Scene #3267: To Zora's Domain

Owner	Pose
Agahnim	Zora's Domain is just Northeast of Hyrule Castle. The waters from it flow throughout much of the region, and are the source of water within Lake Hylia. There are several ways to approach, but many are not feasible for most. Swimming up the rapids leading to it is, theoritically, possible. If one can swim up waterfalls, at least. The more likely path? A long trail amongst canyons, going past some of the calmer waters. This path leads upwards, towards the Zora Headwaters. A sign marks the entrance to the Domain itself. A large cave, leading into the home of the Zora. Except the entrance is blocked by a boulder. A particularly large boulder. At the least, to the /right/ of the direct path, there is a dark, intimidating cave. A sign sits in front of this one as well. Its text is a bit more troubling: 'Back Entrance to Zora's Domain. WARNING: MONSTER INFESTED, HIGH WATERS' This may or may not complicate things.
Sarah Parsle	Sarah is present. She's had a hand in the Zelda stuff since that one prettyboy started pulling people down into the place. What even happened to that guy anyway. Maybe he got eaten by spider-gators or something. That keeps happening to people. Regardless, Sarah moves long, travelling with the others in order to get the obligatory water level out of the way. She could feel it in her bones. The progression up the path to the Domain is all well and good, but there's a complication in the form of a big-ass boulder. "Well damn. And here I am without my heavy duty excavation gear." Sarah comments, turning to lean back on the boulder lazily. "So I guess we're all go for this convenient back door full of terrible water puzzles and underwater hellfish?"
Finna	As always, Finna COULD fly. And she does, in fact! But not all the way to Zora's Domain as she would want to on her own. There's... well, other people who can't sprout wings around. She swoops down from the sky and lands on the boulder, wearing the shape of a red-tailed hawk. "I'm not seeing many other approaches, so it looks that way. We'd waste a lot of time trying to remove this thing... and might just start a cave-in." Yes the hawk talks. "Sooooo... onwards?"
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna looks at the boulder, then at the cave entrance next to it. "I could see if Jiina can help move it -" "In Powered Form, you would still need a running start or the beam cannons," Elner interrupts. "And even Marine Form's torpedoes wouldn't put much of a dent in it." Yuna wilts a bit. "And El-Line isn't really an option either; it might work, but ..." She trails off, looking around the area briefly. If the boulder might have gotten here naturally, that's one thing, but if it was put there on purpose, then either the Zora don't want intruders wandering in, or somebody ELSE was actively trying to seal the Zora off. And given the issue with the Twilight overtaking Hyrule, either possibility remains valid. "Come to think of it," Yuna adds, "if there's Twilit territory inside the cave, I'd be forced out of my transformation anyway, wouldn't I?" "Most likely, and I'd rather not risk your doubles in that environment," notes Elner. "Best to stay combat ready on the way in through the cave; if it's clear, then the Matrix of Light can join you further in. They're on their way for now, keeping a distance." Yuna nods to the robo-faerie, then looks to Sarah and Finna. "Yeah, I guess 'onwards' it is." She summons the Matrix Divider to her hand, running enough power into it to help light the way ahead, and moves to the cave mouth. Apparently she's ready to take point, at least for the moment.
Blurr	So a 20-foot rock is in the way. Given Blurr's size in comparison to everyone else, this isn't exactly a big obstacle to him. He could probably blow it up easily with a detpack grenade or even just jump over it or roll it away himself, but it looks like someone's placed it there on purpose. So perhaps it isn't such a good idea to just blow it up or smash it. Plus, there's an alternate entrance! With monsters and high waters, but that's never really concerned him so this time isn't any different. The entryway to the tunnel looks large enough for him to get into, as well. He scans it, searching for any surprises that might await them inside. "Right so, monsters and high waters, sounds like a walk in the Helix Gardens!" He starts in immediately. Why wait?
Priscilla	And, surprisingly, Priscilla is back for a second run at Hyrule. Third, technically. It seemed like her initial appearance here may have just been a distraction while waiting for the final stages of the grand design of new Lordran to fit into place, but now with that mission essentially over in all but tying up the loose ends, she once again finds herself with that strange and elusive entity called 'time'. That, and maybe she feels a little responsible after making the princess and her uncle promises. Gone are the stitches, scars and bandages today, after three weeks of putting up with those cursed injuries, and yet things are obviously not the same as they were. Aside from just the little things; the faint sense of purpose in every step, and the subtle air of tranquil cold and quiet that follows her, the obvious is visible in her stare; an asymmetrical set between the gold of her lineage and the angry, luminescent orange of a defeated foe, both startlingly intense. "I am willing to chance it for a short while." Priscilla says to Sarah. "Lady Finna is correct in that there may be a small possibility of collapse at making attempt to remove such a thing by force. If the back way shouldst proveth too inconvenient however, I wilst double back and do it regardless." Water actually isn't a problem for Priscilla in slightest, but one could probably presume why she hates getting wet. Good on her that she isn't showing her vexation. She heads to the fore, having little trouble with darkness herself, though she can produce light if anyone requests it.
Sarah Parsle	Sarah gives Priscilla a wave, the only person she seems to actually have bothered expressing greetings to so far. There is, however, a glance up at Finna as if Sarah was measuring something mentally, but she looks away, shrugging as she follows into the cave. "Go ahead and let the robot go first." Sarah suggests. "That way everything will try to kill him first."
