The Battle of Disharmony

== Trees of a Leaf ==
Treene|Kokiri Forest|Evening 3
“I just don’t understand why you would leave so late. Couldn’t you just wait till morning?”
Treene grinned at her friend and responded while waving her hand lazily in the air. “Hey, my orders were to leave today, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Then you should have left in the morning instead of fooling around.”
Crossing her arms and softening her grin, Treene spoke defensively, “Well it was my way of saying goodbye to everyone else. I have no idea how long I’ll be away.”
Edow, to whom Treene had been speaking to, gave a concerned face. “Oh, I wish I could go with you. It wouldn’t have to be me either. Anyone of us could go with you.”
“You know I can’t ask that,” Treene said shaking her head.
“The world out there is just so big, and we’re so small.” Edow trailed off and stared at her small figure.
“Small!” A bark of laughter erupted from the fairy. “Come on! Have some faith in me dear Edow. Since when has size ever stopped me from doing anything?”
Treene placed her hands on Edow’s slumped shoulders.
“I’ll be fine. I promise.”
Unexpectedly, Treene found herself hugging Edow. Her hands wrapped around Treene’s torso and began tugging at her maroon scarf. “You better,” was all Treene managed to catch coming from Edow’s muffled voice.
Waving a final goodbye, Treene let her luminosity grow till she was fairly opaque. The fairy began to fly away from the forest until all Edow could perceive was a faint citrine glow in the distance. She did not stop beating her wings until she was clear out of the forest and at the edge of Hyrule Field. Before she could go further into the field she turned to look at the forest once more. It somehow looked different to her now that she was out of it. Clenching her hands into fists, she felt an even stronger reason to complete her mission. If war really was soon to come then it could be detrimental to the forest. Where would they all go? Treene was especially uneasy about where the rest of her kind would go. Not wanting to answer her own questions she flew away further into the field.
Treene|Hyrule Field|Night 3
There was one thing that Treene knew for certain: She was completely lost.
If only she had paid attention to Edow and the others when they tried to explain the map earlier instead of being fascinated with a flower in a tree. The fairy cursed at herself while she flew in circles.
“It wasn’t even a fragrant flower!” Her hands began to claw at her hair until they slid down her face in despair.
With sullen wings, Treene let her body hang with the weight of gravity. The farther she descended towards the ground the weaker her light grew until she was fully visible and hovering above a small boulder. It had been many years since the fairy felt the earth. Her boots scuffed against the stone when she landed. Treene arched her back so her body lurched forward and her hands were braced against the rock.
“Cold. I remember why I preferred trees,” she said as she leaned back and wrinkled her freckled nose. 
Taking a few steps around the boulder she decided that nothing could be done for her journey tonight and that it would be better to rest. Without bothering to increase her luminosity Treene began to fly to the nearest tree. A rumble in the distance caused Treene to pause in mid-flight. Looking over at the road she noticed a wagon. It seemed to be stopping for a rest, probably just a brief one she figured. The distance between Treene and the wagon was just enough for her to pull out her spyglass. The spyglass itself was enchanted, but it still served its original purpose. It looked like an average merchant and his cargo.
“Maybe he knows something,” the fairy muttered to herself as she continued to watch the male. 
The longer Treene stared the more she managed to convince herself that approaching the man was the best option. A smile crept on her face until a second person came into view. She was small, and seemed green, but Treene had seen many a strange things in the forest. However, nothing in the forest could prepare her for what she saw on the poor creature. Around her neck were chains. It seemed that the merchant had chains around the plant humanoid. Treene lowered her spyglass and squinted at the scene in front of her. The chains that were once there seemed to be hidden by the large red scarf around his or her neck; Treene couldn’t quite tell from this distance. What she did know was the feeling of anger rising in her. The concept of slavery was something new to the fairy, but inside she felt it was wrong. As her anger grew so did the luminosity of her aura until she was scorching to the touch. Without a second to think she flew at the man until she was shouting nothings at him. As far as the merchant could tell it was simply a small glowing light buzzing around his face. Before Treene could progress with her rant at his cruelty a clear wall was placed around her. Treene’s rage melted away when the withered cork was placed above her and replaced with confusion as well as a tiny portion of panic. Dark eyes watched through the jar as the man spoke to the green figure. Trying to decipher the words proved to be a challenge for the fairy since everything sounded as if it were being said underwater. Suddenly, she fell back against the container and felt weightless, not from her own wings but from being tossed in the air. Again her body lunged forward against the glass, her face smearing against it, when the plant figure caught the small bottle. Treene’s palms pressed against the clear wall as her eyes met those golden eyes of the plant that she deemed female. Maybe the girl could have seen most of Treene’s features, but at this point the fairy was unaware of how bright or dim she was glowing. Instead she curled against the bottom of her new found cage and pursed her lips.
“I swear when I get out of this jar I’m going to light a fire under that idiotic oaf,” she muttered as she prepared for the unknown voyage.
== Battle Sparks ==
Soldat/Hyrule Field/Night 3
Kamen and Soldat traveled from some time in complete silence after leaving Hyrule Castle. Both we're deep in thought for their own reason, but after some time Kamen finally decided to question something Soldat did as they departed. "So tell me Paladin, what was that letter you put in that saddle when we left the castle?"
Soldat looked back with a momentary glace of irritation, "It was a repayment a favor."
"Oh, well that is odd since the horse had a Gerudo brand. How exactly does a Paladin end up owing a favor to a band of thieves, or are they part of this plan of yours as well?" Kamen prodded having only been made more curious by Soldat's attempts to remains vague.
Soldat let out a heavy sigh. He couldn't bring himself to describe what happened in the previous day but held reservations about lying about it, especially to someone like Kamen. "The letter explained the details of this Trust business and the current political situation that has evolved from it. It also contains my beliefs as to who's behind it all and advises the Gerudo to stay out of things for the time being. There's no point in increasing the death-toll of a race war when there's something worse on the horizon. I am telling them this because I met their leaders and this is the arrangement I made. Just as I met with the King of the Hylians and just as I will now meet with the King of the Zora. Is there a problem with this Kamen Viento?"
"No, sounds just fine to me," Kamen responded with a warm smile. He felt little need to push for more information simply because the fact that Soldat was hiding something was much more important then what he was hiding.
“Another one, they want another one!”
“He said we need someone to replace your aunt as Dancer of Water. Your cousin seems incapable of continuing a legacy.”
“So just teach the one we have water magic. He’ll be useless anyway once Yuichi learns that sword thing you do.”
“We both know he won’t accept a male successor to a maternal grandmother. That old bastard is too stuck in his dogma.”
No, not this, don’t make me remember this.
“So what, your saying if we end up with another boy we’ll have to try again?!”
“...I... I don’t like this anymore then you do.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You have the easy part in all of this, and you get to run free to the farmlands once this all ends. My other half will still be stuck with that, thing. You know damn well the only way any of this could end, but both you are Chevalier are too cowardly to do it.”
“Hey, let’s go to see Mrs. Lumière,” and older child said as he reached out to his teary eyed little brother.
The young child that Soldat remember being noded then took his older brothers hand while wiping the snot from his nose and the tears from his eyes, “Yuichi, can Mrs. Lumi make mommy stop hating me?”
“Well,” the older brother tried to find the right thing to say, he was old enough to know the trust of things and didn’t want to miss lead his little brother. “I’m sure Mrs. Lumière will be able to calm her down.”
“Um... I think we should stop here for the night.”
The young child nodded, a bit of joy returning to his face, “Yeah, mom smiles when Mrs. Lumi is around. And I get to see Yasu when she comes over.”
Yasu... no I can’t think about him right now.
“Hey can you hear me?”
“Yuichi, if I learn, can I do magic like GranGran or Yasu?”
“Hey, Paladin!” Kamen screamed in a final attempt to get Soldat’s attention.
"Not Yasu I don't want to do-" Soldat said out load only to cut himself off as he realized he was back in reality. "Just what did that child do to me?"
"Hm, that is an interesting question," Kamen said while musing over what to do with what he just heard, "for now though I think we should set up camp. I doubt it’s a good idea to get much closer to Zora Domain at night. We wouldn't want to be confused for Hylian spies now would we."
"Fine," the Paladin forced out before taking a deep breath to try and calm his breathing back to normal. "Start a fire or something. I have things to work on." Soldat unbuckled the massive sword that was strapped to his back and walked out a safe distance to start practicing. Focusing a small amount of magic through the sword caused several small blades of to emerge around the sword barely sharpened edge. With just ever slight more power put into it the blades of magic began to move with increasing speed along the swords edge creating a chainsaw like effect. Soldat slashed down hard on massive rock. The sword cut deep into the stone but Soldat lacked the strength to slice strait though it. That didn't matter to him though, in truth he was just doing this to warm up.
The Paladin took a deep breath to concentrate and draw on all his inner magic. With an explosive burst he forced all his energy into the over-sized sword and swung downward, but as he did the small blades of energy disappear and instead the sword became encompassed with a blinding light. A crescent blade of energy formed in the swords awake but shattered before he could utter a single world of the attacks name as the old man claim was essential he do.
Kamen watched with amusement as Soldat tried over and over making the same mistake and become more frustrated with each failure. When his stamina finally reached its limit he slammed the blade into the ground in frustration. A day earlier the wind mage would have left things as they were; however, recent events have changed his plans ever so slightly. "Is there any particular reason you keep switching to light magic just before trying the True Blade.?"
"As has become the standard, I have no idea what you are you talking about," Soldat responded ever unappreciative of the Wind Mages comments.
Kamen shrugged, "It's almost funny how little you know. That sword is receptive of different magics. By default you can’t that spinning saw, but if someone like me were to grab it a twister would manifest around the blade and each swing would send a massive gust. In your case it just turns into a little sun. Of course it only does it when you focus all of your strength, so it must be subconscious. Actually that explains why you're heals barely work. Those are suppose to be divine magic and you're probably converting half the spells mana into light."
Soldat glared back at the wind mage for a moment before going to pick the Champions Blade back up.
"Oh, that reminds," Kamen called out just for the Paladin grabbed the hilt, "the other host, oh what was his name? T, ten, ter..?"
"Tendresse de Lumière," Soldat answered cold.
"That was it. I never could say his name right. Anyway he's the Dancer of Light isn't he?" Kamen asked. Soldat was about to respond but Kamen continued before he could, "That would me he's at the Hidden Sanctum in the Snow Peak Mountains which are to the North. So why didn't you come all the way south to kil- I'm sorry execute Vertias du Ciel first."
Soldat tried and failed to hide his growing argue as he answered Kamen with is teeth tightly clamped, "The Patriarch wanted to be sure I receive the Black Wings of Balance. The White Wings of Divinity are less predictable and-"
Kamen cut the Paladin off note caring about his self justifications, "It's just that they're being executed because of the danger they pose, and well if one of the Dancers were to transform we'd end up with another Death Mountain. Sure that thing in the Champion wasn't exactly stable, but all the people that would be killed if the Dance of Light became-"
"Yasu would never-" Soldat screamed but stopped and calmed himself once he realized what he had said. "Unlike the deserter, Tendresse de Lumière is far too responsible and dedicated to the order allow himself into a situation where that would happen."
"Hm, I guess that would make sense. Though I think the Arch Angel may have a say in the matter," Kamen said in a rare instance of not watching what he was saying.
Soldat was obviously puzzled by the term, "Arch Angel? Do you mean the White Wings o-"
Kamen raised his hand to silence the Paladin, "Quite, there someone coming."
"I recall something about question being avoided," Soldat stated in a manner quiet proud of himself.
At the moment though Kamen's concerns were with the approaching travelers, "There are several of them and people don't normal travel these fields at night, even in groups. Plus they're coming from direction of Zora Domain."
"This is ridiculous," Soldat declared with indignation. "You out there. Name yourselves!"
Kourtz/ Hyrule Field/ Night 3
In the darkness of the early morning twilight lay Kourtz and the others sleeping amongst the vast plains of Hyrule Field. Partly concealed by laying in a ditch the thieves tried their best to recover from the events earlier that night. Though all would have easily taken on more rest Tarah knew it wouldn't be long before the Zora came looking for them. "Alright, that's enough sleep to get us through the day. Let's move".
Ugh... seriously Tarah? We've been going non stop for two days already. Can't we just wait till dawn or somethin'? A brief wave signaling him to come on was all the answer he needed to know. Though he knew she was right he still hated waking the others. As they continued on Kourtz thought about how he had gotten to this point. Over the course of the quest he had teamed up with thieves and murderers, escaped from prison, stolen from a king, and now had blood on his hands. Just three days ago he would have detested anyone who could had committed such acts. Now that person was him.
Unable to contain his thoughts he quietly called over Shinsou, the person in the group he trusted the most. Shinsou, this is kind of awkward for you to answer but... do you think what we did back there was questionable? "What do you mean by that Mr. Kourtz"? I mean, do you think we did the right thing by stealing the trust? "I suppose so. The King of Hyrule is the one who sent you to do this quest isn't he"? Yes that's true. Though her answer should have comforted him Kourtz remained silent for a moment.
...Now that the trust is gone war is going to break out, a war that could kill thousands. That's not to mention the people who have already died trying to stop us from getting the trust in the first place. Shinsou looked back at the Mogma pondering how to respond. "None of that is your fault Kourtz, this war was always bound to happen at some point. Besides you can't blame yourself when you and the others had no choice but to do this quest". I know, but still... "Shhhh... get down! wispered Tarah in a panicked voice. "Someones out there". As everyone ducked to the ground the young women in the front pointed out two shadowy figures in the distance. "I don't know if their guards but let's try and sneak past.
Quietly they tried to walk by only to have the silence broken by a yell. "You out there. Name yourselves!" Kourtz cringed as he saw the mysterious men looking straight at him. The time to run was gone so he had to think of something quick. Oh, sorry. Don't mind us were just passing through. "Passing through at this time of night? That's a bit suspicious don't you think" replied the second, more sarcastic voice in the darkness. We have urgent business in Castle Town. Please let us pass, we mean you no harm."Fine, go on past" was said in their direction.
Trying to look as normal as possible the adventures quickly hurried by, not daring to look directly at the them. But the gazing sight of the slender looking figure put an end to that in an instant. "Wait a second! I know exactly who you are! No! I mean, how could you know us? You,ve never seen us before. "Oh I've seen your mug plastered everywhere in Castle Town Kourtz". With a smirk as sinister as a crocodiles he turned to the others. "Your wanted posters were right next to his".
Upon seeing Shinsou though his face seemed puzzled. "Well, whom might we have here"? Shinsou get behind us. "Shinsou"? The question came from the second man who upon hearing the name marched over towards the girl. The young lady who seemed to be his interest froze from the sight of his face. She began to trip backwards and was suddenly on the verge of tears. Before he could reach her Leif and Tarah armed themselves as Kourtz tried to block the potential threat. Look, I don't know who you are but we don't want trouble. Leave us alone and we won't give you any.
Soldat/Hyrule Field/ Midnight 3/4
"Shinsou?" Soldat called out having barely recognized the young girl in the darkness. "You're Shinsou Ten aren't you?"
The child seemed frightened as Soldat approached. She withdrew behind a dog she was with while the other two readied their weapons. The "dog," was first to speak much to Soldat's surprise, "Look, I don't know who you are but we don't want trouble. Leave us alone and we won't give you any."
"A fair concern," Soldat replied to the small creature. "In that case, first let me assure you that I am not interested in troubling you, whatever you are. As for who I am, I'm am Soldat du Ciel and I that is indeed Shinsou Ten standing behind you that I can assure you I am that girls uncle and I intend to bring her home to her mother."
"...no..." a small voice called out, "no I don't want to go back. I can', not after no, I..."
"Ok," Soldat said having a feeling sense of empathy, "I understand, I'll bring you to Rejectio no Ten instead.
A stream of tears began to flow down Shinsou's face and she clasped her head in a tight panic, "NO! No! I can't, she can't! She won’t go, she knows who you are and she won’t go back! She knows who you are, I know... I know who... you..."
A momentary calm seemed to fall over the field as the child's panic ceased, replace only with silence and an expression of torment and heart break. Soldat could only look on in terror having heard his niece speak a word that made his own heart sink, "She?"
"She? Interesting thing to focus on," Kamen mused from behind, making sure to his back close to the campfire so he's remain obscured in darkness. "Fun, I thought you'd be more concerned with the fact that she recognized you."
The earth began to shake with growing intensity as Shinsou starting mumbling louder and louder, "it was you, it was you, it was you..."
"No, I can 'not' be too late," Soldat commanded seemingly to the heavens themselves. He started to run forward but the three travels stood in his way. The Paladin drew his blade without hesitation, "get out of my way!"
"IT WAS YOU!" the child screeched. The quakes caused her power reached a new peak and the earth around the group began to split open and large boulders began to rise from the ground.
Gli Lambe'/Hyrule Field/Midnight 3/4
Gli's tired eyes stared blankly down at the cork of the jar that had been thrown into her possession by her master. The indignation of her treatment due to past mistakes was making this particular day a miserable one. Stewart had been almost comically cruel as of late, but she didn't blame him; She knew what she was doing when she destroyed his favorite suit in a fit of frustration, however what was unbeknownst to her was that said suit was also an heirloom of sorts, holding a weight of importance that was alien to her. However, he seemed to have had his fill, for it had been at least a few hours since he had uttered anything.
Gli shivered as her nostrils were filled with the stench of filth; the water her master had given was not the cleanest, however he had shown regret for a brief moment upon noticing the stench himself. Small moments like that reminded her that her master at the very least cared enough to keep her alive, when he could easily chain her to the ground and let the elements eat her alive. As she inhaled deeply, she could feel the bite of the cold night air within her senses, reminding her of her own mortality as she listened to her own exhausted breathing; which was dwarfed in its presence by the ache of her muddy legs, which kept moving forth by force of being chained to the ever moving wagon that rolled along a few feet ahead of her.
She shifted her head and neck, which was stiff and mildly chaffing under the chains. A loud pop escaped her neck, which sent a shiver down her spine with its suddenness of sound and relief. Little else filled the night with anything for Gli to make note of in the black of night beyond the creaking of rolling wheels and the sounds of passersby. However, one factor within the darkness caught her tired eye, as she finally focused upon the bottle within her dainty and soft green hands. Between her point-tipped fingers, a glimmering light cut through from the container's transparent walls. Gli raised the bottle up to her eye level as her bagged eyes squinted through the bright light of life that rested within the glass prison. Her examination found that there wasn't just anything inside this bottle; Luck and chance had turned a careless offering from her master into an event of wonder and...to Gli's dismay, inevitable social activity.
She hugged the glass tightly against her chest before getting a grip upon the cork of the bottle. She tugged the cork with a jerk of her arm, but nothing. She tried again, this time hearing the squeak of the cork shifting. A third attempt popped the cork from the neck of the bottle, which almost made Gli drop it into the mud under her feet. She made a mental note of the misfortune of such a thing, for she wouldn't ever get the chance to go and get it back if such a thing had happened. Her luck would find it smashed and forgotten by the time they were to roll past it again that afternoon. Gli reached into the bottle until her arm was above her elbow inside, where she was able to grab the fae from the glass floor of the bottle.
She shifted the bottle under her arm before she began to eye her new discovery, which cut through the darkness like a hot knife through butter, and into her cheek. The fae barely fit in her dainty palm, while Gli's other hand raised poised to poke it. However, before she could partake in such a violation of personal space, she was disturbed by another event. The ground began to shake as a high pitched screech of anguish pierced the midnight air. Gli's ears lowered with her head in reaction to the sudden oddity of the night. She was used to hearing such a thing within the darker side of town at this time of night, but not out in the open. Gli's face smacked into the back of the wagon, which had stopped without her knowledge, which startled the Deku girl further. She rubbed her forehead while she looked up at her master, whom had a look of concern that creased his face.
"What in Din's blazing taint was that noise?!" He squawked at the direction of the sound. Gli looked over into the same direction with curiosity, barely noticing that the necklace that rested on her chest under her shirt was growing warmer by the second.
Tarah Vass / Hyrule Field / Midnight 3/4
Tarah realised her mistake instantly as she dove in front of the newcomers charge towards Shinsou, she attempted to thrust her blade towards him but was greeted by the force of an armoured hand pushing her slender frame aside with some force. She fell into the chaos surrounding them, on the shaking ground among rising boulders and resulting sprays of dirt. Waves of pain shot forward from the back of her skull and her head span, quickly sitting up Tarah brushed her hand across the back of her head and to her relief if returned with no blood. 
As she pulled herself to her feet, Tarah was hit by another wave of dizziness and her surroundings blurred as her vision betrayed her. Feeling useless on the sidelines, Tarah now pulled her bow from it's sheath and waited as her eyesight returned. She now pulled an arrow from her quiver and held it against her hunting knife so the frigid aura could jump to the head. She now pulled the arrow back and aimed it into the fray, now looking to see Kourtz and Leif fighting to keep the man away from Shinsou. 
It took her a moment to lock on to her target among the confusion of bodies and earth that lay before her, but once she saw him the arrow was trained to his leg and quickly released in hopes disabling him to calm the situation down. However, her aim was weak and the arrow merely touched the side of his leg and flew past him to plunge into and freeze the ground nearby. 
Unwilling to give in, Tarah put her bow away and pulled her blade from her belt then ran into the fray to assist her friends. 
Hyrule Field/Late Night 3
A loud feminine shrieking pierced the eerie silence of twilight. Immense power was coming from that direction, and Beth began to get ideas. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but she motioned for her raiders to ride closer with her. When she saw who and what was involved, a few thoughts began to flood her mind. Revenge against Soldat du Ciel, who shamed her in Hyrule Castle Town with the help of his friends. A band of adventurers protecting a girl who was having a breakdown of sorts. Defying logic, Elizabeth gave the order for the remaining warband to ride toward Lon Lon as she and Arand rode hard toward the chaos with lust for blood in mind. 
With Apocrypha drawn, Elizabeth charged hard as things began to come into view much more clearly. 
Red - Release the Panic
She didn't say anything. Her rage held her tongue still, but an aura of blackest intimidation was broadcasting a message louder than anything she could scream. 
Let's see how he likes it when someone crashes his party!
Bloody Beth closed down hard on the group already engaged in combat, destined to interrupt at the most inopportune moment.
Gli Lambe'/ Hyrule Field/ Midnight 3/4
Stewart weighed his options as he continued to look into the dark distance. His long fingers thoughtfully stroked his chin as he pursed his lips in consideration. His brown eyes darted toward Gli, and then back to the distance before he pondered further, stroking his chin further. Gli was staring at him with an expectant look, but dared to do little else. Finally, Stewart broke the silence with a snap of his finger. Gli woke up a little at the gesture, her attention more on him than the sound. To her surprise, Stewart was unwrapping her chain from his arm, and from his grip as he tossed it to the ground. His stare at her was intense, which made Gli's heart sink just a little, but she knew that she was going to enjoy what was going to happen next.
"I feel you've been punished enough this eve, Gli. Now I'm going to let my faith in you be tested, and I'm going send you to go check where that noise was.'
Gli was usually wrong.
'Now hear me, plant. Do not think this is a free pass to try and escape, because if you do...I'll remind you that at least four of my dogs can find a scent from here to the deepest reaches of Kokiri Forest. So don't even think about not being here with an update when I'm done with getting the milk."
Without another word, he snapped his fingers and pointed at the general direction of the sound.
"...Thank you, Master." She responded instinctively.
Her tiny feet moved with swiftness and grace of a wildcat on the hunt as she disappeared into the night, leaving only the rattle of her chains behind her, which dragged on the grass heavily. Gli's golden eyes widened and examined her surroundings with care as she silently strode through the grass, keeping her stance and head low to the ground, nearly treading on all fours at times. The rustling of the grass was the only sound she made, due to the fact that despite having lungs, Gli didn't actually need to breathe, rather gaining enough oxygen she needed through the wind that blew past her face. She did not blink nor stop nor tire as she flew through the blades. Only when the pressure of power pressed down on her from the feuding forces did she stop dead in her tracks. She could hear cries of different intent and reason, along with the sounds of weapons being drawn and used, as their sharp edges whistled through the cut night air.
She lowered down to all fours, letting the tall uncut grass reach up to her nose, which was tickled, but she did not respond. Her keen but tired eyes locked onto the scene of impending violence as she crawled forth, keeping herself as close to the ground as possible. She tried identifying at least a few of them, but could not recognize their faces or voices in the darkness. However, the most interesting of the group was a woman whom wielded as ghastly looking blade, rivaled in its frightening presence only by the wild, bloodthirsty eyes of it weilder. Gli considered the situation for only an instant before she figured her next move.
Perhaps...That wild-eyed one may have the best spoils...Her reason for being there is possibly not theft, or her approach would have been more discreet and more intent on the element of surprise...No...She's here for a more...Personal reason...I'd think...Still...that sword...it looks...Valuable...And she...well...blood thirst and rage makes a person messy and mistake prone, regardless of mental training. She'll be the least likely to see it coming...Perhaps...
Gli smiled as she finished her internal consideration about the woman, and look straight at her. She reared back, inhaling as deeply as she could muster. She held it for a moment until she could see a clear shot at the target's abdomen. She saw the chance, and went for it as she spat a Deku Nut, which soared at high speed through the night air with a whistle.
Alauth!Arand/Hyrule Field/(Very) Early Morning 4
It took a while to explain their situation, to explain what the trio of messengers from the Divine Triune meant about traveling as a blind pilgrim in a dark world, and to convince Ella not to immediately run off to fight Bryce and her entire cult in her blind state. That had been hard, but the mere fact of the blindness, and the handicap it presented, was enough to make Ella see reason.
So it was that Ella rode with Arand alongside her greatest enemy. And while she was not murderous, she was very grumpy, and refused to talk at all so long as Elizabeth was within earshot. She had become eerily good at knowing when that was despite being unable to see. Her other senses seemed to have started compromising for the loss.
And now, Bryce had charged off to assault a random group of travelers. Arand turned to Ella.
"Ella! Go with the rest of the group, they'll protect you! I'll keep tabs on Bryce for you!"
Then her horse galloped off after Bryce, leaving Ella bound for Lon Lon Ranch with the Crimson Raiders.
Elizabeth/Hyrule Field/Pre-Dawn 4
Fully committing to her attack, Beth closed in on her target with malice most foul in mind. She was focused on nothing else but victory. Unfortunately this lack of situational awareness was exploited by a sneak attack. Perhaps it was a Sheikah trap? 
A blinding flash of light followed a hard, crunching impact of a deku nut. It was a higher velocity than normal, and it connected directly with Beth right in her side. It hit her belt right where her Libram was fastened, and amidst the chaos of Tenebrous being spooked by the impact it came loose.
Beth was startled, of course, and reached her left hand to the saddle horn as she was thrown. That grip was the only thing that kept her mounted as her steed sped up out of self-preservation. Sheathing her sword while partially airborne, her book went flying off her belt. Not only had she missed a grand surprise opportunity, she also would have to come back around if she stayed on the horse. 
She cursed loudly as the book flew away from her. Hopefully it would be there at battle's end. Calming Tenebrous down and shrugging off the bruising pain of impact was hard enough. 
After struggling for some time, Elizabeth rights herself in the saddle all while her horse is trying to buck her off. She regains control of him and circles the action in search of where the nut came from. 
"Damn guttersniping son of a whore! I swear to deal you death, the whole death, and nothing but the death!"[\color]
Kourtz/Hyrule Field/Pre-Dawn 4
As Shinsou began to panic in response to her uncle, her magic's bright red aura began to envelop her once more. The ground around them began crack and rumble like an earthquake, while the aura lit up the field in a dark glow. Even if Soldat left her alone they still needed to make it into Castle Town unnoticed. This was about as unnoticeable as a fireworks display. In vain Kourtz tried to avoid the battle he knew was inevitable.
“Shinsou, just calm… please just calm down! This is your uncle Soldat; he said he's not going to hurt us! “NO!” With eyes still full of tears, the young maiden snapped around in a red wrath few men have ever had the misfortune of witnessing. “I'LL SLAUGHTER HIM!” If it didn't seem possible before the power of her magic seemed to increase even more as she began screaming like injured banshee. Out of the corner of his eye Kourtz saw Soldat shove Tarah to the ground as he charged forward at them.
Seeking a quick and bloodless way to end the fight the Mogma's new boomerang took to the sky to greet to oncoming threat. The sharpened coral spun harmlessly overhead as Soldat rolled under and went to strike down the ones blocking him. Only the timely intervention of Leif's blade saved Kourtz from an untimely demise. As sword locked with scimitar Kourtz took an opening in the brawl and tried to grab the blade out of his hand. With his freehand Soldat slammed the armored fist of his freehand right into the Mogma's fur covered face. Falling over backwards the blow would have likely landed him a black eye had his eye's not already been black.
By now Shinsou's abilities were at their peak. The ground beneath Kourtz's feet began to split open as he tumbled into the earth. Screaming in terror as he plunged down Kourtz could feel his arm snap as he came to a rest at the bottom. Though he couldn't tell if it was broken or bleeding in the darkness, he could still dig himself out with his good hand. In pain and exhaustion he dug a small passageway back the surface. When Kourtz emerged he could still see the battle over in the distance a short ways. Running back into the fray he tripped over what appeared to be a small journal or book. Ugh... What's this thing?
== The Zoran 200__FORCETOC__ ==
King Tiburon/ Zora Royal Chambers/ Early Morning of the 4th
Arms crossed behind his back and in an exceptionally foul mood, Tiburon paced in front of the throne. Back and forth. Back and forth. Here to there, left to right and back again. 
Ever since learning that Dromand had lost his key he'd been expecting this. To compensate for his own ineptitude the Hylian King had launched a stealth offensive at the heart of the Zora nation and, by all intents and purposes, he had succeeded. Whether the Zora Trust was stolen tonight or not, this act sealed the fate of the realm. 
There would be war. 
A knock at the door halted Tiburons trek, "Enter."
The visibly frazzled counselor tentatively walked into the throne room. Footsteps echoed throughout the otherwise silent hall as Tiburon stood at the foot of his throne, face settled into stony resolve. 
Stopping a respectable distance away, the counselor began to kneel, "Do not waste time with formalities. Speak. What of the Trust?" The last second order to forego common courtesy to the king lead to a kind of awkward crouching curtsy that Tiburon couldn't help but smile at. 
