Gerudo Fortress - Tommy and Lexa's First Heist

*Characters involved:*

* *Lexa*
* *Tommy*
* *Leith*
* *Nanette*

**GERUDO FORTRESS**

LexaAPP 7:57 PM While Tommy's doing whatever he does, Lexa is busy making Tommy's head a comfortable home.

Trimming some leaves here and there to make a comfy bed, giving the stems a kiss so the leaves grow back bigger.

Carving a small hole that will eventually be filled with water, hopefully, with the goddess' blessing she may have her own fairy fountain one day.

She hums the song of praise (Zelda's lullaby) as she works.

"I'm glad you're still a child like me tommy. I'm only 30."

TommyAPP 9:09 PM Turns out people in a desert environment (although that desert is now one of sea) do tend to charge for drinkable water. :P Tommy sits nursing a mug for which he had to make (to his mind) a VERY expensive promise of future payment. Maybe he can scrape together a few rupees from Gerudo who like to listen to his stories...although psychologically, it's a lot easier to get someone to pay for a drink for you when you haven't already got it in your hands.

Tommy shivers as the literal voice in his head speaks up again. #o# "Dir blimey, that's gonna take some gettin' used to," he mutters, fighting down the urge to smack the side of his head. "Say, who are you, anyway? I mean y'told us y'name, but wot're ya doin' here? How'd you end up in me bonce, and WHY?"

LexaAPP 3:07 PM Lexa flies out from inside Tommy's head, (she's done with her renovating anyways) and takes a seat on Tommy's mug and rests her chin in her hands.

"Hmmmmm... well, My name is Lexa, i was born in Kokiri forest and lived at Death mountain for a while... my last home was a pumpkin in Kakariko village, Hmmmm, i ended up in your head at the Crimson Wolfos when i wanted a quiet place to sleep and now i'm here? I guess? I'm guessing this was meant to be somehow."

Lexa floats up to Tommy's face

"So tell me about you! I'd love to get to know my new home more! Where are you from?"

TommyAPP 6:55 PM Do deku scrubs have hollow heads? I guess they do now on here at least. Would explain a bit, come to think of it.

Tommy rests his chin (or the spot on his rounded head that approximates where a chin might be) on his fist. "So you're a squatter, eh? Well, we'll just 'ave t'see how you can make y'self *useful*. Don't see any reason why I should let me nut be turned into a flophouse." :P Tommy straightens up a bit. "As for meself, I'm Tommy Twiggins, adventurer extra-ordinaire. I sprouted in th'Southern Swamp, an' I taught meself th'fine art of liberatin' valuables. Been travellin' wi' me mate Esava for..." Tommy pauses and counts on his fingers. "Trim me, has it really been less'n a month?" he mutters. CoC

LexaAPP 2:42 PM Lexa's eyes open wide. "Ooooh Tommy Twiggins master thief! I bet we'll go on all sorts of adventures!

Lexa taps a finger to her chin "Hmmm hmmm how can i be useful to a thief i wonder?"

Lexa floats around Tommy's head for a bit.

"My fairy light can help you see in the dark, i bet that would be useful! I could help you aim better with 'Z targeting' and if i could get access to a fairy fountain i could probably give you info on enemies and locations! Fairies share knowledge and magic freely at fountains!"

Lexa looks smug "heheh i am pretty useful after all huh?"

TommyAPP 3:32 PM Tommy waggles a cautionary finger. "Careful with the 'th' word, mate. Just around here it gives ya some street cachet, but in most places it's askin' fer a lot of uncomfortable questions an' maybe even some time coolin' y'roots in a cell." Good to know his potential underling is enthusiastic about it, though. B] "Light can be handy, as long as y'can hide it when y'need to. Dunno wot y'mean by 'zee-targeting', but we can figure that out latah." Tommy leans forward slightly. "Wot interests me most is how y'can get inta places, 'specially wi'out others noticin'. I've gotten inta a lot of places meself by bein' smallah than wot folks worry about, an' you're blinkin' bantam. Plus you somehow crawled into me bonce wi'out me even feelin' it. Granted I must've been asleep at th'time, but still."

LexaAPP 7:09 PM Lexa gives Tommy a quizzical look "what's 'street cachet?' You talk funny Tommy, is it a swamp dialect? I bet i'll pick up the more we talk. It would be good to share your dialect with the other fairies."

"Anyways i could get into places real easy! It's my thing watch this!"

Lexa zips over to Esava, landing in his hair without him noticing, she then zips into his pockets removing loose thread and cloth pieces (things light enough a fairy could steal) and zips back to Tommy.

"Check this!" Lexa says proudly.

Lexa fashions an admittedly poorly made trilby hat to match Tommy's head.

"What do ya think?"

Lexa strikes a pose.

TommyAPP 2:57 PM

Tommy shrugs. "Y'know, notoriety. Prestige. Reputation. People respectin' ya. Not somethin' you can jingle in y'purse, but important stuff when th'coppahs are out squeezin' folk for juice on wot y'did or where you're hidin'. Anyway, point is, people in this place have a lot of *sympathy* for thieves, but that ain't true nearly anyplace else."

