A Darkening Eventide [Open: Alyson, Claria, Gao, Raemi, Nex]

[LuckyBlackCat]

Everything spun sickeningly as the Lizalfos wrapped its tongue around Claria's arm, flinging her aside. Her fingers curled tighter around the hilt of her sword, which nearly slid from her grasp. Through the haze of dizziness, the horned shape sped closer, its crooked blade glinting in the meager light, poised to slice through the water at her.

Reacting on instinct, she shot out her fist, emitting one more laser. Not a particularly strong one, but it struck the already wounded creature point blank. As the last of her luminescence faded, she caught a glimpse of its sinking body dissipating into purple bubbles, before the surrounding ocean turned pitch black.

It was all she could do to keep her leaden limbs moving as she struggled to reorient herself and reach Raemi. The song and the vibrations alike seemed to emanate from a distance, barely registering through the fog clouding her mind, the pain wresting her attention away. By now it took immense effort just to flex the stiff, burning flaps of her gills, which kept clamping shut against damaged filaments in bursts of agony.

All she could pick up on was a massive upsurge of water before light pierced the surface. Instead of bringing relief, the renewed visibility sent a jolt of panic through her. Raemi... was she alright? Had Claria's failure, her weakness, brought the dancer's performance to a premature end?

It hadn't, thank the gods. A torrent of ink, instead of dispersing, gathered into one concentrated, rising shape, a gleam of colourful scales and membranes at its centre. As Raemi broke the surface, Claria swam upwards after her, her oxygen-starved muscles aching throughout her body. She pumped her fins and legs as hard as she could, the barrier between water and air so close, yet seemingly miles away as the ringing in her earholes grew louder and her vision tunnelled...

The sea breeze buffeted her scales. She drew in several deep, gasping, much-needed breaths, the lightheadnedness clearing, the tremors in her limbs easing. Her sharpening senses revealed the final act; one giant boar, galloping in circles on the sunlit surface, crimson ribbons drawing up into its hooves and trailing from its flank. Blood - her blood, not monster ichor. And hopefully only her own, rather than Raemi's.

At least she'd been able to contribute to the performance in some way, she thought, wiping at a cut below her helm that threatened to ooze into her eye. And contribute she still would. She pulled the remaining bottles from the Octorok skin pouch, letting them float towards the boar as if on a current, all while keeping watch for enemies. With her lights run down, she wouldn't be able to snipe them, her sword her only means of offense. Her thoughts went to the one Stamella Shroom skewer she'd had time to prepare beforehand, but even if she found a moment to consume the snack, it would take at least ten minutes for her glow to recover enough for even one beam or blade.

The arrows she and the boar wove past grew sparser, but she couldn't let her guard down. One more Lizalfos cut through the water, a blue Bokoblin on its back, spear in hand. As the Bokoblin pulled its arm back, ready to target its porcine prey, Claria held her sword out. Even as pain spiked anew, she swallowed down a cry building in her throat, darting forward with a powerful dolphin kick and impaling the reptile through its side. The Lizalfos gurgled and disappeared under the waves, the Bokoblin flailing as it followed suit.

Her gaze snapped to the island, lest any more foes capable of swimming approach. Past smoke clouds billowing from flaming trees, past thinning hordes of Bokoblins and Moblins that continued to wade and drown, so single-mindedly focused on their target they didn't seem to realise the "ground" was gone, she spotted something that drew a soft gasp from her. The aircraft, reduced to ruins.

Alyson... Was it too late for the peppy pilot? Claria clenched her fists. Her promise to protect Raemi, sadly, left her in no position to intervene. She could only pray that Gao would... and that he hadn't succumbed himself to the fire that tore through the jungle.


As Alyson's strength returned, she flung the boomerang as hard as possible at the nearest Bokoblin, toppling it onto its rear end. With her other hand, she grabbed the only other weapon available to her - one of the ink bottles. She hurled it into the crowd, mustering a rippling burst of wind behind it. The glass shattered against a Boko shield, violet ink splattering in all directions, a puff of dark fumes spreading outwards. Alyson swept her arm in a frantic arc, directing the wind to blow sand and swirling vapour around, stepping back to avoid breathing any in. "Ha... Gives a new meaning to second wind!"

Monsters stumbled through the chaos, turning blades and clubs on each other. Alyson seized the opportunity. She sprinted aside and ducked behind the wrecked Loftwing. The sight of wings, sigils, wooden beams she'd so painstakingly carved reduced to splinters made her ribs constrict, but she couldn't let herself think of that right now. Much more was at risk of destruction.

