by the results of the exchange. For one thing his arm hadn't been shattered by the impact. He had expected something like that anchor to do a lot of damage, but it had felt blunted. Was the hull blade that sturdy? He didn't think so. When he'd swung he felt something interfering with his own attack, and the cut across the monsters forehead was unusually shallow as a result. It was a familiar feeling, as though they had both thrown their attacks underwater.
He still managed to come off the worse of it, being thrown back with a throbbing arm as Tidehunter came in for another blow. Link heard he shotgun roar again as the Princess skated up close, blasting Tidehunter at a range that made the most of every pellet and blowing chunks out of his pretty green hide. Looking back at her, Tidehunter changed the grip on his anchor and swung in a wide arc. Another spray of salty water was thrown out as the Anchor hit the both of them, dousing them in yet more water that weighed down their arms and wormed its way inside the Princesses weapon. He next shot didn't have nearly the same impact even as Tidehunter closed to point blank range and lashed out with the rotting fish he held in his other hand, slapping the Princess to the waters surface in the process. Link's eyes went wild as he recovered from the blow, switching to the Ebony Battle Ax as he charged for Tidehunters exposed back. He gained speed, the first dousing of water he had gotten finally releasing its grip on him as he raised the ax and slammed it into Tidehunters back. Unfortunately between his weakened strength, the effects of the second dousing, and the protection Tidehunter had the ax didn't sink in nearly as far as it should have.
Tidehunter swung back around, bringing the anchor to bare again, but Link already had the Ax stowed and the Slate in his hands. He aimed and fired the Cryonis Rune, a block of ice springing up in the path of Tidehunter's swing. The ice shattered from the hit, Tidehunters arm being thrown back. The Hunter wasn't done yet, though. With his other hand he swung the fish at Link, an attack that Link jumped away from just in time for the fish to skim the tip of his nose.
As it did, everything seemed to slow down. Link suddenly found himself able to count every scale on the fish as it flew past his face. He had been wondering when his old reflexes would be back in working order, and for a moment he was able to observes his surroundings and think. This wasn't a good matchup. Tidehunter wasn't as strong as he looked, but Link was now sure that was only because of whatever ability mitigated the damage he was taking. It was like a shield that protected both ways. He also wasn't very fast, so he used that water to slow his opponents down instead of trying to keep up with them. Once he had you stuck in he would use the water to make your attacks less effective as he pummeled you. This was a battle of who could die slower.
With their speed he and the Princess could beat a tactical retreat, but he took a moment to swivel his eye to check on Sakura. She had already taken one of her monsters down, but could she handle three on one with her strength and speed sapped by this canny hunter? He couldn't risk Tidehunter joining that fight, so what could he do? His eyes flicked forward again, searching Tidehunter for any advantage he could take. He zeroed in the hand that gripped the anchor. Could that work?
Link leaned forward, Broadsword again in his hand. To anyone observing he must have looked like a blue and white blur as he moved forward faster than any human reasonably should. His sword carved apart individual raindrops on its way to cut at Tidehunter's wrist. The first blow, as expected, left only a shallow wound. That was, however, only the first blow. His sword sang as it fell again and again and again and again, so quickly that the attacks may as well have happened all at once. Each cutting deeper, digging into his wrist and across his slimy fingers until with one last blow the sword exploded in his hand. Time began to flow regularly for him again as he heard the monster let out a gurgled scream of pain. The Tidehunter's grip on his weapon, already shaky from deflecting off the ice, failed him. The anchor, the trophy he had taken from the ship of his nemesis, slipped from his grasp and plunged into the basin.
It didn't stay there for long. Managing to disarm the shark monster had only been phase on of the plan. Phase two required the other Rune Link had gotten back post Maw. His hands already free thanks to the destruction of his Broadsword, Link took the Sheikah Slate in his hand and selected the Magnesis Rune. He spotted the still sinking anchor, highlighted in yellow, and sent the beam of magnetic energy snaking its way after it. It locked on as Tidehunter stopped reeling, and Link tugged on the Slate as though he were pulling up the catch of the day from the depths of the ocean. Tidehunter opened his mouth, outrage driving him to finish off this prey with his teeth, but before he could close his maw around the boy the anchor of Admiral Kunkka exploded from the depths and cracked him across the face with tooth shattering force.
