The Scoundrels of Virtue

[Franne 2]

(( I saw, I'll send you the docs when I have the time! And Elway, you can still return if you want to ))

 

Maia's stomach twisted and she felt lightheaded. Her breathing was quick and raspy.

Don't faint. Be brave, the girl told herself.

The others stood ready with their weapons, and Maia inhaled deeply. She grabbed her sword, and despite her legs shaking violently, she tried to stand strong. 

What if they would all die? They couldn't possibly win from such a creature, could they? But if they would die, that would mean that this was the last time that she would see her friends. 

When they first met, they were her captors, but now, they were her friends. And Endel... Endel could possibly be ever more.

But they wouldn't have the time to figure that out if they were gone.

They didn't even had the time to say their goodbyes. 

Don't cry. Be brave.

Quickly, she muttered a final prayer to the Goddesses. If they could only just let a miracle happen...

The girl tried to control her breathing as she watched the others. 

Wondering who would fall. 

[NayruGoddessOfWisdom 8]

((I don't think it should be a problem to get you back into the RP, Elway. If you're willing to catch up? We sent your character off to finish rescuing the captured children, but we can very easily bring him back into the story line))

 

In all her time battling foes, Torianna had never seen anything quite so grotesque as this monstrosity. Piles of the disgusting acidic flesh fizzled away in ugly clumps on the floor and the bodies of the fallen. The sight made her feel physically ill, but also stirred up a twist of anger within her stomach. What kind of sick bastard would do this to himself?

Endel was first to move. He dashed towards the beast, taking a strike at his shin - or at least, what Torianna thought was his shin. Kazdon gave no visual impression that he'd so much as felt the violent blow, instead just taking a swipe with those monstrous claws. That's when Torianna got tired of watching and leapt into action. She opted, this time, not to fight with her daggers, but her sword. Despite the fact that daggers were her best weapon, they'd get her absolutely nowhere fighting something as huge as this.

She took off at a run, circling around the beast and raising her sword. It'd been a while since she'd fought with a sword, but she launched a brutal attack at the base of the spine. Her sword let out a loud metallic clang as it knocked into bone, but again, Kazdon exhibited no physical pain from the attack. Instead, he let out an irritated growl, as if these minuscule fighters were more of a nuisance than an actual problem. With one swift movement, he swung his vicious claw at Torianna, flinging off clumps of toxic bile as he moved.

The blow was enough to knock Torianna off her feet, sending her slamming back into the wall and landing on her injured arm. She let out a frustrated grunt, as she slowly pushed herself up from the wall, furiously rubbing the bruises she knew would soon come. She supposed she should be grateful that none of the bile hit her, but she was just angry.

[ElwayGuy7 10]

((I swear, there is no nicer group of people in the whole world... I was rereading Establishing Hyrule and I just remembered how much fun it was! Anyway, I'll come back in soon, I've got to catch up on 23 pages that I missed!

Thanks again, 

ElwayGuy7))

[Knuckle 484]

(( Yeah, definitely feel free to come back Elwayguy! And if you need any help catching up I'm always down to answer any questions you have.))

 

The fight was looking grim, but Endel gave a defiant growl as he nocked another arrow. He aimed it right for the glowing socket of Kazdan's right eye, ready to at least cause some measure of pain to this monster, when a cold hand rested on his shoulder. He dropped his bow and turned to face its owner. Of all people, it was Skallin.

 

"I am sure you mean well, but my suspicions tell me Kazdan's malice cannot be permanently extinguished with your arrows." the Darknut said with unprecedented emotion.

"What do you mean?" Endel asked with disbelief; hadn't this worked last time? Then again...

"Another arrow such as yours will only scramble Kazdan's body again. We have to stop him from coming back this time, permanently." Skallin's grim reminder confirmed what Endel had feared; light alone could not exterminate what was at least partially human, once.

 

Not that Endel was giving up hope, of course. Skallin obviously had another plan, but something about it seemed to make him anxious. Eventually he spoke with some difficulty. "Think of Kazdan as a Deku Nut. You may have cracked his shell, but the volatile meat remains. If a worm gets to it though..." There was nothing more for the darknut to say.