She peered over the top of the aircraft, a lump forming in her throat at the unfolding carnage. It wasn't technically by her own hand that the pirates fell, but it might as well have been. And even though these were the same types of monsters that had terrorised her family and community throughout her childhood, they were still sapient beings. She wanted to look away, yet to do so wouldn't just be cowardly, it would be unwise. Who knew how long until the confounding effect wore off? Reaching into her toolbelt pocket, gripping another vial, she prepared for such.

It wasn't just the Muddle Bud haze that clouded the air, but smoke in the distance, thickening by the minute above amber flickers. Alyson bit back a whimper. That lightning bolt... It had gotten out of control, as elemental magic was wont to do. Where was Gao? Surely his ally wouldn't let any harm come to him? She blinked away tears beading beneath her goggles - just in time to see a blue Moblin snap to its senses and turn its snout towards the plane, sniffing. She scrambled back against the cliff face as the Moblin rounded on her, club raised, two newly-lucid Bokoblins in tow.

She shot out a hand, a gust sending them staggering. The spell's chaotic force struck not just the enemies, but a wing jutting at a crooked angle above her, which cracked and collapsed in a swirl of wooden shards. Alyson yelped and hunched, arms crossed over her head, the splinters that rained down bruising and scraping her skin.

Crawling from under the fallen sail, she flung a second vial at the Moblin. It hit its mark, cloaking both it and the Bokos in a noxious cloud. She staggered to her feet and skittered aside, watching the Moblin swing its club at its allies with all the grace of a drunkard.

To the east, movement stirred. Alyson allowed herself the briefest of glances towards the encroaching inferno, figures sihouetted against its glare. Was that Gao and his army on their way, or a fresh wave of enemies?

[El]

Gore: it gushed and it rained. Gao's vision swum in red, as did his sweat-slick skin. The pounding of his chest echoed the fierce rhythm of his breath, feral pants against a wardrum thunder of adrenaline highs. The swing and sweep of kissing blades. The thumps of brutalised flesh. Down went another monster, torn in two, and over its gurgling corpse the masked Sheikah pounced. Onwards through the fray.

They were family once.

With the heat of a forest-fire searing his back, and the stench of soot and viscera clogging his nostrils, there was no time to reminisce - or lament. The scholar carved his path with vicious efficiency. Feral. Reflexive. Brutally violent. It was clear the man had never received any formal training, but without the leash of restraint to bind his neck he was free to cleave and slaughter with bloodlust abandon.

They were family once, so he knew well - intimately - far more about these creatures than a simple hunter would.

He'd slept beside them. He'd tracked beside them. He'd helped roast their meals. He'd assisted in building their homes. He'd witnessed the birth of their young. He'd celebrated their wins, and mourned their losses. He'd shared their drinks. He'd danced with them around the campfires. He'd tended to their wounded and even baptised their adolescents with their first streak of warpaint.

Bokoblins.
Quick-learners with a wide variety of skills: the same feint never works twice.
Easily cowed as individuals but relentlessly brash in groups: separate them from their allies.
Impressive hearing and infinitely curious: if stealth and distraction is off the table, overwhelm their senses with loud noise.
...They also love honey and stories.

A blue-skinned warrior crumpled at Gao's already passing feet.

Lizalfos.
Incredibly agile and speedy: use their ego to exhaust them.
A penchant for mischief that enjoys stalking and playing with their prey: lure them into traps, or wait until they're mid-leap and vulnerable before striking their stomachs.
Fiercer at range with a potent natural skillset: close the distance, seize their tongues mid-sweep.
...They also love fishing and shiny baubles.

A reptile choked on its own blood and splattered Gao as he passed on by.

Moblins.
Heroic levels of upper body strength: they're top-heavy, easy to unbalance if you aim for their knees.
Commanding and selfish, utilising every tool at their disposal even if it's an ally: save them until last and whittle down their thin patience with fleetfooted swipes.
A strong sense of smell and an impressive reach: their vision is dull and their aim wide and clumsy, blast their senses with a fistful of viscera or dirt and dodge their telegraphed blows rather than meet them.
...They also love afternoon naps amidst flowers and shoulder-rubs.

Shins splintered, snorting on slobbering gore, the giant crashed downwards behind Gao who had already passed on through.

He knew their tells. Their mannerisms. The habits built by predictable lifestyles. Patterns that repeated. Urges and instincts that never faded.

But they had also taught him.

