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[b][color=Aquamarine]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1,514 (+3) 
[b][color=Aquamarine]Midna: level 3[/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aquamarine]////[/color]//////////////////////////////////// (4/40)
[b][color=Aquamarine]Location:[/color][/b] Sandswept Sky – Crown of Sand - Sphinx Temple
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Siren Sands (Flygon): Midna gains sand manipulation abilities that give her the equivalents of the following moves:
Sand Attack: Sprays the target with sand, irritating their eyes and reducing their accuracy
Sand Tomb: Creates a localized sandstorm around the target. Does not do a lot of initial damage, but remains active for ten to twenty second, slowly sapping the target’s strength and bogging them down, preventing them from escaping.
Sand Storm: Whips up a large sandstorm that indiscriminately buffets everyone inside it.

Sand based attacks cannot use naturally occurring sand and instead Midna has to dump sand into the environment from the realm of Twilight. Other than its color this black and silvery sand is mostly normal, except for the fact that it wordlessly “sings” as it flies through the air. Bringing more sand out takes more time: Sand attacks can be hurled out at once straight from a small portal, each sand tomb needs its own brief prep time and a sand storm needs an almighty amount of twilight sand dumped into the environment in-order to be pulled off. Already dumped sand is, of course, reusable, allowing the combining of sand attacks into sand tombs, and then sand tombs into a full blown storm if the princess focuses on using this ability in a fight.
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[color=Aquamarine]”Well aren't you a charmer”[/color] Midna replied, taking Yoshitsune’s in stride with an easy grin. As for his suggestion for adding a bit of combat to the race, Minda was all for it. [color=Aquamarine]”Can’t say I’ll be able to spare your own good looks, I’m so pumped up feel like I could break down the world right now, but I’ll keep my new claws sheathed just for you”[/color] she teased.

With the outlines of the race set the pair, and any others who cared to join, lined up on the impromptu starting line. The princess was fired up and, although she was acclimatizing to the high even the brief wait for them to start was still close to agonizing. So it was that when they did start the princess held nothing back. Her shadow hand came out in a flash and delivered an all mighty shove to try and destabilize Yoshitsune right out the bat, before she took off at a run. And what a run it was. Her new slippers hammered into the stone floor, the princess’s legs were a blur and even with that speed of limb her body moved faster still, each footfall bringing a great leap of motion forwards.

She made great pace for the first two laps, blazing a trail and using her shadow hand to great effect to both block and strike. Indeed the princess was enjoying the on the move duel so much, and was so confident in her new speed, that she focused more on the battle than she did on running for most of the race. Then, halfway through the final lap, she put on a  burst of speed and disengaged the rolling melee in an attempt to sprint to the finish. It was then that the power gained front he dragon dance decided to fail her, crashing away in an instant. So sudden was the disappearance that Midna was unable to handle her own momentum, causing her to trip and crash into the wall, though the impact was more embarrassing than it was actually harmful.

Frustrated, a little dazed, and feeling like she’d just had a sugar crash, Minda made the last leg of the race under her own power, and although her legs had been enhanced by both her fusions they weren't enough to let her beat the motorized samurai. 

[color=Aquamarine]”Yeah it was good till I burned out right at the end like that,”[/color] Midna replied a touch bitterly when the samurai said he’d had fun, before shaking her head clear and saying far more pleasantly [color=Aquamarine]”Really though, it was fun, and was useful too. Going to have to work out why the power went away like that and it's much better to know it does that now than find out in the middle of a fight.”[/color] 

That could wait for a few moments however. For now they were all packing up, picking out items and preparing to get going again. By the time Midna had fully recovered and re-acclimated to not being souped up on dragon power most people had gone through the items and were just about to set off, leaving her to pick through what was left before they headed out.

The results from the myriad of Trapiniches and Vibravas was a large pile of useless (to them) animal bits, which was a touch disappointing, though also educational. The dull fading spirits were good for mass fusing and not much else it seemed. As for the rest of the spirits, and the stuff from the loot boxes, the most notable thing about it all was the large number of hats and other head decorations that came out of it, all of which Midna dismissed out of hand as they could never be more useful than her current headgear. 

