[center][color=darkgreen][h3]Linkle[/h3][/color] [color=darkgreen][b] Level 5[/b][/color] - (31/50) + 3 [color=darkgreen][b]Location:[/b][/color] Lumbridge ~ Guild Hall ---> The Darkest Steppe [color=darkgreen][b]Word Count: 1480 [/b][/color] [/center] [@Stekkmen][@Lugubrious] [hr] "Hmmm?" Linkle said, looking down as Tora wriggled out of Poppi's arms and admired her new look. Seeing Poppi also checking her out she took the opportunity to spread her mantle out and, with a slight effort, pirouetted in a little circle for them. "I was thinking about the fish." She admitted. The prospect of a quick and dirty way to learn how to swim appealed to her. "Gills would be fun, but I'd probably just end up with those big old eyes." She put her hands to her face and, using her finger and thumb, pulled the skin of her eyelid away and darted her eyes from side to side for emphasis. Having her hearing supercharged was trouble enough, thank you very much. She didn't need to also go blind every time she looked to close at a torch. She also caught sight of Tora's new shine stone, and was disappointed it hadn't transformed him into 7ft stunner. Her thoughts were interrupted by the boom of Bowser's voice and the snap of his claw. His rabbit minion appeared in a flash and sardonically went about his work, pulling up a chair and pouring rejuvenating green magic into her. She let out a satisfied sigh as it closed up cuts and chased the stiffness from her bones. She rolled her shoulder where the spear wound used to be, the reached over and scratched Heel at the base of his ears. "Thanks buddy, I forgot you could do that." She looked up at Bowser as he imperiously ordered anyone else who hadn't presented injuries to get over here and let the rabbit fix them. "Thanks a lot your majesty." [hr] It wasn't long after that that the Princess poked her head in and, like the schedule oriented mother to Bowsers worried father, told them she had brought the car around. So the group heads out, Linkle happily piling into the back with Geralt and the boy she'd come to know as Ace. Still, she got the feeling something was missing. She looked over the side, but what she saw following along behind them was Agoston in his drill cart. She'd expected to see a magic goat with its enchanting rider keeping pace, but it wasn't there. "I guess Din decided to sit this one out, huh?" She said aloud. Maybe she wanted to give an after dimmer encore while everyone was still mostly gathered? Linkle didn't blame her. Reliable as she was Din never seemed like that much of a fighter. Linkle was sure that whatever she was doing was helping them in her own way. Despite that bit of disappointment the mood in the back of the truck was pretty jovial as they made their way further from the town. The sun set as they rolled along, but the truck came equipped with giant lights that banished all darkness in front of it and the cool of the night air rushing past might have been uncomfortable if it wasn't for her wardrobe upgrade. The Ace took the time to make conversation, introduce himself (to which Linkle responded in, laying out the whole Hero of Hyrule deal in the process), and really make sure that Geralt didn't actually know him. "Maybe you met him in a previous life." She suggested. "You took up monster hunting in this one, so you might have been a witch man too in the last." They tore up a field of where and headed out onto a prairie. Conversation died down as the Ace started working with herbs and vials and than Linkle standing up at the familiar squeaking of a flock of Keese and taking two dozen potshots as the black winged mass to make sure they steered clear of the truck the night was calm. "They're so annoying." She wished there was something she could do to make preparations for what was coming, but her only talent was fighting things. Maybe her new passenger knew things like potions or cooking, but as she looked around in her head for things she hadn't know how to do before taking her in Linkle couldn't find anything. Right now she really wished she'd been smart enough to ask Ryu what this girl could do when they had fought. She glanced at the hair blowing in her face. Red? Why had it added some red? She'd had blue hair in the spirit, right? [hr] It didn't surprise her the the land starred to become significantly less pleasant out past the hamlet of what she'd taken for bokoblins before rationalizing that bokoblins didn't build hamlets. She still thought it was a bad omen, and she was soon proven correct. The smell was weird, the chill was uncomfortable, and even the stars weren't right. It felt otherworldly. That might have been an oxymoron given the circumstances, but it was the only word that came to mind besides "weird." It didn't feel like a place where things lived. It certainly didn't feel like you were supposed to be here. Their prey disagreed with her. They followed its tracks by the light of fireflies, big heavy footprints buried in the grey and cracking earth. Everything else in this place had been petrified, from the plants to the...oh, those weren't statues out in the fields, were they? There were houses and farms. People. People used to live here. Had their quarry done all this? They pulled up at the base of a hill and as the rumble of the truck came to a stop she could clearly hear something groaning. Peach and the others sitting in the cab hopped out and the others climbed over the side of the bed. Linkle followed after, crunching the petrified grass as she landed. Curiously, she toed at some beside her feet and watched it crumble into nothing. She shook her head. Then she saw Euden drop off the undercarriage of the truck. "Wha-" she stammered in surprise as the by walked up. "Euden, if you wanted to come you could have just asked. Did you hold on the whole way? You could have sat in the kart with us." She said in a mixture of impressed disbelief, but even Linkle unconsciously kept her voice to a loud whisper in this place even if she wasn't conscious of it. Still, it took some of the tension that had been building off to get a pleasant surprise in the midst of all this. "Cute hat." She complimented as they began their march up the hill. It turned out to only be a momentary reprieve because as they marched they came upon [i]the color[/i]. It shimmered like a spirit, impossible to describe or look at for more than a short time. Trying to comprehend it made her feel a little sick, and she was even more grateful for the body stocking than before because it meant there was less of a chance that she would come into direct contact with that stuff. They continued on up the hill and found the monster the fireflies were leading them too, asleep in the middle of this alien landscape. Even with the snot green mucus dripping off of its head and hands the thing was still slightly comforting to look at. It felt natural, like a living animal, and that was all it took to make it stick out like a sore thumb in this place. She didn't think it was responcible for this destruction. But then, why had it come here? She thought they might be able to get the drop on it, but those hopes were dashed when a different monster, alive with color, burst out of the mill at the top of the hill and shrieked into the night. A shrike that Linkle felt herself echo as pure, unnatural terror stabbed its way deep into her heart. She was breathing heavy as she felt herself bolstered by the Centurion. The man beat his word like a war drum and let out a rallying cry before charging up toward the mill and the The Thing. Linkle had to admit, it was a fortifying sight. The Ace felt that way to apparently, because he pushed his way rough the group and quickly laid down what the now awoken Brachydios was capable of before charging in, Geralt right behind him. Linkle didn't want to get blown up again, but more importantly she wanted to see Agoston tear that freakish amalgamation into its individual parts. Leaving the monster hunting to the monster hunting professionals she charged after Agoston to help deal with the interloper. Agoaton was fast, but at a dead sprint she was faster. She overtook the man as he was deckng one of the husk like farmhands and unloaded on the monsters in front of them with a salvo of arrows and bombs to clear their path to the Thing.