Akko and Diana arrived at the Dublin ranch after a long journey, where Cavendish was hidden to venture with Kagari who was taken by surprise, which after a fight they even end up solving better among themselves, already preparing to go to the third dungeon, thus taking the third pendant of the courage of the four that need to be caught so that Hyllian of Luna Nova can wield the master sword in hand and thus continue the journey to save the lands of Hyrule.
The warrior and the princess wake up early that morning, already making preparations for the trip to the dungeon, in addition to unloading all the cargo from the cart they needed to take, in this case with warmer clothes that will withstand the very low temperatures in those freezing mountains and the dungeon that is equally freezing.
When they finish unloading things, both will eat a little breakfast to get their stomachs full, arriving outside the ranch outside the house looking deep into the path that follows to Cork from now on, both take a deep breath and even hold hands before moving on.
"And here we are, it's going to be a long way to Cork from here, I hope we can get out of there okay" Diana said.
"I can see the mountains at the bottom, do we really have to walk all that way?" Said the tired Akko just looking at the road ahead.
"Well they said it wouldn't be easy, if we take a while at least we can use your bag which is full of resources, but I don't think we'll need it, we can manage just fine" said Princess Cavendish.
The two are soon walking towards the road that leads to the mountains, waving to Chelsea and the ranch girls who are waving back to them, so they are following the path walking, this time putting their legs to work. The path until then starts very quiet, not having any creatures or anything, after all it was also not a very used route, since the path only led to an icy mountain and also after a while it started to be full of creatures along the way. It didn't take long and they are already coming across the first monsters that are getting in the way of them moving forward, huge spiders that are jumping from one side to the other and end up jumping back when the duo uses the sword to hit the creatures.
"Oh I hate those Tektites, they keep jumping up and coming at us, but when we come with the sword they always come close" Akko said.
"Only if we're really quick, just take a bow and shoot them Akko, it's the big weak point of these things" Diana said and Atsuko had another idea.
Kagari begins to prepare a race with the boots she was wearing and extends her sword forward, which begins to run over the Tektites that are ahead, hitting the eye and clearing the way ahead, which in this way Cavendish can pass more calmly, in that valley that was forming and was full of those creatures.
"I didn't think of that one, the boots are really very good, where did you find them Akko?" asks the princess.
"The queen of Doras gave me a gift for finding her daughter and granddaughter, now let's go, I get tired quickly, this corridor in the middle of the valley full of these spiders is very long" Said the warrior.
They were able to walk well ahead, which the crimson-eyed girl's run served very well to clear the way, the Tektites that blocked much of the way were scattering and returning to jump at the top of the valley, others even saw from behind, but the blue-eyed one had her rapier in hand which she occasionally used to avoid being hit so easily.
"I'm getting exhausted already, but I was able to walk a lot in this corridor, it seems that every one of these two appear, ahhhh - Said the brownish woman looking at the corridor ahead already a little tired.
"And now what are we going to do? Arrows won't be enough, this valley still has a long way to climb and the Tektites are appearing again" said the platinum blonde haired one.
"Hold on to my back Diana I know I'll get killed on the way, but it doesn't hurt to try, hold the shield in front of my chest I'll use it as if it were a protection and I'll run over everyone or even the sword, it depends on what you think is best" Said Akko.
The princess does what the warrior asked climbing on the back of Kagari who is holding her friend's legs with her hands, Diana on the other hand with one hand holds her rapier and in this Atsuko already prepares a race and then goes shooting out towards the mountain, opening the way for the tektites who, afraid of the rapier, are just jumping back and some were even blown into the blade that Cavendish was holding.
This tactic served as they were really running, the arachnid creatures were opening the way for them until there were none left, which was a good 20 minutes of a high-speed walk, until they reached a point where there were none and that was when the crimson-eyed one threw herself on the ground exhausted.
"Wow, I can't take it anymore, I hope you've eased the way" said the brownish woman lying on the ground dead tired, and she took a canteen of water out of her bag and began to drink it as if it were desert water.
"Akko are you okay? You look dead, we still have a long way to go - said the platinum blonde to her friend.
"I'm just very tired, let's rest a bit, my feet feel like they're going to die here, I think I'm going to need a cure, but at least we're much closer to the mountains and they're huge anyway" said the shocked Kagari.