That left a small number of other items which Midna gave some consideration. After a bit of experimenting she eventually stuck the monkey sticker on the inside of a Spaulder of the Bat, managed to shove the ‘maglev’ device ‘inside’ it after a few goes and then attached the entire thing to her shoulder via the guard’s straps. The entire arrangement seemed to have various powers, although it took her awhile to work out what any of it was. At the very least it meant she could put the shoulder armor between her and an enemy like a small shield, which might give her slightly better odds of surviving a blow that got past her defenses, without impacting her maneuverability as much as a fulls et of armor would. 

With that all put together the princess set out on foot for once, intending to experiment with her new abilities (it was rather difficult to dance on wolfos back after all) as they traveled. The sandy corridors certainly provided opportunities for this, with giant animals, undead and small wrapped up things with rifles. These mini encounters were mostly straightforward and they allowed Midna to work out the specifics of how the dragon dance power up functioned. Namely it stuck around a short while after the dance and that duration could be extended by being in combat. At the same time running away like she had done when she tried to break away in the race) or just winning the fight would make it end. She also learned it was very, very difficult to set it up before a fight, because someone dancing and exploding with power wasn't exactly subtle and she had to start pumping it up while foes were nearby or it would fall off before they ran into some.

[color=Aquamarine]”I might need to take you up on those pointers”[/color] she said to Primrose after she’d learned all she could about the dance, [color=Aquamarine]”Like how you manage to find the time and nerve to dance while in the middle of a fight. Or how to do it on the move.”[/color]

She also learned to tap into the more earthen side of the Flygon spirit, gaining a strong connection with the ground and, specifically, sand. Unfortunately it wasn't with the light world’s sand but instead with her own. There was probably some kind of elemental philosophy about being connected to the land of your birth involved in as to why, or so Midna assumed, but the gist of the situation was if she brought sand from the Twilight realm to this one she could use it for various sand based attacks. It was very useful for blinding the one eyed gunmen so she could get in close without being shot. It was also cathartic to be on the offensive end of sand based warfare after the nightmare that had been the Flygon’s sandstorm.

Throughout all of this her new Vibrava followed alongside her, scampering or buzzing along and occasionally helping its mistress out when it could or when it was ordered as it too got used to its new powers and position as an aid rather than a ride.

Eventually they reached a sandy slope that would take them out of the structures and back into the sun. The princess did not exactly look forward to going back out, but they couldn't exactly keep track of where the mountain they were headed for was inside either, so out they went. Several of the heroes jumped down and rode the sand before her and, with a sigh, she followed after rhythm. Then she learnt exactly what +30& SLIDE and -30% FRICTION had meant.

[color=Aquamarine]”Make way!”[/color] She yelled at those ahead as she glided down the sand ramp. Partially sliding on the sand, partially floating above it due to the Maglev effect, she accelerated both to and at a frightening speed, forcing her to dodge and weave around those ahead to avoid any collisions. As a result of the hair raising speed she missed out on most of the marvel and wonderment some of the others experienced during their trip down the sand slide. 

Mostly she appreciated that the sun was going down and that the strobe effect the pillars were generating wasn't quite so bad as a result. 

She wasn't the only one who enjoyed that, though the others had their own reasons like admiring the beauty or it being cooler at night. She was just looking forward to being able to see without squinting all the time. 

Sadly the world had other plans. As they set off following the things Joker had called tracks ([color=Aquamarine]”What kind of animal leaves metal bars as tracks?”[/color]) the sun set, and then, seemingly, rose again with a vengeance. Suffice to say this was not a good time for Minda as she, and her wolfos (which she had swapped for the Vibrava in order to avoid more jogging), had to shield their eyes from with hands or paws. Even with this Minda was left bleary eyed and cursing Galeem in her own tongue under her breath after the light had finally died.

[color=Aquamarine]”Whatever it was, I hate it! Please. Goddesses. No more blinding lights at least till morning.”[/color] was all she had to say on the matter when Primrose asked what it was. It wasn't like she had a useful answer to the question anyway.