Tommy watches Lexa on her little pick-pocket escapade. If a scrub's tubular snoot could smirk, Tommy's would. "Huh, maybe people who blame stuff goin' missin' on th'Little Folk ain't growin' darkways aftah all. You got th'gift, a'right." Tommy looks thoughtful for a moment, then drains the rest of his mug. "Say, 'ow's about we try out our teamwork?" he suggests, hopping up from the table. "Let's go see if we can break into someplace locked up around heah." I mean, there can't be anything *too* absurdly valuable to get people upset over in a rough-and-tumble place like this, and what better place to practice thievery than in a friendly den of thieves? What's the worst that could happen? ^o^

LexaAPP 12:39 PM Lexa flutters around Tommy. "I bet there's something cool around here we could pinch.. I bet we'd get a bunch of ...street cachet?.. Did i say that right?"

TommyAPP 3:48 PM Tommy nods as he heads off toward the hallways. "You're pickin' it up, rose-petal. Pretty soon you'll be droppin' th'jargon like a propah street thistle."

Tommy wanders the hallways of Gerudo Fortress, particularly looking for places he hasn't been yet. This proves an intriguing challenge due to the fortress's maze-like layout. At one point Tommy realizes there's an entire segment of the fortress that's only accessible by jumping from rooftop to rooftop. OoO "Bloomin' brilliant, that," he says to Lexa, pointing at the mostly-hidden doorway leading inside. "You could hide anything in theah, and th'coppahs would turn y'place upside-down inside wi'out realizin' there's a room wi' no staircase leadin' up to it. If there's *anyplace* worth sneakin' into, that's it." Tommy eyes the gap. "Don't think I could make the hop, though. Pity there ain't a deku flower heah. Any ideas?"

LexaAPP 9:16 PM Lexa flutters around Tommy and thinks for a bit. "Well i *could* sprout a deku flower for you, but it would take too long to grow unfortunately, about a day with enough water... ooooh! Do you have a hookshot maybe? Ooooh ooooh i've got it we could go steal some rubber bands, tie them around those two wooden posts and make a slingshot and just shoot you across!"

"Oooh or, or, we steal a coccoo get it angry and make a swarm of coccoos then you fly one over there..." Lexa's wings ring a sad note.

"That won't work would it? I guess i *could* just fly over there and see if there's anything worth taking but that would be the least fun option i think."

TommyAPP 10:14 PM Tommy waggles a finger. "Don't be ashamed of havin' wild ideas. Those're the ones that'll get ya through th'walls, because nobody thought t'make walls wot'd stop 'em." Tommy tucks his hands behind himself and looks back to the gap. "'Course, you also gotta be able t'step back an' think those ideas through aftah y'have 'em. Sproutin' a deku flowah's a solid plan, great t'know you can do that, an' we ain't in any great hurry. A propah capah usually does involve plenty of plannin' an' prep work. Downside is, if there's a deku flowah wot ain't been theah before right when somethin' shiny goes missin', everybody thinks 'deku scrub' right off, an' around heah that narrows it down to just one bloke. So let's keep that'n as a 'maybe'. Ain't got a hookshot, wotevah that is. Sounds handy if it kin get me across rooftops, I'll have to look into it latah. Giant slingshot *might* work, but it sounds dangerous, an' I can't imagine where we'd get a rubber band big enough. Cucco's a good idea too if we could find one, although...wot'd be the point in makin' 'em angry? Y'tryin' t'get me defoliated?" c.c;

Tommy sits down on the edge of the roof and kicks his stubby little legs carelessly. "Now, all that said...no point spendin' a lot o' effort t'reach a place we don't know for sure has anythin' valu'ble if we can help it. So sure, if y'feel confident, go ahead and scout out the bloomin' bastille. Just watch out for anybody holdin' a bottle." ;) (edited)

LexaAPP 8:15 PM "Oof! *bottles*! a fairy's only weakness! I'll be on the lookout boss." Lexa says with a tip of her wierd hat and flutters off into the room. After being gone a short while she returns, draping a torn gerudo flag over the ledge

"Ooooh i've got some info for ya!" Her wings ring a cheery tune.

So inside the *blooming bastille* there's 3 chests, 2 small ones and a really big one at the end of the room, i couldn't tell what the chests contain though because they're locked...."

"Fortunately the keys are in the room but, UNfortunately they're attached to a patrolling gerudo guardswoman..."

"Oh yeah! there's also a giant fire pit in the middle of the room. And probably some more traps."

TommyAPP 4:01 PM Tommy hops down to the next level and scuttles across to climb the flag Lexa dropped. "Outstandin'! Adaptation an' initiative, that's wot I like t'see!" :D ~~And who knew fairies can apparently drag many times their own body weight in cloth? c.c~~

After reaching the ledge, Tommy pulls up the flag after himself -- no sense leaving signals that something odd is going on, especially since he can get back down easily without it. "Probably oughta put this back where y'found it if we can," Tommy murmurs, bundling up the fabric. "Just might come in handy again, though." Tommy tiptoes into the entrance of the top-story chamber. "Sure seems like some sorta trainin' grounds," he mutters, surveying the room surreptitiously from around the corner. "Really, who'd bothah with a fire pit if all they wanted wos t'keep stuff locked away? Betcha they won't even mind us keepin' stuff if we steal it fair'n'square." :]

Tommy shifts back around the corner to avoid any possibility of the guard seeing him. "Gettin' th'keys is th'first step, obviously," he muses. "Then we gotta make it across th'pit, keep outta any othah traps there might be, open th'chest, swipe what's inside, an' make it *back*, all wi'out th'guard noticin'." Tommy ponders for a moment, then starts weaving the flag into a sort of sail. "'Ow strong would y'say the updraft from that fire pit is?" >:]

LexaAPP 4:13 PM Lexa's wings ring in a sort of "aha!" tone. "I think i get what you're saying, judging from your size i bet that could work, floating above *would* make it a lot easier to avoid the pressure plate traps around here... now how do we steal the keys from the guard? Gerudo women tend to have very sharp senses, maybe i could distract her? But how do i do that without being bottled up for fairy dust? Hmmm hmmm.."

