Noval looks away as he rolls his eyes, humored by Drommlin's new nickname for him. Of course, as a member of the Hylian Knights, he is forced to demand respect. "My name is General Richarn Noval, Drommlin," he says with a touch of harshness in his voice. "You would do well to call me by one of those three words, or a combination of the three. Referring to me as 'Mr. Mind-reading General' will not get you on my good side, to say the least.

But with that little tangent taken care of, he knows that the two Gerudo need to be made aware of what they're up against. "The man in question is indeed a Sheikah. We have no knowledge of who exactly it is we're dealing with, but he is a member of an ancient tribe of Sheikah assassins, known as the Hakiems Tribe. They have existed since before the era of the Hero of Time, and are one of the best kept secrets of the history of the world - you won't find even a mention of them in the history books. But they are the some of the most reliable assassins known to the Criminal Underground."

Without another word, Noval walks forward into the garden. Before the group lies a large maze of seven foot high shrubbery. It's difficult to see it now, but if the group had been paying attention when walking through the overlooking halls they would know that a long river stretches through the garden, and the large bridge at the end of this hall of bushes passes over it. On the opposite side, if Noval's memory serves him, will be a relatively spacious clearing, with three different divergent paths to take. Hopefully they'll choose correctly.

Drom slouches disappointedly, and says, "But I liked Mr. Mind reader... Fine. Whatever kills your cucoo, general noval. He says. Then, he joins up with icerova and firerova and says "Hi. I'm Drommlin, but everyone calls me Drom. So you two can make fire and ice? Isn't that kinda like those two witches, Koume and Kotake that are in hylian legend?"

Icerova nods her head while Firerova replied, "We trained under them with Ganondorf Dragmire. However, when we learned what it was they were trying to accomplish, we fled to the Desert Colossus."

"It's a pity, really," Icerova interrupted. "Ganondorf would've made a decent king had Koume and Kotake not corrupted him. And if he had some willpower. Of course, we could've fixed that had it not been for my sister. There's no telling what he's up right now." Her tones were not accusatory, but Firerova knew her sister too well.

"Oh, come on, give me a break. I wasn't actually expecting the Goddess of the Sand to appear and say that she will take us to another time. I didn't even know time meant an alternate universe!"

"So you did zone out when she told us that every decision ever made by anyone results in a split in the timeline, where each possible option in the decision receives their own branch. Therefore, timeline isn't really an appropriate word; a time tree would be more like it."

"I actually zoned out at the ‘A cucco flaps its wings’ thing," Firerova said sourly.

Noval chuckles slightly as he overhears Drommlin's muttered response. Making his way onto the arcing stone bridge, he tries to get an overlooking glance at the rest of the maze; despite the fact that he has lived in the castle for most of his seventy-one years, he has never navigated this garden. His gaze searching for a way to see over the hedges, he almost doesn't see it coming.

"Rohtric Esarck!"

The General dives to the ground of the bridge, barely dodging the sudden bolt of lightning erupting from the man on the other side of the bridge. Looking back up once the roar of electricity had faded away, the Hylian's gaze falls upon the owner of the attack. The traditional Hakiems' cloak is sported, only this one has his hood down to reveal the spiked yellow head of hair and jet black eyes, and his hands are outstretched, with no obvious weapon in them. Noval raises an eyebrow: this man must be channeling the electricity through his very body . . . not the safest of tactics, but obviously a very effective one.

"Nice reaction, General!" the man shouts at him. "Few people have the speed to dodge a Rohtric Esarck when they don't even know it's coming. I must say, I'm impressed!" Noval just draws his intricately decorated sword and holds it at the ready.

The Hakiem's grin disappears. "Oh, and by the way, I don't suppose there's some Deku by the name of Grenada with you right now, is there? I have a little score to settle with him." He grimaces at the thought of that Deku, who had made a fool out of him in the Hakiems' base . . . he'd found the escaped prisoners, and Grenada had had the gall to come right out and tell him as much just before he'd been blasted into submission . . .

Segnin did not take such humiliation as well as his master told him to.

