Chapter 20: The Wall's Maw (PT4)

The metallic tang of blood hung heavy in the air, a grim counterpoint to the oppressive humidity that clung to them like sweat. Grotesque reminders of the fight littered the once pristine, vine-covered floor – fallen Bokoblin's and an even larger Moblin, their vacant eyes staring sightlessly into the abyss. Yet, the symphony of steel had not reached its final note.

A flicker of movement caught Christa's sharp, amber eyes. Her voice, a low hiss that sent shivers down Noah's spine, sliced through the tense silence. "Look out!" she warned, pointing down the torch-lit tunnel that snaked endlessly ahead, with human bodies sprawled on the floor.

Two hulking figures emerged from the same side passage, their guttural laughter a horrifying echo in the confined space. Crude spears gleamed menacingly in their clawed hands.

Noah cursed under his breath. The deeper they ventured into the Wall, a colossal fortress that had protected Hyrule's Eastern Region for a century, the more numerous and ferocious the monstrous inhabitants became. This wasn't supposed to be this hard.

The Bokoblin's charged, their guttural war cries echoing through the tunnel. Noah, fuelled by his own frustration, met their charge head-on. He raised the Traveller's Sword, parrying a clumsy swing from the first Bokoblin. The clang of metal echoed sharply in the confined space. He countered with a swift thrust, aiming for the creature's exposed chest.

For as much as he disliked the current situation, there was no training that could improve his own skills than when his life was at risk. An experience he was increasingly experiencing.

The Bokoblin yelped in surprise, barely dodging the attack. In the same breath, Christa launched her forked boomerang. It whirred through the air, wrapping around the second Bokoblin's spear mid-swing, yanking the weapon from its grasp and sending it clattering away. The surprised Bokoblin stumbled back, vulnerable.

Seizing the opportunity, Christa dashed forward. With a practiced flick of her wrist, she sent a well-aimed kick to the Bokoblin's knee, sending it crashing to the ground with a pained grunt.

Meanwhile, Noah pressed his advantage against his opponent. He unleashed a flurry of attacks, his movements precise and efficient. The Bokoblin, overwhelmed by the assault, could only raise its shield in a desperate attempt to defend itself. With a final, powerful blow that surprised even Noah, it shattered the Bokoblin's shield, and the tip of his blade found its mark, sending the creature sprawling to the floor in a heap.

He turned to see Christa finishing off the disarmed Bokoblin with a swift blow to the head with her boomerang. Neph, still leaning heavily against the damp wall, raised a weak hand in a gesture of approval. A hint of a smile played on her lips, despite the deep gash marring her pale cheek.

'Should I be offended that she wields that better than me, when I'm the Australian here?' Noah absentmindedly thought. Now that he thought about it, he had only held a boomerang a few times in his life.

"Nice teamwork," Christa rasped, her voice regaining some strength. "Neph?"

Neph, her face pale, had stayed out of this fight, albeit unwillingly due to her injuries, but even then her eyes held a steely glint. "It's further than I thought." As she stared down the dark passage.

"Should we take a break?" Noah suggested, his voice laced with exhaustion. The sheer immensity of the Wall had taken him by surprise. No wonder it had served as a defence against the monsters of Hyrule for so long. But the constant human bodies the three of them saw only continued to beg the question

How on earth- or rather, how in Hyrule had it fallen? Regardless, Noah unexpectedly kept his lid on with the bodies, although he was distracted with the constant fights so he couldn't focus on them anyway.

The trio had been traveling down endless hallways and rooms for what felt like hours, taking out monsters with practiced efficiency. The narrow corridors, ironically, had served as an advantage, forcing the monsters to bunch up, making them easier targets for their coordinated attacks when combined with their lack of intelligence to work together.

Still, it wasn't a cakewalk. Neph had taken the brunt of most of the assaults, her agility barely enough to dodge the relentless onslaught. A particularly large Moblin had sent her flying into the wall with a sickening thud not long ago, leaving a nasty gash on her arm and face.

They had also made a conscious decision to limit Christa's unique abilities, relying solely on her combat skills. Her power, while awe-inspiring, was a double-edged sword so they reserved it for lethal wounds since it drained her with overuse. They couldn't afford to lose a fighter to exhaustion in this place, but Noah judged that was going to occur soon anyway, he himself however felt relatively fine physically.

