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[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220729/023912a75a8a9b16c801799640a60148.png[/img]

[b]Word Count:[/b] 1,596
[b]Level 8 Ganondorf:[/b] 2/80
[b]Level 10 Roxas:[/b] 72/100
[b]Exp Gained:[/b] +3
[b]NEW EXP Balance---[/b] 5/80, 75/100

[h3][b][u]Frozen Highlands ~ Krat Zoo / Botanical Garden[/u][/b][/h3][/center]

It was very fortunate for Ganondorf that his Flash Fire was active when Mokou’s explosion went off or it would have dealt a great deal of damage to the warlord. What wasn’t so fortunate was his Phantom Steed’s lack of immunity to fire damage. The phantom horse was caught by the blast and dispelled by it, forcing Ganondorf to abandon it early. And worst of all, he wasn’t close enough to the alligator to land on its back like he originally planned. But things only went on for a half a minute longer before the giant beast finally fell. [color=797979]”Good riddance.”[/color]

Roxas was much better off for his part. He wasn’t near enough for the blast to affect him. But it was also clear that Titan and Shocker’s efforts were not as effective as he hoped they’d be. That left him with little room to act other than to watch the beast fall and offer Curaga healing to any Seeker that needed it afterward. Not much in the way of contribution, but at least it was something.

Roxas and Ganondorf both entered the Botanical Garden alongside the stagecoach and other Seekers. And once again, the group almost immediately began splitting off to cover ground. Ganondorf noted that Sandalphon was putting together a strike team party to deal with the Puppetmaster of Death. Normally he would relish the chance to fight a strong opponent, but this time Ganondorf stayed out of it. And Roxas was never the sort to enjoy fighting so in this instance the Nobody decided maybe he’d contribute more by attending to some other objective.

In truth it was a coincidence that the two of them found themselves exploring together once again. Neither spoke for a while, not having been much for conversation with one another. But they dealt with the occasional Arche Puppet just fine, nonetheless. Ganondorf’s raw strength made it easy for him to keep Puppets pinned so that Roxas could go for more surgical strikes against their flanks, either with his Keyblade or with one of his Pokemon such as Scamp or Titan.

Eventually the pair of Seekers found a door leading into another unexplored part of the Botanical Garden. The sign above read “Seed Storage”. [color=Gold]”Seeds? Don’t we need something like this for the Area Guardian?”[/color]

[color=797979]”Mistletoe.”[/color] Ganondorf confirmed with a short nod. He tried the door and found it to be locked tight. [color=797979]”Tch, figures.”[/color] But that was when Roxas stepped up.

[color=Gold]”Leave this to me.”[/color] He said, summoning one of his Keyblades. With a small flourish and tap of the blade on the door, the locks clicked themselves free and the door opened for them. Once again, locked chests and doors were nothing for someone chosen by the Keyblade.

[color=797979]”Hmph.”[/color] Ganondorf grunted with approval as he stepped inside, [color=797979]”Suppose it stands to reason that a weapon called a [i]Key[/i]blade would be enchanted for opening locks.”[/color] He commented, filing the information away in his mind for later.

Upon entering, the two found shelves lining the walls with storage containers bearing labels of various plant species, scientifically labeled but with their common layman names added in brackets. Plants ranged from flowers, to toxic weeds, and even fruits and vegetables. But storage containers were not the only objects in the room. There were also portable tube-like devices labeled as Vegetubes, that according to their instructions were able to act as portable gardens for growing seeds.

But unfortunately, the Seed Storage Room was not unguarded. Sprouting up from a large planter pot in the central most part of the room was what could only be described as a [url=https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FkJiUKtXwAIDvjZ.jpg]sentient plant woman[/url]. She was a bit sickly looking - probably a result of whatever experimentation was going on in this zoo - but otherwise she likely would have been seen as quite a beauty to look at. But while she did indeed look sickly, she did not look like any of the Carcasses. It was possible she was still alive, albeit seemingly feralized as a result of whatever she’d been previously subjected to.

Due to her plant body, Ganondorf almost decided to let loose a stream of draconic fire breath on the Siren but second guessed himself instead. She may very well be vulnerable to flames due to her nature, but obviously the rest of the plants and seeds in the room could also burn should the fire spread and go out of control. And Ganondorf did not want to risk losing access to mistletoe because of a miscalculated fire attack. [color=797979]”Don’t use flames.”[/color] He told Roxas next to him.

