[center][h1][color=00aeef]Hyrule[/color] [color=darkgreen]Warriors[/color][/h1][/center]
    
    [center]Word Count: 1667 [/center]
    [center][color=00aeef][b]Level 4[/b] [/color] - (34/40) + 2 [/center]

[center][color=darkgreen]Level 9 [/color] - (4/90) + 2[/center] 
    
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[h2][center][color=00aeef]Link[/color][/center][/h2]

[center]Location: The Edge of Blue ~ The Chaotic Sea[/center]   
[@Yankee][@Lugubrious][@Zoey Boey]
[hr]

There were a few things Link had to attend to before he began his undersea assault, the first of which was the Cadet tapping him on the shoulder. At first Link looked at him incredulously, in a "why did you come down here this is the opposite way you should have gone" kind of way, before the Cadet handed something over to him. A liquid swirled around in a bottle. He wasn't sure what it would do exactly, but he was familiar enough with potions himself to recognize one when he saw it. Might have been healing, judging by the Cadets spore trick from yesterday. He nodded and gave the Cadet a big thumbs up as the boy turned and began swimming to the surface, letting the potion vanish into the slate where he could get at it quickly.

Two more things. First, helmet back on. It was dented, but that dent was proof it had saved his life. Next, new shoes on. Unfortunately the slate recognized everything on his lower body as one article of clothing, so he was left with just the new boots and his underwear. That was whatever. It wasn't like the Hylian Trousers would block the abyssals shots or teeth, and he could already feel the reduction in drag from a few experimental flutter kicks. The only downside was that it felt uncomfortable exposed.

He raised his arms and aimed toward the abyssals above him. Maybe, just maybe, he could get one of them to drop the pants.

[hr]

So Link went on the attack, zooming around under the water, keeping pace with the ship easily, and shooting at the exposed underbelly of any abyssal unfortunate enough to ender his range. Of course there comes a time in any surprise attack the enemy realizes what's going on, and the abyssals were no different. Some alarmed peeks beneath the waves by survivors led to diving attacks on the imposter in their midst. Link was fast underwater, but only as fast as any random abyssal and far less experienced with their underwater movement. The little bit of reduced drag more than once was the difference between swimming free and being caught in the jaws of a monster. Link maneuvered as quickly as he was able, keeping the backs of his arms between him and his pursuers whenever possible so that he could block their shots and return fire. When he had to breath he did so in purposely distinctive style, shooting to the surface and breaching several feet into to air to catch a quick breath. Once he had done this what he judged to be enough times that those on the ship could recognize it was him he started leaping for these breaths near the ships gun battery, leading his harassers right into the range of Ms. Fortune's relentless lead assault.

He was just cutting back through the stricken results of one of these displays, grabbing up and smashing at least four of the spirits Ms. Fortune had blown away and crushing them in his quest for pants, when a loud BOOM rocked the waters surface and he watched in horror as one of the ships guns crashed into the water behind him. He was so taken of guard he momentarily forgot about the remains of his pursuers until he saw a few red hot shots whizz past him in the water. He shot forward toward the gun, pulling out the slate and selecting the rune that had appeared in it this morning. 

It a moment the descent of the battery ceased as chains of light wrapped themselves around it, binding the thin in space. He pulled his arms forward, unleashing a withering barrage of artillery fire on the broken piece of equipment, but strangely it didn't seen to react in any way. Link dived, ducking underneath it before maintaining his original course.  

"3..." He counted to himself. Timing was everything for this.

The abyssals followed, right on his tail.

"2..."

He spun and faced them, shields raised, ready to make a stand.

"1!"

Then he suddenly shot up as the battery thundered through the water like a cannon ball, slamming the attacking group in the backs and scattering them like broken nine pins. He watched with pride as they dissolved and the battery sped off into the distance. At least he still had the timing down for [i]that[/i]. He swam after the ship, taking the momentary respite he'd bought himself to notice something odd floating in the water. Curiously he picked it up and squished it a couple of times in his hand. Pliable. Brown. Cylindrical. He turned it over. Yep, that was definably mea..."