"Huh? Bu, hey! Wait a minute!" Linkle said, standing up as the wolf girl fled in terror at the sight of her ears. He ears? Her ears!?! No one had ever even reacted like that to her eyes, which were one hundred percent pure evil and super intimidating, but she got this reaction by showing off her ears!?!?!?!?
It was dumbfounding. She stood there as the girl bolted out the door looking like someone that had just been punched in the faced and wasn't at all sure that they hadn't done something to deserve it. She just couldn't stop hurting people today.
It didn't take a moment for Mr. Grillby to lay out the whole sad state of affairs. Linkle supposed it made a certain amount of sense if you were talking about regular wolves and regular rabbits, or even regular wolves and people. The Goddesses above only knew how many wolves and wolf adjacent monsters she had taken out. They were a collective menace to anyone that had to travel or were unfortunate enough to farm an animal that didn't mercilessly peck anything that attacked it to death. She had been half-afraid that the wolf girl might smell the blood of her kin all over Linkle. That was the thing, though, she was a wolf girl. A person. Wolf people wouldn't eat rabbit people, that didn't make any sense. Not eating people was one of the things that made people people.
"Of course I'm not okay with it." She replied to Albedo. "This isn't the way a hero makes people feel. I've got to apologize. Show her that not all rabbits are stupid. I know a huge group of them that are...well...they're all pretty stupid. But they're good stupid." She had never before imagined that there was a distinction between Good Stupid and Bad Stupid.
As she was saying this the kid was making it clear that they didn't like what had just happened any more than Linkle had. They went to the door before looking back at the pair, introducing themselves. Frisk. That name did not make things any clearer. They did urge Linkle to come along. "Yosh!" She nodded, putting her hat back on and pulling up her hood for good measure. "We're gonna have to delay heading to that hospital for a little bit." She said apologetically before heading to join Frisk at the doorway and searching for the wolf girl up and down the main street.
Linkle stepped out into the street to get a better look, but try as she might she couldn't spot Treat anywhere. He eyes did fall, once again, upon the festive tree and it gave her an idea. Destiny had already done her well here once, maybe it would help mend this bridge she had inadvertently burned. She walked over and sifted through the presents laid out under it before finding another one wrapped in pretty green wrapping paper. She ran back over to where she had parked her sled beside Grillby's door and set the present on it before turning to Frisk. "Do you know where she lives?" She asked, content to let the kid lead the way if they had any idea.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news today, but I figured I'd post this in the OOC: A lot has been going on, and due to personal reasons I'll not get into, I'll be taking an indefinite leave from Guild. This last year has been incredible and a great experience and I'm thankful to have taken part, and I apologize for the potential inconvenience this could cause. But I hope that overall, you all keep trucking and find a ton of fun in the future.
Keep well. Thanks for the fun and I hope whatever it is you come through clean on the other side of it.
There were two things that prevented Link from jetting off to Mirage's aide once he noticed the man was in a similar predicament to Sakura. The first was that Blazermate beat him to the punch, attaching her beam and engulfing the both of them in a radiant blue light that let them shrug off all attacks. The other was the situation with the newcomer.
From the way the man, swinging both chain and fire around with equal abandon, proved him to be as capable as he had claimed. He managed to fight his way over to them even in this water, and when he reached them he request Sakura toss him farther in so he could engage a farther duo of the fish monsters. Sakura obliged, muscles bulging as she grabbed the mans chain and gave him a hammer hurl over to two of the remaining enemies. He landed, caught one of them with his chain, and used it to toss the monster into its partner to set them up for a barrage of fireballs.
Unfortunately the man had advanced just a step too far, right over the edge of the drop-off in the basin and into the drink. That wasn't good. The fish monsters would already have the advantage in the deep water, and the man wouldn't even be able to use that fire of his to defend himself while submerged. "I'll get him." He said to Sakura, skating off toward the man and hoping he got there before any of the monsters while pulling out his slate.
