Live Your Own Story in Hyrule

The orb moves but is very heavy as it is made of stone. It rolls slowly around the tower that hangs over the plaza. Meanwhile, shadow beasts begin to scale the walls of the tower

Revali looked up, having heard the distress of Red. "Shadow beasts?" He qustioned. "Great. Just great. Spikes in here, beasts out there." He eyed his surroundings, thinking he could make out the sound of the creatures advancing. "No, no, not freezing a wall, but we might be able to try something else. You can ice those and cause them to lose grip." He points out the tower above. "Maybe Red might be able to pick a few off while he's doing...whatever it is he's doing out there." He pauses.

"Red!!! What are you doing out there?!"

The ball continues to roll, albeit begrudgingly under its own weight.

“Sorry, Revali, but I cannot freeze what I cannot see.” Irina looks up, “But if something is up there, maybe another bomb arrow to the tower will help?“

"Rolling....a...ball!!" Redvali called out, grunting the words between the shoves he was performing against it. This thing was tough to push around and every so often, he'd have to swing around and make tiny adjustments to keep it from going off course. "I think it fits into one of these holes out here!!" He wasn't sure he could be heard, but it gave him some mild comfort being able to communicate his plans with somebody. Made him feel far less alone while the shadow beasts lined up around him.

And several shadow beasts indeed surround the red bird. They pause at the sight of the ball that rolls forward then all charge at once.

Red took off into the air with enough speed to yank a few feathers out of his body. The ball? Abandoned. Wherever it rolled is where it rolled.

In the meantime, he looked down at the beasts from above. "You could've just stayed wherever you were at!" He fussed while drawing his bow. "Could've been easier for everybody. Me especially!" He continued his complaining. "All I wanted to do was roll the ball into the hole!"

Definitely safe to say that he's bothered. He really didn't want to be out here alone fighting these things, but the walls were still closing in and that was more important. "You can become fish chum for all I care!!"

In the meantime, he had to actually go and get the ball because he really couldn't afford to lose it, so he started tracking it to wherever he'd left it hoping to get to it and resume his original plan.

"Rolling a ball? What? What does that even mean?!" Revali had no idea how to answer that. How was that going to stop spikes?! He grumbled, trying not to get worked up, but that was a little hard to do given the circumstances.

"If you think another bomb arrow could work, I'm willing to give it a shot. Not like much else can work while he's out there doing...something!" He had to think better of himself because its him he was talking about. He certainly wouldn't be goofing off in this situation, so his counterpart shouldn't be either. At least, he'd hoped.

So, he lines up another bomb arrow and fires it up at the tower, hoping lightning can strike twice here.

Irina heard that “Rolling a ball” as well. Her reaction was a bit different from Blue’s, but just as confused. The mention of the hole outside made sense, though.

Irina nodnods to Blue about the bomb arrow. At the very least, it will drive away what is out there.

Waiting to see if the bomb arrow and the ball do anything, she steps aside. Her hand starts to emit a soft, icy glow and some twirly snowflakes start to form—ready to freeze whatever falls or the wall, if nothing else works.

The ball continues to roll forward in the direction that Red was going. A shadow beast steps in front of it and is immediately smashed as the ball continues, albeit slower now, along its path towards the hole.

Meanwhile, the spikes close in. Now they are clearly visible. The room is quickly getting smaller.

Link looks up as Revali fires his bomb arrow.

The arrow hits something, causing another explosion as expected.

Another intensely bright light is seen across the land just like before. The tower begins to collapse. It partially crashes down to the plaza. As the bright light dissipates, the ruined tower can be seen in a severely compromised state with its ruins now scattered across the area. The shadow beasts are also all stunned, presumably from the power light pulse that sent a visual shockwave through the land. They all explode at once in a cloud of smoke.

Another orb has also appeared in the aftermath, glowing brightly and crashing down onto the plaza. It knocks the other orb away in a violent manner—causing it to roll away towards the edge of the island while the new one comes to rest in the hole that the original was intended to go in, sort of like a billiards trick shot.

As the new orb comes to rest in the hole, the glyphs that decorate it come to life and begin glowing in an intense blue light.

The ground shakes and cracks begin to form all around the plaza in a line that extends from the statue to the tower, further compromising the structure.

Link also notices that one of the walls has stopped moving. The other wall continues to move as before but the opposite wall is now frozen in place, not advancing forward. “Look! It stopped.”

The door of the temple also opens.

Irina watches the wall for a few moments, as if wanting to ensure the wall was not planning on moving anymore. “You… did it?” The glow disappears from her hand.

But then the door opens and confirms it. “You did it!” Irina grins and gives blue a hug.

