Ruul's ZRP Party: Thread 6.2

"Nah, it's ok," Kairo said. "I got this."

He focused on bringing the right amount of emotions to the surface of his mind and breathed deeply as the fireball formed in his palm. without losing his focus, he threw the ball of flames at the freezard and watched as it melted in front of him.

As he stared at the puddle of water on the floor he turned to Ruul and Leighi and said, "That went well."

"I'd say so." Ruul grinned. "Guess we'll have to move more carefully through here."

"Right," Kairo said as he made his way forward.

As the group moved on, they encountered a number of Freezards and keese, and the odd Eeno, none of which proved to pose much of a danger to the group.

The better part of a day passed by, and the group had to stop and eat at a point. Leighi estimated it was growing close to, but not quite dinner time, though they had no way of knowing without the sun.

As the going continued, the air began to get warmer and warmer, and the path deeper and deeper, and freezards appeared less and less.

Eventually, the first sign of lava appeared. Several meters below them, a slow-moving river of lava slipped by, Red Bubbles leaping from it here and there, none able to reach the group.

"That's slightly disturbing," commented Ruul. "Only slightly."

Kairo shook his head. "How much longer before we get to the big beastie with the mask?" he asked Ruul.

Ruul shrugged. "I haven't got a clue."

Leighi scanned the area through the lens of his blade. "Well, the beast doesn't seem to be moving, that is for sure. I haven't detected any of its energy since we entered."

"Onwards then."

Ahead, they pass through what looks like was once an actual room, with flat walls and age-worn pedestals scattered around. They poke around them for a bit, then move on, finding nothing of interest.

They push on for another hour before coming to the remains of a large wooden door. A lock, rusted beyond recognition, lies on the ground.

"The Hero of Time probably passed through here." Observed Ruul.

"We must be getting close."

"About time," Kairo said. "I feel like we've been here for days. Do you think we should stop to eat before we go any further?" he asked.

"We didn't eat all that long ago... But I suppose being safe is better."

Leighi nodded. "Better to fight on a full stomach."

The group shared an unceremonious snack of cold meat and some fruit. They hadn't packed anything for a long journey, figuring they would be in and out before a day went by.

"Alright, ready?" Ruul asked as he stowed his portion.

Kairo nodded as he swallowed the last of his fruit. "Let's go," he said.

The group stepped into a large oval cave. Actually, 'huge' would be more accurate. A hole in the center of the ceiling allows light to filter in, dimly illuminating the cavern, and informing the group that the sun is just beginning to set.

The most notable feature of the room, however, is the massive hole in the center. It spans most of the length and width of the cavern's floor, and drops down into dim near-darkness below.

Ruul careful edged towards it and peered over.

"Hear that?" he whispered.

There's a faint rumbling sound, like a growl, but soft, with breaks in it, like breathing.

The source is nowhere to be seen, though.

"You think it's coming from down there?" Kairo asked as he too, leaned to peer over the edge of the drop.

Leighi nodded. "The sound is definitely coming from that direction. I believe it is safe to assume that it belongs to our target."

Kairo smiled and rolled his shoulders. It felt like it had been a while since the last battle, he was just glad it was warmer in here than outside.

Ruul ensured they were all ready, then gave a whistle.

The rumbling stopped brusquely, leaving the room silent, before a roar ripped through the air.

"Someone's cranky," Ruul muttered.

A figure crawled into view in the darkness below. Another reptilian creature, this time with longer, more dexterous legs, its fore ones ending in wings, although its wing membranes hang only in scraps, rendering them useless.

Its snout extended in front of it almost half the length of its body, tapering almost to a tip. As it snapped its jaws, rows of tiny, blade-like teeth became visible.

It fixed the small group with a pale, pearl-like eye and uttered another roar before launching into the air, landing on the opposite side of the gaping chasm.