"My- my liege, the Trust is gone. The Guardian dead and the Hylians fled."
A long slow inhalation was the only response Tiburon gave for several moments. "As I feared. The traitorous lap dogs... this act will not go unanswered. Send our fastest swimmer to the garrison at the lake, they are to dispatch 200 of their finest battle ready warriors, Lieutenant Mako is to lead them himself."
Lieutenant Mako and his 200/ Hyrule Field/ Pre-Dawn 4
The earth rumbled and shook opening its maw around a group of Hylians in the distance. As Lieutenant Mako reined in his steed calling a halt to the company he smiled at the hand fate had dealt. 
Riding out in front of 200 of his best warriors, Mako smiled. "The usurping scum of this land has finally revealed itself for what it is! Today, we fight to regain not just the Trust, but the realm!"
Jerking the reins on his mount to turn the lieutenant whirled his Daira bone spear high above his head and let out an exultant whoop as he put his heels to the flanks of his charger and galloped down into the fray. 
200 hollering Zora warriors on foot behind him.
Gli Lambe'/ Hyrule Field/ Midnight 3/4
Gli smiled with satisfaction as she launched herself forth at the book while the chaos was growing; Holding herself near the ground as she sprinted past the crumbling battlefield. Her eyes locked onto the book that had fallen from her target as she was swiftly upon it, and snatched it up without breaking pace. She barely noticed the figure that had emerged from the dirt nearby as she darted back into the tall grass, knowing that in the chaos, she was barely noticed in the darkness, despite the fact that the wild-eyed horsewoman was trying to hunt her down.
Gli slid into the tall grass on her stomach as she wedged her catch into the belt she had wrapped around her thigh, which was where her knives where held as well. Before hesitating for even a second, she continued to take advantage of the darkness as she looked for her next target. 
"Alright, I was hoping for the sword, but good enough...Who's next..." She mumbled to herself.
She scanned the spectacle once more, noticing that the horsewoman had been distracted effectively. She decided that in that woman's rage, she would still be the easiest target despite the new angle. Gli gripped the grass tightly as she inhaled deeply and fired a Deku Nut once more. Upon doing so, she flattened down on the ground, her eyes and ears perked. The amulet around her neck that rested on the ground was beginning to noticeably glow, and Gli could feel the heat from there. She ignored it for now, but made a mental note to worry about it later.
Alauth!Arand/Pre-Dawn 4/Hyrule Field
Something had hit Beth as she charged into the fray. None of the combatants had seen her coming, yet she had been intercepted. So... none of the visible combatants had seen her, then. Arand pulled back on the reins to stop her steed and observed from the outskirts of the battle. She watched as the ground erupted under the will of the despairing child. She watched as a mogma burst from the ground, also on the outskirts of the fight but perpendicular to Arand's position. And she watched as another projectile flew up from the grass to strike Beth and explode in a blinding Deku Nut flash.
So, that was where the shooter hid? Arand jumped from her horse and rolled as she hit the ground, becoming a silhouetted shadow rather than a Hylian. This shadowy person-thing glided across the darkened field, and Alauth searched the ground as it went. There! A... What is this thing...?
Alauth's form shrunk down, hunkering behind the plant creature, and it studied the... Deku Sprout? Whatever it was called. After a few moments, ridged bark-like structures formed around the edges of the shadowed silhouette, and bits of leafy material sprouted here-and-there. Alauth had become a reasonably approximation of this attacker, though male. Now it was time to learn more about it.
"Hey." he whispered. "What are you doing out here?"
Gli Lambe'/ Hyrule Field/ Midnight 3/4
Gli's leafy hair stood on end as she heard a voice nearby. It was obviously addressing her, which nearly scared her from her wits. She leaped back in the tall grass and scanned the area for anything humanoid. To her surprise, it was actually a Deku Sprout; Pure Blooded to boot unlike the hybrid that Gli was. She rose to one knee while taking care of not coming too far from the ground whilst reaching for one of her small knives.
"I dare ask the same, Weedling. If you're here to scold me, I don't have the time." She hissed under her breath. 
The amulet was hot, which was becoming increasingly distracting. Gli hoped in the back of her mind now that the second nut had missed, and only one person had discovered her.
Soldat/Hyrule Field/Pre-Dawn 4
The odd group managed to force Soldat back from the child. His patience would be growing thin were it not for the growing chaos keeping him more than occupied. He began to realize he may not be able to resolve this situation in a diplomatic manner and began drawing his sword, "Look, I have no quarrel with any of you, but-"
He was cut off by a large boulder careening towards his head. He stepped back to avoid it but ended up slipping on the ice the young woman had created with her arrow a falling to the ground. He rolled to avoid an additional barrage of flying earth, ending up next to where he had left the over sized slab of a sword he had been training with. He stood back up and grabbed the weapon just in time to notice another huge chunk of earth heading for him. He activated the swords saw like enhancement and focuses a mass of white magic into his arms to increase his strength.
With all the power he could muster, Soldat swung down with the blade slicing the boulder clean in too. He looked over at those in his way with mild annoyance as the halves of the massive rock fell to either side of him. "I don't know what you two hope to achieve here but at the very least we need to stop this tantrum of hers before she does harm to herself."
Soldat paused for a moment having noticed one of his barriers had gone missing, "What happened to that talking dog that was with you?" Looking around for the creature to make sure it couldn't initiate a surprise attack he finally noticed the last thing he wanted to deal with now, Elizabeth Bryce.
Soldat fired a sword beam at the ground around Bryce leaving a divine mark where it struck. He turned to address his other two problems but stopped when he realized the he'd just manage to make that mark with the wrong sword. His thoughts began to drift as what he just realized allowed number of things to finally become clear. "I can... I think I finally understand what they-" He forced himself back to reality as he remember he still had a battle and a berserk terrakenetic to deal with. It was then that he finally, noticed Shinsou had stopped.
The child's gaze became fixed on the direction Bloody Beth had come from as she spoke with an eerily calm tone, "It's one of them. I tried to avoid all of this but I have no choice now. I will have to fight i- i- ah..." Shinsou struggled to speak but could only gasp. He grabbed her throat as if she was choking before finally collapsing to the ground and falling unconscious.
Kamen stood behind her twirling a black feather in his hand, "we can't very well have that happen, now can we?"
"What the hell did you do!?" Soldat yelled and he shoved the young woman aside to get at the wind mage.
Kamen feigned ignorance as usual, "me? I don't know what you mean. I looked to me like Little Shini forgot to breathe for a moment and passed. I'm sure she's much better of then she would be dealing with whatever it was that drew her attention. I think she may have sensed one of our special friends."
The mage's subtleties were initially lost on the Paladin, "Special friends? What are you, oh... No, don't be ridiculous. Even if a kenetic power were enough to have sensory abilities, which it shouldn't, the winged hosts sense them as well, and I don't sense a thing."
Kamen just smiled knowingly, "yes I'm sure you must be right. Um, in the mean time I noticed quite a few Zora are on the way, and these new friends of ours were just fleeing from there with your niece in tow. I'm not sure this end calmly."
Soldat looked towards Zora Domain, it was too dark to see in any great detail but there did appear to be something coming. "Damn it!" He walked over to Shinsou's two guardians and planted the Champions Sword in the ground before the cat eared one, "this belonged to her father. You already saw what I can do, take it, take her and run. Just keep her safe."
He turned away without waiting for a response and walked off towards Beth with his own sword drawn. He fired a sword beam that wizzed just past her face to get her attention. The beam crashed into the ground leaving another divine mark some distance from the first. "Elizabeth Bryce! We were interrupted yesterday; I believe a second round is order."
Elizabeth/Hyrule Field/Pre-Dawn 4
Kamelot - When the Lights Are Down
Staying in motion helped Beth to avoid getting caught in a trap or being hit by any other sneak attacks. Well, almost. Sometimes her anger helped to hone her focus. Apocrypha was drawn as she swiped at the tall grass. But at the last possible moment, she heard a whirring sound close in on her upper body.
Raising her gauntlet and turning her head away, the normally hidden viridian Sigil shone through her right gauntlet, and instead of the light following the Deku nut's blast dissipating into the night, it absorbed in, cascading around her fist. But there was no more time to look for the guttersnipe. Looking behind her rather quickly, she saw a failed holy crest sizzle on the ground, and then a beam of purest holy energy came incredibly close to her left eye. Pale green etchings illuminated around her cheek and quickly faded, and her attention was promptly transfixed on Soldat once more. It didn't matter about the rumbling in the background. She'd take them all on at this point.
But above all, with the ground slowly becoming a holy minefield, she had to keep moving. Just because she couldn't stand on holy ground didn't mean she could ride across it without penalty either.
"Soldat du Ciel, you just rang the bell. Prepare yourself!"
Rearing up on Tenebrous, Beth charged hard at Soldat with intent to overrun him. Apocrypha was at the ready to deliver a crushing blow, and she had intensity in her gaze.
Deku Alauth/Hyrule Field/Pre-Dawn 4
The Deku laughed lightly at Gli. "Hey, I''m not scolding you. I'm just trying to help. That's Black Betty Bryce. You have to have heard of her. Even I've heard of her! She catches you attacking her, and you'll be dead faster'n a Octorok in the desert."
He crawled a bit closer to Gli, giving her a better look at his face to show the sincerity in his expression, and the lack of hostility. He cracked a goofy, cocksure grin at her. "And my name's not Weedling, you know. It's Ferncis."
Then he noticed the book. "Hey... what's that?"
Lieutenant Mako and his 200/ Hyrule Field/ Morning of the 4th
As the sun crested the horizon and began spilling it's rays across the land, the Zora troops continued to bear down on the gathered Hylians. "Fan out and surround them. No one is to escape!" Mako bellowed over his shoulder. 
The Lieutenant sat atop his blue roan charger in the center of the field as the last of his men positioned themselves. Surveying the field he saw a trio Zora warriors, spears lowered as they towered above a lone Mogma on it's furry rump. 
Another much larger group stood around two of their hideous females, one of which was unconscious and...was that a giant cat? No matter. This left a lone man with a cocksure grin staring down a pair of Zora's and the two Hylians locked in combat. 
The tensing Zora warriors tightened the perimeter as they poked and prodded through the weeds closing ranks and moving towards their leader. 
"Thieving heathens! For those of you too dull witted to have noticed, you are surrounded." A light tug of the reins was all it took to place his charger between the mounted combatant and her foe. "That last bit was for you my lady. Pay attention. Your life depends on it."
Raising his voice once again, Mako called out, "Surrender the Trust Key of your own free will and be escorted back to King Tiburon where I swear nary a hair on your wretched little heads will be harmed," the lieutenant paused, all eyes were on him. Some were hard, others frightened, yet no one spoke. 
"Or have it wrenched from your dead
hands." Sighing, Mako scanned the horizon a final time as the sun began to creep above the morning clouds. "Kill them all."
Gli Lambe'/ Hyrule Field/ Pre-Dawn 4
Gli blinked slowly after Alauth warned her of her target's power and notability. She scoffed and snorted with an unimpressed light and voice.
"Psh...Humans thinking th-they're the best th-this world has to offer. I don't know what this 'Black Betty' thing you're talking about is, but if it's th-that female on the big animal...I'm hardly impressed."
Gli slid slowly back a few inches when Alauth approached, but not enough to make up for the distance he had made. The amulet was now glowing with a radiance not unlike that of a torch, illuminating a small radius around the two of them. Gli could see Alauth as clear as day due to the sudden light; What she saw upon a second look made her gasp quietly while her eyes widened with a mixture of confusion and shock.
W-what...He...He's not a Deku...He's...He's like me?! But...That's...impossible! M-master, he...He said I was the only one like me...A freak...A....A...
Gli's mouth opened to respond, but further thought failed her in her state of shock. Alauth's smile was warm and sincere; he even gave away his name to her. She hesitated, as this mere gesture of trust and benign purpose struck her in both an intellectual and emotional manner. Like a bolt of mystifying lightning, she, for the first time, was mentally paralyzed. Gli froze, unable to begin to grasp the concept of such a gesture.
N-...No...Not possible...He's lying...This is a feint. ThisisafeintThisisafThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeintThisisafeint...
Her internal mantra of madness was finally broken when Alauth had the mercy to continue speaking. He spoke of the book that she had recently stolen. She collected herself, casting her past thoughts aside and managed a suspicious glare.
It's a feint, good.
"It's mine." She flatly responded, stepping back with her knife still ready. 
Gli was quickly becoming anxious however, due to the light the amulet was giving off. Her cover was going to be blown very quickly in the night sky, and she needed to leave. She could hear horses in the distance.
== Panic on the Battlefield ==
Kourtz/Hyrule Field/Dawn Day 4
As Kourtz looked on bewildered at the book he had stumbled upon, he couldn't help but feel it held some greater meaning. "Wait, could it be?" Slowly he cracked open it's cover and began to read with his eyes widened in the darkness.
"Elizabeth Bryce is..."
"Ah screw it, it's too dark to read"! said Kourtz as he slammed the book shut and casually tossed it aside. "I don't have time for this trash anyway. Elizabeth needs to learn not to litter... whoever she is". Not noticing a small figure sweep in and grab the book from behind him Kourtz ran off at full speed to help his friends. Or at least he did until he froze in his tracks with fear.
Between them a hoard of Zora warriors marched in to capture the trio of adventurers. The lone Mogma tried to run, only to have three of Tiburon's best men surround him from behind.
"Oh no! No not them. Please, stay back, please I... I don't..." Kourtz's feet collapsed to the ground as his face lost all expression but fright. Frozen in place he felt as if the whole world had simply decided to swallow him whole. Awestruck at how badly fate had conspired against him the treasure hunter could do little but fall silent and listen on. What appeared to be Zora leader road over and offered them a chance to surrender.
Kourtz struggled to answer him. Honestly he wished he could surrender, that he could just give up, ask for forgiveness, and go back to living a normal life. From the moment Leif and Tarah first drew first blood however he knew that would never be an option. At best he would spend the rest of his days in Zora's Domains deepest dungeon. A date with the hangman was more likely. Still he had nothing against the Zora. Was it worth going out in one last battle when he knew his fate was likely sealed?
Unable to reply back the mounted knight made the decision for him. "Kill them all". Once more sharp tipped spears were pointed at him. Out of despair and frustration Kourtz let out a horrible screaming growl. "AAGGHHH! GET OUT OF MY WAY! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL MURDER ANYONE WHO GET'S IN MY WAY!" At full speed Kourtz rushed the troops ahead of him, aiming at their waists with a his stolen coral weapon. Kneeling over as the boomerang hit them the burrower shoved their stunned bodies aside and dove into the tunnel he had recently emerged from. Crawling to the bottom the creature of the earth flipped around to see one of his new foes squeezing his way in after him.
"GET OUT! I don't want to do this! I don't want to become a killer!" The solider paid him no heed has he crept in with knife in hand. Out of instinct Kourtz let loose a bombchu, it's target struggling to get out of the narrow spaces. The moment before impact Kourtz saw a look of helplessness on the young Zora's face, not unlike that on his own. The explosive blast sent shrapnel flying into the mogma's soft skin as he shot backwards against the tunnel walls.
The shock of what he had just happened crushed his spirit just as the impact crushed his ribs. Fighting the pain with shear adrenaline Kourtz pressed on, trying to claw a new path to the surface with warm blood staining his fur coat. Disgusted at what he had become his lone voice cried out at the goddess's.
"Great golden goddess, why!!! Why did have to do this? I have no homeland to defend, no loved ones to protect! Why must I fight when I have nothing to fight for?" Reflecting on what he had become and eyes full of tears he screamed out the last line in terror. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!!"
Tarah Vass / Hyrule Field / Dawn Day 4
Standing shocked on the field she used to call home Tarah considered her options, her initial instinct to surrender and hope for a later escape was crushed by the Zora order to kill, so her only remaining choices were to run or fight. Running seemed like the better choice above fighting an army, but where could she run to? The only place she saw as safe was Hyrule Castle, but as a wanted woman by the Hylian guard she would be running to her death. Unless of course she arrived with the Zora trust, at which point she would be welcomed by the king. Reaching a moment of clarity, she formed a plan, a weak two stage plan, but a plan nonetheless. 
Stage one, she needed to find Kourtz. While evading attack from the oncoming army, Tarah surveyed the landscape frantically, and finally saw him. A single clawed paw sticking out of the soil, surrounded by several confused Zora soldiers glaring at a nearby crater. It was then that she realised that he was in trouble, even from the distance she could see blood Kourtz's paw and judging by how limply it was moving she assumed it was his. At this moment she lept into action, the Trust was no longer her concern, she needed to help her fallen companion. Before charging towards the paw, she turned to Leif. 
"He's right, we need to get Shinsou out of here, take her and go to the castle, i'll catch up." She shouted in reference to Soldat's previous statement.
"What are yo- Are you going back for the trust? You'll die! Leave it!" He called back. 
"No, i'm going back for a friend." She said calmly, before breaking into a sprint towards the bloodied claws. 
Moving as quickly as she could, Tarah danced through the crowd of Zora warriors which had formed between her and Kourtz. She stepped to the side of an oncoming spear and thrust her icy blade into the stomach of it's wielder to instantly pull it out again and swing it to her left, slitting the throat of another Zora. A sword now swung down on her too quickly for her to react, diving away she felt pain shoot across her body and saw blood seeping from a new tear in her coat. This pain soon turned to adrenaline as Tarah plunged her blade into the Zora who had cut her. 
The distance between her and the next group allowed Tarah to quickly inspect her wound, she let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that it was a fairly shallow cut. She now drew her bow as the next group of Zora approached her and fired an arrow straight into the skull of the first, she quickly drew two more arrows and sent each into the necks of two more Zora. The others had almost reached her so she sheathed her bow and once again pulled her blade from it's sheath, plunging the icy steel into the side of the closest Zora she grabbed her fallen foe and used the corpse to block a blow from another Zora spear. Pushing the body into another soldier Tarah danced around the spear holder and thrust Tadens knife into his back. She then stepped aside to dodge a blow from the final warrior and parried his strike with a deadly slice of his throat. 
Where before there had only been a claw, Tarah now stood beside two arms and a nose, desperately trying to pull the connected body from the earth below. Tarah now held her Mogma companion and pulled him from the ground, carrying him back the way she came then following the trail of Zora corpses left by Leif, she initiated stage two of her plan and ran as fast as her legs could carry her towards the castle, bloodied by wounds of her own, and those of the Mogma in her arms. 
Leif - Hyrule Field - Dawn Day 4
Looking between Shinsou and the greatsword that lay before him, Leif grabbed Shinsou and began pulling on the blade lodged into the ground.
"Damn it, this thing's heavy..." He muttered before focusing energy into his single arm. The ground released its grip around the blade and Leif stumbled slightly from the force of his pull, then started running towards the Castle Town gate, sword and Shinsou in tow.
"HEY, STOP HIM!" A Zora yelled from behind Leif. Multiple spears soared through the sky towards him, burying themselves into the ground before his feet. He nonchalantly sidestepped by all of the approaching spears, then placed Shinsou down gently next to him. Gripping the greatsword now with two hands, Leif turned around and began sprinting towards the small group of Zoras. Distance was closing between he and the Zoras who decided to launch one last bombardment of spears which were all casually deflected off the thick metal of the sword. Leif threw the Champions Sword skyward as he unsheathed his two scimitars.
Swerving around the Zoras he stabbed one of them in the back causing its body to become limp and gush a steady stream of blood. One of them instinctively ducked without reason and unsheathed a longsword readying for a fight. Leif spiraled around and stomped on the Zora's foot. It clenched its teeth holding back pain before Leif placed its sword between his index finger and thumb and slowly cracked, then smashed the blade to bits. His slight smirk slowly grew into a sadistic grin as the Zora's face filled with terror.
"Ciao!" A quiet chuckle escaped Leif's lips.
Blood trickled down the golden blade of his scimitar as he gently pushed it into the Zora's ribs inch by inch. All sound muted around Leif except for the sound of grinding bone, flesh ripping, and gasps for air from the Zora. A faint thud signaled that the hilt of the sword met the mutilated rib cage of his foe a final bloodied cough was released. Leif placed his foot on the chest of the Zora and slid its limp body off of his sword. His smile grew more and more.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" The final Zora from the small squadron yelled. Before he could reach Leif the Champions Sword plunged back down nailing the Zora's skull to the soil. Sheathing his swords once again, he felt a droplet of rain splash against his face. A shade of grey overcast the sky and a light rain poured over everybody. Leif grasped the hilt of the greatsword and pulled it out of the now crushed Zora skull. Raindrops steadily dripped from loose strands of hair over his face. Ignoring the commotion in front of him, sound returned to his ears and he groggily began walking towards Shinsou. He picked her up again and put her over his shoulder, now entering Castle Town.
Leif sat down on the rim of the fountain in Castle Town taking a small break from his short but sweet fight. He placed down the Champions Sword and Shinsou on the ground next to him and unsheathed his swords. He sighed.
Ugh, I'm not sure why that fight made me so tired. It wasn't that much of a workout. he thought while cleaning his scimitars off in the already clouded waters of the fountain. Oh well. Probably just from a lack of sleep.
Before Leif could continue his thoughts, Shinsou began to stir. She rubbed her eyes.
"Oh, so you're awake now. Hey."
Soldat/Hyrule Field/Dawn 4
"Kill them all? Seems kind of excessive don't you think Mako?" Kamen asked as he appeared behind the Zora making no attempts at his desire to provoke him. "Really making at least some attempt at capturing the people who accused of stealing the Hylian Trust. Or didn't you know, well maybe gathering inelegance on that Hylian's has become that much harder without me around. Hm, oh well never mind, its business I've come to discuss with you. I have a deal my order has decided to offer you, one I'm sure Tiburon will be able to twist to his advantage."
-
Soldat blocked Beth attack with his shield. He stumbled slightly but still managed to use the energy from the blow to spin and strike her horses rear. After regaining his footing he prepared to fire another sword beam to continue building a seal but noticed the trouble Shinsou's two escorts where having.
With the two of them so far away the knight knew he wouldn't be able to cast from his sword as usual and instead took a precious moment to chant a quick spell. With its completion a magical mark appeared on the arms of the young woman and cat man. Soldat had granted them each some of his own strength to aid in their escape.
With no time to continue the seal Soldat took a defensive stance a waited for Beth's next strike. He'd have to hope he could force another opening to create the next two marks he needed.
Elizabeth/Hyrule Field/Dawn 4
As she had expected, her opponent raised his shield arm and dug in to keep standing during the onslaught. What Beth didn't expect, however, was that she'd be slowed enough for her steed to be hit with a backswing on his upper left leg. In her attempt to circle back around, Tenebrous tried to throw her off once again, but he reared up when the answer to distant thunder presented himself. A fairly important looking Zora positioned himself between her path, and her horse was still bucking lightly in response to being freshly lacerated. 
Not only was Elizabeth already raging, but being taunted by this Zora made her beyond incensed. 
"I know nothing of this Trust! Your life is forfeit for getting in my way, worm!"
Phantasy Star Zero - Crescent Crusade
Using the stored energies in her right fist, she brought Apocrypha swiftly down in an attempt to sunder the ornate spear the Zora happened to be wielding, and mid-swing, the Deku Nut's power was released. She also let out a scream, and a deep crimson aura enveloped her frame as well as her horse's. Calling on energies from the depths of evil most refined, she was filled with a thirst for something all too familiar, and she wanted to share it with anyone who wished to partake.
"All who oppose me will die! You will regret crossing Bloody Beth!" 
Soldat/Hyrule Field/Dawn 4
"See now this is the kind of thing I'm talking about," Kamen said nonchalantly as Beth charged Zora Officer. "You try and stop the trust thieves and who shows up but a demon worshiper. It's almost as if something else is going on here."
Kamen finally noticed the sun rising over the horizon and the distinct disadvantage he'd have without darkness to hide in during this fight, "well, I can see you're distracted. Shall we finish this later?"
-
Soldat couldn't believe it; the demonic woman had broken off to attack the zora giving him all the team he needed. Not willing to waist to opportunity he quickly prepared and fired two more sword beams into the nearby ground to finish his preparations. With the four points he needed sent he fired a normal beam at Beth's head and called out to get her attention. "Do I bore you that much witch? Or are you truly that stupid that you think it wise to turn away from me?"
== Bursting In ==
Majin, Hyrule Field, Day 4
Majin landed hard, the thick talons of his feet digging deep into the hard dirt before the walls of Castle Town as thick globs of molten rock rained down around them. He shook his head to get his bearings, and found himself standing amidst a ring of armed Zoras, a short distance from a trio of warriors, two Hylians and a Zora, engaged in combat.
He was in the act of swiveling his thick, serpentine neck to check on Sirius, when he felt the single voice of Kaimu, which he’d suppressed out of sheer need, rise and split into an echoing cacophony in his mind.
“Kill!” They whispered, and then they demanded, and then soon they howled it, overwhelming all thought but berserk, violent rage. They became indistinguishable as they roared beneath his skull.
Majin snatched a gaping Zora up with his tail and slammed it head first into the earth, the resounding crack announcing his death even as he spun toward the encircling Zoras on the far side and unleashed a trio of black fireballs into their tightening ring.
He had no thought but to attack.
IC: Taden Horwendil / Hyrule Field / Morning 4
Majin tore into the oncoming Zora hoard with a primordial prowess that held Taden's stare. Black, sinuous scales rippled through their ranks like a river of death, bringing low whole squadrons of Zora forces on this northern end of the battlefield. What tragic irony, he thought, that the demons unleashed by Kaimu should now be visited on his own race.
With the antediluvian beast holding back the Zora riders, Taden was able to find his bearings from a low mound leading up to a rocky outcropping. For the moment, Polaris and Sirius did the same. A violent plane of death stretched out before them, as the Zora descended into a stampeding chaos, their piercing howls flying up from the dark, turning tides of a maelstrom of fins, hooves and spears.
One tendril of soldiers lashed out for the black dragon, bearing down on Majin in the north part of the field--their numbers swelled even as Majin gored the vanguard, and Taden coveted the dark wyrm's all-consuming power. Majin's power grew to a tyrannical fury as the battle pitched with the rising sun, but in its pale light along the eastern ridge of Death Mountain, the Yeti sorcery that had borne Taden through those dark caverns now waned and diminished.
He slunk back from the Dragon's bloodthirsty massacre, under the shoulder of a high rock, and studied the roiling Zora formation. The sun's light revealed an armor clad swordsman charging into their midst, his sword gleaming in the dawn's first full white rays, and a crimson sorceress that rode between him towards the mounted Zora command. In the midst of his churning cavalry the Zora General stood and watched, and though he faced the red woman and golden soldier head on, it seemed his eyes searched beyond them, and then Taden saw what the general beheld--the demonic hoard still further across the plains, riding for the Hylian settlement in the center of the field.
"So it is war at last," he called bleakly to the mad scientist Sirius, and the red General Polaris, his voice almost plaintive on the whistling winds. Even as he spoke, a low rumble of thunder cracked across the sky, and curtains of rain began to fall over the heaving battlefield, plumes of steam hovering over the bloody Zora corpses. As the full scope of the battlefield dawned on him, the brazen horns of Hyrule Castle Town pealed at his back, and he swirled around to see its open drawbridge already crawling shut as guards sounded the alarm over the Zoras at the gates.
Just short of the City's gates, however, and not far from where he watched, he saw a familiar grubby rodent being carried by a bloodied huntress. He grinned as he realized the Zoras now being dismembered by Majin had been chasing his very own partners in crime, for it could only mean they had accomplished the task they were set by Dromand. Leif was nowhere to be seen, but the cat-eared brute couldn't have gotten far.
"I daresay the two of you have seen better days," Taden called out from the shadows, as Tarah carried Kourtz past the boulders he hid among. Stealth had led her to the same patch of darkness in the gathering storm.
He climbed up to the top of a tall rock and looked down on them, his shadow long over their weary faces. Instead of the White Wolfos Hood they had seen him in only two nights before, he now wore the heavy breastplate of a Yeti knight over the red scales and links of a Goron tunic and mail, all draped under a tattered brown cloak. He pulled back his brown hood and the same shock of white hair fell about his shoulders; the Yeti Mask hung on the back of his head, obscured from their view for the moment.
They paused in a lightning flash and considered one another--Taden black with the soot and ash of Dodongo's Cavern, Tarah caked red in the dark blood of fallen Zora--but an arrow tipped with razor fins whizzed by his head and he ducked, jumping down to the ground to face them evenly. Even as he loamed down from the high rocks, a stray flume of Majin's shadowflame charred the spot where he had stood.
"Here, hand him to me," Taden said. As the clash of Dragon and Zora closed in on them and the drawbridge continued grinding shut, he extended an open hand towards Tarah. She was covered in the gore of battle, and her breath was ragged under the treasure-laden Mogma's bulk, but an ungodly fire burned in her eyes like he had never seen, not even at Kakariko. It reminded him of the all-consuming fury that seemed to seize Majin the moment they reached the surface.
"Come, you're getting that cold blood of theirs all over him," he laughed, while thunder rumbled overhead.
Impa – Hyrule Field – Day 4
The rising sun chased shadows, the last vestiges of night, from the Field. As the night’s darkness was swept aside, Impa was revealed standing in the knee-high grass not far from the narrow gash that Horwendil and his allies had torn through the earth. Her arms were folded beneath her breasts and she looked on, a single black figure standing silently amongst the meadow-grass, as Taden took the Mogma in his arms.
The great drawbridge of Castle Town was grinding shut, the soldiers within desperately working the cranks as Zoras approached from the eastern waters and howling zealots from the western wastes.
For a moment her eyes lingered on the dragon, ripping relentlessly through the Zora ranks even as they closed in around him. But she could not intervene; she had more important business to be about.
In a blink she was standing before Taden, with the limp Mogma draped over his outstretched arms. Tarah, the archer, was there as well. She did not see Leif, but she looked now upon the almost fully reassembled team King Dromand had sent forth into Hyrule to safeguard the realm.
“You all have done well, though you took different paths than I might have thought.” She found herself staring from one pair of eyes to the next, and saw the effect of sinister spellwork reflected in them. “Come this way, time is of the essence and we cannot be caught between the lines of battle when they close.”