TommyAPP 9:02 PM Tommy shakes his head. "Nah, we don't want her t'know anythin' out of the ordinary is happenin', 'specially since we don't know whethah she'd let us just waltz outta heah aftah takin' th'prize. It's just my thievin' skills against her awareness. Don't worry, though, she's prob'ly used to spendin' hours heah wi' nothin' happenin'. Just be ready t'run interference if I 'ave t'bolt for it."

With that, Tommy drapes his makeshift sail over his head, peeks around the corner again, waits a moment...and scuttles out. The guard has just passed the point where the corridor is within her peripheral vision. Tommy moves behind her on padded feet, then sidesteps smartly as she turns around, keeping in her blind spot. His hand reaches up to her hip as she walks the other way, delicately relieving her of the keys. After stowing them in his vest with care not to clink them together, he spreads his sail and makes a jump out over the chasm. For a split-second he falls, then the heated air from the fire pit fills the chute and lifts him. After gliding over the ravine, he lands softly and immediately takes refuge behind the nearest chest. Won't do much good getting inside the chest if the guard sees him and opposes his return trip.

LexaAPP 9:23 PM Lexa takes a mental note of her Tommy's stealth actions.

She does not think she can match his ability. She can however fly straight up towards the ceiling and hover there, hopefully away from her line of sight.

She does this as the guard looks away choosing not to illuminate her fairy light.

She is now at the ceiling and is wondering how to best help Tommy here..

She notices A few things.

1. A gerudo flag high on the wall. She could possibly untie that. That might give Tommy time to steal from the chests IF she chooses to investigate. It could also just tip her off to the heist.

2. The rattling of a nearby rusty chain. It is holding up a burning brazier. She could use her little fairy magic to snap the chain. No telling if this would work though and Lexa is *currently low on magic having no access to a fairy fountain*. Assuiming it worked it may get the guard to leave the room, hopefully to get someone to fix it perhaps.

Lexa uses 'Z targeting' on Tommy. If their relationship is good enough he may get a sense of what she is thinking. Z targeting improves further the better their relationship is.

TommyAPP 9:20 PM Tommy gets a weird prickle in his foliage and an odd urge to look to the wall. c.c He does so after he calculates that the guard is looking away again in her march. A wall hanging? And...there's Lexa, hovering near the ceiling. Hmm. Well, a little extra distraction could be helpful. Tommy points toward the flag and gestures downward, hoping Lexa can pick up on the brilliant embellishment to the plan which just popped into his oh-so-talented head. ;)

Anyway, after hiding for another round of the guard's route, Tommy scuttles over to the biggest chest. No point in leaving the best for last, especially since the guard may notice something's up before he can get to all of the chests. He tries a key in the lock -- hey, first one gets it right! :D Even ~~the narrator~~ Dame Fortune seems to want him to succeed! Tommy lifts the lid and peeks inside to see what his prize might –

**CLANG!**

The lid slams back as something bursts out of the chest. o.O; It looks sort of like a black chest-plate with a curling blue design on it. But it lifts into the air as freezing vapor blasts from its orifices, soon forming the impression of tall, lithe limbs with long spikes at their ends. The guard whips her head over and stares aghast. "NO! What have you done!?" The Thing From the Chest emits a spooky laugh from somewhere within its core and thrusts an arm spike at Tommy! >D

-- but it turns out it was going for the cloth draped on Tommy's head. @~@; It tosses the cloth into the air and swings its other arm, coating the fabric in a layer of ice. Then it catches the frozen fabric and speeds toward the fire ravine as though skating along the stones. Just before reaching the lip, it leaps and cartwheels in midair, putting the makeshift ice shield between it and the flames below. The ice hisses in the passing and the fabric loosens back into flexibility, but the Thing makes it past unscathed. The guard tries to block the exit hallway, but the Thing knocks her over with a violent pirouette and leaves her encased in ice as it departs. (edited)

LexaAPP 12:38 PM Lexa drops the flag and hides in a corner of the ceiling, allowing Tommy to open chests while the guard is distracted.

Tommy moves for the biggest chest. "Smart move" she thinks, getting the best treasure fir.. she is not able to finish her thought however as the worst happens.

She flutters toward the frozen guard and pokes at the ice.

"What was that?!?" She pokes at the ice again and the ice answers with a 'TINK'

She flutters outside but is unable to see anything and then flies toward Tommy.

"WE ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE TOMMY! I THINK THAT WAS A WIZZROBE!"

She inspects the open chest looking at the frost residue.

"I can't be too sure though i didn't get a good enough look."

aubrey:musical\_note: 9:20 PM (OOC: Hmm, maybe I should've relied on visual aids instead of just description. X) Think of this, but with icy vapor instead of fire:)

TommyAPP 10:11 PM Tommy watches in astounded relief as the monster leaves. CoC; He'd hate to think what effect that icy chill would have on his sap. Vegetation isn't known for being warm-blooded, y'know. Then Lexa starts screaming about trouble, and Tommy's mind clicks back into Thief gear. "Right, trouble. Well, wos nice while it lasted, but time t'say goodbye t'this outfit." .\_. Yup, Tommy's immediate response is to assume he's dead compost if he's caught. "Gotta get back across. Think y'could bring me that othah flag wi'out burnin' it?"