Agahnim	The entrance to the cave is lit, but there are no other lights inside at all. Only whatever light they bring will guide them through the cave dungeon. It's lucky that, at least, Yuna has her own source of light. Inside the cave, the floor dips down a bit. An inch of water covers most of the cave floor. The first room is simply a long path leading forward. With the light, most of this section can easily be seen. A wooden doorway is on the other side of the cave. On the left and right of the door, there are a few clay pots laying about. A few bat-like creatures are upon the ceiling. Already, they're starting to move due to the light. They fly in towards the group as a whole, moving to attack. Their mouths open, biting towards the party as a whole. Three large snakes are slithering around near the door, as well. They are completely black in color, with large fangs and beady eyes. they move around idly, not bothered by the water. They seem to look up when they hear the bats, the keese, making noise.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna very nearly backs right OUT of the cavern as she spots the snakes and the bats, and just opens fire with the Matrix Divider in its 'beam rifle' mode. It's probably overkill, but she doesn't exactly have any weaker weapons to pick from - and honestly, the Keese and those snakes (Ropes?) creep her out enough to internally justify the overkill against these animals. On the plus side, the flashes from her weapon should help the question of illumination, at least a little bit. On the minus side ... well, it's NOT a silent weapon, so between the flashes of light and the bvew bvew of her ranged attacks, it could draw further attention. Especially with the shots that miss the bats; they'll dissipate, but maybe not fast enough to draw further attention. (Her accuracy is lousy enough at the moment that cooler heads could probably take the Keese and snakes out faster.)
Vergil	It seemed that little had changed for the land recently. That or the locals had been too busy with their own affairs to make many requests. A consequence of the Deku Tree's death, perhaps? Whatever the reason, Agahnim had been out of contact for the most part, though Vergil had opted to be more... proactive in searching out the land himself. As a result, it seemed he was the only member of the Confederacy - and not even in an official capacity - that was present. That could be an issue if some of the Union personnel present recognized he was one of the ones responsible for much of the local forests having died off. However... considering he's without allies at the moment, the best option is to simply play it cool for the time being. Besides, it never hurt to see what the opposition was like. As they say, you keep your friends close and your enemies closer... and Vergil didn't have any true 'friends.' Just allies of convenience. His appearance is probably unexpected as he rounds a bend to join them, one hand resting atop the pommel of Yamato. A few of them pique his interest immediately - one being the spiritually-affixed creature in the form of a hawk. A rather powerful being at that... one who's soul would likely make a fine Devil Arm. He also takes note of the large machine entity, appraising him as an issue due to size alone but not an outright threat... for now. He also takes note of the young girl who seems to have assumed something of a leadership position amid the group, if for no other reason then the fact that she is the one most willing to speak up and do so. The half-demon's gaze fixes on Priscilla more intently then the rest, lingering on her for a long moment as he catches sight of the burning embers behind her gaze... and raising one brow in curiosity. He can't deny the power that is almost palpable from her... And he cannot help but wonder what form of Devil Arm her soul would form if he were to win in a fight against her. A fight that would no doubt be rather grueling, if the aura she gave off was any indication. His expression however is... much less impressed when seeing the female start shooting her weapon off at the sight of the local tunnel-dwellers, regarding her with a deadpan expression. "There are easier ways to illuminate a tunnel, you know."
Blurr	Blurr swats at the keese, hoping to bat (haha) them away from the group before they can hurt anyone, since he is standing toward the front. It's a good thing the Autobot just comes with lights on various portions of his body, so illuminating the cave won't be a problem.
Finna	Finna's form warps and shifts, turning from red-tailed hawk to human with very evident fox features. She doesn't need a torch to see... instead, the mark of the Moon appears on her forehead and a brilliant display of silvery-white moonfire erupts harmlessly from her body. An aura of raw, wavery power that makes anyone standing nearby feel exposed to the nonexistent night breeze, damp and chilly but not at all unpleasant. Totally sufficient light to see by. With Keese coming in, she simply hurls a few stones their way. Quickly enough that one can hardly see her hand MOVING to do so. Or track her picking them up in the first place. "If that's their idea of monsters, they need to learn about what animals are. Bats love caves!"
Sarah Parsle	Sarah enters the cave with the others, and she frowns as she sees the bats are not only BATS but HOSTILE. "Ugh. Bats. Worst enemy type ever, so of course this place is full of them. Don't stand near any pits or lava flows." With a quick motion, Sarah produces her STRIFE SPECIBUS, a JENGA STACK appearing in her hands as she expertly withdraws a balsawood block and flings it up at the damn bats. She might be a terrible fighter, but even she might be able to ward off the menace of dodgy little flying rats. "Someone else deal with the snake things." Sarah advises, and glances over to Finna. "Man, bats suck. They are made of at least 50 percent evil and 80 percent spite."
Finna	"THESE ones seem to be. Most bats would rather keep away from you!" Finna remarks, kinda bewildered at the Keese behavior.
