So I managed to throw together this too before the day was out, but I sorta cheated since one of the fight scenes was already in the other story and I couldn't find many improvments. Of course, it is late and all...(mwa, ha, ha). I own nothing! Level 6
They reappeared on a round, stone column that was surrounded by water, in an underground, enclosed room.
"I say, this chamber is even more so dank and depressing than the last one," Shad observed, holding his glasses up from his nose with one hand as he looked around the room.
"I sense something unfriendly in that water," Rusl commented, looking uneasily into it. "Be cautious," Ashei gagged slightly as she actually analyzed the foul scent in the air.
"It stinks like a pile of rotting fish, yeah?" she noted, also looking in the water. Suddenly, a massive fish sprang out of the water, showering them with the fluid, and attempted to scrape them with its mighty fangs and scales as it passed over. Ashei fired a potshot, lodging the arrow behind its left fin, before it finished its grand jump. After it splashed into the water on the other side, Rusl whipped out his blade and looked around quickly for the fish's location. Meanwhile, Shad frantically flipped through his bestiary.
"Ah, here we are, Gargantuan Masked Fish, Gyorg!" he exclaimed as the platform rocked wildly, making them have to brace their footing on the already-wet concrete. It stays in the water most of the time, but we can hit it with ranged attacks. Unfortunately, it can only be hurt when it's stunned or if you manage to find a chink in the armor," Gyorg rammed the platform again as he stowed his book away, almost making him fall. Ashei shot a fire arrow at its eye and made it recoil from the attack, momentarily stunned. Shad took advantage and began to summon ice spears in the water. They appeared around Gyorg as it was about to shake off its dizzy spell and pierced it six times, making it let out a high-pitched screech of pain. They shielded their ears as it darted away, eyeing them angrily. Rusl stood, feeling rather useless, as they attempted to predict the monster's next move. It swooped around and rammed the platform again, this time near Ashei; she stumbled and slid off with a loud curse.
"Ashei!" both men cried as they sprang over to her as she fell into the icy waters. Submerged, she now looked the large fish in the face as it raced at her, ready to gore her with its massive teeth. Suddenly, though, it ran into a wall of ice, stunning itself. Shad quickly made several swiping motions with his hand and uttered a few words of incantation as more ice spears pierced the fish. It screeched again as Rusl pulled Ashei, sputtering and grimacing angrily, out of the water. Drawing back, Gyorg leapt at them again, hoping to get them while they were a man down. Rusl jumped over its bite as Ashei ducked it by going prone. Landing on its back, the swordsman drove his blade into the unarmored spot, behind the gills, that Ashei had unintentionally shown him earlier. Gyorg screeched yet again and began to writhe. Rusl jumped off, back flipping, and landed on the platform again as the fish smashed into the wall and fell to the water, limp, before dissolving into red bubbles.
"Good save there, Shad," Rusl commended the bookworm as the blue portal opened in the middle of the platform.
"No problem. Anything to help a lady, even if she be sharp of wit and tongue," he said with a gentlemanly smile. Ashei gave him an odd, analyzing look, but just coughed and looked away, wringing water out of her hair.
"We should go to the giant now, yeah?" she said after an awkward silence.
"Yes, we should," Rusl agreed. "We have tarried here long enough, and who knows how long we'll have afterward?"
They appeared, yet again, in the odd realm of the giants and, once again, a giant stood in the distance, observing them.
The third giant, you have freed. One more, and the truth will be revealed.
"Giant, such animosity has descended upon Termina, particularly in Clock Town," Shad replied. "Why is this, O Guardian?"
Clock Town…the center of Termina where the evil one's strike will fall hardest. Tomorrow, its foul minions will begin to truly show themselves. Show caution as you go to free the last giant. The…giant…of…the…swamp…
It turned and walked away, as well and, before they could blink, they were back outside Zora Hall. Shad pulled out his pocket watch and perused it.
"14:30," he read. "The morning has fled us and left afternoon in her wake," The bell tolled once in the distance to emphasize this.
"Well, that only leaves us 3 ½ hours before sunset," Rusl added. "We should set off,"
"Get your book out and start casting, city boy," Ashei said flatly. He sighed and complied.
Finally, they arrived at the shore as the clock informed them of 15:00. Shad, exhausted, was forced to down yet another green potion, leaving them with one green and two blue left.
"You have no endurance at all," Ashei jabbed.
"Well, my good lady, your arrow magic is much less draining than my arcane magic," Shad replied with more politeness than was typically due when being insulted. The archer opened her mouth for a retort, but Rusl stepped between them.
