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DarayAPP 1:22 PM The craft of the renegade Sheikah drifts over the sea north of Lon-Lon Ranch. Daray and Artifa were able to stop there and stock up, since NOBODY SEEMS TO BE COMING TO THE POOR RANCHERS' RESCUE. >.> Now they're positioning themselves over Hyrule Castle to put Artifa's plan into motion. Daray does some limbering exercises. "Time for more diving, I suppose...do you expect we'll find any usable air pockets down there?"
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ArtifaAPP 2:04 AM "Anything useful? Hard to say. These waters aren't exactly friendly. Just look at the color," Artifa points out how much different it is from the rest of their travels. Much like Lake Hylia, this place suffered in some form too. "I imagine the taint that covered the land still affects what's around it. We'll have to be mindful of which areas to move into." She adjusted her belongings and made sure the timeshift stone was secured.
"Given it is the town ruins, I imagine there are places that have held some air somewhere. We'll find it by watching where bubbles cluster and rise. " Performing some exercises of her own, she eventually finishes up and takes her dive into the water. It's a long dive to get to the Temple of Time.
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DarayAPP 3:11 PM Daray ponders. The timeshift stone changes the surrounding area to be in the past, right? And for most of the time in the past, all this water they're currently sitting on was air, more or less. So if they were to activate the stone a little ways from the boat, they would suddenly be surrounded by air and go into a freefall. The stone would continually keep them in air and thus falling, which would be a Bad Thing once they reached the ground...but if they deactivate the stone partway down, they'd suddenly be in water again, as if they'd done a high dive. Shoot, they could do it multiple times on the way down, braking and falling and taking a quick breath. Won't help much on the way back /up/, but it would make getting down a lot quicker and easier.
...Or they could just rely on their Sheikah training and swim down the ordinary way, as Artifa does before Daray can voice his idea. e.e; Ah well. Daray back-dives into the water and dolphins after Artifa.
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ArtifaAPP 12:30 AM
Doing things the easy way? No, that's for people who don't do science!
The dive was intentional, of course. It was a way to study the lay of the land or the waters, as it were. Where Hyrule Castle used to be hosted a fountain of its own. Much like the waters bursting forth from Lake Hylia from the goddesses intervention, so was there malice present from Ganondorf's influence. She wasn't entirely sure how much it would interact with the timeshift stone as it did have the tendency to 'change' things. Its properties were enough that monsters could become mutated. She figured the same could be extended to objects such as the one she had. She wasn't certain activating it would be in her best interests just yet.
Besides, they had to make their way to the Temple of Time. Sure, Hyrule Castle Town was just as afflicted with Malice, but even from here, the temple was standing and its shadow was visible in the distance.
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DarayAPP 6:53 PM Daray keeps swimming. Not much else to do, he's just following Artifa at this point. Hmmm, guess that means his player has to spoof something to justify this pose. Something...to give the scene some challenge. >)
The malice does indeed have a tendency to transmogrify what it doesn't outright kill. Quite often the results are grotesque and terrifying. Every so often, though, it produces something a little less visually imposing...though perhaps all the more dangerous for it. Like the huge, bulbous fish currently patrolling the waters near the Temple of Time...a dimwitted but ravenous creature whose thought patterns go 'swim swim hungry, swim swim hungry...'
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ArtifaAPP 10:48 PM Naturally, a place as significant as the temple would find some beasts attracted to it. Its size alone was enough to house some creatures and keep them protected from others that would seek to destroy them. Like the fish that's currently wandering around outside its gardens.
Artifa wasn't in quite the mood to fight such a thing. It was large, for one and fully capable of swallowing them. The deep held many mysteries, one of which they'd already fought off before and just barely. Although, she imagines that she'll have to employ a similar strategy as before. Find it something it can chow down on that isn't them.
Although, it may be in their better interest to find some air to work with. She can see bubbles rising up from below, but can't make out where they're coming from. She decides to follow the trail to mark it as a checkpoint.
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DarayAPP 6:28 PM Checkpoints are good. They let you start over from a spot that's not too far back should things go horribly wrong. Oh wait, that's if you're a hero...which Daray and Artifa decidedly aren't. e.e Nevermind, checkpoints stink.