Priscilla	"I doubteth such a sign was placed for fear of bats and snakes, aggressive as they may be. Think little of it and-" go completely nuts apparently, according to Yuna. It's not really her place to chide people over their phobias, but they had specifically come this way to avoid potential setbacks from overkill, and so she firmly places one hand against the back of Yuna's firing hand and pushes her weapon safely downward. Between three different people a handful of keese aren't even close enough to a 'yelling and wild firing' issue. The bats are presumably toast, and so to keep anyone from getting overexcited, Priscilla decides to quickly deal with the snakes as well before they might have a chance of turning hostile and freaking someone out again. She glances sidelong towards them, and for an instant, one eye flickers with a brief, cruciform glimmer of light visible even in the illumination pouring from Finna and Blurr. There is a crystal clear, yet quiet and faint, sound like a chiming glass, heard in the mind rather than the ear, and in the same moment, the snakes are swiftly subjected to conceptual destruction, low-key enough to only shred their bodies rather than cause any explosions or metaphysical tears, because there are great things to be said for prudence. She then looks to Vergil, their new arrival. It's clear from the instant she lays eyes on him that she's appraising the worth of his soul right back at him. There is a sharp, unbidden, hissing whisper in his head, which passes too quickly to make much of. "Please excuseth Lady Kagurazaka. She takes ill to surprises of this precise nature. There shalt be no further issues, now that we art able to see ahead of us." Both a vote of confidence and a subtle reminder to keep her head on straight when representing the Union in front of unknowns. "And thou art . . . ?"
Agahnim	The random fire manages to take out a few bats, and Bluur manages to hit a few more out of the sky. A few drop down due to the rocks, as well. One even manages to be taken out by the Jenga block, collapsing to the ground. Oddly, when they are struck, they do not leave a corpse. They explode into puffs of smoke. A few of them seem to drop small gemstones, too. Rupees. A few bats still remain. They're mostly attacking Blurr, and the lights on his body. It'd be easy for him to just bat away the last few, though. The snakes, though? Their very existence is ended rather quickly, painful hisses coming from them as they are killed. The door forward remains, large enough for any here to get through. Some of the clay pots still sit near the door, as well.
Vergil	Vergil pragmatically stands back to observe the capabilities of his 'allies', taking note of their abilities for future reference. Of course, Priscilla catches his interest more so then the others, the Son of Sparda's eyes fixing on the serpents she destroyed. That had not been any simple spell or minute attack. That was... something else entirely. Something that enticed Vergil's curiosity. Even more so as he recognizes that she is appeasing him much like a fellow demon would. "Vergil" he introduces himself casually in response to the being's question, still eyeing her inquisitively, falling in step with them if they continue down the tunnels.. "And you are?"
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna lowers the Matrix Divider, catching her breath before she turns a withering look at Vergil. "Bats are creepy, snakes are worse," she says flatly. At least they weren't bugs, she would REALLY have freaked out. But with the first chunk of the cavern clear to proceed through, Yuna makes her way towards the door. She's looking Vergil over as she proceeds, too. "And my name's Yuna," she adds. No reason to be outright rude by withholding her name, right ... ?
Sarah Parsle	Sarah shuffles around once the monsters seem to be disposed of or rendered harmless (she doesn't seem to consider bats bouncing off of Blurr to be a threat). "Vergil, huh. You look interesting." Sarah comments, even as she moves around the room, hoovering up Rupees and CAPTCHALOGUING them. Hey, you never know, man. She also makes a point of tipping over the pots to look inside them, or, barring that, breaking them to see if there's anything cool inside. She's an adventurer kid, deal with it. After she's cleaned the place out, she starts points to the door. "Hey, robot guy. Open it up and see what's in the next room." Yes, she is in fact using the robot as a Polish mine detector.
Finna	A few of the rupees don't make it into Sarah's inventory, because Finna snatches them up instead. A shiny red rupee! Seems she had the same idea and started at the same time. Gotta grab anything shiny where it can be found, yessssssssss! Scuttling forward, she peeks in the pots, curious about what might be in them, but whether anything in them interests her or not she hovers near the door, ready to dive throught he moment someone opens it. "What's over there, what's over THERE..." ALL EXCITABLE right now. It's ADVENTURE time.
Priscilla	There. Taken care of nice and neatly. Nothing to worry about. Priscilla lets go of what little pressure she has on Yuna's hands, trusting perfectly well that the Saviour of Light can handle herself from here on. "Priscilla, of . . ." she suddenly trails off. Her usual response is 'no titles of note', but very suddenly she's realized that she does, in fact, have quite a few brewing in the eaves. "Anor Londo." She finishes more simply. Priscilla has also never seen a rupee before, and thus has no idea why Finna and Sarah are all over them, looking faintly askance towards the girls racing to collect more of the odd crystals before the other. "I am able to tell quite well that thou dost not belongeth here, Sir Vergil, but I shalt not begrudgeth thine presence if thou art present to aid us. This wouldst be hardly the first time those of little or no allegience hath done so." She's been away from the field for a while, and so Vergil isn't a known Confederate yet, after all. She'd meant to try the door herself, but Blurr is probably already on that, though she spares a moment to say "Lady Parsle, there is no need to order Blurr to attempteth everything first. We art perfectly capable of making our own time."
Blurr	Blurr swipes the remaining bats off of himself. Pesky things! Once they've all been dealt with, he proceeds toward the door ahead of them, though he doesn't exactly take well to being ordered about by a human girl. As mouthy and arrogant as he is, he can't help but snark at Sarah. "ExCUSE me, human, but I don't need to be ordered around, unless you're my superior officer, which is -obviously- not the case. Oh and I'm not your test subject either. Hmph!" Well he was going to take point anyway, since he's probably a fair bit tougher than the others, at least physically. He attepmts to open the door normally, first.
