(AN: Got no real new messages or announcements here, soo I guess you can ignore this AN. I'll just be on my jolly ol' wayyyyyyy...)
*insert copyright here*
Exiting out of the room and heading back down the stairs, Ratchet, Clank, Ico, and Yorda went through the opening in front of them which lead to the lower portion of the room they were just in. However, the bridge Clank lowered was now accessible.
"And hey, there's a new opening just right there for us. This'll be a breeze!" Ratchet said as he ran on the bridge, Ico and Clank followed after him but Yorda simply walked, then turned her head to the left once she crossed the bridge.
"Yorda? What's wrong?" The robot asked. She ran towards the left, and instead of entering inside like Ratchet already had done, she stood in front of some pillars.
"Yorda what's up? C'mon, we're going! What are you wasting time for?" Ratchet said when he saw that everyone wasn't coming. The pale girl shook her head and said something in her language, before pointing at a rope.
"You want me to cut that?" The horned boy asked. Yorda said nothing, but stared at the ground.
"OK, I shall cut them."
Ico saw a box towards the corner and pushed it against one of the pillars. Getting on top of it, Ico then climbed onto a small stone walkway and carefully shifted himself towards the rope. He grasped his sword and swung down, cutting the rope. However Ico lost his footing, and fell onto the ground. Yorda gasped as Ratchet went over and helped Ico up.
"Hey, you OK?" The lombax asked.
"Yes, I'm fine… thank you, Ratchet." replied Ico.
"Now that we've cut the rope, how about we move on?"
"We should. And, question… Yorda? How did you know about us needing to cut that rope?"
Yorda didn't reply, she simply stared at Clank.
"Another question unanswered yet again… it was just what I was expecting…"
Entering back where Ratchet was first headed, Ratchet, Clank, Ico, and Yorda were on a balcony of sorts. Ico looked down and saw the bridge he knocked down with a bomb earlier in his adventure, long before he met the lombax and the robot.
"Now… which was do we go? Left? Or Right?" questioned Clank, rubbing his robotic chin.
"Left." said Ratchet.
"Are you sure?" Ico asked.
"Yup, surer than a pair of horny toads. C'mon."
Walking left and taking a turn, the four ran towards the other side of the room. However, Ratchet's ears perked up when he heard a familiar sound from the distance of the room.
"Watch out guys, we have company." Ratchet warned. Clank, Ico, and Yorda were confused at Ratchet's warning, but out of nowhere, the flying shadow demons emerged and flew towards the four. Ico held his sword and gripped onto Yorda's hand tightly as Clank got on Ratchet's back. The two swung their weapons and hit their targets. However more shadow creatures flew towards Ico and Ratchet.
They threw the lombax and the horned boy onto the floor as one of them picked up Yorda. The pale girl gasped as the shadow creature flew towards the pool of darkness from where it came from.
"YORDA!" Ratchet screamed as he quickly got up from the floor. Ico called out as the two made their way to the pool. Ratchet jumped and swung his Omniwrench, hitting the closest creatures as they dissipated into the air. Ico grabbed onto Yorda's hand (who was now being pulled into the pool) and got her back up from it. He then proceeded to help Ratchet kill the remaining standing shadow creatures as finally, the pool of darkness went away.
"That… that was a close call…" Ico breathed.
"Yeah… it was…" replied Ratchet. "But still… we made it out…"
"Yes… now… where do we go?"
After getting lost for some time, Ratchet, Clank, Ico, and Yorda went down the collapsed bridge they had passed by before. Seeing as how there were idols moved out of the way, it was clear that Ico and Yorda had been here before. Entering into the outside, Ratchet and Clank noticed that they were back in the graveyard from when they first started exploring the castle.
"It's déjà vu… I tell you…" Ratchet muttered to himself. Suddenly, Yorda began running by herself. She turned a corner, then another, and went down the steps. Upon seeing this, Ico and Ratchet ran after her. She entered inside the arch and turned left as the horned boy and lombax followed right after her. They saw the pale girl standing in front of a rope.
"Where did this come from? I don't remember this." Ico said.
"I didn't see this either." said Ratchet. He then remembered the rope Ico had cut on the top floor.
"Wait Ico! That's the rope you cut!"
"Is it? Hm… then it seems we should climb it."
"No, you already did something. Let me do it this time. Stay here with Yorda, and if those shadow creatures attack, just call out and I'll be there. Alright?"
Ico nodded. "Yes I understand."
Ratchet rubbed his hands together and jumped high up, hanging onto the rope. He began to climb up to the top as he stared in front of an open window.
"I can't just glide over there right?" Ratchet asked Clank.
"No, it seems you'll have to swing." replied the robot. Nodding, Ratchet began to swing back and forth on the rope. As it swung forth, Ratchet took his hands off of the rope and jumped, going through the open window. However he noticed he was going straight first onto the stone floor. Ratchet screamed as he hit the floor.