Not losing a moment, she runs out the door, looking around for Red.

Red took great pleasure in seeing the large ball crush the shadow beast. Finally some vindication around here! He'd begun to hover over it, measuring where he'd need to land to intercept it when the bright flash blinded him briefly. He lost his composure and undershot the landing. For now, all he could hear is the crashing and dashing happening in the plaza, but he couldn't see it.

A swift breeze whizzed past him and finished with a solid crack. He didn't know WHAT that was, but he was glad it didn't hit him! Once his eyes adjusted, his immediate focus was to escape harm by going back in the sky. It was then he realized what he'd felt was the ball nearly grazing him as it slotted itself into place. "Either Hylia was being very merciful or she's got a cruel sense of humor. Either way, I'm grateful I wasn't turned into bird pate on it...."

The cold expression in Kala’s eyes softens slightly as the Sheikah approaches.

She follows her gaze to the area by the riverbank and says, “Please follow me, Lady Impa.”

She slowly walks the path up a hill where the cave she mentioned comes into view. She remains expressionless but the manner in which she sat on a stone slab near the entrance suggests that she is still weak from her previous actions.

She looks out at the islands floating in the distance. They are higher up so they can see slightly better from this vantage point.

“My people know very little about your tribe.” She says in a soft tone

The island in the distance briefly flashes with a bright light.

Kala turns her attention to the islands in the distance.

_Gatu also turns his attention back towards the island, breaking out of prayer._

"Something's happened... I hope they're alright."

"GAH!" _Gatu shouted, covering his eyes when that blinding flash went off._ "What the heck are those guys doing over there? That would've blinded me and burnt my retinas!"

Kala looks to the light, not blinking. “Such light has never been seem here.”

"...Something's wrong." _Gatu said, standing up._ "Mipha, can you control the water and help me make an ice bridge across?" _he asked the Zora Princess, taking action._

Mipha looks across to the islands and then back to Gatu. "That distance is far too great for me. I don't know what has happened, but we'll just have to hope they're alright. For now, perhaps we should continue to inform ourselves of the inhabitants here. Our presence here is a disturbance, but it need not be a negative one for much longer."

She then turns her attention to Kala, "This place hasn't always been governed by darkness, has it? Can you tell us when the change to this realm possibly occurred? And perhaps what may have started it?"

listens to the conversation quietly. Before answering Mipha, she adds. “Even if we built an ice bridge, it would surely melt before we made it across.”

She sits back and ponders Mipha's question. After a few moments she replies, “My people were banished here from Hyrule. According to the legends, this land was cursed with eternal twilight to suppress the light and seal us here in perpetuity.”

She looks up to the visitors, “Tell me. Does the sun not shine over Hyrule?”

Mipha takes a seat on the ground wth her trident resting atop her lap. "The sun still shines, but I don't know for how much longer," she answered wistfully. "Hyrule is in danger. Deep chasms have opened up all over the land and foul creatures arise from them, occupying the skies and ground. Meanwhile, the market is sealed in a strange barrier that has captivated the people inside and turned them to poes. I can only assume it will worsen over time. We came here to retrieve the Master Sword because it is one of few means that can beat back these terrible things."

She observed her own weapon at that moment. "And yet, I still feel a dread in the back of my mind that tries to tell me it may not be enough." Her eyes dilate in response to the second flash at the islands and she looks in their direction. "I want this feeling to be wrong, so I continue to fight it and hope for the best for my people and the rest of Hyrule."

Kala shields her eyes from the second blast, but her gaze stays fixated in that direction.

She begins to tell a story. “The legends also foretell of a prophecy. Our ancestral land will fall to a similar curse when the barrier between our two worlds is broken. Their knights would descend to our realm and bring back the light. We will have an opportunity to redeem the iniquities of our forebears.”

She turns to the princess and says, “I have nothing to lose here and I would like to help you save your own land. We are distant cousins, after all.”

She turns to point to the islands in the sky. “Many here have completely forgotten their lore and have succumbed to the darkness. Others have held on to their identities but have embraced the darkness. There are rumors that some of my kin, some of whom we have not seen for quite some time, hide among the shadows and are amassing a coup against those of the sky. Regardless of whether that is true or not, every day there are less and less of my people.”

_Gatu grits his teeth a bit, seeing what's going on across the waterfalls on the suspended island. He can only hope Link and the others know what they're doing._
"I think I could make it across before it melts. My Pegasus Speed Spell would make me quick enough to run across. You saw how fast I zipped around and killed those stalfos and other monsters Mipha."