There was but one place to go, one direction she could lead them to escape the maelstrom of violence that was about to descend upon them. To the southwest, built upon the highest ground of the Field standing starkly against the brightening sky, was the ranch.
“We must get you all to Lon Lon immediately,” she insisted. “And the cargo you carry.”
Tarah Vass / Hyrule Field / Morning 4
Stumbling through the wreckage Leif had laid in his wake, Tarah heard an explosion behind her and glanced back to see the rage of a dragon demolishing the Zora army. She wanted to stop and look properly, but knew she couldn't afford to stop now. She had to reach the gates. She had to return the trust. 
The trust. 
Amongst the chaos she had temporarily forgotten the purpose of her travels, and in the blood and rain it hit her. At this moment, panic overcame her. What of the trust? She thought. What if Kourtz had lost it in the fray? What if it had fallen as they ran? Or what if he awoke and tried to take it? No, Kourtz wouldn't do that. But, he is a Mogma after all, isn't greed in his nature? But, maybe, wait, who's that?
On seeing Taden she stopped in her tracks, initially she failed to recognise his figure in the darkness and the rain but on closer inspection she knew it to be him standing above her on a rocky perch. He approached her, and asked to carry Kourtz, and by extension, the trust. The man who had abandoned them once before wanted to take the trust from her. She could not afford to let that happen. Her chance of clearing her name would be gone. She couldn't let it go. 
Pausing for a moment, then releasing a false smile and lowering Kourtz she hid her true paranoia and desperation from Taden. As she lowered the Mogma from her shoulder she reached into his pocket with the ease of a practised thief and retrieved the key from within. Concealing it within her sleeve as she reached up to pass Kourtz into Tadens arms, her false smile became genuine as she slipped her hands into her pockets and the trust went with them. 
"He should wake up soon anyway, but he's probably safer with you." She said as Taden placed the Mogma securely on his shoulder. 
At that moment, Impa approached them and spoke, then continued to lead the battle worn group towards the supposed safety of Lon Lon Ranch. As they ran Tarah drew her bow and held and arrow in place in case of an attack. She kept her eye trained on Taden though, knowing that in the insanity of war she could only trust herself. 
Xiaber/SW Hyrule Field/ Morning 4
Xiaber opened his eyes slowly, the light blinding him as he sat up. He felt like he ran into a brick wall. He could hear someone whistling near him. As his eyes finally adjusted, he showed confusion on his face as he looked at the wagon he was in. Xiaber parted the tarp at the end to see what he recognized to be Hyrule Field.
The whistling stopped and Xiaber heard a voice say, “Oh, you’re awake.” He looked to the front to see a boy that looked to be about his age looking in through the tarp. “I hope you don’t mind I picked you up. It didn’t look like you were just snoozin’,” The boy gave a wide smile as he said that.
“Ugh…” was all that came out of Xiaber’s mouth. “Well anyway,” the boy continued, “I gave you a potion to help, but that arm will need more than that.”
“My arm?” Xiaber looked at his arm which was in a sling. “Oh yeah, I fell off a roof.”
“A roof? Well that’s a strange thing to find in a field.” The boy was now completely in the wagon with Xiaber.
“Uh, no, I fell off a roof at Castle Town. I have no idea how I got here.” Xiaber tried to remember what happened after he fell off the roof, but couldn’t. He just remembered the red-headed women running away and the other people fighting off a giant worm. “Umm, who’s directing this wagon?” He ended up asking.
“Don’t worry, that horse knows where to go. She’d know how to get to Lon Lon Ranch from anywhere.” The boy was starting to remind Xiaber of his old friend; always cheerful and ready to give a big smile. He even had a similar appearance to him: shaved brown hair and green eyes. His friend always wanted Xiaber to shave his head too, calling him a bedhead. “I planned on taking you to the ranch seeing as you were unconscious, but since you’re awake now, I guess you could go on your own way if you want.”
“It’s not like I have anything better to do,” Xiaber replied back. His act of being a hero was put to a stop, and with his broken arm, anymore acts of heroism are out of the question. He noticed the other boy looking at him with another one of his big smiles.
“You’re probably wondering why I was able to find you on the southwest part of the field.” Xiaber did notice that they were at that part of the field, but he didn’t really think more of it. He didn’t want to be rude, though.
“Why’d you find me, then?”
The boy was happy he asked. “Well, I like exploring the fields after I make my runs.” He pointed at a sword lying on the ground next to the front entrance. “It’s even better when some monsters find me. Oh, my name’s Marth, what’s yours?
“I’m Xiaber.” Maybe he should be more social. Heroes tend to be social.
Sirius​
Hyrule Field, Heading towards Lon Lon
"So it is war at last," Taden called bleakly.
Sirius was about to both follow and respond to Taden, but two pairs of arms suddenly wrapped around him, dragging him away not only from the battle scene, but from the entire point in reality itself. As he was pulled back, the world melted away, like blue fire against ice, and he was left the familiar old white void with the occasional tree and of course a mysterious water fountain.
Next to the nearest tree stood two men, well, one man-looking and the other hooded and disguised.
“Hello Sirius.” The visible, and silvery haired man spoke first.
“Do I know you?” Sirius didn’t bother asking where he was, it was irrelevant. The silver-haired man turned to his hooded compatriot and whispered. Sirius heard the gruff return whisper, ever so faint.
He hasn’t met you yet, nor has he met me, in a way he recognizes
“Yes, I can hear you!” Sirius called out to the two. He became very cross all of a sudden, very quickly. He noticed that rather than the normally infinite void he seemed to travel to when meeting with important figures of his past and future, he was in more of a bubble. The faint image of the battle outside was visible. Having been alive long enough to recognize a spell versus his own bad mood, Sirius knew that some foreign element was affecting him, even through the rip of space and time he had moved through.
The hooded man walked up to Sirius, and removed his hood. Sirius was slightly taken aback as he realized he now looked upon some twisted version of his own visage.
“Unlike you, I do not enjoy these games. My name is Morton Waypost. This is Kokage Tsukiakari. Once upon a time, you got yourself so hated and hunted that Kokage here was forced to gather up all of the clones of legends you ever made, and use them to destroy you. You died in a burning pit of every known element there is, and maybe some more.
And when you died, I was born from the ashes. Your future was death, and so I came to be.”
Sirius felt his anger grow. The walls of the white space seemed to tremble and shake.
“So then, you’ve brought me here to tell me of my terrible horrible fate? Is my guilty soul now laid out so that I might complete my own timeline and satisfy this self-serving universe? I do not submit to you as my future. And I do not know you, sir, but rest assured the next time I see your face, I will be known to you.” Sirius clenched his hands around his whip, and snapped it at Kokage, who deftly dodged the strike, but remained unprovoked. “Do you understand what happens on the first day after a full moon? Do you?” Sirius let himself become consumed by maniacal laughter after the question, pausing after a few moments.
“I get a little unhinged.” Morton mouthed the words as Sirius said them. Sirius’ face was struck with horror, followed by brief depression, followed by rage.
“Yes, I remember saying that too.” Morton smiled. “It is in fact one of the only things I remember, as most of my memories of you were burned when you died. I came to accept it would be my fate, as will you.” Morton waved a hand. “Poof!”
Sirius was back on the battlefield the moment the word was uttered, no sign of the white space, no sign Kokage, no sign of Morton, no sign of relief. He no longer felt his normal cool undercurrent of sarcasm and verbal deflection, instead feeling a resentment for the world, and any who might be foolish enough to exist in it alongside him.
He stopped reflecting on the meeting of his future self, as the spear of a nearby Zora came swinging down towards him. On reflex his snapped his whip, wrapping it around the spear and pulling it to him. He then broke the whip in half, and threw both pieces, and the Zora’s spear, back upon the attacker. He ended up taking down three separate Zora, and clearing a small path for himself out of the central chaotic zone. His anger was at a peak. His normal verbiage was replaced by shrieks, shouts, and calls of victory as each Zora victim fell. A few got in some cursory strikes, but nothing strong enough to slow his momentum.
Sirius heard a particularly thunderous crash of lightning, and briefly thought he spied what could only be described as purple lightning. He saw no repeat though, and chalked it up to the rage he had now oddly juxtaposed to his relative clarity of thought. Continuing to fight his way through the Zora army, he spied Taden and several unknowns escaping towards a distant ranch.
He began shouting incoherently in their direction, unsure himself of what he hoped to accomplish besides catching Taden’s attention.
Elizabeth/ Hyrule Field/Dawn 4
After a sweeping slash at her Zora enemy, Beth detected a large building energy signature of a most baneful variety. Another beam had been fired by Soldat. Not knowing whether she had connected or not, she turned to have her steed kick the Zora leader.
But in this chaos, there was a serious burning sensation in her right arm. All along it, the seals holding Apocrypha together had become a sleeve. 
When the light faded from the flash she'd unleashed, a glance of a very familiar weapon came into view as she was riding toward Soldat. It was a bright violet white celestial blade which was partially transparent and full of sparkling dots. Her arm was clenched tight but she noticed holy energies being drawn into her arm. Looking a bit unnerved at this development and at the fact she was feeling this pain, she still pressed the attack. 
"Bored is the wrong word. He got in my way. I fear nothing! Least of all you!"[\color]
Soldat du Ciel/Hyrule Field/Dawn 4
The taunt had worked. Beth was charging down Soldat once again. It was now or never. "Ok you know what you've been doing wrong now; you've been using the light Yasu gave us. I just have to convert it like Master Chevalier taught me. A steady charge for the first then a massive burst for the second."
Soldat slashed downward as he stepped forward, his sword leaving an arc of divine magic along the path of his blades tip. "True..."
The knight took a deep breath as the witch bore ever closer. He channeled all of the power he could, converting it into divine magic from the light he now knew he had been using. "...Divine Blade..."
Forcing all of that power into his sword, the Paladin slashed back upward as he stepped forward, "BLADE STRIKE!" The bladed crescent arc divine magic was launched forward by the explosive force and the blast of raw unfocused divine magic behind it. The force which was enough to cleave hell-scape mountains was now flying strait for Beth and her tainted stead.
Lieutenant Mako/ Hyrule Field/ Morning of the 4th
"Kamen. It's always good to head a friendly voice. We'll catch up soon and I will hear your intel."
"In a bit."
Mid-conversation, Mako abruptly stopped talking and maneuvered his spear to casually deflect the incoming strike. "It would seem that the vaunted Bloody Beth has spread herself thin, but still, I see no blood. Yet."
As the cult leader turned her mount to re-engage her armored foe, the steed directed a kick in Mako's direction as a parting gift.
Jumping straight up and out of his stirrups, Mako briefly stood atop the rump of his charger before somersaulting through the air as his horse took the full force of the kick. With a flourish the lieutenant landed in the spot where his now fleeing steed had so recently stood. 
With Bloody Beth otherwise occupied and Kamen out of sight, Mako took advantage of this opportunity to scan the battlefield. Several of his warriors lay dead or dying and more were sure to follow with a dragon on the rampage and several new warriors taking the field in a flurry of rock and lava. 
The thing that most interested the lieutenant however, was the group of Hylians fleeing the field. Signaling to his warriors Mako shouted, "Leave that accursed wyrm be!" Pointing with his spear, Mako directed attention to the escapees, "And do NOT let those cowards escape! After them!"
As those of his warriors who were able took off at a jog, the lieutenant made to turn his attention back to Beth and Soldat, but stopped short upon seeing a crimson scaled Zora adorned with intricate funerary tattoos striding confidently through the fray towards him. 
"This should be interesting."
Elizabeth/Hyrule Field/Dawn 4
She was hoping that the speed behind Tenebrous would be enough to beat her opponent on its own, but he readied his defense too quickly. One that Beth didn't have enough of an adequate time to prepare for. Her soul echoed in response, and she visibly shuddered as the True Blade Strike was unleashed upon her. She barely had enough time to try to steer Tenebrous out of the path before her vision was completely engulfed in white.
But it wasn't just her vision that was engulfed. This attack tore at her very being, scouring every inch of her frame in the very energy that caused her pain more than anything in the universe could. Worse than that, the ward on her arm was literally cooking it inside. But better her arm than her whole body to achieve that terrible result. And she could hear her trusted steed experience an agony far worse. Most likely dead or seriously wounded, banking on dead from how she was ejected from the saddle in an angle he should not have bent.
Tenebrous was split in two from a diagonal left cut from front to back. Elizabeth flew with the top before going airborne and becoming separated from it.
She was thrown from her horse violently and flipped twice in the air, landing hard on her back. It may have been raining lightly, but what hit her in addition to the rain, she wasn't sure of either until the sickening thud and familiar whinny turned into a death rattle. Her vision was still clouded in the stinging ivory light, and her lungs would not even emit a single sound. Smoke was rising from the ground she lay, and her gilded crimson vitae flow from wrists, feet, eyes, nose, and mouth, which was gaping while her eyes were rolled all the way back into her head. She was thrashing about on the ground, sword still in hand, enveloped in a viridian aura, reaching her free arm up out of desperation. Elizabeth was wounded in a manner that never had been done, because no one in the land before held the precise bane of her existence.
"My Lord, do not forsake me!"
Polaris Eridanus/ Hyrule Field/ Morning of the 4th
The field was chaos. Majin was in an unexpected fury and was decimating Zora warriors in a kind of wanton destruction that Polaris was loathe to witness. 
Pure rage emanated from within a ring of Zora warriors, in the center of that ring a mounted woman seemed to ooze bloodlust. She was undoubtedly the source of this peculiar energy and it was to her that Polaris made his way while his companions succumbed to the primal rage which she inspired. 
Polaris' mood deteriorated with every Zora body he had to step over or walk around and he barely kept hold of his own emotions. 
Until a lone mounted Zora, presumably the captain of this guard, vaulted off of a blue roan charger briefly distracting Polaris from his own inner anger. As the captain barked orders and gestured to a group running towards Lon Lon Ranch Polaris kept walking. When the ring of soldiers dispersed, Polaris locked eyes with the Zora officer and held his gaze until reaching him. 
"Greetings friend, I don't believe we've met." The officer extended a hand, "Lieutenant Mako, and you must be the Crimson General who's gained such favor with King Tiburon," a cocksure grin spread across Mako's face as Polaris raised an eyebrow. Shrugging, Mako clasped Polaris' hand, "My men are gossipmongers."
"I'd almost forgotten how quickly news spreads among the ranks. Indeed, I am Polaris Eridanus, forgive my companions, but...that woman..."
Polaris trailed off as he nodded at Beth and looked on while the paladin unleashed a vicious assault the likes of which he'd only heard of in rumor. 
With her horse cleaved in two and bloodied and battered body collapsing to the ground, Polaris' eyes narrowed as he finally looked on the face of Bloody Beth Bryce. Taking a step forward, his gaze strayed to the glowing sword in her grasp and the general growled as he shoved past Mako. Nearly sprinting to the grounded combatant. 
With the grip on his emotions faltering a fine crimson rime spread across the ground upon which he strode and grass withered and died all around. Polaris' black eyes flared with the barely contained force of a mid-winters storm as he towered over Elizabeth. 
Polaris stood there, staring down at her for a long while before speaking. When his words did come his voice reverberated with the full force of the blizzard that raged at his core, "By what right do you wield The Starborn Edge? Where. Is. She?" These last words spoke through clenched teeth as woman, mouth agape, only stared back in a mixture of shock and confusion, the ability to speak seemingly lost. 
"Answer me girl! What have you done to Kae Bryseis!?!"
IC: Taden Horwendil / Hyrule Field to Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
With Kourtz slung over his shoulder, Taden dashed over the fields as fast as he could, barely keeping up with Tarah and Impa. Even in her battle-weary state, the girl was quick.
All around them, the battle raged. To the south, Taden glimpsed a towering pillar of light burst up from the ground like a geyser, and a bestial, bloodcurdling scream as the white magic met its target. Behind him, a clap of thunder rang out overhead amidst a rattling chandelier of deep purple lightning bolts, and he heard another scream, just as an arrow entered his left thigh.
"Augh!" he shouted, dropping to the rainsoaked mud at the gates of the Hylian holdfast. Kourtz fell from his shoulder and fell face down into a puddle. Taden looked back to see Sirius taking on an advancing line of Zora alone with his moonlit whip. Ahead of him, Tarah and Impa had made it through the gate.
He tried to rise to his feet and winced, his vision blurring and spinning around him, the full weight of exhaustion from last night's battles beginning to hit him in dawn's early light. Sirius's shouts and the purple peals of lighting swam around him murkily, until his senses trained on Kourtz, muddied and beaten, but standing tall before him.
"Taden? Impa? What's going on, what are you doing here?" the Mogma asked, with a mix of panic and relief.
The stinging arrowhead in his side began to burn deeper. The pain triggered an innate, furious response in him, trenching through his exhaustion to unearth a deep well of bloodlust.
"I have been to the Yeti homeland, and I have had a vision," he said, his voice low and grave. "I have beheld a force that could end this war, if we do not destroy ourselves first."
Reaching into his red tunic, Taden pulled out the Goron Trust. "In the coming days, we will all have our part to play." He looked at the Mogma squarely as he handed over the key. In the dim light of the gathering rain, its finely set stones glistened in the treasure hunter's eyes.
"We haven't much time. Find Impa and Tarah," he said, turning his back on Kourtz. "Hide the Goron Trust where neither Hylian nor Zora eyes will find it." He brandished his Black Axe. "And Kourtz?" he asked finally, looking back over his shoulder into the rodent's beady eyes.
"Trust no one."
Taden charged forward, and fighting through his limp, he felt the pain in his leg give way to a torrential, violent frenzy that came out in a howling warcry.
"Fulmaren!" he called out, knocking one Zora down from his roan and completing the arc to slash through his waist. "Don't let any of them through!" Their eyes met briefly, and the look of madness in each was enough to convey the message.
His eyes flashed wide and his muscles tensed as he kicked another charging troop in the chest, knocking him to the ground and driving the butt of his axe into his forehead. He rolled forward over the corpse and leapt up to slam his axehead into a third, then sliced horizontally to send the Zora's head airborne on a red stream of blood, scattering the horses where it fell with a wet thud.
Now he was starting to enjoy it. The bloodlust coarsed through his veins. "And if you know of a way to block out the sun, now's the time," he said to the lunatic, a smile curling across his lips as he split a fourth Zora in half.
Stewart/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Stewart tapped his foot impatiently as his eyes remained fixed on the ranch intern, whom was struggling with the barrels filled with milk as he attempted to raise it up and place it inside his cart. Stewart's patience grew more and more short with the lanky and new employee, whom was working at a slower pace than usual, by Stewart's standards anyway. The intern was moving to grab the fourth barrel before Stewart finally snapped at him, much to his chagrin.
"Dear Lord, boy! I haven't seen a man move this slow since before I bought horses to pull this bloody cart! Have some respect and at least finish within the hour! I haven't all day..."
The intern merely sighed subtly, straining and pushing himself to pick up the pace. He plopped the fourth barrel in place before wiping his brow and moving to grab the fifth barrel that had been stored in the nearby building. He arrived with the barrel on his shoulder, minding his quickened pace so that the customer would at least shut up. However in his haste, he lost track of himself as he tripped and fell clumsily on his knees. The barrel broke open, spilling all of the milk inside and soaking the earth below. The intern quickly got up, completely humiliated, before attempting to apologize and offering to go get the fifth barrel.
Stewart let loose a long and tired sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked down at the ground, which was now soaked by the swiftly growing puddle, before looking up at the intern with a look of deep disappointment. Before the intern could turn to get another barrel, Stewart rose his hand in hesitant disagreement.
"No, no...It's fine...I'll just...ugh...Just keep my payment for five barrels. I have things to do and I'm already late." He responded as he climbed up onto his cart, lightly whipping the horses to start moving.
"I however suggest you clean up your work ethic, or find another job...Now."
He directed the horses to go to the entrance as he gave the intern one last unimpressed look. He turned to look at the entrance, but did not expect what he saw.
Sirius, Day 4, Hyrule Field Near Lon Lon
"And if you know of a way to block out the sun, now's the time," Taden said to the lunatic.
“Not a man of daylight? Neither am I!”
Sirius shouted at Taden, flourishing his whip as he brought one Zora toppling onto another. Their numbers were dropping quickly, and Sirius felt a serene rage that pushed him to eradicate every single one he could get his hands on. He wondered if perhaps his destruction of AvaKai had spurned a fetishistic hatred for Zora’s.
“We will need something more powerful than normal for what you desire, Taden.” Sirius pulled out his notebook, holding it open in one hand while warding off Zoran soldiers with his whip in the other hand. He shouted commands at the notebook between snaps of the whip, emblazoning them on its pages in silver ink.
Sirius had long been in tune with the universe’s desires of him, though his agreement with them as not always so well adjusted. But for the moment, the blood rage within him lent itself to a strong bond of battle with Horwendil, drawing the two together as they cut down Zora, creating the very real impression that fate had a plan for them after all.
“I ally myself to those that I see as necessary, and those that I see as opportunity!” Sirius called to Taden, who swept around slicing his axe, while Sirius ducked below, tightening the whip and jamming it into a fallen Zora, protecting Taden’s back while the ice mage cut a large swathe around them.
Taden paused just long enough to make eye contact. “Then do it.”
Sirius nodded, now standing several feet back from Taden. He would be moderately vulnerable after performing his next act, and needed Taden to remain as a protective shield. He took the whip and began to swing it in huge wide loops above his head. It began to leave thicker and thicker trails of moonlight, so bright that they paradoxically overpowered the rising sunlight.
Lunar dust from the trails began to fall down, forming a moonbeam identical in shape to the circular trails left behind by the whip. Sirius stopped swinging the whip at that point, straightening it and jamming it into the ground.
<You’ll need help on this one.> Sirius recognized the voice in his mind as Ithan Chiaria, but saw no sign of him anywhere, making it difficult to believe it to be real. A purple bolt of lightning briefly filled the space within the moonbeam igniting the whip-rod. It fired out its own silver beam from within the moonbeam aura, though much denser and smaller. Sirius stood at the center, just behind the lunar lightning rod, focusing his energy on it to encompass a larger area, washing over Taden.
He looked at the notebook, satisfied with his rapid fire entry he had just made, which consisted of logging all the warriors he saw in as much detail as possible, for possible later cloning attempts. But then, before him materialized the image of Morton Waypost, who grabbed the notebook and hurled it out of the moonbeam and into the chaos of the Zora battle. He winked and smirked, vanishing again.
Sirius did not immediately panic, knowing it could not be destroyed by conventional weapons, but he still felt strange, as if the moment Morton touched the notebook, something unsynced in his mind, weakening his control over the book. He said nothing to Taden, bracing himself for any potential attacks, and allowing the intensity of the lunar display to speak for itself.
Kourtz/Lon Lon Ranch/Day 4
After handing him the Goron Trust Key Kourtz took off running for the nearby gates of Lon Lon Ranch. Hiding behind the wooden pillars at the entrance he caught his breath and took the time to gaze at the priceless treasure that lay in his paws. In less than a day he had taken hold of Hyrules most priceless artifacts, something that would put pride into any Mogma's heart. But the price that had been paid to get them, the price that still had yet to be paid...
Kourtz didn't have the stomach or the time to think of that now. Ripping his backpack open as quickly as his grubby claws could he placed the Goron's Trust into the same place as it's Zora counterpart. ...Or did he. Feeling nothing in that pocket Kourtz franticly pored everything out of his bag. With jaw agape the young man realized he had lost the one thing he needed the most. Slamming the earth with his fist Kourtz tried his best to figure out what happened.
"How could it be gone? I had that thing latched tight". Then Taden's words rushed back into his mind. "Trust no one". "No, why would they do it? Tarah and Leif need the Trust. They couldn't have stolen it from me while I was out. Could they"? With thoughts of betrayal in his head Kourtz hid the remaining key at the bottom of his backpack and sealed it tight as possible. He would keep his possession of the Goron Trust a secret as long as possible just in case there was fowl play afoot. 
Still he needed to let the others know what happened. Shortly inside the ranch Kourtz spotted his companions. Panic stricken he called out to them. "Tarah, Impa, it's gone! The Zora Trust Key is gone"!
Elizabeth/Hyrule Field/Dawn 4
Phantasy Star Universe - Relics (Sleep) 
To say that an abridged summary of the life of Elizabeth Bryce was taking place within her mind was an understatement. Her world had collapsed around her. Her horse was dead, she had no less than seven open wounds, her body had suffered burns and her right arm was most likely paralyzed without proper medical treatment. She felt a familiar crystalline texture approach on the dampened grass; one that turned to sleet before a voice just as familiar began to speak.
He didn't remember her. Not one bit. This was not the General she knew in her childhood and adolescence. 
"Answer me girl! What have you done to Kae Bryseis!?!"
With as much pain as Elizabeth was in, she had to choose her words carefully. Her life was in his hands. Surrounded by her enemies and those who would love to have a fortune rivaling that of nobles, perhaps fate had pulled her from the grave that had been dug for her. 
It was indeed him. There was no doubt about it. Squinting after being able to breathe normally again, Her right arm was to the point of unbearable agony. She could feel the sleeve start to loosen, but it hadn't quite released itself yet. She looked up at him as solemn as possible, almost ashamed to speak.
"General, you trained me from age four, when I was able to first lift a blade. I swear to you, I would never kill my own mother! I am Elizabeth Bryseis, her eldest!"
Sleet was clinking fiercely off of her armor and sparking when it hit her blade. Her eyes appeared longing; a rare gaze from one whose heart was as black as midnight. And she was still struggling to find her footing while on her back; her left hand raised to the sky in desperation.
== LonLon Coalescence ==
Alauth!Ferncis/Field/Morning 4
Ferncis shrugged at Gli. "Oh, neat. So... anyway... You're kind of glowing, you know?" Gli just stared at him with a defiant glower. Fern maintained his unabashed cocksure grin and met her stare without backing down.
"So, really, though, what are you doing here?"
"Nothing." Her answer was simple and short in words, but Alauth saw the thoughts flicking behind her eyes. A man at the end of a chain. Pointing towards the same explosion of energy that Beth had chased, though from a different angle.
"Uh... huh... Doin' nothing in the middle of a huge battle. Better question: Why are you still here?"
No answer. Just a defiant stare. But thoughts flashed in her mind. Running back to the ranch. Showing the book to the man with the chains. Water, clean and fresh.
"Okay, fine... Be that way." Ferncis finally broke the staring contest to glance over at the Ranch. A contingent of Zora warriors were headed that way in the early dawn's light. A man with a dimly glowing blue axe fought beside a man with a very peculiar whip that glowed a different color. Behind them... could it be? A mogma? With such distinctive markings? Oh, and opportunity like this cannot be passed.
"But if you're going back to your master at the ranch, I'm headed that way anyway." It was a bit of a gamble, but it seemed like a proper guess. He glanced back at Gli again to check her reaction, and in that look caught a brilliant flash of divinity. Beth's horse had been ripped asunder, and Beth had been thrown to the ground in a heap of weakness and seeming defeat. And there, walking up to her, a crimson Zora.
"Wait... what the..."
Crimson Zora? That was not a naturally occurring skin pigmentation among their kind. Not in any history that Alauth knew. In all of Alauth's memory, there was only one Zora of Crimson Scale. Only one Red Ice General.
"Polaris Eridanus?"
Gli Lambe/ Hyrule Field/ Morning 4
Gli's face creased with a frown as her glare pierced through Alauth. Her patience had reached its end as Ferncis mentioned the ranch, which she showed by beginning to dig. She couldn't risk detection any further with the sun in the sky. She needed to return to her master and fast, for it was apparent that home was no longer going to be safe. She needed to tell him.
"Enough! I have to go." She responded in a barking tone. "It's no longer safe here."
She began to burrow and disappeared under the ground in a matter of seconds, making little more than the sound of rustling grass. It was an inconvenient form of travel, but with this many armed creatures about, she couldn't risk it. She dug with feverish vigor under the earth, knowing that she had very little time. Her small, sharp fingers sifted and separated the dirt, making her digging an exceedingly easy task despite her haste.
Leif - Castle Town - Morning 4
Soldiers rushed down the Castle Town plaza towards the now raising drawbridge, the sounds of war creeping into the town. Leif stood up irritated by the ruckus and commotion filling the area around him. He glanced back down at the now awake Shinsou. 
"So... I'm gonna get out of here. Tarah hasn't made it back yet and I'm guessing her plans've been altered 'cause of something. So I'm gonna go check things out." Leif said, trying to hide the exhaustion in his voice. "I'll be back soon, I promise. So just stick around here."
"Wait! What abo-" Before she could finish her sentence, Leif grabbed the Champions Sword and sprinted towards the business district of town.
Scanning the line of buildings before him he wondered of possible escape routes. Windows, ladders, anything that could get him above the walls of the town. He then spotted a very familiar inn on the corner of the road. He ran inside of the inn at top-speed flinging the doors back as far as its hinges would allow then continued up the stairs to the room he first rested in when he met the man with the Wolfos cloak, Taden. Leif clutched the doorknob and attempted to turn it only to find out it was locked. Letting out a heavy sigh, he began searching in his pockets knowing that he still held the key to the room somewhere. Cold metal met flesh as he finally found the key.
As the key turned and clicked in the lock Leif swung the door open and ran for the window, smashing it open with his bare hand. He hopped through the sill of the window and began climbing up the jutted pieces of wood. The light crunch of shingles beneath Leif's feet reminded him of a very similar mission that he had done a few days before. Pushing the thought aside he continued to jump from roof to roof until he reached the castle wall, just barely higher than the canopy he stood upon. He backed up a few steps and ran towards the wall, jumping the complete distance. Unable to completely stop his momentum he was forced to jump off. He fingered through his sack of Deku Nuts and put two in-between his fingers as he somersaulted through the air. As his front was towards the guards' towers, Leif tossed a Deku Nut into each of them blinding any soldier that could have slowed him down.
Hyrule Field - Morning 4
Leif landed on the newly moistened soil, rain still falling from the heavens. As he continued to run to an area that he could take temporary shelter he could hear muffled sounds of battle travelling from Lon Lon Ranch. Assuming that's where all of the others went he changed course and sprinted towards the ranch following a steady trail of battle scars and dried blood on the field.