Kairo watched as the monster climbed out of the hole. "Wow," he said as he looked at the long snout and frayed wings. "Big beastie. It's a good thing I'm not scared of things with sharp teeth."
"What about those claws, though..." Ruul held up his axe defensively. Lucky for him, the room was colder than most of the other parts of the cave this deep, and ice was plentiful. He'd have little trouble fighting in this environment. "And the pit. Careful not to fall down that."
"I'm not scared of falling either, it's the sudden stop at the end of the fall that gets me," Kairo said with a smirk as he pulled out his knives. If it came down to a close combat fight he wanted to be ready.
Leighi took a good look at the beast before it roared trying to check for weakspots, however the roar was loud enough to disrupt the process and giving him a headache. Without any clue's he conjured a Light chakram and took a neutral battle position. "Man, I really hope he doesn't do that more often. Those roars hurt my ears and break my concentration."
"Hopefully that's the only damage it does to you," Kairo said. "Any ideas on how to defeat it?" he asked.
Ruul considered their options. The beast was observing them from the other side of the chasm the way a snake might look at a mouse. They could split up and make for more difficult targets, or stick together to be more defensive. Considering its jumping skill, the latter seemed like the better choice. "Stick together, at least for now. Keep looking for weak spots and fend it off as best you can. It lives in the cold, so fire might keep it at bay."
Kairo nodded, not worrying too much about keeping control of his flames was a good thing, at least he thought so, the only real worry he had was the others being caught up in the blast.
Leighi kept looking at the beast although he couldn't spot any weakspots or previous injuries on the beast he also knew his light magic wouldn't be enough, so he started thinking about the abilities of the others.
Kairo gathered flames in the palm of his hands and threw the balls of fire at the beast, aiming for its head.
The monster roared at the balls of fire, at first taking them as opponents, but as they made contact with its mouth, it roared and snapped, backing away and swiping at the air with frightening speed.
After Kairo threw a few fireballs an idea started to pop into Leighi's mind. "Say Ruul, how well can you manipulate the form you..." The roar of the beast reached Leighi's ears and the headache cameback. "AAAH, I wish he stopped doing that." He turned towards where the beast was and tried to follow his movements to dodge a possible attack.
"Well, we know the thing's fast," Kairo said as he watched the beast swipe the air in front of its face. "You guys figured anything else out yet?"
"Other than the fact I don't want to get close to it while its claws are primed, no. What were you going to say, Leighi?"
"How well can you manipulate the form you are creating if it's made out of ice to make a lens or something, so that I can fire extremely focussed light beams at him."
"Theoretically--" Ruul's answer is interrupted by the rumble of crumbling rock as the monster digs its wing-claws into the wall and begins to climb. Ruul's eyes didn't leave the beast as he continued. "Theoretically, I can manipulate everything perfectly with enough time. Thing is, I don't know much about lenses, so I don't think I can help on my own."
"I don't think now is the time to test that theory," Kairo said as he watched the monster. "That thing looks like it's getting ready to attack."
Leighi planted his blade into the stone and started to make his chakram bigger. "If you still want to try making a lens, the hilt of my blade is fused with the lens of truth. It would be a good example but for now let's see if we can hinder this beast." With that Leighi threw the chakram. While flying the ring became thicker while it started to have an opening on one side and flew towards the monster's mouth.
Seeing the projectile flying at it, and understanding it likely wasn't an opponent, (oh screw it) Frostelus threw itself higher up the wall, letting the Chakram collide with the spot it had been a moment before.
Ruul picked up the sword and studied the lens a little. "This might take a few tries..."
"So should we just keep it busy?" Kairo asked.
"Well, for now it seems that it won't let us get close to it, so we can't see it very well. So firing projectiles at it would be the best thing to do for now. The moment the chakram his the wall, the light scattered and came back to Leighi.
"At least it's big. If you keep shooting light at it, we might get a better view."
