[center][h2][color=darkgreen]Linkle[/color][/h2][/center] [center][color=darkgreen][b]Level 8[/b][/color] - (41/80) + 3 [/center] [center][b]Location:[/b] [color=440e62]The End[/color] ---> [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWc8QvIBxuA]Eryth Sea[/url] [b]Word Count: 1706 [/b] [@DracoLunaris][@Yankee] [/center] [hr] Linkle felt more than saw Bowser's impact with the dragon. From where she was she felt the shutter wrench through the creatures flank before, like a kid playing on a trampoline suddenly joined by a larger kid, it jerked under her and sent her flying off the dragon. She landed on her feet on the yellow stone, giving her a front row view as the dragon built up energy before popping like a balloon, sending a wave of force over her that she needn't have even bothered bracing for. That was the end of Galeem's second guardian. Not with a bang, but with a whimper. Tora's riotous laughter signaled the true end of the battle, revealing that he was the reason that the dragon's final gasp had been so pathetic. The cadet quickly joined in, contributing to the celebratory mood. She watched the Cadet intently as he hefted up Junior and his prize, reviling in the feeling of victory. She wished she could experience that right now. Triumph, relief, joy, even satisfaction with a job well done would be all right. Instead all she felt was cold, barring a slight spike in heart-rate as she felt his eyes swept over her. She at least perked up when the Cadet mentioned their friends being all right back in Lumbridge. "Those cats belong to you?" she asked him, not taking to long too realize what he was talking about with regards to people being carted off. "Useful pets." As if on cue there was suddenly a riotous clucking in the distance as three white shapes began running up to them, the dragon's acid finally cleared up enough so as to allow them passage without burning their little feet. The sight thawed her heart slightly and she bent down to greet them, only for the cucco's to bolt straight past her. She looked behind her, and would have normally been horrified to see various parts of their white feathers scorched back. "No." She said, warping after them. She didn't reach them in time to stop the birds from fluttering up and slamming beak first into his already damaged shoe. They bounced off, of course, but they didn't give up. They threw themselves against it again and again, tearing at whatever part they could get at with their claws before Linkle got there. "Hey, stop that." she said, running up and snatching the leader of the charge out of the air. It struggled in her grip, still desperately trying to get at Bowser like the other two. "Quit." she ordered, turning the bird to face her and staring into her beady little...black eyes? Oh, right. Just a moment ago she'd been sure she was going to have to either heart it or kill it, but no. This little guy had been exposed to the wave the dragon had released when it died. The only thing compelling it to fight was the standard cucco desire for furious vengeance. She almost felt relieved. Sticking the bird under her arm she reached out and scooped up the other two in her long arms, cradling all three as they struggled and watching the sky in anticipation. There didn't seem to be any incoming, though. Maybe more cuccos couldn't hear the call to action in this dark bubble. A dark bubble that was rapidly dissolving from the looks of it. Beams of bright sunlight streamed down into the void as the darkness dissipated, revealing a startlingly beautiful view of a sparkling sea surrounded by mountains. In the distance islands like these floated above the water, a few man made structures set atop some. Unfortunately those islands were much better at floating than these. Linkle felt the now familiar sensation of freefall as the island they were on lost its fight with gravity and began falling toward the sea. Her feet lifted off the island as the island began accelerating, the furiously flapping of the Cucco's in her arms causing her to fall slightly slower than the rest of the island. She looked around at her friends, ready to toss one to anybody in need to slow their descent. [hr] [hr] [center][h1][color=00aeef]Link[/color][/h1][/center] [center][color=00aeef][b] LEVEL UP!!! Level 3[/b][/color] - (2/30) + 3 [/center] [hider=Link Acquires] [center][i]Riding[/i][/center] [center]Link can ride most unintelligent creatures capable of bearing him, even wild ones provided he possesses the stamina to break them, along with cars and motorcycles.