Alpha strides through the caves, passing back into the room in which he had mutilated the Bokoblins with a fiery wrath that would only be expected from a very powerful mage, or perhaps Hiro of Incinera. Signs of his staff were becoming greater by the second - finding the weapon had been impossible before, for some unknown circumstance. Now, however, the vital signs of an electric current were easily detected by the Sheikah, however faded they had become over the bleeding process of the lightning. Bypassing the room of his victory over the moronic, napping Bokoblins, he found himself coming up fast on the crossroad. Straight and to the right were his only options, and the right path was actually the path from which he had first appeared from. Further ahead, a bright red light exploded past a second intersection. Well, more like glowed from the right of the crossing. From the end of the tunnel where this crossing began, Alpha would be able to someone who he had probably discarded from the event, complete with a readymade lantern in hand. The signal of his staff stayed about the same, which was good. Energy was being lost from the simple wooden instrument, but he was gaining proximity, causing very little change in the intensity of the signal.

As he came to the crossroad, he was almost collided into by a dashing mercenary. If Saber had noticed the Sheikah, he would probably stop; the Moblins had been able to resist death while being tailed by three learned adventurers. They no doubt had some fierce killing power, and taking them on a team of two would likely be a better idea. Suddenly, the signal gave out completely. The electrical energy contained in the staff had been depleted. Still, there was only one direction it could be in at this point. To Alpha's left, and straight ahead of Saber, the tunnel stretched on and curved slightly. At the end of this corridor, the duo would surely find exactly what they were looking for.

Alpha allows himself a small grin as his sense of the electricity being given out by the staff heightens substantially. Even as he finds himself back at the crossroads in which he had earlier traveled through, his left hand reaches out and his scar begins to glow a shining violet - his preparations for opening a portal to the Void are nearly complete. Once the pathway was open, Alpha could spring a trap for the Moblins just like he had outside, when he'd popped up directly in their path and started slinging lightning bolts every which way.

Suddenly a new noise enters his ears, causing him to screech to a stop just before his portal is opened, lest the newcomer from the right path run into the Void. While the Sheikah isn't exactly against killing people via the Void's destructive potential, he would like to know if the person about to die is a friend or foe before doing the deed. And it is fortunate that he does so, for moments later Saber steps out into the passageway.

Thinking quickly, Alpha darts behind a nearby outcropping of stones. He'd really rather slay these Moblins on his own, without any interference - or observance - from the mercenary, and the Sheikah hopes that he had managed to evade Saber's line of sight before being spotted. Quickly his scar once again glows, this time fully opening the portal -

Only for the electrical trace to vanish completely.

'DIN'S FIRE!' he screams mentally as a fist smashes straight into the boulders behind which he hides, some of them shattering beneath the anger fueling his fist. Without his staff's signature energy guiding him, he has no way of pinpointing the location where he should create the second portal back into Hyrule. Normally that wouldn't be such a critical problem; he could simply guess and create a passageway around where he'd last felt the energy. But in a tunnel system like this, chances are incredibly high that he would actually create a portal on the inside of the walls, or in a separate tunnel from his goal, or any other number of problems.

Fuming, the Sheikah emerges from behind his cover and darts forward, passing by Saber without so much as a word of greeting. His own legs and Sheikah speed will have to suffice for now.

Saber followed the winding corridors swiftly, determined to catch up with someone or find a way out. The place seemed to be repeating itself, every stalactite and boulder seeming just like the last, and claustrophobia began sinking into his aching body. Luckily, he still had his light source, floating just above the palm of his hand, and his ankle was feeling better than ever. He increased his pace as he saw the end of the corridor, and he approached another cavern. He didn't notice the slick Sheikah slide sneakily to the stony shield out of Saber's sight(YAY FOR ALLITERATION!) As he slowed to a stop in the middle of the cavern, looking slightly to his left, trying to decide which path to take.

Maybe I should just wait for someone to get here. Maybe I'll shout out to them and we can regroup here and work out a plan.He thought earnestly, sitting down on a rock and focusing hard to keep the flame afloat--He was feeling strained, as magic was not his forte. However, he didn't get to choose--His fireball was dangerously near extinguished as the Sheikah sped by. His hair was, once again, pulled in one direction, and he sighed heavily as it fell back into place. "I never get a break.." He complained as he sat up, adjusting his clothes as the gust os wind had ruffled them and made them twist uncomfortably. He chased after the Sheikah as fast as he could, wondering if this would finally be the end.