Yet, as Noah's gaze swept over Christa, she tilted her head with a hint of a smile. "Sure, but not for long," she replied, perhaps mistaking his concern for impatience. "Just enough to steady ourselves. The monsters lack the wit to use the alarms, but the commotion is sure to draw them closer."

Neph nodded in grim agreement. Their eyes darted around the debris-strewn space, seeking a sliver of respite in the encroaching chaos.

A small alcove, barely big enough for the three of them to squeeze into, offered a meagre refuge. Dust motes danced in the dim light filtering through the nearby torchers reflecting from the ceiling. Noah sank down against the rough stone wall, the weight of his traveller's sword a comforting presence despite the ache in his shoulders.

He kept fiddling with the blade Neph had given him scavenged, apparently, from a monster corpse during their desperate scramble to the cafeteria. It wasn't as fancy as King Rhoam's old sword, the one he'd lost. Guilt pricked him just thinking about it. This sword's hilt was shinier, with some kind of knight's crest he didn't recognise. He tried to read the inscription, but it might as well have been chicken scratches for all he could understand.

Not that it was surprising. He was stuck in Link's body, but not Link's head. No shared memories, no handy fluency in Hylian – talk about inconvenient. From what he understood he shared zero knowledge from Link's life, apart from instinct which appeared in battle.

But now that he had a second to breathe, the weirdness of his situation started to sink in. The guidebook that King Roam had made for him was readable, actually it was in perfect english, yet from the signs he saw so far everything else wasn't.

His little dodge and roll were also something he learnt to do by instinct, how was that even possible?

The more he thought about it, the more questions piled up. 'Nope, definitely not ready to tackle all that.' Noah thought as he let out a sigh, shoving his worries to the back of his mind for now.

'No matter, I'll wait till I'm at Kakariko Village before going down that rabbit hole…' Noah decided.

He glanced ahead, seeing Neph and Christa who mirrored his own scavenger tactics and pilfered from the cafeteria. Neph had equipped herself with a Soldier's Broadsword, replacing her damaged leather armour with something similar. Interestingly, Christa had opted to claim the Forked Boomerang from the Lizalfos corpse.

"How long do you think we've been down here?" Noah asked." Time was meaningless in this labyrinth of echoing corridors and endless skirmishes. The hallways were devoid of natural light, perhaps an unsettlingly intentional design choice.

"Feels like days," Christa murmured, slumping against the opposite wall, her breaths ragged. A sheen of sweat coated her pale face despite the chill of the air.

Neph stood her ground, her gaze unwavering as it fixed on the tunnel entrance. She held her new broadsword loosely at her hip. "Doesn't matter," she stated with cold practicality. "We keep moving until we find that control room."

Noah envied her unshakeable focus. Fear prickled at him constantly, a persistent reminder of his vulnerability. He wasn't a fighter like Neph; he was an ordinary person thrust into circumstances beyond his comprehension.

The silence shattered as a guttural screech echoed through the tunnels, followed by the unmistakable clamour of claws upon stone.

"More of them," Neph hissed, her voice strained with tension. "And a lot more of them."

Something that once would spike his adrenaline, only made Noah sigh in exhaustion which displaced his previous fear. He scrambled to his feet, instinctively tightening his grip on the Traveller's Sword.

Noah felt as if he had gone through all the stages of grief, and then reverted back to depression.

"We can't fight them all in this cramped space," Christa said, the first hint of worry edging into her usually composed tone. "If we get surrounded we are done for."

Noah's gaze shifted. He noticed a narrow opening at the back of the alcove, barely large enough to crawl through, but it might be their only means of escape.

"There" he exclaimed, pointing. "We can crawl through there and wait them out."

Neph hesitated for a moment, her eyes flitting between the approaching monsters and the claustrophobic opening. Then, with a determined nod, she said, "Lead the way."

One by one, they squeezed through the dusty crack, a cascade of damp vines brushing against Noah as he emerged into a larger chamber. The air hung heavy with the nauseating stench of stale blood and something far fouler.

"…who's there?" A voice, weak yet unmistakably human, pierced the darkness.

Surprise jolted through Noah. He shot a frantic glance at Neph and Christa, his hand signalling silence. The voice was unexpected, a chilling reminder that others were trapped in this hellish labyrinth, but Noah didn't expect to hear a survivor.

