[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/546056855978377216/858843614732615700/hgtrfed.png[/img][/center]

[center]Word Count: 1388 [/center]

[center][color=00aeef][b]Level 5[/b] [/color] - (92/50) + 2[/center]

[center][color=darkgreen]Level 9 [/color] - (75/90) + 2[/center] 

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[center][h1][color=00aeef]Link[/color][/h1][/center]

[center]Location: The Bottomless Sea ~ The Maw - Local [i]Antoine's[/i] franchise [/center] 

[@Potemking][@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN]

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They were lucky to have Mirage, who not only caused this big kitchen pile up but stopped them from being seen when the fat man just looked over the edge and got them up to the sausage links with that dart gun of his. He was the last to start climbing, figuring if anyone was going to be caught by an errant eyeball it should be the one most prepared to do some stabbing, but was up and on his way as soon as there was room for him. 

The meat was greasy, but it was also squishy enough to get a grip and Link had never fallen off something provided he could still grip it. It was more tiring than normal pulling himself up link by link, hand over hand, but what he saw when he crested the top and pulled himself up onto the second floor rekindle the roaring fire in his belly.

There were the girls, strung up over a open flame. Bella was hanging limp, Rika was crying, Sakura looked like she was trying to hold everything together, and it took every ounce of willpower he had left to keep from running up and stabbing that towering Hinox of a man right this instant. 

Link slunk backwards to where Mirage and Geralt had taken up position, never taking his eyes off the butcher. Mirage was right, he wouldn't want Bella to die. If you died there wasn't any [i]meat[/i] left, just ash and a spirit. They still had to be smart. It would be an awful thing to get this close and then fail at the last moment.

"Not his ankle." He whispered to Geralt. "I'll get his ankle. Go for the throat, the back of his neck, anything that would make it harder for him to call for help." He brandished the knife, gripped it with both hands, and made ready to sprint out there and cut. Somewhere out there something was exploding. Something had caused a fresh bout of chaos down in the lower kitchen. Maybe it was the others putting their own plans into action, so that even if they failed not all hope was lost. That was heartening, but not important in the moment. Right now the only things that existed were them, the girls, and the fat man.

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[center][h1][color=darkgreen]Linkle[/color][/h1][/center]

[center][h2][color=red]Merge Rate: 32%[/color][/h2][/center]

[center]Location: Frozen Highlands - Alpine Skyline ~ Wildwood Glades[/center]

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Albedo's answer confirmed two things for Linkle. First of all, he would definitely be a dog if he had picked her out via smell when they first met. Second, that she had definitely misinterpreted most of what the boy had told her yesterday and now he pro[color=ed1c24]ba[/color]bl[color=ed1c24]y[/color] [color=ed1c24]kn[/color]ew [color=ed1c24]that. Maybe she should just keep her mouth shut and do what she was told, how many people must think the hero of Hyrule was a fool from listening to her stupid id-[/color]

Linkle nixed the thought as soon as she figured out it wasn't one of hers, sending the whisper that had risen to prominence shrinking back into the mire of white noise pooling in the back of her skull. Something in their tenor had changed when they got down here. They were on edge, like a bunch of wasps buzzing around in anticipation of an attack. Maybe it was how peaceful and full of life the glade was? If that was the case, maybe the first part of her idea had some merit. A nice little animal murder shattering the tranquility would be the perfect comfort to the Skull Heart. 

Right?

She could imagine she heard a tinge of irritation in the whispers now, but focused on Albedo's last question instead. 

"Hydro-whatsit?" she said, scratching her head. This one, though, she put together from context clues. "Oh yeah, that thing. Those are great, I've been in two since I got to this world. I'm bringing those back to Hyrule if I can."

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So Albedo couldn't see how much Dendro people had, and it wouldn't have mattered even if he could with all these trees around, but he didn't think the rest of what she had suggested was bad. She had made at least enough sense to convince him that the animal hunting plan was a no go, but that left them with no plan but to find a high place and have a look around. Considering where they were she could consider that entirely a bad thing. The splendor of the glade was broken only by the insistent buzzing only she could hear, which only seemed to intercify as they walked deeper and deeper into the glade. That and her occasional bewilderment at the bizarre animals. 

On their way to the tree they had spotted there were deer, and foxes, and rabbits, and the ordinary stuff you would expect to find in a forest like this. Then there were ones Linkle had a hart time believing were even real. Fancifully colored animals that looked hand crafted foraged in the bush, and a band of rounded creatures bounced along past them like chu jelly as though they weren't frightened at all by the two intruders. More than once she saw the alchemist start to slow, his eye wandering to a piece of natural beauty before marching on. Linkle dutifully took a photo of whatever it was she thought his eyes had landed on and handed them off to him as they walked to put in his notebook.

One photo, taken from the top of the tree that had been their initial destination, was of particular interest. "I don't know what makes water red like that." She said as the pair of them looked over the photo of the mysterious island. "I don't think it's a lake of blood. If this were the Dead Zone maybe, but I can't imagine a blood lake here."

Albedo postulated that the architecture on the island was similar to something in his world, and she was about to ask about what sort of people they were when they were interrupted by the voice of a woman. She looked up to see an ordinary looking woman, albeit one that looked more suited to living off the land than any in her old village. She was about to answer when Albedo beat her to it, giving her a not quite lie that confused her for a moment. The woman seemed to accept it, though, before turning her suspicious on Linkle. Not without good reason, Linkle totally got that. She had, after all, just used the fact that she had skulls for eyes as an intimidation point. Still, when the woman had looked into her eyes she couldn't bring herself to hold the gaze and glanced down under the weight of it. 

"I'm Linkle." She started, looking back up sheepishly. "I know I don't look like it right now, but I'm actually part of a line of legendary heroes back in my world. I've been traveling around with a bunch of friends since I got to this one, fighting evil and righting wrongs and hero stuff, but when we went to a place called the Dead Zone I got tricked into making a wish on a talking skull and got super cursed and now it lives in my chest. But ever since it ate my heart the only thing its been able to do is taunt me and show up as a weird shadow one time that only I could see. That's it. It can't do anything unless it convinces me to do something and I don't do what it tells me. I'll do the opposite just to make it mad." She was doing so right now as a matter of fact, the buzzing in her head intensifying the longer she spoke to this woman. The skull heart really didn't seem to like her. 

Linkle shrugged her shoulder where the rifle was hanging, trying to fend off the headache that had started building. "Do you want to hold my stuff? You can carry my crossbows and this gun if you don't trust me. I can do ice magic too, but the bows and the gun both shoot fire so I think it would even out? Please, we really do have to meet this lady."