Despite Alpha's incredible speed which only a Sheikah with his swiftness could achieve, Saber was able to keep a close proximity as he gave chase. Well, could it really be called a chase? The mercenary was more or less just following Alpha's route, with his goal not really revolving around Alpha as its main article. Had his ankle been unable to see the healing warmth of the Goddesses, Saber, would have been left hobbling haphazardly down the tunnel, and Alpha's protective mission to eliminate the Moblin and retrieve the staff would have long since been completed by the time he limped into the next dug-out chamber, Fortunately for him, luck had been on his side and the Goddesses had shown that their kind eyes were always watching their original creations, the Hylians, even in darks places like these.

Alpha was the first to break out of the tunnel and into the next and final chamber of the Windmill Construction Site. Likely due to his many years of stealth, his feet did not slip out from underneath as the soles of his footwear sloshed heavily in a puddle of an unknown substance. Saber was half as lucky, and was sent slipping as he too arrived at the destination. Now, seeing how he was half as lucky, he did not plummet directly into the wetness below his feet, but rather slipped forward and landed safely on a rough cushion. All around the room were torches that illuminated the area, and allowed the two chasers to observe their surroundings.

Saber had fallen face first into the object, and so his vision was obstructed. Alpha, however, could see quite clearly the scene of carnage before him. That was no ordinary pillow Saber had landed on. An inch from the merc's face there jutted out a wooden object, a red hand print stained to its brown make. The hilt headed an ordinary Deku blade, which did not show its tip to the eyes of the men. Instead it lay buried in Saber's cushion. The clouded, dead eyes of the Moblin gazed limply up at Saber as he regained awareness of his surroundings, and bored into his very soul. It's head had been severed from its body, and Saber was laying directly on top of its barbarous, bloodied torso. And the liquid that the two had sloshed through as they entered the scene? A shallow yet wide pool of the beast's spilled blood, of course.

Alpha's staff was lazily laying limp by the Moblin's side, a thick, dirty claw grasping it very loosely in what appeared to be the last grip the Moblin ever had on the proud Sheikah's chosen weapon. At long last, Alpha had been reunited with his staff. However, it would likely serve his interests better to burn the blood soaked Deku equipment and buy a new one for the small fee than to wash the item and carry it about.

To the left of the duo, a thin crack allowed construction Gorons to ease out, as a sort of emergency exit in the event of a cave-in. Another exit went completely undetected, hidden behind a large boulder. But one man had been clever enough to catch sight of it, rolling it back into place as he dashed off.

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Blank thundered through the exitway, turning at its few right-angled corners and arriving down and around the cliff face, at a small hole leading out into the Great Sea. From there he swam to the shore of the desert and stole off into the night. Something was wrong, and his white face, which was glowing paler than the full moon above the now rainless sky, reassured him of the feeling in his gut. Something was very, very wrong.

Alpha dashes forward through the halls, annoyance filling him as he senses Saber following him. 'I want to finish this myself,' he thinks. 'And I don't especially care to have any witnesses to the pain that those Moblins will be experiencing . . .' But unfortunately it seems like he doesn't have a choice in the matter now, for the Hylian is indeed coming straight after him. And unless he wants to risk a random trip through the Void, there's pretty much no effective way to lose the mercenary. So he just keeps moving, paying attention to his surroundings and looking for any sort of clue that would point to the Moblins having come along this pathway.

But it is not exactly joy that he feels when his feet step in a relatively deep puddle. Not one of water though, he realizes as his nose sniffs the air . . . and as Saber slides forward to collide into a Moblin corpse. Stepping to the side, he gets his boots clear of the liquid and kneels down to examine it closely. The color is more than enough to provide him with evidence to the what he had already figured out. 'Blood.' His face tightens in disgust at the sight - not because of the carnage present in the area, of course, but rather due to the realization that his vengeance has been stolen from them.

His eyes dart around again, using the light from the torches littering the room to spy one of the two Moblins that the trio had been chasing earlier . . . or rather, its remains. The body and its parts lay strewn all over the cavern . . . but at least his staff lies there, ready and waiting for him to take it up once more. He swiftly grasps it from the lifeless hand, ripping it from the dead fingers, placing it behind his back, and returning it to its normal resting place in the Void, alongside where the Magboard and some of his . . . other weaponry . . . lie in wait. He'll worry about cleaning it later, though the idea strikes him that he could use the blood present on the Deku Staff to study these deceased beings. Perhaps he can use a few contacts to discern how these beasts could have withstood a Lightning Javelin's strike . . .