A deafening screech of failing metal punctured Gao's eardrums as his halberd finally met its demise. Weakening fractures now burst and splintered, an unintentional collision against a tough moblin's horn sounding its deathcry. Backwards the Sheikah pounced, dancing through the rain of drenched silver. He reared the shaft of his splintered weapon and thrust it forwards... only for it to be swatted aside with an arrogant snort. Gao's tired muscles failed. He lost his grip. Upwards reared the shadow of the monster, cleaver held high. Backwards the Sheikah tumbled, losing his footing on one still-moulding corpse of many.

He raised the sacrifice of his left forearm, teeth gritted, fist clenched. He braced.

—----------

The ink finally bled into transparency. Diluted, the painting bloomed its last few strokes until only water stirred and shimmered, the rampaging musculature of the giant boar cleansed into fluid crystal. Pretty, but nowhere near as effective.

Raemi crashed into the sea.

The puppetry strings had snapped, and with the relief of the finale her whole world folded into itself. Warm, were the familiar waters. Distant were the last few cries of drowning monsters. She felt the currents shift around her but the blow never came. ...An ally then?

Through the haze of encroaching slumber and dissipating shadow, Raemi pushed up her heavy eyelids. Her vision was blurred, glittering, swaying, melting. But the sigh that bubbled free from her paled lips assured her she was still in the waking world. She was alive. Somehow. And beside her bobbed a familiar silhouette, not afloat with the emptiness of a drifting soul, but treading water: Claria was alive too!

With a surge of energy - brittle, but enough - the dancer broke through the surface of the sea and gasped out a pant. The sunlight was blinding, sending shards of spears through her skull as her vision flared and her stomach churned. It took her a minute before she could form words, her throat constricted over the threat of bile and painfully dry.

"D-did we-... did we... do it?"

A loose arrow bumped against her shoulder, pulling her strained gaze towards a littering of debris as far as her sight could reach. Weapons with no owners, bobbing on the ebbing tide. A few more swirls of toxic purple faded into wisps of memory.

Silence.

At least, here the coast was clear.

Ha.

With a weak smile that took far more effort to hold than she liked, Raemi was about to share her awful pun with her fellow Zora when she caught a scene unfolding on the shore. Smoke plumed from a pile of wreckage. A moblin swiped aside the last of a violet tendril, stomping a remaining bokoblin below foot and roaring with blinded rage. Terror shrill and breathless seized Raemi, but that fear was nothing compared to what came next.

The moblin had spotted a new target. It spun towards it with a below and charged, lumbering feet pounding the sand below with club in tow.

No. Not 'It'. Her.

The dancer spied a familiar figure, tanned skin and ink-black hair scrambling deeper inside the debris for shelter. It had been her glider. And now, it was going to be her tomb.

—----------

It didn't see him coming.

Knees buckled, maw agape, the creature's bulky digits stiffened, releasing its club with a tremouring thump. Blood gurgled in its throat. More spilled forth from its chest. Rolling bulging eyes forwards through the jitters and twitches, the moblin looked down at a heart. Its heart. It throbbed. Quaked. One last withering beat before SQUEALCH - the clawed hand which had seized it tight, crushed it into an exploding ball of tissue and goop.

Clean through its shattered ribs the assailant yanked back his fist, palm burning with the heat of a dying life while the monster crumpled into a decaying mass of shadow before him. It didn't take long until it fizzled and melted, the same dark sorcery which claimed its soul and body turning too the heap of flesh still firm in his grasp. It dripped like wet sand through his fingers. Faded before it hit the floor.

Ba-bump.

It was his own heart that made the noise, the Lynel Mask realised a few beats too late. His hand was empty, but it was still clawed. Tense. Fire in his veins.

Crimson eyes glowed from the pits of the stitched-fabric shadows, capturing within its sights the figure of a Hylian woman.

Ba-bump.

He didn't blink.

Ba-bump.

He didn't move.

Ba-bump.

Every visible muscle tightened, coiling up like a predator before it pounced. The veins bulged. His glare glowed sharper. The swell of his chest and the tickle of rising hairs disturbed the settling of dripping blood. Some melted away entirely, but a bulk of it still streamed from surface-level gashes and open puncture wounds. Wounds that tightened. Cuts that narrowed. A shudder trembled through the war-painted man. You could see the thirst bulge in his throat. A thirst which-

"G-GAO?!!!"

—----------

Stumbling ashore, an erratic Raemi dashed with burning feet across the sand. She tipped and swayed in a clatter of coral and pearls, losing her balance more than once but always seizing herself upright in the end.