"Alrighty then," Kairo said as he gathered more flames to throw. He knew most of them would miss but the idea wasn't just to hit it, it was to cast light around the area where the beast was.
Leighi gathered the light from the chakram in his hand and fired a wide beam of light allowing them to clearly see what was on that part of the wall, he tried to spot the beast before searching for it with the ray of light and possibly anger it while they can't see it.
Another roar split the air, and the Frostelus scrambled away from the light, reaching the ceiling. The glowing attacks lit up its dark-blue shape, giving the group a brief moment to see it was headed in their direction.
Ruul tore a chunk of ice off the wall with his magic and held it in his hand. After a brief moment of concentraction, the ice began to crackle as bits of it fragmented and rearranged, creating slowly forming disk-like shape.
Leighi conpressed the light beam in a ball and threw it towards the monster, making sure it would always land in front of it. While he threw it he yelled "COVER YOUR EYES!" He pulled his hood over his eyes and jumped away to the side.
Kairo covered his eyes.
Ruul turned away from the attack and continued trying to shape the lens.
The moment the ball his the ground a blinding flash of light, strenghtened by the ice on the walls and ceiling, shone through the etire cave surely blinding everything that looked directly at it.
Ruul still had to close his eyes, even looking away. The Frostelus, on the other hand, was enraged. Flailing blindly, it lost its hold on the ceiling and plummeted straight back into the chasm in the floor. Its echoing roars and the sound of claws on rock could be heard as it recovered from the shock.
The sudden sounds overwelmed Leighi and had the same effect on him as the ball of light had on the monster and he fell down to his knees. "I really hope he's still blind when he comes out of that chasm, otherwise I might be in some serious trouble." Although he was saying that he started to create another huge chakram.
"Maybe if I keep throwing fire at it while it's down there it'll stay down there," Kairo said.
"It'd probably be easier to spot its weak points down there too. And I don't want to know what it was intending on doing on the ceiling."
"Right-o," Kairo said as he once again threw fireball after fireball into the chasm.
There's more roaring- though for some reason it's more of a hiss now- and stone-crushing as the beast flails.
Unfortunately, the idea seems to backfire as the Frostelus leaps blindly out of the chasm, eyes firmly shut. It lands several yards to the right of the group, offering a rather clear view of its side.
It's dark blue from head to toe, with thick skin that forms plate-like structures in places. Its wings seem to be the least defended area of its body. It also has a thin, wispy tail ending with what looks like a dangerously sharp crystal.
Leighi, having recovered from the sound of claw on rock and the roars, knew he had to do something to the mobility of the monster and morphed the chakram into 4 light balls, each fired a beam of light. The 4 light beams headed to the knee and shoulder joints, Leighi hoped it would slow it down a bit so that they would have an easier time attacking it.
The Frostelus shook its head, still trying to clear its blurred vision. As the light balls connect, it rears back and collapses on the floor, kicking blindly, its claws coming dangerously close to the group.
Ruul jumps back and fumbles the almost-finished lens before getting a grip on it. "Looks like it felt that!"
"Yeah but where?" Kairo asked. "Shoulders or knees?"
"Well that's easy to figure out, currently I'm quite drained and I want to keep at least enough power for a light beam with the lens so could you throw fire balls at his shoulders, since his legs are currently moving so that would be the harder target."
Kairo complied and gathered fire in his hands to throw at the beasats shoulders, when he thought it was suitably big enough, he launched the fireball at it.
The fireball scored a glancing blow at the thrashing dragon-like-thing. It uttered another roar of fury and rose up on its hind legs, its eyes apparently recovered enough to see the group.
"I think this is it!" Ruul held out the lens toward Leighi. "I make no promises though, just don't drop it, it'll be easier to change if it's closer to the desired shape." He looked up at the monster. "Before that, though... RUN!"
Leighi took the lens and ran towards his blade, he put his blade away and started to focus all of his remaining light on the tip of his finger.
Kairo ran backwards, throwing more fire at the monster's shoulders as he ran.