Agahnim	The moment the door is opened, there is a hideous, terrible scream. It is bloodcurdling. It is magical. It pierces into the very soul itself. If one fails to resist, they will feel themselves completely bound where they are. This loud scream echoes throughout the entire room, and resonates in the mind. The room itself is just a large square room. Within are a number of humanoid... /somethings/. Ten in total. They are shambling mounds of what seem to be burnt flesh, with distorted hollow faces. They scrape along the room, dragging their feat as they move towards the party. If any of the party members /do/ get frozen in place? The creatures move towards them. And, in sudden flashes of movement, the creatures will leap forward to grab at them. They will wrap their legs and arms around the person entirely, and then start to bite down into them. Considering the odds, it's almost certain that every single one of them will leap towards Sarah.
Sarah Parsle	"Look, there's a reason why I am-" And then there's the scream. Sarah locks up completely, her eyes going wide with fright as the horrible undead beings scrapee towards her and leap towards her. As they descend, Sarah manages to yell, "WHY DO THESE THINGS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?" And then buried in redeads, uggggggggggh.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Technically it's eleven screams, but one of them isn't from a ReDead - it's from Yuna. And she didn't scream like that at the bats or snakes. Fortunately, Yuna's Light Suit protects her against mental meddling - and while she's plenty frightened of the undead creatures, she's not petrified by that fear. She scrambles to one side of the door, keeping her back against the wall, and levels the Matrix Divider at the ReDead - trying to blast them before any of them can pounce, particularly any who pounce at HER instead of at Sarah. Once Yuna's personally clear, she shifts her focus to picking off Sarah's assailants. And she's not wasting shots this time, just picking them off with a cool she doesn't feel and precision that could stand SOME improvement - but she's focusing on her attacks, and putting as much Light/Holy power into her shots as she can. Of course, if her luck goes the other way and any of the ReDead get too close to Yuna for her to shoot at, Yuna can easily switch to melee mode with this weapon.
Blurr	Blurr opens the door, and an awful high-frequency shriek immediately pierces his audio receptors. "Gah! What the slag are those things?" He stumbles backward a bit in surprise at the sound, but manages to dial the input volume on his audials before the screams can cause his servos to lock up. Yuck, they look -disgusting-! "Gross." Weapons fold out of his arms as he attempts to vaporize as many them of them as he can with lasers.
Vergil	"You realize those could be trapped, right?" he deadpans, fighting the urge to press a hand to his temple as he sees the oddly-excitable kistune - or at least that was the closest analogue Vergil knew to describe her with - peering recklessly into the pots lining the tunnel. If /this/ was going to be his primary Union opposition in Hyrule, Majora's Mask was already as good as his. Glancing about the cavern, he glances to Yuna as she makes her introduction, though he doesn't give her the same amount of interest that he does Priscilla, seeming to smile a bit - perhaps out of bemusement - at her older dialect of speaking. He also takes particular interest in her title, repeating it to himself - "Anor Londo... That region of the Multiverse is only recently stabilized, correct? I'm guessing you had a hand in that?" He asks earnestly, wishing to know the status of who he speaks to... as well as what strength they may have. As he does, he also takes note of how they don't seem to as of yet know his part in killing the Deku Tree. Something that will serve to his advantage for the time being- Of course... those thoughts become shelved away in quick order as the unnatural shriek fills the chamber, the Son of Sparda grinding his teeth as it feels like there are needles trying to puncture his heart. Of course they fail, but it is still hardly welcome. Neither are the shambling masses that Vergil assumes are the guardian beasts of this place. "I guess this is the welcoming committee" Vergil draws nonchalantly, a hand wrapping around Yamato's hilt. "Not exactly a warm reception. Someone must really not want us down here." Then.... he's gone. In a split-second, Vergil has crossed the room, bounding forward with a single step and ripping Yamato free from it's sheath, the demon-sword tasting battle for the first time since escaping the Underworld. Spinning gracefully on the ball of his foot, he rather casually strikes the ones threatening the immobilized Sarah, his attacks aimed to bisect and decapitate. By the time he's reached the end of his step, he's already sliding Yamato back into it's scabbard, apparently content with having likely killed, or at least crippled, the four who were immediately threatening Sarah and leaving the rest for the others to kill.
Finna	"That's what makes it exciting!" Finna exclaims, scooping up some rupees and tucking them away into... somewhere. Hard to say where, exactly. Elsewhere, more or less. But then the door opens and ALL of her hair and fur stands straight on end, comically, like some sort of cat freaking out. Muscles tense and teeth grind, terror flickering on her face. It takes a LOT to spook Finna, and this is something MORE. Something primal and unnatural. The ReDead nearly reaches her. The moment it seems to have its arms around her though... Finna's whole body flows and warps, bending AROUND the ReDead's grasp. The arms seemingly just flow THROUGH her, making flesh ripple like the surface of a pond. She breaks whatever sorcery has a hold on her at the last moment... and the aura of power around her just grows stronger. With a simple kiai of exertion she vaults SKYWARD... landing... ... On the ceiling. yes, just standing on the ceiling as if gravity works in reverse for her at the moment. "Nasty things, but I bet they can't fly!" She, on the other hand, pulls out an array of KNIVES and just starts flicking them down at ReDead faces!
