As the group dashes forward and into the hall, Alpha rushes to keep up with the Assassin. 'Stupid impostor . . .' he thinks to himself, still rubbing his hand. When the guy had made the sharp turn Alpha had been just leaping through the air to tackle him and take him down, possibly yanking the mask off in the process so that his insatiable curiosity could be satisfied about the little detail of who the guy really is. It's on the tip of his tongue . . . but he'd lost the chance to reveal this "Wraith"'s identity when he'd abruptly jerked out of his pathway, and Alpha had nearly collided with a very expensive looking vase. Not exactly wanting to get on the Royal Family's bad side, he'd succeeded in diverting his flight path ever so slightly . . . by slamming his fist into the stone floor with all his might.

It had not been a very pleasant experience; the Sheikah usually lets lightning bolts punch through walls for him, after all. Of course, he probably hadn't entirely escaped the Ruler's anger . . . now that their floor had a nice sized crater in it . . .

Swerving back onto the correct pathway, he wraps his cape around his body, allowing darkness to completely cover his form. Of course, that was already the case. As the rest of the group chasing Wraith is figuring out at about the same time, the Assassin has been putting out the candles along the path he travels, leaving a fairly easy to follow line of darkness in the midst of bright side chambers. They'll be hot on the heels of both Wraiths soon enough.

Alpha lets out a sigh as this thought occurs to him, and for a moment considers going so far as to relight the halls when he reaches an intersection. But no, that'd be a waste of time and energy, two things he can no longer afford to lose. "If you're going to be an assassin, there's two things that are absolutely essential: be silent, and be swift. In my experience, more missions fail and more people are killed because they delayed rather than because they had poor planning or mediocre skills. Keep that in mind, kid." Those had been a few of the words Gorodo had told him back when he was naught but a child, seeking for a way to put food in his mouth after he'd left Master Zaris behind.

Those had been simpler times . . . times the Sheikah wishes he could go back to. It had been easy for him, even when he was merely seventeen years old, to utilize the intense training meant to help him become the Golden Sheikah one day to kill a person. He'd started in the little country of Opelon, not too far south of Hyrule. A confident young Baron had been dealing with one of Gorodo's fellow crimelords, a Zora by the name of Cezera, and had decided to betray his business friend in an attempt to leave him penniless. He'd failed, but the insult was done . . . as far as anyone in the criminal underground was concerned, he was going to die.

But that was when the difficulties came . . . for the Baron might not have left Cezera in the dust, but he had still made out like a bandit. And his wealth had been well spent, creating a nearly impenetrable fortress, filled with the latest technologies, dozens upon dozens of expertly trained guards, and intense magical barriers hidden in all the right places. And so, in hindsight, it was hardly surprising that the first ten high class assassins to attempt to take out the Baron had had their heads given to Cezera on silver platters.

But Alpha had had what it took . . . especially after Gorodo had given him that item. The one that gave him powers unimaginable, powers unmatchable . . . powers that frightened him to death. He'd been told that it would be intense to use the item, but had not truly understood the meaning of intensity until that day. Even Zaris' training had never been so overwhelming. But the power had allowed him to get through all of the Baron's defenses, kill the man, and depart safely . . . in five minutes flat.

For the first time in a long time, the Sheikah considers actually doing what the Assassin has been hoping he'll do: use this power again. Whip it out from its hiding place in the Void, and use its power to take the man down in mere moments, before he even knows what hit him. But no . . . such power is not something he wants anything to do with. The Goldforce is one thing . . . this is something else entirely. Something far too dangerous for anyone to wield . . . in all actuality, he'd have destroyed it long ago, if such a thing were possible.

He'll be doing this one the old fashioned way, he decides as his hands grip his staff even tighter than before. Looking ahead, he spots the darkness leading into a stairwell, and he is quick to pursue.

(((OOC: Damn you Alpha, you got there before me.... editting right now... nevermind, you didn't give us much to go one....)))

~As the hylian drew closer and closer to where Alpha and Wraith had been moments before, he heard movement from behind him. He turned around to see Raven from before. At that moment he was torn between common sense and a desire to get to Wraith fast. For once, common sense won out.

Once again, he made a prayer to the goddesses, this time directed at Raven, hoping to aid him in his plight, which was so similar to what his own had been moments before. Being a combination of a gift of magic and an attempt to aid another, he hoped that the goddesses would lend him aid twice consecutively.~

OOC: In short, Alpha's childehood sucked.

