[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/546056855978377216/858843614732615700/hgtrfed.png[/img][/center] [center]Word Count: 1766 [/center] [center][color=00aeef][b]Level 5[/b] [/color] - (94/50) + 3[/center] [center][color=darkgreen]Level 9 [/color] - (77/90) + 3[/center] [hr][hr] [center][h1][color=00aeef]Link[/color][/h1][/center] [center]Location: The Bottomless Sea ~ The Maw - Local [i]Antoine's[/i] franchise [/center] [hr] Link had, to his knowledge, never before slain a man. This wasn't through lack of effort on his part. He had considered, one starry night as he had warmed himself by his campfire, that he must have done so at some point in his murky past. His battles with the ever persistent Yiga were a testament to that, the finely developed memories of his muscles never once hesitating to bring the fullness of his blade against what were undoubtedly one of the races of men. The Yiga, however, never saw any reason to pursue a battle to the death. Their expertise in the art of the quick escape, and misadventure in the case of the clans bumbling leader, had always relieved him of the responsibility of striking the decisive blow. So when the Koopa's impromptu bomb gave Bella, that clever girl, the opportunity she had been waiting for and she locked her jaws around that disgusting mans neck there was no hesitation in Link's soul when he charged forth to support her. As he sprinted across the floor he let out a high pitched "HYAAAA!" He spun as he drew close to the fat mans leg, adding rotational power to the chop aimed at the tendon in his ankle, and drew the knife across the butchers weak spot. It got stuck in the fat, but a few jerks back and forth along with Geralt's nail to the other ankle ensured that the behemoth would never stand again. He dove out of the way as the fat man thundered to the floor, the Abyssal's jaws still clamped around his throat. A single shot from that powerful tail of her should have been the end of it. Instead things began to go very strange. As the koopas filed in, Glen bringing up their rear and keeping watch over the doorway they had blown open, Mirage stumbled backwards. The boy struck himself repeatedly with his dart gun in a display that gave Link pause. Bella suffered no such reticence about finishing the man off, but drove her tail mouth into his chest with greedy abandon. That little pokemon of Juniors arrived as well, tearing into the wound of the fat mans neck? No, not as such. What were those licking noises? He looked up as the lights began to flicker ominously, and on the tip of his tongue he thought he could taste something sweet in the air. Intoxicating, gently pulling him toward the madness of the scene in front of him. It was Sakura, newly freed that brought him to his senses and put a description to what he was witnessing. Don't eat him. Those three simple words brought clarity to what he was seeing. Indeed, the Abyssal seemed completely uninterested in striking a killing blow and the rhythmic [i]snap, snap, snap,[/i] of those disturbingly humanlike jaws suddenly took on an aspect too horrifying to ignore. He was reminded of his desperate fight for survival in the flooded lower decks of Shippy earlier that day, being trapped in the dark water and gnawed at by ocean monsters. If those things had been blessed with faces would they have resembled the face he could make out on Bella between the flickering of the lights? He knew what he had to do. He gripped the knife and darted forward again, leaping for the butchers head and driving the mans own blade deep into his left eye. Eyes were always weak points. He left it there as he scrabbled upwards, crawling up folds of fat and bloody apron onto his bulging stomach, until he reached the girl. As he approached he had a premonition of that tail rounding on him, blood red chunks falling from it's mouth as it sensed new prey approaching, but he ignored that. He had left his blade behind for a reason. "Bella." He said, reaching out to grasp the girls wrists to forcibly redirect her attention. Only then did he really notice how much larger the girl was than before, easily large enough to throw him away. "It's done. There are still four more chefs down there. You're not a monster, don't stop thinking. We have to get out of this place." He pleaded. Link had, to his knowledge, never before slain a man. This was something he still considered to be true. That monster he was standing on hadn't counted. It would be a unforgivable shame if Bella, lost to gluttonous madness, ended up being the first. [hr][hr] [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] [hr][hr] Linkle felt herself relax more and more as the woman spoke, the apprehension about her appearance fading away. Linkle had always placed a lot of value on her appearance. Not for vanities sake, but because she needed to project the appearance of a hero to those around her. That was one of her responsibilities. She had thought that her