There was a horrible feeling in her chest - and it wasn't fatigue. It wasn't even the horror of all they'd been through.

It was a fear of what was to come.

Why? She didn't have time to ask that, the Sheikah's name already shredding her throat in a desperate cry, "G-GAO?!!!"

The figure stilled. Then turned. Raemi's gut churned. A quiver of a sob squeaked through her trembling lips.

—----------

Gao...

Right. That was correct.

He was Gao.

Lifting a shuddering hand, soiled and bruised, his fingers seized the Lynel mask and tore it down and off. Air, cold and fresh rushed into his lungs with a violent force. He gasped at it, as if he'd been drowning. A half-manic smile twitched at the corners of his barred grin.

"...Gao?" The Zora croaked again. Timid. No, afraid. He met her golden stare, wide-eyed as it was, and felt a softer breath then ease the bulging of his chest.

"Well done." Gao managed, the warming expression of his gentle features at odds with the grisly growl of his throat. He coughed. Almost choked. Still holding the lynel mask in one hand he lifted instead another, brushing a flayed fist across his mouth.

Don't lick it.

After an abrupt pause, the hand fell again. Drawing in deep breaths to settle the still racing thunder of his heart, the Sheikah's seeking gaze turned then to Alyson. "Are you hurt?" The inquiry was sincere. But the weight of a frown crushed his comforting smile when he realised the truth of the wreckage she'd taken cover in. "...The coast is clear for now, so we should have a few moments at least to gather ourselves." What they could anyway.

A surprising little giggle trilled beside him then, luring his attention back to Raemi.

"Oh! S-Sorry." She spluttered, shame staining her cheeks as she clapped her hands over her mouth. "It's just that-... I thought the same pun myself just a minute ago."

Unbidden, Gao caught himself chortling a small laugh too. "...No pun intended." He sighed in wistful defeat. The groan was accompanied by another wonky smile.

Right. He was Gao.

[Rex Draco]

With his new buddy-boy, Nex made his way up the side of a ridge. He set the Bokoblin down, more like dropped him, and let the fellow bounce a few times, the monster rolling towards the edge before he drew his rod and cast the line. The hook barely caught the Bokoblin by his necklace of bones. The Bokoblin had babbled incoherently in his monster language, but Nex was only familiar with a few words and managed to catch 'no' and 'ow'. The ruddy monster covered his eyes, but when his face didn't go splat on the ground he slowly removed his fingers, only to find himself floating over the cacophonous chaos of combat.

The Bokoblin babbled at Nex, questioning not only the Zora's sanity, but finding itself deeply pondering why they were suspended several meters in the air.

"You're going to point out the strong members of your crew. Simple, no?" Nex leaned back against a stone, perching his webbed talons on a nearby rock. "We're friends now, so you have to do as I say."

The Bokoblin babbled and pointed at Nex whose scaled brows flattened, causing his membranous veil to hang over his shoulders. "Are you questioning my methods?" Honestly, beasts these days. "You can either be friends with me or go back down there." He let loose the line, causing the Bokoblin to fall several feet. It shouted and flailed in panic before Nex drew him back up.

"Well?" Nex waited. The Bokoblin slumped and pointed down towards one of the biggest Bokoblin. "Attaboy." With the target acquired Nex sent down a directed bolt of lightning, the gathered clouds a boon to his spell weaving.

It would continue this way. To those on the ground the targets seemed random, a result of the dangerous weather and so many bodies in one place. Blam, bam, blast, zap~! 

[LuckyBlackCat]

Not even the extra ink was enough to keep the boar from losing colour and shape. It wavered and collapsed with a hiss of foam, a vivid-hued streak plummeting from its centre into the sea.

"Raemi!" Without a thought for her own physical state, Claria submerged once more after the limp form of her comrade. For an awful moment, she feared the worst, until Raemi's eyes flickered open and her fins flared into motion. Shortly after the dancer broke the surface, Claria followed suit, panting until her ribs ached.

"D-did we-... did we... do it?"

Claria would have nodded if not for even slight head motions setting off those twin stabbing sensations. "It... It seems we did," she rasped. A quick scan of the waters ahead revealed the onslaught to have ceased - for now. "Y-You put on quite the show."

The sense of victory fizzled away. The remaining enemies congregated on the shore, around the wreckage - behind which a figure sought shelter. A Hylian figure. Alyson was alive, but for how much longer?