"You're the 'worm' in this analogy, aren't you?" Endel said, his vision softening. Skallin only nodded in reply; everything around them seemed to fade out for a moment. Endel knew in his heart Skallin wasn't coming back if he followed through with this plan... but neither of them could think of a better way. Endel needed to say something- one last thing- before the emotions overcame him.

"I won't let anyone forget this. You're the best... the bravest person I ever knew. Better than a lot of flesh-and-blood people, that's for sure. And a million times the man Kazdan was!" 

 

"... You have my deepest thanks." Was the last thing Skallin said before turning and sprinting to Kazdan. Undaunted by any of his old master's attacks, the darknut grabbed onto one of his ribs tightly as the beast trashed about to shake off his burden. Nothing was able to stop Skallin, though, as he reached into the knotted gore and blood locked in Kazdan's chest. Skallin gave Endel and his friends one last look before disappearing in a large flash that nearly blinded everyone in the room. There was a roar of anguish from Kazdan for just a moment followed by the sound of a hundred lightning bolts all at once. When everyone opened their eyes, both Kazdan and Skallin were gone.

 

Endel would have broken down then and there if a large rumble hadn't filled the room. Entire hallways were crumbling into piles of rubble, and the room they were in was soon to follow. This was no time for grieving, they had to get out of here fast!

[Franne 2]

"RUN!" Endel yelled. He grabbed Maia's hand and pulled her with him. They ran as fast as their legs would carry them, hoping that the rest were following them. They didn't even have the time to turn around to look...

Not only the crumbling sound made a lot of noise, but there were still people inside, screaming. The sound of it all was deafening, and Maia could only focus on running, while not letting go of Endel's hand. 

Light. It appeared like a small circle in front of them. The exit. 

Maia's chest was burning, she wasn't used to running as fast as this... 

They ran a few miles for the last time, until they had finally reached the exit. Outside, they ran a bit further to be out of range for the rubble, and finally, they let themselves fall to the ground. 

Maia's breathing was raspy and fast. When she felt a tickle in her throat, she lay on her side and started coughing. It was probably of the smoke the rubble falling had caused. 

"Are you okay?" Endel asked, trying to catch his breath.

Maia tried to sit up. She nodded, "Yeah, you?" 

Endel nodded too. "I think so..."

"Where are the others?" 

Endel looked at the exit. "They'll be here any second. They have to be."

[NayruGoddessOfWisdom 8]

"RUN!" Endel's voice echoed through the crumbling structure as the surviving Scoundrels made for whatever exit they could. Torianna took off at a run, with the crowd. She vaguely caught sight of Maia up ahead of her, her blonde hair flying out behind her as she clambered over the remains of a collapsed doorway. A figure was pulling her along - Endel, most likely. But where was Lorcan?

Torianna paused at the exit, turning back to look for him. Faces passed her by, barely familiar, but none of them Lorcan. This was idiotic, if she didn't see him in the next few seconds, she was leaving. She couldn't-

And then she caught sight of him. He was down on his knees, one hand pressing his sleeve over his mouth and the other groping blindly in front of him. His hair was matted with dust, his eyes welded shut. He'd gotten dust in his eyes - he couldn't see a thing, the idiot!

Take care of yourself. Let others worry about themselves. That's what every inch of her brain was screaming at her, and yet still she was taking off back across the room, towards him. She pressed her sleeve over her nose and mouth to filter out what she could of the dust, squeezing her eyes as close to shut as possible. She reached down, hurriedly grabbing Lorcan's arm and wrapping it over her shoulders. He flinched at her touch, uncertain but grateful as she hauled him to his feet and dragged him over towards the exit.

Torianna's lungs were burning as she guided the stumbling guard into a run. She was desperate for clean air as she continued to drag Lorcan, moving too fast to allow him to trip on the rubble. From behind came the unmistakable noise of a collapsing archway. She didn't dare a glance back, but she knew from the silence that followed that the others had been cut off. It was just her and Lorcan. There was only one goal in Torianna's mind. That light, that exit, that safety...

That was, until a horrendous crack filled the air. Torianna watched in horror as the beam that held up the final archway gave up the ghost. It caved down from the centre, crumbling tremendously into a pile of jagged rocks and rubble. As the last gap plugged, and the final beam of sunlight shut off, she let out a screech. It was the kind of infuriated screech that forces any unlucky witness to grit their teeth and block their ears out of instinct, as Lorcan did upon hearing it.