A moment later Link burst up from the water and tossed the segment of Ms. Fortune's calf he had found, overarming it back onto the deck like he had Frog and Blazermate. "Sorry!" He shouted, unnaturally pale face slightly red. He shook it. "I mean, are you okay? Is the rest of you still up there, Ms. Fortune?"

It turned out, however, that they had bigger problems to worry about. Much, much, much bigger. In every way. The door they were fighting toward was thrown open and what awaited them on the other side was both a woman and a monster. He looked down at his own hands as the thing reached down and pulled up a squirming horde of abyssals. He suddenly felt very inadequate. That thing could crush Shippy in one hand.

Now that he was on the surface he could hear properly again. The explosion's. The churning of the water. The voice of a girl. He looked over to see Sakura leave on the abyssals floating on the surface, alive but out of the fight. He had passed by a few when he had come close to the surface. So that explained that. It was an indecisive way to do things but he couldn't blame her for it. He had never killed something that looked as human as some of these, at least to his knowledge.

He also couldn't figure out a way to get the giant monsters attention attention away from the Admiral's ship, at least not from a range like this. Luckily for him the old Koopa seemed to have a plan. A ball of light began to float above the circle of wizards, growing bigger and brighter with each passing second. Unfortunately that might as well have been a giant "come kill me" sign. 

"HOI!" He yelled over to Sakura. "Don't let any of them interrupt the spell!" With that Link turned his cannons on the next wave of enemies and let loose, actually standing his ground. They couldn't afford to let any bored this ship right now.

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[h2][center][color=darkgreen]Linkle[/color][/center][/h2]

[h3][center][color=red]Merge Rate:[/color] 30%[/center][/h3]

[center]Location: The previous day, in the Frozen Highlands ~ Snowdin ~ Bar Survive[/center]

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Much like her own words, Albedo's left Linkle with a lot to unpack. The first thing, the quick right hook that had knocked her out of the funk she had fallen into while telling her story and made her sit up, was that comment about her being too pure and good for this world. For the first time today she was made aware of an advantage her lack of blood flow provided, because if the plumbing had been working her face would have been as red as a fresh picked apple. There was a certain implication that, yes, morally speaking the Hero had to be a cut above other people and have a nearly unshakable characters but...just...Goddess, hearing it put like that was embarrassing. Like winning a race because the kid in front of you tripped, it felt wrong. She wasn't that good. She couldn't be that pure. If that was Linkle, than what was Princess Zelda? The Princess would have to be completely inhuman, like the sun shining at the center of the universe.

As far as opening salvos did, though, it performed wonderfully. It was so jarring it knocked all her other thoughts out of Linkle's head and left her open for the rest of what Albedo has to say. That was what really built her back up, and slowly the girl felt herself start smiling again.

"You've got that right." She said confidently, even is she didn't know what a preschool was. "I've been at this ever since I could hold a slingshot." She pounded on her chest, right above where he heart would be. "Now way this thing will ever get the better of me. You're right. It's just like the Stranger. If you're invincible why try more than you have to, right? Just wait." Linkle hadn't even been close to starting to give up. No way. [i]No Way![/i] It was just nice having someone else confirm it with stuff like reason and logic. The Skull Heart had just noticed a tiny chink in her heart and gone for it, but that only proved its desperation. It was just a starving animal scratching at her door.

"Still, I don't think I can beat it by swapping bodies like that." She said, a little more level headed than before. "Even if there were enough really bad people to gather the dust from I don't think I would be the same after doing it. The way you described it I might just come out of it evil anyway from all that evil dust. So it looks like I just have to find the right seam and give it a tug."

Suddenly, a thought occurred. Spurned on by this talk of their imperfect world Linkle looked him in the eye. "Right! That reminds me. I still haven't told you anything about the world." She knocked her knuckle against the side of her skull. "Sorry, I lost the track a little. Get ready for this, because before you wouldn't have believed it. First of all, what's the last thing that you remember before you were brought to this world?"