"Spoke too fucking soon..." No matter the searing in her limbs, Claria pushed herself ever forward towards the isle. Not that the shore seemed any closer as a Moblin closed in on the engineer - as did a hulking, masked figure behind it. Squinting through the sunlight, Claria watched the monster disintegrate into sludge and mist, along with the last few Bokoblins who turned their weapons against each other.

Gao had made it.

With a wheeze of relief clenching her chest, Claria covered the rest of the distance to the shoreline. She clambered onto the coast after Raemi. "Gao... Alyson... Please tell me you're both alrigh-" She only managed a few steps before the ground rose, the strain on her body catching up with her. Reflexively, she shot out her arms, the impact jarring her gills, drawing a choked cry from her throat that trailed off into a whimper as she tried to suppress it.

Shit. Not now. She couldn't let her ailments get the better of her now. Not while the mission was still far from over.


With most of the Bokoblins dispatched, the Moblin raised its giant club directly over Alyson. Heedless of the stinging in her back and shoulders, she skittered against the pile of debris that had once been the Loftwing, drawing on reserves of magic that ran thin...

Which it turned out she didn't need. The club tumbled from its grasp, purple blood oozing from its jaws as it crumpled to the sand amidst the scattered horns, teeth and entrails of its comrades, the muscle-bound figure behind it crushing a chunk of flesh in his clawed grip. Its heart, ripped clean from its chest.

Those sharp-nailed fingers tore off the Lynel mask, revealing a familiar scarred face, a nigh-maniacal grin. Alyson could relate to the ebbing adrenaline, a laugh bubbling from her lips as Raemi stumbled onto the shore, followed by Claria.

Mission successful. At least, the first part of it, despite the snags in the plan.

"Whew, thanks!" At Gao's inquiry as to her wellbeing, she took stock of her wounds. Nothing too severe, but the gashes criss-crossing her arms, the ache of welling bruises, reminded her she'd have to keep it together better if they were to stand a chance going forward. Fumbling for the first aid kit in one of her belt pouches, she masked her shame with a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. Could have been a lot worse... How about all of you though?"

Gao's accidental pun, and the resulting infectious giggle from Raemi, brought on another chuckling fit that shook through her entire body. Overcome with sheer relief, she lifted up her goggles and wiped away tears of joy beading in the corners of her eyes. "Hey, it's all good! We could use a few laughs!" She looked over at Raemi. "And sorry about the ink shortage, but even so, that was one amazing display!"

Her grin instantly vanished as Claria slumped to the ground, letting loose an uncharacteristic pained yelp. "Ah! Claria!" Staggering over to her, Alyson crouched. Were the cuts that split her scales deeper than they looked? Had she taken any other, less obvious damage? And the struggle she'd faced had clearly exhausted her, all of her lights extinguished. "I could ask you the same!"


"Ngh..." Claria attempted to prop herself up, but her muscles might as well have turned to chu jelly. Well this wouldn't do at all, letting her weaknesses show in front of her comrades, at an emotionally fraught time no less. "It's nothing. W-We had some Lizalfos trouble, but... They were little more than mere annoyances."

The shudders coursing through her arms and legs said otherwise as she drew on her remaining strength to slowly ease herself towards a sitting position... and froze. Lightning streaked from a mass of roiling clouds in the distance. Her thoughts reeled. This could be no natural storm, breaking out in the middle of an otherwise clear sky like this. What - who - was causing it? An ally? An enemy? It dawned on her, making her stomach knot, that the blackened remnants of the nearby forest probably weren't just a result of stray flaming arrows.

"What the actual fuck..." The words came out shaking and hushed, as if reluctant to leave her suddenly dry throat. Her fingers dug ever tighter into the sand as bolt after bolt flashed ahead. It took all she had not to scramble back, away from the freak weather. No matter its cause, she'd have to get a damn grip, push through her mental issues like she'd pushed through her physical ones. Even if only barely.

[El]

Was she-... struggling to breathe?

Concern brimmed in Raemi's stare, her brow puckering with a shiver of her fins. Seeing anyone collapse so abruptly like that would've been a shock, but this wasn't just anyone: Claria was a warrior - a soldier - whose every scale down to the talon-tips exuded noble resolution and confidence. Courage and experience. To see such a strong woman brought down to her knees... honestly, it unnerved her.

If even Claria had fallen, what use was a dancer? Worse yet, a beached dancer with no ink left to spin.

Fingers tangling in on themselves in nervous knots, a myriad of tentacles twisted too around her limbs, squeezing away the goosebumps which riddled pearlescent flesh. The folded rainbows of her membranes did little in the way of offering any true warmth however. Alyson had rushed to Claria's aid before she could even really react - too stunned to move at first - and now Raemi just stood there speechless. Useless. Like always.