The only light left in the room was from one solitary wall lamp, burning away merrily as if they hadn't just been buried in an underground lair. Torianna, in a fit of rage, threw Lorcan's arm from her shoulders, letting him hit the wall of the corridor. He rubbed his eyes desperately with the balls of his palms, blinking experimentally in the dim light.

"You moron!" Torianna yelled, running her hands through her hair, gripping fat clumps in clenched fists. "This is all your fault, you utter idiot! You made me break my rule, twice even! It got me in a terrible position last time and this time it's going to get me killed!" She squeezed her eyes shut, stamping her feet on the ground like a child throwing a temper tantrum. "I hate you, Lorcan! I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!"

Edited 8 Dec 2014 by NayruGoddessOfWisdom (see edit history)

[ButterflyBabyBlue 2]

"I HATE you!" Torianna screeched over and over, all composure lost. She punched the wall, cursing under her breath when she scratched her knuckles.

She rounded on Lorcan once more, who was coughing into his palm and glancing about himself warily in the stubborn hope of finding an exit. Torianna didn't seem content to let him at it, though, closing the distance between them with a glare etched into her dusted face.

"Do you hear me?" she demanded. "You made such a mess!"

Lorcan glared back, then, crossing his arms and turning his head in denial. Was she that bad?!

"You're a PAIN," Torianna groaned. "I risk my life, and-"

"Nobody asked you to come and save me, you selfish brat!" Lorcan snapped, surprising himself and Torianna alike with the sudden outburst.

Torianna recovered first, though. "Nobody ever asked you to come back and save me from my father!"

"Aren't you even a little grateful?!" Lorcan couldn't stop his voice rising, growing angrier by the second.

"I am not!" the thief spat. "I had to break my rule sticking my neck out for you!"

"Well here I am breaking MY rule!" Lorcan retorted. "I'm going to be chattering as much as you soon enough!"

"Excuse me? You haven't complained about that in forever, come on!"

"Well it's time you stop talking for one second and listen to me," Lorcan stated coldly. Surprisingly enough, it was enough to stop her.

"You are making it extremely hard for me to keep composed at the best of times, Torianna. Even when you're in a GOOD mood I'm exhausted! So can you imagine how I feel right now? With you screeching at me because YOU chose to come back here and save ME? Just like I did for you, and maybe I have these stupid messy feelings for you, but that doesn't-!"

"What?" Torianna cut him off blankly, a frown on her face. "What did you sa about... feelings..?"

Suddenly Lorcan wasn't so glad he took the opportunity to speak.

[Franne 2]

((Quick question, where is Zelda right now? ))

 

"You're bleeding," Maia said to Endel when she noticed a small blood trickle running across his face. She tore of a piece of fabric from her sleeve, and carefully dabbed away the blood. "Looks like it's nothing," she assured him. 

"Maia..." Endel said. His voice sounded different.

"Yes, Endel?" Maia replied, a bit confused.

Suddenly the sound of the rumble grew louder. The exit was caving in! They both jumped up.

"NO!" Endel yelled.

Maia covered her mouth with her hand. Their friends, no! Stuck for who knows how long, maybe forever... Torianna... Lorcan... Did they just lost them? 

Endel wanted to run towards the exit but Maia stopped him. "There is nothing we can do..." 

When it turned quieter again and the cloud of dust had grown thinner, they ran towards the rubble. Big boulders of rock were covering the exit. 

Endel tried to remove the rocks, but he couldn't budge the large boulders. 

"Endel."

"We have to try!" he insisted.

"Endel!" 

He turned to look at her. 

"You can't do anything... I'm sorry..." Maia said, feeling tears swelling up in her eyes. The feeling of loss now really started to sink in. 

Endel let himself fall down to the floor. He sat on his knees, watching the rubble in vain. 

She sat down next to him, putting a hand on his back.

"We have to do something", Endel said, looking into Maia's eyes.

"Let's walk around the building, maybe there is another way in?" Maia replied weakly. She didn't know what to do either.

Endel nodded and stood up. "Let's do that."

[Knuckle 484]

((Good question, we'll find out soon enough ))

 

"But... what about Skallin?" Maia asked.