"Ah… no one? Damn it… another hallucination," the voice mumbled, laced with despair.

A pang of pity twisted in Noah's gut. Christa's eyes met his, filled with silent confusion. But he held his ground, his mind racing. He'd seen the madness inflicted on those in the courtyard. Risking their hiding spot by engaging a potentially deranged survivor was too great a gamble. And there was the matter of time – they couldn't afford delays. Even if the man was caged, they likely couldn't free him anyway.

He resorted to the half-remembered hand signals from some cop show, motions he hoped conveyed caution. Crouching, he inched towards the voice, Neph and Christa mirroring his movements.

As the dim light flickered, Noah caught a glimpse of the person – a towering figure clad in gleaming armour, slumped against the wall. The knight, surprisingly uncaged, stirred.

The knight rose his head, and locked eyes with Noah as he held his breath. The two remained eyes locked for what felt like an eternity, before Noah gripped on his traveller's sword causing the eyes of the knight to widen.

"Wait… you're real?" The voice held desperate hope. The knight scrambled upright, visor obscuring his eyes as he lunged towards Noah.

Noah recoiled instinctively; sword raised in a flash. "Don't make a sound," he hissed, his voice a sharp contrast to the man's pleading tone, "Unless you want to lose your voice for good."

A bluff, mostly, but the threat was necessary. Noah was torn – part of him longed to offer help, while the ruthlessly practical side screamed that they couldn't afford the risk.

The knight froze, his hands raised in surrender. "I thought... hallucinations..."

The knight however, quickly regained his bearings at the threat. "Whoa, whoa… easy, I'm not a monster!" The knight stumbled back.

Neph snorted. "Thought we were hallucinations, huh?" she said, mockery dripping from her tone as she came into view.

"Ah, more survivors..." Embarrassment flooded the knight's face, and his posture sagged. "What a humiliating outburst. But you're real! I... didn't think there would be others." As he drew nearer, his imposing stature became clear. Noah recognised the armour instantly of course, which was why he knew the person was a Knight – it wasn't just any knights, but one clad in the Soldier's Armour set from the game.

Just like the game the Soldier armours chest piece gleamed, its smooth metal surface curved like a shield towards the users head protecting against misfortune. Under the chest piece was a sturdy gambeson of quilted linen and wool. It looked thick yet breathable, Noah assumed it would cushion the body against impacts and prevent the cruel pinching of metal against skin considering that Noah could see the subtle shimmer of chainmail draped over the shoulders and chest.

In addition the knight wore the Soldiers Greaves. Noah admired how sturdy they seemed with, although I suppose when faced against blades and the crush of monstrous blows that would be ideal.

The Soldier's Set. Noah fought the urge to geek out; this wasn't cosplay, this was real. A flicker of a thought crossed his mind – what would Zelda look like? – but he quickly suppressed it, focusing on the situation at hand. But where was the iconic helmet? And the Royal Crest, usually the armour's centrepiece, was conspicuously absent.

The gleaming pristine and polished Soldiers set armour was still an inspiring sight if not for the desperation etched on his face.

Christa stepped forward, ignoring Neph's unkind glare. "Forgive my companions' manners. May the goddess shine upon you and reward your faith. Please... are you alright?"

Noah watched Christa approach, shifting his gaze to Neph. "What's your problem?" he asked, voice low. "Shouldn't you be nicer? He could be a source of information."

Neph's answering look was laced with disgust. "You're naive."

Noah blinked, annoyance washing over him as he focused on the knight, but with some added caution.

The knight, oblivious to the undercurrent, babbled on. "The goddess…? Ah, a priestess then! The heavens have answered my prayers… Are you reinforcements? Is the push to retake the fort underway?"

"No… but perhaps an explanation is in order," Christa replied, gently clasping the knight's hand. "Allow me to share the goddess's blessing."

Noah's eyes widened as Christa activated her healing, but his focus snagged on the knight. In the dim light, the man's armour shone with reflected light, 'Man I'd love to have that armour, ah wait but wouldn't the weight hamper my agility? But it never seemed to stop Link in the game…'

"What…? You're here to free everyone?" The knight erupted in stunned disbelief, waking Noah up to the situation just as Christa spoke.