On his way to his destination Leif noticed a stray Zora fleeing the nearby massacre. Studying the pathetic thing he pondered if killing it would be necessary. He looked up at the grey overcast to see if the rain could help him decide. Before he was sure of the final answer an arrow flung by his head shot by none other than the cowering Zora.
"F-Flee now, monster!" The Zora forced out in whimpering spurts. "This is y-your only w-warning!" 
Well, Leif thought. I guess I have no choice now... 
He unstrapped a throwing knife from his belt and flung it towards the Zora's free hand. The blade pierced through its palm as it let out a scream of agony. Leif sprinted to the Zora greatsword in hand. He grabbed the hilt of the throwing knife and pushed down with one hand, slicing through the Zora's palm and through the middle of its middle finger before decapitating the Zora with a single swing of the sword.
Looking down at the mess he made he groaned. "Well that was a nuisance. I was gonna let that poor guy live, too." He pulled the sword over his shoulder and continued his trek to the ranch.
As the gap between Leif and Lon Lon Ranch nearly closed and the massive massacre ahead of him came into view, Leif saw two familiar figures in the distance fighting against hordes of Zoras.
"...Taden?"
Impa – Lon Lon Ranch – Day 4
Inside the gates to the ranch, with Taden and his peculiar companions holding back the tide of bloodthirsty Zoras, Impa and the others halted. Somewhere ahead, Impa knew, there was another party already inside the ranch.
A grim smile flitted across her features and Impa shifted in her stance as the Mogma scurried over to them, panic in his features. She flexed her fingers beneath tight black hand-wraps. Her white braid fell over her right shoulder and down to her stomach and fluttered against her in a breeze that brought to them the stench of death from the Field.
Her gaze, from one to the other, was cold and hard as arctic ice.
“You bore the Zora Trust all the way from their Domain, Master Kourtz,” she said in a voice that barely climbed above a whisper, “only to lose it here? When your goal is so close at hand?”
Then she turned to Tarah, the girl who’d started off so meek and yet had become such a force. As she looked her over she could see the calluses on her fingers from where she drew back her bowstring and figured that she must have done so a great deal since she’d been sent out on her mission with the others.
“And you, his companion, allowed the Zora Trust to tumble through your grasp now of all times?”
Kourtz appeared panicked, but there was more to his demeanor than just that. He was hiding something, not knowing perhaps what the eye and tear drop tattooed around her own left eye meant. The Eye of Truth penetrated the lies and the worldly obstacles and showed her what was before her, naked of all illusion and pretense.
She turned a finger upon Tarah.
“In truth, the Zora Trust has strayed no further than this one's pocket.” Then she looked again to the enterprising Mogma who now stared at Tarah. “And you, it appears, have reunited with Horwendil, for the Goron Trust lies quite fortuitously at the bottom of your backpack.”
She could not tell if either or both appeared relieved, shocked, or horrified, but she continued on as the sounds of combat drew ever nearer. Somewhere deeper inside Lon Lon were interlopers who were neither Hylian nor Zora. She held out an upturned palm, looking from one set of eyes to the next, her expression firm.
“Quickly, you both will need to fight or hide before long. Give me the Keys and I will bear them safely to King Dromand. The Child of Hylia has been working on plans to eliminate the threat they pose.”
Polaris Eridanus/ Hyrule Field/ Morning of the 4th
General, you trained me from age four, when I was able to first lift a blade. I swear to you, I would never kill my own mother! I am Elizabeth Bryseis, her eldest!"
The whipping winds died down and the crimson sleet slowly turned back to rain. And Polaris gazed on in silence. Dumbstruck he stared at the upraised hand of Elizabeth Bryseis. To gain a glimpse of his future in the long forgotten past was something wholly unexpected.
The implications staggered him, if this truly was Kae's daughter then he WOULD make it home and at least some, if not all, of his companions would see the war through. He wanted to believe as all of these and a plethora of other thoughts raced through his mind at once. Each one fighting to be the foremost until finally, Polaris took a deep calming breath and reached out clasping Beth's hand in his, he pulled her to her feet. 
"Forgive my earlier reaction, I..the war was not yet over when last I was in your mothers time, but..if you...if she's...this settles some doubts I had upon first arriving here. For reasons yet unknown, I was fated to be here.
In these most dire circumstances on the field of battle, Polaris laughed heartily, "Listen to me, with all this talk of fate. Sirius would be so happy."
An awkwardly louder than normal cough sounded from somewhere behind and Polaris turned to see Lieutenant Mako waving him over. Releasing Beth's hand, he went back to the lieutenant.
"This is very touching general, really. Truly. A great...whatever it is. But my men are being slaughtered and I believe that needs to be addressed."
"Go." Polaris motioned to the ranch, "I won't be far behind." Gazing back over his shoulder to again look at his future pupil as he spoke. 
Zora Troops/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
The field was chaos as the lunar mage and the axe wielding mage of blue flame made easy work of the disheveled and disarrayed Zora forces. It seemed a mismatch that those two could so easily overwhelm a hundred Zora troops. 
Yet, as moonbeams glittered alongside the suns rays and heliotrope bolts crashed down from the heavens, the blue fire mage gamboled about, his axe a cyan blur as his entire being coursed with power during deaths dance. 
A conch shell, much smaller than the massive alarm in Zora's domain, sounded in the distance and the fighting ceased as the Zora lines parted and a blue roan charger galloped forward. 
Lieutenant Mako
From horse back he directed his troops, "Archers, form up in the back, infantry behind me. Bannerman..."Shaking his head and muttering to himself, with so many dead, how the bloody hell is the banner bearer still standing?"
Dismounting he handed the teen his reins and the conch horn, "Take my horse a safe distance from the fighting." As the young Zora took the reins of the lieutenants horse and began to walk away, he stepped on an odd looking notebook and, without hesitation snatched it up and stowed it away in the lieutenants saddlebags. 
Wielding the ornate Daira-bone spear and spinning it from his left hand up along his arm and across his shoulders and down to his right hand, Mako advanced on the Yeti armored Horwendil. "Hello mountain man, do you how one comes about a spear such as this?"
IC: Taden Horwendil / Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
In Sirius's column of lunar light, he felt the debilitating effect of the sun's rays lifting from his arms, chest, and back. Ginnungagap became light in his arms, and the rage of the Blood magic hanging in the air rushed through his veins and made him light on his feet. Cold wind swept the plains in the early morning rain, and he felt its energy feeding him. As the encroaching mermen circled him at the gates to Lon Lon Ranch, Taden planted his feet and began hacking them down as they approached in teams of two and three, a killing field of scaled bodies piling up around them. The bodies lined the walls of Lon Lon Ranch's gates in heaps, as the width of Sirius's tower grew to fill the entire entranceway.
When they had cleared the first line of Zora, he saw the main column still far afield under Lieutenant Mako's banner, and closer to the ranch, he saw Leif.
"…Taden?" he heard the familiar voice call.
"You!" he called back, as the brawler drew closer, a heavy broadsword in tow. "Where the hell have you been? Kourtz has just left to find the others inside. He has the Goron Trust," Taden shouted, loud enough to be heard over the roar of Sirius's spell, and thus loud enough for the wizard to overhear. He figured Sirius could have seen him give the Key to Kourtz, but he didn't want to reveal that they had the Zora Trust as well.
"You mean after all that, you gave the Key to that Mogma? How disappointing," the scientist groaned, then began to laugh, his mad cackle echoing in the electric air of the spell. "I thought you said we'd get to destroy them all?!"
Taden raised his voice as he turned from Sirius to meet the next Zora hoard.
"I lied."
Knocking a stray arrow from the air with the brunt of his axe, he thrust his hand into the air and gathered a sphere of Blue Fire, his magic once again awakened by Sirius's lunar hex. He hurled this into the fore of the Zora charge, blasting the first soldiers with an icy wave of flame that entrenched them each in a low wall of ice, freezing three of them to the ground. But before he could advance, the rearguard leapt over the frozen infantrymen and stampeded towards him, Lieutenant Mako riding in the lead.
When they drew close, Mako dismounted, and as his squire trotted away his horse, Taden saw him nab the dusty, moth-eaten Notebook Sirius had dropped. He wondered if it would weaken the spell he had cast to create this temporary tower of moonlight.
"Hello, mountain man," the commander called to him in a voice of cold steel, spinning his spear around his arms artfully. "Do you know how one comes about a spear such as this?"
"I don't," Taden replied, lifting his axe overhead. "But I know right where you can put it."
With a bellicose howl, he brought the axehead down into the earth and split it wide, sending a fissure of Blue Fire through the ground that ripped across the field in a scorching roar. With Sirius's tower of moonlight fueling his strength, the blast's power was immense, and a torrential wall of flame sprung high as a man's head as the crack opened up under the Zoras' feet, causing them to leap from one side to the next. The ones on horseback in the blast's line of attack were swallowed up entirely, along with the three infrantrymen frozen in place before, their screams dissolving into crystalline shards of ice and bone on rock. A chasm of Blue Fire now burned down the middle of the Zora formation, breaking their ranks in two.
"Your life is forfeit, commander," he shouted over the flames. "Drop that spear of yours and I'll let what's left of your men retreat."
Majin Kotage - Hyrule Field – Day 4
He threw back his head and trumpeted an ear-splitting cry into the crisp morning air. Blood drenched the scales of his muzzle, his hooked claws and the length of his tail as he pressed his attack through wave after wave of Zoras in their carapace armor.
At first their attacks had come in ordered patterns and formations, flanking maneuvers and wedges, hammer and anvil, every hastily constructed battlefield tactic that they could conceive of as the terrible wyrm that was Majin bore down upon them. And yet for all of their cunning and all of their training, they fell before him as blades of grass before the scythe.
Eventually they broke and scattered. Hopeless and terrified, the Zoras fled from Majin’s onslaught, some making for the river, some turning to join their allies at the ranch. Majin spied out one who’d injured his ankle dodging a blow from his tail that would have swept him into the side of a rock with enough force to crush his ribcage.
With a howl he was on him, lumbering forward with wings folded against his back. The Zora, perhaps hearing him, perhaps feeling the tremors in the earth caused by each footfall, looked back with a look of abject terror in his eyes.
In a blink Majin was over him, neck snaking sideways to avoid a stab from his spear, then snapping forward like a whip.
The warmth of blood filled his mouth as his jaws closed over the torso of the Zora. With a claw he pinned legs to the earth and wrenched back with all his might, tearing the Zora in two.
Perhaps it was that he had finally slaked his bloodlust, and perhaps it was that in giving chase he’d escaped whatever it was that had brought it about in the first place, but as Majin tossed the bloody torso of the Zora, spilling guts and organs out across the grass as it flew through the air he felt a bit of himself returning. The chorus, the murderous orchestra that had filled his mind until it was too full of violent wrath to house thought, receded into the depths.
Even Kaimu was silent. Majin had returned to himself.
Desperate, perhaps to rid himself of the blood he was now all too aware of, he clawed frantically at his reptilian maw until he was able to tear the Dragon Mask free.
Suddenly he was kneeling in the grass, swathed in a cloak of shadows that roiled like mist in the morning sun. His mouth was dry and his stomach churned and heaved. Everywhere his eyes looked, he saw bodies. More bodies than he could count, all ripped, torn, battered, and broken.
All by him. The body count was staggering, it was overwhelming.
He staggered to his feet, wobbling as he tried to get his bearings. Exhaustion was setting in and he was beginning to realize that the Dragon Mask took a greater toll than he could have ever fathomed.
The Dragon Mask. He still held it in his fist. He stared at it, fingers shaking even as they gripped its edges. Finally he tucked it inside the black cloak and into the belts that crossed his torso underneath.
He could barely think, could barely do anything but look around at everyone and everything, viewing it all without actually seeing it. He’d done this. How many had he killed? How many?
Up ahead he saw figures gathered before the gate into Lon Lon Ranch. Zoras, some of the Zoras he’d finally driven off, some of those who’d already been directed to attack, were rushing in toward the defenders. Majin just teetered forward as the carapace armored warriors raced past him. They didn’t move to attack him, perhaps not realizing that he was the dragon that had just moments before sewn devastation and chaos through their ranks.
The bodies were thick here as well, piled high in the tall grass before the gates of the ranch, but these were not his victims.
Taden stood ahead, his mighty axe hewing through Zoras as though they were blocks of wood, shearing them apart or smashing them and caving in skulls. Sirius was ahead as well, and one of those from Kakariko whose name Majin had never gotten.
He was so close...
Another Zora came forward, dressed in finer armor and carrying a weapon unlike those others pressing the assault. He spoke some words that Majin could not hear to Taden and the two began to do battle. Majin barely saw what was happening before him even as he strode forward toward it.
He dropped to one knee, wearied and worn, too fatigued and too horrified to take another step. In that moment he knew. He’d made this happen. Eight murders had set this all into motion, and now he’d come full circle.
He’d made this happen.
Tarah Vass / Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
Even in her current state of paranoia, Tarah somehow trusted Impa. This may be because her hands were safe and close to the kings, or because Tarah simply had no choice not to. This faith caused Tarah to hand over the trust, trying to ignore her confusion regarding how Impa had known she carried it. As the key left her palm and fell into Impa's, a feeling of relief washed over her with the knowledge that her quest was completed and her name could be cleared. 
"I'm sorry for taking it, but I couldn't risk losing it while you were out" Tarah said in response to the accusatory glare Kourtz was giving her. 
Knowing that her only choice now was to fight she jumped to action, using a stack of boxes as a platform Tarah climbed onto the roof of a nearby building. She positioned a chimney between her and the battlefield below and drew her bow. Using the height of the roof to see over the walls of the ranch and the chimney as a shield, Tarah began to let arrows fly towards the Zora army she saw Taden, Leif, and another fighting in the chaos below. 
Sirius, Hyrule Field (Outside Lon Lon), Day 4
The majority of Sirius’ focus and energy were upon the moonlit tower he and Taden stayed within, letting the onslaught come to them. He was vividly aware of his vulnerability, in channeling so much energy, and so in turn equally aware of Majin, as the Tokay collapsed to one knee not too far off.
His memories of Majin were strange, as they contained within them elements of AvaKai’s memories, and the original Kaimu. Combined with Majin’s recent assistance in the dodongo’s cavern, he felt inclined to protect the injured comrade.
“Taden!” Sirius called out. “Keep an eye on your back, and stay in the light! It’s effects rapidly decline if you leave!” Sirius heaved on the moonrod, tearing it from the ground and causing its stream of upward energy to wobble. He then turned it to a 90-degree angle, holding it in front of himself like a battering ram. The energy steam fired directly through Taden, passing into Majin, and forming a brilliant silhouette of a full moon in the sky, a mere five hundred hundred feet above, giving the false impression of an imminent moon crash.
“Majin, get up! I can’t sustain this for long!” Sirius shouted, feeling his strength wane as he was unable to benefit from his own channeled power as long as he continued to hold the moonrod in such a fashion.
Kourtz/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Kourtz sat there dumbstruck at how quickly Impa had found out the existence of the second trust key. Could she read minds or something? Just in case he changed his thoughts quickly and handed the lady in black the key from his pack. Taden would be mad, but it’s not like he could do anything even if he wanted to. Looking around as Tarah ran off Kourtz’s suspicion of her quickly evaporated. However this suspicion was simply replaced by another person.
From the moment he set out on this quest he worried that the King of Hyrule never intended to keep good on his promise to them. There was ever present the chance that he would simply lock him up, or kill him for what he knew. As Impa moved to walk away Kourtz called over to her. "Yo Impa. Umm, not to be nosey about this but I was wonderin’. We did everything you asked, everything and more. Does this mean were off the hook as far as our work for you is concerned?” He hated to ask, but he needed to know the answer to this question. His entire future depended on its outcome.
Impa – Lon Lon Ranch – Day 4
For a moment she did nothing but gaze down at the glittering keys in her palms. One bore the seal of the Zora kings, the other that of the Goron patriarchs. They were, at long last, secure in her possession. The mission that King Dromand had set upon her, and upon these other vessels of his will, was nearly complete. Before she even realized that she’d started walking deeper into the ranch, Kourtz’s voice caused her to halt in mid-step.
"Yo Impa. Umm, not to be nosey about this but I was wonderin’. We did everything you asked, everything and more. Does this mean were off the hook as far as our work for you is concerned?”
She paused, looked down at the keys, her fingers closing tightly over them, and then turned to look back at the Mogma over her left shoulder.
“Your debt is paid, Master Kourtz. On behalf of King Dromand I offer you my thanks for your services, and I hereby release you from your duties to the throne. Make of your freedom what you will.”
While you can.
By the time she reached the ranch house and the barn she’d secured the Trust Keys safely on her person. The livestock within were in uproar as the Crimson Raiders of Bloody Beth rampaged, killed and thieved. None seemed to notice her, but that was by design. She slinked forward, crossed to the far side of the corral, and stopped when she came to the fence that looked from the edge of the low cliff out over the southern expanse of the Field.
The glint of sunlight off of polished steel was almost blinding, and she began to hear the steady tromp of boots on the parched grass and dry gravel.
Marching inexorably north toward the ranch from Ordon to the south advanced a force that dwarfed the Zoras in the field to the north. They were a tide upon the land, sweeping forth with the steady cadence of inevitability. Clear, brazen horns, Hylian horns, pealed through the air to announce their coming.
Impa smiled as she watched them come.
Stewart/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Stewart frowned grumpily at the ruckus as he impatiently looked down at an hourglass he had. He was running very late, and wasn't going to miss his appointment back at the town just because of some petty theft and rabble rousing. The elderly man rose from his cart, peeking over his horses, and at the top of his lungs, proceeded to do the single dumbest thing he had done all week.
"Oi!!! All of you numbskulls need to move it! I haven't got all day and so help me if I'm late, I'll have you all reported to the Guard and made an example of!"
Gli/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
She rose from the dirt and shook the excess off of her head while checking the rest of herself, making sure she didn't lose anything in the trip. She gathered up the chain that hung from her neck and wrapped it hastily around her waist like a belt, before fully pulling herself from the ground. She prayed to mother nature Herself that no one had noticed her entrance, as she crouched down next to a stable that was near the Ranch entrance. Her prayers fell unanswered, as she felt the chill of fear and danger in the air.
She shivered.
The amulet around her neck was growing more and more hot, and was getting quite irritating. Gli found herself looking down at the amulet, which surprised her with its radiance. The amulet merely looked like a humble coin with an odd engravement upon its face. It glowed almost blindingly bright, giving it the appearance of a small sun. She was afraid to touch it at this point, but it was slowly becoming painful with its temperature...She froze and looked around as she listened to the chaos outside, which was interrupted by the yell of an elderly man. She recognized the voice anywhere, and wished to run to it; However, Gli had a very bad feeling about even moving a muscle at this point, as soon after her master yelled, the very ground itself seemed to shake under her. Something bigger than anything she could imagine was outside those walls.
Gli couldn't find the strength to move. 
Soldat/Hyrule Field/Morning 4
The True Blade was more effective than he had anticipated but at the same time far more draining. Soldat had to prop himself up with his sword just to stay standing out of pure exhaustion. Worse he'd finally noticed the cracks forming on the blade which had once again grown. It was only Beth being much worse off that prevented the fight from already being over. Though the distracted provided by the unusual Zora provided an additional moment of reprieve.
What the two were talking about matter little to Soldat, simply the fact that he had a moment to catch is breathe was all he cared about. The second the Zora moved away he knew he had to act. He took a deep breath and raised his sword. "Second Seal!"
Line of divine magic spread out from the marks Soldat had placed on the ground earlier connecting them into an hourglass shape. The shape became encircled by a board of the same energy marking a sphere of influence. Instead of remaining on the ground all of the power was drawn into Soldat's sword.
"Now Elizabeth Bryce let me remind you why you're kind are usually forced to hide in the shadows. This is the power the righteous can bring down upon sinners and demons." The divine power collected onto Soldat's sword fired forward as an immense beam for divine wrath; however, the moment he fired his aim drifted, his arm lost strength and the beam went wild. Soldat's vision started to blur and he suddenly realized he was having trouble breathing only to collapse less than a moment later.
Kamen hovered over the Paladin and used his power to lift the unconscious knight into the air beside him. "Sorry, there are just some pieces I'm not willing to give up just yet. Besides things are getting out of hand here. I can't have you getting involved in this battle
Elizabeth/Hyrule Field/Day 4
In dividing her attention between Polaris and her opponent who had been terribly staggered by his own attack, Beth did respond to her old mentor. 
"Fate smiles on us this day, even if things seem hopeless. Once I finish my rival here, we'll have to regroup."
But of course, Beth's arrogance got the better of her. Another baleful technique was headed her direction, and she prepared herself to deal with it the best she could, tracing a deep sanguine sigil in the air with the Starborn Edge. By the time she was finished with that, it had become Apocrypha again. The sleeve warding her arm released a large puff of steam as it encased the Scion's Sword once more. 
Noticing a fairly large amount of Zora corpses nearby that were still bleeding out, she did not respond to Soldat directly. But she did let out a resounding shout right as he was about to trigger another devastating attack.
"Faith will be my shield!" 
Thin dark red lines started to trace out to the fallen bodies, but as soon as she saw her opponent become interfered with by his own ally, she swiped quickly at the Thaumaturgical Sigil in the air to cancel her casting. No use causing sleep deprivation and further derangements if the fight was ending. She heard familiar fanfares in the distance that implanted further suggestions in her mind. And she was further bewildered as to why Soldat's friend was extracting him from combat when victory had clearly been decided. The Dark Father was still with her. That's what happened.
"Thank you, my Lord. I shall not stray from your will."
Thousand Foot Krutch - Courtesy Call
Seeing what matched the announcement only cemented a dire urge to catch up with Polaris, and she wished she had a moment to mourn the loss of her dear friend, Tenebrous. A Crimson Salute followed an about-face as she tapped into her inner reserves of power. Her hobbling turned into a breakneck burst of speed matching that of her late stallion as her friend came into view. 
"Uncle Polaris, we have a serious problem! The Hylians are coming in full regiment. Tell your friend we need to leave. I have people in there too that also should have run by now, but they got greedy."
Pulling out of her celerity-fueled sprint, Beth let out another loud yell, her trademark Courtesy Call for the raiders to make themselves scarce. They echoed back with it, but with the gates to Lon Lon barred, they were most likely doomed.
Beth stood strong by Polaris. For good or ill, her die had been cast in this conflict, and she had put her faith in the side that fate was clearly not siding with at this time. 
Treene|Lon Lon Ranch|Day 4
Everything around her appeared black, not just dark, but black as if light held no existence. Straining her eyes, Treene tried to search for any sign of luminosity through the thick shade. She did not have to spend long searching when a voice reached her ears; a familiar voice that she could not ignore. Following the voice she came upon the Great Deku Tree.
“Treene you have not been gone long, but I fear that time is running short.”
“Running short for what? I thought my mission was to observe and report.”
“It is, but I feel it has progressed due to circumstances out of our control. Things are more perilous than the forest could perceive. I fear that the forest could become a casualty from what is occurring around it.”
Treene could see in the far distance an orange glow spraying blazing crimson flares around it. A sick popping sound was also heard and Treene understood that she was witnessing the very outcome she had hoped to prevent.
“No!” She exclaimed trying to hold back the tears that threatened to stain her face.
“I will not let that happen. Whatever is happening, whatever the cause, I will make sure the forest stays safe.”
“Be careful young one, and remember to trust yourself as well. One’s size does not determine the size of one’s heart and courage.”
The fairy made a small smile feeling energized by the worlds of encouragement. A new ruckus had reached Treene and instantly her eyes fluttered open. It was a dream, well a dream of sorts. Treene knew better than to ignore a dream like that. She sat up and looked at her surroundings. A cart? She soon recalled the night with the plant female, although she was still uncertain, and that horrible man that trapped her in a bottle. A bottle! The nerve of that cretin, she scoffed. However, the leafy individual had set her free. Yes, and then there was that disturbance in the field. Treene wanted to go and investigate the noise, but the cart had started moving as she flew and ended up inside of it. A wall and a nasty fall was all that she could recall. Must have knocked herself unconscious. Getting to her feet, her wings unfolded and lifted her to the ceiling. The noise outside the cart was loud and enraged. Many shouts were heard, and sharp clangs, was there some sort of battle going on outside? Nimbly, the fae exited the cart and flew to the top of it, peering around at an even more confusing scene. People, no, Zoras, were outside of the gate, actually there were people too. A blue wall of flame was also seen. The fairy felt no fear, but was at a loss of words. Where was she supposed to go? Who was fighting whom? Should she fight of fly? Where was the one that saved her from that dreadful jar? The shouts and the cluttered thoughts were giving Treene a foul headache. One of her hands began to rub her temples to calm herself. The tiny fairy was starting to wish she had human sized lungs so she could shout for everyone to shut their pie-holes. She sighed and factored in that in the heat of battle performing such an action wouldn’t be advisable. Before she could ask more questions to herself a nearby voice cut through the battles. It was that despicable man again. Treene felt her face fall as she heard his demand. At least she had the right mind to realize that yelling at this sort of crowd was a definite negative. Looking around she made her way to the nearest building and hid behind a stray crate. Through all the confusion she never thought to illuminate herself and hide her figure. Treene’s diminutive form was visible for any to see, if there was anyone watching through this chaos. The fairy’s hands fumbled around for her spyglass to watch this new scene closely. Why was any of this happening in the first place?
Gli/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Gli ground her teeth as the anxiety and fear of war began to weigh heavier with its magnitude in the morning air. She looked down at her chains as she tried to consider her options as she listened to the horrors of war outside the Ranch. Her stoic focus was evaporating under the pressure of the swiftly elevating situation, and she needed a solution quickly. It was then she remembered her prize from the enraged woman that she had acquired a short time ago.
"Maybe..." She whispered to herself, licking her dried lips as she pulled the book out and rested it on the ground.
She wiped her brow with her mud caked sleeve before opening the book and began to attempt to read. She focused on the words hard, cursing her less than admirable literacy. She continued to silently curse her master once more for yet another thing he had deprived her. She rested her hand on her forehead as she tried to focus on the ink in the shadows; She found herself taking at moment or two longer than she felt acceptable merely figuring out that she was in fact looking at the Table of Contents.
"Okay, okay, let's see...' She whispered to herself, flipping back to the first page, 'Eliz...abeth...Elizabeth...Bryce is...Bryseis...Hmm..." 
She flipped back to the Table of Contents, and tried to find something that made sense. Several moments passed before her state of anxiety brought frustration, and she began to flip through the book page for page. Her eyes scanned through the barely intelligible drivel and rhymes that were riddled within the book's pages, to seemingly no avail.
"This thing is bloody useless...Nothing but crazy talk and riddles." The Deku girl spat, clutching the book angrily in her dainty hands.
She pinched the bridge of her nose, and tried again. She flipped back through until she found a page that at the very least looked important above the rest. She eventually found her finger gliding through the section that detailed the words and hymns for what she gathered was "Blood Magics", and decided that it was important enough. Gli glared at the words that were scrawled in blood on the rather unpleasant feeling pages. It was only then the Gli realized that this book wasn't normal, At least, not compared to others that she had touched and flipped through. This one was...fleshy.
Gli frowned at this discovery, before carrying on. She wrestled with her limited literacy as she focused to identify what was what within the hymns and rhymes upon the pages she had chosen. One seemed to have a very crude and small piece of artwork smeared next to the words.
It looked like a Hylian, but was red as if it had no flesh, and lines of yellow were strewn in patterns throughout the body. Gli thoughtfully rested a hand on her chin as she pondered the picture's intent, before finally tearing away from it and to the words that spoke of creatures that she had never heard of. In her eyes, it was all nonsense, but this particular Hymn had an air of importance for her...Maybe.
"...O...O Come...all ye...D...Deep Ones...'
Deep ones?
'...Mi...Go, G-ghouls and...Ni...ght...ga...gaunhts...'
What the hell...
'...Come foul...Shu-...Shub Nigg...Niggurath...'
...Who?...
'...And...All...An...Ancie....Ancient? Ones...Un...Unto me, thine...Th...thirst for...'
Gli continued to read the rest under her breathe. She barely understood what she read, but upon giving it thought, she realized how little she would want to know. The words begged for the "Ancient Ones" power, with the price being innocence and state of mind. Something about this particular hymn was perplexing, like it was very passively forcing Gli to read it in its entirety.
Soon, after a few agonizing minutes of trying to understand the words at a basic level, she was finished reading the hymn. More agonizing, was the absence of any results from reading the confusing strings of words upon the fleshy "paper". She sat there in awkward silence as she slowly boiled inside with frustration. She grit her teeth, shaking with anger, slamming her fists down on the book with a forceful grunt.
Her knuckles were bleeding from digging through the rough dirt. The sap that was slowly leaking from her hands made contact with the book, which exploded into life. The words Gli had read began to glow radiantly upon the fleshy pages. The blood red light filled the shadows of her surroundings as the book seemed to possess Gli, forcing her to gaze upon its power. She winced hard as she experienced what felt like something very large burrowing into her head through her eyes.
Her vision pulsated from clearness to near blindness in rapid succession, as everything she could see was turning red, as if her eyes were hemorrhaging to the point that they effected her ability to perceive color. She could only imagine that this had actually happened, for her eyes felt like they were burning.
In an instant, the rest of her body felt like it was joining her eyes in the metaphysical fire. It consumed her entire being with the speed, grace and rage of a inferno. Everything was hot, and horrible. Emotionally, Gli found herself inert as she invisible hands immobilized her. The burning heat that seemed to spread through her very muscles and veins grew hotter and hotter, entirely overshadowing the warmth of the amulet that glowed brightly around her neck.
She could almost hear pained screams echoing in her head as her own body seemed to try to smother her whilst the words upon the book grew brighter and brighter until it was practically blinding...Only for it to grow brighter still. Her eyes were consumed by the light, and she could only see light. Her very skin on her legs felt like it was melting and dripping off like she was made of wax.
Suddenly, as soon as it started, everything stopped. The world dropped itself down upon Gli all at once as she was violently snapped back into reality. She could hear a ghastly and deep voice echoing in her head before disappearing in the wind. She could feel something dripping down her legs still, but to her humiliation, it was not melting skin nor sweat. She could hear a very faint sound of sizzling in the short moment that she was unable to feel.