[/center] [/hider] [center][b]Location:[/b] Lumbridge[/center] [hr] Link watched through his viewfinder as the red dragon flew further and further away, carrying with it the boy he’d been carted to this village with, a brave girl, and any hope he’d had of getting back to the battle in the timely manner. [b][i]SNAP[/i][/b] It wasn’t even the best picture of people riding a dragon he’d taken today, but he registered it anyway. He had to admit, hearing a cry of “DRAGON!” had been the most energizing wake up call he could have gotten considering recent events. It had cut through the haze and confusion he’d had upon waking up in an instant, silencing all the pertinent questions such as “Where am I?” and “Did I die again?” going through his mind as he looked around what seemed to be a quaint, lovely village. Him and the other blond kid had gotten up with a start, hands on their weapons as they’d hopped down from the carts they’d been pulled in on, all ready to defend the town from the wrathful attack of what he assumed to be a monster. Those assumptions had been challenged when they’d gotten a good look at the dragon and his erstwhile companions' whole demeanor had changed. He went from stalwart and ready to brave any danger to...amazingingly, sheepish and embarrassed. Less like he was about to fight a monster and more like he was about to tell a family member to please, [i]please[/i], put their pants back on and sit down. Just the sight of it was enough to rob the situation of all its urgency, and Link had slowed down to drift at the back of the assembled fighters as the boy had pushed his way through. This had been a mistake for three reasons. The first is that he wasn’t able to capture a good picture of the dragon’s when it was still sitting on the ground. The second was that he didn’t have a front row view of her transformation and subsequent loving assault on her darling, though from what he could hear it had been exactly as embarrassing as the boy had dreaded. The last, and most pressing, is that when the dragon had offered to fly him back to the fight it wasn’t Link that convinced her there was room for one more. Instead he heard a young girl speak up asking to be taken to the fight. It had been at that point Link had started shoving his way through the crowd, but by the time he’d broken through the people in front the dragon had already taken off, leaving him to stare plaintively after them. He signed in frustration as he lowered the Sheikah Slate. He wasn’t so frustrated at being left behind. All things considered, it might have been a better idea for him to stay out of the fight now that he’d been extracted from it. He looked down at his shield arm and gave a few swipes through the air, the practiced motion of his parry. He decided that something definitely felt off about it. He knew exactly what that technique was capable of. Even if it couldn't have stopped the dragon's tail outright he felt like it should have done something to mitigate the impact. Instead his shield had shattered on impact as though he hadn’t even tried. His diminishment, it seemed, went far beyond the runes on his slate being wiped out. If he went rushing back it was likely the most he’d contribute was being a body in need of protection. Whatever those cats were he was lucky they had intervened on his behalf, but he couldn't expect things like that to save him. Haste makes waste. If you weren't careful the thing it wasted was you. At some point, when he’d been trekking across Hyrule loaded down with powers and gear, he’d forgotten that. He prayed that it was something the girl that had taken his place on that dragon understood because she had no idea what she was flying into. Right now, though, he had another problem. A familiar one: how did he proceed from here? He supposed the first thing he should do was get his bearings. Where was he? Where had he been? How long had he been out this time? What could he do at this moment? The best thing he could do was ask the townsfolk what they knew. Luckily for him as he turned to face the disseminating crowd he spotted a familiar face. Well, not so much the face but it would take a fool not to at least recognize the boy’s weapon. It was very distinctive, and he’d gotten a good look at it when the boy had stepped to the edge of the cliff right before Galeem’s light had wiped them all out. Since the Sheikah Slate was already in his hands anyway he snapped a quick picture of the red, strangely blunt blade before catching up to him. “Hey.” He called out, falling into step beside him. “Shulk, right? It’s Link. We were on the cliff together. It’s good to see you made it out. Could you tell me where I am? I just got carted in with him,” He pointed out the red spec in the sky that represented Euden and his lady friends. “And he didn’t have any time to tell me.”