"Now, now…Shad has rested, let's head back to town," he said. They decided he was right and they were off. Unfortunately, as they came through the archway that separated the Zora Cape area from the rest of the beach, they spotted three unwelcome figures ahead.
"Look, Rusl, its those villains again!" Shad yelled, pointing ahead.
"Well, I was getting bored, anyway," Ashei said flippantly, pulling out her bow.
"Ashei, Shad, back me up!" Rusl barked, pulling out his sword.
"It's just one thing after another today," the mage in dark blue sighed, floating up in the air and summoning wind currents.
"I will repay you for last time," Ganondorf declared as the two groups charged forward. Knil and Rusl clashed blades as Ganondorf attempted to punch Shad, but the scholar was too quick for him and trapped him in a sinkhole with his arcane magic before battering him with fireballs.
Ashei fired several volleys at Vaati, but he blocked them all and retaliated with a huge blast of wind that sent her flipping away, head-over-heels, before she slid to a stop, back-flipped back onto her feet, and fired a light arrow as he charged at her. Vaati spun out and had to fly a loop before he recovered.
Rusl fiercely unleashed a lengthy combo on Knil, but it was no use, although he was driving his foe back. Finally, Knil gave a sneer and rolled out of the way of one of his diagonal swings, performing a spinning cut and taking the Ordonian swordsman out.
Ganondorf, meanwhile, finally broke out of the sinkhole with a burst of dark energy that surged from his body and punched Shad out like before, making him fly a good distance before stopping and lying prone.
Vaati was trading arrows and wind spells with Ashei, the former blocking some of her arrows (except the light ones). She quickly noticed that her comrades were beaten and uttered a curse before leaping away and firing several volleys at Knil and Ganondorf. The former dodged and deflected while the latter took several hits and quickly started to look like a pincushion. Unfortunately for her, it was a minor annoyance and he fired a few dark blasts at her as she landed. She attempted to jump and flip out of the way, but Vaati was already firing wind spells where she was landing and she was sent sprawling into the pot smashing game. The Zora, of course, had already run for it, as had the others in the area.
"That smarts," Ashei muttered as the villains advanced. She shot three light arrows at them, but only two found their mark and Ganondorf and Vaati were repelled and hurt sorely. Knil, though, jumped over it and landed right in front of her. She could scarcely utter a gasp before he punched her in the stomach and roundhouse-kicked her upside the head, making her flop to the ground like a rag doll.
Shad, once again, was the first to awaken. This time, though, there was no medic to help and no Viscen to speak words of comfort. He sat up, feeling the pain in his head acutely and looked around. Ashei lie nearby, sporting a rather painful-looking bruise on the side of her face. Further investigation revealed a feebly stirring and bleed Rusl some yards or so away. The bell tolled 17:00 in the distance, the sky turning orange, as Shad cursed their luck and fumbled with a vial of blue potion. He drank half of the vial, feeling the healing effects immediately, and then struggled to his feet. Limping over to the fallen archer, he propped her into a sitting position and poured the medicine down her throat. She gave a gasp and a small cough before opening her eyes a crack.
"Oh, no…I'm in hell and it's full of nerds," she mumbled. Shad chuckled.
"Delighted to hear that you still possess a sense of humor," he smiled, helping her sit up and giving her a piece of jerky to chew on. "Sit tight, I must attend to Rusl," He walked over to where his other companion lies, just short of the leever territory. He rolled him over and he responded with a moan.
"Shad?" he muttered, his eye open a crack.
"Right you are," the bookworm replied. "Here, take this," he poured the last vial into the swordsman's mouth. He recovered a handful of seconds after swallowing and sat up, feeling the sizeable tear in the back of his outfit.
"I suppose we cut it close, this time," he commented, standing and going with Shad to where Ashei sat.
"That we did, my dear Rusl," Shad sighed. "Twice we have been defeated by those villains and twice we still live…" he looked at the sky contemplatively. "The question is why?"
"And another is, what are they searching for?" Rusl added.
"Remember the first giant?" Ashei interjected. "It said that six were hunting the jewels that contain their power, yeah?"
"Three for good and three for ill…" Shad recalled. "Do you suppose that those three are the ones that seek them for ill?"
"Then who seeks them for good?" Rusl asked.
"Did not Kafei mention that Team Link is searching for them, as well?" Shad noted.
"Yes, he did," Ashei replied. "So that solves one mystery. Now how are we gonna get back to town in less than an hour, yeah? Nerd power?"
