Delving Deeper [COMPLETED: Gao, Ekik, Sin, Claria]

[Emily]

"You FUCKING FOOL!!!" If Ekik was taken aback or reacted in any way negatively to this initial outburst, he didn't show it. Instead, that same hint of humour remained, even as the scholar softened and placed a hand on his shoulder. "...I could kiss you for it."

"I cannot imagine the logistics of such a manoeuvre."

He watched as Gao ran off, deftly keeping his eyes off Claria as she rejuvenated herself with the water from his canteen. While most Zora were plain in their dealings and, to his experience, open with their need of water, he had the emotional intelligence and insight required to have read the look of shame and determination in her face. It would not do to ruin the limited sense of camaraderie, so limited by their lack of interaction the day prior.

Instead, his eyes moved from Gao to the ruddy, sand-coloured Zora who had charged forward and broken the cloaking spell. He cut through the Yiga like he was carving through a tree, every blow a wild burst of energy, vicious and raw. That glint of humour couldn't escape him. In another life, the Zora would have been perfectly at home among the Yiga as one of their Blademasters, those highly trained berserkers from the Gerudo highlands. But here they were as enemies instead. From a purely strategic point of observation, Ekik couldn't see the benefit in choosing to absorb all incoming blows. The Zora oozed blood over the rock, and was clearly intimidating his opponents, but Ekik wondered if seeing the blood was motivating the Yiga to continue trying.

It was at this point that his canteen was returned. The luminescent Zora- a fascinating specimen; he wondered if there was some manner of symbiotic fungal relationship or if the glow was entirely biological. This was almost certainly not the time to ask such a question- seemed equally happy to see him. An unexpected development after such a limited overlap in time with the group. "You owe us an explanation... And we owe you our gratitude."

He looked once more at the Yiga and their base. "There was an explosion, one of the raiding planes. I was delayed. I was not able to locate you afterward, and hypothesised you would come this direction."

As she moved to intercept some Yiga of her own, Ekik turned to the incoming archers on the other side. They were approaching in hopes of flanking the battle group, but he stepped in the way. Producing several shiny metal balls from one of the pouches along his belt, Ekik tossed them to spread among the foes. They stopped, the lead looking down as one bumped against his foot. And then a yellow marble cracked in the centre of the network. Electric arcs bounced periodically between the balls. The Yiga, some howling with pain, hopped back. Just beyond the electric barrier, a smoke wall took shape, being produced from the chalkdust he threw among the marbles.

The pillar cracked and shuddered. Yiga fell all around them, buildings began to crumble. They were nearing the end. Ekik sighed as he watched electrified marbles sliding through the smoke wall and off the side of the pillar. That was an expensive setup for a wide area of control spell. Chalk dust and ash and feathers cost so little, even at a high-end magic component shop, but solid metal was in higher demand. Still, the Yiga didn't seem to trust their good fortune and didn't charge through the smoke wall.

"There's got to be something you can do!" Ekik's black eyes met hers, then swivelled to see flames beginning to consume the building Gao had run into. He looked back to Claria, one more time, then opened a special pouch on his belt, from which he pulled a small paring knife. With a single, quick slash, he cut his own arm just below the shoulder. Blood splattered outward, flinging in an arc around him before freezing in midair. No. Its fall merely slowed. Everything slowed. Ekik placed the knife back into his pouch before drawing and tossing a dark blue marble toward the building, and a green one at the ground near his feet.

Time sped back up, the spell only turning the span of a second into perhaps five. But it seemed to be enough. The blue marble shattered against the ground near Gao's feet, a small geyser of water soaking the interior of the shack, the Sheikah, and his rescue targets, but also dousing the quickly-growing flames. The green marble shattered against the ground, producing a great wave of wind outward, with Ekik at the epicentre. Yiga were flung from the crumbling pillar. Claria and Sin would likely be able to resist if they chose, but otherwise would similarly fly.

From midair, the sorcerer pulled three more feathers from his component pouch. Working as quickly as he could, breath now coming more harsh and ragged, he lined up three feathers with very specific forms (if he could even see Gao, anyway), mumbled, and let go, locking in the slow fall spell. The Yiga who still lived, for their part, would no doubt dissipate and teleport away before gravity took its course. But he could keep these three alive at least.

If they let him.

[Rex Draco]

Sin took hit after hit from the Yiga's blades. The weapons were sharp so they easily cut through his thick hide, but in the same note the blades made superficial wounds that were more meant to disorient than immediately kill. It seemed the Yiga acted upon attrition and whittled one down before going in for the kill. Sin was different. He sheathed his blade and stomped forward, drawing his blade with a deep growl rumbling from his chest. When the blade left its sheath the Zora let out an audible shout.

"Iai!" His foot stomped down in the same moment the blade sang from its sheath. The blade ripped across the air with a loud whistle and cut through his opponents with such force that any strike that did not immediately amputate a limb left a deep, wounding gash that was narrow and deep.

Ekik's rush of water tossed the loose and limp bodies of his defeated enemies all over. Sin had braced himself. When the water cleared he looked up, nictating membranes slicking the liquid from his eyes, clearing his vision.

Finally the Zora was down to one Yiga. This fellow was much larger than his speedy compatriots and had met Sin's blow with his own: their blades clashing in a dance of sparks and wail of metal grinding onto metal. The Zora was wounded: his forearms covered in blood and his chest and shoulders riddled with thin hatchmarks of blade cuts. Sin glanced at the wound on his wrist. The massive Yiga saw his opportunity and charged. Sin pulled his lips back in a grin and sheathed his blade as the huge ninja charged forward. He drew his blade, but this time allowing his tendrils to dance across the flat of his borrowed Yiga blade. In doing so the venom transferred to the metal. The weapon fully drew from its scabbard and swiped across the figure's chest as he passed, their own blade landing a blow across the Zora's shoulder. A streak of blood erupted from Sin's arm, but the brutish Yiga ended up collapsing to the floor when a shock of paralyzing venom entered his bloodstream, sending him to the ground.

