Part 2! Not as soon as I'd hoped but oh well. I hope it's worth the wait, I got to thinking what would happen in real life if monsters died like they do in LTTP. Read on and you'll see what I mean…
Into Darkness: Courage pt2
Hello… rupees! Gale chuckled, surveying the scene, half a dozen piles of multi-colored stones sat before her, almost begging to be taken. It was a thief's dream…
"Now let's see…" She muttered, scanning the walls; treasure like this usually had some kind of trap to protect it, she'd learned that lesson the hard way during a wagon raid once. They'd rigged one of the wagons with bombs, and the burns had taken an age to heal. No arrow holes… the ceiling's low but I don't see any openings or panels. Still, something wasn't right; it was all just laying there for her, azure blues, emerald greens, and fiery reds, mixing in a brilliant rainbow of wealth. Walking up to the nearest mound, a waist-high stack of crimson rupees, Gale tentatively reached out and snatched one for a closer inspection.
It seemed perfectly fine, the sides of the gem were cut in the normal way, and it was too heavy to be a fake, but the longer she gazed at it the more it seemed simply off.
"It's too new…" She realized, after several more seconds. "The wall, the floor, everything else is corroded, but not this." With a sad sigh, she let the stone slip between her fingers; the second rule of being a thief was that if it was too risky, don't try to take it, instead live to steal another day, and her instinct warned her that it was far too risky.
But there has to be something of value here. It took a thorough scan of the room to find it. Tucked out of sight in the back of the chamber was a rotting chest. Anyone else would have probably passed the small wooden box up in their haste for riches. After determining it was safe, the redhead knelt and tore off the decayed lid.
"Well…" Nestled snugly inside was a large golden key shaped like a horned skull. "Mine!" She grinned at the key, stowing it in her tunic. The key on its own would be worth a decent amount. Standing she brushed a few stray spiders from her arms, and turned to leave.
And stopped short, the treasure was moving. First rule of being a thief: It's not yours until you get away with it. Gale thought reaching for one of her daggers.
-8-
Aden slammed the door shut and pressed his back to the wood. Several muffled thumps announced that the creatures on the other side couldn't reach him. I haven't been here for five minutes and I already hate this place! "Aw, knock it off!" He shouted as the torches nearby extinguished themselves, and the room was once again plunged into darkness, save for the short path granted by his lamp.
Okay, okay, just keep cool. I have to find Gale and quickly too, huh? His foot sank as his weight pressed another switch. A moment later something collided with his left side, and he was lifted into the air by an arm that felt like a tree trunk. The arm pushed against his middle, spinning him through the air before releasing him into empty space.
Aden weightlessly flew for the span of a heartbeat, until with a loud smack, he bashed into a wall he could not see, and landed flat on his stomach. Blinking away the fairies that flitted over his eyes he sluggishly got to his feet, cursing the trap torches. They don't seem deadly but in this place it's like the very lights are trying to kill me. The darkness here is full of nasties. The torches surrounding the room sputtered to life and Aden drew his sword. Like that handsome devil. Standing at the opposite end of the triangular room was the creature that had thrown him; a sickly green-skinned, seven foot monster, with one closed eye, and two very muscular arms.
What the heck are you? He took a few tentative steps in the thing's direction. I've heard of demons being created for the sole purpose of guarding treasure, you one of those big guy? The creature didn't answer his thoughts, in fact it didn't do anything other than breathe heavily. Wait a second… Aden couldn't hide his surprise as he realized that it was snoring! That time-bomb fell asleep! It boggled his mind how such a powerful creature could run out of steam so quickly. Well, at least I don't have to fight it.
It was a statement that would be taken back shortly; the room contained two doors that led onward and both were locked and too sturdy to break down. It didn't take Aden long to figure out that he'd been trapped. "Okay-Dokey, new plan… Hey monster!"
The one-eyed fiend stirred as he approached, and then turned to face him with one grotesque orb. Aden settled into a crouch, his sword poised, and waited. The creature didn't keep him waiting long, snarling angrily it attacked, and with surprising speed, swinging its arms like giant hammers. Quick as it was though, it wasn't very agile, or smart, and after a few scratches Aden was untouchable; it was almost like dancing as he darted around the monster's blindsides.
This thing catches its prey by surprise but… Aden ducked under an arm nearly as wide as he was and stabbed it in the underside. It's helpless if you know how to fight it. Swerving around the monster's fist, he brought his sword up and sliced the demon from shoulder to hip. The creature roared in pain, bulged grotesquely, and then exploded, showering the nearby area with green goo, and Aden belatedly realized that it wasn't a good idea to stand so close.
The doors on either side of the room opened but Aden didn't move; he remained where he was with charred flesh hanging off his sword, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Note to self: don't stand so close to those uh… things, and don't tell Gale about this.