"Drom listned to the gerudo's stories, and nodded, when suddenly the lightning wizzed past. Drom leaped, and drew his spear. "I know how to use this thing, I've been trained well." he yells at the newcomer.

"Yeah, kid, I'm sure you have," the lightning mage replies curtly to Drom's proud little speech. "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Segnin Tamayal of the Hakiems Tribe, student to General Dessil himself. And I am a verifiable master of the Rohtra Zaaran style." Noval blinks for a few long moments - the name of the style is not one he has run across before, though there is little doubt in his mind as to what it is now that he's almost been torn apart by one of its techniques.

Then Segnin finished speaking, pulling something from beneath his cloak in the process: a key on a metal ring. "I believe that the reason you all came out here was to search for this, yes? This is indeed one of the two keys needed to unlock the doorway into the throne room - and if you have any hope of saving your king, I suggest you try everything in your power to take it from me."

Leaping high into the air, Segnin unleashes another wave of lightning energy from his hands straight at General Noval, who chooses to roll out of the way rather than get torn apart by the electrical energy - a wise decision to be sure. The lightning rips straight through the stone bridge, causing the entire structure to collapse even as Noval leaps off and into the patch of green on the opposite side of where the rest of the group is.

Segnin lands amidst the ruins, hands sparking with energy as he readies his defenses and preps his offenses.

OOC: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND FIGHT! (RP battle for now )

OOC: Sweet. An RP battle. Heh heh heh... Drom's got this little... ability... that he doesn't know about, he rarely uses it, and when he does he has no recollection of using it, but it's pretty powerful. I usually only use it when i know Drom would get himself killed without anything special to save his sorry behind. I won't use it yet, though I have a feeling I'm gonna have to... did I mention that Drom is learning ninjutsu? Basic styles, of course (dopplegangers, transformation, and speed. Lots of speed.) , and he's not very good at it. (not yet, anyway...) I get my Ideas of 'ninjtsu' from Naruto, so don't get mad at me if you recognize anything. When I think about it, Drom is probably a mix of Naruto and Rock lee.

IC: Drom bares his teeth. "Right then." He growls. "Let's get started." He then starts running forward at inhuman speed, Spear twirling viciously in his hand. He makes as if to slash Segnin, but instead jumps up and reverses in midair, slicing downward with his spear.

Shortly after Segnin sent his bolt of electricity at Noval, Icerova and Firerova immediately conjured weapons. Icerova weilded a two-handed scimitar made of ice, and Firerova a fiery scythe.

Fire Scythe - Summons a scythe made out of fire. There is no spell resistance. To hit the enemy, a d20 roll plus AGI must beat the AC of the enemy. However, the scythe deals 16 damage like any other spell. Costs 8 SPL to create. The scythe remains for an hour or until she [Firerova] dismisses the spell.

Ice Scimitar - Summons a two-handed scimitar made out of ice. There is no spell resistance. To hit the enemy, a d20 roll plus AGI must beat the AC of the enemy. However, the scimitar deals 17 damage like any other spell. Costs 8 SPL to create. The scimitar remains for an hour or until she [Icerova] dismisses the spell.

Icerova stepped in front of her sister, whispering, "Let him speak for now."

When the Hakiem finished talking, Icerova stepped aside. "You should've let me at him sooner," Firerova whispered as she sprung forward, leaping over Segnin in her attempt to slash at him. Meanwhile, Icerova rushed in herself, swinging her sword of ice in a horizontal arc.

Segnin glances over at the group of three other fighters that abruptly leap up in sequence to attack him. "Oh boy, this could be some trouble," he mutters to himself as he gazes at the flaming scythe and frigid scimitar that the two Gerudo are wielding. Eyes darting in every direction, he spots Noval already up and ready to attack if he tries to retreat back over to the start of the maze. Obviously, Firerova, Icerova, and Drommlin are above him and ready to start a pummeling. Koura and Calla are covering the majority of the other side of the now-destroyed bridge, and General Lion sits back and watches from the remainder of that side. Not many options for escape.