Sin stilled and looked around. His enemies were defeated. He turned his head, opening his mouth to call out to the others: but he ended up throwing up some blood. He swallowed and tried again. "I'm going to free the light eaters!"

Sin, with no Yiga barring his path, rushed towards the cages where the baby Frox were being held. With the grace of a three-legged cow he grabbed the cages' bars and shook them until he would pry the metal apart, wide enough for the Froxlings to escape.

[El]

So this was his end. A manic grin tore open Gao's face. Not a bad way to go.

He'd imagined his death far more often than any sane man should've. He'd tasted it too. Countless times. The pain. The rage. The sorrow of regret. How every sense coalesced into a smothering plunge of deepest, coldest black: its weight so great that any struggle felt aimless - futile.

And yet here he was, still standing. Because I'm not done yet.

The fires of fate's fury unleashed themselves across the rafters, consuming above as they did below. Within mere seconds the tangling flames had woven and tightened an impenetrable net of blistering heat: Gao deep within its clutches. Perhaps a beat too late the Sheikah caught his breath, sealing out the choking smoke which had already clung to his dampened mask. A brief, morbid fascination had bewitched him, but now he flung his fear upon the fire as fuel and allowed the heat to set him ablaze from the inside also. Terror wasn't the end. It just meant he was doing the right thing - that he was still alive.

Taunting laughter rumbling in the pits of his tightened chest, Gao pounced out of the way of a crackling beam and wove through splintering planks, leaping over pooling pits of hellfire while the Yiga corpse behind him began to incinerate. Immediately his gruff hands seized one set of bars of many, with ease pulling them asunder with deafening snaps of sharp wood. Some were metal, but he hastily beat broken their padlocks with the hilt of a dagger. The iron was burning - turning molten - but the wooden ones had been his priority, as easily consumed by the fires as they were: eager kindling for its hunger. It was a small but valuable blessing, that the Depths were so still: barren of tempestuous winds and thick with fungal moisture.

Nonetheless it quickly became hard to see, the stinging tears blotting his eyes while the billowing smoke bloomed into a thick, dark smog illuminated by blinding flickers of flame. But no matter: he could hear them. The Frox. Their screams. Their desperate, wailing attempts to break free. Several cages perched higher above tumbled and shattered upon the floor. Others shuddered out of order below, displacing the already fragile balance of all its reliants. Gao was already several cages deep - Frox on his arms, gnawing at his legs, clawing at his back, an errant few scrambling past his feet - when an abrupt wash of cold plunged him into relief.

Water.

....Water?

He'd forgotten he wasn't alone.

The feral grin grew another inch, a swell of his heart bursting something sweet through his veins. Relief? Potentially. But whatever glad emotion it was, Gao flung that upon the fires as fuel too, a just as abrupt rush of panic possessing him to move with even swifter fervour. He felt like there was little time left - like time had sped up. Instinct was prickling at the back of his neck. The slaughter outside was reaching its final crescendo. The very rock below his feet quaked with crumbling solidarity.

Yet just as he thought there really was no way he could free them all in time, in burst a sodden Sin, bloodsoaked and looking every part a walking corpse but without any of its surrender: on the contrary, he was victorious. Sentient and determined - much life in him yet. As Gao's eyes flashed towards him to recognise with audible relief his shared intention, the rest of their then united task became conquerable.

Until the gales erupted.

While the shack had not been at its epicentre, its sorry state was no contender against its will: a withered and still wilting skeleton of what it once was. Feeble. What was left of its ailing structure ruptured and split askew, leaving little cover for its latest inhabitants. Gao seized the last of the Frox he could and squeezed them against his chest, arms bulging with overflowing, precious cargo. With slick sandals and no hands to spare he too was no capable adversary against the winds' flow.

Ripped off his feet, the countless Frox which had swarmed his form bit in deeper and harder for support. The man himself encouraged it, hugging them tighter as he grit his teeth. The agony was all-consuming - blinding - but come what may he'd protect at least SOME of them. He had to.

And yet, contrary to his imagination his bones were not smashed against the abyssal crags. Nor was he swallowed by pits of bubbling Gloom. Instead a spell had swept him - them - up into its saving embrace, capturing his heart before it could escape his throat, and soothing the harsh currents of a once lethal gravity.

Gao's back and its shell of bumbling Frox bumped against the floor.

Sweet, sweet, solid floor.

He was bleeding and aching and bruising and gaping for breath, but he spread his limbs wide and knocked back his head to let slip a wheezing laugh. Directly beside them the tower of the Yiga's arrogance finally crashed. It took out a twin in its descent, shattering stone and groaning something gut-curdling as reverberations shook Gao's very marrow. A song of rapid, simultaneous blasts accompanied it - exploding weaponry, teleporting Yiga, splintering vehicles. Colours of ash and smoke and smog and debris mixed with glowing spores and hot embers choked the air with a myriad of foul stenches. Through that same thick haze, a few more times the mother Frox roared: calling to her side the children who still lived. They scampered off Gao's flopped form, abandoning their bloodied saviour and the tattered remnants of a 'shield' still clutched tight in his hand, to scuttle back into the dark - back to their home. Her job was done. So too was his - as well as he could've.