"...But maybe you're right. I'm just antsy because I feel so powerless to do anything. I barely have any gear or items, so I can only rely on my Magic until we get back to Hyrule."
_Gatu listens as Kala explains the Twili's and the Twilight's origins, in which he remembers reading a scroll in Vaati's library that describes such an event, though it sounded like it it the Twili Zora's account of the event in the distant past._

"Kala, I am beyond grateful for your desire to help. With us aligned, we are far stronger than we would be on our own. As distant cousins, it would be my honor to help redeem this stain that has tainted us for so long," Mipha admits honestly. "And Gatu, I recognize that you are anxious and you have every reason to be. However, we do have a purpose down here as much as they do up there. We should try to figure out what we can do next from here. We are dealing with more than just a battle, but the livelihood of an entire people before us," she motions to Kala in particular as she says this.

"I saw how you fought and you did well. But we must also know battles will not always end at the tip of a sword. We have a responsibility to our minds also." She stands up, witnessing the second flash, but she doesn't turn to face it. Instead, she continues her conversation, "You said earlier that the light we've seen flashing from those islands has been unseen. Do you believe this light may be related to the prophecy you've shared?"

_With the moment passed, the young warrior adjusts their bunny hood on top of their head after putting his hat back on and fixing their hair. Since loitering wasn't allowed in town, he'd have to go to the graveyard to rest there. Hopefully Dampé was going to be alright with it. They have in the past the few times he came and there wasn't any available rooms in the inn._

_Gatu proceeds, unknowingly, towards the <#C9UT1C3BQ>_

(See <#C5FAAGN80>)

Suddenly, a black crystal slams into the ground at high speeds, with a sudden flash of light in the form of a beam slamming into it, setting it off. Once the dust settles, one can see a Fog begin to form.

Another day, another round of looking for odd jobs to keep body and soul together. -.- It's better now than when John first started at least, he's gotten used to approaching folks at random to ask for work and they've gotten used to the idea that there's this guy around who can save them some trouble in exchange for a few rupees. Still, it's wearisome having to _hunt_ for employment all the time.

"I'm tellin' ya Johnny-boy, ya oughta just sign up wi' the castle guard," Scruvo remarks, guessing John's thoughts. "Gals love a chap in armor."

John rolls his eyes, trying to remember how many times they've had this conversation already. "And what do you think will happen when they ask about past experience and references? 'I was part of the army in the Dukedom of Loranis until I was banished for insubordination.'" e.e

"Cor blimey, an' you think _I_ take liberties in recountin' stories! At least I add stuff IN instead of leavin' all th'good parts out! Tell y'wot, why don't I tell 'em wot happened an' then you can just shoot down the embellishments, that'll get th'full story across AND show 'em you're humble ab--CRIKEY, INCOMIN'!!!"

John dives for the nearest cover, the corner of a building. He hears a dirt-spraying impact followed by an explosion, accompanied by a brief flash brightening the surroundings. After a moment, he straightens up against the wall and takes a peek around the corner, assessing the situation and looking for casualties and at-risk civilians. &gt;.&gt; Maybe nobody's _paying_ him to be a soldier, but the trained response doesn't stop to think about things like that.

In the distance, between the mountaintops, glides a yellow object. It takes note of the strange object that just flew into the town. The young messenger Rito swoops down on the town to take a closer look.

Not too far from the town, a royal guard sees the fog and hurries to ensure everybody is safe. Upon seeing the fog, Kagetora stops before he reaches it. He is aware of what will happen if he touches it... and frowns.

"Everybody, step back! Do not touch the fog!" He warns lifting his arms, stopping any villagers that attempt to approach the area.

The young yellow bird was near the fog but perched slightly above it on a stone chimney. He hops down to the roof and asks the soldier, “What is happening?”

Kagetora looks up to see the Rito while he tries to block people from entering the town. “This fog contains dark magic and is similar to that in Castle Market Town. Those who touch it will be cursed and turned into poes. Please warn everyone to stay away!”

The young Rito squawks in affirmation to the warrior's command, and then hops a few times before taking flight over the town. He begins to call out, "Beware! Beware! Everyone abandon the village! Avoid the fog!"

Ohhhhhjoy. &gt;~&lt; John pushes off from the wall and runs over to the building's door, yanking it open. "ANYBODY IN HERE, GET OUT FAST!!! THERE'S A POISON FOG FILLING THE TOWN!!!" John of course actually doesn't know if the fog _is_ poisonous, but it's a decent assumption based on the bird-man telling people to avoid it and it gets across the desired action quick and easy. A few confused townsfolk come tumbling out, including an old man with more wisdom than speed. U~U; John grabs his arm and throws it over his shoulders, trying to hasten his hobble toward the edge of town.

