[center][h2][color=blue]Hyrule[/color] [color=darkgreen]Warriors[/color][/h2][/center] [center][color=blue][b] Level 2[/b][/color] - (16/20) + 6 [/center] [center][color=darkgreen][b] Level Up! Level 8[/b][/color] - (9/80) + 6 [/center] [center][b]Location:[/b] [color=purple]The End[/color] [b]Word Count: 2363 [/b] [@DracoLunaris] [/center] [hr] Linkle took a few deep breaths as she felt the rush of magic fade, but she didn't have much time to get her bearing back. She was after all standing eye to eye with a creature the size of her entire village, a fact she felt keenly as there was a thrust of upward momentum that nearly sent her stumbling off its snout as the creature broke free of Bowser's grip and began rising into the sky again. All it would have to do was move it's head to send her spinning away into the void. It wasn't the dragon that knocked her off though. At least, not directly. Linkle heard a familiar voice on the wind getting closer and closer, one word extended into a battle cry. It was the vocal equivalent of pulling back your foot for a particularly good kick. "Poppiiiiii....." Linkle never saw the Blade, but she definitely felt her. The shockwave of her impact traveled up the behemoths snout and crawled on skultula like legs all the way up to her thighs. She was going to turn around and give Poppi some praise but the second impact knocked the dragon's head up and sent Linkle careening forward, rolling over the top of its skull as it thrashed in pain and sending her sliding down its back. She tried to dig in her heels to arrest her fall as she plunged down the near vertical slide but there was nowhere to find purchase even among the bumps created by the creatures scales. She was just falling too fast. Surrendering herself to gravity, Linkle made the best of her situation. "Woooooo-hooooooo!" She shouted, her voice mostly lost to the air rushing past her ears. Pointing her crossbows forward she peppered the dragons wings as she shot past them on what was possibly the greatest slide of her life. She slid and slid, down the back and onto the tail where the movement of the dragon finally caused her to slide off the edge and send her free falling toward the biggest splotch of white in this world of darkness and off-yellow. Right before her impact with Bowser's hat she vanished, reappeared in the air about a stones throw straight up from her previous position, spun in the air firing her crossbows to break her momentum, and landed perfectly on her feet with a commanding view of the battlefield. [hr] Link went from satisfaction at how precisely he had placed his shot to amazement at the wide array of attacks his companions let loose on the dragon's head. The dragon seemed to have enough, though, ripping itself from Bowser's clutches and pulling out a tooth in the process. Even as he winced he stared in awe as the Guardian girl hammered into the dragon, hammering it with a one-two punch that returned the favor by sending several of the beast's teeth spiraling to the ground. Link's eyes followed them down, making a note of where they landed out of habit, before looking back up just in time to catch the girl losing a leg and Linkle sliding down its back. He didn't have the kind of time he needed to worry about that, though. He steeled himself as the dragon beat its wings and spun through the air. It's tail whipped like a scythe across the tops of the spires and he only had moments to think before it swept over his own spire, leaving nothing but a fading "HYAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa!" on the wind in its wake. [hr] Linkle had perhaps the best spot in the house to view the Koopa strategy, a blazing bombardment of minions that lit up the sky like miniature suns. She almost started laughing until she saw where the balls that didn't strike the dragon were going to touch down. "Hey!" She shouted, running to the edge of Bowser's hat and jumping down to the brim where he had a better chance of hearing her. "You have to watch where you're aiming. Over there is-" It was too late, though, as Bowser began stomping around trying to crush the swarm of monsters that were now converging around his feet. Linkle groaned. She had just started thinking these guys weren't all that bad. They had been a largely neutral force up till this moment. Now there was nothing for it, she was going to have to kill them. She had already seen first hand today that they would never stop now that battle had been joined. She jumped down to Bowser's shoulder. "If you cooked my cucco's too I'm going to be [i]so mad[/i]!" She took the time to shout into his ear before leaping off to the side of Koopa King Jr and Kamek weren't on and leveling a flying kick at one of the creatures as she fell. Her foot impacted for just a moment before the creature vanished, the momentum causing Linkle to skid forward a little ways before coming to a stop. In front of her stood the monster she had kicked, a strange expression on its ghastly face. It looked simultaneously sad and bewildered as it stared at her, the sort of look a kicked dog gives its owner afterwards. Betrayal, from a place where it wasn't considered possible. Ender had struck ender. "Don't give me that look." Linkle said in clear discomfort, pointing her bows at the thing. "I told you guys to leave." The creature's expression changed as it recognized what was happening, it's mouth opening wide and vicious. Even if Galeem hadn't been compelling it to fight it still would have out of sheer anger. It warped again, showing up right in Linkle's face with its talons raised above its head. When it brought them down, though, she wasn't there anymore. The enderman heard the release of bowstring behind it as a piercing pain struck it in the back, causing it to warp again to a safer position. The bolt that had stuck between what passes for the endermans shoulders hadn't been the only one Linkle had fired, however. She faced Bowser's shoe and waved the crossbows back and forth sending a stream of crossbow bolts at the Endermen she hadn't gotten the attention of yet. With every bolt that dug in or clipped an enderman they warped away, leaving her other bolts to plink harmlessly off Bowser's shoe. They stood about the island now, in a crude half circle around her. All looking at her. All wearing that same mask of betrayal. She could feel their eyes boring into her. It didn't want to make her scream and run. It didn't make her want to kill them all. Nevertheless, there was a horrible pressure to it. One of them suddenly warped, and Linkle's face was filled with Enderman. She ducked as