The moment she could move, she looked down at her hands, which were shaking violently. She could still feel the burning...The burning was everywhere...It was in her head...It was in her body...It was in her intestines...It was in her lungs...It was in her clothes...It was in her veins...It was in her soul...Her flesh sizzled and felt like it was bubbling, but as she gazed at her hands, she could see nothing wrong.
Her veins in her arms looked normal, but felt like they were going to burst in a very violent manner. She could see steam resonating from her body, like her very being was boiling from the magic within. She could feel an inconceivable amount of weight bearing down upon her, but she was lighter than ever. Gli gasped as her voice and breath returned, but they were short, dry and painful.
Gli let loose a throat shredding scream in agony, but no sound left her painfully dry mouth. She clutched her throat as it stung from her attempts. She rested her hands around herself, and curled up into the fetal position. She tried to cry, but she had no ability to shed tears. It was gone...It was all gone...The moisture...She was so thirsty, she could barely stand it. It was all she could manage to even think about. It wasn't a normal thirst, but a sinister thirst. An unquenchable rage seethed under her horror; A horribly urgent thirst and desire to rend something apart...Something living...And filled with sweet nectar that only the miracle of nature could provide. She needed it, regardless of cost, and couldn't manage any rational thought beyond it.
She was instantly upon the Ranch wall that she was nearby and her shaking fingers were digging viciously into the brick. She listened on to the violence outside the Ranch, which was growing closer and closer. Not a single moment had passed since she had activated the spell in the real world, and her master hadn't even sat down in his cart at the Ranch's entrance. She stared at him intensely, as her entire body shook with child-like excitement. She was very close to drooling as she imagined his flesh being torn into.
However, she hesitated...Despite the Deku girl's chagrin about being his slave, she still needed him for safety and protection. She still managed to consider his current importance in her life, since she would have died long ago without him...But still...Her blood red sclera magnified the bright color of her golden irises, which hungrily stared her master down, whom was ignorant of her presence.
So...
...Thirsty... 
Lieutenant Mako/ Lon Lon Ranch Gates/ Day 4
"I don't," Taden replied, lifting his axe overhead. "But I know right where you can put it."
The mountain warrior let loose a bestial howl of pure aggression as he brought his axe down in an arc of blue flame. The resulting impact rent a crevasse in the earth and split the Zora lines down the middle. 
Mako leapt to one side, twirling his spear like a fan blade in front of him as he advanced. The cold flames that were sure death dissipated around him. With the lastfew remaining wisps fluttering into nothingness above his head, Mako subtly motioned to those on the opposite side of the crevasse to advance. 
Grinning, Mako began to applaud. "A truly impressive exercise in futility."
""Your life is forfeit, commander," he shouted over the flames. "Drop that spear of yours and I'll let what's left of your men retreat."
Leaping the crevasse, Mako spun forward and with a backhand slash of the Daira-bone spear opened a small gap in the protective ring of blue flame through which he dove. Tucking his knees the lieutenant ducked into a roll, coming up in a defensive posture he began to circle. 
"I never drop my spear...Now, where was I? Ah yes, first you've got to stalk the stalker. Hunt the Daira in it's own cave. Slink around in the pitch black of the sub-terrain in search of a fire-breathing axe wielding monstrosity...not so different from what we have here eh?"
Taden lashed out with Ginnungagap, blue fire trailing in it's wake, sidestepping Mako whipped his spear around, lashing the adopted Yeti across the back of the thigh before dancing away. 
"Large a beast as it is, the Daira just doesn't have a long enough bone on it's body to make a proper spear. So, you improvise. Connect both femurs, and voila! Only, fire won't work. They're immune. Blue fire, however...well that stuff under a the watchful eye of a Zora Shaman, is perfect for curing the spear."
Taden began an intricate series of attacks, all blue fire fueled, the majority of which were blocked or deflected by the lieutenant. Here and there the axe won through though, leaving Mako with a gash on the left thigh and a scratch across his collar bone to prove it. 
Frustration mounting, Horwendil unfurled a raging torrent of blue fire. Holding his spear diagonally put in front of him, Mako stood his ground as the flames again wreathed around his body, never quite touching him and never coming quite close enough to give more than a minor discomfort. 
During the exchange, Sirius had shifted his position, channeling his energies into a newcomer on the field. “Majin, get up! I can’t sustain this for long!”
"Zora!" Mako thundered, "The warrior who brings me the head of the lunar mage will be rewarded greatly!"
As the meager remnant of his 200 made to assault Sirius, Mako turned his attention again to Horwendil. 
"Your magic, however potent, is useless against me fool. I offer no retreat. Return what you've stolen and death will come quickly."
"If not, I'll have another spear fashioned from YOUR bones."
Polaris Eridanus/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
With the unmistakable rumbling clatter of steel shod soles echoing like thunder in the distance, Polaris trod towards Lon Lon Ranch. His pace slow enough to allow Beth to catch him. 
"Uncle Polaris, we have a serious problem! The Hylians are coming in full regiment. Tell your friend we need to leave. I have people in there too that also should have run by now, but they got greedy."
Raising a hand in greeting, Polaris nodded, then cocked an eyebrow when she let out a yell. 
"Your calling card I presume?"
When Beth only shrugged, Polaris let it drop and walked on. A whirlwind of thought and emotion bombarded the general all at once, not knowing where to start, he said the first thing that came to mind. "This cult business... Sighing, Polaris rubbed his forehead, "Now is not the time for a lecture. And who am I to lecture the most feared criminal in the land?
No. 
I know the Bryseis' and I know that, no matter what, that that is good and right will come to the top when it's time.
Smirking, Polaris snorted back a chuckle, "Don't expect me to call you Bloody Beth though. Lizzy I think, seems more befitting for a daughter of the Kae I know."
As the duo topped the final rise between them and the ranch, Polaris turned his head to Lizzy Bryseis, "This will take some diplomacy. As odd as it sounds, the lunar mage," With this he gestured towards Sirius, "The tokay, now pointing at Majin "The Zora, especially the Lieutenant, and...even to an extent Taden. Horwendil, not the other one. Polaris looked on in silence for a few heartbeats as Mako and Taden clashed axe to spear.
"Close though. They're all allies of mine in some form or fashion. For now at least."
A hint of surprise and...something else, glinted in Beth's eyes as she stared at him. Realizing she was waiting for his next move, Polaris drew Winters Tide and strode onward into the fray. 
"Just don't kill any of them unless you have to."
Elizabeth/Lon Lon Outskirts/Day 4
As rain started to clink a little louder against her armor, Beth chuckled a bit at listening to Polaris. Not that it was funny, but that it was extremely coincidental. 
"You must've seen the posters Dromond plastered everywhere. His artists didn't do my good looks justice at all! And you're right. You know my family better than anyone ever will. If any good exists in me, you'd probably be the one to find it."
Her gaze changed immediately when he used that old name of hers. Only her, her true uncle, and her mom ever called her that. She'd ventilate anyone else who ever did it. Being too skinny growing up, her athletic rivals called her Thin Lizzy. If only they saw how much more perfect her body turned out, they'd eat those words. Along with their tongues. 
And she reluctantly agreed. After all, she was shown mercy, and agreements had to be honored to an extent. Lunar mages weren't just Scions or Sentinels; some of them were truly mesmeric. And Taden?! She was glad it wasn't that one. That name was anathema to her family. 
Raising an eyebrow and looking rather insistent, Elizabeth replied before continuing her march.
"You have two deals. One, I will defend myself, but if they leave me no choice, that's their problem. Two, you, and only you are the only one who has permission to call me by that name."
Flipping Apocrypha to her left hand and not drawing an off-hand, Elizabeth had one other thing to say as her cultists scaled the walls of Lon Lon as best they could; the Lynels climbed the ramps to jump out completely and rally to her side.
"It's an honor to draw swords with you once more, General. Can't wait to show you what I can do."
With a slightly deranged chuckle, the Gerudo, Bokoblin, and other dark red-clad Hylians formed up behind her, shouting one of their fraternal gathering cries. 
"We do whatever we want to whomever we want! At all times!"
IC: Taden Horwendil / Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
"Return what you've stolen and death will come quickly. If not, I'll have another spear fashioned from your bones."
Taden fell to one knee as another futile blast of Blue Fire fanned out around Mako's shoulders effortlessly, allowing the warlord to lunge forward, graze his thigh, and leap back before he could react. The Zora seemed to be enchanted with the blue stuff as well. Taden was familiar with the Yeti style of Blue Fire sorcery, but the Zora's stratagems were new. Still, for the moment, it would seem he knew more of the Trust's whereabouts than Mako. With any luck, Impa was long gone, but there was no reason to let him know.
"You'll get your precious Trust back when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!" he shouted.
He sprinted forward to engage Mako in close combat again, parrying his spear with a swing of his axe and spinning around completely to bring the blade across the Lieutenant's neck, forcing him to jump back to keep his head connected to it. He sent two flares of Blue Fire soaring back towards Sirius, blasting the first Zora to attempt an attack on his unlikely ally, but more rushed in as Mako ordered them into a column formation.
"This isn't working," he muttered to Sirius over his shoulder. "We need to fall back and create a bottleneck at the gate."
As a phalanx of Zora lunged forward ahead of Mako, Taden swiped his axe once and sent a zephyr of Blue Fire lashing across their chests, giving them enough time to leap back into the short, walled-off path that led into Lon Lon Ranch proper. Looking back at Mako and the rest of his troops, he shouted a curse to stir their fury.
"Your fish scum army stinks of a bleeding whore's loins, Mako! The reeking King Tiburon should thank me for gracing their corpses with the sweet stench of death."
Enraged, the Zora charged two by two into the narrow walkway, Mako hanging back to let the eager warriors try their hands. With a lust for vengeance after all of the fallen comrades whom Taden had destroyed, the last of Mako's centurions were climbing over each other to thrust their spears and swords at him.
Sirius's concentration was consumed in focusing his moonlight beam on Majin, still outside the ranch, so Taden brought himself almost front to back with the moon mage, close enough to speak. "Brace yourself," he said. A wry grin played across his battle-scarred face as he untied a small satchel at his belt. "Blue Fire in the hole!"
Hurling the satchel in the air, a cloud of Popper's Premium Bomb Flower Powder streamed over the gateway. As it sailed, Taden crossed his arms and tucked his chin to his chest for a moment, breathing in deep, then tossed back his head and sent a flaming harpoon of Blue Fire from his wide mouth directly into the pouch. A shimmering nebula of chalcedony flame exploded overhead, and of the confined Zora troops, the first dozen were frozen solid on the spot where they stood, their ironclad nettle of fins and blades too dense for the rest to break through.
"I underestimated you, Lieutenant," he shouted over the frozen phalanx. "Your mastery of the dark arts is considerable. Your spear can match my flame, but can it match my ice?"
Taden threw his hands into the air and all at once the two dozen heads of the frozen Zora snapped from their necks, trails of brain and ichor dribbling down from their severed spines. He clenched his fists, and the hovering heads turned their wide-mouthed, horror-stricken faces on their brethren, stopping the last guards in their tracks from sheer shock. Taden heaved his arms forward, and in two columns an onslaught of frozen Zora heads rocketed straight for their former commander.
Alauth/Field/Morning 4
Polaris had allied with Beth. Convenient. The Zora were assaulting the ranch. And a large contingent of the Hylian army was making its way toward the conflict. Alauth released the Deku Sprout construct and melted to a shadow on the ground. This shadow, unseen under the feet of the gathered crowds, made a haphazard track through the field. Moon magic was falling upon a disabled Tokay. Alauth stopped.
In front of Majin, a shadow with no source was cast over the grass. It lifted, barely, from the ground and formed the impression of a head. Eyes blinked into being, peering at him. Searching him.
The tokay's mind was filled with only the present. That which surrounded them, the carnage of the field that morning, was the entirety of its thoughts. Flashes of a timeline: Night-time, and eight murders over a castle rampart. A woman hidden in shadows taking the Hylian Trust. The death of a grand dragon; the same, it seemed, that had just rampaged through the Zora ranks. A river of lava. All leading to this moment. All leading to this war.
A voiceless whisper spoke to the lizard.
"Shadowcloak. This war was inevitable. It is inevitable. These simple creatures of Hyrule know nothing but conflict. You are merely an instrument of an unavoidable fate. You have created the present I need and desire. Well done.
"But I sense your regret. Your shame. Do not fall into self-pity. Embrace that which you have wrought!" The shadowy head melted back to the ground, and spiraled up around Majin's body. "Come with me, and I will show you why this must be. There is a place for one of your power and influence. My children are here now, but they are outnumbered and failing. If you would rise up, if you would stand with them, I will grant you such power."
The shadows around Majin began to solidify. "Do you want to know the future you are building? Do you want to see why this is all worthwhile?"
Kourtz/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Standing there in the silence Kourtz slowly looked around, unable to believe that his quest was over. But with Impa now out of sight and no one left to stop him from escaping Kourtz's fist suddenly started shaking in excitement. “It's over. We actually did it! ….OH YEAH!!! YAHOOO!!!” Like a madman the Mogma leaped into the air and pumped his fists at the clouds above. Though his actual chances of survival hadn't improved he was overcome with the euphoria of regaining his freedom. After the most miserable 3 days of his life, 3 days which permanently changed the way Kourtz viewed himself, he was now in command of his own destiny.
No longer would his fate be decided by the powers that be. He could now go back to a normal life he so desired. Of course with Hyrule at war he couldn't go back to the people or places he loved, but at least he could start a new existence in Calatia, or Holodrum, or any number of nations that existed throughout the world. Shouting onto the roof where Tarah stood Kourtz called out to her, rational thought overwhelmed with a sense of victory.
“Tarah, we did it! Impa says our quest is over! We're free again!” After firing an arrow the girl turned around to look at her friend. “I've got a plan to get outta here. Common down and I'll…” Just then a blood curdling scream coming from inside the ranch home brought Kourtz back to reality. In front of him the door to the house burst open. Out came a wretched abomination, a hybrid between different beasts. A lynel armed with a bloodied machete came forth and spotted the onlooker struck with horror.
“The hell is THAT thing”? Letting out a roar the beast charged up energy around its blade and launched a swordbeam in the mogma's direction. Kourtz dived to the side as the beam narrowly missed him and blasted through a nearby wall. Throwing the boomerang the lynel jumped over it and charged towards where Kourtz stood. Seeing her friend in danger however Tarah's bow let loose an ice arrow that froze the monsters leg in place. A bombchu followed after and little remained of the wild cultist after the explosion had cleared.
In the upstairs windows of the house a ragtag bunch of Humans, Gerudo, and Bokoblins all dressed in black gazed down angrily at their fallen comrade's killer. Seeing them turn to run downstairs Kourtz sprinted over past the barn and tried to hide behind a large wooden crate. He prayed that Tarah would cover him while he tried to find a way out. Before he could attempt to sneak away however he noticed a small fluttering sprite glowing luminously beside him. If she didn't turn her aura off the both of them would be spotted by this new unknown threat and quickly thereafter killed. With the small lady spying straight at the newcomer Kourtz whispered over and let her know what he needed. “Psst. Hey, fairy gal. Stop glowing will ya? There's someone out there trying to kill us! They will see us if you keep it up!”
Majin Kotage – Hyrule Field – Day 4
"Do you want to know the future you are building? Do you want to see why this is all worthwhile?"
He did. He was suddenly, desperately hungry to know that what he’d done was not for nothing, that it had a purpose beyond bringing on a war that would cost more lives even than he’d taken this day on the field.
As he knelt in the grass, surrounded by war and death and the stench of blood and fire he could feel himself losing his grip on the shadows he drawn around himself in a mantle. The cloak was spreading, losing its solidity, expanding around him like a nebulous cloud held by the barest thread of his will that hadn’t broken.
Did he want to see?
“Yes.”
Suddenly the voice, the other shadow, enveloped him and his vision went black. For a moment he was deprived of all sensory input, blinded to the violence around him in every way imaginable.
And suddenly Majin saw it. It was vague, hazy, as though seen through a thin veil of morning mist, but it was there. He saw darkness stretching like the fingers of some great hand across the land, reaching, grasping. Taking. He saw figures, hundreds of figures, thousands of figures within that darkness. Its children, that’s what the voice had called them.
And then he saw himself standing at the fore, his cloak of shadows blended into the greater darkness looming over the land until he was a part of it. He saw night coming on, and he saw the fires of chaos burning against the twilight, and two words came unbidden through his lips.
“Night’s Flame…”
Could Taden have been right? Was there a larger power to connect them, to bind the most wicked of men together? Majin, Taden, Sirius, they were monsters, killers. Their powers were tied to darkness, were they bound together by it?
“Yes that’s right; it is from me your powers stem. Feel the strength of them and know that I am their source. You could rise so far if you would but accept me, if you would serve me…”
“No.”
A tremor shook the black vision, a violent quake of irritation that shook away the hazy vision and brought back the darkness. Majin, inside of that place, felt a surge of panicked rage.
“NO!” Majin roared, coming suddenly to his feet. His reptilian hands were held out to either side, and all around him was a dome of roiling darkness that was part gathered shadow and part Night’s Flame. It might have been a creature of primordial power, but it should have come to him in fire. “I. Will. Not. Be. Used.
“Not again!”
And with all of the physical and mental strength that Sirius’ moonbeam had given back to him he pushed outward, willing the shifting black mass away in every direction, shoving it away with such force that it slammed into the amphibious figures all around him like a violent wave of black smoke that hurled them from their feet.
When it was over Majin stood alone, surrounded by toppled figures as they struggled to right themselves within the heavy carapace armor that weighed them down. He wore no cloak of shadows, for he’d given them up in order to scatter whatever darkness had come to Hyrule’s four winds. His chest heaved and his limbs trembled, but that brief flash of anger was already beginning to bleed away.
He looked to Sirius and nodded his thanks, but his head turned on a swivel when he heard the clatter of steel and the cadence of boots tromping in the grass.
== Manipulated to the End ==
Impa – Hyrule Field – Day 4
“Won’t be used?” Impa asked in a tone of mock credulity, standing before an advancing phalanx of Hylian soldiers with shields raised and spears pointed forward over their upper right corners.
Impa, seeing that the Hylian army had at last arrived, had thrust herself over the metal poles of the fence and approached the front line unconcerned. These men knew who Impa was and by what authority she approached them.
The army, as soon as she’d fallen into step at the van, split in two and marched to the east and west of Lon Lon Ranch like the river’s flow diverted around a boulder, surrounding it. From each side the Hylian army closed in upon the entrance to the Ranch until the Zoras stopped attacking Taden and the lunar mage with such figure and instead began to look askance at the approaching army. They had not the numbers to resist, and yet they looked prepared to do so.
Impa drew close, feeling so keenly the separate lumps of the Trust Keys beneath her form-fitting garb. Majin, with no Zoras surrounding him after his display of power, gaped openly at her, the anger bleeding from his expression and replaced with shock.
“…You.”
“Indeed,” Impa said, and from all around those in the know understood what that single word of recognition meant.
In a blink Impa’s boot struck Majin’s chin, sending him spiraling backward into the grass and dirt, bloody spraying.
As he was struggling back to his feet, she turned to the Hylians behind and said loud enough that those approaching from the opposite side could hear:
“Take them all.”
A Deku Nut slid from her sleeve into her waiting hand and, as the Hylian forces banged spears against shields and moved in to clean up the mess she thrust it into the ground at her feet and was gone when the smoke was swept away on the wind.
Sirius, Lon Lon Gates, The Fourth Day
Sirius stuck the moonrod back into the ground, but the beam was already beginning to diminish. Thankfully it had lasted long enough for Taden to remove the oncoming threat of Zora, but once they were dispatched, Sirius knew that it was time to change modes.
Sirius watched as Majin struggled and ultimately overcame a foe he did not recognize, and in truth, could not even see, he merely surmised that he was there based on the Tokay’s behavior. After over five hundred years of careful scientific observation, the signs of invisible enemies were easy to catch.
The Tokay had an encounter with a woman Sirius did not recognize, while the chaos around them continued. The Zora’s numbers dwindled, but now mixed amongst the remaining Zora’s and few lone warriors, marched Hylian soldiers. Freshly deployed, they now represented the greatest threat to likely anyone on the battlefield.
She kicked Majin back and her words finally rose above the chaos so Sirius could hear.
“Take them all.”
Sirius looked down at the moonrod, and watched as the moonbeam completely reabsorbed into it, ending with a beautiful flash of light which scattered the image of the full moon above into a million pieces. 
Sirius took the moonrod, broke off the sharp ends, and then crushed it into his hands, its lunar structure breaking down as he subtly manipulated its microscopic components. He then cupped his hands around his mouth and blew all of the dust out into the sky.
He began to speak, and his voice became a hundred times amplified, echoing across the battlefield.
“The Full Moon does not end with the night. No, it is always there, just beyond your sight! But on this day, things shall be different.” He slammed both fists down, and the millions of floating lunar particles all swarmed together in the sky above the battlefield, and began to grow. Larger. Larger.
The particles stretched and morphed into a single shimmering sheet of silver lunar light, with the bright burning sight of the full moon sitting in-between it all. It was as if the sun had been blotted out by its own reflected light, and the night sky filled with its luminescence. His voice continued to scream across the battlefield. None would end the night without hearing his words.
“I will surrender to no one!” Sirius knew in the back of his mind something dire had happened with the trusts, and feared the worst. He presented himself as a man seeking power and the ability to create legends, but in truth he also sought to guard the last great weakness of the world itself. The Vault. Everything he had done in life, everything he discovered could all be undone, reversed, if anyone he had wronged ever found their way inside.
It fueled him, the fear of temporal chaos, the fear of time’s collapse spurned him on to put the world around him in its place.
“So...back off!” Sirius punched hard, and the same ghostly after-image of his first emerged, powered by the moonlight, and driving hard into the closest Hylian soldier, breaking his neck in a single shot. “That’s the nice option. You don’t want to know the rest.”
Tarah Vass / Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
Crouching on the rooftop, Tarah fired arrows into the fray with care and precision. Her aim had improved since she first found her trusty bow, and each arrow dealt a killing blow on the Zora soldiers she aimed for. This rain of arrows may have been small, but due to her precise eyes Tarah managed to assist Taden and his allies in her own way by slightly lowering the numbers of their attackers.
After keeping a constant stream of arrows focused on the battle below, Tarah reached to her quiver and found a solitary arrow remained. She decided that this would be her last shot before she finally departed from the oncoming storm of war, and she wanted to make it count. Pulling it towards her blade she patiently waited for the blue flame to jump onto it's head, all the while keeping her eyes focused on her target. He had once claimed that he would see her hell freeze over, and yet today, the reverse would occur. 
"It'll take more than one arrow will it Polaris? Let's test that theory" Tarah muttered bitterly as she drew her bowstring back and focused on the skull of the crimson Zora. 
Upon hearing the shouts of her friend in danger, Tarah deserted this petty vengeance and quickly turned to fire the arrow intended for Polaris into the leg of Kourtz' attacker. The black lynel burst into a pile of blood and the explosion of Kourtz' bombchu attracted many others, a group of various backgrounds all in black glared at their fallen ally and at the now running Kourtz. 
At this moment Tarah sheathed her bow, drew her blade and dived from the safety of the rooftop. Her fall was broken by the soft body of a Bokoblin, her knife followed and split the poor creatures skull. She now stood alone against a fairly large group, clutching her dagger and awaiting their first strike. 
This strike came from the spear of a Gerudo which Tarah easily caught with the edge of her blade, she then kicked the hand of the Gerudo and took the spear in her spare hand. Thrusting her blade into the chest of her disarmed attacker Tarah swung her other arm to swipe the spear across the throats of two human attackers, killing them with a spray of blood which added to the layer of red of Tarah's coat. She heard a cackle of a Bokoblin she seemed to have ducked below the strike, but this was ended quickly as the spear plunged into the creature's chest. 
She now realised that standing alone against such a large group may have been a mistake and began to back away, struggling to block the numerous blades that swung towards her from the hoard of raiders who stepped over their fallen allies and advanced towards her. 
Knowing that the element of surprise was her only advantage to begin with, and that now it was lost if she continued to fight it would undoubtedly result in her demise, Tarah turned and ran, hoping that her years of running from problems wouldn't fail her now. She ran in the opposite direction to Kourtz in an attempt to draw the raiders away from him, forgetting that her course would lead her out onto Hyrule field. 
"Shit." Tarah exclaimed as she emerged from the ranch, stopping dead in her tracks behind Taden and his new allies, now facing the chaos of the field with no option to turn as the pathway back would now be blocked by the raiders. The only relief in this situation was the arrival of a Hylian army, yet Tarah failed to see Impa among them, so was unsure if they would see her as an ally or not. 
"Taden, watch out! Enemies incoming from the ranch!" Tarah shouted above the noise of battle as a warning to her allies. 
Lieutenant Mako/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Mako gained a little satisfaction in watching his men throw themselves haphazardly against the wall of ice in their bloodlust. He gained less when those in the rear lost their nerve and he was downright angered at the sight of the atrocities which Taden committed. 
A dozen disembodied Zora heads, tongues lolling out of their mouths, dripping with blood and saliva was enough to dishearten even the bravest of his warriors. 
The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Zora this day, where once was a score there were now only two. A sickly silence fell upon the Zora faithful, a straggling few gave up in deep despair, the rest clung to that hope that springs eternal in the breast. They thought if only Mako could get but a whack at that, they'd put up even money that his spear would do the rest. 
But ice preceded Mako, as did Taden, the former was a wall and the latter a snake. So upon those stricken few, a grim melancholy sat, for there seemed but little chance of Mako getting to attack. 
Taden let loose with a head and some ice fell off the wall, then from Makos throat there rose a lusty yell, it rumbled through ranch and echoed down the well. 
"Damn you Taden!! Go. To. Hell!!"
And the first bloodied head was on it's way, hurtling through the air. Mako sidestepped and close by the lieutenant the severed head did speed, with nonchalance Mako paid it no heed. The next several he slapped this way and that. To the ground they bounced with many a muffled splat. 
When at him the final cranium flew, Mako ground his teeth, jaw clenched in hate. With cruel violence Mako swung his spear. 
A few seconds too late. 
In the jaw Mako was struck by a bloody Zora pate. Under the force of the blow, to his back he did yield. 
High above this favored field, the moon shines bright. Grown men are laughing at the Zora plight. Mighty Mako swung and missed, and the Hylian army joined the fight.
In a flash, Impa vanished and the Castle Town troop drew weapons glinting silver bright. 
"Another day ice mage, perhaps another night!" To Taden, Mako did yell as all around him the number of his foes did swell. 
Bernard the Banner Bearer/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
"Take my a horse a safe distance from the fighting." He simpered under his breath. 
God he hated being a squire. It was stupid. The only thing more stupid than being a squire was being a squire and having to carry that damned banner. Yeah, let the only unarmed Zora in the guard (this was still a sore spot for Bernard) carry a big ass flag with the kings crown and trident emblazoned on it. Mako may as well give him a sign that said, "HEY KILL ME FIRST!!"
Gods this was stupid. Mako was stupid. Bernard's parents were stupid and this whole fight over a frickin key was stupid!
Bernard's self pity was abruptly halted though when the Hylian army showed up and chaos ensued. As expected, an armored soldier charged at him, yelling incoherently under his helm. 
Bernard ducked a horizontal slash that tore open the saddlebag where he'd stuck that crusty old notebook. Catching it, Bernard chucked it over his should as he ducked under the stupid lieutenants stupid horse. 
The notebook caromed off of the soldiers shield and went spinning through the air to land near the ranch gates. Bernard's attention was pulled from the books flight as the soldier followed him under the charger. 
Lunging forward Bernard rammed the ornamental trident atop the banners pole into the eye slit of his pursuer. The soldier yelled in pain and flailed his sword arm weakly. Raising the banner high above his head Bernard drove the trident into the base of the soldiers neck. Again and again he stabbed until he lodged the trident in so deep that he couldn't remove it. His face covered in the gore of his kill Bernard gained no respite, another of Dromands legion bore down on him. 
Frantically Bernard pulled on the banners pole, but it wouldn't budge. Turning to face his attacker, the teenaged Zora screamed, voice cracking he charged forward. And was abruptly impaled on cold Hylian steel. 
As Bernard's body fell limp to the ground he could only think of just how stupid this all was. 
Gli/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Gli hungrily stared at her master for a time longer, before lowering down to the ground in a prowling stance. She sneaked slowly towards the tall cart as her golden eyes remained locked on Stewart's bald, stupid head. The Deku girl drooled hungrily as her small nose twitched, inhaling the air and reveling in the smell of blood. Her hands slowly slide down to her legs, pulling her knives from their sheathes; She held three small knives between her fingers in each hand, preparing herself in a stance not unlike that of a primal animal. She could hear her own heart beat with excitement, as her anticipation labored her breath. Everything was shaking...Everything was burning...All it would take was one...little...slice...
She adjusted her legs below her, leaning forth to adjust her weight in preparation for the most important pounce in her life. Hunger for the nectar in that man's neck was magically overwriting even her morals against killing the very person that was to thank for her still breathing...Despite everything, she needed him...She needed a master...it was all she knew...and there she was...About to shatter it all. She took one last sniff at the crisp morning air...
...I smell blood...Freshly spilled?
Her eyes darted past her master, towards the Ranch exit. She could smell it...It was heavenly! The odor of blood filled that general direction, where she could see the Zora forces attempting to advance beyond a wall of standing corpses, which seemed frozen in place. A rather bloodied man accompanied by another stood before the Zora, using some form of magic to keep them at bay. She had no time to consider the danger of such a scenario, as instinct and magically induced starvation shot her forth into the skies with a mighty leap. Gli jumped clear over everyone and everything as she found herself hurtling through the air; The arc in her jump found her falling upon the bloodied man. Safety was no longer a factor at this point, and she knew it. The Deku girl reared her arms back, ready to thrust all six of her knives into his flesh. The anticipation made her smile wider than she had ever smiled in her life.
For the first time in years...She felt alive.