The Frostelus took a slow step towards the group, then another, wobbling enough to cause Kairo's attack to go wide. After two steps, it stopped and opened its mouth, inhaling deeply.
Leighi seeing his change took the lens "Ruul, Now!" He threw the lens into the air knowing that Ruul would move it toward the weakspot of the beast. So he aimed his finger at the beasts shoulder and waited.
It took Ruul a moment to realize what Leighi wanted, but he acted as quickly as he could as soon as he did, aiming it to refract the light roughly at its shoulder.
Leighi fired his beam through the lens, although it was already focussed the lens focussed it even more, some power was kept inside of the lens but most of it was heading towards the shoulder of the beast.
Ruul quick adjusted the trajectory to aim it perfectly, piercing right through the weak point. With a sickening crunch, the entire limb came apart from the rest of the body, sliding into the hole below.
Rather than bellow, the Frostelus froze in place, appearing to go into catatonic shock.
Ruul didn't take the time to wonder if they had to get both limbs off, calling back the lens and altering its shape to be as sharp and sturdy as possible. "Kairo, keep attacking."
Kairo began throwing fireballs again. He almost wished that he had already learned how to throw a stream of flames instead.
Leighi, drained, dropped to the ground with some of the power left in his body he drew his blade and threw it towards the beast hoping to hit something important before passing out from exaustion.
The Frostelus screamed again as each fireball hit, though each roar grew fainter than the one before. "Stop," called Ruul. When Kairo did, he flung the reinforced ice blade at the badly burned weak point, shearing through the cooked flesh and finishing the job. The Blade of truth thudded against the tough hide just shy of the weak spot.
Well and truly finished, the Frostelus closed its eyes and fell silent.
Panting heavily and feeling weak from using his magic so much, Kairo turned to Ruul. "Good job," he said as he leaned against the closest wall.
"Hehe, you're a lot handier with fire than your made yourself out to be." Ruul commented.
Like with the giant lizard on Crescent Island, the Frostelus' skin began to turn grey and fall apart.
Ruul turned to Leighi and saw him collapsed on the ground. "Oh!" He rushed to kneel by him. "He must've passed out from overusing his magic." Glazalfr magic didn't work like that, but he'd been around enough to see similar effects. He took the Sheikah's hands and slid him as gently as he could manage onto his back. "See if you can find the mask, please."
Kairo dug around in the remains of the monster and after a few seconds pulled out the mask. "This mask?" he asked holding it up for Ruul to see. "Or are you gonna tell me that this thing has another one hidden away?"
The mask looks like a multi-faceted piece of black metal, though it shines as if it were covered in ice.
"Wouldn't that be nice, getting two in one go?"
"Sure," Kairo said as he headed towards the door. "Now let's get out of here."
"Hang on, what's that?"
A faint blue glow rises from the monster's back. As its body continues to crumble, more of the glow becomes clear. The ashes scatter in a nonexistent wind, leaving a wide circle of the strange glowing aura.
"...What?"

"You think maybe someone else was supposed to defeat it?" Kairo asked.

"I thought that's why we time traveled," Ruul responded with a grin. It quickly faded into a curious but serious stare, "I wonder if it might heal us... or maybe replenish Leighi's magic..."

"Woah, time out," Kairo said making a giant "X" with his arms. "You can't seriously want to go into that thing, It could do anything to us."

"But it's blue," teased Ruul. He looked around for a moment and called over a fragment of ice. "Let's see what happens."

He tossed the piece into the light, and it fell onto the floor and broke into even smaller pieces. In any case, it didn't do anything to ice.

"That means nothing," Kairo said as he stared at the fragmented ice.

"Yeah. In any case, I don't think it does anything to inanimate objects... The real question is what kind of magic is at work here... It could be a trap by Fenrir... or something related to the masks..."

"But why would Fenrir leave a trap? He doesn't even know we're going after the masks yet, does he?"

"Not if he hasn't run into one of the groups, no." Ruul cast a look around the cave, looking for signs of life.

"I think we should leave it," Kairo said backing away slightly. "There's no reason for us to experiment with it so we should just go."

"But man, it took hours for us to get here. And I... we have to carry Leighi until he recovers, too."