As he heard - but could not watch - her rumbling, gradual departure (a soothing sound for his bleeding-heart), Gao wondered if it'd be a terribly awful idea to have just a little nap. Right here. Right now.

How wonderfully cold and quiet it was.

An errant tear raced through the blood, sweat and dirt. The scurrying footsteps of many tiny webbed feet faded.

Relief.

[LuckyBlackCat]

Shudders of panic rippled through Claria's whole body at brief flashes in the corner of her vision, crackles only just audible over the sounds of battle. Although her focus remained on her adversaries, the electric spell had thrown it off. The trembling pillar didn't help matters, nor did the thigh wound that proved deeper than she'd thought. Another soldier got a hit in, a blade notching the edge of a hip fin spread out for balance. More blood oozed down her right leg.

Taking advantage of the opening the ninja left, she swiftly ran them through. Twisting her waist and head-tail to compensate for the loss of agility, her motions as fluid as the waters of her homeland, she sliced and skewered her enemies with as much precision as she could muster through the adrenaline. Sin, meanwhile, hacked apart limbs, necks and torsos with zero finesse, his scales slick with his own blood as well as that of the Yiga, but however risky his approach, however often she had to defend the glaring gaps in his stance, Claria couldn't deny its effectiveness in paring down their numbers.

A sudden swell of water slicked away the gore, revitalising both her and Sin as it splashed against their scales. The flames died down, acrid smoke filling the air where heat had once roiled from the shack. Silently praying for Gao's safety, Claria breathed a sharp sigh of relief.

Once Sin's venom-laced sword finished off the last hulking blademaster, beating him at his own game, Claria stared in shock at the crimson spew gushing from the other Zora's mouth before he announced his plan to help Gao with the baby Frox. "You might want to take more care than you did just now," she reprimanded, sheathing her sword and dispelling her hardlight blades as she limped after him. She dulled her lights to flickers, glad they'd run halfway down naturally from the fight. Her hand went to a belt pouch containing Brightbloom seeds, should she need to distract the Froxlings.

She'd just made it to the doorway when a gale whipped up. Her taloned toes curled over the crags as she attempted to brace against its buffeting force, but her wounded leg buckled. The pillar's surface, the splintering wreckage of the hideout, fell away as the gust swept her into the air. She only just spotted a second, Frox-covered form similarly flung from the cliff - Gao - before the ground rushed towards her.

She closed her eyes. Resignation washed away the initial sick jolt, leaving an odd sense of serenity. What had she expected, other than to meet her end here some day?

Yet instead of a final impact came a feeling of weightlessness, as if gentle waters buoyed her. Had death claimed her before she'd registered it? Had the others met the same fate, or somehow made it through the chaos?

If she opened her eyes, would the Goddess greet them? Or would the blood on their hands condemn them to wander here until reduced to naught but Poes?

Neither, as it turned out, would be the case. Her feet met solid ground, her leg searing anew as it gave out and toppled her onto her torn fin, the sensations proving she still in fact lived. A frantic look around revealed other moving forms - Frox shuddering and clambering all over Gao, who lay supine, spreading out his arms and legs with a breathless laugh.

An almighty rumble drowned out the sound. Claria scrambled aside as the tower gave way, taking a second one with it in a cacophony of crunches, explosions, roaring flames. Heat flared once again, a flurry of embers and a plume of smoke billowing from the debris. Through the nictitating membranes that spread over her stinging eyes, she watched Froxlings hop and disappear after a much larger, retreating shape in the fumes - the mother, her fury finally soothed.

The sight should have brought more relief than it did. Sin, Ekik, where were they? Had they similarly reached safety, or... No, she couldn't think about that. Not with Gao barely clinging to consciousness, ragged gouges scoring his skin, a thick dark pool forming around him.

"Gao..." The haze roughened her voice. She crawled towards him, pulling her pack from her shoulders and rummaging for medical supplies. She was no healer, but basic first aid was a necessity for any Depths delver to know. Ignoring her own wounds, she set about cleaning and dressing the bite marks all over Gao's arms and torso, securing the kelp-fibre bandages just enough to staunch the bleeding, while making sure to allow for circulation. "Gao, can you hear me? You did it, you took a reckless risk, but you saved them. You saved the Frox."

And none of the Yiga remained to get back at them for it... as far as she knew.

[Rex Draco]

He needn't worry much about the female Zora's warning. There weren't any active enemies left that he could see. Well that was because things started to get swallowed up in a stormy upheaval.

The wind had done nothing to buffet the desert stone. Sin was used to the high winds, as the sandstorms in the desert, though rare, were exceptionally powerful and did well to tear a man off his feet. Having clawed webbed feet helped his traction, as did the minor clutter the Yiga had piled onto their pillar. The water was a whole other matter. He was not used to the sudden swells from the salty abyss, the roaring white rapids ripping across his scales, so come the deluge: the dinky dogfish was swept off his feet and dragged along.

He was doing so well too.

Darkness.

He was never good at night. When the sun set in the desert an icy chill washed over the land that made his scales shrivel. When traveling him and his kin often kept covered in their deep, red cloaks and did not stray far from the stony outcroppings of their territory. Sometimes they needed to hunt and night was the best time for it. It was when the sun was its kindest, but it was when the moon was its cruelest. Though they were not at risk of freezing to death, it was still an arduous task. They brought torches, cages, and weapons in order to secure prey. Where most Zora subsisted on river fish, his cult would feast upon Sand Seals and Sand Piranhas.