Priscilla	And she'd just said something about no more surprises. As the door opens, Priscilla claps her hands over her ears immediately, wincing in pain as doing so barely seems to help as the screams echo directly into her head regardless. Her tail bristles, one of her pointed teeth biting down on her lip as her pupils contract into slits, but the moment passes quickly enough, and the crossbreed is left shaken but standing. The actual sight of the redeads is almost an afterthought. True, they're intimidatingly hideous, and more than just a little unnerving, but Priscilla has already spent centuries of her life in close quarters with a hord of Hollows, both afflicted merely by Darksign and the occult workings of Velka's followers. She is perhaps the single most adjusted person in the entire multiverse when it comes to undead body horror. Vergil is already ahead of her by the time the door opens to a ridiculous degree with that particular ability of his, but she isn't exactly far behind. Nobody present has much of a baseline to compare to, but let it be said that the way she blurrs forward like a white ghost skimming across the ground is far from her usual range of motion. There is a dull thump of displaced air and a mournful, shimmering ring as a compressive flicker of cold, existential paralysis passes through the room, and in short order, the black and silver glimmer of the Lifehunt Scythe has carved through several redead in quick succession. Dead. Undead. Redead. Never alive. For some reason, it doesn't seem to matter anymore. By virtue of mimicking the human form and acting as if alive, the redead are conceptually valid targets for the power that rips at their being. Once the others are confirmed safe, Priscilla will be curious to see if they have souls.
Agahnim	Some of the Redead leaping towards Sarah are shot down by Yuna's attack. Thankfully, they /are/ susceptible to Holy. The Light bursts leave wide holes in them, causing the few ReDead struck by her to turn into dust. Blurr's lasers tear some apart as well, but they don't become vaporized. Instead, they fall to the ground, bits of smoke coming from their wounds. Similarly with Vergil, every single one cut in half simply falls to the ground, limply. The Redead struck in the skulls by the knives fall to the ground as well. Yet more get cut to pieces by Priscilla's scythe, even some of those on the ground being cut apart. And, with the check for Souls? Priscilla will only be able to draw in Souls from the three that Yuna vaporized with Light. The other seven just remain as cut up piles on the ground, laying limp. On the other side of the room, there is another door.
Sarah Parsle	Sarah finally relaxes with an eloquent "guhbluuuughhhh", trembling and shaking a little from an extreme case of HEEBIE-JEEBIES. She was literally THIS CLOSE to ending up a statistic in a zombie horro movie, and that's a terrible way to go. She scratches her head and looks around at the others. "... Thanks." She says, acknowledging their assistance basically in the only way she can. "Doesn't make a damn bit of difference. Try to even use the robot, and it doesn't matter." She slumps a bit. "Guess I wasn't meant to die yet. Probably doesn't matter anyway." She wanders forward and opens the next dooe. Can't be any worse than this one, ri- Nooooo, no. No. Noooo. No. Uh-uh. It's probably worse.
Blurr	Once the disgusting redeads are dealt with, Blurr heads for the door on the other side of the room and tries to open it normally too. They hadn't encountered any locked doors, yet. He glances at Sarah. "You okay?"
Sarah Parsle	"I'm alive, if that's what you want to know." Sarah replies to the Transformer as she shuffles around. "I'm not hurt. I think. Not that I can tell. Give me a bit to bleed off all the spookies from that surprise zombie attack."
Vergil	As the creatures fall, Vergil again is more preoccupied taking note of Priscilla's abilities... and especially of the Lifehunt Scythe, the flicker of desire in his eyes - the moment of erstwhile want in wishing to possess the weapon for his own - visible for the briefest of instants. "You're not half-bad with that scythe... or at using the power it has imbued in it." Glancing at Sarah and Yuna, Vergil gives a divisive sigh - "Can you walk? If not, catch up to us as fast as possible." With that, he continues walking ahead, stopping to simply shatter pots he crosses paths with now that he knows they contain some measure of valuables. And he is pragmatic enough to slash them apart with Yamato instead of just poking his head inside, so as to ensure he slays any creatures waiting inside them.
Yuna Kagurazaka	"I can walk just fine," Yuna replies dryly to Vergil. And walk she does, sticking with the group. She's got better things to do than break open harmless clay pots, though. Now if any of the pots start levitating and trying to crash into the party? THEN she'll start treating them like a threat. Otherwise, the breaking and looting seems ... unnecessary. Sure, Rupees are valuable, but she's not here to earn money for a shopping spree; she's here to help her friends save Hyrule. Still ... "Elner, make sure Marina's on her way?" Yuna asks her robo-faerie companion. "I don't know when - or if - I'll need her, but ..." "She's en route," Elner answers. Yuna nods, apparently satisfied with that, and continues on her way with everyone else ... although if Sarah needs help, Yuna will be happy to provide it.
Finna	"So, a few questions come to mind." Remarks Finna as she walks with the group... albeit, on the ceiling. "How did a HUGE boulder get exactly in our way? Who put that sign there telling of this path and, for that matter, if this is supposed to be a path AT ALL... HOW do you make a path and NOT clear out the monsters first? Is this REALLY the back way in? Because no traveller's walking through a room full of screeching nemissaries."