"Shh, quiet!" Christa hissed, a hint of steel in her gentle voice. "The Goddess has guided our path, and we will triumph…"

"Lies! The Goddess abandoned us!" the knight shrieked, drawing startled glances from Noah and Neph. "They all spouted the same lies – commanders, priests. 'The Goddess will protect us!' But they're dead... or worse. Oh, the screams…" He broke down, sobs wracking his frame.

Neph's annoyance was clear, a tightness around her eyes. Was it simply his despair, or something deeper? Noah's gaze hardened. He thought of World War I, of shattered soldiers and the cruel label "shell shock". Before it was called PTSD, men were scorned, not treated. Maybe this world, since it was hardly modern was no different.

Christa moved closer, her previous gentleness replaced by a clinical detachment. She wiped the knight's tears with brisk efficiency. "First, you must confess your doubts. Tell us what happened, so I can ease your worries," she said, voice sharp as a blade.

Frozen, the knight was trapped in the prison of his memories. "It…it was a massacre. Twelve-hundred strong – soldiers, knights, priests, even Sheikah. This fortress, the crown jewel of the Eastern defences… We scoffed when the towers spotted the Bokoblin horde."

"The Blood Moon is near, but it hadn't risen yet. We've defended from dozens of Blood Moons in the past, we thought this no different." His voice dripped with despair. "We barely manned the walls, saved the cannons… wanted to preserve resources for when the Blood Moon would arrive."

"But this was different… siege cannons," he spat. "They had bloody siege cannons!"

Even Neph, intrigued despite herself, knelt beside Christa. "Machinery?"

"Rams too! But the worst… it wasn't just Bokoblins. Lizalfos, Moblins, every damned monster, working together!"

Noah leaned in. He'd underestimated this place, but even so, such a force shouldn't have breached the Wall so easily. Something was off. And then there was the sheer number of personnel – twelve hundred? Noah couldn't recall half that many NPCs throughout the entire game, let alone stationed in one place. Sure, given how this world operated, it made sense, but he hadn't fully considered that before. Was Kakariko more than just a village, perhaps it was a sprawling city?

"By the time we mobilised for the emergency defence," he corrected himself, the memory twisting his face, "it was too late. The corridors themselves… they twisted into death traps. Units vanished, screams echoing into the darkness. It… it was already inside." He shuddered. "Soon, it was a ghost town. They just... strolled in."

The three exchanged silent glances, heavy with judgment. Still, they let him continue.

"I defended to the last! Fought back hundreds, I swear! But… I was overrun, forced to hide here..."

As Noah was heavy in contemplation over the knights story, the knights movement caused the light to reflect off his armour into his eye causing Noah to flinch a little, but like solving a puzzle Noah's eyes widened.

"Wait... your armour..." Noah hesitantly began. "It seems... remarkably well-kept for someone who's been in battle." Noah pointed to his reflective polished armour.

The knight's rambling faltered. His eyes, once filled with desperate hope, now held a flicker of fear. "Well, uh... I was stationed in the rear-guard. Mostly... mostly supply runs and never on the front lines."

Neph snorted, contempt blazing in her eyes.

Noah felt the pieces lock into place, a chilling certainty seeping into his bones. The knight's armour, his demeanour... it was all too clean for someone who'd truly witnessed a massacre.

He understood Neph's contempt.

"He fled before the fighting even started?" Noah asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Neph spat a single word, heavy with disgust. "Pathetic."

Noah understood Neph's contempt, yet a sliver of pity for the knight lingered within him. Yes, fleeing from battle was unforgivable, but the horrors the knight likely witnessed would leave anyone shattered.

Before Neph could press her point further, a chilling glare from Christa stopped her in her tracks.

Noah placed a hand on Christa's shoulder, then leaned in closer to the knight. It was true his actions, if true was nothing less than a coward's act. But Noah wasn't from this world, on paper Noah was repulsed by his actions but faced in the same shoes Noah wasn't certain he would do anything different.

"You did your best. A hero's work. But tell me, what happened to that army? Did they move deeper into the Eastern Region?" Noah's voice was firm – he knew that army couldn't have remained within the Wall's confines. If it had, they'd never have survived this long.

A flicker of strength returned to the knight's eyes as he met Noah's gaze. "They never stayed long. Sent a detachment to secure the Wall, but once it was theirs... the majority regrouped and marched eastward..." He trailed off, fresh hope mixing with despair.

