A tentacle lashed out through the air, and Rose screamed as she leapt to one side. The cut in her side throbbed, but she ignored the gushing blood. She didn't have time to feel the pain.
Scrambling backwards, she scurried to the closest wall of the ship and flattened herself against the cold planks. Waves sloshed and wood creaked as the beast strained to reach her. The slimy appendage swiped inches away from her before retreating uselessly.
Rose wheezed, her breath racketing through her body. She couldn't take much more of this. Why did she ever think she could defeat this creature anyway? She should have listened to her parents and just stayed home.
If she didn't make it out, they'd never know what happened to her. How long would it take for them to realise something was wrong? Months? Years? When they did, they wouldn't even know where to start looking. They might never find answers.
With shaking hands, she sheathed her sword and pulled out her wand. As quickly as she could, she drew a teleportation circle. Another tentacle swiped at her, but she ducked. Water splashed onto her steel armour, and she held herself steady for an extra moment to shield the chalk. When it was safe, she finished the final curve of the circle and thought desperately of home.
The next attack came barrelling straight for her face — the beast must have shifted underwater — closer and closer and then —
A flash of white blurred out the cave, and the next thing she knew, she stood in the middle of Varrock's bustling town square. Rose blinked against the bright glare of the sun until her vision adjusted.
People chattered and coins clunked as goods were bought and exchanged. Beside a stall stood Benny — Benny, who she'd always considered a nuisance, but she'd never been happier to see anyone in her life. He held a newspaper aloft to catch the attention of passers-by, and if she had the energy, she would have bought a dozen just because she could.
Most importantly, the only hint of water was the shallow, calm pond of the central fountain, sparkling like sapphires in the sunlight.
Rose pushed up the visor of her helm and gulped in fresh air. She needed food, and soon. But if she returned to her parents' home looking like this, they'd never let her leave again. And she couldn't very well go to their family inn and have word get back to them.
The Blue Moon it was, then. Her water-logged steel boots clanged against the cobblestones as she strode down the street, ignoring the nervous murmurs of the people she passed.
An hour later, belly full and wounds healed, Rose stared down at her half-empty tankard of ale and listened to the hearty chatter of the inn's other patrons. Now she was rested, she was pissed — not just at the monster, but also herself.
She should have known she wasn't ready. As the only daughter of two well-to-do innkeepers, everything she knew about fighting and adventuring was self-taught. Determined to make a name for herself on her own merits without using her parents' gold, she'd set off with nothing but her own resolve and her family's protests echoing in her ears.
Every piece of armour she'd worn, she'd won in battle or smithed with her own two hands. Frugality was the name of the game, and she excelled at it.
Maybe she'd taken it too far. Her last few quests had been so easy that she hadn't even considered making a trip to an anvil to upgrade her armour. Why go to all that effort when her hearty steel was doing the job just fine?
That mindset had left her woefully ill-prepared for fighting such a beast.
But Rose refused to let it end this way. He would not scare her away like some child on her first foray into the real world. She was better and stronger and tougher than that.
Her pride demanded her to return to Ashdale Caves and finish what she'd started. But this time, she would be ready.
Thankfully, she knew just where to find the ore she needed.
-x-
Rose stormed back into the cave, this time bedecked in full mithril armour. She'd spent the last day stewing over her first real defeat while mining, smelting and smithing everything she needed. More than one old friend had approached her, noticed the storm cloud practically following her around, and hurriedly excused themselves. Before returning to Port Sarim, she'd dropped in on her parents and casually mentioned that she planned to visit a dwarf named Gudrik. At least this way, if the worst happened, they would have enough information to find some closure.
Not that she intended to let that happen. No; this time, she would walk out victorious and restore peace to Ashdale. She would.
Nevertheless, entering the final cavern and seeing that hulking ship sent a chill running down her spine and through her heart. New armour or not, it took everything in her to cross that rickety plank to the danger she knew awaited. When she took the last step onto the deck, she unsheathed her sword.
The four tentacles slithered out of the water. Before they had time to attack, she charged at the closest one, slashing and stabbing in a wild flurry. Every time the tentacle reared back to attack, she doubled her onslaught, forcing it back.
Finally, she mistimed her move. The tentacle broke through her defence and swept across the deck, whacking her in the side and sending her stumbling across the deck. Pain erupted across her skin, but her armour absorbed most of the blow. As the tentacle slid back to strike again, she darted over to the next one. Before it could react, she swung her sword, leaping straight back into the offensive.
And so she continued, in and out over and over again, attacking in a frenzy before retreating at the last minute. First one tentacle sank back beneath the surface, then another, then finally all four had gone and she was alone.
She clutched her sword tighter, waiting. There was no way it was that simple.
The wood beneath her feet groaned, then a deafening crack echoed through the cave. Flailing for balance, she watched in horror as a long fissure split apart the deck.
A crassian burst through the stern, sending nails and chunks of wood flying in every direction. It was monstrously large, with two razor-sharp pincers that were taller than her and twice as wide. A gaping mouth rested directly ahead over her, underneath two sickly green eyes. Its eerie blue shell covered almost the entirety of the stern of the ship.
The crassian — Agoroth — was worse than any nightmare her imagination could dream up, but she couldn't flee. Not when so many people were relying on her.
Rose charged forward once more. At least now, she only had one target to deal with. She swung at the soft tissue of his face with all her might, moving aside whenever he spewed water out of his mouth or those pincers shot out to grab her. As he weakened, he started calling upon some elemental magic, raining acid down across the deck of the ship.
'Oh, no, you don't,' she muttered, leaping out of the way of the magic. She waited for it to sizzle out before running back in again.
He was moving slower now, his pincers no longer cutting through the air but instead swinging sluggishly, almost drunkenly. Purple-blue blood leaked from hundreds of cuts and scrapes across his face. Taking advantage of his slowed reflexes, she threw all her strength into one last strike.
Agoroth groaned before crumpling in an unmoving heap — dead.
Somehow, against all odds, she'd done it.
-x-
When Rose emerged from the caves, it was to a changed Ashdale. With the crassians' evil aura gone, the sun had returned in full force. The buildings and roads that looked so dreary mere hours before were now quaint and pretty, with pink-tiled roofs, bright cream bricks, and spotless cobblestones. Now freed from Agoroth's tyranny, the townspeople all flooded the streets, cheering for her victory and their liberty.
'You saved us!' a little girl exclaimed with a smile so vivid that even her eyes were ablaze.
The thought that this little girl must have been cowering in terror just hours before, locked inside her house with no idea when or if she could step outside again, destroyed Rose. 'Of course. And if you ever need me again, I promise you I will come.'
In that moment, everything clicked into place in her mind. She'd left home to make a name for herself, but that wasn't what being an adventurer was about.
This was why she travelled the world and risked her life at every turn. It wasn't for the thrill of adventure or the satisfaction of being able to defend herself or even the applause and accolades for a job well done, although all those things did hold their own appeal. The true allure lay in helping people who couldn't protect themselves.
If Rose could rid Gielinor of even a tiny bit of evil, and save even one person from death or despair, then the struggles and setbacks would all be worth it. That was a cause she could live for, and one she could die for.
A/N: So this is a fictionalised version of my playthrough of The Shadow of Ashdale. I reached a new tier of armour but didn't upgrade it immediately, and then several levels later… I just forgot to. Until I reached the kraken, almost died, and hurriedly teleported out. All the while, I had the most vivid mental image of my character stewing and thinking just you wait over and over as she made new armour (it was so long ago that I can't even remember if it was steel or mithril) before marching right back in to kill Agoroth and redeem herself.