**SHATTER!**

The Gerudo guard breaks free of her frozen bonds -- good thing these monster ice attacks don't last over-long. She gets up and stumbles toward the ravine, rubbing her arms vigorously. "THAT," she snaps, "is the FROST DANCER! Did you fools come in here without KNOWING that!? What did you EXPECT to find?!"

Tommy doesn't see a way to run until he has a means to get over the ravine, so he defaults to talking -- and the best thing he can think to say to make himself seem less blame-worthy, in this case, is actually the truth. "Erm, some sorta treasure?"

The guard kneels on the edge of the pit reaches down under its lip. She pulls out a stone slab, which slides forward with the sound of rollers and forms a bridge over the flames. "Treasure!? Why would we use a FIRE PIT to guard treasure!? You think we're just DARING people to jump across and take it?!"

Tommy mentally calculates the odds of being able to zip past the guard on the narrow bridge and comes up with 'Don't try it, guv.' "Well, I mean, this *is* a fortress o' thieves, innit? Sorta *did* think that wos th'wheeze." C.C;

"THAT'S WHAT THE TRAINING GROUNDS ARE FOR, NUMSKULL!!!"

LexaAPP 1:06 AM Lexa is thinking about a way to get out of this without much trouble for them.

Aha! *Shifting blame!* That almost always works.

Lexa flutters straight to the guards face, and crosses her arms and makes an angry face.

"*NUMBSKULL?!?* i take offense to that! Frankly this is your fault! No signage anywhere, no warning markers, i mean would it have killed you guys to place a note somewhere? Hey don't open this big cool chest, there's a monster in it? Nothing? Also only one guard? Who does that? This was poor guardsmanship if i've ever seen it to be honest. ***I can't imagine what the boss is gonna do to you when she hears about you getting bested by a deku and a fairy.***"

Lexa says all of this while trying her best to fake being mad.

Lexa scans the frost residue in the chest again.

"So that was a frost dancer? I've never heard of those? I thought it was an ice wizzrobe. Are they more dangerous?"

Lexa flutters next to Tommy. And whispers "I have to admit i'm excited to bring information of a new monster to my sister fairies."

Lexa flies back to the guard.

"So how are you going to fix this?"

TommyAPP 9:12 PM The guard almost swats Lexa away on reflex when she's suddenly space-invaded. >~<; "My job is to sound the alarm if the frost dancer somehow gets out of its chest! We didn't expect anybody to be dumb enough to sneak past and LET it out, let alone give it a tool for getting past the fire pit!" >P The guard hurriedly moves to open the smaller 2 chests, drawing out of them a fire rod and a crossbow with a bolt that has a thin rope threaded through its back end. "The frost dancer is rare and fairly dangerous, yes. We keep it in here as an emergency ice source. You can harvest ice from it if you know how to handle it, but it's not worth the risk except for extreme cases, like a water shortage or fever victims that desperately need cooling." Having gathered the tools, the guard stands and turns around. "Now *you're'* going to get a crash course in how to handle it and help me -- "

Tommy's already gone. >\_> The moment the bridge was clear he scuttled across and fled the room. "Ugh, fine," the guard grouses. "One of my sisters would be a better helper anyway." XP She hustles out of the room to find a candidate for capturing the monster.

Meanwhile, the frost dancer is making the most of its newfound freedom by twirling around the rooftops and showering the area with ice crystals. It hasn't noticed quite yet that there are quite a lot of people down in the fortress courtyard, and many of them aren't armed like the typical Gerudo.

Tommy avoided the monster and jumped down to the lower levels of the fortress. He is now searching anxiously for Esava, hoping to convince him to leave Gerudo Valley post-haste. If not, well, his own life is still more valuable to him than keeping Esava's servitude. >\_>

LexaAPP 10:31 AM Lexa watches as the guard leaves, and wipes a bit of sweat from her forehead. "Phew! I guess we're in the clear Tommy."

She looks at the space Tommy used to be..

"Tommy? Tommy! Arrrgh!"

Lexa flutters towards Tommy dodging the odd ice shard falling, because Tommy had allowed himself to be her house, finding him in the fortress is pretty easy.

"*Tommy*!!!" Lexa flutters up next to him annoyed.

"I can't believe you left me! Bad luck for you! I hope you like brittle bark!"

TommyAPP 9:29 PM Tommy glances up at Lexa briefly. "Oh, there y'are. What'd you expect, when things get hot, it's every scrub for hisself. 'Sides, you're a fairy, you can fly outta just about *anywhere*." :P Tommy looks around a corner. "I'm tryin' t'find me mate Esava so we can bolt outta here. Knowin' him, I'll have t'feed 'im some story t'get 'im t'come along, or he'll just try t'square us wi' th'locals an' get me mulched instead. Mebbe I can say we've been given an urgent mission to...to..." Tommy bumps his head lightly against the stone wall. "...We're on an island, ain't we." =~=

Outside, the guard (let's call her Zephyr) spots the frost dancer on the roof and decides to go for the gambit of taking it on alone so that nobody down below gets hurt. She crouch-runs into range, raises the crossbow, and fires. The bolt whistles past the erratically dancing monster, alerting it to danger. +.+ The frost dancer wheels around and skates toward Zephyr while she's frantically reeling the bolt back in. o.O; For the second time in five minutes, Zephyr finds herself smacked aside and encased in ice. #~#; This time she goes sliding off the roof and tumbles into the courtyard. People gasp and leap back from the crash as Zephyr groggily picks herself up from amidst the shattered ice. The frost dancer jumps down and skids in an arc, creating a barrier of ice spikes to keep everyone else back. It remembers those tools, and it wants to deal with their wielder isolated. +.+ (edited)

LexaAPP 11:43 PM Lexa flutters around the room getting a read on the place before fluttering back to Tommy and sighs.