Endel didn't even know what to think about his friend right now. Skallin had been their guide for most of the journey so far, but he was also a close friend, one of those people that had inspired Endel to change his ways. If not for Skallin, he'd still be out on the streets thieving after all. He got up slowly, but kept his distant gaze toward the floor. "Skallin is gone," He finally replied, "For now, all we can do is find Torianna and Lorcan."

 

The street where they now stood was evacuated and closed off once guards started to notice the noises from below. The battle and ensuing explosion had left the street above with sinkholes and chasms, and the continued creaks from beneath were a sure sign that large-scale collapse was imminent. Both of them saw Ashei taking a rest nearby, and approached her with a sigh of relief.

"No time... to talk." She cut them off. "I need you both... go to Lake Hylia... there's a big house on the lake... get some bombs from Fyer... gotta clear the rubble somehow... hurry, yeah?" Now wasn't the time to object, so they both left their boss at the street and made for the stables. The guards there were gracious enough to bring two castle steeds, "For Lady Maia, of course." they added. Endel didn't even register their teasing as he mounted the horse. He was thankful Maia was there to be diplomatic as they dashed out of the gates through the east wall.

 

---

 

It was only a ten minute's trip on horseback to the lake, but their mutual silence made everything less bearable. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" Maia finally said. Endel shrugged. "I bet Torianna is driving Lorcan crazy down in those tunnels." She changed the subject. He smiled a bit at her joke. 

"When we find them, they'll either be in each other's arms or at each other's throats." He teased back; they both laughed aloud that time. "Come on, there's a guy over here by the name of Falbi that helps people reach the lake. I hope you don't mind travelling by Cucco."

[NayruGoddessOfWisdom 8]

Lorcan looked horrified, frozen as still as a statue. His blue eyes were wide, his pupils gaping black holes trying to absorb any light they could. The thinnest layer of sweat shone on his forehead as Torianna carefully crossed her arms, studying him. The only comparison she could draw was to a rabbit stuck in the path of an oncoming carriage.

"Feelings...? Like... actual feelings? Not 'I want to break all your stubby little fingers' feelings?"

A flicker of humiliation passed over his expression as he let his arms fall back in front of him from where he had frozen in the midst of wildly gesticulating. He crossed his arms over his chest, appearing to huddle back into the shadows. Eventually, he gave her the tiniest of nods.

Oh.

Torianna knew she should have felt something more. God only knows what. Feelings weren't something that she was entirely familiar with. 'Friendships' weren't something that existed in the network, family ties were kept to business, and this? This kind of thing was something that went practically unheard of. Still, she couldn't deny that her and the guard were somewhat... companionable. Close proximity to him didn't grate on her as it did with most people Even, at times, Torianna found his company better than none. But none of that altered the fact that the thought of a cloying Endel/Maia style relationship was enough to make her gag.

The look in the boy's eyes was getting to be too pleading for Torianna's liking. She should probably at least say something.

"Huh..." she muttered. "Actual evidence that you are indeed human. Who'd have thought?"

Edited 10 Dec 2014 by NayruGoddessOfWisdom (see edit history)

[Knuckle 484]

Maia kept a confused look on her face as they approached the strange building where Falbi lived. Endel guessed she hadn't visited this place before, and wasn't surprised at the yelp she let out when Falbi met them at the door. The bizarre man was tacky and androgynous as ever in his clown outfit. "Ohhhhh, customers!" he exclaimed as he clapped his hands. A number of cuccos answered the call and began circling Endel and Maia.

 

"Twenty Rupees apiece, right? There you go." Endel handed over the payment. The eccentric clown pocketed the money and explained the nature of their descent. "Just hop off my back porch and hold on tight! The cuccos will take care of the rest!" At that moment Maia turned white, having just realized they were going to float all the way down to the waterfront. "Um... Endel, can we-"

"Having cold feet sweetie? Let Falbi help you!" their guide interjected. Maia let out a squeal, grabbed the nearest cucco, and flew off the ledge. Endel wanted to apologize for the trouble, but the earnest smile on Falbi's face told him there was no need. "Well, no time to lose." He muttered; grabbing his own cucco, he squeezed his eyes shut and leapt off the edge of the building after Maia.