Even with the suspected knowledge that this was either a panic-attack or from damage to her gills, the dancer had nothing to offer in aid. She'd seen guard patrols return from tempestuous straits, harrowed and crippled, much like the woman before her now, but... even then she'd been but a bystander.

A breath shivered from Raemi and she looked away, feeling her knuckles whiten.

She was already trembling by the time the freak storms were addressed, their violent jolts of thunderous fury shaking the very sand below her feet. Weird, how she hadn't noticed before. Even the air was thick with the stench of its destruction. Wasn't it so funny how much you missed when you were stuck inside your own head?

"It's definitely magic."  Raemi clarified, wincing against the strain of her own self-chastising smile. It was lopsided and almost... wistful. The same eyes which gazed upon the flashing clouds up above, reflected also an age of memories. Perhaps contrary to some expectations, they held no fear. "And perhaps I'm just imagining it but-..." 

She hesitated, doubting her suspicions, but when her eyes caught the unrelenting stare Gao was giving her... how could she not cave? With a hard swallow she continued, "They seem... rusty." 

The last thing she expected was Gao to LAUGH.

Flaring with hot colour, Raemi flailed over her next words, desperately attempting to save face while the bloodied bear failed to choke back his guffaw. "Not that I'm-! I'm not-! That is-... You see, I-! ...I'm sure they're a very capable mage! Clearly there's no doubt about that! The strikes look very intentional - aimed - but it's just-..."  The Zora groaned and eventually just squashed her burning face into her hands.

"Something tells me they would hate to hear that."  Gao cackled, grin as wide and fierce as his evident humour. But the dancer merely let slip a smothered whine, and still refused to meet anyone's eyes. He softened at that, a squeeze of guilt prompting him to clear his throat and return to the issue at hand.

It was time for more action.

"Sorry, Claria."  -was Gao's only warning.

Striding forwards and gently brushing past Alyson, Gao abandoned his lynel mask and leaned down to pick up their fallen warrior. Hefted her right up into his arms! Firm, but steady, and unrelenting: regardless of how much of a fight she strived to demonstrate, his grip would merely tighten. "Feel free to punch the shit out of me later."  He offered - his sincerity obvious. Gao knew well how proud a soldier Claria was. No doubt this would not go down well, but they couldn't afford to just sit around in the wide open.

With that, he walked off, leaving his company to flounder after him in confusion. "W-Where are we going?"

"Somewhere with a roof."

A... roof?

Raemi felt thoroughly misled by the so-called hint when the group found themselves wading into the water of the ocean itself. Thankfully, given how tightly Gao hugged the cliffs, the lapping currents weren't that high but this was still-... The dancer glanced back at Alyson, ensuring she was doing OK and otherwise eager to offer her any assistance if wanted.

"Do you see that mussel just above the waterline? The palest one with a green lustre."

"Th-this one?"  Raemi fumbled, rushing over to the area his nudged chin directed. Hesitantly her fingers traced over the nest of shells, lingering when she felt she'd identified the correct one.

Gao nodded, with a quiet but distant smile. He was recalling something. Something from long, long ago. "Push it."

And so she did.

Only to yelp in surprise! For with a rumble masked by the blasts of lightning overhead, the very cliff itself began to stir, shaking loose crumbles of old stone and throwing free tongues of seaweed and peeling lichen. With a deep, ailing groan, an opening appeared: just wide enough for two people to slip in at once. A lap of ocean followed the group inside, though it retreated with a gentle hush soon after.

The cave was small, but cosy. Though evidently having been sealed for a long time - the air damp and heavy - the stalactites above dripped, and ample aquatic flora decorated each crevice. It wasn't completely airtight. A rotten net had been abandoned in one spot, a child's sandal tangled up beside it - the buckle broken. Two crumbling toy swords slept below a dappled blanket of moss. And in one far corner was a heap of mundane but objectively pretty items: polished rocks, colourful shells, rusted baubles of sea-sunken cutlery and trinkets with chains and eroded beads. Atop it sat a pirate hat, woven out of discoloured rattan and painted with the telltale blue-black of faded octorok-ink.

Wading in, out of the water proper, Gao grimaced an apologetic frown at Claria and tried to set her down on the cold, slick stone of the clearing as gently as he could - without being TOO gentle and seeming delicate for it. "We should catch our breath for a minute. Properly."  He finally elaborated.