"Tommy i don't think we have much of a choice here but to help out, we won't have a choice but to rely on the gerudo for help later, besides, it is our fault.."

Lexa floats face level at Tommy.

"So what do you think? We should help right?"

TommyAPP 10:29 PM Tommy gives a tired groan. "An' here I thought I'd found a mate wi' thievin' sensibilities. Arright, looks like runnin' ain't an option, so next best thing is t'make ourselves look like heroes." Tommy turns and scuttles back through the hall.

As it turns out, the passage Tommy comes out of is the only one inside the little arena the frost dancer carved out. He emerges just in time to see Zephyr desperately dive sideways to avoid being skewered by the dancer's arm. C.C; Something clatters on the ground near Tommy's feet -- the crossbow Zephyr was trying to use earlier, although Tommy left before seeing it. "Wot th'corkwood is this gizmo?" he asks, picking it up. Zephyr fends the frost dancer off with a swing of the fire rod, forcing it to skate back to avoid a fireball. "You again?! Ugh, nevermind, just get ready to shoot at the core on my mark!" Tommy fumbles with the crossbow, aiming it awkwardly in the frost dancer's general direction. "Shoot?! How's this thing even work!?" O~O;

LexaAPP 9:11 PM Lexa flutters erratically toward the ice dancer, she flies toward the thing's face her wings ringing loudly and her fairy light shining bright.

She intends on distracting the frost dancer ling enough for you and the guard to get the upper hand. "**pffttt!!! Pffft!**" Lexa blows a raspberry at it and zooms up and down to dodge it's swings. "You'll have to try harder than that to hit me!"

All the while Lexa is using **'Z Targeting'** on Tommy.

*A crossbow huh? It's good that it's already cocked and loaded, all you'd need to do is line up the sight pin to the frost dancer and pull the trigger! I Don't know much about frost dancers but if they are anything like their flare dancer cousins you have to remove the core from their bodies and destroy it! Aim for their core! That's the only way to win!"*

Lexa flutters all about the dancer but makes sure to show Tommy what he needs to shoot.

*"The core needs to be exposed though, what does the gerudo intend to do?"* she wonders.

LeithAPP 9:40 PM A small calico cat brushes against Nanette's legs as she makes her way towards the kitchen.

Nanette 9:50 PM Nanette halts rather abruptly as she feels something warm and furry brush against her leg, eyes closing a moment before she murmurs something incoherent beneath her breath. She appears to make some sort of silent decision as she nods with purpose, then rather hesitantly opens one eye to peek down toward the kitty.

At this point, she relaxes nearly immediately, previous consideration on her expression replaced by a smile. "Well, hey there, little guy." She crouches, hand held out toward the cat. "Do you know where the kitchen is? I feel like I have been walking in circles." She probably has.

TommyAPP 7:48 PM The frost dancer is momentarily diverted by the tinkling terror. >.<; Nothing worse than some bug buzzing around in your face when you're trying to do deadly ballet, right? But it soons remembers that the actual threat here is the person holding a fire rod. It skates a zig-zag pattern toward Zephyr. "Get ready...NOW!" Zephyr shouts, hurling another fireball. The frost dancer pirouettes sideways to avoid the fireball, extending a zig and slowing down.

Tommy still doesn't understand how the crossbow is supposed to work, but he figures the twiggy extension underneath the main branch must be the way you make it do what it does. c.c; So he points the mechanism with a strange force guiding his arm and smacks the twig. Miraculously, the metal needle sails forth trailing a vine and thunks solidly into the black breast-plate of the frost dancer. Success! :D

Only...one little issue. The theory is that the user will now yank the core out of the frozen vapor, robbing the dancer of its magically-induced body, but Tommy lacks the weight to do such a thing. Instead, the frost dancer takes off into the fortress hallway, dragging Tommy behind him like a water-skier. OoO; "BLINKIN' BLACKBERRIIIIIIIES!!!"

LeithAPP 1:49 PM The calico cat Leith sits, licks her right paw and looks at Nanette quizzically. "Mao?"

She gets up, stretches her legs and sprints into the hallway and turns left into a room full of clay pots

Nanette 2:08 PM "Yes, yes. I know..." Nanette says with a brief exhale, the gesture puffing up her cheeks for a moment. "Relatively certain I heard a story about a cat who could t... hey! Where are you going?" Streaks of fur tend to be hard to follow down hallways, but follow she does none-the-less. At a much less hasty pace. She adjusts the still damp clothes resting over her arm before she tilts her head to peek into the room full of pots, eyebrows lifting a touch. "Here, kitty kitty kitty."

LeithAPP 2:29 PM "Mao?" The cat meows from behind a fairly large newly painted clay pot on a shelf nearest the window, in the window glass reflection Nanette could see the cat's grey fluffy body.

Nanette 3:24 PM "Oh, now be nice to the pot," Nanette mentions after locating said kitty cat after peeking into the room, positioning herself nearby to the door with one hand held out in a staying motion. "It's a very pretty pot, and I imagine whoever painted it might not wish it broken." Her eyes flicker between the pot and the cat, and while it might be rather ridiculous, it appears she is attempting to make no sudden movements.

LeithAPP 4:38 PM "Maowao?" The dark grey cat lies down on her side and gently plays with the newly painted pot with all four paws.