Aden cast a rupee to decide left or right. The gem landed closer to the left than right so without further ado he started past the threshold.
The darkness in the hall was absolute, the light of his lamp the only guide through the winding corridors. The narrow stone walls took the sounds of frightened rats and spiders and sent them echoing around the corridors. I'm in a maze… I hate mazes! At least he wasn't being blinded by flashes of light.
The short labyrinth ended at black, heavily padlocked, door. Aden didn't waste time attempting to force it down, this door was even bigger than the other one, and the lock that secured it was almost as big as his head. It appears I've hit a dead end… Cursing his rotten choice, he trudged back the way he'd come.
The right hand door led to another fork. And that winding path led to another. And another. And yet another. After a moment's thought, he saw that he was traveling through a network of underground chambers; the question was where they eventually led… Most likely to another trap, but he had little choice, the doors he passed through barred themselves, despite his attempts to keep them open.
One room contained two of those Cyclops creatures, Aden was careful not to stand too close when he dispatched them. Another room was bare, save for a chest containing a compass that appeared to be broken, Aden took it anyway; it still looked valuable enough to be worth a few rupees. Others seemed to have no apparent purpose aside from adding to his confusion, frustration, and he hated to admit it, fear; the dungeon was littered with bones, rusted weapons and corroded armor. What if he kept wandering, he could be lost for days, weeks, or worse…
I really don't want to wind up like those guys… One half-decayed skeleton glared at him as he passed. Although his ego would never let him come clean about it, he began secretly hoping that Gale hadn't gotten lost in these dark passageways. Anything could be lurking in the next room, like a deadly trap, a hideous monster…
Aden was halfway through one bone-covered room when the door he'd set his sights on closed. Or an ambush. The ground rattled beneath his feet as the dead began stirring from their rest.
"Lay back down…" One Stalfos righted itself completely, "Uh… please go back to sleep?" The spider-infested skeleton lunged lazily, skinless fingers groping for his throat. Aden took one step back and, drawing his sword, decapitated the undead fiend. "That… was it?" Another pile of bones collapsed as four mangled skeletons stood. "Six, seven… Thirteen of you total huh?" The Stalfos' only answer was to shamble toward him like sleepwalkers. Okay, if they're all that predictable, this'll be easy.
Bones flew and shattered against the gray stone walls; the Stalfos were easy to evade and even easier to cut down. Aden sliced through the skull of another enemy, and jumped back as yet another moldy hand reached for him. Fourteen? I missed one? No… Another of the dead rose. They aren't staying dead! That's just not fair…
"How about we call a truce?" He tried. One ambitious Stalfos reached for him early, Aden cleaved it in half at the base of its spine. Backing away from the ever-increasing army of popping bones, he began to wish the lights would go out; the sputtering torches cast the decomposing fiends into a hellish orange glow, as they meandered forward.
Aden felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "Stay away from me…" Another skeleton fell, split cleanly down the center. "I'm warning you guys, you really don't want to mess with me." The monsters ignored him, and continued their slow, relentless march. It was that lack of speed that caused his heart to quicken and his nerves to tingle; they didn't feel the need rush his death, they knew no pain, and their numbers only grew, it was as though he was fighting a tidal wave of trudging foes… It was the pace of the unstoppable.
A hooked claw scratched his hand as Aden cut into the growing horde again. "I-I told you to back off!" The blade quivered slightly as it chopped through more bones, and still they advanced, he could've sworn they were grinning. "Back off… Back off, you wretched little-!" One slimy hand clamped around his neck, Aden cut the owner into three pieces. Gale where are you, I could really use some help right about now…
A splintered bone grazed his temple. "Gale where are you?" Two Stalfos grabbed the front of his tunic, Aden cut them down, and two more shambled over to take their place. Bones cracked under his feet. Something cut his ankle. A skeleton pulled his hair. The blade cleaved through rotten bone.
"Help! Someone help me!" More undead fell, and rose again. Aden growled like an angry wolverine and dove into the swarm again, hacking at anything within reach. Enemies fell, and a pair of fleshless hands yanked his sword arm down. A Stalfos, grisly painted in the torchlight, flung itself at him, its jaw open in an obscene smile, one hand clawing at his eyes.
I'm about to die. Another arm dug into his shoulder, drawing blood. The pain leant his mind a brief moment of clarity, and he grasped the slick hilt of his sword with both hands.
"NOT LIKE THIS!" Driven by pure terror, Aden ripped his arms away from his attackers and stepped forward. The chamber erupted into golden light as he swung his sword horizontally, his momentum spinning him in a circle. Skeletal wraiths flew back and exploded under the assault, and Aden sank to his knees as the light faded from his weapon.