But something nags him further as he glances around the room . . . the Sheikah turns back to the ragged remnants of the hideous monster. He hadn't taken the time to ever look at them very closely before, and that last thought has sparked another memory of his.

Alpha - and Blank - wrote:~"Elemental Explosion!" Alpha focuses even further before allowing the shining ball of magic to erupt outward in a blast even more intense than Jett's latest attack - and much more lethal to the beings he has targeted (as well as the flutes that they carry). "Light!"

But as the light faded, and not a single Moblin had been harmed, Maverick confirmed that something was amiss. A powerful mage like Alpha should have had no difficulty laying ruin to the threescore Moblins, and yet there stood the mangy legion, most giggling to each other over how "weak" the Sheikah's magic was.~

He had already figured that these beasts were probably the same ones who had attacked the Stock Pot Inn the year previous. But what if . . .

The Sheikah manages to find the face completely intact, and gives it a long look. "Yes, these are definitely the same," he mutters to himself, though his voice is not terribly quiet. Saber should have no difficulty hearing him, provided he has gotten over the shock of being covered in blood. But that hardly matters right now, and it does at least make him feel a trifle bit better about the strange ability the being had had to resist his magic. If these were also of the same clan - Mid-Dao Moblins, the Sheikah seems to remember hearing someone call them once - then at least it isn't like his power is becoming ineffectually against all of the pig people. Just one type. This requires much more study, and he will certainly be using that staff to accomplish such.

"Maverick will want to know about this at once," he adds, his voice rushed - and not at all hushed - as his gaze flies around the room. Having forgotten completely about Saber - and even more so about Blank, wherever he is - the Sheikah finds his gaze landing on the narrow exit off to one side. The Sheikah sprints forward, surprisingly moving even faster than he had before. Anger can indeed fuel one's speed, but it seems in Alpha's case that anxiety is a much better source of strength.

Saber had no idea how, but he kept the Sheikah in sight the whole time. He dashed after Alpha's retreating back, stumbling over several jutting rocks but managing to catch himself and keep his momentum. Why is he running away from me? Aren't we working together here? As one of his pumping arms rose into the air, he took a quick sniff. Do I offend? After deciding his pits smelled reasonably nice, considering he had just trudged across half the Plateau and through a cave--DURING a heavy, mud-producing rain. He finally saw the end of the corridor and put on an extra spurt of speed, hoping to catch up to Alpha. Catch up he did. Although it wasn't on his own two feet that he accomplished this feet. Maybe on one of his own two feet.

He hit the slippery surface full speed, unable to brace himself at all. He ended up rocketing forward on his right heel, the one that had been smashed just minutes before until his three favorite magical beings helped him out. He managed to stay upright the whole time, luckily--or maybe NOT so luckily...He ended up smashing into something nice and soft, although the texture was a bit...rough and warty? He felt around the spot a bit more, unable to see as his face was pretty deep into the cushion. He felt something made of wood, and winced as he felt it cut him. Drawing his hand back down, he struggled to release his head, and with a loud squelch he pulled it out slightly. Looking at his finger, he noticed it was bleeding from the cut. In fact, his whole hand was covered in blood. There's no way it bled that much...I doubt a sword would cause that much bleeding...wait...sword...in...in something soft...? Oh...Goddesses, if you really loved me, you would make me wake up from this now...

He raised his head slowly, his brown eyes traveling up the mysterious reptilian pattern. He finally gazed into the soulless spheres set in the Moblin's head, and he gasped, trying to stand and jump back at the same time as he took in the barbaric mutilation of the Moblin. This ungainly action sent him reeling backwards, and he felt a splash as he landed on his back. He stared up at the ceiling blankly, his mouth open and quivering, his voice caught in his throat. Slowly, ever so slowly, he rose, his eyes closed as he sat upright. Now he stood up, taking even longer than he did to rise the first time, before opening his eyes. Trying to take a breath, but failing, he looked down into the pool of blood that was now splattered all over his body. His eye started to twitch, his knees trembling as he lost strength, and he screamed for all he was worth, the sound echoing across the mountains, and definitely startling the Goron at the mouth of the caverns. He darted after the direction he had seen Alpha go a few seconds earlier, still yelling all the way as he tried to think of something happy amid the horrific experience.

OOC: Blank. You are a cruel, cruel man. You will pay for this someday. Bad things in store for Victor and Buranku in JaR...oh yes..