Meanwhile, speaking of bubbles...the dopefish spots a smaller denizen of the deep and displays a startling burst of speed in closing the distance to it, maw spread cavernously. The little fish is enveloped before it knows what's going on, and the dopefish grins for a second then lets out a large air bubble in a satisfied, watery BlURP. Then it forgets that it ate anything, because after all, it is as always hungry.
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ArtifaAPP 10:31 PM Fear is something that is natural to the body and mind. It's used to keep you alive and out of danger and yet, gone too far can lead you straight into the latter. In worse cases, it can bring an untimely end to someone or something. With this in mind, Artifa has to maintain her better senses after having witnessed the dopefish consume something and take great pleasure in doing so only to act as if t hadn't eaten anything at all. This creature was the exact definition of a divine joke. What were the goddesses thinking in making such a thing?
Her fascination is tempered for concern of becoming its next meal should she draw too close. Gaining some footing on the ocean floor, she alights and moves forward slowly, using the ruins and foliage here as a means to hide from the dopefish's presence. Bubbles, now rising up in a slower rate are just up the way, provided by an unknowingly helpful clam basking in the waters. Hope it's not bladed...
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DarayAPP 8:10 PM Being an assassin requires a very peculiar headspace. The entire point is that you will attempt to do things that are difficult and dangerous and typically against the way society has set things up to work. This means that you are unlikely to last very long if you do not have an obsessive dedication to preparing for your undertakings and tilting the situation as far as you possibly can toward your own advantage. On the other hand, if you aren't willing and mentally able to take significant risks, you'll never even attempt your missions, and very often you have split-seconds in which to take advantage of vital opportunities.
Which is why, when Daray spots a swarm of biri nearby, he makes a swift decision to swim over and deliberately provoke them. The electric jellyfish ripple instinctively toward the disturbance in the water, their stinging tendrils spreading to catch prey. Daray back-crawls just out of reach of their paralyzing caress, enticing them to follow. Before too long they're close enough for the dopefish to take notice. Preeeetty lights. 8} Also, hungry.
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ArtifaAPP 2:18 AM Sending biri to their inevitable doom. Still, better them than them to be targeted. Artifa watches Daray and once he's created a clearing, she darts towards the clam, the thankfully un-bladed clam, and waits for it to open up. While not readily opening for having sensed the disturbance in the water due to her movements, when she settles, it restarts into its rhythm. Opening wide, a bubble rises up from within and floats above it. Taking the opportunity presented, she pushes forward and pops her head within to take in as much air as she can. Reaching its limit, the bubble pops.
She gestures for Daray to come along and claim some air before they make their way to their next stop. If it could be said to be one. From the ruins here, there's only rubble and dust between them and their path. The town is still very much plagued by malice. Plant and wildlife afflicted by it have taken on mutated forms that, while not all are dangerous, some are. Along with the dopefish, some other vile creatures swim around down here. Massive, angry eels, bone fish, the occasional like-like and much more have made their home here.
DarayAPP 6:04 PM Timing his movement carefully, Daray stops swimming and curls up to sink downward. A green mass rushes over him to engulf the first biri. Mmm, zzzpicy. :dopefishburp: It's noted about dopefish in some tome of lore somewhere, 'They'll eat anything alive and moving near them, though they prefer heroes.' In this instance, it's lucky for Daray that he's not a hero.
Leaving the dopefish to its extended snack, Daray swims back over to Artifa and gets a lungful of fresh air. From an animal, which presumably filters oxygen from the water and exhales carbon dioxide. Yeah, best not think about it too much. Daray then follows Artifa's lead in their continued subaquatic sojourn, one kama drawn to deal with the smaller threats that might get too aggressive.
ArtifaAPP 3:03 PM It's easy to think a fish of such a large size couldn't move that quickly. But that's for people who don't understand fish. Artifa spent enough time at Lake Hylia, swimming around in the ruins beneath its surface, becoming acquainted with various lifeforms that made their home there. None grew as big as the dopefish, but the same principles still tended to apply for most of them. Their bodies were made for this sort of thing.
That in mind, having to cross an empty landscape with that thing on their heels will not be pleasant. With sickle in hand, she darts out into the murky waters, cutting at the first bonefish that swings around, chattering in her path. The fish separates and its pieces float to the seabed to drift in the current. It's a straight path to the town below, so to speak. The Temple won't be far from them now, though the path is mired with dangers.