As he reached where the man fell he aimed the Sheikah Slate where he was treading water and thumbed one of the two runes he noticed he had gotten back earlier. There was a crackling sound as mist began to pour off the surface of the water around the man as it rapidly cooled. His feet touched solid ground as a pillar of ice rose, square and perfectly stable on the surface of the water, lifted him up out of the water and gave him a somewhat commanding view of the battlefield.
"Watch your step." Link called up to him as he jetted around the pillar and searched the battlefield for the next thing that required his attention. As he did so he felt something wet, clammy, and strong wrap around his ankle. He glanced down to see a red, webbed hand griping him from under the water. So something had been coming for the easy prey down there. The muscles in the hand tensed as it tried to pull him under the water, but Northampton's harness wasn't about to allow that. He summoned the brandistock back to his hand and plunged it down into the murky water, but by that time the monster was already pulling itself up. It raised its other arm, managing to deflect his blow with a worm eaten shield it wore on its wrist, and reached up to sink its claws into his now exposed and unprotected side. It pulled, dragging a wretched stench with it as it grabbed his shoulder with its now free arm and brought its face level with his. It widened it's jaws, ready to sink its knife like teeth into his neck.
He dismissed the brandistock, it's length more of a hindrance now than as asset. He reflected, for a moment, that he had been in almost this exact situation before earlier today. It seemed a lifetime ago, and now he had no helmet to save him. But this thing was no Abyssal, and neither was he anymore! Link brought the shipgrils hull blade to bear, driving it into the fish monsters side. It let out a pained gurgle that was cut off by a series of booming cannon shot that blew a hole clean out the other side of the monster. It's grip strength waned and it tumbled back, already dissolving, into the drink. Link looked down, but while the claws of the monster had hurt he only found the spreading purple of a bruise rather than a punctures he had expected. An effect of Blazermate's quick ministrations as the battle began, no doubt.
At least the battle seemed to be dying down now. It looked as though the fish monsters were on the ropes, one of the large ones already being destroyed by the Koopa troops concentrated onslaught as it approached and the other currently being double teamed by Ms. Fortune and Ace. The diminutive leader of the fish monsters saw fit to hang back and observe the battle from near the central well. With everything else seemingly well in hand Link started forward to lock down this last threat before he set upon one of the others..
Unfortunately the fish monsters were nowhere near spent. A reinforcement squad of fish monsters burst out of the surrounding buildings, letting out a war cry of unintelligible gurgles. More distressing was the group the ripped themselves from within the giant monster that the fish men had been butchering, three semi-humanoid ocean horrors and another shark man even large than the two they had started with. Even worse was the thing that pulled itself out of the well. He couldn't take his eyes off it, the discordant noise of its scales rubbing together burrowing their way deep into his ears and causing his brain to quiver just from being this close to it.
(Link begins at 25 stress)
His vision was torn off this latest horror by the arrival of a skeleton, who bounded off the roof and instead of attacking any of them went for the pair around the well. Well, this seemed like the best time to abide by his own advice. If monsters wanted to infight he was only too prepared to let them. He turned his attention to the quadruplet advancing from the east, pulling out his bow and knocking an arrow as he advanced. He fired at the most human one first, pulling back and releasing three arrows one after the other his way before spotting the clam monsters opening up its mouth. He took the opportunity to carefully aim and send an arrow right toward the glowing green orifice.
Linkle was taken aback when the kid complimented her spooky eyes, blinking them rapidly and looking away. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that. On the one hand, wow, it felt pretty nice to get complimented on something you were so self conscious about. On the other, they didn't know the context. The context ruined them. "You really think so?" She asked the kid, embarrassed. "I mean, they're not. They're really not. They're bad news, super evil." She said, twiddling her fingers together nervously and failing utterly at looking at all evil. "So a kid like you shouldn't go thinking they're cool or anything. Thanks' anyway, though. It's the thought that counts, right?"