Without the torches not only would they be consumed by the cold, their sight would be cast in a darkness that stretched as far as the sands. Though the moon lit up many paths across the desert, the stars dappling the sky with glimmering havens: the mountains cast shadows wherever they lorded over. Crossing the darkness was dangerous because it was said by the elders, that a deep evil waded through the inky rivers that ran through the valleys in the dead of night...

When Sin opened his eyes he wheezed deeply, lungs filling where his gills tried to take over, leaving him bereft of air when the water cleared. He flailed for several seconds before standing. At his feet were a number of bent and broken cages, the brute's body having become a battering ram when he was washed through. He pulled his fists up  while he tried to steady himself mentally. His cloak was on his body, his swords were on his hips and his scales were on his muscles. Why did his head and shoulders feel heavy?

It was maybe that baby Frox sitting on his skull, latched to it like a lamprey.

"Hn, is anyone dead?" He hoped so, he could loot their corpses.

[El]

Focus was a slippery fiend. Through the haze of exhaustion and the smothering allure of 'rest', a voice echoed through the darkness. The notes were discordant. Out of tune. Noise which reverberated against the chambers of his pounding skull. Gao grimaced against the invasion, a sharp rasp of an inhale hissing through gritted teeth when a deeper - tighter - pain suddenly constricted around his limbs. Not just one. Many. Everywhere.

Panic.

Had he been captured? Was he being bound?! But then a pungent smell - medicinal, aquatic? - rushed up his flared nostrils and with it came clarity: and hesitation. A flash of recognition extinguished a flicker of fury before it could flare and lash out. He wasn't being restrained, he was being saved.

"You did it-"

A rattling laugh drooled more blood down his jaw. "WE... did it..." Rumbled a correction, squeezed out through the tightening of his bulging throat. He peeped open one eye, squinting at the illuminated figure of his saviour and companion: dull as her lights had become, they still shone, and shone with warmth. She too looked worse for wear, though evidently not in as much of a sorry state.

Thank goodness.

"You Domain folk are really-...made of tough stuff... eh." The Sheikah quirked a wonky smile and tried not to choke on a laugh. But the rock at his back was becoming stiff, painful, and the weight upon his chest thirsted for a shift in air. Upwards he wrenched himself, groaning upright with a swaying wooze that settled into another wave of refreshed relief. ...Well, almost.

"Fuck it stinks down here." Gao grumbled below his breath, imagining the fresh and salty breeze of Lurelin's beaches. How dreadfully far they were now.

But...

"Thanks." His sweat-laden brow puckered, grimacing at the ick of sincere sentimentality that played with his features. Though a haze still clouded his vision, his crimson eyes still warmed with evident appreciation. "Thank you, Claria." He corrected, more formally. "...Make sure you save some of-... these, for yourself, yeah?" Gao urged, casting a cursory glance down at the kelp-fibre bandages that decorated much of his figure. Something about the sight tickled him: he recalled a childhood memory, one of swimming too deep into the seaweed of Necluda Sea.

"Hn, is anyone dead?"

That made Gao laugh.

"Not quite," He playfully retorted, squinting at the bloody form Sin himself had become. Despite how approachable the cute little ball of a Frox atop his head would have his onlookers believe the warrior was, the predatory thirst in the Zora's eyes was blatant. "...Sorry to disappoint."

The smirk faltered then however, a troubling dilemma becoming evident later than it usually would've. The mother Frox had already left. ...So what now of this babe? Gao chewed upon his tongue in silent brooding, only to be suddenly thwacked around the head by a whole other matter.

"Ekik?!" The Sheikah whipped his attention back to Claria, frown deepening. "Have you seen Ekik?!"

[Emily]

"Have you seen Ekik?!"

"Your concern is- ah- appreciated," Ekik came stumbling around one of the boulders left in the wake of the Yiga base's collapse. He was having difficulty traversing over the various pebbles and gravel mixing with water, creating the greatest tripping hazard of the day. He held the arm that had been cut earlier, and was bleeding from multiple wounds on his torso and legs. "I believe, ngh, I believe I am alive."

Reaching the spot where Claria and Gao were piled, he too slid down into a sitting position, propping himself against one of the larger rocks so he could sit. His right arm continued hanging limply at the side, and he gestured exclusively with the left.

He released the feathers, rewarded instantly with the sight of Gao, covered in Frox and lightbulbs, and Claria, glowing faintly in the darkness, slow in their fall. He wasn't able to see the other Zora, but also wasn't entirely certain he wanted to go out of his way to save that one. It seemed that every one of their plans, laid carefully if under a bit of a time crunch, had been blown up by the berserker. He had rushed in against the Yiga the first time, leading to unnecessary deaths and the separation of the group, and the sight of him accepting wounds in order to attack more effectively was going to stick with the Rito for some time.

Ekik attempted to glide, but the time dilation spell had taken too much out of him. He faltered in midair, tumbling toward the ground. As it approached, he reflected. This wasn't quite how he had expected this whole escapade to go when he had originally set out. Opening his marble pouch, he fumbled for a green, knowing his own magic stores were fully expended, and watched with detached disappointment as the rest of the pouch emptied as well, mixing with the falling stones and creating small bursts of air, lightning, water, and even fire within the mix. He was being buffeted on all sides, shattered rock slicing him left and right across his entire body, the fire giving him minor burns, and a few of the air bursts knocking him off the trajectory he'd already calculated.

But at least he had retained one green marble, which he was able to hold between him and the ground he had almost reached, smashing it between his hands with the last of his strength and slowing his fall just enough through the resulting wind burst to survive with merely a few broken bones and a disconnected shoulder.

"I fear I have assisted to the extent I am able. It will take some time to restore my spellworks. But," he took a deep breath, eyes flashing, "this was a rousing success."