But what the heck? Who said he was trying to escape. A grin flashing onto his face, his hands clap together. "Rohtric Seerse!" Before even a second can pass his body appears to be fully enveloped in electricity, and it just as quickly converts itself into a lightning bolt that flies out, striking the ground behind where Lion stands. A shockwave rocks the area, causing the Zora general to stumble forward a few steps.

The group in mid-attack should notice immediately that Segnin has disappeared from his original location, making their strikes all but useless (unless they want to hit their companions. Then they could still be quite useful).

"So, what's up with you, Zora? Not a fighter?"

Lion turns back to face the crater that has resulted from the Rohtric Seerse's impact, gazing upon the Hakiem there. "No," he replies curtly, despite the fact that he has lifted up a hand to cast a spell if needed.

The bond between twins is indeed a strange thing. It becomes stranger for the Veilmist sisters, for it is how they cast their magic and how they can survive any temperature change.

Icerova is constantly absorbing heat from the air around her, without even having to think about it. The bond with her sister sends all the heat to Firerova. As a result, Icerova's body was immune to cold for it was always cold itself, and this low body temperature negated the heat of the desert. And Firerova's body was used to the desert heat in a way no other Gerudos could be used to it, and this metaphorical fire in her blood kept her warm in the heart of winter and on the frigid heights of any mountain.

This bond is also the source of their spellcasting. Icerova's ice spells began with a gathering of water droplets in the air, quickly forming into ice as the heat was sucked out of them. The heat then went to Firerova, who used it to ignite the air or any other fuel source into a blazing fire.

One might think that they could reverse this process. However, cold is nothing but the absence of heat; a fact that the Veilmists knew very well. Of course, their elemental weapons didn't last forever, but that was explained by the magic holding them together. Once the magic was spent, air was pushed away from Firerova's scythe, extinguishing it. For Icerova, the energy of the magic leaving the icy scimitar is enough to loosen the bonds to turn it back into water.

However, sometimes situations arose where they needed to end their spells early. Situations such as a Hakiem turning into a bolt of lightning to escape their attacks. Firerova had it easy. She merely cut off the supply of heat and pushed the flaming scythe away from her. Icerova, however, could not release heat to melt her blade. Thankfully, both had a good sense of their momentum, so Firerova used hers to move up a bit so the tip of the scimitar wouldn't slice into her skin. Her sister merely allowed her forward momentum to carry her forward, and the momentum of her arm spinned her around, allowing her to see where Segnin escaped too. With practiced aim, she lets the scimitar fly. Hopefully, General Lion will not move between the shard of ice and the student of General Dessil.

However, Sheena "Icerova" Veilmist did not have time to see if her tactics worked. Because her forward momentum sent her slamming into her sister, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

OOC: I still think General Dessil sounds like General Duessel from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Alpha.

And woot! Finally got a reply up!

Drommlin landed smoothly on the ground, and raised his spear into the air. twirling his spear deftly, leaps into the air, only to slam his spear point first into the ground. dirt rose in directly to his left and right, but it settled as quickly as it rose. In the spots where there had been dirt stood doppelgangers, precise mirror images of Drom. They leaped into a circle around segnin, and all dashed forward towards him, spears thrust forward.

OOC: HNS, as always, you're free to think whatever you want. No matter how wrong you might be.

IC:
Kamas stands his ground, gazing into the very heart of Segnin's eyes as the Hakiem looks at the group in an annoyed fashion. There is certainly something different about this member of the Sheikah tribe of assassins, and not just the fact that he can transform himself into a bolt of lightning and control that element with remarkable skill. There . . . in the very depths of the man . . . the Zora draws back in sudden surprise. Is it reluctance that he senses?

Even if it is reluctance that General Lion has somehow spotted, it is certainly not directed at Icerova's speeding scimitar. The Hakiem's eyes land upon it the moment it is released from Sheena Veilmist's hands in his direction, and his mind is just as quick to calculate different ways of avoiding having the icy weapon plunge through him. In the end of the sole split second he has to think up these tactics, he has already picked one.