Both were resting for a while lying on the ground looking at the sky, with Akko not realising, but she was lying with her head resting on Diana's thighs that was still giving her some caresses with a lot of contact and affection.
Only soon they notice and blush in an instantaneous way, which already stops with the caresses and gets up to walk straight to the path on the rest of the mountain.
"I think I've had enough rest for now" said Atsuko, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Oh yes, so have I, can you really stand to run some more?" Cavendish asks and her friend shrugs.
"Well, there shouldn't be any Tektites, they only appeared in the beginning" said the crimson-eyed one, still processing what had happened recently.
And indeed the arachnid creatures were no longer tormenting them, the path became an ascent which already changed things practically, the ascent even became steeper instead of gradual, what was heard were sounds of sliding and rolling stones which was soon proven real when they saw a huge circular stone rolling down the path and the pair had to dodge to avoid being crushed.
"Ah, now that's not enough, we still have to deal with these stones, but let's get to the dungeon soon, it's already getting a little cold here" said Akko.
"We just have to be careful and dodge properly" said Diana.
"Well, it looks like these rocks are going to get in the way of getting to the top of this valley, we're going to turn into paste if we keep walking too much on the route where these things are rolling" said Kagari.
They were following safely, always dodging when they hear some stone rolling nearby, in what was notable to see looking around, some followed the route where they were going, others were rolling on the sides which caused the biggest sound of stones hitting, as if it was all going to collapse on them.
They walked a lot until they reached the top of the valley, where they could see that on another mountain at the top of that valley was where those stones formed, coming out of a hole that was half being spat out along the way, they just needed to pass over a bridge that they saw ahead.
"That thing doesn't look trustworthy at all" said the princess.
"I think so too, but we need to go, in fact it's getting too cold here, a little more and we'll arrive at the entrance to the dungeon" Said the warrior.
"Now how are we going to get over this bridge, it seems to move a lot, look at the wind already pulling it... Akko!" Said Diana when she saw that her friend was simply the first to climb the bridge.
"I'll go ahead, no need to fear, if I get safely to the other side you'll come" said Atsuko.
And so it was decided, with the brown-haired one going over to the other side, even proving to be quite calm in a situation like that, but actually getting quite scared about everything, but the worst was yet to come when the platinum blonde-haired one put her feet on the bridge and stared down, extremely scared, especially since underneath the fall there were several pointed crystals.
"Ahhhh! I had to look down" said the frightened blue-eyed girl.
"Don't look down Diana, look at me, I'm here, hold my hand, close your eyes hold your hands on the bridge and imagine I'm holding you" Said the one with crimson eyes.
"I... I'll try..." Cavendish said with fear and then closed his eyes.
And really what the warrior said worked, the princess ended up closing her eyes holding the sides of the bridge walking forward, not looking at anything, just feeling, until she reached the other side and felt a hand pulling her to the other side which made her fall over Akko who was still hugged a little with Diana protecting her.
"Thank you Akko, you really helped" said the Princess of Wedinburgh.
"Now come on, you don't have to fear that I'm here, I know what it's like to be afraid like that, now come on, we just need to climb this thing" Said Atsuko comforting her friend who gets up.
"It's cold, I think we need to put on warmer clothes, by the way I have a huge dread of heights, I can't look down without getting a little bad, if I looked down a little more I would end up fainting and falling right on that floor full of crystals, I would be all broken up with the fall, luckily you were here to save me, thank you very much Akko, your help was essential to move on - Said the platinum-haired one.
"Now come on, I wonder what your mums must be thinking about your escapade, did they worry?" Said the brownish one.
"I don't know, I can't imagine the scolding I want to get, but I hope I haven't caused them any unnecessary provocation, which I imagine I have" said the blue-eyed one.
The two continued walking this time with clothes more prepared for the cold, a little warmer, due to the ice becoming very apparent as they walked more and more along the way, which would still take a long time to reach the entrance to the dungeon, since everything was very cold, windy too.
[...]
In Wedinburgh things were going normally, both Laura and Bernadette knew about their daughter's disappearance since the day before and already had their suspicions, Hellene was extremely worried in the throne room, asking the mothers what had happened, since she had not seen her sister since the day before, which made her more shocked.
"Mums, Diana, she's not in her room, I just went in there and she's not in her quarters, I even thought she was just a bit lonely yesterday worrying about Akko, where has she gone and why are you looking like that?" Said the younger McLaren in despair.