Elizabeth/Lon Lon Outskirts/Day 4
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Angel of Doom
The sun was bright red as morning began to introduce itself to a day of light rain. It was then interrupted with pale moonlight and a silver mist. Beth heard the thunder grow closer. Surrounded by her enemies with a band of her Crimson Raiders and one of the finest role models she ever had, it was time to take a stand.
As more of her warband rallied to her side, she raised Apocrypha to the sky, letting a dark red orb travel up its hilt all the way to the blade's tip.
"Fear nothing! Our Lord marches with us!"
The warband resoundingly shouted back, not caring about what the odds were. As the orb exploded into a fine crimson mist, both the remaining Zora forces, Polaris, the raiders, and Elizabeth were blessed with the Dark Rite of Masochism. Not only was there an opportunity for compulsion to slaughter, but any pain inflicted upon them could fill them with utmost euphoria, driving them to fight harder than ever before. Giving or receiving didn't matter. Pain was narcotic. Orgasmic. Desired. Encouraged. It was up to each one in the mist to decide.
"We take lives for our Lord! We drink deep for our Lord!"
As certain death approached them, Polaris was readying what was left of the Zora in his own way. She knew he had her back when it would count most. But her bloodlust was getting the better of her. And being filled with the Rite's ecstasy, Elizabeth led the charge, wielding Apocrypha in two hands. Some of the Zora had already been attacked; the banner bearer meeting an untimely end first. She had no idea how he'd lasted this long.
Filled with unholy prowess, Elizabeth became a blossom of death. She was dodging spear and sword alike as she emitted two auras of viridian and deep crimson. Parrying two attackers and severing their arms at the elbow, she then plunged Apocrypha deep under the right arm of one and kicked the other onto a spear behind. Her raiders were fueled by her success and began to lock up in battle.
As she danced through grunts, the damage she'd taken earlier had began to catch up with her. She'd lost a good bit of blood and was still afflicted with stigmata. And the scent of what she desired most at this time was so apparent that it didn't matter anymore. The raiders knew it and helped to keep assailants away from their High Priestess.
Toying with the solitary grunt that remained standing, she kept deflecting his blade back into his face until he was dazed. She then drove the hilt of her blade into the side of his head, causing his neck to whiplash side to side. But she caught him in a grapple as he was falling, and bore her teeth into a perfectly exposed artery...
It was warm; she could feel each spurt as it tickled the back of her throat. The screams echoed in her ears, filling her with another feeling just as pleasurable. As life was leaving her victim, she drank deep, losing herself in a euphoria she would regret later. Affected by both of her blessings and enthralled in the moment, she could feel her wounds closing and her frame tingling in perverted delight. Before long, there was nothing but a dry vessel before her. The raiders had bought her the time she needed, but she had been bashed by a shield as she was rising to her feet. Being caught off-kilter meant nothing though. Being outed as a cannibal taking sustenance from the blood of the living meant far less. Living to see the next day was her only concern.
And the one who had bashed her soon regretted it, as well as the others trying to flank her. She drove her fist into the ground, forming a red circle that soon burst into crimson smoke, causing them to retch uncontrollably. The spin attack she let loose afterward cleaved all four of them into two halves. She was covered in the sweetest nectar; and a twisted grin formed on her face as blood still trickled from her chin.
Alauth/Field/Morning 4
Somehow the Tokay had power over shadow, and was able to disperse the construct Alauth had formed to communicate. It was very inconvenient and excessively painful. But, still, Alauth had learned a few things in that act. First, this lizard would be a useful ally, or tool. Second, it's mental weakness was deeper than originally anticipated. And third, it felt some manner of connection to this Night's Flame entity.
The remaining puzzle piece was what connection it had to that Sheikah woman. Such details would come to light with time. More pressing of an issue was the coming Hylian army, and the Sheikah's orders.
“Take them all.”
Alauth's dispersed shadow construct had been scattered around Majin, but it still was there. So Alauth reconstituted the shadows in a circle surrounded the Tokay. Then those shadows burst into a ring of blue flame protecting Majin from the encroaching Hylian forces.
"You are not being used. You are doing what you are meant to do. You will do what you want to do. All I ask, at this moment, is that you resist these Hylian dogs, and that you remain by the side of Polaris Eridanus."
With Polaris protecting Beth, it seemed likely following the Zora would eventually bring the Tokay to the Sanctuary.
"Now, come! I will see you safely to your allies!"
The ring of blue fire around Majin contorted, and began to move, herding the Tokay toward Polaris while preventing all but the bravest of Hylians from approaching through the cold heat.
Sirius - The Battlefield, The Fourth Day
Sirius had finished his shouting, and naturally none responded. The screams of a madman were worth listening to, but encouraged to be ignored afterwards. Otherwise one might risk falling to his level, and never getting back up.
As Sirius entertained himself with his own thoughts, he watched with delight as his notebook made its way back to him. He inwardly spited his future self, Morton, and then raced towards the soaring notebook. He snatched it out of the air, watching as the foolish Zora youth was killed amidst his display of incredible spoiled indifference.
All around himself, Sirius felt the powerful pulse of the legends on the battlefield. With his notebook back in his possession, his ability to channel and record information was brought back to its original and immense levels. He began flipping through the pages, and pressing his palm against them one at a time, as he stared upon all the unique creatures and creations he could spy on the battlefield.
A non-corporeal but tangible presence could be seen nearby, surrounding and interacting with Majin. The page Sirius’ hand was upon shimmered and then the image he looked upon was recorded, flashing through stills to fake a moving image.
He swiveled and saw a girl, one that he was able to pull from the memories of AvaKai. She had been at the Kakariko battle, firing arrows from afar. Now she stood ready for battle behind where Sirius and Taden had last stood together. Hand in his notebook, the image was recorded.
He rolled and dodged again, choosing to evade as many soldiers as he could, delivering non-fatal moonstrikes when possible. As he pivoted and repositioned, he caught a glimpse of a Deku-like creature moving at blinding speeds towards Taden. He flipped open another page and slammed both hands, but the image that appeared showed only a blur attacking the ice mage.
He turned back to see the one responsible for his inner rage, though now it faded as the ebb of moonlight churned inside him instead. Sirius watched as she had brought herself down upon a poorly fated soldier, who now lay limp on the ground, his life quite literally eaten away from him. Once again Sirius placed his hands in the pages, searing the image of the scene onto them.
Though his stamina was boosted by the lunar dome, he began to find it more and more difficult to record the scene and fight in at the same time, and was forced to stop with the cannibalistic woman as his last entry of the moment. He slammed the notebook shut, but then heard a voice coming from within.
“What? Hello? What’s going?” He shouted at the notebook, and suddenly words appeared on the pages.
So frickin stupid...Just a stupid key...
“W-Wha....Is someone in there?” Sirius would have felt ridiculous about speaking into the notebook, but in comparison to the scene around him, it felt absolutely normal. A ghostly image of a young Zora appeared. “No.” Sirius voice was thick with incredulity. 
“Where am I? What’s going on? Oh god? Am I dead? I told you this was stupid!”
“Are you kidding me?” Sirius shouted, nearly laughing. It was simultaneously the worst and best thing that could have happened to him. “Well welcome to the party, um...” He flipped through the notebook and found the page he was looking for. “Welcome to the party, Bernard! I agree this is awfully stupid, isn’t it?” He punched out an oncoming soldier. “But I’m afraid you’re stuck with me now, we’ll find out why later. For now, try not to have an existential crisis, because...well you’ve sort of already got one going on.”
Polaris Eridanus/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Polaris shared a sidelong glance with Lizzy as she drew her sword and he sheathed his drawing the dual chained makhaira instead. Winters Tide was his heavy hitter, but these were better for crowd control. 
A crimson orb slid from the black tipped sword in Lizzy's hand and sent up a fine crimson mist. The mist hung in the air briefly before descending on those gathered around Polaris and Beth. 
With a casual flick of his wrist, fingers spread wide at his side, Polaris manipulated the mist funneling it around his body. He was unsure of the effect Beth's magic would have, but after seeing the last example first hand, he wanted nothing to do with this blessing. 
As the priestess and her raiders sped off into the fray, Polaris looked on, hesitating when Beth brought her teeth to the throat of a dying Hylian soldier. 
Deep breath
Making a mental note to put that on their list of things to talk about, Polaris shook his head and moved forward to engage the enemy. 
Spinning forward and swinging his right hand makhaira in a wide arc, Polaris duck low and kicked at a soldier to his left. As the chain from his right hand weapon wrapped around the neck of a soldier the blade on the end of that chain sunk deep into the breastplate of another. 
Parrying a strike with his left, Polaris yanked hard on the chain wrapped around his right forearm. Tightening around the throat of the soldier, cutting off his supply of oxygen while the rough steel of the links cut into his neck. The soldier gasped and coughed as he dropped his shield and frantically scrabbled one handed at the chain, his sword hung limp in his other hand. The roughened edges of the lightning forged metal cut at his fingertips while he slowly asphyxiated. 
The soldier closest to Polaris charged in again, making to bash him with his shield, but the general spun to the side and promptly removed his head for him. 
Jerking hard on the chain again, Polaris spun the wrapped man in a circle, as he spun his sword flew from his hands, burying itself in the chest of one of his comrades. Two lifeless bodies hit the ground in a cacophonous clatter of steel. Dancing through the press of bodies, Polaris angled himself towards the downed Zora Lieutenant. 
"Mako! Get up and fight!"
The Lieutenant only groaned in response. 
Taking up a defensive position with a blade in each hand, Polaris resigned to protect his fallen comrade and went to work picking apart the oncoming Hylian troops. 
He lashed out with both blades, each one burying itself in the breastplates of a pair of soldiers. Jerking hard on the chains, both men stumbled forward coughing up bloody sputum as they came. Arms spread wide and glistening under a thick coat of crimson ice, Polaris dropped both men with a red ice clothesline. 
As the two men crashed to the ground under the force of the strike, Polaris growled and spun hard on his heel. The soldiers still caught on his makhaira left the ground and were flung bodily into the advancing line of troops. The domino effect was brilliant, a mass of armored bodies and limbs all toppling into a heap a short distance away. 
Pulling his blades back to himself, Polaris raised his leg and brought his crimson limbed foot down in a hard stomp. A wave a red ice burst forth from the spot and washed over the pile of soldiers freezing them in place. 
Behind him, Mako groaned again and sat up. Looking over his shoulder Polaris called back to the lieutenant, "Good nap? Now would be a good time to join the battle! You're falling behind!"
Bernard, Inside the Lunar Notebook, Day 4
Bernard felt no fear, no longing for life, only anger and angst. But now he felt something new, a power he hadn’t felt before. He had knowledge that was not his, or at least it hadn’t been his until now.
“You stupid gillholes will regret making fun of me! I’m gonna show my parents” He stood in a vast library, books of all sizes, shapes, and colors filling the walls. Spread amongst the towering walls of books were great windows, on the outside a raging battle. He realized that it was the battle he had died in moments before.
“Shut up in there!” The voice of Sirius echoed throughout the library.
“Screw you!” Bernard shouted back. He already knew what had happened, the library was a part of him somehow. Like he could have any book on any subject within the library, and all he had to do was think it. He did so.
Bernard: Death by evisceration. Soul link to lunar notebook formed. Currently bound to the book’s spine, there is no way to remove without destroying the book. Subject appears to be highly compatible with sample material drawn from Kotaro. Possible relation.
Subject will experience very little emotional bond to prior life due to the mortal coil reassignment effect.
“So I died...And I don’t even care! Haha! Jerks!” 
Bzzzzt!
“Ah, what gives?” Bernard felt himself get shocked, as if his own electrical field had inverted upon him for a moment. The voice of Sirius echoed through the chamber.
“That’s how it felts when I jab my moonrod into the book. Now shut up until I need something. You’ll be rather useful as my remote controlled research assistant. Start looking at those pictures I stored and tell me if it matches up with any other data in the book.”
“No! I don’t-” bzzzt! “Ahh...stop! Okay! Okay!” Bernard immediately began to look through every book he could, following Sirius’ will for the pain he felt was the only thing so far to instill any kind of real fear in him. In the back of his mind he continued to rebel, and despite the jabs by Sirius, he felt better than ever, ready to take on the world, one sentence at a time.
IC: Taden Horwendil / Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
"Taden, watch out! Enemies incoming from the ranch!"
No sooner had he felled Leiutenant Mako than Tarah's voice came from behind warning of more danger. With Sirius's false moon now eclipsing the entire sun, he was able to see further than in the halting light of rain. Near the center of the ranch, he saw a ball of light floating above the ground, casting its glow over Kourtz. A ring of Moblins in black and red was drawing close around the Mogma, dragging their clubs through the mud. But before Taden could advance, he heard a sudden snarl.
"What fresh hell is this?" he shouted as the first in a pack of bloodthirsty subhumans latched onto his shoulders and neck. He grabbed the small thing by the scruff of its neck and held it up at arm's length. It appeared to be a Deku girl child, but she clawed and spat at him like a rabid dog.
"Who let you off the leash?" he asked the thing, and she swiped at his wrist with a slew of knives suddenly whipped out of her sleeve. "Ouch!" he grunted, flinching once, but not enough to drop her.
"Here, you deal with this thing," Taden said, tossing the twitching ball of blades and weeds towards Tarah.
"I've got bigger fish to fry."
The first of three Moblins slammed his club down near Kourtz's feet, and the Mogma rolled to one side through the mud, cupping his long claws around the Fairy floating at his nose. But the next two were ready, and they both slammed their clubs down right in his path, bouncing him back to the first. Thunder clapped overhead and Kourtz unfurled briefly, trying to fumble for a Bombchu, his wide eyes trained on the business end of the leader's thick club. The Moblin raised his gnarled truncheon up once more, steam billowing from his nostrils in the cold morning rain, but paused when a fat, furry finger tapped him on the shoulder.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" The Moblin could barely turn his head to see his attacker before a Yeti fist pummeled into his canine jowels. The thug slipped in the wet mud and landed on his massive ass, and Taden scooped up his hefty club with one hand, the black axe Ginnungagap in the other. He looked past Kourtz and the little fairy to the other two Moblins who towered over them, and lightning flashed at his back.
"Now, you two have a choice," he explained, standing over a head taller than the Moblins at his full height. "Hop that fence there like the rest of your gang, or wind up like your friend here."
He wrapped one prehensile foot around the neck of the fallen Moblin and lifted him up, his eyes bulging and his tongue lolling out as he squeezed into his spine with Yeti strength. Oddly, they were able to see a moment of ecstasy on his face that Taden missed. He torqued his hips, and the Moblin's neck snapped. He fell face first in the mud, dead.
The other two Moblins looked up from their friend's corpse at one another, then back at the fresh corpse. They dropped their fat clubs at the same time, and turned to dash out of the ranch and over its fence in a cloud of dust.
When they were gone, Taden fell to one knee, his axe and the first monster's club dropping into the mud. He pulled his hand to his face and removed the Yeti Mask, shrinking back to his Terminian size. Though his Yeti form was uninjured, in this body the wounds of battle clung to him still. Kourtz stood before him, soaked in rain, the small fairy hovering near his shoulder.
His breathing was labored through cracked ribs, and he coughed and wheezed as blood streamed down the side of his face and along his neck, over long cuts and bruises. After the battles here and in the mountains, Taden had reached the point where it was all he could do to keep breathing, but he could not risk a Yeti being seen by either side in this fighting.
"Please tell me the Goron Trust is safe," he gasped at the Mogma, looking up from the ground, his voice barely above a gruff whisper.
Elizabeth/Lon Lon Outskirts/Day 4
Skillet - Not Gonna Die
It was time to rise or fall. And Elizabeth was all about rising blades meeting falling vital organs. She was covered in the dark grime of battle, and though she had taken a few hits, she wasn't feeling any of that pain. It all entered into harmonious bliss as grunts kept falling at her hand. Some of her raiders had fallen, and she was slightly regretful that they were to meet their end here.
But when the largest threat to their liberty stood before them, they died with pride and honor. Beth had to live on for them, as they followed her into the fray without hesitation. As any of her Order would. To draw blades with the High Priestess was an honor many in the Eclipse still desired greatly. And it would come before long at this rate.
As her dark rage built higher, both of her auras grew in lucent intensity. She saw Polaris and his precision technique out of the corner of her eye between kills. The Red Ice General was exactly what she imagined in the heat of open war. She had her own style, but she was noticing that many of her visceral strikes resembled his.
There was truly no end to these enemy soldiers. And as she and her raiders continued to fend them off, she noticed a byproduct of her crimson rage. Something most unusual. But when it hit its critical mass it would be a major psychological advantage. Blood wasn't hitting the ground. it was funneling toward the sky and sitting in the clouds. They were starting to have a pink tinge to them at this point. And this excitement had Elizabeth pressing her attack, even while surrounded by overwhelming numbers.
Picking up a Hylian Shield from one of her more recent kills, she set it on her right arm and started to use it responsibly. This was going to be a long fight; they were killing her slow, but she wasn't ready to die. This wasn't just a fight about whatever war was breaking out. This was about taking her life back and fighting for her beliefs with every swing.
Sirius, Lon Lon Outskirts, Day 4​
The false moon above continued to ward off the sun, though its light seemed no less intense. But the effects could be felt, and at a glance, even seen. Those susceptible to the sun seemed particularly empowered by the silver beacon, though none of the hylian soldiers seemed affected one way or the other.
“Bernard!” Sirius slammed his hand onto the notebook, which he had fastened to his side with a small piece of lunar rope. In his mind he heard the echo of the slap, which he found rather strange, the notebook didn’t usually reverberate back the other way. Bernard cussed and stomped in response, which was good enough for Sirius.
“Bernard, the notebook will open on its own to a new page, you just need to write down what you see out the windows!”
“NO!” He shouted back. Sirius snarled, having a fondness for sarcasm, but rarely when it came from teenagers. He unhooked the notebook and slammed it at maximum velocity into the nearest soldier, crumpling him to the ground, and sending a screaming bullet of condensed lunar energy out into the battlefield, striking through another soldier’s head, killing him instantly.
“Okay, that was - AAAGH!” Sirius gripped his head, as he realized what had truly transpired. A tiny fragment of the notebook had actually dislodged, and with it came a great deal of pain to Sirius. He reattached the notebook to his side, and decided to not repeat that particular experiment. He heard Bernard’s whimpers, and knew that the Zora too had felt nothing but unpleasantness during the attack.
“Bernard start recording!” Sirius kept a sharp eye on the battlefield, his own vision vastly enhanced by the lunar dome. “First, a few notes!” As he fought, he continued to fight off the soldiers, by and large keeping his attacks down to mere taunts. Having shown the capacity for immense damage, he was now playing a game of the mind with these armored fools. He ducked and dodged, landing knockout strikes when necessary, but avoiding the fatality he had inflicted on the poor victims of his earlier notebook strike.
“Begin Note: The vault is at great risk of breech. The keys have been brought together, and this is a historically known tipping point. I cannot tell if-”
How much do you need to talk??? Bernard cut into his verbal transcription. Sirius spoke over him with such force of will that Bernard not only stopped speaking, but felt compelled to pay closer attention than ever before.
“If the keys are allowed to be in the hands of a single individual, then the entire timestream is at risk. Every single warrior present today is a critical element of this timeline, including you, you stupid whiny kid!” Sirius grinned as he gained his maniacally out of place positivity back. “We need to record their actions, and their powers, not just for preservation of the timestream, but also for later recreation, just as we did with AvaKai.” The mention of the cloned Kaimu immediately brought Bernard to delve into all knowledge the notebook had on him. He returned with a calculated response.
You created a living copy of Kaimu Kotaro, and you let him die at your feet, at the hands of a stranger....My knowledge tells me I should feel sad, even furious, but all I feel is empty. Just like Kaimu probably felt at the end.
Sirius glossed over Bernards words at first. As he continued evasive maneuvers, he started on the second of his recordings. But just as he began to bark more lines at Bernard, the rain began acting up. The clouds in the sky above were changing color, as the blood amongst the battlefield incredibly fell upwards into the sky. The moon still shone brightly.
Not too far in the distance he saw the cannibal woman observing the same phenomenon. He felt a satisfying inward thunk in his own mind as Bernard finished recording what he saw, storing it for later review. It was then that Sirius had a question which was wholly out of place, but felt so plagued by it that he was forced to ask.
“Bernard, what is your last name?”
“Kotaro.”
“Ah....shit.” Sirius muttered.
Treene|Lon Lon Ranch|Day 4
Treene lowered her spyglass slowly. It seemed that in this moment everything around the small fairy was creeping to a halt. She knew it wasn’t a trick; no, this was her mind entering a state of shock. There was a difference between reading and passing down knowledge in comparison to actually seeing with one’s own eyes. Being in the forest had sheltered the naive fae. Only some fairies are rewarded with the opportunity to leave the forest, otherwise they would live in the woods until they passed. For the ones that did return and told their tales, none of their stories could have prepared Treene for the fights and bloodshed around her. She took a deep breath and swallowed the colossal lump in her throat. The scene was hard to swallow, but it wasn’t impossible. She was asked to leave the forest and she accepted it as well as everything that came with the world. The sound of approaching steps brought Treene forward from her frozen state. 
Some creature had decided that the crate was large enough for two to hide under. Treene figured that it wasn’t as if she was taking much room anyways. Treene was close to flying away before she would traped in another bottler or worse when the creature noticed her. Never seeing this creature before, she could still guess that it was more than likely a Mogma. All she had to go off of were the tales and passing of knowledge from the elder fairies, but their descriptions matched what was currently staring at her.
“Psst. Hey, fairy gal. Stop glowing will ya? There's someone out there trying to kill us! They will see us if you keep it up!”
She felt her face grow slightly red at her foolishness to continue glowing. Perhaps some would not notice in the heat of battle, but if someone were to be standing idle or searching for something they would surely notice her illuminated figure.
“Ah!” She hissed to herself in a hushed volume while quickly dimming her body frame.
Out of all the hostile beings around her, Treene felt that the one next to her had no plans of hostility towards her, let alone trap her in a jar. One sentence wasn’t much to judge one’s character, but Treene felt safer with him than she did alone. Until she reached a safe haven Treene decided it would be best to stick with the Mogma. She flew close to him, but not so close in case he changed his mind about bottling her up. Before she could speak a word to him an approaching threat drew her attention. Treene flew by the Mogma’s face and frowned at the new creatures. By the size of their clubs and demeanor they didn’t appear friendly. Granted Treene could have flown away, but in the miniscule amount of time she had spent with the Mogma Treene felt attached and refused to flee. One of the Moblins brought his club high and before Treene could make any action she saw darkness and realized the Mogma had sheltered her with his claws.
It wasn’t long when she noticed that the claws around her had let go and she was free to float once more. The Mogma began to reach for his own weapons and Treene watched as the Moblin lifted up beginning another attack. The attacker stopped and the fairy felt her eyes grow wider staring at the new creature behind the enemy. Mysterious creatures were abundant on this ranch it seemed.
This new ally, and Treene did consider him an ally considering he was currently saving the Mogma and herself, left the fairy in awe. When the enemies had fled Treene flew close with the Mogma, hovering slightly above his shoulder and peered at their savior. He removed a mask and the fae could see how injured he really was. He spoke to the Mogma, but Treene disregarded those words and continued to look at the being on the ground. Had she been a different fairy, one of the ones that lived in the fountains with the Great Fairies, she could have easily healed him in seconds and simply disappear and reappear back at the fountain. However, Treene was not a fairy from the fountain, just a mere companion from the forest. The fairies from the fountains were expert healers, and it was luck if you caught one outside of their home. The fairies from the forest could heal, just not as well, unless they the visited a fountain and the Great Fairy blessed them with powers to heal. A visit to the fountain was not something that Treene had the opportunity to experience. Edow was talented enough to visit the fountain, but Treene lacked the skill to heal. As she looked down at the one who had saved them she cursed herself for not being gifted in healing. It was a horrible feeling to realize she was a poor excuse for a fairy.
Gli/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
The rabid Deku Girl was confused as she found herself being thrown away so effortlessly from her prey. She swiftly shook it off as her eyes darted towards the battle that raged on at the Ranch's entrance. The smell of death and blood filled her enhanced senses, enraging Gli further in her desire for the sweet taste of the nectar of the fallen. Her focus was reestablished as she found her target within the madness of steel and flesh of war whilst twisting herself around in the air. She flattened herself in a primal stance, sliding past Tarah by inches as she slid on the dirt, holding as close to the ground as possible.
Adjusting her knives in her hands, she turned and looked to the battle and peered through the chaos. She could see the field beyond, which was equally as filled with soldiers as the Ranch was. Gli's golden eyes locked on to a Zora whom was far behind much of the madness; He seemed to carry more importance in his aura and appearance than the others. She licked her lips as a decision was made for where she would leap. The amulet on her neck was burning red; She could almost hear a faint roar, as if it was egging her on to grasp victory.
Victory meant death. Death meant sustenance. That was good enough, or at least, her instincts said so.
The Deku Girl launched herself again, completely ignoring the party behind. She never considered the possibility that she wouldn't be coming back the same way. Unfortunately, her thirst rid her of the ability to care. She was above the heads of the men and women that fought with valiance as she soared through the skies. Her light body helped her achieve more air time than any other non-flying creature could hope for, thanks to the dark forces that coursed through her veins. The wind whistled in her ears as she began to come down in her arcing leap. Her eyes remained locked on that one Zora, whom had noticed her. 
She smiled.
I imagine the best way to kill someone is when they can see it coming, but can do little about it...
Lieutenant Mako/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
It had all happened in a flurry, one moment Mako was calling out to the ice mage inside the ranch and the next a Hylian shield bashed him in the back of the head, leaving him splayed out on the grass and left for dead. Or at least that's what he surmised as he sat there, head throbbing with the much ballyhooed Crimson General dancing around him, chains clattering and red ice flying like some tribal death God. 
Funerary tattoos or not, he was no reaper, but Gods he was a flurry of action and that gained Mako the respite he needed to regain his senses. 
Head still aching from the blow he'd received, the lieutenant hesitantly rose to wobbly feet. Still too quickly though. He was immediately dizzy and nearly wretched on the spot. He probably would have, but he spotted an occurrence so peculiar that he forgot his nausea. Gulping back a mouthful of bile the lieutenant straightened and stared. 
Hurtling towards him out nowhere was a...a what? 
"Hoy there! A battlefield is not the sort of place for someone of your stature..."
The lieutenant bit off his sentence as the creature slammed into him latching onto his left shoulder. With a hiss it buried multiple small knives into his bicep before biting into his arm. 
"Arrgh!! What in Hylia's hairy arse are you!" Mako shook his arm, trying to rid himself of the deranged daisy. The creature plopped to the ground, blood streaming down her chin and Mako winced at the gashes in his arm. 
A fine crimson mist swirled into bulging clouds as the Zora Lieutenant readied his spear, feeling more than just a little ridiculous staring down his foe as hundreds of Hylian soldiers circled in towards them. 
Gli/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
Gli twitched weakly as her body turned to jelly due to the magical influence over her. She laid there limply, with exception of one arm that held her head from the dirt. She stayed that way for mere seconds, but those seconds felt like hours; Long, blissful, almost erotic hours as she slowly swallowed the blood and flesh she had attained. It dripped from her mouth, making her look like a filthy beast whom had just caught its kill. There was no dignity in her position, but she didn't care; She already had what she wanted. Her thirst was quenched, which made her shiver in macabre delight.
She slowly pushed herself from the ground, smiling insanely as her head twitched periodically. As the muddy and bloodied Deku Girl rose to her feet, she wiped her mouth, staining her hand with the blood that had leaked from her mouth. She stared at her hand for a moment before holding it up to her nose. She then inhaled as deeply as she could through her nose, taking in all of the smell she could from the freshly wounded Zora. Its smell had a unique saltiness to it, like the scent of the sea coursed even through the Zora's veins. She shivered in something more than delight as she audibly sighed with bliss. Gli held it in for a moment more, as if the blood itself was an addictive, macabre drug.
When she finished, she slowly exhaled as she looked down to the ground. She could see just above her peripheral vision that they were being surrounded by Hylian soldiers. She popped her neck as she looked back up, still wearing her mad smile. She slowly turned to Mako, whom had readied his spear at her for combat. Gli scoffed, slowly kneeling down, sheathing her knives one by one. Rising back to her feet, her smile disappeared as she stared back at him with a stone cold look in her eyes. She did not move in an antagonizing way, as she remained stood up straight in a casual posture, unlike her feral stance mere moments ago. She raised her arms, and assumed the Hylian salute pose, however in a sarcastic, mocking manner.
"I got what I wanted. Do your worst, sir." she said in a calm and steady manner, very unlike her more nervous and hateful voice. 
Her posture remained strong, and her face remained stoic as she waited for the Lieutenant's response.
Kourtz/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Kourtz looked on as the fairy turned down her glow and the light all but disappeared. But turning around it seemed it was too late. Moblin's dwarfing the Mogma in size and stamina marched over and towered over the girl that fluttered before him. Why didn't she fly away? Seeing a club descend upon them Kourtz reached out a snatched the fairy away in his leathery paw. Knocking over the crate the fists of the monsters barley missed his face as he rolled around in the wet mud like an animal. The end seemed nigh, but as fate would have it a Yeti intervened to save their lives.
"Wait that ax" Kourtz thought to himself. He knew who it belonged to. After dispatching his foes, Kourtz' suspensions proved to be correct. Back in Human form Taden spoke on, deeply injured from the battle. "Please tell me the Goron Trust is safe." In the excitement Kourtz had completely forgotten what the wild man of the north had asked of him. "Oh, umm yeah its safe. Well sort of. Impa somehow knew I had it and... she kinda forced me to cough it up."
With those words Taden's head shot up with a deep breath and cold, dark eyes fixed on Kourtz like an oncoming avalanche. "B...But don't worry. Impa says were free men again. We don't have to deal with the Hylian's ever again if we don't want to. Here, I'll even help you escape from here with me."
IC: Taden Horwendil / Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
"B...But don't worry. Impa says were free men again. We don't have to deal with the Hylian's ever again if we don't want to. Here I'll even help you escape from here with me."