Luckily she was saved from this awkward topic by the arrival of the wolf girl. For a certain measure of wolf girl, at least. If you weren't snarling than, in her opinion, you didn't count as a wolf. Treat didn't look like she snarled. Treat looked like she felt like that compliment had made Linkle feel, except she felt it all time. As the girl approached and handed the wriggling and eager dog to Linkle she felt it was only natural to pay the kids complement forward. "Hi! Thanks so much for looking after him." She said as the animal wriggled in her arms. "Cute ears." She passed the corgi across the table to Albedo, placing it right in his lap with all hates, before whipping off he own beret and letting the rabbit ears on her own head point straight up. She flicked her finger between her own and the wolf girls. "We almost match." The wolfs were probably natural though.
The Kid, meanwhile, had down what almost any kid would do when in the vicinity of a cute dog. They looked like they would be hanging around for a while with how dedicated that hug was. She should introduce them, if that was the case. "I'm Linkle. I'm a traveling hero, blown into this wonderful little town by the winds of destiny." She said to the pair. "You probably know Albedo already." She said, nodding in the alchemists direction. "He's helping me explore the Frozen Highlands. What about you guys? Mr. Grilby said your name was 'treat,' she said, pointing out the wolf girl before turning her attention to the child that was also practically in Albedo's lap. That was so cute she was reluctant to say anything lest she break it up, but she powered through. "But we didn't get your name, little buddy. How do you two like Snowdin?"
As they road closer to the inky black void that, according to their map, existed at the center of the world Yuri was surprised to find that it wasn't at all as empty as its name implied. Instead it seemed to be just, well, Space. She leaned against the window and watched as asteroids and far off planetoid drifted around as though someone had assembled the worlds largest planetarium. It couldn't have been easy to do, taking Space and shoving it into the middle of the continent, and for the life of her couldn't understand why you would instead of just leaving Space where it belonged. Another chilling though that crept in was that, if Space was right here, what was that up in the sky?
Soon they pulled in between rows of cars, all types and models of cars. From the realistic to the cartoonish, it seemed like all kinds made their way to the Rocket League arena. The name caused her some trepidation. Combined with the setting it called to mind some kind of bloodsport practiced by savage wasteland outlaws, so it was with great relief when she saw that it was apparently soccer. She could deal with soccer, even if it was apparently played by giant cars with even bigger balls. It was better than the automobile death match they had stumbled into on the way to The Dead Zone.
When Nero asked for opinions Yuri was surprised to find herself the first one speaking up. "I've been thinking about that." She started in her halting way, pulling out a small black spiral notebook she had spotted in the gas station and asked for when they had been buying supplies. "These people, they can't live here. They must have come from other places. So, I wanted to try and get them to talk about where they're from. Not before they came, where they were when they woke up."
She laid out her idea as they walked. They could say that they were members of an organization trying to map and reconnected people in the new world, which wasn't even technically a lie, and ask people a few questions.
1. Where had they had woken up in the world, if not here? 2. Where did they reside currently, if they were not wandering? 3. How long had it been since they had awoken, if they remembered? 4. If they had traveled, had they stopped at or spotted any places of interest? If so, where and what was the location? 5. Were they currently searching for any friends or family? If so, could they provide a short description of them?
She even held up her camera, unhooking the Smash Lens so it worked like just a normal camera when it came to the living, and suggested she could take pictures of the people she interviewed. They could post them in Lumbridge or Alchamoth to see if anyone recognized their faces, and the mercenaries could try and help them get in contact.
"There's probably a food court or something." She finished. "I could stay there and try to talk to people. It would be easiest there, I think." She didn't fancy going into the stands to do this, she already knew what would happen eventually if she had to rub shoulders with other people and they probably wouldn't be able to hear her over the game. "I wouldn't mind someone staying with me, though." She sheepishly tacked on at the end. Pit was right, you never knew what kind of person you could run into.
Linkle
Merge Rate: 33%
Chilling Defensive Aura
Linkle can lower the temperature in her immediate vicinity as low as minus 200 °F, causing severe damage to anyone who gets too close, enough to ward off melee attempts and to confound a lot of projectiles.