JKing, lets get strait to the butt-kicking!

IC: Kasei looked ahead into the hallway, it was dark. Kasei would've liked to light the candles that lined the walls, but what fun would there be in that? Besides, he was a shiekah warrior, darkness is his greatest ally. The rebel flame sped forward, wanting to aid Alpha and learn the secrets of Wraith. He only hoped the gods were looking out for him.

OOC: Yeah, terribly sorry Pabru, but it's been too long since I've been satisfied with my posts here in FoG. Wanted to do something long. If that threw you off for a minute . . . then I laugh and mock at thee. (jk )

And actually, Kasei, that really is a pretty accurate way to describe his youth.

IC:
Alpha reaches the bottom of the stairwell, glancing around at the veil of darkness that surrounds the basement level of North Castle. There are no candles here to light up the shadowy region, and so no way to tell in which direction the impostor has fled. There's a doorway to the left as well as to the right . . . and recalling the recent damage done to both Pyre and Raven when they'd picked the wrong passages, he decides to take his time. If the others manage to catch up in the time it takes for him to pick a room . . . well, as unlucky as that'd be, he'll just have to live with it.

* * *

Back with those following, light once again falls, this time on the thieving member of the Shadow Folk (9+7[Roll+INT]). The Favor of the Goddesses descend upon Raven at Pyralin's request, restoring half of his own HP to him just as it has done to the Ranger mere moments before.

Raven: 26 HP, 6 SPL

As the other adventurers dash through the hallways, the group comes across the small crater that Alpha's fist had made in the ground a minute before. Charging after the line of darkness, they too will soon enough encounter the stairwell, and it should be no problem for them to understand what path to follow.

~Pyre had rushed through the series of rooms without paying much attention to his surroundings, but when he descended the staircase at full speed, he began to notice somethings were different from last time. The candles from before were gone, and everything was a lot darker. This meant either too things. Wraith was getting smart, or the assasin had already gotten so far away, fire in the area was reacting to his presence anymore. He had a bittersweet hope that the answer was the first one, and though it would make Wraith harder to find, at least he would still get to fight him in the end.

However, when he reached the end of the staircase, he sawed a dark figure in front of him, and skidded to a halt. His first thought was that he had finally found his prey, and he had both dagger and scimitar raised in a battle position before relizing it was Alpha. The ranger stood there for a second, staring at him. It was only at that moment that it hit him how little and how much he was involved in all of this.

One thing was true, he hardly knew Alpha or the other adventurers. He had been thrown into this by one or two chance meetings, and then being in the Forgotten Square at the wrong time. Even now that he was "involved" though, the only thing he knew about, or thought he knew about, was Wraith. He had no clue who the "Hakiems" were, or what they did, nor why they were chasing the group. He didn't know the group's purpose or their past and motivation. The ranger was only working on two channels at the moment: survival and protecting the castle from invasion. Beyond that, he was sadly misinformed. Why then should he be putting his life on the line for all of this.

All of this passed through his mind while he stared, surprised, at Alpha. Pyre almost asked a question. Anything to shine some light on the situation, but thought better of it. Now was not the time. Now it was time for the hunt to continue, and for all of his energies to be devoted to it, not asking questions. That could come later.... he hoped.~

All he could feel was pain but still he ran. He couldn't lose just because he was in extreme pain. He also felt that stopping would prove to be more painful than continuing to run. In fact the run was making him feel better, as he felt he pain subside. Then he realized he was surrounded by a light, a healing light, just like the one he saw before. He could feel the wounds start to heal as the deep burns and blistered skin regenerated leaving only behind minor burns behind. To think I would be worthy of the Favor of the Goddesses. Although I doubt they were doing so for me.

The majority of his pain now gone he saw that the way ahead was dark as the candles had been snuffed out.A ruse by Wraith. He ran thought he darkness without slowing, as if he welcomed the dark. Sprinting down the straights and sliding into the corners enjoying the freedom from pain and the cover of darkness. At one point he came across a hole in the floor in front of a vase and took delight in leaping over the crater and turning as he hit the floor to take the next corner.