"Hey, hey!" Shad protested.
"We'll have to travel quickly," Rusl affirmed. Ashei climbed to her feet, wincing slightly at the soreness in her body.
So they hastened back across the beach, carving a path through the leevers. Careful to wend their way around the walls in the path, they arrived back at the gate, 10 minutes shy of the half-hour. Vaulting the gate, with Shad's usual protests unheard this time, they traveled back into Termina Field and batted more leevers aside as the clock tolled 17:30 and time ticked on. Finally, they, rather tired now, arrived at the west gate. The welcome, though, was far from warm. No less than six guards now stood at the gate and many more patrolled the streets, looking for something.
"Halt!" one of the guards demanded. "No one is allowed in!" Rusl showed them his pass. "Right…my apologies. Three shady characters broke gate about 45 minutes ago. The clock tolled 18:00 at last.
Night of the Third Day
"We too, encountered them earlier," Rusl replied. "They are quite formidable, and we are fatigued from our struggles,"
"Right, come in," the guard stood aside and let them in. The trio promptly took the shortest route, cutting though South and North Clock Town, to the Mayor's Residence.
"The Mayor's, like, talking with Captain Viscen right now," the secretary informed them.
"We have business with him as well," Shad replied. "We'll see ourselves in," She was about to protest, but decided better of it as the trio entered the office.
"This is the third time this has happened, Mayor!" Viscen was exclaiming. "We must take action against such things, now!" Dotour, looking glum, shifted his gaze over and saw the battered and dirty trio.
"Ah, you're back!" he said, a tired smile lighting his face for a moment. "Tell me what you have heard,"
"That isn't good," Viscen said gravely, after they had finished. "It sounds as if the town is in grave danger," He looked at Dotour. "Sir, I am ordering a town wide lockdown, starting tomorrow morning,"
"A lockdown? Yes, perhaps that is best," the Mayor agreed grimly. He looked at Team Eye. "I thank you for bringing us this information," He handed Rusl a silver rupee and an orange one. "Here is your fee. Go and rest now,"
"But we have yet to visit the Southern Swamp and liberate the giant there!" Shad protested.
"We have found out enough to see that something untoward will happen here," Viscen said officially. "If you wish to liberate the last giant, we will not pay you for it,"
"Be sure to be prepared before you leave on the morrow, for, once in lockdown, no one is allowed through the town gates, friend or fiend," Dotour warned.
"Yes, sir, we understand," Rusl gave a small bow and they left.
"I don't understand how they can just turn their backs on what we've strived for," Shad said with disdain.
"Their first responsibility is to the town, not to Termina, or the giants," Rusl replied solemnly. "This is something that we will do on our own,"
They passed into the Stock Pot Inn and Rusl handed over the 300 rupees they had just received, bringing their debt down to 16,100. Ashei swayed as she watched the proceedings, her head feeling rather light and dizzy. Shad, noticing her about to fall, caught her arm quickly and braced her against his body.
"Are you all right?" he asked. She grunted and tried to pull away, but quickly fell back against him again. "Rusl," he said to the swordsman. "I'm going to take Ashei up to the room," The swordsman looked mildly worried and nodded.
"Why did not you declare that you didn't feel your best?" the bookworm asked as he led her slowly up the stairs.
"I'm…fine…just a…little dizzy…" she murmured, trying and failing to look impassive.
"You must have a bit of a concussion and we didn't help you out by making you run," the bookworm deduced guiltily. He opened the door and helped her over to the bed, nudging the door shut with his foot. He undid the straps and ties on her armor and it clattered to the floor. She fell into bed with little persuasion and Shad removed her boots as she lie there, looking at him with half-lidded eyes. "I'm astonished that you were able to make the trip in your condition," he said, piling her armor and bow neatly at the foot of the bed. "Let me go get Lucius. He should be back by now," He headed out the door and up the hall, passing Rusl and briefly explaining what was going on. Finally reaching room 4, he knocked lightly. "Is Lucius in there?" The door swung open, revealing a tired but alert blonde mage.
"Yes, what is it, Shad?" he asked in his mild tones.
"Ashei seems to have taken a bit of a blow to the head and I was hoping that you could take a look at her," the bookworm replied.