As heartening as it should have been to see the kindness the residents of goat village so wholly embrace the old beastman it seemed to do little to mollify the Skullgirl. The goodbyes were, necessarily, quick as the pair continued on, shooting back up the ropes towards the monastery. It was a relief to see the grounds not inundated with briars, but Linkle couldn't really call herself surprised given her assessment of the goddesses character. Even Skadi was all right, if still just a broken as when they found her. While Albedo explained the situation to Father Guerra Linkle knelt with the Goddess beside her Doge.
"We managed to meet your daughter." She said. "She's fine, though not at all what I expected. She said she didn't want our help, and demolished a little old mans cottage because he pointed us in her direction. It's your place to punish her for that. I'm still going to do my best to protect her from that man, because I swore that to you, so please get better. I think she needs you to correct her." With that she stood up and, after touching up the partially melted ice sculpture, left Skadi's hideaway. She considered trying to friend heart the Goddess, but if Skadi turned into a bird and flew away in her state it could end up very dangerous for her. So Linkle left her to try and recover on her own, for now.
The two left the monetary behind them, and after collecting her sled Linkle followed Albedo back the way they had come. The tree women saw fit to harass the pair again, but this time Linkle was absolutely done with being hounded by the foliage. As though seeking revenge for their brethren back in the glade they were attacked with chilled breath, dancing candle lights, and the odd swung branch, and each attack in turn was met with a bevy of bomb arrows. No tree received any mercy on this pass through the woods, if it moved strangely to Linkle's wary eyes and looked even vaguely humanoid it was bombs first and the only question after was whether it left behind a spirit or not. Any she found were crushed, the resulting prize tossed onto her sled.
The tree women were not the only monsters along the way to suffer her wrath. Though she couldn't feel the chill in the air caused by the ice monsters that inhabited this leg of the journey she could see them sparkling in the mid day sun. As they passed one of the floating snowflakes Linkle stopped. Like last time the territorial snowflake had squared up with her, it's eyes promising a fight if she wanted one. Unlike last time, however, Linkle wanted one. She was in such a mood that a look like that reminded her of her earlier idea about hunting the things. "Hey Albedo, would you mind if we stopped for a moment. This should only take a minute." She said, stepping toward the snowflake. "Now, what can you do with ice?"
As she made her way toward the snowflake it shook and delivered on its promise. The wind kicked up as crude chains of ice formed in the air around her and rapidly closed in. She ducked and rolled through the snow, the scraping against one another as they passed over head, and as she came up her bows were already in her hands. It occurred to her that she had never had a chance to test the actual arrows of her new weapons, and so she pulled the triggers to unleash a few bolts. They slammed into the ice creature, and to her satisfaction they pierced into the ice that made up its body. Even the ones that had bounced off managed to leave a spider web of cracks where they had struck. No turtle shell was going to be able to stop these.
The snowflake wasn't done, though. It leaned into her shots, firing strings of multicolored energy from it's mouth that coiled around one another like snake even as they flew toward her. She ran to the side, the beam tracing her path across the snow, but when it finally let up she sprinted toward the snowflake. He boot erupted in flames as she delivered a jumping kick right to the creatures center. It flew back, turning to ash even as it melted.
The beam had been pretty cool, she supposed, but she could probably do the ice chain thing herself if she tried. Though it was pretty impressive that it made ice in the air and didn't just grown it out of its body. Linkle had so far never managed to create ice without having a point of contact. She thought about this as she went to retrieve the spirit, and it was only the familiar crackling sound of ice being rapidly formed that drew her attention to the next attack. She jumped back as an ice crystal as big as she was dropped out of the sky and impaled the area right where she had been standing. She looked around to see half a dozen of the crystal ice monsters floating around her, each one spinning. She fired a rapid stream of bolts at one, and while a few chipped the crystals it was made of none seemed to even phase the glowing core. The familiar crackling sound came again, louder this time, as ice formed and was launched at her from every direction. Three large chunks rained down on her from the sky, plowing into the earth a causing explosions of snow as she dodged them. Through this snow came a series of long icicle spikes, the first two grazing her side and left arm before she put enough distance between the to weave through the remainder. As she dodged she spotted one of the monsters through the snow and aimed, the tip of the bow flashing red as another bomb arrow sailed out and blasted it to pieces. The rest of them began spinning again, but this time she didn't give them a chance to charge up their magic. She let loose with more bomb arrows, singing her arms to throw them in all directions. The monsters didn't seem to enjoy the heat of the explosions. Most of the shots went wide but she saw two more sink into the snow, half melted from the blasts and crumbling to ash. The others stopped their spinning before they could cast their own spells and backed away, perhaps understanding that they were outmatched.