He saw a couple of figures ahead of him and slowed his pace. It wouldn't do to let it look like he was enjoying the fact they were hunting a deadly assassin. As he stops along side them he sees the problem they face once again a question of choice. Either one could lead to a trap or to Wraith. Who is to say which would be more favorable. Once again he attempted to use his [Awareness] to judge which way Wraith had gone. Listen for any sound which would give away his presence, even a scent, maybe even sense his desire to kill.

Alpha grimaces, as the sound of footsteps on the stairs behind him reach his ears, their soft bouncing pounds on the structure still loud enough for his Sheikah senses to make note of. It seems that the others had decided to follow him after all; well, that was only to be expected, he decides. Of course they wouldn't leave well enough alone, but instead felt a foolish desire to chase after the Assassin and his target. He sighs as he turns around, glancing at their expressions, some curious, others determined, most with both of these traits.

Well, much as he wishes it were otherwise, he can't exactly stop them from following him. Besides, they might continue to prove useful. Though this use isn't exactly shown immediately, as Raven's Awareness Check is not successful (4+3[Roll+INT]). Nothing seems to point out to the Sheikah Thief which direction they should head in, though he is probably on the right track mentally.

(((OOC: Well then there's only one way to remedy the situation....))

~The first thing that struck Pyre beyond his thoughts about Alpha and their current situation was that once again they had a choice to make. He remembered all to well what happened last time when he had made a mistake, and did not want to repeat that experience. Besides, the goddesses would only favor him so many times.

No going ahead without a clue as to which way to go would be foolish. It would be much better to look for any clues of Wraith's passage. [Awareness Check] Then he could rush ahead without a thought for what was going to happen like he had before...~

(((OOC: Ahhh, I love short awareness posts.)))

Pyralin's Awareness Check is a brilliant success (15+7[Roll+INT]), granting him a certain degree of insight as to which direction they might wish to go in. If one had been listening carefully enough, any of those present could have made out the sound of some liquid dripping off in the distance, their aural senses saying that it is coming from the left passage. That in and of itself isn't useful, but what Pyre is lucky enough to make out is the distinct sound of a footstep piercing the puddle that must be forming in there, a soft splish-splashy sound being emitted as a result.

OOC: Can someone tell me just what's happening? Please? .

~Pyre stood watching the different passageways, standing next to Alpha and Raven, lost in thought. His mind wasn't just dwelling on which way Wraith had gone, but on the thoughts he had been thinking a moment before. Who really were the Hakiems? What was their purpose? What the hell was he doing here chasing after a dangerous assassin with a group of people he didn't even know. Who is Alpha? What is the real story behind the RER? (REF?)

Even as he thought these things, the pounding of his footsteps as he ran down the stairs pounded in his head, even though he has stopped except... they didn't seem to be stopping. Instead, they seemed to be moving away from him in one direction. To the left. His first thought was that it was another dangerous path, but he couldn't hear the footsteps coming from any other direction, and the steps were getting farther and farther away.

The hylian sprung into action. He continued the mad rush after the assassin, this time heading to left. The other's might always assume he was guessing, and might not follow him, and in fact he might very well be, but this was the best lead he had. It would be prudent to make good use of it, and he could always need backup.

"This way! I can hear him! (Awareness check for the win!)"

The hunt was on again, and surely they would soon corner Wraith and get to the bottom of this.~

OOC: I am also lost, but hey, I go with the flow . . .

FOr those who care: I probably have the worlds biggest checklist of topics to reply to in the near future. If you would all stop posting everywhere, the list would go down substantionally.

IC: Kasei, who was at the back of the group, finally cought up, only to hear footsteps coming from the left passage. Not desiring to waste any time, The mercinary darted off into the darkness, no fear for his own health holding him back. I guess this "Wraith" is one of the beings who attempted to attack the castle. He must be stopped.

OOC: IF I used knowledge not yet known, please tell me.

The group dashes forward, heading along the pathway to the left from whence the noise has come. Alpha is the first to follow after Pyralin, and quickly overtakes the Ranger as he darts towards the impostor. 'Well . . . maybe having these guys along doesn't hurt after all,' the Sheikah considers as his cape furrows after him in the wind brought forth by his speedy strides. After all, he had no real skills in tracking, so perhaps he can use Pyralin's help after all.