it brought its claws around, dodging under its hug-like attack, only to be blocked as another appeared in her path. She warped again as its claws ripped the stone apart where she'd been standing, but had to jump back as another appeared in front of her. Then another, appearing mid jump, slashed at her in the air. She shot out her leg, kicking back off the creature as its talons ripped gashes in her shoulders. The attack wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, as the creature vanished as soon as her foot connected. As she landed another appeared, and she did the smart thing and warped to a new location. Another followed her, but as soon as it appeared she lodged a bolt in its chest that sent it warping away. It was just as quickly replaced, and Linkle reflexively shot this one too. The bolt, though, struck the block of off-yellow stone the creature held in its talons. It dropped it and struck, Linkle catching a cut across the cheek as she dodged back only for another to appear inside the first one's reach and stab forward with its arm. Linkle was about to kick at this one when another appeared over the attackers shoulder, bringing its own claw down. Mid-kick Linkle warped away, right behind one of them. She slammed her boot into its back, but again the monster warped away before it could take the full brunt of the attack. It was immediately replaced by three more attackers, simultaneously warping in and slashing at her in a semi-circle, forcing her to warp again. It went on like this. Warp, attack, warp, evade, attack, warp. It was a dance, just like any fight with multiple foes. Unfortunately, it was a dance the Enderman were much more experienced at than her. They piled on aggressively, not giving her even a moment to rest, and unlike her they seemed able to warp as many times as they liked with no ill effects. Every time Linkle reappeared it took her just a moment longer to orient herself, leaving her vulnerable to the relentless claws of the mad Endermen. If it wasn't for the fact that they seemed to attack exclusively head on she had no doubt the cuts that marked her body right now would be much deeper, but it wasn't as though she could land many substantial blows either. They vanished the moment they felt any pain, replaced with a new opponent. At least she thought it was a new one. Because of the disorienting nature of the fight she wasn't even sure how many enemies there [i]were[/i] anymore, or which had taken the most damage. It was a war of attrition, a war that they would win if she couldn't figure out a way to deal some serious damage to them. She needed time to think, figure out where she was, and come up with some kind of plan. She warped again, but this time held her ground. She raised up her arms, her hair flashing blue even as her pursuers appeared. They struck, but all their claws found this time was the wall of clear ice that had sprung up in front of Linkle. As the monsters reeled back Linkle took a deep breath and got her bearings. Her eyes scanned the island, looking for anything that could help her deal with these monsters. When she spotted it she wanted to kick herself it was so simple. As they stepped around the wall to try and claw her again she smiled, and warped. This time it was different, though. She didn't stop to attack, or evade, or try and change direction. She warped again and again toward her target in a straight line, a target so big and stark that even if she veered off course she could find it in an instant. Finally she stopped and waited. Like before the monsters appeared before her in a squad of three, arms raised. Linkle was ready for them. As their claws descended on her she ducked, slammed her palms to the ground, and concentrated. Ice suddenly sprang up around the group of endermen, quickly growing and engulfing the monsters into solid ice crystals. Linkle was just as surprised as the enderman at how quickly the ice had entombed their bodies, but she didn't have long to admire her handiwork as she quickly warped out of the danger zone. Of course, the ice prison probably wouldn't hold them for long. Linkle hadn't tried trapping them in ice earlier because she figured they could just warp out of it and keep chasing her. There was no point in trapping them if it wouldn't kill them at the same time. That's what Bowser was for. A moment after she warped away the giant stomping foot she had lured them under came down like the wrath on an angry god, crushing the Endermen into nothing but ash and spirits. Linkle didn't stop to watch, not just because another group of Endermen were attacking but because she didn't want to think that the one that had helped her up on the island might have been underfoot. She warped again, dodging monstrous claws as she heard the sound of Bowser's foot lift up. As she warped underfoot again the Endermen seemed more hesitant to follow her. That was fine. She compelled a few to come and get her with some crossbow bolts and repeated the process. [hr] The wind and pressure dug into Link, trying to dislodge his iron grip from the dragon's tail as he was flung through the air at speeds he had never before experienced. His arms screamed at him, all his joints begging and pleading as they struggled not to pop out all at once; what in the world did he think he was doing!?! He wanted to scream back that, like it or not, this was really the only way. He couldn't have climbed down the tower, it was too steep and smooth and with nothing to get a grip on the wind wall would have sent him flying regardless. In the best case someone would have to rush to catch him. In the worst he was sent flying over the edge to certain doom. Even the middle option, hitting the ground and then no doubt tumbling along it like a boulder rolling down a mountain, didn't appeal to him. So as the dragon had attacked he'd done the only thing he could think of to save his life: grab the tail. As it had come rushing at him he'd pulled out the shield Linkle had given him and jumped to meet it. The impact had caused the shield to shatter into fragments of blue light, but he had been counting on that. The force from the shield shattering provided him with a cushion against the force of the dragons attack, a force that still made lights dance in front of his eyes. His hands, though, had worked on instinct. Even though this dragon's hide looked like the strange stone it was far more easily grasped. His hands found the perfect places to dig in and hold on as the dragon flung him through the air. After that, it was just a matter of holding on until it tired just like any animal.