Linkle, breathing hard, collected the three spirits. These things seemed to know a lot about ice, but it had just occurred to her watching them melt that fusing with a creature made entirely of ice could interfere with her fire attacks. Deciding against any fusions that might result in her accidentally melting herself, she smashed the lot and tossed them on the sled as well as she returned. "Thanks Albedo," She said as she grabbed the sled. "We can keep going now."
As they pulled into Snowdin Linkle seemed to be returning to her usual self. Perhaps laying waste to the local monster population had done something to help work out the anger she felt at Freya, or maybe it was the sight of the cozy little town safe and intact that managed to warm her heart.
Then again, it might have been worry that replaced that anger.
"No, I'm sorry." Linkle said as she helped the alchemist inside their base camp café. "I should have noticed. I know I can't tell how cold it is but that's, what, three times now?" She helped him out of his coat and watched as he draped it near the fireplace. A wet coat. Of all the things that could permanently injure you, she hadn't even considered it. They slid into the booth to wait for that hot cocoa and she watched Albedo rub his hands together sadly. It was only the knowledge that her undead body was probably ice cold that kept her from reaching over and showing him how you really ground your hands together. "Take as much time as you need. I'd be totally lost if anything happened to you." She said, completely unaware of just how literal that statement was. She looked around the room for his dog. Dogs were always warm and she was going to shove that furry little heater right into his face.
As she was scanning the bar she totally missed the diminutive waiter that arrived with Albedo's hot cocoa until they spoke up. She glanced down, the skulls laughing in her eyes meeting the closed eye of what appeared to be a human child. "Well hey there little..." She started kindly, but paused for a moment to study the child. Their gender was like her age: vague. "Kid," she settled on. "You haven't seen my friends dog running around in here, have you? He needs it on his lap pronto, it's an emergency."
Link's search through the busted remains of the ships that had beached themselves upon this blighted shore proved fruitless. The hulls had been busted open and gutted by the elements as though by a ravenous beast. Soggy wood, moldering rope, furniture smashed to bits by the crash and clothing left to rot in the rain and sea spray. A few of the weapons, weather beaten and eaten away by rust, interested him in the same way the mistakes he had been gifted by the Blacksmith trio back in Lumbridge had but he already had a full compliment of weapons. He literally couldn't carry anymore. He could have carried as much food as they needed, but there wasn't anything to be found in that department either. He would take anything that was safe to eat at this point.
As he continued to search though, the lack of valuables became conspicuous to him. Things left out in the open or jostled by chaos were one thing, but chests were supposed to seal and preserve. At least the items contained within the few he found should have fared better, but he also found them thrown open and empty. There was no sign of valuables either, items like jewels that shouldn't degrade quite so easily. He remembered the path into village Ms. Fortune had pointed up to them and wondered whether the survivors of these wrecks had taken their valuables and sought shelter that way in the after math. Or, a darker thought asked, whether these ships had been gutted by something other than the weather.
It wasn't long after that Link found a sign of life. Bootprints in the muck leading out of one of the drier hulks, moving on down the beach toward where his comrades had taken shelter. That couldn't be a coincidence. The rain ensured that these couldn't be that old. He must have just missed whoever this was, maybe when he'd detoured to photograph the wildlife. Instantly his sword was in his hand as he pounded sand after them, the worst case scenario blaring in his mind.