Taden groaned as a sudden wad of blood caught in his throat, and he hacked up a fine mist of red bile. Some of it crawled up his nose and brought a ringing to his ears. The blood hovered in the air, and he glared at it wide-eyed; beads of sweat infused with blood trickled down his temples into his eyes, mixing iron and salt. He wiped the corners of his eyes and coughed again, punching his sternum to clear his throat.
"Forgive me, Master Kourtz," he mumbled under his breath, not even sure if Kourtz could hear him. "But for me, there is no escape."
Above him, the cold morning air had grown thick with a red haze, and Sirius's moon shone through it all with a newly crimson glow of its own. He could hear calves in the nearby sheds grunting nervously as they looked up at the ominous sky. A dog began to howl in a barn somewhere.
"It is not the Hylians I worry about. I made a pact with the Goron Patriarch in Death Mountain," he said, raising his voice at the mention of the oath to Darmoto. The Mogma looked at him quizzically.
Between him and Kourtz there hung a small fairy, like the ones letter carriers were outfitted with in Clock Town. She seemed to belong to Kourtz for the moment. The young Mogma had a way of acquiring such precious things. "What, like a contract?" he asked.
"Yes," Taden replied. "A very expensive one."
He rose to his feet, and twisted his right arm around to inspect a stab wound in his elbow from that foul Deku. He tried bending it to and fro, but found it locked up before he could touch his right hand to his chest. A pity, he thought. Like the Deku lass, the right was his stabbing arm.
"I fear, Master Kourtz, that so long as I am in this Realm I shall not be free." His voice fell like ice on the Mogma and Fairy's acute ears. "War is my master now."
Littered around the ranch land, he not only saw, but felt the cold light of his Blue Fire lingering on the edges of Tarah's arrows. Like coals doused in oil, they seethed dark flame in pockets throughout the battlefield. Seeing her quiver empty as she stood guard near the gate, he decided to make himself useful.
"Hoy, Vass," he shouted. "Try to land a few of these in corpses next time."
He extended his left arm and flicked his free wrist, bringing each of the felled arrows a few feet into the air. He drew his fingers together slowly until they met in a point, and the arrows gathered into a bundle at Tarah's feet, their points of Blue Fire now extinguished.
As he looked in her direction, his long ears picked up the sound of metal boots and mail shirts clanging up the path to the ranch at last. On this cold and dreary morn, it looked as though Hylia had bested Zora; and yet, the red moon waxing above them gave him pause. 
A shadow of dread fell on his heart. Again, he felt a sharp pressure inside his nose, as running blood began to seep upward into his brain. The ringing in his ears grew higher, more piercing.
"I for one have no desire to be martyred in this bloodbath," he said, "despite Impa's best efforts to lure us here."
Kourtz's goggles perked up as he raised his eyebrows. "Hang on, what are you saying?"
"Isn't it obvious? We're the only ones besides her and King Dromand who know--"
He lurched over and began to heave phlegmatic blood, pressing his hands onto his thighs and hunching over to catch his breath. He dropped to one knee, pushing his chest in and out, then hocked a hunk of his blood into the ground. It traveled up the length of the hayseed grass at their feet, then evaporated into the air.
"Never mind," he said, pointing down at the floating blood. "Whatever the hell that is, I'm ready to get far away from it."
Majin Kotage – Lon Lon Exterior – Day 4
Polaris. This thing, whatever it was, wanted him to go to Polaris. That was unusual, though rather less sinister on its face, it seemed, than the vision it had showed him. Polaris was a good man, a great warrior to be trusted in the best and worst of times, and Majin did trust him.
But still, he did not trust this spirit that surrounded him in flames blue as burnished lazurite.
“No, spirit.” Majin surprised even himself by the harshness of his tone. “Not this time. I’m done with this business.”
Hylian soldiers were everywhere, encircling the ring of blue fire that spun itself around him. They wanted to get at him, seeking some way past the blue conflagration while, high above, the sun was concealed behind a great silver moon and the clouds were stained a deepening red with each passing moment.
Majin reached down, unhooked the butterfly swords from his belts, and jumped. In the air he threw his hands out to either side and beckoned the shadows of the fallen to him. They rose from the ground in a black fog before rushing to him, coalescing beneath his feet as the ring of flames tried to rise to follow him.
The shadows condensed, thickened into a shield that lasted but moments. It was enough. When he landed in a crouch amidst a knot of Hylian men the fiery spirit was just burning through the hasty barrier he’d constructed.
Majin lashed out to either side, acting as swiftly as instinct and training would allow. He severed achilles tendons and slashed deeply through the soft flesh at the backs of Hylian knees. Men toppled, howling, spilling blood in the grass as they thrashed in the grass.
Majin was running then, running nowhere in particular, but seeking some distant edge to the army enclosed around them, some place where he could find his way free to escape. So low to the ground, most Hylian soldiers did not realize he was even there until he was in their midst. By then, it was too late. He killed them from underneath, darting and dancing amongst their legs and cutting, slashing, severing. What was a few more bodies on this day?
But he could feel the fatigue coming on again, and knew that without the cloak of shadows and what he could do with it, he was likely to be overcome before long. With it he was as the black wind of death, but now he was merely a Tokay, trained to steal, cheat, lie, spy, and yes, to kill.
Up ahead he could see some sort of gap or emptiness devoid of spears, shields, swords and armor and hoped against hope that it was a way out. Majin leaped, kicking backward with his legs and planting both feet into the chin of a Hylian rushing toward that open space. With the contact Majin propelled himself forward over the heads of several men to land poised upon the shoulders of a pair of Hylians standing side to side with shields held aloft and spears pointed forward.
In a blink their throats were slashed and he was leaping forward as they fountained blood into the air. He landed in a forward roll and came adroitly to his feet, spinning around with butterfly swords raised, searching for any men who might move on him freely now that he was in the open.
He found instead that, unwittingly, he had done exactly what the spirit had wished. Instead of fighting his way out of the battle, he’d cut a swath through the Hylian ranks right back to its heart. Ahead he could see Polaris fighting with red ice and his curved swords, dealing great damage to the advancing Hylians with each blow.
Still, Majin knew, looking around at the few meager remaining defenders as the Hylians pressed in around them, it would not be enough.
He darted forward, deftly leaped over a spear thrust and, landing lightly on its haft, used it to run up and scissor the soldier’s throat open with both blades. Blood sprayed out and Majin dove sideways, rolling back to his feet and coming to stand at Polaris’ left side. The Red Ice General stood taller than he, but stood defiant, blades in hand, as the Hylian soldiers retreated some small distance and reorganized themselves for a fresh charge.
“Polaris,” Majin said with a tight nod when the pair spared a glance at one another. “Seems like inevitability, huh?”
Bernard Kotaro, Library of Lunar Solace, Day 4​
Bernard found himself wishing desperately for only a moment that - wait, no, he’d already forgotten, wishes were for the living. The longer he stayed here, the more he felt attached only to his anger, angst, and the one escape was cold calculated information. Was this his mind? No, this was the mind of Fulmaren, poisoning and seeping into his very being.
“You are going to reduce me to nothing more than your research jockey.”
Sirius Fulmaren, Lon Lon Battle, Day 4​
“Apologies.” Sirius said the word somewhat solemnly. He kept half his attention on the battle, still fending off soldiers foolish enough to try and draw him back in. He carefully stayed within the lunar dome, knowing that as soon as he dropped it, he was going to go to dangerously low power levels. But the half of his mind focusing on Bernard fell increasingly depressed. This was indeed just a shell of the Zora who had died moments earlier, but it did not feel the same as when he created AvaKai, it felt darker, improper, possibly even sick.
This child’s soul was now imprisoned with no hope of escape.
“I am disengaged from my former self for the moment, Bernard will return in due time. I am the core index of the notebook.”
Sirius perked up. Bernard’s voice had changed, like it was now simply the vessel for another being, but it wasn’t a living being, not exactly. To Sirius it felt more like an echo of some kind, a recording of a voice.
“Yes Sirius, that is correct, I am linked to your mind. I am of the roots of Telaris, but I am also you, and you are me.”
“This is really weird.” Sirius’ analysis of sarcasm brought him no comfort.
“The Monks of the Temple of Forever painted an ancient mural after a major encounter with Vera Fulmaren, your wife. She relayed to them the entire story of your existence, as told to her by you, at the end of your life. They then painted the mural. There is a positive 100% match that-” The voice buzzed and hissed, and Bernard’s regular voice shone through for a moment “There’s a 100% chance that you’re a jackass!” after the admittedly hilarious deviation, it immediately returned to its previous monotone delivery.
“Continuing: Sirius, there is a one hundred percent match in the present battle conditions to one of the most pivotal segments of the mural, the battle of disharmony.” The voice immediately ended. Bernard stayed quiet. He too was likely processing what had just happened.
“Bernard.” Sirius began. “I must say, I did not expect to meet another of the Kotaro clan, given that they all left for Labrynna. I presume you were one of the hatchlings given to the clans of Zora’s Domain.” There was no answer from Bernard, but Sirius didn’t need one. Bernard’s soul lived within the notebook, which itself was deeply linked to Sirius mind. “Bernard. Keep recording. Perhaps...” Sirius hesitated, false promises were a dangerous thing to throw in front of fate. “Perhaps we can begin researching ways to release your soul. In the meantime, we have to find our recent allies, and ensure that the trust is not about to fall into a dire fate.”
Sirius took a deep breath, and ran yelling screaming into the crowd, fighting with the same ferocity as before, but felt in his core that there wasn’t much time left on the lunar dome. Soon daylight would return properly, and his strength would wane.
“Ahhh! Out of my way!” Sirius took his whip, flattened it out, and jammed it onto the underside of his boots. He took one incredible leap, and landed on a soldier’s unfortunately placed head, before bounding off through the air. The lunar shoe attachments acted as hover boots, and in several great leaps Sirius made it across the battlefield, before landing powerfully on the ground.
“Seems like inevitability, huh?”
“Hi.” Sirius waved at both Polaris and Majin after landing. “Am I interrupting?”
== Retreat & Capture ==
Alauth/'Morning' 4/Field still
Majin burst through Alauth's blue flame in a shield of shadow and slaughtered his way to Polaris through the Hylians. Though he had said no to Alauth's suggestions and propositions, it seemed some part of him still sought to obey this strange thing called 'Fate'. So, then, Alauth's construct trailed behind Majin, making it seem as though the Tokay left a trail of blue fire as he tore across the battlefield.
“Seems like inevitability, huh?” Majin asked Polaris.
The trail of fire receded into itself, taking on the burning figure of a human as another man came falling from the distance to land nearby.
“Hi.” the man waved after landing. “Am I interrupting?”
Alauth's fiery construct was the one to respond from behind the trio. "The more the merrier, Moon-Man, it would seem in this battle. At least, the Hylians seem to think numbers are the better part of strategy."
All three turned to eye the thing addressing them. Alauth continued, unperturbed, its form wavering to become a shapeless shape of pure light effervescing darkness.
"This fight is too much, General Eridanus, even if you do seem no worse for the centuries." he told the Crimson General. "But, in that intervening time, you have lost the might of a Goddess at your back. And as for me, I can barely remember part and parcel of what once was. Perhaps I might recommend a tactical retreat to a pre-fortified location, as we did together on that forgotten day?"
The shape of a hand formed from the construct, pointing back towards the gate. "Into the ranch?"
Then the voice speaking from the light rose in volume, calling out to a swirling maelstrom of blood typhooning its way up into the dark crimson clouds. "Elizabeth Bryce! My child! You are stretching yourself too thin! These powers that have been granted to you can only go so far before it becomes abuse! It is not yet your time, and retreat is not shameful! Call back our followers, they are attacking our newfound allies! This does not increase anyone's chances of survival, child! Back! All of you! Into the ranch! Kill none that does not wear Royal Armor!"
The beasts and cultists of the Crimson Raiders headed the call of the Dark Master, and even in their blood-fueled orgasmic slaughter formed a defensive line, rather than a berserkers charge, to shield a retreat for the rest. Alauth was pleased with their obedience, already so well engrained by Bryce. That was a deception proving to be all the more and more worthwhile. Among those protected by the cultists was the Zora lieutenant, previous commander of the now decimated Zora forces whose corpses littered the field. Standing defiantly before him was the odd little Deku Sprout from earlier. Alauth's light swung around Mako and Ferncis was standing beside Gli, giving her a goofy grin. "See, I told you this place was too dangerous for you. You should have run. Now, looks like we're going to be stuck together for a while. But behave yourself, I'll only protect you so far."
He turned to look up at the lieutenant. "And you should probably try to make friends as soon as possible, because as I see it, the last of your soldiers is dead, and these Hylians aren't looking to be very merciful, if that standard-bearer's body is any sign of their disposition!"
Polaris Eridanus/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
One moment, Polaris was alone within himself, lost in the heat of battle, his entire being reactionary, strike, parry, dodge, block, kill. The next, he was surrounded by comrades new and old, Majin was the first to arrive, followed in quick succession by Sirius, a peculiar glowing entity and lastly, Lizzy Bryseis.
”Majin, Sirius, Lizzy…well met.” Turning now to size up the luminescent creature, Polaris stared for a moment, then cocked his head, ” The might of a Goddess would be most fortuitous right about now, that’s without question. However, I’m not sure I recall upon which field we met and we have no Goddess…my memory lapses from old age I’m sure.” Polaris gazed out over the field, eyes lingering on the ranch and then, with a hint of concern, sweeping back to Mako. Just as the lieutenant had learned of his presence through the grapevine of the Zora ranks, Polaris too had learned something very interesting about the Lieutenant.
”Either way, you counsel wisely. Retreat is a must at this point, but I think it is to Tiburons halls that we must flee and not the ranch.” Polaris’ gaze then strayed back to the surrounded lieutenant.
Lieutenant Mako/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
The peculiar Deku hybrid stood at attention, practically begging Mako to attack it and yet he couldn’t find it in himself to strike the creature down. Perhaps it was the larger threat of the enclosing Hylian ranks, or perhaps he was just amused by the small warriors reckless ferocity, whatever the case, the lieutenant could muster no enmity for the sprout.
"See, I told you this place was too dangerous for you. You should have run. Now, looks like we're going to be stuck together for a while. But behave yourself, I'll only protect you so far."
The newcomer, another sprout, then turned to look up at the lieutenant. "And you should probably try to make friends as soon as possible, because as I see it, the last of your soldiers is dead, and these Hylians aren't looking to be very merciful, if that standard-bearer's body is any sign of their disposition!"
Mako was surprised to see another of the odd little sprouts…well, just sprout up, seemingly out of nothingness in the thick of battle. However, at the mention of Bernard, his heart sunk. The Zora banner bearer seemed to have taken at least one foe to the afterlife alongside him and that, at least gave the lieutenant some small measure of satisfaction. Looking back to the sprouts before him, Mako addressed his attacker, “Listen to your friend, this is no place for you.” And gently prodding the two of them with his spear, Mako brushed them aside allowing him to advance to greet the incoming threat of Hylian soldiers. “Find someplace safe while I go make friends why don’t you?”
Spinning the Daira-bone spear during his approach, Mako called out to the Hylian foot soldiers, “So nice of you to come! The party was just getting boring.”
Leaping forward, Mako impaled the first soldier through the gut. Lifting him off the ground as he spun forward, the Zora lieutenant wrenched his spear free and as the first soldier toppled to the ground, another was quickly impaled. Pressing his foot to the second soldiers chest, Mako shoved hard, unsheathing corpse from spear. The lifeless body seemed to stumble backwards in slow motion before crashing into his comrade behind him. Not wasting a moment, Mako spun to his left, catching a sword strike mid shaft of his spear. As more Hylian soldiers circled behind him to attack, Mako was locked in a test of strength with this lone soldier. The two came in close, scaled Zora face to helm and the Hylian spat,
“Die fish!”
Mako pushed back against his attacker with all his might, causing him to get his feet tangled up, and as he started to fall to the ground the lieutenant caught a soldier approaching him from behind in the breast plate with a violent back kick before swinging his leg back forward with similar ferocity and catching the other still struggling to maintain his footing, in the fork of his legs. Lunging forward, Mako drove his spear through the mans throat.
“Fuck off.”
Polaris Eridanus/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
As the Hylian lines closed ranks and formed up around Mako, Polaris watched from relative safety behind the line of Raiders knowing what he had to do.
”However, I think it would be most beneficial for us if, when we stand before King Tiburon, Mako was among our number.” Turning now to Beth, [color=royalblue}”Lizzy, if you’d be so kind as to retrieve that horse,”[/color] Polaris gestured to the blue roan charger which Mako had been riding earlier, ”the banner as well. I’ll be right back.”
Sheathing his dual makhaira, Polaris wasted no time leaping the line of Raiders landing in a crouch in front of them and drawing Winters Tide from the ornate sheath across his back as he rose to his feet. Striding forward a short distance the General stopped, and raising his blade high above his head, inhaled deeply.
Thunder rumbled across the morning sky and lightning that was once purple, now returned to normal as Sirius’ waning false moon still shone eerily above the battle field. Sparks of electricity danced all along Polaris’ body as he reached deep within himself, channeling his inner force field.
”Well, here goes something.”
Lightning arced down from the heavens, striking the tip of Polaris’ upraised sword, and with a guttural howl, part pain, part exultation, he fully released the buffers on his magic. The temperature plummeted as frost formed on the grass snaking this way and that, traveling away from where he stood while as if in unison the winds picked up. Polaris’ visage locked in an angry sneer as Crimson rime snaked its way up the length of Winters Tide, slowly at first and then with such intensity that the entire blade was coated in a jagged layer of blood red ice, sharp points jutting out in odd directions. When finally the frigid cold of Polaris’ soul made contact with the heavenly strike a blinding red white flash erupted from the tip of the sword. Red Ice pushed against lightning, Polaris against the storm. Until finally, the lightning bolt tinged red and a crimson lance burst back into the heavens, bouncing from cloud to blood soaked cloud.
As the crimson essence of the fallen poured down from a lacerated sky, Polaris was, for once, thankful for Lizzy’s blood magic.
Ahead, Mako barely made note of the bloody rain that fell around him as he fought for his life. Spear growing heavy in his hands, the lieutenant bucked wildly as multiple greaved and gauntleted arms seized him from behind. Lashing out angrily with his spear, Mako fought against his attackers. Legs flailing as he kicked and spat, taunting them even as he was overcome. Ultimately the lone Zora disappeared under a heap of stout Hylian armor as Dromands grunts struggled to subdue him.
Polaris surged forward cutting through the lines of troops like so much butter. In his anger, he left a trail of death and destruction behind as he hacked a path to the fallen Zora commander. Winters Tide was an angry red blur in his hands, severing arms, legs and heads alike as he raged onward to Mako. 
A ring of Hylian troops pressed in on the dogpile at the bottom of which, Mako clutched his elementally resistant spear still cursing and provoking his attackers. Polaris, now limned in an otherworldly crimson incandescence, drew up short of the scrum.
”Fools! This battle is ended! Release the lieutenant and you will be allowed to keep your lives whilst we retreat.” The majority of the Hylians paid him no mind, save a few who scoffed and turned to face him in battle array.
”Suit yourselves.”
With both hands on the ornate hilt of his weapon, Polaris raised it high above his head again. The lashing rains began to swirl and close in upon him creating a bloody vortex above of which he was the epicenter. The tempest called out to him, coaxing him this way and that, the voices of Zora and Hylian alike spoke to him. Some strange side effect of Lizzy’s Blood Magic no doubt. It was all Polaris could do to focus on the task at hand, by blocking out the voices of the fallen, he made to impose his will upon the storm. For several brief moments, that stretched out to an eternity, Polaris was silhouetted at the center of the storm as he struggled against the forces of nature and the souls of the innumerable dead.
Finally Polaris had his way and thhe bloody storm collapsed in upon itself, the entirety of it sucked into Winters Tide. The battlefield fell silent, all sound sucked out in the Crimson General’s wrath.
Teeth clenched and with a voice borne upon the crimson wind, the air hummed with Polaris’ voice, ”You cannot stop me. For like the fell blizzard that sweeps down from on high, there is no respite. No refuge. No escape. No turning back of winters wrath when it so chooses to ravage the helpless lands below.
You cannot escape the Tides of Winter.”
Polaris spun his grip so that Winters Tide was now facing downward and drove sword two handed into the bloodsoaked turf at his feet. A vermillion wave burst forth from the spot, towering high above the battlefield and raged forward without remorse. As it washed over those fool enough to still be facing him and not yet fleeing, they were flash frozen, their bodies crashing to the ground to burst into so many crimson shards of ice. The mound of soldiers atop Mako was washed away, frozen bodies slamming one int another and shattering in a sickening cacophony of sound.
And thankfully, huddled up, bewildered and shivering at the bottom of a sizable crater, lay Mako still clutching the magic spear.
Sheathing his sword, Polaris strode forward and lifted his brother in arms bodily, slinging him over his shoulders.
”Come my prince. It’s time we got you home.”
Hobbling back through the path he created, Polaris was visibly weakened stumbling more than once. The display of force had drained him. It was with a look of sheer joy and thankfulness that he looked up to see Lizzy walking up beside him leading Mako’s charger by the reins. Polaris grunted his thanks and laid the Zora Prince across his steed. As they drew back near the gathered assortment of Raiders and as Sirius would deem them, Legends, Polaris nodded at Alauth,
”Okay construct. Now we can go.”
Tarah Vass / Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
"Here, you deal with this thing" Taden called to Tarah as she pulled her blade from the gut of a Bokoblin, the last of her pursuers. 
"What?" She replied, turning just in time to catch something fly past her, but more importantly, to see a glimmer of light reflected by a Hylian blade. Tarah dove backwards and the sword fell before her, merely inches from her body. 
"Wait! I serve King Dromand, we are not enemies!" She cried in an attempt to make peace with the oncoming Hylian army.
"Lies!" The soldier replied, "Servants of the king do not have wanted posters."
Tarah dived to the side and fell into a roll, grabbing the arrows which had collected beside her as she dove and returning them to her quiver. She rolled, once again narrowly avoiding a strike. Cursing Taden for framing them for the theft of the Hylian trust as she stood quickly drawing her own blade to block yet another swing from the Hylian sword. With Taden gone, she found herself standing alone against an army, with worse foes behind them and once again she ran. As fast as her legs could carry her, Tarah sprinted across the ranch towards Taden, arrows falling at her heels and the army marching not too far behind her. 
When she reached her allies she turned and began to fire into the oncoming horde of soldiers.
"We won't survive here for long, please tell me you have a plan!" She shouted back, desperately hoping for a way out of the chaos. 
Gli/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
Gli slowly blinked after the incredible spectacle unfolded before her. The setup scared the fight out of her, but it only got worse as the powerful Zora warrior attacked his brother. After all was said and done, the Deku Girl was standing mere inches from the crater that had been created in Polaris' display of power. She realized just how close the kiss of death was to her in the moment; She was going to be thankful, but she couldn't even find the strength to move. The fright of beholding such power paralyzed her, as she trembled meekly while watching the Zora ride off away from the currently hushed battle. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she regained the power to move by raising her index finger with inquisitive intent.
"Um...W-what?" she shakily asked nothing in particular.
Elizabeth/Lon Lon Proper/Day 4
It would take a team effort to get out of here alive. Of course, she was frustrated that she ended up getting trapped, but if she were to die it was best to do so with honor and alongside of a friend. Receiving orders from Polaris, Elizabeth quickly made her way to the exotic charger that the Zora leader was riding earlier. But as she was doing so, she watched one of the heroes of her youth unleash an attack of cataclysmic magnitude.
Her upward flow of sanguine delight became a downward spiral of delicious red death. Polaris was able to understand her a lot better than she originally thought. Even with her going as bad as she had in the five years since she'd seen him last. She wasn't paying much attention to the battle during her tactical retreat as she was literally awestruck by what she had witnessed.
Someday I will be able to amass that kind of ability. Nayru's nips...damn!
All the other horses had scattered. She was hoping to replace her steed temporarily but she was only able to track down the Blue Roan Charger. Hearing the chaos around her caused a deeper sense of excitement, but she had to keep reminding herself that she and the others here were trapped. Considerably well able, and trapped.
"You cannot escape the Tides of Winter.”
Her spine shivered at the resounding declaration of Polaris. She had reached the fray once more after hearing more about who the Zora leader really was. Opportunity flooded her mind on top of everything else if she were to live. But that had to be dismissed. Death itself would dismiss any advantages if it were to claim her today.
"Impressive, General. Truly impressive. You're right. We have to get the hell out of here. And I've got a way out. Was saving it for that sanctimonious git from earlier, but these Hylian bastards will suffer greatly instead."
Looking over the others assembled, Beth revealed her plan.
"Ladies and Gents, I can get us out. You'll have to trust Hyrule's Most Wanted, and safety is not guaranteed, but I know my raiders and I can break that line just long enough to get through. Don't stop running until we reach Zora's Domain!"
Skillet - Circus for a Psycho
Turning toward the ranch's entrance with what remained of her forces, her pale green aura started to pulse waves of fallen light. She was speaking in an ancient language, uttering an incantation of sorts. Apocrypha remained drawn in her left hand and her salvaged shield in her right. Lifting her face to the sky, she spread her arms out and completed her emphatic chant.
The pulses of fallen light concluded with one final bright flash, and translucent viridian wings sprouted from her back. Her entire frame was darkly transfigured with a similar shade, and her raiders took up formation as she charged at the Hylian line in a fierce attempt to break it. This wasn't just about getting out safely now. This was about sending a message to the bastard who put a seven figure bounty on her head.
"Time for some thrilling heroics."
At supernatural speed, Elizabeth rushed toward the first formation and sent a shockwave of profane might from a forward flap of her wings. One score of soldiers went flying. Some died instantly. Others were killed by being knocked into those behind them. And there were many others who received punishment of one form or another. When she reached the second thin part of the line, she began to swing her blade wildly, commanding Fallen Light in its unbridled wrath. There was little defense for the might of the damned when all she faced was mundane.
Dodging arrows as another score fell at her hand, she did notice that many of her raiders had fallen. Only a Lynel and a Moblin remained. Sacrifices that would not be forgotten by honored dead.
There was one more weak point in the line, and as a final exclamatory attack, Beth used her wings to spin rapidly; as a harvester would meet grain in a field so was how she cut down about ten more men before creating the small pathway needed to make a break for it. She hoped the others were fortunate in making their escape.
Using what was left of her birthright, she did her best to separate herself from the cluster of chaos behind her with a continued sprint. Her whole body felt like it was lava inside with pain, but escaping was worth it. The aura enveloping her frame started to fade as dust in a strong desert wind, and all she had left within her was pure determination. Her throat was dry, joints were burning, and limbs were full of lactic acid. Whispers of the dark masters tried to overtake her mind, but she fought hard to keep her concentration. She wouldn't be able to sleep for days because of the physical, mental, and spiritual pain she had invited upon herself by forcing an early apotheosis.
While running, she turned to look in her peripheral to see who all had made it...
Infantryman Anders – Hyrule Field – Day 4
“’ey!” Feren whispered as he nudged Anders with the elbow of his shield-arm. “What about that one? He looks weird, has ears like a cat.”
Anders had seen insanity itself on the field this day. When they’d received orders to march north, it was to respond to some threat that was using Lon Lon Ranch as a staging ground or something. The Ordon garrison was intended to march from the north in secret and surround the ranch, which they’d done, and once resistance was subdued to arrest everyone they could get their hands on.
But the folk in the ranch hadn’t been inclined to cooperate. They’d fought back with lethal powers that Anders had never even imagined. Ordon was a quiet place, south and out of the way. Hyrule was a place of insanity, and Anders couldn’t wait to get the hell out.
But he had a job to do first. He nodded to Feren and the rest of their squad. Shields were raised before them and their spears were leveled once more over the top right corner. The wind and the rain spitting bloody droplets at from the clouds above whipped at the crests of their helms and stained their once-scrubbed armor.
They closed in around the figure in a crescent formation, while another squad noticed and completed the circle. The man with the cat ears found himself quite suddenly standing in the center of a thorny ring of spears all aimed for his midsection.
“For crimes against the people and the King of Hyrule,” Anders intoned as he’d been instructed, “you are being placed under arrest.”
Squadleader Corven – Lon Lon Ranch – Day 4
A bristling phalanx of Hylian soldiers marched in step through the entrance and into the ranch, spears leveled. Most of those who’d been inside the ranch had escaped with that devil-witch Bloody Beth.
Corven had to admit his disappointment, at least to himself. He’d hoped to capture Bryce for himself when he’d learned she was at the ranch with the rest of the riff raff. That sum of rupees would have set he and his family up for life and many lives beyond.
Now he’d have to settle with the fugitives.
The phalanx cleared the two tall buildings looming overhead, one a farmhouse and the other its immense barn, and marched on a trio whose faced Corven knew almost as well as Beth’s.
Corven was momentarily blinded by a brief flash of colored light as it flashed through his field of vision. Blinking, he swatted at it as it zipped past again, circling around his head over and over again.
“Ack! Blasted fairy!” He growled. Fairies couldn’t do much harm, though their antitheses certainly could. He set aside the annoyance for a time and put his thoughts back to the task.
“Taden Horwendil, Tarah Vass, and Kourtz the Mogma, lay down your weapons!” He called to them as they approached, moving slowly out of an abundance of caution. “The fight is over this day! Your accomplices and fellow criminals have fled or are fleeing even as we speak, and they have left you here to die! I would prefer, however, to take you alive!”
As Corven awaited their answer, preprared to move against them if they continued to resist, a voice called to him from further inside the ranch.
“Sir! We have another one!” one of his men called back to him. Perhaps his reward would be larger than he suspected.
Stewart/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
Stewart broke into a cold sweat as the Hylian soldiers started to swarm into the Ranch. His hands clenched the reins as he feverishly looked for an opening among the bodies. He found his chance and took it as he snapped the reins with a crack, rousing his horse into a run. Holding his head low and his shoulders hunched, the old man tried to keep himself as small and unrecognizable as possible while his wagon rolled over and through the chaos of dead bodies and adrenaline driven soldiers. 
No bloody way I'm going to get arrested for something as petty as being in the wrong place at the wrong time! Where's that tiny green bitch when you need her...