DarayAPP 11:03 PM More good news regarding the dopefish -- it hasn't got the brains to pursue anything farther away than it can swim during one cycle of its thought process. By the time it finishes relocating the biri swarm to its interior, Daray and Artifa are well out of range. It resumes swimming randomly in search of a meal, because it just realized it's hungry.
Daray cuts a couple bonefish himself as they plunge forward. Funny how they seem to just pull together out of nowhere. But then, they're obviously not actually alive, so they fall under the general heading of 'magic makes it happen'. And there's certainly enough of that sort of magic down here.
When they reach the Temple of Time, Daray ponders irreverently bashing in a window rather than swimming down to the doors and wresting them open...but no, those panes don't look big enough to swim through. e.e So he descends to open the door like a normal person...only underwater, which is weirdly tricky. It's actually easier to set his feet against one door while pulling on the other rather than put them on the ground, since the floatation minimizes his ability to make friction with what's below him. But soon enough the door pivots open, allowing the pair of renegade Sheikah to slip in and find air pockets up above. Ah, vaulted ceiling, did your architect ever imagine you would one day provide breathable gas collection for aquatic explorers?
ArtifaAPP 11:13 PM Artifa takes a nice, good breath when she surfaces, the bag with the stone sloshing around at her side beneath the water. "Now I'll have to set this in place..." She takes a few moments to contain herself before searching for the area she'd need to place the stone at. Once she locked onto the location, she swam down and settled the stone nearby some rubble, using it to stabilize it for the purpose it'd serve. Sometime ago, this section of the temple had a portal in it. She suspects that by striking this stone, she can set the conditions for that portal to make a return.
Once the stone was in place, she took her sickle and struck it, a bright light flashes from beneath the waters and covers the temple in a soft, blue glue. A bubble expands outward from the rubble, repairing the damages to the area and returning it to what it once was at some point in the past. The section, being under the influence of the past now, causes the former Sheikah to drop from the water and onto a dry, solid floor. "Now, let's see if this portal will make a return..." She muttered to herself. She had a hard hunch, but it was just that, a hunch. The magic was still here. Triforce magic doesn't just disappear that easily.
GanondorfAPP 1:28 AM As it stands, this is not the first time that the King of Evil has relied upon this accursed Temple to free himself of the nether. Stuck in a place between dimensions, Dragmire had been floating aimlessly, forever spouting curses at the Gods and Goddesses that saw fit to not only destroy his world, but to force his imprisonment. Over and over he had recalled the encounter with Majora, his only way of escape being to throw himself into the divide between realms to recover and think on his next act. With all his might he had managed to contact those who were most loyal, and in doing so set forth the plan to hatch his release.
Artifa and Daray had braved crushing ocean depths, collapsing Yiga bases, ravaging magical storms and even mighty, mutated monsters to get here. As the stone is struck and time is wound back, the energies that linger in the Temple charge as something contacts it from a different plane. The entire area feels hotter, before, eventually, a portal shimmers to life. The pink and purple swirling energies of the gateway lash out, the contents of the world between dimensions revealing its nastiness for brief moments of time.
...then He steps out.
In his regal armour of black and gold, his figure 'chnks' just a little bit as he exits the nasty realm like he's walking out of an Inn. The crease above his brow is deep, the thin line that is his mouth is turned into a slight frown as his body crackles with the remnants of nasty magical energy that he left behind. As the portal gasps for life following Ganondorf's exit, it sputters and spurts, before eventually closing entirely. All that's left is the King.
With a hard expression, the male Gerudo looks to Daray and Artifa before him, before his mouth widens from its frown and into a great smile. "HA! HA! HA! HA!" With a fresh breath of oxygen, Ganondorf clenches his fists, gauntlets closing in on each other before slowly loosening. "...Faithful ones. You have met expectations."
ArtifaAPP 3:01 AM Artifa has to admit, she was only riding on a chance that'd it work. Sure, she looked into these stones, but it was no guarantee that it would function. However, it seems that whatever guess she had was right as the portal crackled to life before her and the area filled with Ganondorf's presence before he stepped through. There was a thrill welling up within her at her work having found some new purpose and managing to free him from his temporary prison! She couldn't have asked for any greater compliment than to see her efforts bear fruit!