She is slowly pushing the pot towards the edge of the shelf

Nanette 5:35 PM Well, surely not surprised. Nanette squints toward the cat, then starts creeping her way slowly farther into the room, her eyes solid on that freshly painted pot. "Here, kitty kitty kitty. Now now, let's be nice to the very, very breakable object. I don't want to wear out my welcome before I've even slept one day here." She's creeping. Creeping. Creeeeeeeping closer, clothes having been dropped at the doorway, and hands now outstretched, just in case she gets herself close enough to catch that pot if the cat gets particularly ornery. Admittedly, if the room is truly full of pots, rescuing one still might mean destroying others. But she could always get lucky? (edited)

LeithAPP 8:18 PM The cat sits up to look at Nanette.

She places her left paw on the pot and pushes gingerly, close to the edge

The cat has what can only be described as a smirk on her face.

Nanette 8:19 PM A gasp departs Nanette's lips as she straightens, a pace or two away from the cat and the poor pot as she rests her hands on her hips, eyebrow quirking. "Wait," she says, eyeing the feline. "You're doing this on purpose. You want me to get in trouble." And then, Nanette pouts. What looks pretty damned close to a genuine pout. Her eyelashes flutter a few times, causing a single tear to slip down her cheek. "But, why? What'd I do to you?"

LeithAPP 11:17 AM Leith stares at the pouting woman as she sheds tears over some dumb pot, imagine that, crying over a clay pot in a room filled with near identical clay pots.

The orange tabby stands on all fours and sighs.

"Well this isn't fun anymore.."

She still pushes the pot off the ledge, but it's less fun now.

The orange tabby hops off the shelf and saunters ouy of the room

Nanette 12:14 PM Pretty damned close to a genuine pout, but not necessarily a genuine one. As the cat speaks, and the pot crashes, Nanette's lips part and she looks at the cat incredulously, all while swiping that tear away that previously took several bats of her eyelashes to even accomplish. "You did do it on purpose. Now, that's just mean."

Admittedly, she does wince at the loud crash, however, eyes darting toward the door before looking down to the sauntering tabby. "And to think, I thought we might be friends. Suit yourself." And Nanette starts toward the doorway, too.

LeithAPP 3:15 PM Leith shoots Nanette an incredulous look. "Friends? With *you*? You cry over stupid pots. Besides.."

Leith goes up to Nanette and sniffs her.

"You don't even have any fish!"

Leith stops moving and stares at Nanette and then at her damp clothes at the doorway. A devious smile creeps across her face as she eyes the lightest article of clothing in the pile, her tail sways slowly at first and then stops in a straight line above her.

"I've changed my mind, let's be friends, we could start by playing a game!"

Leith darts towards her clothes plucks the lightest thing with her mouth and lightly sprints away.

Nanette 6:49 AM "And you are gullible," Nanette replies to the cat with a faintly raised brow, the hint of a smile tugging on her lips. "But you don't see me holding that against you, do you?" To note, all hints of the previous tears have been wiped from her face. "And not everyone just carries fish around. I was more concentrated on not drowning."

Feisty conversation between the two notwithstanding, she blinks as the cat does a 180, and then runs off with her sock. "Hey!" She says, running over to gather the rest of her damp clothing from the floor before darting out into the hallway to see where the furry creature may have gone. "Socks aren't that important anyway, you know. I could start a new trend. One sock a day, pick a foot randomly."

LeithAPP 9:38 PM From around the corner Leith stops and spits out the sock and shouts at Nanette.

"No one will fall for that! That won't ever be a trend! One foot will get cold!"

Leith picks the sock back up, begins to run and then spit the sock out again and shouts "FOR THE RECORD I AM NOT GULLIBLE!!.... MMMMRRRRAAAAAAARRRRR!"

Leith is kicked into the air by a frost dancer running through the hallway.

"YOWWWWW!!!GRRRRRRR!!!" Leith lands on the thing's chest piece and turns into ice.

She then falls onto a deku???

She thaws and begins scrathing at the deku angrily "MRRRRRRAAA!"

She is then thrown off as the frost dancer speeds past Nanette and falls right on top of the pile of wet clothes in Nanette's arms.

LexaAPP 9:38 PM Honestly, the sight of Tommy being dragged around like that is pretty funny, however Lexa stifles a chuckle and steels herself, she flies after Tommy shouting at Zephyr. "Follow me please!"

She zooms into the fortress hallway, her fairy light bright as ever so Zephyr can see her and keep up.

As the dancer chucks ice at her, she dodges quite easily, an advantage of being small i guess, hope Zephyr can keep up.

The frost dancer is running faster and hurling more ice and Lexa is dodging more and more ice shards.

"You'll have to do better than thaaa...."

**THUMP**

Lexa is smacked out of the air by a... ball of fur???

LexaAPP 9:41 PM Lexa plucks herself from Leiths fur.

"Ptah pftt ppftt"

Lexa coughs some cat hair out of her mouth.

The fairy flutters into the air again

"What the heck was tha? Oh Lady Leith! Hello! Sorry about that!"

Lexa flutters after the frost dancer

"I'LL EXPLAIN LATER!!"

LeithAPP 9:42 PM Leith locks eyes with Nanette and then bows her head in defeat.

"They left with your sock."