Roxas had called out Scamp from his Poke Ball, having initially intended to use a combination of Fire Fang and Firaga Spells. But he paused at Ganondorf’s words, [color=gold]”Why not?”[/color] He asked, but then looked around and remembered the seeds surrounding them before answering his own question. [color=gold]”Oh, right… yeah.”[/color] But he didn’t let himself be deterred as he pointed a finger forward, [color=gold]”Scamp - use Nuzzle!”[/color]

As the Boltund bounded forward at high speed to obey his trainer, Ganondorf’s grip on his spear tightened before he dispelled the weapon from his hands and drew Litania and the Acidic Curved Greatsword that Roxas had previously given him. [color=797979]”Time to clip some hedges.”[/color] He grunted as he strode forward.

Scamp’s speed allowed it to quickly close the distance and get off his attack before the Siren could react. Nuzzle did minimal damage, but inflicted Paralysis. That would hopefully keep the Siren’s attacks sluggish while Ganondorf brought the raw damage. Speaking of which, only now did the Siren manage to attack, summoning thorny pillars beneath the advancing warlord’s feet that nearly knocked him off his footing. So while Ganondorf was forced to cut his way through the thorny barrier, Roxas vanished on the spot.

[color=gold]”Tag!”[/color] Roxas shouted as he reappeared behind the Siren and tagged her with his StepSword. It damaged her a bit, but Roxas was more concerned about it allowing him to close the distance and bypass the thorns that Ganondorf was hacking away at. [color=797979]”Scamp, return!”[/color] Roxas called, narrowly managing to recall his Pokemon before the Siren could attack with a singular thorny pillar. Rather than switch to another Pokemon, Roxas instead unloaded a flurry of Keyblade strikes before a protective barrier of thorny pillars forced him to back off momentarily.

And now Ganondorf cut his way through the thorns, [color=797979]”That won’t stop me!”[/color] He bellowed as he resumed his lunge toward the siren as her thorny barrier subsided. Finally the Gerudo’s blades found their mark, hacking into the Water Lily Siren’s plant body like a machete through thick jungle vines. Ganondorf’s Acidic Greatsword bit into the Siren’s with venomous acid bites on each swing, adding to the building damage against the plant enemy. But the Siren still had tricks to use.

She used her powers to make various seeds nearby rapidly grow into semi-sentient minions that attacked the two Seekers. While Roxas fought off a pair venus flytrap minions, Ganondorf whirled around and sliced a lunging watermelon in two before snatching one of the halves in midair and taking a big satisfying bite out of it. [color=797979]”Delicious.”[/color] He taunted, appreciating the chance for a bite of fresh food to help his biomass regeneration along.

Here was where Roxas had an idea. [color=gold]”Shocker!”[/color] He shouted, calling the Rotom from its Poke Ball. The siren was a plant, so that made Roxas wonder if an ice attack would be effective if the logic he’d learned from training Pokemon held up. And Ice was much less risky toward the seeds in the room as a bonus point. [color=gold]”Use Blizzard!”[/color] The Rotom gave its electronic cry as it unleashed a torrent of wind and snow on the Water Lily Siren.

As the snow formed on spots around her body, the Seekers couldn’t really tell how effective the ice-type attack was. But it was hurting her regardless of whether or not she was elementally weak to the attack. And Ganondorf was keen to continue his onslaught with his Greatswords, letting the Acidic strikes from his curved greatsword continue to add a biting edge to the damage he was stacking on top of Shocker’s Blizzard.

Whether it was by the Blizzard or Ganondorf’s blades, the Water Lily Siren shrieked and cried out as she slowly began to whither and eventually die off, leaving behind her spirit for Ganondorf to bottle and save for later. [color=797979]”Now that that’s out of the way…”[/color] he gestured around the room. [color=797979]”Look for the mistletoe. And I’m thinking the rest of the fruit and vegetable seeds should be sent back to the Avenger with those tubes. Could help them with their foot shortage problem.”[/color]

Roxas nodded, already beginning to read different storage container labels in search of Mistletoe. [color=gold]”Halo? Good news. Me and Ganondorf found a seed storage room that might have mistletoe in it. And it’s got lots of fruit and vegetable seeds and portable Vegetube devices for growing them. Should we bring them back to you to send them back up to the Avenger?”[/color]

Meanwhile, Ganondorf was the one who found the mistletoe seeds and indicated to Roxas that he found them. [color=797979]”That’s the main objective dealt with.”[/color] He said as he then summoned a squad of Moblins to help haul containers of other seeds as well as the Vegetubes back to the stagecoach. Sandalphon could send them back to the Avenger immediately or hold onto them for now and send them later. Either way, the Seekers had just inherited a nice method for replenishing their fruit and vegetable stockpile.