Clicking his jaw and huffing out a breath of expelled tension, his bloodied hands found rest on his hips as he peered back out of the still open entryway. The 'storm' was still raging. The Sheikah's frown deepened in response to every following blast. "Despite what y'all might think, I don't know the mage in question. I suspect he's the strange lad who hitched a ride on my ship."

"But... he's helping us, right?"  Raemi squeaked, trying her best not to get distracted by all the curious baubles he was blatantly ignoring too.

"...I sure hope so."  A power like that, turned against them? It was an unsettling thought. But all the more reason why it needed to be confronted.

Turning then to look Alyson dead in the eye, he proclaimed as much, "I'm going to go see if I can speak to him. But it's dangerous if we all go. Even if he seems to be aiding us now there's no truly knowing what his motivations may be - not without knowing him. And it's all the more dangerous if we continue to work independently."

Gao decided to leave out the tidbit about nearly being turned to crispy cinders by one of the mage's earlier blasts, on the beach he'd landed on. His company was shaken enough as it was.

[Rex Draco]

It seemed there was a calm, a lull in the rampaging beasts. He sat atop the cliffs, his heavy hood pulled over his head. Sitting beside him was his confused Bokoblin 'friend'. The floppy eared goblin looked towards the Zora and babbled. Nex had settled with his legs hanging off the ledge. He had taken his rod from his back and worked on baiting the hook. He raised a scaled brow and looked towards the monster.

"Of course I can fish from up here. Where there is prey, a hook will do, you know? It's the basic rule of fishing." He explained.

The Bokoblin babbled, pointing out the other obvious rule was for there to be water.

Nex eyed him. "Do you want to be the bait again?" The Bokoblin shook his head. "Very good, now watch and learn." With the need for his storms put aside, the clouds would begin to part as the swirling rage of nature subsided. The crackle of static still clung to the clouds, but they were far from as excited with fewer forms to hold onto.

He cast the line. Instead of a fat, tasty worm at the end of the hook there appeared, instead, to be a bright rupee brimming with magic. It was so dense that the rupee had a silver glow to it, shimmering with a lustre expected of the rare piece of currency. The Bokoblin sighed and decided to grab a nearby stick. Using a bit of string from his belt he made a makeshift fishing pole and cast his line after baiting it with a fetish of his own.   

[LuckyBlackCat]

Those storm clouds, concentrated in specific spots... Alyson was certain she'd seen something like this before. Where and when, however, she couldn't place, her frantic thoughts having yet to settle.

No matter the lightning's origin, it wasn't helping Claria's state any, utter terror visibly gripping her in its clutches just as it had back at the Dragon's Roost Pub that night. Those same shivers also overtook Raemi, who stood hunched in on herself, a tangle of tightly folded membranes. Glancing from one to the other, Alyson wondered if fear of lightning was a common thing for Zora, but when Raemi tilted her head towards the sky, her face bore a look of mere curiosity, not apprehension.

"They seem... rusty."

As Gao chuckled in response, sending Raemi into a flustered panic, Alyson's mouth twisted into a lopsided mix of a smile and a grimace. For the dancer's sake, she held back the laugh that bubbled up in her throat, just as much a stress reaction as one of humour. "If they're rusty, I can only imagine what they're like at full strength." Concern shadowed her face as she looked back towards the charred woodland, the vivid flashes overhead, the plumes of smoke billowing up towards them. "As it is, they'll take out the entire jungle if they're not careful." Two possibilities occurred to her, souring the recent victory. Either the mage had completely lost control of the spell, or they didn't care who got caught up in the destruction it wreaked.


Raemi's stricken gaze on Claria disturbed her to her core, just as much so as the storm ahead. With this new potential threat facing the team, now was not the time to bring morale crashing even further down. Or worse, become a liability.

And it seemed Gao already viewed her as such.

"Sorry, Claria."

Before she could will her locked limbs into motion, Gao advanced and - the gall of it! - hefted her up into his arms. "Hey! I'm... ngh... fine, I'm telling you!" She wriggled and thrashed in his grip like a caught mackerel, to no avail. "Constellations a-fucking-bove, let me go right now!" Throughout the entire journey into the ocean, towards the cliff faces, she continued to curse and flail, no matter how her unsuccessful escape attempts aggravated those dual spikes of pain. The phantom stinging that coursed through her neck and chest with each distant lightning bolt didn't help matters.

The weaknesses of her body and mind were all too obvious, to herself and to those around her.