TommyAPP 11:08 PM Fate is strange in its gifts. While holding onto the crossbow for dear life (actually it might be safer to let go, but that doesn't occur to Tommy in the heat of the moment, and anyway he's pretty convinced his continued existence depends on the whole look-like-a-hero shtick), he gets an ice block to the face, which quickly turns into a maniacally clawing critter. x~x Tommy's woody exterior is significantly more resistant to cutting than a human's would be, but still, not fun being a scratching post. After desperately waving one arm around and apparently succeeding in dislodging the inconvenience, Tommy finds himself gripping a floppy item and identifies it as a sock. >.> My, how useful.

...Actually, as any thief knows, socks *are* surprisingly useful if you know how to apply them. For example, combine a sock with any decently weighty item that can fit inside it and you have a serviceable blackjack. Not an ideal weapon for Tommy's current circumstance, of course...although perhaps it needn't be used *as* a weapon.

The frost dancer's speedy exploration of the fortress brings it to the very place Nanette was headed for, the dining hall. As if working from an instinct for causing maximum mischief, the dancer leaps onto one of the long trestle tables and skates along it, scattering food and dishware everywhere amid cries of surprise and dismay. Tommy quickly brings the sock up to his snoot and spits a nut into it, then as the tow-line hauls him to the table, he swings the makeshift implement at the gap between the table's planks. The nut catches in the crack, causing a sudden stopping jerk in the sock/Tommy/rope chain. @~@

The frost dancer's core halts in midair suddenly while its gaseous limbs fly onward and dissipate into the air. The core falls down with a clang, then after a moment, the tiny head and true legs of the creature poke out in an almost sheepish manner. >.> The not-so-dancer scrambles down to the floor and runs under the tables, prompting many a diner to hop away in alarm. 6\_6

"Catch it!" Zephyr shouts from the dining hall entrance as she arrives. "Get it into some kind of container so it can't regenerate its magic limbs!"

Nanette 6:15 PM "The foot... will have a shoe!" Nanette calls back to Leith as she's following the furry sock thief through the halls, halting abruptly once she's rounded the corner, puffing from her short stint down the hallway. The clothes are loosening in her arms, clutched to her chest are the at-one-point newly washed clothes that are quickly gathering dust and dirt with all of the tossing around. And... apparently now ice and cats.

The movement through of the ice dancer, and then the cold cat landing right on the clothes in her arms, Nanette's eyes widen, for the moment only able to watch as the rather interesting scene unfolding. And so her expression merely appears... shocked, for some time. "There will be more socks," she mumbles toward Leith, reaching down to almost absently scritch the kitty between the ears, attempting to be comforting. "But.. what the heck is going on?"

She moves more slowly now, eyes widening after watching the various figures dart into the dining room - apparently frost dancer, fairy, and a crossbow-wielding man, and the noisy commotion that ensues just after. She nearly tiptoes toward the entrance, and tilts her head to the side to peek. "You think they need the other one? I can throw it." But what really comes from the woman after peeking, and angling the cat so she can see, too, is a wince as she looks around at the predictable mess after the sounds previously echoing through the halls.

"Somebody's going to have to clean that up," Nanette mumbles, but then raises her voice to shout, instead, "Hey! Don't waste the food! There are people who are hungry!"

Know what else is good for stuff? Not just socks. Shirts. Should the frost dancer find themselves darting by the door again, they might find a random shirt tossed over their head to obscure its view. A damp one that, well, if a frost dancer can freeze a kitty, surely it can freeze a damp shirt. Might be awkward.

LexaAPP 7:51 AM "RAAAGH!" Lexa zooms above in the dining hall in a panic, scanning the scene, she flutters to a shelf high up over the frost dancer and tries to push a clay pot onto it.

"Mmmggghh! Nnnnnngh" she pushes with all her might but unfortunately the fairy is not strong enough to push the heavy clay pot.

"Awww.." her wings droop in disappointment.

LeithAPP 8:05 AM *"Shoes! Of course!"* Leith says, mostly to herself as she is carried by Nanette to the dining hall. "Dreadful things, those *shoes*. I can't imagine your feet could be comfy in those things. I prefer walking barefoot myself personally."

She looks at the chaos with Nanette.

"Your sock is probably ruined now, all stretched up like that."

Leith stretches and hops out of Nanette's arms.

She quickly slinks between dining tables, sneaking up on the dancer.

As the thing runs around erratically, Leith readies her claws, dashes behind it and swipes at it's back.

She lands her strikes of course and the thing runs away from her under a table causing the people that were sitting there to panic.

"I enjoy when my prey runs! Good exercise!"

She hops on top of the table and is waiting for the frost dancer to show himself from under it.

*"Got you"* the thing pops out and Leith leaps on top of it, digging her claws and fangs deep into it. One problem though.

It doesn't go down.

The frost dancer flees with Leith still stuck on to him and runs towards Nanette.

TommyAPP 10:01 PM Wow, this has turned pretty hectic. The frost dancer's frantic flight takes it past Nanette and the shirt flops over it, and its feline passenger. c.c This could turn out rather awkward for Leith, although Tommy wouldn't be one to bewail if the cat gets caught along with the monster, even if he realized it was a talking cat. That thing introduced itself by scratching him up, after all. :P Picking up on Lexa's activity once again through that odd urge to look in her direction, Tommy hurriedly winds up the crossbow and then shoots the bolt-with-rope into the shelf nearby. "Wind it around th'pot!" Tommy shouts. Just hope it won't shatter when it falls, as most ceramic pots in this universe so easily do. c.c; Maybe somebody could prepare the landing zone with something soft.