[LuckyBlackCat]

"WE... did it..."

Claria winced at the crimson spittle trickling down Gao's jaw, but his response brought relief, as rough as his voice had become. "Careful, don't move too fast," she advised as he pulled himself upright, before lapsing into silence for a few awkward moments, her muscles stiffening. Don't stifle him. Give him space. Even so, she held out an arm behind his back, should his consciousness waver. That was no small amount of blood he'd lost.

At his comment about the smell, she nodded, the acrid stench of smoke thick in her throat and chest. "That it does," she replied, grimacing. They'd best get back to camp, when - if - they regrouped.

"...Make sure you save some of-... these, for yourself, yeah?"

Glancing down at her own wounds, Claria bristled. "I'm fine. I've had worse." She tried putting her weight on her injured leg, only for it to flare in pain and buckle, blood continuing to spill down her scales. She swallowed down a grunt. The ebbing of adrenaline intensified the burning. With a resigned sigh, she disinfected and bandaged the cuts, forcing her expression into one of neutrality. Those would take some explaining to the healers at Zora's Domain, and the fin would need stitches, but the truth was, they were all lucky they'd made it out alive.

If they indeed all had made it out alive.

"Hn, is anyone dead?"

Favouring her good leg, Claria turned and tensed. She raised a clenched fist in preparation, should the tiny Frox atop Sin's head try anything with those wicked tusks. She held back a huff at the predatory glint in his eyes, as if this was the perfect opportunity to loot his comrades' corpses. Goddess knew she had far too much experience of working with ruthlessly opportunistic types like that. "Apart from those Yiga, I hope not," she replied, with a wary glance at the pile of rubble where the pillars had once been, "although you're lucky you're not, having left yourself open wider than a pillaged treasure chest. Do you even know you're wearing a Frox right now?"

Gao was living proof of how much damage even juvenile Frox could do. Not that he seemed particularly bothered, monster enthusiast that he was - except about Ekik.

Claria's ribs constricted. She stood and limped towards the debris, staring around for a glimpse of the mage companion they'd thought lost, then found, then lost again. Or not.

"Your concern is- ah- appreciated."

"Oh thank the gods." Some of the tension disspitated from Claria's shoulders as Ekik staggered out of the wreckage, slumping onto a rock. Despite the sheer level of power he'd displayed, to say he looked worse for wear would be an understatement, blood matting his feathers, his right arm limp and useless. "Speaking of gratitude... Thank you. For saving us." She hesitated before holding out the remaining bandages. He probably had medical supplies of his own, as someone who seemed prepared for any eventuality, but it was only fair to do something in return for him, or at least offer something. "Here. In case you need any."

She jerked her head in the direction they'd come. "Might be an idea to return to camp..." And pack up, she thought but didn't voice. That would be Gao's decision.

[Rex Draco]

Sin wasn't sure how far he fell or how high he bounced when his body made contact with the ground, but his body was nothing if not sturdy. Life in the desert acclimated one to its treacherous environs. As soon as he was standing he had given pause to check on his traveling party. Though he held no sense of camaraderie towards the others, he felt that their condition was of importance to his survival. After all they had the sources of light that would lead them back to the surface, but their death would have come with great reward as well. When he heard the Sheikah male cry out in cheer, likely having found himself to have all his limbs intact and no perforated organs.

He put his webbed hands on his hips. The Zora definitely felt sore from the fall, and he was probably going to bruise like an overripe Hydromelon, but he hadn't coughed up blood again and his wounds had, mostly, stopped bleeding. He raised a tendril beside his head, uncovering his earhole in order to hear Gao's grumbling better.

"Domain?" The ruddy Zora growled. He spread his webbed palm against his chest and stood with his back straight. "I am a denizen of the desert. My ancestors are of the highest Gerudo and Zora stock. We have surfed the sands for generations, mastering the sword." He wouldn't be compared to a Domain born Zora. He flicked his hand in a dismissive manner and shrugged. "It's alright," As if seriously regarding Gao's dismay at his being upright. "Next time." There were plenty of other chances to fall victim to their adventuring.   

His arms dropped to his side as he turned to the feathered magician. He would be more mindful of those he encountered outside the monastery. They seemed capable of wielding abilities on par with Naydra herself. Ekik, as they designated themselves, was capable of weaving the elements to work in his favor. He think carefully if he ever wanted to take the Rito on. He stepped forward, having been, himself, shrouded by darkness, but when he came into the view of the others it seemed he had a passenger with him that the Zora may not be fully aware of, at least by the way he crossed his arms over his chest and previously cursed the Frox for eating his only source of light upon his arrival.

He raised a tendril at Claria's words, but soon lowered them all back around his head. They occasionally twitched and moved, the ends a brighter color when compared to the rest of his scales.

"Shouldn't we check the Yiga for supplies? I am not the only one who has been down here for some time. While I can get by on little," As he previously admitted to being a desert dweller. "No one can go without for long." He was learning that lesson very quickly.

[El]

A snort, loud and entirely too forthright, barked unbidden from Gao's bloodied grin. He tried to check himself - he really did - but it was a lost cause. As the sand zora came lumbering out of the darkness all puffed-up bravado, Gao's gasp of restraint quickly descended into a half-choked snort. His nostrils flared and he wheezed. "You have sharp ears once we're not actually talking about you, eh."

Wiping away a beading smudge of-... something, from the corner of his eyes, he grinned up at the bristled sand Zora. "Yet it took you five years to finally answer our other questions. You ass." His teeth gleamed wide, affection deep in his dimples. "Put your wiggly-bits down, mate, the Domain compliment was intended for Claria."