Priscilla	Priscilla waits long enough to make sure that Sarah is fully recovered before moving ahead. She's not one for affectionate gestures of concern, especially since she still doesn't know her all that well, but she's well disposed enough towards the girl to pay mind to her safety and wellness. "Thou art more than welcome. Consider thine own death a pertinent concern, but unlikely for the moment, as long as thou shouldst travel with us." Vergil's constant hyper-awareness of her however, to the point of nearly excluding everyone else, has not gone without notice. It seems to be a safe assumption that the man isn't crushing on her, and so the list of further possibilities are decidedly less harmless. "I woulsdt very much hope so, as the weapon is of mine own making, and the power originates from mineself having been born to it. I knoweth the workings of mine own soul." The pots continue to be uninteresting to her. Someone will probably explain rupees later, but then she still won't have much interest, as she has basically always had on the subject of wealth and valuables. "It is entirely possible, Lady Finna, the path existed previous to the beasts and abberations, the sign was erected after their appearance to warn others away, and the boulder was placed only to bar away the main entrance as it was suspected that malevolent creatures wouldst be a suitable deterrent otherwise." This time however, she cuts in front of Blurr, holding up her hand before disappearing from sight and trying the handle instead. Being invisible doesn't really hide the door opening, but it presents no target once it does, giving her a few moments to check the room first without being rushed by enemies.
Agahnim	The door to the next room is opened. Inside, it is a bit different of a room. It is large and square like the last one, but with short walls inside. They are large enough that they can't be stepped over easily except for the taller party members, but they can be seen over. It forms a small, but simple maze leading forward. No monsters are immediately visible. Instead everyone hears something. From behind them. Priscilla managed to kill a number of them. But, two still remain. Though others had cut them up quite finely, they have reformed their bodies. In this number, they aren't able to paralyze the whole group. Instead, they focus their power upon just hitting one... And Finna seems to be the unlucky target who is screamed at, and then leapt at in an attempt to grab her and bite her. Also, despite the lack of light in the room ahead... A shadow is forming just in front of the door. A shadow that seems to be coming from the ceiling. The moment someone steps on the shadow? A hand will fly down from the ceiling, grabing whichever person is unlucky enough to step into it (If they aren't currently invisible).
Yuna Kagurazaka	"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!" They should have been dead enough to STAY dead, Yuna thought, but the screeches from the room behind them put the lie to it ... and it's only then that Yuna remembers a critical detail: dead monsters in Hyrule DISINTEGRATE. Not all of the undead things were obliterated like that - and however many are left, they're still an actual threat. She isn't magically paralyzed by their shrill cries, but terror freezes Yuna in her tracks, or at least leaves her NOT wanting to turn and look.On the downside, she's standing under that shadow - and the best she can think to do is point the Matrix Divider upwards and start shooting. SHe's not even looking where she's aiming, just trusting that 'straight up' is the right direction. This is probably not going to work very well for her, is it?
Agahnim	As Yuna steps into the shadow, a hand flies down from the ceiling. It is rather monsterous in design, and tanks the shots surprisingly well. Luckily, the random firing makes sure not all of them hit it. The hand is strange and unnatural, a dark blue in color. Its fingers are almost like claws, with long, pointed, fingernails. It grabs at Yuna, around her torso. It even tries to get ahold of her arms as well, trying to pin her down. Once it has a good grasp? It starts to slowly move up again, pulling her towards the ceiling.
Yuna Kagurazaka	And now Yuna is absolutely rigid in fear, her weapon clamped against her body so she can't defend herself any further even if she could summon the strength of will to keep on fighting ... the only way she's not getting dragged away is if somebody cuts her free of that giant disembodied hand.
Vergil	Vergil seems to only become more focused on her when Priscilla reveals that the Lifehunt Scythe is implicitly tied to her own existence - her own soul. If so... then the scythe itself is the form her soul would take on as a Devil Arm. Giving something of a thin-lipped smile, Vergil seems to be all the more appraising of her at this. Something that likely hints just what it is about her that he's so interested in. "I see. That's a very... useful ability to have. I'll keep that in mind for future reference, then - no telling when it'll be needed." Then, upon hearing the creatures trying to get back up, Vergil tilts his head behind them and sighs... then proceeds to keep on walking, apparently deciding the two monsters are just 'small fry' and not worth his time to kill. However, as he walks, he does undergo a change, small flashes of light engulfing his hands and feet while his katana vanishes from his hip... leaving him clad in a set of gauntlets and greaves with a series of glowing purple-white lines running across their surface, styled like wolf-jaws and claws respectively. He remembered the female's display - how the creatures slain by her light-energy attacks didn't get back up. He'd press that advantage himself in this case, dropping into a fighting stance at the entrance to the room as he brings up Beowulf - one of the few Devil Arms to be imbued with the Light Element - in a tight guard. He's confident. Perhaps too confident. But in his opinion he's already survived much worse circumstances alone. Of course, such a thing is what allies are for - to make these confrontations easier. It's for that reason that he waits until /after/ Yuna is grabbed to strike at the creature, dashing forward to deliver a swift spin-kick to the back of the giant hand. Of course, the way he'd just stood there when Yuna walked in might be a rather blunt hint that he knew what would happen to her and let her fall into it, but perhaps she will see his intervening after the fact as proof that, at the very least, he wasn't going to just let her up and die. He could't afford to lose any allies before the fight was over, after all. Even if they were only temporary.