It turned out that he had no reason to worry. Not only were his comrades all up and about, but they had even managed to get a fire going and extract the airship from some hidden pocket to provide an even better shelter. He slowed down as he approached, trying to play off the frantic worry that was rabidly fading as being out of breath. It was odd, but he felt for sure he shouldn't have had to fake it. A sprint like that normally should have left him utterly winded, but in seeming contrast to the emptiness of his stomach his Stamina seemed more full than ever.
His relief was doubled when the newcomer was not only amicable, but had been the one to provide the wood to start this fire. It softened the hit to his pride to know that the reason he hadn't been able to gather any fire worthy wood was because it had all already been gathered by someone else. He didn't look as though he was carrying around much else, though, so that still left an uncomfortable feeling that they would find more people deeper into the island. He scooted forward toward the fire, trying to knock off some of this chill. He didn't get long by the fire before a lightning flash signaled the next leg of their journey. It was a shame. He had wanted to hear the newcomers answer to Ms. Fortunes question before them moved out.
He stood up and stretched. "I guess I'll just have to enjoy being dry later." He said. He hadn't even had enough time to slightly dry off, so he didn't really mind. Instead he looked at the stranded man, so unassuming looking, and cycled through his weapons until he settled on the Sahagin Trident. He flipped it around and held it out to the man. "Here. We're going deeper into the island to face a monster stronger than anything on this sea. I'm not sure if it's safer to come with us or stay here, but keep sharp either way." In truth Link was wholly against bringing this man with them, but he couldn't shake the idea of that Mulduga monster from the Depths or those putrid guests rolling out of the mouth of the Maw and catching him all alone on this beach.
Regardless of whether the man took either the spear or the advice, Link was about to march back out into the rain when he spotted something glowing faintly in Peach's hand. "What's that?" he asked, and only when it was shown to him did he notice Ms. Fortune's transformation back into her default form. Upon enquiring about the reason behind her giving up the spirit and earning that the fuel for the shipgirls could apparently run out he considered it for a moment and then shrugged. He had enjoyed his time under the waves, and it couldn't hurt to experience the other side of that conflict. At least with this one he would be able to walk. "Give her here." He requested, and pressed the spirit to his chest.
Northampton Link's skintone and hair have darkened a touch, with his hair growing longer and turning blue on the inward side of each follicle. His build and features have become slightly more slim and feminine. A naval tattoo has appeared on his left outer thigh. Both his tunic and pants have shortened into a loose top (splashed with white and star-emblazoned) and shorts respectively, while his gloves and boots are shiny and red. His eyes are a glass gradient from blue to green with no visible pupils. This spirit confers the Power Ship Shape, granting a harness attached at the waist. Two mechanical arms extend from it with hull blades at the elbows and miniature three-cannon batteries on the end. While it's equipped, Link can skate over the surface of water. This spirit also confers the weakness Low Caliber, decreasing the host's muscle mass enough to impact physical strength
It didn't take as much getting used to as the Abyssal. For one thing, he had been right: it didn't completely devastate his ability to walk. Not like it would have mattered so far, what with the river leading deeper into the island. That was where Link spent the majority of his time while during the trek inland, the river. On top of it, more specifically. Another upside the shipgirls had over the Abyssal was that he didn't have to physically get in that nasty looking water, but was able to glide over the top. That was one of the things that did take getting used to, but with a few piece of advice and a bit of encouragement from Sakura soon he was skating along the river like her had been doing it all his life.
The other thing he had to get used to was the feeling that he had gotten weaker. In addition to a tattoo, a change of hair color he was still surprised by every time his bangs fell into his face, an overall more reveling outfit, and a bevy of weapons that he didn't dare use lest the whole apparatus it was attached to be blasted to piece, the spirit had also imparted the shipgirl's slim figure. Which was fantastic if he ever needed to sneak into Gerudo town again, because he was pretty sure he could manage it without the disguise now, but was less than ideal when it came to swinging around heavy weapons. He confirmed this by dragging out ebony battle axe and noting the comparatively slower swing speed when compared to the fight in Shippy's hold. The rest of his time heading upriver was spent getting used to his arsenals new weight, testing each weapon in turn and figuring out the best ways to compensate for his new shortcomings before they inevitably had to fight.