Her face burned with shame as Gao gently set her down in a secret cave he'd uncovered at the push of some kind of button, like she was breakable cargo. She forced herself to meet his eyes, giving him a glare sharp enough to rival a Lightscale Trident. "I... I'd have been perfectly capable of getting here on foot, thank you very much," she gasped, standing in an attempt to prove her point. Her legs wobbled, and she had to lean against a rocky wall for support. Ugh. Way to inadvertently justify his behaviour.

She sat back down, keeping her spine straight and her shoulders squared, resisting the urge to curl inwards. Steadying her breathing was nigh-impossible with the storm raging outside, jolts of panic squeezing the air from her lungs before it could renew her strength. The frantic drumbeat of her pulse throbbed in wounds old and new. She adjusted her scale mail, making sure nothing showed behind the collar's large fans.

"But anyway, I must say that strategy the two of you came up with deserves praise. Seizing a ship... rash, yet impressive." She flicked her gaze from Gao to Raemi. "And an illusion on that level is no small feat." Not that she'd done much to contribute to Raemi's display, Claria acknowledged with an inward shudder. Nowhere near as much as she'd promised.

She'd come close to failing her comrades, and she couldn't let it happen again.

The thunderstorm, thankfully, subsided, the sky outside turning blue once more. Claria found herself able to draw in deeper breaths, as if a rigid band around her ribcage had loosened. It was, of course, not yet time to relax, a mage with unknown motives still out there. She grabbed the Stamella skewer from the pouch and, even though her belly clenched with nausea, took a bite. The sooner her combat capabilities recovered, the better.


Despite the situation, Alyson couldn't help but stare in awe at the cave that rumbled into visibility. Was this a remnant of the ancient structures on the island? Was the pale green mussel not a mussel at all, but a Zonaite device? In a less dire scenario, she'd have had plenty of questions to ask about its workings.

Before venturing inside after Gao, she took one more look over her shoulder at what had once been the Loftwing, abandoned on the shore. A lump swelled in her throat. Chiding herself, she tore her gaze away. Comrades were injured and demoralised, monsters still most likely infested the island, a freak storm decimated whatever the invaders hadn't... and here she was, mourning an aircraft she could easily rebuild? Besides, with their spirits faltering, she needed more than ever to keep her chin up for the others.

"A play area turned bunker, huh? Neat!" She took in the simple, whimsical beauty of the hideout, toys and trinkets scattered among clusters of flourishing algae. For all her fascination, her heart grew heavier as she thought on how troubling this must be for Gao, seeing an island that held fond childhood memories overrun like this, on top of the prospect of Lurelin falling again.

She looked up, eyes growing round more with trepidation than surprise, when Gao announced the caster was not a teammate but a stowaway. She'd begun to suspect as much, and it explained a lot, but the possibility that the mage may be outright hostile rather than careless made her palms sweat. She tried to focus on the best-case scenario, although the worst-case one still lurked in the back of her mind. "If he's on our side, imagine the edge that'll give us! As long as he starts taking a tad more care, that is."

And as long as he reined in his power enough not to distress Claria too much. Her attention briefly returned to the Zoran warrior, the dots connecting as she noted the forked, jagged shape of the scar on her face. Oh. She repressed a wince. How had she not figured it out before? Was everyone here dealing with trauma of some kind?

She watched as the mass of grey clouds cleared away, the lightning strikes ceasing - for the time being. It was only then that she remembered where she'd witnessed such an effect. Those summoned storms bearing down against hordes of enemies in an old laboratory, during a sky expedition, were difficult to forget. And if she recalled correctly, a tall figure swathed in heavy robes back there, much like the ones the passenger aboard the ship wore, may or may not have been the caster... But he'd been a Zora. The thought of a Zora wielding such immense thunderbolts seemed counterintuitive. She knew of their elemental weakness from Kapson's tale of Vah Ruta's defeat, the entire reason why the Hero of Hyrule had been the one to use electric arrows.

If this was the same person from the lab, then his skill with magic had to be off the charts.

"I'll go with you!" Alyson piped up as soon as Gao declared his intent to speak with him. "You see... I can't say for certain, but I may have met him before." There was, of course, every chance this man could be a complete stranger. Despite Alyson's own affinity for magic, she still knew little about the various forms it could take, especially for the strongest and most experienced of mages. But still, if he wasn't, and if she could get through to him... "If it's just the two of us, it should be fine."

If only such were guaranteed. Her fists, almost as bloody as Gao's, tensed by her sides. Should the wizard turn out an enemy, and view two roughed-up folks as easy pickings, the consequences didn't bear thinking about.

"By any chance, is he a Zora? With blue scales and a frilled headfin?"