Finna	Okay. LEAPING ZOMBIES is another new experience. The shuffling noise has Finna's fox ears twitching. Undead reviving, now that's not entirely unheard of. But so fast, so weirdly, and so COMPLETELY? "WHAT?!" She freaks out,q uite understandably. The moment she's frozen in place however, unable to move... she loses her balance. Which is a critical part of walking on the ceiling. Paralyzed, she tumbles clumsily towards the ground... and that seems to be enough to put her out of the ReDead's trajectory. On the other hand, she lands perfectly head-first. CLOOOOOOONK! "Gwaaaaayaaaaawgh!" Seeing stars, the Lunar thiefgirl rolls around on the floor, clutching her noggin.
Priscilla	Though she isn't accustomed to Hylian monsters exploding into black smoke, Priscilla feels like she really should have known better after less than the total number of enemies in ghostly flames had risen up from the corpses and come to her. She is treated to a second round of the agonizing screeching, this time even worse for having relaxed upon assuming the monsters dead. Thankfully invisible, nobody else is privy to the indignity of seeing her fall for it a second time, but once again, she isn't going anywhere until that screeching is over. Though safe from the giant hand herself, her moment of distraction is enough to let Yuna walk right into it. Thankfully, Vergil seems to be on that, the totally trustworthy and responsible ally that he is, and so Priscilla can reverse over and cover Finna instead, now taking her turn to be the one helplessly beset by hellish pseudo-zombies. She predictably lacks a holy weapon, but the entire reason she had been sealed away in the first place was that the gods feared her ability to make a permanent death stick to anything regardless of alignment, and so the Lunar exalted is in good hands when the imperceptible blade cleaves straight through redead already previously bisected, ravaging the spiritual energy animating them and prying their 'souls' free of their corpse shells. An invisible hand grabs hold of her forearm, hauling her upright. "And how many amongst thee wouldst rather chance the boulder at this juncture?"
Sarah Parsle	The door is opened and suddenly... Another goddamn scream. This time, however, Sarah was expecting it, and had steeled herself against it. "Oh man, someone pick up the phone, because I /called it/. Freaking undead!" Sarah gripes, turning to attack the ReDead... But they're handled already. More important to Sarah at the moment is the hand-thing grabbing Yuna, however, and Sarah flings a few blocks at the thing, trying to make it drop the girl. >pok< Stop laughing.
Agahnim	The Jenga blocks hit the hand at the same moment as the kick. The kick causes a cry of pain from the hand. Yes, somehow the hand is screaming out in pain. The light elemental hit causes intense damage to it, causing it to burst into an explosion of smoke that rapidly fades away. With the timing, it is hard to tell which hit killed it, the kick, or the Jenga pieces. At least people could potentially humor Sarah that it might have been her who defeated the beast. Within the room itself, there are several more shadows like it, placed within the maze. Now that one knows what they /do/, it'll be easier to avoid them, at least. The ReDead grab and bite into Finna a fair amount, until the blade of the scythe hits them. The fury of slashes cause the ReDead to break into pieces, the two of them now permanently dead.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Violently freed from the monster's vile clutches, Yuna slumps to the ground, groaning. "If we've got a way to MOVE the boulder, I think I'm starting to like that idea better and better ..." She doesn't stay down for long; much as she'd be happy to take a nap, this seems like the WORST POSSIBLE PLACE for a snooze unless you don't mind never waking up again. And Yuna is kind of attached to the land of the living - the vast majority of her friends are here, after all, and while there'd be a couple of familiar faces on the Other Side, Yuna's not the sort to leave her still-living friends mourning for her.
Blurr	Blurr starts but tries not to jump too much when that hand seemingly comes out of nowhere and grabs Yuna. The walls aren't much to him, given how much taller he is than most of everyone else, but he nods at Priscilla's suggestion, since it seems quite a few are -not- fans of this place. He glances at Yuna. "Well, I do, if anyone would rather try that way."
Finna	Finna is a scampery little pest! Very difficult to pin down. Now that she's experienced the scream twice, she seems to have gotten more used to it. After the first ReDead gets a grab and bites her arm, she regains movement despite all the pain and WRENCHES her body around, swinging the creature into Priscilla's scythe and going swooping across the chamber to skid across the ground and halt near a wall, zig-zagging between Shadows. "My question still stands too! Ow ow ow..." Well, the bite wound? it is VISIBLY HEALING. Should be gone in about fifteen seconds or so... that's something. "Grrrr... I should've just flown over the area and scouted ahead to see where this might've lead anyways."
Sarah Parsle	Sarah grumps at the retreating Ceiling Master. She might have contributed, but she knows in her GLOOM HEART that it wasn't significant. She looks back to the others as the general opinion of this dungeon is 'this is complete /bullcrap/.' "I don't even care. We can keep trying to punch through this place Or just try to break the boulder. Of course, for all we kniw the Tear of Light is going to be at the end of this stupid thing. It would be just our luck."
Vergil	Smirking in satisfaction as the 'hand' dies rather quickly under the strike from Beowulf, readying into a fighting stance for any others. Overhearing the conversation between Yuna and Blurr, he gives a divisive, breathless laugh. "I'm relatively certain /most/ of us could potentially shift that boulder" - he emphasizes the word 'most' while glancing at Yuna and Sarah respectively - "though these things are hardly a real challenge."If there are anymore shadows nearby, Vergil emphasizes his point by striking the offending mass with a swift series of kicks from Beowulf to destroy it. "If anything it's a bit easy, though won't protest us taking the easy way out if you can't keep up." He glances at Finna, taking note of her regenerative powers and her claim, a shrug as his only acknowledgment. "Go ahead and scout on, then. Not like anything's stopping you."
