Dogura watched the scene unfold, and sighed. "Abel. I don't expect you to take advise from a stranger like me...But you should watch how you act towards future allies. Suppose you're in real trouble, and that man right there is the only one close enough to save you." He motioned to Nier, before continuing. "Perhaps he'd think twice before he stuck his neck out for you."

Darkin nodded, and set down the pack, as it would seem they would be there for a while longer before departing. "Teamwork is important, and so are bonds with your allies. You'll find that two strong strangers working in agreement would have trouble with two weak lifelong friends. First impressions are crucial when it comes to making friends and allies." The Rito smiled, and pointed to Abel. "Oh, and for future reference- the only stupid question, is the one you don't ask." The samurai leaned against the wall, and nodded in agreement with his feathered friend.

"You're wrong. An honest mistake for someone to make, but I'm from an old kingdom called Shadowclaw. I will not bow to Hyrule's current King. He is no King of mine. My King has long entered his eternal slumber...My king is the kind of king who led his army into battle, charging in the front lines... The kind of king would have loved the chance to face your queen in combat."

Princess Julia nodded. "We have heard of no such kingdom before," she said. "Forgive me for my ignorance."

And then the scene between Neir and Lawliet broke out. However, Eberron, Darkin, and Dogura did a good job of explaining the importance of teamwork. But Aria still had to put in her opinion. "If you two insist on bickering like nomads over a large oasis, then I will leave you behind to die like them," she threatened.

"Is there a reward involved, and what is it?"

Tears sprung to the young princess's eyes, but these were mostly out of anger. "My mother is in danger, and all you can think of is how saving her would benefit you?!" she shouted, and in the large, but empty, kitchen her enraged voice echoed ominously. "Your reward will be to leave this desert with your tongue still in your mouth!"

She forced herself to calm down to address her fellow Gerudos. "Aria, Katharina, I think you should take them to the Desert Colossus now."

"Yeah, okay," Katharina replied. "You lot, follow me." She lead them out of the kitchen and back downhill, though she led them in a more northwesterly direction to intercept a gate between two great boulders that they could now see behind the queen's tent. The guards stationed there immediately allowed them through.

If the group of adventurers had been expecting raging winds beyond this point, they would have been sorely disappointed. The sky remained as blue as ever, and the slight gusts of wind barely cooled them down or moved the hot sand. For the next hour, the two Gerudic women led them along, occasionally taking a drink of water from their canteens and offering it to those foolish enough to not bring their own; however, they did not pass it to Nier. They, like their princess, were mad at him for asking for a reward.

"It's not like you would have gotten much anyway," Katharina said harshly; her tones had nothing to do with the sun's unrelenting heat. "Our valuables consist of those things that helps us survive in the desert."

"We do have two items that you would consider of great value," Aria continued. "Both of them have been returned to us and are in their proper resting place in the Spirit Temple. And I promise you, if any of you try to steal them, I will cut off your hands."

As the orange-haired woman threatened them for a second time, they arrived at their destination. Cliffs rose out of the sand and formed a circle with an opening in it, but in the center of this loomed a gigantic stone with the figure of a woman sitting sculpted out of it. Time and sand-filled winds had eroded most of the finer details, but those who craned their necks up to look at the statues face could still make out a stern look upon it.

"Be swift when you cross," Katharina warned them. "Leevers are known to live here sometimes." And with that, she and Aria ran for it. Fortunately, no leevers rose from the sea of sand to attack them or the group of volunteers behind them.

It was noticeably cooler inside the temple. The pair of Gerudos strode over to the stairs facing the entrance and stopped there. Both turned, and Aria said in a loud whisper, "Remember, these are sacred grounds for us. Treat this temple as you would treat you own. We will not tolerate any disrespect."

They led the group up the stairs. Near the head two statues stood guard. They looked very much like the Goron-made Armos statues, but these had the distinct images of Gerudo females etched onto them. "Do not worry about these," Katharina said. "They are for decoration."

To the left was a giant wall with a small hole at the base. It is quite obvious that the portal was far too small for any of them to enter.

However, the right entrance to deeper into the temple grounds were looked much more accessible....Given, of course, that they could move the giant stone block barring their way.

Eberron felt he could finally relax once they had entered the temple. Glancing around, he wiped the beads of sweat away from his brow. He had never been so grateful for his hat before... He had a feeling he might have passed out from sunstroke without it. Not that he knew what sunstroke actually was mind. But his father had mentioned it before... It sounded terrible. Eberron had begun to wonder if he could fit through the small hole on the left while curled into a ball, before the large stone block to the right of him caught his eye. Moving up to it with a goron sigh showing how impressed he was, Eberron ran his hands up and down the block... Such craftsmanship.