Meanwhile, the resident sky-watcher who's always hanging out on that roof is still rubbing his eyes from witnessing that sudden bright beam come down from Death Mountain. :dizzy_face: By the time his vision clears, the building he's on top of is already surrounded by fog, and it's starting to creep up the shingles toward him. He waves his arms up at Kanali. "HELP! I CAN'T GET DOWN!"

Over near Kagetora, a dog darts forward to bark and growl at the encroaching phenomenon. &gt;O A small girl runs after it, wrapping her arms around its neck and tugging fruitlessly. "No no Duke, get back!" &gt;n&lt;

Kanali pauses, catching a glimpse of the curious man that is standing on the roof. He looks around, watching the fog rise. He sees a woman holding a cucco and both are transformed immediately into orbs of light as the fog touches him.

"Oh no... this is terrible." the bird mutters under his breath.

"Hold on!! Stay away from the fog!" he shouts at the man on the roof as he hops up and takes flight, being careful to put some height between himself and the encroaching haze. He swoops down and grabs onto the man, already struggling to keep aloft, but says, "I got you! Hold on to me!"

At that, he kicks down on the roof to give himself a boost, breaking several roof tiles in the effort and sending them tumbling into the fog. Kanali takes flight with the man and attempts to carry him to safety, although his piloting skills are rough with the added weight.

Kanali crashes off to the side with the man, away from the fog. "Quick! Run away from the fog!" He dusts himself off, then picks himself up and flies back to the rooftops to see if he can spot anybody else.

Kagetora moves quickly through the edge of the fog, intercepting the small girl and her dog before they can get any closer. He drops to a knee just long enough to steady her, guiding both back with firm but careful hands.

“Stay with the others,” he says, voice calm but urgent. “Do not approach the fog under any circumstance.”

Rising immediately, his gaze looks around the village. He tracks the spreading fog, the panicked movement, the flashes of light where people vanish into it. “This is the same phenomenon reported in Castle Town,” he calls out to those nearby. "Everybody, fall back now! Move to higher ground and keep distance between yourselves and the fog!”
He pauses only briefly, weighing the situation—then the decision is made.

He turns toward the direction of the road leading out of Kakariko, expression resolute. “I need to inform the castle,” he says, more to those who can hear than anyone in particular. “The Princess must know at once.”

Without hesitation, he breaks into motion, moving swiftly and silently along the outer edges of the village, leaving the evacuation in capable hands. He needs to carry the warning now.

Kanali watches Kagetora and hears him. He checks on the man he just helped one last time, then says, "Sorry, I must go. Please keep people away from the fog."

He jumps into the air and takes flight, catching up to Kagetora. "Sir!" he calls out from above. "Sir!. There is a similar fog near the castle. I can help you get the message to the castle if you want."

heads for the stairs leading up to the gate to Death Mountain with his burden. &gt;_&lt;; As they make it up the first flight and turn toward the north exit, the old man glances down worriedly and sees the spreading fog rising up to the ledge they just surmounted. &gt;.&gt;; "J-just leave me, we won't make it--" "Save it!" John snaps, tightening his grip on the man's arm. They stumble forward together, walking a deadly tightrope between going too slow and losing even more time by pushing too hard and falling down. Fortunately, the higher the fog goes, the more space it has to spread out in, so it moves outward slower...but it's definitely creeping along the ground behind them now.

In fact, it's also coming from their right. &gt;.&gt;; John watches tendrils form along the second set of stairs, cutting them off. Well, just have to hope they can hold their breath and withstand a little--

"Up here!" The gate guard kneels on the ledge on the left side of the stairs, holding his arms out urgently. o_o John quickly leans the old man against the wall, then crouches down and wraps his arms around his thighs. With a grunt of effort, he lifts the man upward. The guard grabs hold of the old man's arms and pulls from above. With the weight partially relieved, John switches hold and grabs the old man's feet, pushing him the rest of the way up just as the fog closes in around him.

After a tense moment of blindly following the wall to mount the stairs with eyes closed and breath held, John turns around and chances a peek. -xo The fog appears to be paused in its ascent, coming no higher than midway up the stairs. Whatever was releasing it must be running out. John exhales and trudges over to the old man and the guard. "Whew...that was a close one."

The old man doesn't look around. "He should've saved himself," he says sorrowfully. "He had so much life still ahead of him." v_v

John gives a short-breathed guffaw. "Hey, I think I'm gonna be okay. Stop moaning." X)

The guard peers cautiously over the ledge. "He just...disappeared. I can see the ground below us through the fog, but I can't see _him_. It's like it _dissolved_ him." o.o;

John furrows his brow. "Hey, I'm over here! Behind you!" John goes to put a hand on the guard's shoulder -- and it passes right through. o.o;