"Don't worry girl it's just history repeating itself again, it seems your sister went to do the same as mum Bernadette did to me and it was a very smart decision by our girl" Said Queen Laura and the princess was still confused.
"You must have your head full of worries, but it's just that your sister actually went on the trip with Akko, she must have hidden inside the wagon just like I did, well at least Akko can be safe from freezing to death in that dungeon, just like what almost happened to her mother here" Said Queen Bernadette.
"What? Was my little sister hiding all the time? Oh what a naughty girl, I knew she would want to venture out and I wanted to go too" Said the rugrat clenching her fists in frustration.
"Ah, so we have another interested in the warrior? Better not create a rivalry for Akko's heart" said the red-haired mother.
"No! I just want to venture into a dungeon, I don't want Akko's heart, she couldn't live without her heart, how will the blood pump like that, I just wanted to use my gauntlets and punch monsters and adventure! Defeat the dungeon boss, help Akko become even more epic, I want to participate in this adventure not being a helpless little princess" Said the excited Hellene and already showed that her interest is another.
"Girl, I didn't mean heart about you ripping the one out of your chest, I meant rivalry about marriage, but from your answer it seems that you really don't even care about these things, it's very different from Diana...". You really are too silly for these things" said mum Laura to her daughter.
"Why compete? Akko chooses whoever she wants, I won't get married if it's not for love, I don't love Akko, she's my friend, but I think that for Hyrule if she wants I can do it, I think it's important for the kingdom, but it seems that my little sister wants it more than ever, she doesn't show it, but I feel that she likes Akko, I'm
going to help them be together, that's what I'm going to do, me and Mari are going to try to make these two like each other" Said the youngest McLaren and the mothers were just laughing.
"They don't need to, the two already like each other, they already have something between them, it will only be a matter of time for them to accept the feelings between them, now that Diana has left for the dungeon with Akko only demonstrates that, by the way I have an idea here, I will punish our girl for leaving the castle in an interesting way, you will like my idea, maybe it will also help her to get even clearer feelings around the warrior of Luna Nova" Said Queen Bernadette with her hand on her chin.
They begin to tell each other about the very secret plan involving Diana with the escape she gave, which was even shocking, the three were laughing a lot at the idea made by Bernadette, it would be a perfect punishment for what the daughter did, in addition to giving a little extra push in the relationship of the two, which is certainly needing something to happen.
As they count among themselves, the three even hold hands, already seeing it as a way to punish Cavendish for having made an escape without the queens' permission.
[...]
Back on the mountain, after a long walk they reached the entrance to the dungeon, which they took a deep breath and were already having a little difficulty realising that the air was very thin, but they already saw that they were very high on that mountain and had an entrance, with some lit lamps indicating that it was there the entrance.
"Well, we're here... Let's go, but before we go in, we should eat something, just to get some energy" said Akko, who sat down next to the entrance to the mountain.
"I agree, the landscape here is beautiful, even in this cold, I have never felt so hard to breathe as before" said Diana.
Akko was taking the things out of the bag and luckily the water hadn't frozen because the bag also served as a thermal insulator and that way the two could drink a water without freezing, as well as other things that thanks to the bag were warm too, in this case the soup that Chelsea had put well sealed inside the bag that kept the temperature.
"Wow, this bag is very good, it made the soup warm, that's all I wanted most, a little warmth in this cold, inside my body" said the relieved Atsuko.
"I don't think my mum would have taken a soup like that if she hadn't been safe, I never thought I would enjoy the time so much on a dungeon path, this beautiful landscape, even at heights giving a little fear is charming the mountains in front of us, with the icy top and even higher, the clouds hitting them, it seems that we are in a real paradise here ... An icy paradise" Cavendish said.
A few minutes went by of them eating the soup and enjoying the scenery, also drinking water since even though it was liquid, that soup still gives a little thirst due to the spices and things that were added to create more flavour to the food, besides being a broth a little thicker than the water, but they already managed to find a way to warm up and satisfy their thirst, which they came close to each other after eating.
In an involuntary way and also because of the cold they approached and stood next to each other, without realising the crimson-eyed one had rested her head on the shoulder of the blue-eyed one who had also not noticed anything, which this head was still going down more until it arrived again over the princess's lap.
"The sky here is really beautiful Diana, it makes you want to stay here forever, if it weren't for this freezing cold" Kagari said.