 

Both of them landed gently, though Endel couldn't help but be disappointed. "You should have seen this place a few years ago, they had a platforming game and everything!" He recalled, but now there was nothing to do by aim for dry land as they'd descended toward Fyer's house. This place was no less odd than the last, though considerably more gloomy with its muddied exterior and worn appearance. At the docks was a miserable looking fellow they assumed was Fyer.

 

"Hey, you're Fyer, right?" Endel asked as they reached the man's house. "We need bombs, there's an emergency at the castle!" 

"Emergency?" The man replied slowly, "No wonder you came to me first, Kakariko's got the best in explosive doodads. I don't sell these to most folks, but if you're in a hurry go ahead and help yourselves..." Fyer shuffled around the corner and into his house, then came back with a generous amount of explosives. "I don't even get to use this stuff anymore nowdays. The cannon's too worn down to shoot people, but I can pack it up real tight and launch it off to Falbi's place." Endel was secretly relieved to hear the cannon wasn't an option anymore; he dreaded that thing no matter how safe it apparently was. "They've got this huge bird carrying people up the cliff instead, go check it out back where you dropped off. Oh, and don't worry about payment; me and one of your folks have an understanding." Fyer assured them. Maia and Endel thanked the man, then left to take the bird back to Falbi's place.

[Franne 2]

"Do we really have to go back to that guy?" Maia sighed. "He kind of scares me a bit..."

"Well he has our bombs now so, come on!" Endel said as he ran to Falbi's house. 

"And why would you even have cuccos to carry people? That's just so weird..." Maia said, more to her then to Endel...

"There are our bombs", Endel said, walking up to a package. 

"Isn't it dangerous? To pack explosives so tightly in a package? Is it really only me that sees this?" Maia sighed. 

"We'll be fine, don't worry."

Maia sighed again and rolled her eyes. "If you say so..." 

Endel chuckled and took the bombs. He went to say thanks to Falbi again, and then they walked back to their horses, still waiting. 

Maia petted the horse briefly. 

"Maia?" 

She looked up to see Endel, already on his horse.

"Sorry... These horses just remind me of..." Home. They reminded her of home. "Of the castle, and the Princess, I wonder how she's doing."

"We'll look for her after we save our friends. Okay?" 

Maia got on her horse. "Okay."

[NayruGoddessOfWisdom 8]

Judging time down in the hollow was impossible. Eventually, after what must have been a couple of hours, the sole oil lantern burned out, leaving Torianna and Lorcan in pitch darkness. Desperation was beginning to radiate from the young guard, who was blindly grappling with the large boulders that kept them locked inside. He had long fallen silent, choosing instead to focus all his energy on trying to escape their tenebrous entombment. Torianna sat, her back pressed against the wall, hugging her knees. She listened quietly to Lorcan's grunts of effort, staring blindly into the impenetrable darkness. 

"Lorcan please, just sit down..." she muttered.

A few moments of silence followed, broken only by Lorcan's heavy breathing. He moved carefully, feeling his way along the wall until he almost tripped over Torianna. He collapsed down next to her, sitting close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his arm next to hers. By this point, most of the rubble dust had settled, but the air was still thick and uncomfortably warm.

"Do you think Endel and Maia got out?" she asked. Lorcan offered no response, but she'd hardly been expecting him to. "I hope so..." she muttered. Having a conversation with Lorcan was much harder when he couldn't scribble a response in chalk or dirt, or even give her a gesture or facial expression. "Maybe they'll come back for us..." She felt the tiniest nudge against her shoulder; it wasn't a conversation, but she never really needed him to answer back anyway.

She let her head drop, resting against the silent guard's shoulder. The threads of his shirt felt worn against her cheek, and it was just enough to soften the sharp outline of his shoulders. Sure, it was a petty indulgence, but it was dark; it wasn't like anyone could see them.

Suddenly a soft noise caught Torianna's attention. She salt bolt upright, straining her ears to try and find the source. Whatever it was, it was coming from the other side of the boulders. It sounded like a... hiss? A scratch? A... fizzle?

"Bombs!" she yelped. Lorcan jumped, startled by her sudden outburst. She grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet. "They're blowing up the rubble!"

The two of them staggered as far from the entrance as they could get, using their hands to guard them as they tried to put some distance between themselves and the explosives. Suddenly, the ground shook beneath Torianna. She was thrown onto her front. She screwed her eyes shut and flung her arms over her head in a desperate bid to protect herself from stray pieces of rock. A few stones rained down on her back, and when she dared to open her eyes again, she was damn near blinded by the light pouring into the cavern.