But the trio shared none of his optimism. Noah's mind reeled. 'What in the hell is this?! Monsters, plain old monsters, doing this kind of damage? Not Calamity Ganon, not Divine Beasts – this is insane!' His grip tightened on the traveller's sword.

Neph, already in motion, whirled towards the exit. Noah snagged her hand before she could disappear. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Our plan doesn't change," she said, voice steely.

"Didn't you hear him? The Eastern Region could be under siege already!"

"Then we have even less time to waste." Neph's gaze cut to the knight. "And you soldier coming with us."

The knight, trembling under her glare, whimpered, "Me?"

'Wait, "Soldier"?' Noah's brow furrowed. Had he misjudged the man?

"Absolutely not! I'm not dying here!" He burst out. "Besides, you seek the control room, right? It's a dual-lock system. The other key is in the main watchtower, across the courtyard, far from here!"

Neph turned to Noah, a sharp glint in her eyes. "...You want me to get it then?" Noah sadly remarked.

"Thanks for volunteering," Neph purred, a wicked smile playing on her lips.

"Hold on," Noah bristled. "I'm no coward like him, but I'm not about to commit death by monster."

The soldier sputtered in offense, but Christa unexpectedly took Neph's side. "You're the strongest of us, Noah. And your agility – if things go badly, you should be able to escape."

"Then it's settled. If this ends in blood, at least we won't be alone," Neph said, her smile edged with grim satisfaction leaving no room for Noah to object.

Noah, however, wasn't buying it. "What about the thing in those hallways? The one that took down nearly the entire Wall?"

Neph's voice took on a chilling edge. "We've faced plenty of monsters without encountering it. Assuming it wasn't just the fevered ramblings of a broken man, it might have moved on with the rest."

'Might?' Noah's doubt gnawed at him.

"...I still won't go with you," the soldier mumbled, his newfound resolve crumbling.

"Thankfully, you don't have a choice," Neph said, and before anyone could protest, she slammed the broadsword against the door. The echoes reverberated, drawing a chorus of guttural roars that sent chills down Noah's spine.

"Let's go!" Christa declared, her grip tightening on her boomerang.

"Wait! I don't even–" Noah began, then abruptly hauled the soldier – surprisingly heavy despite his whimpers – to his feet. "Tell me where the other lock is!"

His tone left no room for argument. He gave the soldier a rough shove forward. "Ahh, fuck it. Tell me on the way, unless you want to be monster food!"

Noah took position at the rear, Christa and Neph leading the charge, as the soldier shakily navigated them through the maze of corridors. Neph met Noah's gaze a few times only to be met with silent anger of the situation. At the next fork in the road, Noah stopped.

"This is where I go," he said, voice laced with a reluctant resolve.

Christa stepped close, enveloping him in a lingering embrace. "May the Goddess watch over you. Remember, you carry her blessing, and it will grant you strength."

"What I need right now is courage," Noah replied with a strained smile.

"Then I shall gift that to you as well," Christa whispered, her warm smile a beacon of hope in the oppressive darkness.

Noah locked eyes with Neph. "If I die..." He swallowed, tempted to hurl accusations towards her due to her reckless endangerment and selfish disregard for him. But Noah wanted to live, to survive this cursed place. Even if it meant leaving them behind, doing so while alone would be easier mentally on him.

"Never mind, it won't happen," he finished, averting his gaze.

A small smile flickered on Neph's lips, perhaps knowing his intentions. "I never doubted you."

Noah turned to the soldier, a flicker of disappointment mirroring Neph's. "What about you? You cowered while your comrades fought, blinded by fear..." Noah paused, the weight of the soldier's terror palpable. " This is your chance to redeem yourself. Go help free your fellow soldiers, be the soldier you couldn't be before…. Or at least don't get those two killed with your yelps."

The soldier shrank under Noah's words. Noah felt a pang of hypocrisy – he wouldn't sacrifice himself either – but the soldiers in the Hyrule he knew were paragons of valour. This... this was disheartening. Still, a sliver of pity warmed him. War did terrible things to the bravest hearts.

With a final, resolute nod, Noah turned and sprinted down the opposite corridor. His own fear gnawed at him, but a desperate hope burned just as brightly – the hope of survival.