Gao raised his own hand just to wave the matter off, chortling again below his breath despite his better judgement. Fortunately Sin moved on from the matter with next to no prompting, his thoughts already locked onto more practical pursuits. Looting.

"Feel free to dig around in the debris." The Sheikah encouraged, leaning back now on a bracing arm. It ached and throbbed below his weight, but his back appreciated the small taste of relief. "All of you really, though especially you, Claria: that was part of my posted commission after all, finders-keepers treasure as payment."

His goofy grin softened though, as he watched her turn her attentive measures onto Ekik. He'd been glad - relieved, even - to see her take his insistence to heart, (even if she had argued the contrary), but it seemed all good things came to an end. She wasn't resting at all. One quick patch-job and off she was again, caring about everyone but herself. Gao felt his brow furrow and his lips slant.

"As odd as it is to see you so completely dishevelled, you've done more than I could ever have asked - or expected - Ekik." A little wry, but completely sincere, the scholar threw the Rito a lingering look. "Brilliant work, mate. I'm guessing all that other drama was your handiwork too then? That's seriously impressive." If he could give the bird a little shoulder fist-bump, Gao would've, but he feared any attempts to rise up would quickly send him keeling over, and he wasn't sure how he felt about playing a fainting damsel. Instead he just guffawed again and winked. "Thank you."

Speaking of what-if's...

A sigh tumbled from his swollen lips, his attention now drifting back over the mountain of rubble as the last of the dust and fungi-spores settled. After a caustic-clear of his throat he boomed his voice up and out to the Desert Zora - assuming he had left to loot by this point. "If you happen across any legible documents, let me know, Sin!" Would he? ...Probably not. But it was worth a shot.

"As for returning to camp..." A weight settled deep in his chest, squeezing what it seized as he contemplated on Claria's advice. Voice now hushed he sighed once again, using a spare hand to massage out the wrinkles he was no doubt developing on his brow. Bitter but defeated, his shoulders sagged as he assented, "More than just that. We should probably leave. Or well, I should probably head back - to the surface I mean. Assuming the Yiga haven't poached my balloon back at my landing site, it'd be far wiser for me to recuperate somewhere I'm much more familiar with."

Gao left out the part about not really having a home to call his own. Nor really-... any trusted friends on which to lean as he recovered. ...Or the rupees to cover any medical bills. Would he even be able to afford enough food, considering he'd be incapable of hunting for a while...? And the debt he'd accrued to fund this disastrous expedition wouldn't stay at bay, unsated, for long. There were a lot of favours waiting to call him in. The unsavoury types weren't known for their patience.

The Sheikah's frown deepened with every extra brick of thought that hit the pits of his stomach, encumbering his mind with too many woes that pressed in from every which side. The pressure built. The throbbing returned in force. But in the end he just clicked his tongue. Grumbled something incoherent under his breath. ...And flopped backwards onto his rear, splayed out all over again - exactly as he'd been just minutes prior.

A strained wheeze of a whistle evaporated from his deflating chest, melodic but parched. But he smiled. Because what else was a fool to do, but smile. ...And quietly pray that the ominously spiked ceiling of stalactites he squinted at weren't in the habit of falling.

[Emily]

Ekik eyed the bandages as Claria held them out, head cocked to one side as he seemed to consider. Finally, he shook his head. "Thank you, but I will recover. My wounds look worse than they are. You were afflicted with blades, I was merely affected by my own oversights."

"As odd as it is to see you so completely dishevelled, you've done more than I could ever have asked - or expected - Ekik. Brilliant work, mate. I'm guessing all that other drama was your handiwork too then? That's seriously impressive."

Ekik chuckled, an almost-humourless rasping, coughing sound. He then closed his eyes with some strain, released a breath, and seemed to refocus. "My... mentor, I suppose you could call him- my old master- was a brilliant mage and leader, but perennially disorganised and unprepared. While I could never match his skill in sorcery, I found my calling in strategy and planning. I am reminded of why I was drawn to planning originally, as my improvisation came at great cost, but I am gratified that it was a success."

"Speaking of gratitude... Thank you. For saving us."

"Thank you."

That spark of humour flashed through his eyes again, though it seemed to deaden slightly as his vision once more encompassed the other Zora. "I provided my best attempt. The Yiga down here are..." he hesitated, seeming to weigh his options before continuing, "under new leadership, and I had hoped for some manner of peace between us, to allow each other to conduct our research in peace, if not collaborate."

He sighed. "I fear that may be a more difficult achievement now, but, ah-" the Rito flinched as he adjusted his sitting position, then relaxed again, "I will continue my work."

"Shouldn't we check the Yiga for supplies?" Ekik closed his eyes for a second, let out a heavy breath. "I am not the only one who has been down here for some time. While I can get by on little, no one can go without for long."

"If you happen across any legible documents, let me know, Sin!"

"A fitting name if ever there was one." Ekik muttered to himself. At a more fitting volume, he continued. "If you're searching for documents, they'll likely be found in the same structure containing the young Frox... though who can say where that ended up. Food and travel supplies would be more spread about, but if you find one, I would not be averse to a banana."

"Might be an idea to return to camp..."

"More than just that. We should probably leave. Or well, I should probably head back - to the surface I mean. Assuming the Yiga haven't poached my balloon back at my landing site, it'd be far wiser for me to recuperate somewhere I'm much more familiar with."

Ekik nodded slowly, seemed to consider for a moment, and then shakily stood. "Allow me to assist you in returning. If the balloon has been poached, we can build another easily enough; there are supply caches everywhere in this environment. There should be one nearby, allowing us to put together some basic vehicle allowing us to return."