His nerves were on fire. His trembling body glistened with sweat, and no amount of air seemed to fill his lungs.
I'm gonna die, I'm about to die… Aden raised his eyes, he was alone, and the door ahead of him had opened. "I'm alive…" Count to five, stay alive. He counted slowly, waiting for another attack, another swarm.
Not a swarm. His mind told him. Thirteen… only thirteen.
"Five. Count to five, I'm still alive." Aden stood and ran to the door; it didn't matter where it led, so long as it was away from here. Gale, where are you?
Thankfully he encountered no undead, although he kept his sword out just in case. The door closed behind him as he emerged in a long hallway that slanted downward from right to left. Aden was debating whether to go up or down when a strange whomp! sounded, followed by a high-pitched scream.
"Gale? Is that you, can you hear me?" From out of the shadows the redhead appeared, a dagger in each hand, and a bow and quiver strapped to her back. Aden had never been so happy to see anyone in his entire life.
"Yes I can hear you, run you idiot!" She screamed as she barreled past him. Aden squinted back the way she'd come, and immediately bolted after her; a large black sphere was chasing her, noiselessly gliding over the stones.
"What is that thing?"
"Why don't you stop and find out?"
Aden pushed his legs harder. "What did you do? Why is it chasing us?"
"I did do anything, I just walked in here, and it because we're downhill, twit!"
"Vixen!"
"Moron!"
"Bloated old hag!"
"Rotten two-headed, son-of-an addle-brained, tick-infested, flea-bitten, filthy gutter-dwelling, three-eyed rat!"
"Door!" Aden pointed ahead at a small wooden opening in the side of the wall.
"Good man! Now let me through!"
Gale put on a burst of speed and ducked under the crevice. Praying it didn't lead to another trap, Aden darted after her. On the other side of the portal, the sphere shot by them.
"Gale…" He said, collapsing onto the cool stone. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you…"
"Feeling's mutual… So what happened to you? Your arm's covered in blood."
"I was attacked by Stalfos that didn't die, one of 'em got me in the shoulder but it's not serious, it just took a while for the bleeding to stop." Aden opened his eyes, Gale was on her hands and knees, her arms covered in what looked like bite marks. "And you?"
"I was caught by these gross tentacle things, they kept trying to get on top of me and eat me."
Lucky tentacles. "Gale, I don't mind telling you this: I'm scared."
"I don't blame you. I hate this place…"
Aden stood. "Okay, now which way?" The room they were in had three exits; one on each side, and one straight ahead. "Hmmm… Right."
"You don't want to go that way, according to the map it's a dead-end room, probably a trap."
"Map." The smile plastered across Aden's face could've scared children. Twitching his sword, he turned; Gale was standing, studying a scroll of tanned parchment, oblivious to his distress. "A map… You have a map?" He was certain she was smirking behind the paper. "I wandered around, lost down here, and you had a map? Where'd you find it?"
"Two rooms down from where I found the bow, which was four rooms left and down from where I found you. One thing's odd though…" Turning the scroll so he could see, she pointed at a room on the first floor; a large white skull occupied the square. "That appeared shortly after I found this; I don't know what it means."
Aden studied the map for a moment. "I do, that door's locked with a lock bigger than most. We won't get in unless we have the right key."
Gale burst out laughing. "Eh-heh… Like this one?" She said, reaching down the front of her tunic and pulling out a large golden key shaped like a skull. Aden resisted the urge to slap her.
"Anything else I should know about?"
"Only that you were walking in circles for half an hour while I had a map to guide me…"
Gale was on the verge of giggling fit when Aden asked, "So, think you can guide us back up to that door?"
"Sure, come on."
Mazes are ridiculously simple when you can keep track of where you are. Aden thought as Gale, with the help of her incredibly wonderful and equally irritating map, steered them back to the surface. It irked him that she was able to find a map so easily, although she claimed it was far from easy, and a key that was obviously made for this place. The bow he didn't care about as he was out of practice with one anyway.
The torches didn't sputter and die as they had before, although Aden didn't believe for a minute that they were out of danger. This felt like the calm before the storm.
"So whatcha' think is on the other side?" Gale asked as he inserted the key into the melon-sized padlock.
"No idea." The lock broke open and the door creaked inward. "But, here we go…"
Aden wasn't surprised when the door shut behind them. He was, however, surprised at what was on the other side of it: A square room, empty save for one other person.
"Who're you?" Gale blurted. The green robed stranger turned and stared at them with one pearly white eye; the rest of his head was swathed in white bandages. In his black-gloved hands rested an indigo staff.
"My name is Blind. Who are you?"
Well I hope it was worth the wait. I had so much trouble with this one, but ta-da! Please give me feedback, good or bad, I'll use it to improve.