The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly before Noah, a claustrophobic maze of shadows and unseen dangers. The air crackled with tension, each step echoing his pounding heartbeat. He was alone, a stark contrast to the desperate companionship of moments before. It was a necessary risk; one Neph had coldly calculated, and Christa had hesitantly accepted.

His fingers tightened around the worn hilt of the Traveller's Sword. The weapon felt inadequate against the unknown, yet it was the only lifeline he had. He forced himself to focus, to ignore the way cold sweat slicked his palms and the gnawing doubt in the back of his mind.

A monstrous roar shattered the silence, reverberating through the tunnels with bone-shaking force. Noah instinctively ducked behind a crumbling stone pillar, his pulse thundering in his ears.

'Is that a Moblin? I can't even tell…' he thought, after discovering there may be an unknown creature in these hallways, Noah's fear amplified tenfold.

The creature sounded close, far closer than he was comfortable with. He swallowed hard; his throat suddenly dry. It couldn't have seen him… could it?

He waited; breath held. One minute bled into another. The roaring faded, replaced by the relentless drip of water from some unseen source. Still, Noah didn't dare move. The echo of that unholy sound would haunt his nightmares for weeks to come.

He couldn't linger. With a silent plea to the goddess he barely believed in, Noah peeked around the pillar. The corridor was empty, the gloom untouched. He wiped the clammy sweat from his face and willed his trembling legs back into motion.

The path ahead twisted and turned, each corner a potential ambush site. He moved with the hunted alertness of a feral animal, eyes darting from shadow to shadow. The scent of blood lingered in the air as he passed hallways with dozens of bodies lying around the halls, some bodies were so disfigured he couldn't tell if they were Hylian or monster. That chilling realisation, the way he was growing accustomed to such horrors, sent a tremor through him deeper than any monster's roar.

But he couldn't avoid every fight, with every corridor and step Noah encountered enemies which he was forced to deal with. Noah was confident against Bokoblin's, he could even handle them in groups, but the sight of Lizalfos or the hulking form of a Moblin sent him scurrying for alternate paths, he couldn't reliably face those yet.

He wasn't sure how long he ran, his sense of time warped by the sheer intensity of the situation, but he was confident he was following the instructions that the Knight had given him.

Noah couldn't help but be awestruck by the sheer magnitude of the Wall. Even knowing it had been carved from an existing mountain, its labyrinth of interconnecting tunnels and chambers told him he had barely glimpsed at its actual size.

The relentless climb up countless rough-hewn steps had left him with an unfamiliar ache in his legs, a feeling of exhaustion he had never encountered before even in Links body. 'Even in this world, steps remain my worst enemy,' he quipped inwardly.

Finally, he reached the iron door and hesitated, a flicker of doubt rippling through him. Steeling himself, he pushed through, emerging onto the Wall itself. Towering between the Duelling Peaks, it was only now that Noah fully grasped, he'd been within the mountain's heart all along.

His gaze swept the panorama. Noah was standing on one of the two immense walls that blocked the Duelling Peaks, punctuated by its crumbling watchtowers. Eight of these outposts clung precariously to each wall, their roofs mostly caved in. Yet, dominating the centre of the Wall was a larger structure, twice the height of the others. Its walls were not entirely stone, but gleaming panes of glass, offering the guards within an unobstructed view.

As Noah looked to the other wall on his left, he understood why it would've been impossible to do this without causing a commotion. Ignoring the fact he only got this far thanks to the use of stealth, something three people couldn't achieve. The distance to the opposing wall that operated as the exit of the Eastern Region was much further than the current wall he was standing on now.

As Noah ambled along the weathered stone, his eyes drifted right to the far distance, drawn to the colossal silhouette of the Great Plateau. A pang of longing twisted within him.

'I haven't actually travelled very far, have I?' he sighed. 'When I escape this place, I'm demanding an expensive carriage ride straight to Kakariko Village…'

But practicality snapped him back to the present. His eyes narrowed as they settled on the two Lizalfos and a Moblin guarding the entrance to the central watchtower. They were already striding towards him, barring his path.

'How cruel, not even allowing me a moment's sightseeing,' Noah grumbled. Grabbing his Sheikah Slate, his playful demeanour vanished as his right eye begun to glow a disturbingly bright brown.