"I'd stay all day too, but you know what's more beautiful than the sky... You... I mean... "Ahhhhh" said Diana, covering her face, blushing with embarrassment.
"Ahn? Diana, you're really cute" said the smiling Atsuko.
The two were continuing in that position only that without realising their hands were meeting, kind of without realising, Akko had one of his hands resting and ended up holding Diana's and so they were getting up with shame, when they realized the touch, looking into each other's eyes quite ashamed.
"I think we'd better head for the dungeon" said Akko, blushing slightly and scratching the back of her head.
"AbsolutelyAkko, now let's go, we've had enough rest and it's cold outside, at least in the dungeon it won't be as cold as outside" Cavendish said.
And how wrong they were, the dungeon was not only cold, it was colder than the outside, in a bizarre way, it was possible to notice that even the ice was releasing some steam so cold that the environment was, while outside the dungeon they were already freezing -13ºC inside the temperature dropped to at least -20ºC which both even warmly felt the intensity of the cold, in addition to the floor that was slippery and it was the first thing they noticed what Kagari already took a fall falling on her butt on the floor.
"Ahhhhh, what kind of floor is that? Don't I have any support?" Hyllian of Luna Nova said, slipping and trying to get up while the princess of Wedinburgh was balancing herself.
"This here is like slipping on a frozen stream in winter, I've done it, but I usually do it with proper shoes that my aunt wears, they have a blade underneath, but this is also good because the ice is so slippery" Said the one with platinum blonde hair showing her lightness and control, as if she was even dancing and skating on ice.
"Woah, is this a dungeon? I can't move, the floor is just too smooth and the boots don't help at all" Said the brownish woman getting up.
With difficulty the Hyllian of Luna Nova gets up, even having a little help from her friend who is holding her so she doesn't fall and the balance is the biggest challenge of that course, so much so that Akko is getting her legs shaking and Diana was managing to walk kind of skating on the ice, the crimson-eyed one soon realises that it is better to skate than to walk and was following the same steps as the blue-eyed one.
"How do you do that? You really cause the slip, I never thought ice was that slippery, to think this is still a dungeon, lucky there are no monsters around here" Atsuko said.
They are getting to the first door, Kagari is kind of using supports on the wall to at least get as little support as possible, she was getting close to where she needed to go, when passing through the door they arrive at the room where the door falls behind both, what appear the first enemies, red creatures that spit balls were falling there.
"Damn Octoroks indeed, right here where we slip at any step, how am I going to defeat this?" Said Akko perplexed and was soon seeing Diana doing the job.
And the princess with all the beauty and class holding her rapier was going towards the monsters that were throwing balls of stones in all directions, while Atsuko was protecting herself with the shield from being hit, which was already giving a feeling of sadness to her feeling kind of useless in that dungeon for not knowing how to skate on ice.
"Akko? Is everything all right?" Cavendish asks as he notices Kagari's frustrated countenance.
"I feel useless from all this, I can't walk like you, just going all pretty on this ice, ahhhh, I wish I could do that, but I can't, I'm too clumsy" Said the frustrated crimson-eyed girl.
"Watch me and try to do what I do, you don't have to be afraid to do it, we will be able to work well together to get through this dungeon, let's stop here to practice, okay?".Said the blue-eyed one helping her friend.
It was a brief lesson explaining the principles of balance and skating, since Akko's boots were really very slippery on the course, and she was not wearing boots that would serve to hold her on the ground and that was what she was trying to support herself, she was getting the basics of skating forward, in addition to increasing remembering Ursula's classes.
"Wait, I just remembered, it's like I'm slipping, Mrs Ursula has already trained me on slippery ground, I remember, we even had a fight like that, it's the same thing only harder and a little less slippery, I just need to get the idea" Said the brownish girl remembering.
"That day you were all smelling of grease, don't even remind me, I'm glad I didn't get involved in this, I would have spent days smelling of lard and food" Said the platinum blonde.
"I'm getting a little better at it now" Akko said.
"Now come on, I'm sure you can advance in the dungeons from now on" said the princess.
And there the two went to the door on the left where they were faced with simply a group of hardhat beetles that were going towards them and the pair was dodging noticing that there is an orb in the middle, where some parts were showing some blue colours and other red colours, Diana soon slips and hits the rapier in the orb.