[LuckyBlackCat]

Claria's features drew into a slight frown as Ekik turned down the medical supplies, but she lowered her arm anyway, reminding herself once more that he most likely had elixirs and other alchemical remedies. She turned to Sin in case he'd need them, but even if he did, he seemed unlikely to admit to it as he stood with his head high. If the lacerations on his arms and chest bothered him, he didn't show it - a tendency that Claria, admittedly, could relate to.

"Domain?" The sheer disgust in Sin's voice made Claria's lips pinch. "I am a denizen of the desert. My ancestors are of the highest Gerudo and Zora stock. We have surfed the sands for generations, mastering the sword."

Her fingers curled as she gave him a sharp glare. "One, he wasn't talking to you. Two, that sword mastery you're so proud of won't do any good against monsters you don't even notice. Like the Frox that's still on your head as we speak."

Her body remained bowstring-tense, reflexes primed to protect him and the others if the creature made any hostile move. However, it continued to sit there, surprisingly calm. Was it waiting for the right moment? Was it dazed? Or... did it acknowledge the team as its helpers? If that was the case, that turned what she thought she knew about monsters on its head, but it still wouldn't do for anyone to let their guard down around one.

She positioned her hand over the Brightbloom seed pouch again. If she attempted to distract it with food right now, it could hurt Sin in its frenzy, or attack the team in the hope of more, but she prepared to throw one should such become necessary... and if that wasn't enough, she'd take more drastic measures, no matter what Gao would have to say. Yet the thought of Frox-slaying weighed heavier on her than it previously had.

Ugh. When had she started turning soft?

When Ekik explained his purpose in the Depths, and his hopes of a truce with the Yiga Clan, Claria glanced at the carnage and sighed. For all the group's initial attempts to avoid such a confrontation, things had come to this, and now Ekik - assuming the mysterious mage spoke the truth - would have his work cut out for him. Still, she allowed herself to imagine what it would be like if Depths explorers no longer had to fear the Yiga.

Well, there was nothing to do now but search for supplies, even with Gao's suggestion that they should prematurely end this clusterfuck of an expedition. If the balloons were gone, they could be down here a good while longer in their search for components, none of them in a fit state to travel far without rest. She nodded to Gao. "All things considered, not a bad call. And you got some monster research in, even if it was a little more hands-on than we expected."

Eyes suddenly wide with alarm as he crumpled to the ground again, she took a lurching step towards him before stilling in place. Fussing over him, or any of the others, wouldn't help. He wheezed, smiled, still breathing and conscious. Pulling herself away, Claria headed towards the heap of ashen rubble. "Let's see what we can find."

Maneuvering around debris and bending down were far from easy tasks, her leg unsteady and threatening to give out. The strapped up hip fin didn't help her balance any. Nonetheless, she managed to gather up some bananas and sundelions into her backpack, the snacks more than a little squashed yet edible. All the while, she kept an eye on Sin, lest he pick a fight over resources - or lest the Froxling turn hostile.

When she reached the pile of splintered, blackened beams that had once been the Yiga base, a journal caught her eye. She peeled open the damp pages. Some of the ink was blurred from water damage, but what text she could read consisted of notes about the Frox. They detailed their diet of Brightblooms, minerals and deep fireflies, their aversion to strong light sources despite their hunger for more subtle ones, their aggression which had nearly cost the writer several fingers while feeding them.

She picked up the book and staggered back, handing Ekik one of the least mushy bananas along the way. Carefully crouching next to Gao, she held out the document. "Found one, for a given value of legible."

[Rex Draco]

"Legible...?" He wasn't sure what the word meant, but if there were papers he would give them to the man. He had no use for paper, or treasure, or scraps. What Sin was searching for were weapons.

He started by kicking over any overturned Yiga corpses. He looked over the ninjas' bodies. One after another he would examine the ninjas only to find that they all seemed to have the same, flimsily designed, weapon: a long sword that seemed to wobble in the slightest breeze.

Claria turned her to him with sharp words. He moved to stand, one of the larger Yiga stock gripped, limp in his webbed fist. He stared at the woman with his furrowed brows. "It's hard to hit a target you can't see." It wasn't as if he was at fault in this case — inexperienced maybe, but at fault? No. "My head?"

He reached up a webbed paw and groped around his scalp. It wasn't until the baby Frox slorped his hand did he realize his passenger. "When did that get there?!" But it didn't seem to be eating his weapon or anything else on his person. He got up in arms at first, which caused the Yiga corpse to be dropped in a sickening thump. He narrowed his eyes, but relaxed. "It doesn't bite." That was good.

With his concerns abated he would continue to dig through the felled Yiga and their supplies. 

[El]

Words churned through Gao's mind as he stared up at the stalactite sky. Once, no, twice his mouth opened, only to pause and seal again. Visibly he chewed upon a question, a grind of his jaw and an iron-slick nip of a lip filling the silence. And yet, something about being splayed there on the fungal floor, as nothing but a puddle of blood and torn flesh, gave him just enough courage to chase away the niggling thorns in his throat. The irony of it. But he wasn't dead yet, so what harm could much more do?

"I don't suppose..."  Gao began, gaze trailing languid with aching exhaustion to peer up at the wide-eyed Rito instead. In the background he heard the two Zora bickering, a distant hubbub of barbed words and telltale rummaging causing him to halt for a second - if only to fight off an inappropriately amused grin.

But by Faron did Ekik cut a memorable figure! Especially from this angle. A striking silhouette very much at home amongst the oddities - and beauty - of the Depths. The Sheikah grimaced a bit only to chuckle himself, the sound coarse as it grated on the back of his throat. "...You'd be open to staying in touch, Ekik? However we'd actually manage the logistics of that...