Luckily for him and everyone else that could skate along the water like this the town they ended up in was flooded. Creatures you would normally see in the ocean instead hid among the refuse on the side the street, in particular a nasty looking snail the size of a dog that launched something unmentionable at him when he got to close to it. Link spotted the slimy stuff coming at his head and leaned back, skating backwards out of the projectiles path before drawing his sword and charging in. With this new speed he was on the creature in a moment, but just as quickly it protected itself by hiding inside the shell. Unlike Ms. Fortune Link hung around for a moment, skating back and forth in front of the creature while slowly weaving away. Successfully baited, the snail popped out of it shell to try and attack again. Link dodged the brine to the side and snapped a picture of the exposed snail with the Sheikah Slate before skating out of its range. He set the slate to track the Sea Maggot so they couldn't be taken of guard by the critters, and made sure to point out any that he could find for the others.
Kamek's solution was much simpler, which was just to blow one up. More brutal, yet more elegant. It was what he would do if he had access to bombs. While the koopa's fiddled with the lantern they had found Link picked up the spirit if the creature Kamek had just made an example of and crushed it.
As they made their way further into the village the slate stopped picking up snails entirely, and the snails gave way to a more menacing breed of monster. Fish creature, more repulsive than even those he had fought back at the bridge, misshapen parodies of the sleek and beautiful Zora he was familiar with. He brought the slate up and snapped a picture of every variety even as anxiety began to built up inside of him. This was it. Battle was about to be joined. There would be no avoiding this, and as he imagined that he felt a quaking fear building up in his heart. Not for himself, but for everyone else. For the people he cared to lose.
It wasn't long until they were spotted, and the fish freaks let out a call to all their brethren that a new source of food had arrived in the village. Ms. Fortune took the high ground as they charged in, calling the small ones attention, while the Troop took the opportunity to retreat into a more narrow position that they inundated with ball monsters. They then opened up with everything they had on one of the charging giants as the smaller fish started hacking away at balls.
Between their entrenched position and Ms. Fortune's more isolated one the decision was an easy one to make. Link would, for now, trust the giant sized monsters to the giant sized men. He slid past the wounded one Sakura had gunned down on her way and that alone made him feel a little better. He pulled his brandistock and, increasing speed, plowed the sharp end right into another one. It weakly took a few clawed swings at him as it died and blew away in the wind, and Link took the opportunity to gouge another in the shoulder as he shot by and push it along across the shallow water. He skidded to a sudden stop, and the murlock was thrown off the spear from sheer momentum. The loss of strength was more than acceptable to him if it meant he could move as fast as Sidon.
He heard more cannon shots nearby, and turned to find the source only to discover that they weren't cannon fire at all. Those were the sound of Sakura's punches. He was distracted momentarily by the street fighters battle, having never actually been in a position to watch her fight before. He felt his heart jump into his chest when the fish man swung his weapon and the girl brought up her forearm to block the strike. That was nothing compared to the shock he felt when the fish man came out the worse from that exchange of blows. He knew on an intellectual level that she had to be strong, but he hadn't expected "forearm you could use as a shield" strong. That was Goron strong. No wonder she had been so desponded in The Maw. He had felt naked without his equipment, he couldn't imagine the loss you felt when your body had previously been able to do something like that.
Sakura shouted a warning about the giant fish monsters, and he decided to follow her advice and stay out of their range. It would be better to let the big guys handle the big monsters if they could. He skidded after, delivering a killing stroke to the back of the remaining fish man in the process. It was a good thing too, because a new monster emerged from a patch of strange mushrooms and latched onto the girl. He charged in, switching to the battle axe and timing his swing so he could bring the blade down on the creatures long pink body with as much momentum as he could. It fell like the blade of a trained executioner, cleanly severing the creature in half and burying itself in the ground. Link's stop was helped by him slamming stomach first into the handle of the axe, which he quickly stored in favor of the Brandistock again as he got his breath back. "All right?" He asked, looking her over for bite marks.
Lugubrious
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