Finna	Finna means what she said. She heads straight for the next door. Screw the Wallmasters. She's now ANGRY and - wait, when did she draw a sword? HOW did she draw a sword? She hasnt' been carrying a sword. But she has one in hand now, and she just decides to open the next door while... staying out of the immediate opening in case a giant rock comes rolling out of it or something.
Agahnim	AS the next door opens... Nothing catastrophic happens. Instead, there is a long, winding hallway. This one is actually well lit. It curves and spirals, leading up and away a bit. It's hard to see down the entire way due to the curving nature of it. Water flows slowly along the floor, trickling across the stone. Once progressed to the end of the hallway, there is a door. It reads rather simply: ZORA'S DOMAIN Sadly, it is barred. But there are switches, that can be pulled to activate. Signs above both of them note, 'PULL RIGHT SWITCH TO OPEN'.
Sarah Parsle	Sarah moves on with the others, entering the final room. The final room is a straightforward room with a sign. There are levers. There is a sassy sign. "Wow, whoever set up this room is a jerk. I can appreciate this." She simply shuffles forward and pulls the rightmost lever. That's what the sign says to do, after all.
Finna	Finna's first instinct is to pull the LEFT lever, not trusting these damned signs. She holds her breath when Sarah goes for the right one and tenses up, sword at the ready in case... oh, whatever, snakes fall from the ceiling or something.
Vergil	Vergil doesn't seem to really care at this point, moving ahead down the hallway to reach the end. As he moves, he rather casually pummels any of the shadowy 'hands' that get in his way as they move through. It's been too long since he was in proper combat, so he enjoys the excuse to hone himself against new enemies. Looking blankly at the levers, he gives out a sigh. "Do you think it's been trapped?" Not that he bothers to stop Sarah from pulling the lever herself - if it's trapped, at least they'll know now.
Agahnim	The lever is pulled. And, the door opens. Really, the entire reason for the lever is just to keep monsters out. The odds of an non-sapient monster pulling a lever is unlikely. Either way, the door can be entered. Beyond which, Zora's domain. It is a giant cave, sparkling with sunlight reflecting off water. Various natural openings to the sky let in the sun. A giant pool of water, incredibly deep, sits in the middle of the massive cave. There are numerous side rooms as well, leading to other sections of the cave waterway, along with a number of powerful waterfalls. A number of Zora can be seen around, ready to be talked to. Unfortunately, when asked about the Tears of Light or the Spirit of Light? They'll direct you to the Queen, Queen Rutela. And, because of royal business, she is out for a bit. And, the party will need to organize the chance to actually meet the Queen of the Zora, as well. At the least, talking to the Zora will get a few of them noting that the last human who came here was Fassad. And a few might even mention that Princess Ruto gave him an item that is sometimes considered a marriage proposal. Proper material to mock him with later. Though, probably best to confirm this with the princess, later.
Yuna Kagurazaka	What, they were that close to the end of the dungeon? Yuna is too annoyed at the monsters the group DID run into to be terribly relieved by this discovery ... but she keeps her cool, takes a moment or three to recover her usual polite and friendly demeanor, and then joins in asking questions - including one important inquiry: "Do you have any idea why there's a giant boulder blocking the main entrance to your domain?"
Agahnim	A Zora looks towards Yuna. The fishman treads water, while looking at her from the pool. "Monsters put it there, and we don't have any bombs to blow it up with. We'd bring them here through the waterways, but... They don't work once they've gotten wet." Yes, the boulder could have just been blown up the whole time.
Finna	"... Sooo.. where did the monsters come from if they... this doesn't make any sense." Finna blurts, dumbfounded as she walks into Zora's domain and into the light.
Blurr	Blurr follows the others into the Zora's Domain. After having heard about the monsters having placed the rock there, he offers help. "Oh, well I could help you with that." he shrugs. "We weren't sure if you guys had put it there for your own protection or not."
Vergil	... and so it ended up being a waste of time. At least in regards to actually obtaining a Tear of Light. Walking away from the rest of the group after they leave, Vergil strides off from the group wordlessly with little more then an over-the-shoulder wave farewell, already pondering what little information they did in fact obtain. He also gives a somewhat belated, though more direct farewell to Priscilla, smirking slightly - as if promising that he's not going to just forget how interesting he found her powers today. At the very least though, he now had information that Agahnim might find useful, as it could help restore Majora's Mask. He also takes the chance to, with a casual flick of his wrist, draw Yamaro and simply slice the boulder to pieces before walking out of the now open doorway. This will probably make people like Sarah and Yuna pissed off with him as he could have simply done this from the beginning. Of course, that was hardly ever his concern.
Yuna Kagurazaka	If Yuna's pissed off at Vergil for how readily he disposed of the boulder, she doesn't show it. Unless you count facefaulting into the grass in the nice warm sunlight, anyway. Which she does. Quite literally. She might get a wildflower up her nose for her trouble, if she wasn't a little more careful than that. "Can we go home now ... ?"