Not too beyond herself to ignore the King of Evil, she knelt before him saying, "I am pleased to see my efforts were not in vain. However, there is one small problem," she gestured to the stone, raising her head to look at it. "This stone can only hold this time for as long as it is active. Once it is deactivated, the area will return to its current state. And, as you have no doubt ascertained, it only affects a small portion of the area. Leaving outside of its influence will reintroduce us back to the sea floor and the ruins of the town." She proceeded to stand to her feet. "The good news is as follows. So long as we remain in its influence, any area it touches will revert to a past state and should allow us to travel relatively unhindered until we decide to deactivate it."
She approached the glowing stone and shifted the rubble off of it carefully. "I say relatively because I still have more work to do on this stone. I only know what it can do. I don't know if anything else can affect its abilities yet."
DarayAPP 7:40 PM Daray swims down with Artifa to the staging area for her little experiment. Wouldn't be fun to be caught outside the time bubble when it activates. It would basically look like Artifa and the stone just disappeared, and Daray would be left floating, wondering whether she's coming back or left from within the past time. e.e
The time bubble is a welcome change in environment. It's dry, warm, and sort of weirdly, well-lit. Even though the windows providing that light are outside the bubble, light continuously enters the area from the past to which it is now connected.
And then, the purpose of their quest is fulfilled.
'Met expectations'. Yup, that's about the highest praise you can expect from your evil overlord. Ranks just above 'Good night minion, good work, sleep well, I'll most likely kill you in the morning.'
Daray kneels too of course, in the one-fist-to-the-ground style of a ninja. "My King," he reports. "Most of Hyrule is now underwater. We have established a stronghold at the ranch in the middle of Hyrule Field. The remnants of the Yiga await your orders there."
GanondorfAPP 9:50 PM "I can see that." Ganondorf notes, regarding the news that most of Hyrule being underwater. Given that they were, in fact, underwater.
The two kneeling beings before him are eyed carefully, before he takes in the scene around him. "There is much to do, and little time to do it. The Yiga still serve a purpose, despite the new tidings of the land. We shall integrate them with the remaining survivors all over. Once the landscape returns to how it was, they will be well-placed to remain hidden in plain view and work for us on the inside." The man grunts. "I have no business ruling over a sea. I shall have Hyrule, but how it was intended to be. Not this."
With a callous, yellow-eyed glare, he rounds on the female present , "Tell me more about this 'time' artifact. What governs how much time has passed? The range of it? How long it stays active for?" The questions come thick and fast. "If I struck this object with enough magic to boost its natural properties, what would happen?"
ArtifaAPP 1:21 AM Artifa considered the questions, ruminating on each one carefully. "I am not certain what governs how much time has passed. I had hoped to determine that, but from what I have gathered, the range of its reach possibly depends on its level of refinement and its size. This stone is enough to affect a sizable area, but my notes have shown that there are others that can affect entire landscapes at their greatest ability," she explained. "I am uncertain how it resonates with magic, but I suspect that the energies it contains may respond to it."
She looks over the stone and then to Ganondorf. "This is the only one I've found, but I suspect others exist across Hyrule. Therefore, it is the only one we can test with. I am not against taking risks to determine what it can do and in your hands, it would prove more capable than it could in my own, I imagine."
GanondorfAPP 9:00 PM "I do not need to tell you that these stones could very well act as a key for Hyrule to return to how it once was. You tell me that you struck it here, using the lingering magic that the Temple of Time possesses." The King's yellow eyes swivel to his surroundings, eyeballing the 'sphere' of life that they stand within. It was a strange sight, to be sure, but not too unnerving.
"If there are others across Hyrule, then we can afford to be reckless with our experimentation of this stone. Daray," He orders, looking at the male servant before him. "You are going to strike this stone on my mark. Artifa, you are going to observe and monitor what happens. I need your analytical mind on what is happening, observing every small detail. Is that clear?" Without waiting for an answer from either of them, Dragmire strides over to the stone in place. Raising a gauntlet-covered fist, he begins to swell with power as his reaches deep into his pool of magic. His body radiates power, causing the very Temple that they stand in to quake in an unsturdy fashion. "Hnnnngh," Through gritted teeth Ganondorf focuses, the Triforce of Power glowing brightly on the back of his gauntlet.