They pass through one room, seeing nothing of interest. A few shelving units hold random household items, a few pieces of pottery and gardening tools sitting amongst them, and nowhere for the Assassin to hide from the group. Besides, the single footstep had sounded somewhat far away, so it is quite unlikely for it to be from a single room away. There's a much higher chance of it originating from the second or third rooms away.

Stepping into that second room, it becomes quite obvious that such logic was indeed sound.

The figure of Wraith stands along the far wall from the entrance, mask hiding the feral grin stretching wide across his face. "About time you all arrived," he calls out as the last of their numbers enter through the doorway. "It's just too bad none of you will be leaving." Without even making a motion, a wall of flames erupts in the doorframe. It doesn't burn anything, as it is contained by both the stone walls of the circular room and by the boundaries set by the Assassin's mind.

A whiff of something catches Alpha's nose, and he quickly sniffs as a cold sense of dread forces its way into his mind. That second sniff confirms his fear as he quickly glances around, spying dozens of jars and pots littering the floor. He gulps audibly. 'Oil, and a whole lot of it.'

* * *

The place is not terribly different from the one where the fight is taking place. It is a circular chamber buried underground, with stone wall surrounding the many containers that litter the floor. But this is not the scene of a great battle, and it is not directly beneath a castle, and it has naught but a single occupant. And yet perhaps something more important is going on here than where Alpha and his companions run.

Standing over a vast cauldron stands the red-robed wizard for which the fiery Assassin has been taking orders, gazing intently into the bubbling liquid beneath his tall form. His hands wave over it in a rapid series of intentional motions, every now and then pausing as he mutters another portion of the enchantment he has been preparing. His focus is so intent that one would have never realized that he was readying this spell only as a last resort, simply developing a manner by which he might avoid the worst-case scenario. One thing he has stressed to the Assassin countless times is that Alpha's identity as Wraith must remain secret. The choice must be his own - it cannot be forced upon the Sheikah.

With that in mind does he keep his focus solely on his spell, knowing that should his plans go any further south than they already have . . . well, this may well be necessary. The moment he'd become aware of the Hakiems' upcoming assault on North Castle he had made plans of how to use it to his advantage, but things have not happened as he would have liked. The meeting with Veldam and Lion, Sovelis' joining the group, Segnin's survival even after the Golden Gerudo's attack, Laxin's presence amongst the invading force . . . these seemingly insignificant events have severely altered the future he had desired.

His shoulders slump as he finally allows himself to relax - it is done. A wearied eye moves over to where the many crystal balls he owns sit on their various stands, looking particularly at the two that remain lit and transmitting images: one showing the events playing out in the throne room, the other revealing that Alpha and friends have finally arrived where the Assassin waits.

"Do forgive me, Alik," he says softly as he moves over to the latter and waves a hand over it. A humored grin emerges onto his face, as quite frankly he doesn’t care if the annoying assassin forgives him or not. "I'm afraid things won't be going as you would like, either."

'So you finally decided to stop running.' He said and winced slightly from the burns. 'As you can see we survived your last technique. Just what did you gain by running?' His hand is hovering near his dagger, as he tries to remain relaxed yet alert for what might follow.

~Pyre's eyes harden as he slid into this room to see Wraith waiting for them. It wasn't because he was upset to see the assasin, or angry at him, but more because he was uncertain as to why Wraith had simply stopped. It seemed highly unlikely that such a skilled killer, even if he was an imposter, would ever let himself get cornered like this, unless he wanted to. And that was the problem. Why did he chose this particular place, and why stop now instead of toying with them some more. This was definitely some kind of trap, but the hylian couldn't grasp its full intention.

His suspicions were confirmed when a wall of fire covered the exit behind him. They were stuck in the room, and Wraith was obviously possessed of the notion that they weren't going to leave... alive anyways. Even if the assassin thought that this was just a simple fact, the ranger didn't quite like the details. Particularly the dying part, although he didn't know what kind of death Wraith had in store for them.

The hylian had yet to notice the fact that they were surrounded by oil. He could see that there were many pots and containers in the room, and he simply assumed that this storage room was no different from others, but he was very sadly mistaken. Surely if he knew the full nature of the danger they were in, he would be hurridly looking for a way out of this mess, be the medium of escape appealing to Wraith, or attacking his barriers. In the end, no matter what happens, his fate is very uncertain at this point, just as it is for the others. Anything could happen although most of the possibilities weren't particularly pleasant for the members of the party that chased after the assassin.~