new look and circumstances would tarnish not only her reputation but the reputation of the Hero as a concept, and though it had been met with suspicion and apprehension a few times the people of this frozen land generally accepted her as she presented herself. A heroes soul shined through the muck. She would have to take that to heart. She was taken out of her thoughts as the woman approached and wrapped her arms around her. There was a sharp increase in volume from her unwelcome passenger, but then blissful warmth chased the whispers away until there was only silence. "Oh, you can do this too." She mumbled dreamily, leaning in and resting her head on the kind ladies chest without really meaning too. It was like the statue of Hylia before, but more importantly in reminded her of grandma. Goddesses above, forget about the skull heart and its tricks. How long had it been since someone had simply held her like this? She had no idea. She had stopped counting years after the old woman had died. As the embrace came to an end Linkle found herself reaching out slightly, like a babe seeking the warmth of her mothers arms, before the lady placed her hands on her shoulders and saved her from that awkwardness by stopping her. It turned out the woman did know the witch of the woods and was happy to accompany them there. "Yes. Thank you very much." Linkle said to her request. As they set off through the wood Linkle only hesitated slightly, just long enough to wipe a tear from her eye before Albedo could spot it and worry. As they traveled the woman, who Linkle realized with some slight embarrassment had never introduced herself, inquired about Linkle's life before the whole world of light business came about. In particular, about what had forged her into the hero she was today. "That's easy. A Grandma that loved me enough to never let me doubt it, but not enough that she let me get away with everything." Linkle repeated her love of Hyrule joyously, the small farming village she had grown up in, the local excitement when the villagers gathered ship their goods off to the nearby Castle Town, the greater excitement when they retuned with the laden with the latest goods from Castle Towns big market, and the old woman that come to save Linkle's life. "I never really knew her before, but my mom and dad passed away when I was still really young. So there I was, scared, confused, shutting myself in my room all day, when this old lady I couldn't remember blows in like a tornado. 'Where's my grandaughter!? Somebody take me to my girl!' I can hear her all the way from the village gate she was so loud. And the funny thing is, when she burst into my room, she was smaller than I was. And I was [i]little[/i]!" Linkle sighed nostalgically. "She took over the farm immediately. Kept coming and asking for my help. 'How much do you suppose we feed these birds, Linkle?' 'Show me how you clean this coop, Linkle?' 'What's the best way to bathe them, Linkle?' She knew everything already, I'm sure of it, but she would always go 'ah, I see, interesting, interesting, is that how it is' and do whatever I said. I think it was just her way of getting my mind off everything and start moving again. Soon it was like she had always been around, like it had just always been me and her. She swooped in and made everything right again. We would stay up talking for hours. She told me everything that she knew about the gods, and how they loved us, and Hyrule, and how Hyrule loved us even if it doesn't seem like it all time. You know, there are hearts that just pop out of the grass sometimes? You can touch them and the heal you right away. Grandma said that was Hyrule's love, bubbling right out of the ground." "She gave me my first slingshot, too. Saved up some money to special order it." Linkle mimed the action of holding one up and pulling back the string. "She said a girl had to be at least a little rambunctious. Then I saw our neighbor Nido stealing milk one day and thwacked him right in the head with a rock. He ran home crying to mother and grandma boxed my ears and went 'not that rambunctious!' I'm lucky she took it for a few years. I probably would have tried to kill Wolfoes with it and gotten eaten if she hadn't. I started doing that after she gave it back, but by that time I was bigger and knew how to take care of myself. She knew I was doing it, though, and by that time she only gave me grief if I came in hurt. After the fourth or fifth time she went into the storage room where she kept all her old stuff and handed me her old crossbows. Told me if I was going to keep this up I should go out with something better than a kids toy. I hadn't even know she could shoot. I only got the hang of shooting them after coming to this world, but she could shoot the wings off a fly. I saw her do it at a festival once." Linkle giggled at the memory. "So I guess if you want to beat an evil skull, it's easy. Just be raised by a woman that can do anything."