"Oww…" Ratchet muttered, rubbing his aching head. "That was a bad landing…"
Clank, who was sent flying away from Ratchet when he hit the ground, got up and rubbed his metallic body.
"Well, at least we've arrived here. Now, where do we go?"
Out from the corner of Ratchet's eye, he noticed a stone block on top of a high surface. Near it, a ladder was present, but it was cut off mid-way.
"There! Come on, Clank, climb on and use the Thruster Pack!"
Clank climbed onto Ratchet as the lombax crouched. He then shot up into the air as Clank activated the Thrust Pack. Ratchet placed his hands on the last step of the ladder as he began to climb up. Reaching the top, Ratchet looked at the stone block.
"I say we push this. After all, there's no reason for this to be sitting up here."
Ratchet went behind the block and began to push it. The stone block fell onto the ground as Ratchet soon came up with another idea.
"Wait… what if I use this block to help Ico and Yorda reach up here?"
"That's a brilliant idea Ratchet! You should see if it'll work." Clank said.
Ratchet nodded as he positioned the stone block in front of the open window. He then pushed it as hard as he could as the stone block fell. Yorda yelped as a loud BOOM was made as the stone block hit the floor.
"Don't worry! We found a way to get Yorda across!" yelled Ratchet out of the window. "Let's get her up here!"
Ico ran up to the box and climbed on it. He jumped onto the ledge and got up where Ratchet and Clank were standing. The horned boy reached out of the window and pulled his hand out. Yorda ran over to the block and climbed on top of it slowly. She jumped and grabbed onto Ico's hand, pulling her inside.
"Alright, let's go now!" Ratchet said. Seeing as how the only location for the four to go were stairs near them, Ratchet, Clank, Ico, and Yorda ran to the stairs and climbed up them. They saw the pair of stone idols that had been seen all over the castle.
"You know what to do, Yorda." Clank said. The burst of electric energy emerged from Yorda and hit the idols as they lit up. They moved out of the way and allowed the four to pass.
The lombax, the robot, the horned boy, and the pale girl heard the sound of running water much like in a previous room. Ico scanned the room and saw only one exit of sorts since the door on the other side was shut, a ladder.
"Let's go up there." Ico said, pointing to it. He walked over to it with Yorda in hand as Ratchet and Clank followed the two. Ico, Yorda, and Ratchet climbed the ladder as they walked across a small ledge. They saw a large open window and climbed on it (Yorda getting help from Ico and Ratchet). However, they saw on the other side, there was no exit, and near the ledge, there was a chain to swing on to the other side of a large stone walkway.
"Yeah, Yorda isn't getting across to that." Ratchet said. "Clank, watch after Yorda OK?"
"Me? But, surely I can't do much?" The robot questioned.
"Just pretend to be Secret Agent Clank, alright?"
"OK, I'll see what I can do…"
"What's Secret Agent Clank? Why is Clank a "secret agent"?" Ico asked.
"Don't worry about it. It's a little too complex for you. Anyway, you ready? On the count of three. One… two… three!"
Ratchet and Ico jumped onto the chain as they hung on. They began to swing on it as they jumped to the other side. The two took a right as they climbed up another ladder and saw a switch on the floor that raised the door in front of it.
"We probably shouldn't go in there. It's best not to leave Clank and Yorda behind." Ratchet said. Ico nodded as the two went back down the ladder and ran straight ahead. To their right was a long ladder leading down to the grassy area. They climbed down it as Ico noticed a stone block to the side.
"We'll worry about this later." The horned boy said. They climbed down onto a lowering as they saw a set of platforms on top of each other and an elevator. Ratchet and Ico got on it as the lombax pulled the lever. The elevator shot up onto a balcony where the two walked straight, passing by the sealed door they had went past before and a lever. Ico pulled the lever as Ratchet noticed the steel bars on the door lowering.
"Hey, maybe this is how we can get Yorda across!" He observed.
"You're right. Let's get her now."
After getting Yorda from the location they had left her and Clank, and going back down the elevator, Ico groaned in frustration as they realized they couldn't get Yorda across as Ico couldn't climb up.
"It's too far up…" said Ico.
"Then let me and Ratchet do it. We've done it before." Clank volunteered. He climbed onto Ratchet's back as the lombax crouched and shot up into the air. Clank activated the Thruster Pack as Ratchet climbed back onto the grassy area. He pushed the block down which allowed Yorda access. Ico climbed onto the block and jumped up onto the ledge as Yorda followed behind him and grabbed Ratchet's hand.
Ratchet and Ico led Yorda back up to the walkway where they were before (though the lombax started getting impatient at how slow the pale girl climbed up the ladder). They climbed up the other ladder and stepped onto the switch. The door raised as Ratchet, Clank, Ico, and Yorda walked across.