"I won't be offended if you say no, though, mate. I realise I've done nothing but take advantage of your good graces: that's hardly the best first impression, eh." 

A soundless chuckle swelled his chest as Gao tore his eyes away from the abyssal black pools of Ekik's stare. Research... Peace... Yiga... how could his scholar-heart not be drawn to this mysterious and capable fellow? "In an ideal Kingdom, I'd like to imagine we could be of assistance to each other. Admittedly I don't think I ever asked about your field of research-" He paused again then, brow puckering. "-if so, call me an arserag and I'm genuinely sorry for forgetting.

"But,"  Gao cleared his throat, "I'd be happy to offer my aid if there's any use you can find in me. This won't be my one and only trip down 'ere, no matter how horribly it ended. I feel like... I've barely even scratched the surface."  A dream of fascination clouded his expression then, pulling his eyes to something so distant they lost their focus. No matter how much he was a man born of sand, sea and sunshine, it was irrefutable that the greatest discoveries he could make about his monsterkin were very likely to be found down here. In a twisted way, The Depths actually felt aquatic though. Like a deep sea long drained...

A soiled journal suddenly fluttered into his view. "Found one, for a given value of legible."

"Oh shit."

Coughing, laughing, maybe even a bit of crying too honestly, Gao flustered through the five stages of shock and heaved himself upright. "You actually found something?!"  The man wheezed, a sparkle returning to his eyes as he hurriedly wiped off his hands on his fur-lined pants (not that it did much), and seized the treasure. With a giddy eagerness he fumbled through the pages, shaking hands tired and clumsy but energised by the endeavour. "Damn. You never fail to impress, Claria! Thank you!"

The contents... from what he could gather through the strain of his pounding head and the clammy darkness, appeared to detail those adorable Froxlings. Heh. Affection gleamed in a little, toothy smile. Contrary to the lil' guys' living situation, it seemed their Yiga caretaker did actually form a bond with them - the tone of narrative betrayed as much.

"Child support notes."  Gao concluded, smile turning ever more wry as his gaze lifted to observe the sand dwelling Zora still picking through the rubble. The stray beastie rested plush and content upon the nest of tattooed tendrils. It was hard to tell for sure at this distance, but the Frox almost seemed to be dozing off.

The Sheikah sighed.

"...He's going to end up keeping the lil' guy, aint he?"  Gao muttered, to no-one in particular. Normally he'd argue against such an action - especially given what he'd observed of Sin's... temperament - but something told him that no amount of logical bickering would change the course of this tide. Still, concern mingled with resignation, crumpling his features into a forlorn stare.

"Anyway,"  Gao tore himself out from his reverie with a lil huff and puff, looking then to Claria - properly this time. Journal aside - he'd scrutinise that in detail later - there was another pressing issue he'd suddenly clued onto. And so crimson eyes scoured Claria's form: not judging her physical state, no, but looking for something he did not find. "And-... what did you uncover for yourself?"  Frowned the Sheikah, taking fleeting note of the half-mushed banana in Ekik's grasp. "Or is my 'pay' really just that shit."  That wouldn't do. Was there anything he could offer instead...? A spared hand rose to massage out his wrinkling brow.

[Emily]

"I don't suppose..." They were alone, Ekik slightly wobbly on his feet but standing, Gao splayed out on the floor. When he heard the Sheikah's voice, Ekik turned to Gao, flat black eyes reflecting the eerie serenity of the post-collapse wreckage around them. He remained quiet, listening, considering.

"...You'd be open to staying in touch, Ekik? However we'd actually manage the logistics of that... I won't be offended if you say no, though, mate. I realise I've done nothing but take advantage of your good graces: that's hardly the best first impression, eh."

At this, Ekik let out a somewhat whistle-y breath, a soundless laugh echoing what was probably some sort of internal damage. It would be fine, he'd be fine. They'd be fine. And wasn't this truly what he was interested in building? The more cooperation between like-minded people in the Depths, the more likely everyone could get something out of it. Everyone working together could only help.

He heard the russet Zora kicking bodies and froze, keeping his attention on Gao, who at least was the most likely positive connection in this goal. "In an ideal Kingdom, I'd like to imagine we could be of assistance to each other. Admittedly I don't think I ever asked about your field of research- if so, call me an arserag and I'm genuinely sorry for forgetting."

"There was, admittedly, a lot going on," his voice, somewhat more hollow than before through exhaustion and effort, still retained some of its humour.

"But I'd be happy to offer my aid if there's any use you can find in me. This won't be my one and only trip down 'ere, no matter how horribly it ended. I feel like... I've barely even scratched the surface."

The Rito visibly softened, a relaxation spreading through him that hadn't been present until now. Gao looked truly mesmerised by his current situation. Ekik couldn't blame him- he'd been fascinated by the Depths ever since he first arrived. After a moment of silence, he moved over to sit next to the Sheikah, settling heavily onto the ground as well. "Mushrooms are my field of study-" he hesitated, then continued, rushing a bit as he heard one of the Zora returning. "I... I tell people that mushrooms are my field of study, but in truth my field of study is the Depths. I find them spectacular. The creatures, the machines, the strange plant life, the mushrooms, the ruins, the fact that there was a pre-determined position in the Depths for every city or settlement we've established on the surface, including Tarrey Town. I even study the Yi-"

He stopped talking as Claria entered earshot, though he perked up at receiving the banana. "Thank you," he said simply, happily peeling and munching at it.

"Or is my 'pay' really just that shit."

The Rito looked up. "Pay?"