Meanwhile, the frost dancer is running blind. Zephyr starts running after it with the fire rod glowing, but doesn't throw any fireballs -- there'd be a lot of collateral damage in here if she started doing that, after all. Instead, she holds it out to the side of the dancer, shepherding it back toward the shelf with the threatening heat. The frost dancer starts regenerating its vestigial body of pure ice magic, but it's hampered in this process by the fabric freezing against its core. >.<;

LexaAPP 11:39 PM "Okay!" Lexa tugs at the arrow, but alas! The arrow is dug in deep into the wood, too deep to pull free, she will try to untie the rope from the arrow but it might take a while.

Or she could use her remaining magic to loosen the rope and wind it around the pot.

Lets roll a d20 for it

10 and under she has to use magic, over 10 and she is able to loosen the rope manually.

DicebotAPP 11:40 PM @Lude rolled 1 Dice 1d20 Rolls 1

LexaAPP 11:40 PM "ooof"

The rope is too strong to untie manually, she has to use her remaining magic to get the job done.

With a flick of her wrist she unties the rope from the arrow and winds it around the pot.

The job is done but she might be stuck up on this shelf.

She does not have enough magic to fly.

She flutters her wings, they don't ring like they used to and their glow is dimmer than usual.

TommyAPP 6:07 PM Tommy frantically waves over the nearest bystander. "Gimme a hand!" Fortunately Gerudo are accustomed to quickly supporting each other in...suddenly arising predicaments. A pair of hands belonging to a larger, heavier being grab the rope along with Tommy, and together they yank the pot from its place. It topples over and falls top-down as the frost dancer passes underneath.

**KLONK**

The thickness of the pot prevents it from shattering completely, but it does fracture into two main chunks and send a smaller piece from the lip skittering across the floor. For a moment, everyone just stares at the unstable vessel. o.o Then it rattles, and freezing gas expulses from the crack. Zephyr drops to her knees and throws her arms around the pot in spite of the chill. >~<; "Quick, help me hold it together!" The Gerudo readiness for trouble takes effect again, and a couple of others kneel and push the two bisections together from either side of the crack. Zephyr falls back and melts the frost from her arms with the fire rod. XP

Tommy peers over a table at the proceedings. o\_o "Did it work? Is it trapped?" Zephyr rubs her arms and shivers. "I *think* so, but we've got to get it back in its proper container. Hey, somebody get the frost dancer handling team in here!" :P The pot vibrates slightly and a small jet of ice magic pours continuously from the cleft in the lip, forming crystals on the floor.

LeithAPP 1:09 PM "Maooowww Mrooww mmmm" **scratches against the inside if the clay pot**

LexaAPP 10:47 AM Lexa shouts down from the high up shelf. "HEY! Tommy! Is it over? Shoot another rope arrow up here pr something! I'm stuck up here!"

TommyAPP 8:00 PM The cat noises from inside the pot prompt some discussion between the Gerudo holding it closed. "Hey, that monster wouldn't make sounds like that, would it?" "Nah, I think there was some cat clinging to it, must've gotten trapped inside." "Should we try to let it out? Poor thing'll probably die in there." "You wanna risk letting that monster back out in a crowded room like this for some mangy cat?" "Well doesn't the second-boss have a cat? We could get in trouble if it's that one!" "Rrgh...okay, let's crack it open just a little, a cat should be able to slip out through a little space. One, two, three!" The Gerudo carefully pull the pot halves apart on one side.

Tommy looks around. "Er, don't think this thing had any more arrows. Wot's th'mattah, y'wings don't work?" c.c While coming up with an alternate way to get Lexa down through the abilities of a deku scrub and materials on hand would make an interesting exercise, it's made superfluous by the fact that there are still plenty of Gerudo standing around willing to help. One of them grabs a plate and lifts it up to the level of the shelf. "Here. Uh, where do you want to go, exactly?" c.c Good point, on one of the tables would be almost as much of a prison as the shelf, and the floor might be a little dangerous for a fairy to walk around on...

LeithAPP 10:14 PM Leith bolts out of the jar, her fur frosted. She shivers and scampers away to find warmth, luckily there's a fireplace close.

She takes a spot near the fire and waits for the ice crystals to melt.

"I hate Ice!" She says quietly.

LexaAPP 10:23 PM Lexa hops on the plate and gives the Gerudo a grateful bow.

"You can just take me home please."

She points to Tommy's head.

The Gerudo helper places the plate face- level with Tommy and she hops right in through his mouth

She makes herself comfy in the room she made in his head sitting on her bed of leaves.

"Tommy.." she whispers "We have a problem. I'm out of magic! We should find a great fairy or a fairy fountain soon."

TommyAPP 10:12 AM The Gerudo holding the pot push it shut again after the cat escapes. "That ain't the second-boss's cat. We probably should've just let it freeze." :P "Yeah, well, a picked pocket is a picked pocket even if it didn't have as many rupees as you thought." e.e As the handler team arrives and starts clearing out a space to work in, Zephyr peers closely at the constant jet of icy air flowing from the little hole in the pot's lip. "I wonder if we could do that with the containment chest," she muses. "Then we wouldn't have to let it out to harvest ice." c.c

Tommy reels slightly as a tiny being helps herself to his headspace. @o@ "Twigs'n'termites, nevah gonna get used to that," he mutters, heading out of the dining hall. "So, a great fairy or a fairy fountain? I'll just add that to the ol' shoppin' list. Where in green groves would we find those?" e.e

LexaAPP 4:50 PM Lexa sighs and throws herself into her bed. "I dunno man, this is the furthest i've ever been from death mountain. Maybe we could ask someone, someone must know where to find a fairy fountain in the desert right? Maybe the person in charge over here?"