His left hand shoots up, held perpendicular to his body as he focuses on the second technique of the Rohtra Zaaran style. "Rohtric Esarck!" An sudden outpouring of electricity rips forward from his opened palm, colliding with the ice and shattering it instantly. The shattered pieces are melted instantly by the heat generated by the electrical attack, leaving nothing but a sparking mist behind.

Segnin turns his glance upward to where the Drom is leaping forward. "So, you wish to be next? Fine by -" he stops short as clones suddenly appear from the dust kicked up by the kid's spear. That was slightly unanticipated, but no matter. These things shouldn't be any problem for another "Rohtric Esarck!" This time both palms fly out, allowing electricity to surge forward and strike each Drommlin in the area.

Icerova rolled off her sister and jumped back to her feet just in time to see what remained of her scimitar. Her first reaction was to form another scimitar, but then Drommlin put his plan into motion. Her second reaction would have been to rush in and help the human, but that was when Segnin decided to attack the Drommlin clones. Hoping it would be enough of a distraction, she flung her left arm across her body and made a wide arc with it, a small blue light flying away from her in the middle of the arc. As the sphere went forward, water was drawn to it and turned to ice, smoothed from the quick forward motion of the ball. Once it is near the Hakiem, the Gerudo's hand clenched into a fist as she threw it down to her side. Shards of ice were sent flying as the sphere burst [Elemental Burst L2].

While all of that happened, Firerova pushed herself up from the ground and ran close to the earth in a rather awkward fashion to get her scythe, thankful that the magic holding the fiery weapon together would not allow anything to burn unless she supplied the source of heat. After picking up her weapon, the flame witch turned her attention to the continuing battle. After taking in what was happening, she decided it best not to do anything quite yet; she certainly had no desire to interrupt her sister's attack.

OOC: use the power, don't use the power... use the power, don't use the power... I'll use it if I need it on my next post.

IC: The Clones completely disintegrate as the lightning strikes them. But the surprising thing is, they all disintegrate! Were they all clones? "That's the simplest trick in the book, and you fell for it!" Says a voice behind Segnin. Of course, it is Drommlin, with his razor-sharp spear poised to strike. He swings it with all of his might towards Segnin.

As the electricity surges outward, General Lion leaps back into the air in an attempt to get away from the lightning attack - being a Zora gives him a natural hatred of being struck by a lightning bolt, and even if the blast is not directed towards him he would still rather be as far away from the source as possible.

And then his eyes grow wide as a bolt streaks upward, heading right for him. His hands fly forward, throwing his otherwise perfectly executed leap completely off balance but still allowing him to use a Shield spell to absorb the shock. The force of the attack still pushes him backwards and he lands in the river, tumbling through the soft current for a few moments before swimming back up. "Kamas, are you alright?" The Zora turns back and glances at General Noval, nodding a few times in confirmation that he has taken no damage.

About this time Segnin ends his attack, noting swiftly that all the Drommlin's have vanished as a result - meaning that none of them were the real one. His form twirls around as the real one finally chooses to make an appearance, spear flying towards the Hakiem with great force. A grimace comes upon his face as he spots the weapon, and realizes that he may take some damage against this kid after all.

And at the same second, the sound of something rushing at him from those two Gerudos' direction. He doesn't have time to look at what is coming, though - he has to deal with this spear attack first. In a quick decision, he hops up a few inches into the air, allowing Drom's spear to slam into his side with no apparent defenses raised, and the look of pain on his face would make it quite obvious that he truly had no defenses prepared under that cloak of his.

Because he was airborne at the time of impact, though, a portion of the attack is transferred from damaging into having the effect of sending him flying to the side. Tumbling to the side, his eyes manage to focus for a moment on the incoming projectiles - an icy bombardment coming his way. Probably from that one that had been wielding the ice scimitar, then, he decides as his roll comes to a halt. "Rohtric Esarck!" he yells, opening up his hands again to send forth waves of electricity. The lightning streaks through the air, colliding with a majority of the ice fragments from Icerova's Elemental Burst - though not all - and heading straight for the two Veilmist sisters.