Beneath the time shift stone, a ring of glowing, arcane words slowly comes into view. The inscription can be seen seemingly forged into the stone floor of the Temple, radiating with a similar power to that which Ganondorf himself exuded just moments before.
"Now, Daray. Do it now."
MajoraAPP 6:11 AM Not in the Temple, but in the sunken palace not far away, the dark god watches. heh, doesn’t stay down, does he? Though, his meddling with time could certainly be of use.
DarayAPP 4:50 PM Funny how magic sometimes involves words like that. Casters chant spells, or sometimes use scrolls with the spells written on them. This kind of situation is sort of the reverse, with the magic making words appear. Are they doing that as part of the process, like they're needed as a scaffolding to support the main effect being worked toward, or are they sort of a side effect, like the magic is so powerful it's visibly manifesting its own 'meaning' in glowing letters? Well, Daray's not about to mess with Big G's concentration to ask about something like that, especially since he's only interested in magic for practical purposes himself. e.e Maybe he'll pick Artifa's brain about it later.
Daray takes a lightly-crouched, one-foot-forward stance with one kama held high gripped in both hands. It's the sort of stance you'd expect to see from a longsword fighter and frankly is a bit awkward with a kama, but when you've got an inanimate, non-moving target that's reasonably large, you can afford to trade all your dexterity for power. On Ganondorf's command, Daray whips the blade down to strike against the stone.
ArtifaAPP 5:46 PM "Understood." Artifa stood back and observed as instructed. She looked between Daray and the stone while it was being overtaken and charged with magic. The stone itself glowed blue, but its energies were stirred within and the glow took on a bright, fuchsia glow upon being struck with the kama. The tint of the bubble took on a similar hue of the stone, expanding outward aggressively as it encompassed more of the area. What was under the water was now engulfed in the bubble and now under its effect.
The stone held out for as long as it could under the influence, but its surface began to crack and spread along its width. As it reached its peak, the whole of the temple and some areas beyond were affected before it broke. The time bubble maintained briefly before it tore apart, starting from a small hole and falling back with its mouth widening.
Artifa, having watched the event, took all the mental notes she could and gathered up pieces of the stone that managed to break and fall away, now swirling with a faint shade of the magic before flickering out.
GanondorfAPP 7:30 PM The King of Evil watches as the time shift stone magic expands dramatically once Daray hits it. The inscription beneath slowly fades from view as the stone seemingly draws upon it as a source of fuel, soon disappearing entirely from view. The entire Temple is drawn into its sphere, followed by the Castle... the courtyard... and even slightly beyond. Ganondorf watches with his usual intensity, scowling a bit as the 'bubble' stops its growth, either having exhausted the magic that the King set, or come to its own finite limits.
The audible crack of the stone earns a devilish look from Dragmire, as if the thing had somehow betrayed him. With the stone now broken, the bubble was starting to shrink rapidly. Should they not act, the trio will once again be under water!
"...very well." Ganondorf mutters, having seen the limits of what a stone of such size could do. "We leave at once." Extending a palm in front of his being, Ganondorf brings to life a portal. It looks much like the one he strode out of just before, only this one isn't rippling with violent, purple bolts of energy. It seems much safer - 'calmer' almost. "We move at once." Without any further ado, the tall male Gerudo steps into the ring of crimson-coloured magic, disappearing into whatever realm is beyond. It stays open, seemingly beckoning for Artifa and Daray to follow.
DarayAPP 1:23 PM Daray gives a gentlemanly 'after you' gesture to Artifa. Pfft, yeah, that happened. :P Daray darts through the portal after Ganondorf. He doesn't try to trip Artifa up or anything of course, but she can shift for herself.
ArtifaAPP 5:36 PM Artifa wasn't going to waste any time in here. She gathered what she needed of the time stone remnants and ran through the portal behind Daray. It was a relief to no longer be beneath the waters. No matter what it was, above or below, there was difficulty and trial somewhere, but she figured it was all necessary to see Hyrule through its current developing history.
GanondorfAPP 7:10 PM The portal fizzles out of existence after Artifa passes through, just before the water comes crashing in and around them.