Akko on the other hand hits the creature and is thrown all the way back which she only didn't fall into the hole next door because she was held by Cavendish in time and that way they could follow to the other side where Akko threw her boomerang to the other side and so the hardhat beetles didn't follow them.
"Good Akko, you did it, these hardhat beetles it's better not to fight with them, use the boomerange to paralyse them and just go straight, if we hit them, we'll kind of be pushed, now let's follow the path, this dungeon must still have more" Cavendish said.
Both followed a path of a corridor that formed next to them due to the orb they hit ended up creating a path where it followed only to the other side since on the sides there was a corridor with a staircase ahead, which they did not go since the path was blocked by a magical barrier with a reddish colour.
When they reached the door on the other side they arrived at another open room where there were several hardhat beetles and to make matters worse the door closed behind them, which was a sign that they would have to defeat the monsters, but already with the notion of what it is like to hit them.
"Very well Akko let's do it like this, you slide with your shoe, use the shield to hit the walls and hit with the sword, I trust you can do it, good that there is no corner that we can fall which already helps" Said the princess.
"I have a better idea, look at this" said the warrior.
SimplyAkko gives the impulse with the race, but she uses the shield as a board and as the walls are half curved with the various hardhat beetles that were falling, what even seemed that it was a bowl where several of the creatures were falling, only on one side there was Kagari as if she was surfing around and the shield still slipped a little because it was the old wooden shield, while Diana at the base went in the delicacy of the movements with the rapier.
"That's right Akko, I didn't think of that, you're really mastering the art that Mrs Ursula showed you" said Cavendish.
"I told you she's useful, I'm coming up to the base, use your arm to boost me back up there" said the crimson-eyed one.
The tactic was working, with the boomerang Akko paralysed the hardhat beetles while Diana went to the base with the rapier hitting the ones that were left, the ones that were in the way due to the speed of the shield sliding the effect of giving a rebound in the Hyllian of Luna Nova were annulled, she simply went calmly hitting each one running over on the way.
What were falling at least 20 on the way until a chest appeared from the ground and the two could have a rest, already having a lot of fun in that room of the dungeon, when they opened the chest came the first key in hand.
"Perfect!" They both said.
"Where do we go from here? Where do we go?" Kagari asks.
"We'll go back to that place where we came from, where you threw the boomerang, throw the boomerang on the sides and hit the orb, we'll go back the way and try to find a passage, or even we can continue the way, I'm already writing down the map of this thing here in my head" Cavendish said.
"Ah then let's go" said Atsuko, but she immediately held up the sleeve of her blouse.
"Before we go, I love this place and what you did on top of the shield, I wish I could take a walk, it shouldn't be so hard to stand on the shield and balance" Said the platinum blonde hair scratching the back of her head.
"Diana! Looks like someone who refused to surf really liked the idea" teases the brown-haired one.
"It's not that, I just want to try, it looks interesting, give me that shield" Said the princess.
And there she went trying to do the same as the warrior, but without having the balance, there were tumbles after tumbles, but as she fell she also learnt, which already came with achievements and more achievements
studying well how to slip, even giving a relaxed in the dungeon, which came a moment where the blue-eyed one had managed to even take a walk.
"Woah, this is fun here, forget what I said, it's real fun" said the amused Diana back in the middle.
"You did it Diana, next time we will do it together, maybe even on the way to the final dungeon of the pendants, there is a mud where we can surf down, but come on, the dungeon awaits us" Said Akko.
"You're right, I think I got too carried away with your fun, I have to be more serious" Cavendish said, earning a good laugh from Atsuko.
"Oh, it seems that the serious Cavendish has a point where she gets more playful hahaha" Kagari said laughing.
"Oh please, let's get on with it, I just wanted to arouse my curiosity and see what it's like" Said the princess leaving that room.
The two were making their way back, arriving in the room where the hardhat beetles were more scattered, without noticing the presence of the two, until Akko throws the boomerang and realises that it is simply able to pass through the barrier made of magic, which already opens up a whole range of options. In this way they return to the room where the walls of magic prevented her from walking around that room of the dungeon.
Akko and Diana head to the third dungeon of the hangers of courage, in the icy mountains of the Cork ranges, even managing to have fun in a place where Laura McLaren had suffered a little, even with the freezing cold, it did not prevent things from getting very hot inside the dungeon, thanks to moments between the two friends who became much closer enjoying the moment inside the mountain.
See you, cold witches...