[Knuckle 484]

"Endel, you used too many bombs!" Maia fussed as the debris from the explosion began to clear. Ashei had guessed correctly that Torianna and Lorcan would be close to the ruined entrance of the hideout, but they were all surprised to find the two just behind the first rubble they demolished.

"Honestly, you take forever to save us and then you nearly blew me up!" Torianna pouted without skipping a beat.

"Well that's-" Endel cut himself off as Maia ran past him to embrace her friends. It would've been pointless to try ad reprimand Torianna anyway; Endel was overjoyed to know some of his friends were alive.

 

---

 

After catching each other up on the recent events. Ashei and the reminder of the Scoundrels discussed the future of their virtually destroyed organization. Most people were too injured to continue serving and were dismissed, a few others had to resign and salvage what was left of their lives. "Nine of us left, including Telma. Nobody's found Zelda yet, and the Castle Guard will have our heads on a spike if we got her killed. How in the name of Farore am I gonna get enough manpower to fix all this?" Ashei sighed. Her grief was just barely contained as she made a final decision. "The Scoundrels of Virtue are finished. We'll clean up this mess, hope we find Zelda, and go our separate ways. I'll break the news to Telma... yeah?"

 

Endel and his friends wouldn't hear any of that, but their objections were silenced by their now-former boss. "The only thing to do is find Zelda right now. I'm guessing that still matters to all of you?" Everyone else snapped out of it and got  to work immediately. Maia had actually been frantically handing out bombs to volunteering locals while the others had bickered with Ashei, so Endel guiltily ran over to assist her. Torianna and Lorcan got to work demolishing rubble. Thankfully, the bombs were just right for pushing rocks away without damaging the remains of the standing architecture, and the Castle had sent builders to dictate where to use the bombs.

 

The group hadn't been working too long when Endel spotted a Scoundrel run over to Ashei. Neither looked too pleased about the contents of their discussion, so Endel go the others' attention before leading them over to see what the fuss was about. Ashei dismissed the other agent before giving them a sour look. "You four are just gonna follow me around like lost puppies until I give you something else to do, yeah?" She blustered. "That's it, this is the last time I get to debrief you guys, so listen up!"

 

"The workers uncovered the chamber where Zelda was hiding- no, she wasn't there." Ashei quickly broke the news to Maia. "The room was filled with dead guards; they still have the network's daggers stuck in their throats, so it's a no-brainer who did this. I guess those bastards had been shadowing us the whole time we thought they were under control." Endel clenched his fists, but Torianna looked like she wanted to hit something. "And get this; that's not even our biggest worry. It looks like Kazdan managed to contaminate the water supply of the entire town while he was trudging his bony ass through our hideout waterway. The whole town is facing a water shortage, so we need to get a Zora or two down here to purify the water." Everyone agreed that was the biggest problem in spite of everything, as the network was probably going to keep Zelda alive as a bargaining chip. "So here it is, my last batch of missions for you. Go to the Zoras and ask them to purify our water. Find Princes Zelda and get her to a secure location; don't even try bringing her back to the castle, just send us a message when you've gotten her safe. Find Jaydon and take care of him in whatever way you see fit. Speaking of finding people, see if you can locate Cheval, nobody's gotten an update on his mission for a while. Oh... and if you find those network rats and their prick of a leader, put them all to the sword, yeah?"

[Franne 2]

"Well that's a lot..." Torianna said. "What do we do first?"

"We save the Princess", Maia replied. "She's the most important." 

"Well what about the water? And Cheval?" Torianna answered. 

They all sat down. 

"So we need to find the Princess and move her to a secure location, go to the Zoras and look for Cheval", Endel cleared things up.

"We can split up?" Maia proposed.

Lorcan handed an apple to Torianna. When she opened her mouth to thank him, she had a coughing fit. Lorcan looked at her, worried, and stood up to get her some water. 

"Thanks", she answered when he handed it over, her voice still hoarse. "Must be from the smoke the rubble caused."

Maia nodded understandingly. She had that problem as well when they had come out.

"There aren't much of us, so I don't know if it's so smart to split up..." Endel said. "But we have a lot to do... What do you guys think?"