"I hope it's nothing too serious," Link said from the bed, where he was examining some sort of glowing, and silver compass. "Can't do without Ashei,"
"I'll take a look at her," Lucius nodded, going out and closing the door as Shad led the way back to the room. She seemed semi-conscious, but still stared with half-open eyes at them as they walked in. Lucius walked regally over to the bedside and crouched, holding a glowing hand to her head and closing his auburn eyes. A silent minute passed before, he opened his eyes again. "She seems to have taken a mighty blow to the head, but it has been partially cured," He looked at Shad. "I assume that you gave her less than a full dose of medicine,"
"Yes," Shad answered. "We lacked in amount, alas I was forced to divide the dose,"
"That's all that kept her going this long, I'm sure," the mage muttered, standing and holding his staff over her. "O Goddess of Wisdom, heal mine allies of their wounds!" A blue light emanated from the staff and encompassed the archer, causing her to glow blue for a couple of seconds. Then it faded, and she drifted off to sleep.
"Will she be all right now?" Rusl inquired of the mage.
"If she sleeps until tomorrow morning, she should be fine," Lucius confirmed.
"My thanks for lending the time to give aid to us," Shad shook the mage's hand.
"You're very welcome," Lucius gave a small smile. "Good night," He opened the door, avoiding Anju and her tray with a polite "excuse me" and walking back to his room. She set the tray on the table and bowed before leaving. The bell rang 18:30 outside as they sat down to eat in silence, occasionally casting glances at the sleeping Ashei.
"It's odd not hearing her snide remarks," Rusl finally said quietly, taking a bite of burnt fish that was, somehow, raw on the inside and shuddering.
"True, I, for one, wish that she could enjoy this atrocious food with us," Shad gave a small smile at his own joke. After supper, Rusl went to bed, but Shad stayed up, looking out the window, for a change, at the patrols in the street. I get the feeling that the giant's words will take full effect in the time after the dawn. The final giant will not be so easily freed. He looked over at his snoozing comrades and allowed himself a smile. But we'll pull through, I'm certain. Team Eye never fails a mission, come bad weather or critical injury. He sighed and went back over to the table, opening up his notes that he had been making since the start of his, two nights ago.
Dawn of the Fourth Day
Many bells rang that morning, along with the signal of dawn from the clock tower. Rusl, Shad, and even Ashei were roused by the almost musical din that came from the direction of South Clock Town. Getting up rather quickly, they made their way out of the inn. Team Link was already in the lobby with Anju, and were also heading out to see what the commotion was.
Everyone in Clock Town, it seemed, was gathered in the southern plaza, looking intently at the podium that Viscen was now ascending to. Everyone, including the many guards around the crowd's perimeter, looked raptly at the Captain. He cleared his throat and held a wooden cone to his mouth.
"As of today, no one may enter or leave Clock Town," he announced. There was a general murmur at this. "It seems," he continued. "That the monsters outside town are now not only more numerous and aggressive, but are spawning new, dark versions of themselves. The Town Guard is attempting to ascertain the cause; therefore we also place a curfew on the entire town. No one is to leave their houses unless necessary and they must be escorted by a guard while in the streets. Guards will patrol the streets in pairs, 24 hours a day, in shifts, from this point forward. That is all. Look to the postman for letters containing any further instruction," After this, Viscen left the podium and headed back to the mayor's office, and the crowd was dispersed and led off by the guards.
"It's just as he said last night," Rusl turned to the other two as the gates clanged shut nearby. "We won't be able to return to town if we leave, and we may have trouble doing that,"
"That's something we already accepted, yeah?" Ashei interjected. "Let's go to West Clock Town and get some more supplies, then we'll get out of here and free the last giant!"
So they went over to the Trading Post as it opened, eating some rations on the way, and bought three red potions for 90 rupees, as well as two green ones for 60. This, essentially, emptied their wallets, but the medicine was worth having no money if it saved them later. The bell tolled 06:30 as they headed back down the street to South Clock Town, fully prepared to leave town.
"You heard the Captain," the guard informed them as they approached the gate. "No one in or out of the town. Now, get!"
"We have been given permission of the Mayor to leave, though none to return," Rusl said gravely. "Now stand aside, lest you feel our wrath," The guard frowned, but decided not to challenge them, signaling to open the gate just wide enough for them to leave. The trio walked past the grim men and through the gate, hearing it slam behind them as they looked out over the stretch of the southern end of Termina Field. Their last destination was just ahead.
That may just be the most dramatic sentence I've ever come up with, but I'm still being mean with cliffhangers (cue evil laugh and lightning flash). Some fluffy moments here, I guess, but the story is now getting serious and down to the wire. I'll soon be done with this team as well :(. Remember to give me feedback and to vote on your favorite team on my profile page.