In mere seconds, his horse and wagon emerged from the most concentrated group of soldiers, into the expansive fields. Stewart sighed as he looked back, but his relief was short-lived. Two soldiers had grabbed hold of his wagon, and one had already climbed his way into the wagon, sword in hand.
"In the name of the King, cease! If you do not stop, you will pay with your blood!" The soldier announced his ultimatum angrily.
Stewart grimaced at his misfortune in silence, but his hands tightened further on the reins in defiance. He was prepared to drag this out as long as he could, but such an option evaporated as the soldier climbed over the barrels of milk with ease. He found his arm swinging backwards in a fist as he moved to knock the soldier off, but it was caught in mid-swing by the soldier, whom twisted it with experience and speed. The elderly man yelped in pain as he struggled against the soldier's grip. Stewart's eyes darted about, looking for a way out of the situation; He found his slave, whom stood near a rather sizable crater. He felt his arm being twisted further and against his back as a armored hand appeared from behind him, reaching for the reins. Stewart was growing desperate.
"Gli!!! Help me, now!" he roared with all his might.
Gli/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
...I'm getting thirsty again... 
Kourtz/ Lon Lon Ranch/ Day 4
"Don’t worry I've got a plan. I’ll admit though it’s not the most well thought out. Alright I’ll start digging and…" Before the sentence could be finished he turned around to see a regiment of Hylian Knights surrounding him. "Shit… Were out of time". Their new fairy friend tried to distract the solders, but little seemed could be done to stop the advancing army. "Taden Horwendil, Tarah Vass, and Kourtz the Mogma, lay down your weapons! The fight is over this day! Your accomplices and fellow criminals have fled or are fleeing even as we speak, and they have left you here to die! I would prefer, however, to take you alive!"
"Accomplices? I know what you must have heard about us, but you've got it all wrong. Were on your side! Those sociopaths were after us, we wouldn't help them". Judging by the look on his face Kourtz could see there was no convincing the guard of his innocence. With little chance of escape he decided a diplomatic talk was the only way he was going to get out of this. After all, he felt like he could trust the people he fought for... somewhat. “Look I’m not gonna hurt ya. If you don’t believe me then I...I surrender." 
Placing his hands in the air a few of the men in rusted silver lurched over and tackled the Mogma down. Face pressed to the ground they removed the few weapons Kourtz still had on him. Now in chains he spoke up again. "Just let us talk to Impa; she knows the truth about us!". 
C: Taden Horwendil / Hyrule Field / Day 4
"I, on the other hand, will not hesitate to hurt you," Taden warned, lowering his dark eyes at the Hylians who trotted Kourtz away in chains. Under the blood moon, his eyes had filled with red, and the guards seemed hesitant to be the first to step forward. The ringing in his ears made him tense, irritable. He could feel the Yeti Mask pulsating under his breastplate in time with his own.
He held up his axe and stepped back slowly, until he was back to back with Tarah. The two were surrounded by Hylian soldiers, closing inward in a ring. The soldiers' boots beat the ground in lockstep, and the front line thwacked their spears against the right corners of their shields in a constant rhythm. Taden clenched his fists around the haft of his axe and a lip of Blue Fire traced around its black blade; Tarah held her bow cocked at her waist, and the same enchanted flame flickered to life at its arrowhead. He questioned her out of the corner of his mouth, in the hushed tones of hunters in the presence of prey.
"Listen to me," he whispered. In the clamor of the approaching guards, they could not be overheard. "When she came for the Trusts, what exactly did Impa say?"
Tarah answered through gritted teeth. "She said she was taking them to the King, and that…the Child of Hylia planned to eliminate their threat," she recalled. "Then she absolved us of all duties, and disappeared."
Taden scowled. "Impa is behind this," he said, blood flowing to his head, the taste of iron on his tongue. "She lured us into a trap…"
Tarah raised her horsehair bowstring to her cheek, drawing back her nocked arrow. "No, really?" The guards were growing close, close enough to see their fearful eyes. "And what did you learn from Shadowcloak in the mountains? Anything?" she asked him back, but before he could answer, a leading officer lifted his hand, and the guards fell silent.
The officer stepped out in front of them to stand face to face with Taden. "Well, well," the captain scoffed. "If it isn't Mr. Horrible at last! I've lost a lot of men looking for you." The plumed officer drew in close and looked him over, seeing the wounds and scars and blood that covered him. "In the name of the King, I, Captain Corven, place you under arrest," he said, satisfied with himself.
"On what grounds?" Taden scoffed. The commander looked back to a nearby guard and nodded, prompting him to unfurl a long scroll and begin shouting its contents breathlessly.
"For the theft of the Hylian Trust, and the murder of eight brothers of the Hylian Guard in one night; for use of an incendiary device on Castle grounds on a separate occassion; and for the cold-blooded murder of four brothers of the Hylian Guard in Kakariko Village," the guard recited, rolling up the warrant and saluting his captain, who now turned back to Taden.
"Now, as I said, lay down your weapons and I will take you in alive."
Taden's blood-red eyes peered into the captain's shadowed visor. He saw the fear deep in this meek pawn's eyes; he felt the bloodlust rooted in terror that plagued his men's minds. Their hatred was palpable; he could taste it in the bitter blood on his tongue. Given time, it would make them careless.
"Have it your way," he said, and let Ginnungagap fall to the incarnadined earth. He felt Tarah's shoulder blades ease away from his as she rested her bow. A guard approached to take the axe, but couldn't lift it, and waved another over to help.
"Be careful with that," Taden said, as more guards pulled him away from Tarah, chaining his wrists and ankles together. "If you so much as scratch it, I'll kill you." He watched as the two guards squatted over his axe, their hands halting over its spiked head and haft for a moment, then hoisted it away in the crimson without meeting his eyes.
Alauth/Morning 4/Field and Ranch
The group had fled, lead by a torrent of death from Polaris and Beth, leaving only Alauth and the Deku Sprout in the midst of the field. A cart came dashing by, with a foolish old man attempting, rather poorly, to brawl a handful of soldiers riding atop its cargo.
He shouted at as they passed. "Gli!!! Help me, now!" In an instant the Sprout bolted out after them, a look of unhealthy desire glinting behind her eyes. Alauth turned to observe the situation at the Ranch. Ella had not been among the Cultists to leave, her body had not been in the grass out here. The young woman who was part of its plans was either still inside, alive or not. Mentally wishing luck to Beth, Polaris and their small entourage, Alauth reformed its construct to match the armored forms of the Hylian host and merged with their ranks as they recovered from the line-breaking.
This nameless soldier among hundreds marched into the ranch, watching as a familiar mogma was dragged out in chains. He made his way to the front lines as charges were read aloud, condemning the two remaining resistors to what would likely be execution in a few days time. No where was Ella Huntley to be seen.
"Now," said the captain, "as I said, lay down your weapons and I will take you in alive."
The man's blood-red eyes pierced the captain's soul. He almost seemed to smile, though his expression did not change. That one was dangerous, Alauth could tell. Perhaps useful. His shoulders slacked imperceptibly.
"Have it your way."
The man's war-axe fell to the dirt with a solid thud. The woman's bow was lowered, as well. One of the guards stepped forward, leaning over the axe and attempting to lift it. He waved Alauth over to help. Alauth approached and inspected the weapon. It was a thing of primitive beauty. He admired the sinister spikes adorning its head.
"Be careful with that," the man warned as he was chained. "If you so much as scratch it, I'll kill you."
Alauth grinned. Yes, this one had a fire in him, though it was a cold burning one. Fitting, considering the blue flame Alauth had just used earlier in the fight. Alauth helped heft the axe from the divot it had left in the earth, and alongside another soldier he carried it behind the prison convoy that marched through crimson rain, bound for Hyrule Castle.
Treene|Lon Lon Ranch|Day 4
The sound of the savior hauling blood out of his body caused Treene’s stomach to churn. It only made it worse that she knew there was little she could do to help him. Her hands kneaded together as she listened to Kourtz speak. It was easy to pick up names when someone else addressed them as so. Treene’s ears perked up at the oncoming sounds. A female came and joined their huddled group, bringing others behind her. The fairy looked back at her momentary companions and knew that it was time for them to escape, but they would need a distraction. Glowing as she flew, Treene aimed herself towards the one in front. She made sure to have her aura at full luminosity. Watching the man try and hit her made Treene grin with satisfaction. She was much too fast for him and he didn’t feel the need to bother with her. Dismayed, Treene froze and watched the man press on. With a sense of urgency she flew at the collar of his neck and tried to pull at the threads located there. If she could start a flame, maybe it would be enough. The man could feel the heat behind him and gave one last swipe of his hand. Treene felt herself fly uncontrollably and violently towards the ground. The fae braced herself for impact and became blinded by darkness and a ringing in her delicate ears. Moments later she opened her eyes while sound slowly flooded her once more. Her aura was dimmed and she noticed she was sitting with the grass and weeds. Treene pulled herself up using the nearby weed and watched droplets of water fall around her. In the distance she could see Kourtz being tackled and chained. The fairy’s blood boiled with rage and the steam of the weed she was holding onto snapped. She flew high enough to see, but kept her glow off as to not be noticed. Treene watched as the savior was now being chained and pulled away. A part of her wanted to fly and take on everyone down there, but thinking realistically it would not do any help. For now she hung in the air and watched Kourtz and the others become prisoners. The matter of the forest and its survivals was important to Treene, but so were these new companions. However abrupt the time was that she had spent with them, she felt attached. Biting her lip, Treene made sure she would follow them, to wherever they were headed to, and help them escape by any means. The key was to stay unnoticed.
“I promise I’ll help you when I can,” She whispered to herself.
Xiaber / Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
“Sir! We have another one!”
“Crap,” was all Xiaber could think as the soldiers spotted him. As the wagon had gotten closer to the ranch, Marth and he had spotted the army of Hylians fighting Zora right next to the entrance. Being worried, Marth started running at them, but Xiaber quickly shouted for him to stop. Xiaber wanted to stay away, but Marth was too worried about his friends. They decided to sneak in to the ranch.
They found the inside buildings to be empty. As they were searching the last one, they could hear the fighting entering the ranch. Soon after, the loud sounds had stopped. “I think we should hide,” Xiaber said to Marth. They found a cabinet they both could squeeze into, but just as Xiaber was about to get in, the soldiers found him.
“Stay put,” Xiaber muttered under his breath. He closed the cabinet and turned around. The soldiers came up and grabbed his arms. Xiaber groaned in pain as one of them grabbed his broken arm. At hearing the groan, the soldier loosened his grip, but still held it.
“You are under arrest,” one of the soldiers said as they started to walk him out.
“No, wait!” Marth burst out of the cabinet. “We’re ranch hands. We were just hiding from all the fighting.” Xiaber sighed in annoyance.
“I’m sorry, but we are called to arrest everyone left in the ranch,” the soldier said. Two more soldiers started to head for Marth. Marth’s eyes went wide, shocked that he could possibly be arrested, put in jail forever to rot when he had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time. No way could he let that happen, no way!
Marth pulled out his sword and started to swing it widely. “No way, I can’t be arrested! I won’t!” The soldiers backed away a bit and pulled out their own swords. Even Xiaber’s holders let go to help.
“Marth, stop!” Xiaber tried to calm him down, but it didn’t help.
“No, I said I wouldn’t be like Dad! I’m a good guy! I don’t belong in jail!” A soldier got to close and Marth managed to cut his arm off.
“Enough of this,” the soldier in the back quickly maneuvered around the swinging-bladed hazard and snapped his neck.
“Marth!” Xiaber shouted as he watched his newfound friend fall to the ground. He ran up to him and fell to his knees. A curse forces its way out of his mouth as he punches the ground. First his childhood friend, and now, when he thought he’d never make a friend again, the one he just made died. Tears started to pour out of his eyes. He noticed that he was actually crying onto Marth’s dead body, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care that the soldiers were seeing him cry. Damn the soldiers and damn the world. Why should he bother trying to be a hero to this scumbag society?
“Stand up,” the murder commanded Xiaber.
“Why, will you kill me too if I don’t?” Xiaber responded back.
“Yes, we will.” Xiaber stayed on his knees, his tears finally stopped forming. After what seemed like a minute of waiting, he ungracefully fell on top of the body and just laid there. The soldier sighed in exasperation. “Pick him up.”
Tarah Vass / Lon Lon Ranch / Day 4
With Taden surrendering, Tarah knew that she had no choice but to join him. Continuing to fight alone would surely result in death, and there was nowhere to run. She lowered her bow and handed it to a nearby guard then held out her hands out to be bound. As she was chained, her quiver and blade were both taken, but she was not searched and her lockpicks and Zora tooth remained at the bottom of her deep coat pockets. After Kourtz' protests and Taden's confidence and threats, Tarah's silent resignation was relatively peaceful.
As they marched out of the ranch hatred brewed in Tarah's mind, and a her face fell into a scowl. She hated the guards for arresting her, Impa for using her, but at this moment she hated Taden the most for bringing her into this mess to begin with. Pushing her rage aside for a moment, Tarah considered her options. Escape was always a possibility, if she remained unsearched Tarah was confident that she could pick any lock standing in her way and if necessary the tooth could be used as a weapon. However, deep inside she knew that this hope was useless. They would never leave her unguarded and any attempts of escape would ultimately end with failure.
Despite her pessimism and expected execution, Tarah still tried to hold her head high as she marched behind Taden and Kourtz. Slowed by the chains and stepping over bodies they made their way across the field. Another was with them, she could hear him sobbing behind her but had yet to see him.
Tarah's thoughts now fell to Leif, she wondered what had become of him. Had he been arrested too or had he made it to safety? And what about Shinsou? Would the guard take in one so young or would she be safe from this mess? Tarah hoped for the best as the group moved slowly towards their fate at the castle.
Gli/ Hyrule Field/ Day 4
Her mouth watered uncontrollably as the bloodied Sprout sped towards the cart like a rabid animal. The intensity of the moment deafened her of all sounds beyond the cart's wheels, her master's pained cries, and her own labored breath. Mere moments had passed before she was upon the cart's rear wheel, as she lunged and dug her fingers savagely into a barrel that rested inside.
As she gained proper footing, she could hear a sword being unsheathed behind her. Gli's eyes darted back with a horrible bloodthirsty glare; she saw that the soldier was already raising his sword. With no time to think, Gli grabbed her chain and whipped it into the soldier's face, blindsiding him. The impact made contact with the soldier's eyes, as he clutched his face and stumbled.
Smiling at her close call, the Deku Girl swiftly kicked and shoved the barrel of milk she was standing on towards the soldier. As it rolled off the pile, it pushed the blinded soldier into the cart's rear wall, pinning him down in his unprepared position. Without staying to see if her actions had disposed of the soldier, Gli jumped on top of the second soldier, whom was restraining Stewart. Without hesitation, she produced a knife from her boot and placed it firmly but delicately...Into the soldier's eye.
His scream was cut short as a second knife appeared in her free hand like a blur, finding itself carving into his neck like one would carve freshly slaughtered cattle. A horrible and wide smile spread on Gli's face as his gurgling final moments filled her ears before she sunk her teeth deep inside what was left of his neck. A suggestive moan of satisfaction softly left her lips as she hungrily drank her fill, barely noticing Stewart, whom was looking at her with a look of disgust and horror. However, due to the influence of the magic within her, She didn't care; She couldn't care. She was far too hungry for it.
"Bloody hell!" Stewart growled bitterly. 
The old man pulled the reins, slowing the horses to a walk before he rose up and turned to the spectacle behind him. Gli gently threw her head back to let another satisfied sigh, failing to see Stewart, whom was pulling the soldier from her and pinning her down with his foot. Gli clawed at his leg before he grabbed her chain and swung her down to the ground below with a strong pull. Before she could recover from the impact, Stewart was upon her with the chain that was wrapped around her neck. With astoundingly quick hands, he had used her own chain to restrain her before roughly slamming her into the side of the cart. She let out a grunt of pain as the wind was knocked out her.
Stewart looked at her close with a grimace spread across his aged face, snorting in disappointment in Gli's face, which was warmed by his forceful exhalation.
"L-let me go!" she roared breathlessly into his face.
Stewart shook his head before he spat his retort. "No!! If you're going to behave like a rabid wild animal, you're going to be treated as such! Lucky I recently sold a one of my pets too...A tiny kennel is befitting!"
Without another word, he tossed the struggling Sprout into his cart, before climbing in himself. Stewart took the time to roll a relatively hefty milk barrel on top of Gli in hopes it would keep her pinned for the ride, before sitting back down and cracking the reins. A scream of frustration echoed through the skies from the bound Deku Girl as the cart approached the Castle Town's entrance, which approached in the distance.
Majin Kotage – Hyrule Field – Day 4
The air was alive with power this day. Polaris unleashed a hellstorm of red ice into the Hylian ranks, and the woman, Beth or Lizzy or whatever her name really was, unfurled wings of sinister light that tore a path clear through them. There was a road to freedom open before them, but they needed to pass through it.
Majin didn’t waste time. The soldiers were reeling, stunned by the sheer displays of force unleashed against them, but their numbers would win out in the end. Already the officers were beginning to regain control over their units, ordering them to close in on the fleeing fugitives.
Majin had no shadows. If he’d worn his full compliment, the umbral vestment that had given him his name, he would have unleashed a storm of black death perhaps to rival even what had already shown them the way. But Majin was tired, he was weary of the killing, he was at the end of his emotional tether. He only wanted to survive long enough to get the hell away from this place and never look back. Shadows took time to gather and time was the one thing they didn’t have.
He ran, and as he ran he placed one sword back in its sheath. With his right hand free he reached back over his shoulder. A spear thrust at him from the side and he bent backwards, passing beneath a blow that would have skewered a man of greater stature than he.
As he straightened, taking no time even to kill the spear man now at his back and too slow to keep pace, his crossbow came forward. He didn’t slow, he didn’t stop. He didn’t need to. Even as he slowed, crouched, and slashed clean through a Hylian’s hamstring he was taking aim. The bowstring’s sudden twang and the sharp ch-thunk as the quarrel punched through a steel helm and into the forehead beneath was all he needed to know that he’d hit his mark.
Ahead their narrow passage through the Hylian battalion opened into clear grasslands and then beyond, the rushing waters of the Zora’s River.
They were nearly out.
Polaris Eridanus/ Hyrule Field/Day 4
If Polaris harbored any doubts as to Beth's lineage before, he did no longer after witnessing the angelic display of power. This truly was the daughter of Kae Bryseis. 
However, the enclosing army left little opportunity for reminiscence or talk. Polaris looked at those gathered around as Majin tore off towards Zora's Domain,
"Majin! Where's Sirius?" Polaris' voice was lost on the wind as the Tokay went about the grim work still ahead of them. 
Polaris sighed as he gave the field one last cursory glance before motioning the Beth. "That was rather, angelic of you. From a demonic cult leader no less." Polaris smirked as he handed her the reins to the blue roan atop which the unconscious Mako was slumped. 
"Follow the tokay to safety. I'll be right behind you."
Nodding in silent agreement Bloody Beth pulled herself atop the charger with the prince in front of her breathing raggedly into the steeds mane. Drawing the steed up to a trot Beth took off, only to draw up short and wheel back around to face Polaris. 
Tossing him Tiburons banner, it was her turn to smirk, "You should be the one to carry this."
The Crown and Trident rippled in the bloody winds as Polaris caught hold of the pole. With an enemy army at his back the Crimson General watched Beth gallop off after Shadowcloak. 
Breaking into a run, Polaris followed after them. There was little for him to do as his comrades ahead cleared the path and in short order made their way to the Zora boundary. Majin ran up the breast plate of one final Hylian soldier, and using his helm as a springboard leapt to the rock wall, clinging to it and scurrying across in a single deft motion he flipped to the ground, breathing hard. 
The stunned soldier was run down by the mounted Beth before he had a chance to react. Not breaking stride the blue roan vaulted high over the river and came down near Majin. As the unlikely pair looked on, Polaris with banner in tow, dove head first into the rivers currents. Diving deep to the river bottom, Polaris' weakened aura melded with the waters as they tinged crimson. 
Touching off of the silty riverbed, Polaris vaulted back towards the surface. Rising skyward in a roiling crimson gout of red ice and river water, Polaris stared down the encroaching army. 
"Turn back! Minions of the Hylian Crown, you've come far enough! Turn back while you still count yourselves among the living!"
With his strength waning, the pillar atop which Polaris was suspended, dropped a few inches back towards the rivers surface. Focusing what little strength remaining, Polaris stretched his arms muttering to himself, he urged the river to obey him. 
The currents halted and began to swirl until the entire section of river rose toward the heavens, a massive wave tinged a bloody red towered above the Hylian army. Behind him, Beth and Majin took the opportunity to push deeper into Zora territory. 
At the waves crest, Polaris battled to hold back the river. 
That cannibal witch are of my flesh!
Startled from his revery, Polaris struggled to find the source of the disembodied voice. 
"That fish bastard of a lieutenant gored me with that infernal spear!"
"The Dragon!! Save me from the shadow dragon"
The wave began to recede, dropping lower and lower by the second, the menacing bloody tones gradually turning to pink. 
"A banner boy! Killed by a fucking child with a stick! I enter into the void in shame!"
"Avenge us! Avenge us General! Maim! Kill! Slaughter!
Avenge us all!"
Polaris groaned as he was spat onto the turf where Beth and Majin once stood. Laying there gasping for air, Polaris shivered. Not because of the cold. He was immune. Plagued by the voices of the fallen and the damned, Polaris was reminded why he steered clear of blood magic as he lay there waiting for the killing blow to come. 
Hoofbeats in the distance. Beth shouting. Majin cursed. 
Polaris looked up into the lacerated sky as a bloody rain fell down and a young Gerudo whench cast stared down on him. A look of concern on her face. 
"Uncle! She...I don't know where she came from, one minute we were running and the next...well the next we couldn't MOVE! Frozen in place we watched as the winds kicked up and of all things a sandstorm kicked up out of nowhere! Then she was just...there!"
The young Gerudo mage gazed down at him in curiosity, an otherworldly twinkle I her eye she stretched out a helping hand. 
"A fortuitous meeting hero! I am...
Polaris gasped as she drew him up, "Rhunerys."
Eyes wide, the young witch took a few steps back before calming her demeanor. A wary look on her face, she looked to the heavens. Bloody rain falling down on her face, she seemed to find some answer in those swirling winds and clouds. 
"Ah. Ha ha. The time is not yet. Not now my lord. Perhaps another day destiny will draw us back together."
Humming a nonsensical melody she clapped her hands twice and was borne up on the winds and maelstrom of sand and parched air halted the rains. Polaris ground his eyes closed as granules of sand bore into them. 
Rubbing violently Polaris finally regained sight after a long moment only to find that she was gone. 
Impatient as always, Majin turned on his heel and bolted back into the Domain. Beth and Mako, followed by a bewildered Polaris close behind. 
Rounding the bend, they were surprised to see a formerly smooth portion of wall swing open and Zora warrior stick his head out,
"Quickly! This way!"
As the group changed directions and poured into the hidden tunnel, Polaris paused at the entrance to look back out over the horizon. Perhaps there was a lone warrior standing atop the crags in the distance, perhaps he was exhausted and seeing things. 
Stepping fully into the tunnel, the door silently slid closed behind them. 
IC: Rykos Bumba / Hyrule Field, South / Twilight 4
At the top of a barren hill in the southern plains of Hyrule Field, under the shade of a leafless tree, a lone fat warrior sat astride a hulking boar, his hefty shadow stretching wide in the low-hanging sun. The boar rooted ravenously through a pile of dead soldiers, the same ranks felled on the outskirts of the warring sorcerers' blasts. Her long tusks and grinding teeth made short work of their armor, chewing through the brittle plates to the swollen bodies beneath. The sounds of squishing organs and crunching bones rumbled up from her gnashing snout.
He reached into one of the Bullbo's saddlebags and pulled out a long, fat cigar, then chewed off its end and spit it out onto a guard's skull. He set the stogie between thick lips and snapped his fingers at the tip, sending a jet of flame roaring up from his thumb to light it. He puffed on the flame until the cigar was lit, then flicked his wrist to extinguish it. As much as he savored the scent of slaughter, the tobacco was sweeter in his nostrils.
He swished the cigar around to the corner of his mouth, then brought a spyglass to his eye while his bulbous mount dined. From his vantage point, all was quiet but the whistling wind, and through his spyglass he saw a daring retreat unfold.
"And just where do you think you're going?" he said aloud, mostly to himself.
Far off in the distance, the vermillion vixen leapt over the rushing river on her blue roan, but not before a single flaming arrow sailed across the banks and slashed along her thigh, stabbing into the blue roan's hide just as she crested the jump. Before he could see whether she made it across, a whirling wall of blood and sand flew up from the riverbanks. The summoned elements disappeared almost as soon as they came, and when they cleared, only the Hylians remained.
"These Blood mages are all bark and no bite," he said, laughing with a snort. "The Red Ice General, and that girl…" The rider licked his lips and made an obscene gesture between his thighs with his free hand. "What'd Namira say the red head was called?" he said, clicking his bootheels on the Bullbo's hide.
The boar looked up from her meal and blinked, her maw drizzling with entrails. "Bloody Beth," she grunted, then plunged back into the dead.
"That was it," he said, whistling as he looked over the plains. "Guess she's got a reputation to uphold." He lowered his spyglass and took a whiff of the crimson duo's killing fields. Hylian corpses stretched as far as his eyes could see, until they merged with piles of Zora at the edge of the distant Ranch.
Puffing a wreath of smoke around his head, the light of his cigar cast a red glow on the undersides of his features in the gloom. "Well, Hathor old girl," he said, "time to see if these bloody bastards are ready for Bumba." He jostled the leather reins and kicked her sides, and the pair set off in the direction of Zora's Domain.
Warrior Koda/ Hyrule Field/ 4th Day
He was dying. That much was evident to Koda as he lay there on his back in Hyrule Field watching the heavens bleed. 
Koda had charged the ranch gates trying to get at that whoremonger of an ice mage, only to be hamstrung by a Castle Town soldier in the ambush. 
And now here he was, sprawled out in the mud, and the blood and the pain with nowhere to go and no end in sight. Yet it couldn't end like this. Not now. Not yet. 
Rolling over onto his stomach, Koda began to crawl towards the exit. If he could just get back to Mako, all would be well. The prince would know what to do. Have a plan for victory or escape. He was probably routing the damned Hylians this very instant and here Koda was, missing all of the fun. Not for long though. 
The sloshing thump of hooves on blood soaked turf and the creaking of wagon wheels caused him to scrabble in the mud to get out of the way. Before he made it more than a few feet though, a guard exited a nearby barn and yelled at the wagon driver. 
"Hoy there!! Hold up! Hold up! We've got another one for the dungeons here!"
The driver pulled hard on the reins drawing the black steeds to a halt as two more guards emerged from the outbuilding carrying a sobbing man bodily. After the first soldier opened the wagon door, the pair tossed their prisoner in and slammed the door sealing his fate. 
"Poor bastard." Koda said as he began to wheeze. 
"What? Who said that?"
One of the Hylian soldiers had heard him and started his way. The armored foe stood tall above the downed Zora, sword drawn back and prepped for a killing blow, he stopped, 
"Any last words?"
Koda broke into a coughing fit and spat out several large globules of blood on his boots. Wiping his mouth, he glared into the thin slit of the soldiers helm,
"Yeah. You may have won the day, but this war is far from over. Revenge belongs to The Magnificent."
== The Last Decree ==
King Dromand Hyrule – Hyrule Castle – Night 4
The royal robes, bright crimson trimmed with ermine, emblazoned with the royal crest in gold, fluttered in the cool night air. High atop the tallest spire of his keep, the young king gazed out over his demesne.
He’d been up here for hours, staring south over the rooftops and the mighty stone bulwark around Castle Town. He’d been watching, observing the tumult in the broad plain beyond his walls. So much that transpired in the field had been set in motion by his machinations. How many of the warriors out there had he maneuvered? They were beginning to feel more like pieces on a board to him than real folk.
Such was the cost of foresight.
“My liege,” Impa said softly from behind him. Dromand almost chuckled; she was so stealthy that he hadn’t heard her coming, yet he’d known anyway.
“Yes Impa?” He asked, his voice weary and thick. It was difficult, watching from on high as men and women died in his name, knowing that far more would die in the fullness of time.
“The fugitives, Taden Hothnight, Masters Leif and Kourtz, and Tarah Vass have all been apprehended and remanded to the dungeons to await your will. Another by the name of Xiaber was brought in with them.”
Dromand nodded into the night, but did not speak immediately. The moon—a moon that had shone over the field even at the height of noon—had risen and illuminated the land beneath its silvery gleam. He lamented the hundred-fold glint of moonlight off of the scrubbed steel armor of fallen Hylian soldiers. They’d marched to battle at his orders, not expecting to encounter the kind of power they’d been met with, nor the ferocious resistance. Each death was a blemish on his soul, but it was as it had to be.
He’d needed to be certain of them, the pillars of the future.
“My liege...?”
“You have done well Impa,” Dromand murmured over his shoulder. “Let them sit and stew in their cells for now. At dawn have a poster distributed to announce their impending execution in two days time as the sun rises.”
“Yes, my liege,” Impa replied quietly. “And there is one more thing…”
At last, Dromand turned from the crenelated ledge and came to face his chief agent. Impa, stolid and severe as ever she was, held both hands aloft together. Cupped in them were two glimmering, jeweled keys. He nodded, wishing he could take more joy in their achievement. Instead, he thought of the blood yet to be spilled because of it.
“That makes three,” he said quietly. He turned away from her, back to the edge of the tower to gaze out over the realm that was his to rule. He glanced up as a shrill, avian cry pierced the peaceful twilight. The sound of mighty wings beating the air followed, and the sound began to multiply.
Massive birds of various, colorful plumage, raced past the tower bearing riders in tunics and hats of matching hues, all with goggles and lamps on their faces. Loftwings and their riders, the Knights of Skyloft, called down to the surface according to the Pact of Colonization to fight for the King of Hyrule.
Dromand already commanded the mightiest army in the land; now he would hold dominance over the sky as well.
“In the poster let one more thing be known,” he said to Impa, who awaited his final commands in expectant silence. “When the axe falls and the execution is carried out, the Kingdom of Hyrule will officially be at war.”
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