"I've carved much rock in my time... But this is expertly done, so smooth... Who could have created such a thing?"

Stepping back, he moved around, admiring it from different directions.

"It's seems such a shame to move it, it's so pretty!"

Eberron grinned and glanced back at Aria and his other companions.

"But I suppose we must? So... Strongest people push at the same time maybe? It'll need a lot of strength... I hope we have enough."

Eberron looked back at the rock again, doubt visibly spreading through his features.

The heat was causing Braylor's leaves to wilt. Though his dehydrated body begged for water, he only allowed himself a small swig from his canteen. Just as he twisted the cap onto the the bottle, he thought he better offer some water to Nier. Yes, it was foolish to anticipate a reward for helping someone in need, but he didn't deserve being deprived of water. The Deku tapped at his leg and spoke to him in his squeaky voice, "Here, just a sip," he said, reaching the canteen up to him.

Being inside the temple was a relief. Already he could feel the leaves on his head perking up. There was a hole to the left, perhaps he could - nope, even he couldn't fit through that thing. To the right was a giant block in the way, and he knew he wouldn't be any help moving that. What a predicament it was; he was too big to go one way and too small to go the other way. Feeling useless, he skittered over to the left and peered into the small hole.

Lawliet entered the temple looking around eventually he set his eyes on the rock that blocked the path. "I have no mucsle so it's up to someone else to move the rock ." Eventually hw alked over to Nier and said "I a a apologize I suppose ." Lawliet was never any good at apologies.

Dogura watched yet another scene unfold between Nier and the princess. After all was said and done, the samurai himself decided to get a word in. "Princess Julia. Allow me to speak in this man's defense. It would seem that we're in for one heck of a trip. Many who would find themselves in this situation would begin to question whether or not it's worth their while." He cleared his throat, and folded his arms. "I'd implore you not to lash out at the people who are helping you for free. If you want complete honesty out of me, I'm not very worried about your queen. I'm simply thrill seeking, and this happens to make my list as a thrill. Keep in mind that if you ever speak to me like that, I'll be opting out of this little adventure completely."

Darkin's mouth hung open. "Dogura!! How could be so... wait, really? We can go home?" The scholar stared at the woman, a smile of mischief creeping over his face. He knew that Gerudo were generally short tempered, and that with Dogura's attitude, it would only be a matter of time before they left this horrible place. Dogura rubbed his eye, and yawned. "All I'm saying is that you should be grateful that people are helping you at all. You'd do best to keep that temper under control." Dogura nodded to Nier, and spoke once more. "And you'd do best to work on your timing." Before they knew it, they were off. After some walking, they finally came to the Desert Colossus. It really was massive, and even exceeded Dogura's expectations. When they moved inside of the temple, the beauty of the place really manifested.

After taking everything in, Dogura smiled at the Gerudo women. "This truly is remarkable. A beautiful structure, really. Is this the one and the same that the Hero of Time ventured through in legend?" He looked around, and Darkin seemed equally as impressed. The Rito was truly afraid to be here. Aww man... What if I break something? This place seems so ancient... I'm afraid if I yell to loud, the whole place will come crashing down... Darkin fidgeted as he stared at the two entrances. "Yeah, I think it's gonna take all of us to move that block." Dogura nodded. "This temple seems to be full of shadows... I could slip past it via shadow to see if there's any kind of switch..." The duo waited for orders. While Dogura didn't expect to be yelled at in any way, he knew that as long as they were guests here, they were under command of the Gerudo women who accompanied them here.

OOC: Okay, we're going to assume that introductions were made during the one hour trek to get to this point.

Also, at this point, even though we aren't in battle, I would like everyone to start keeping track of their HP, SPL, and Will in their posts. We won't worry about the other stats until we get into our first fight.

IC:

"Strongest people push at the same time maybe? It'll need a lot of strength... I hope we have enough."

"Yes, Eberron, that would be ideal," Aria said. "Every little bit will help. Get in the center, and everyone else can fit in around you."

"Is this the one and the same that the Hero of Time ventured through in legend?"

Katharia smiled. "Well, there aren't two Spirit Temples, Dogura," she replied.

Aria - HP: 42/42 SPL 15/15
Katharina - HP: 53/53 SPL 21/21

Nier was dying of thirst because they didn't pass it to him, but he would survive or so he thought. "I'm sorry for asking for a reward, I was just wondering princess," He said. Nier stared into the rock that was in the way. Dogura and Eberron are the only one's that could do this, or so he thought. He then got lost in thought again. A bomb can shatter the rock, a goron can smash... wonder which is the best to use, he thought. He then reached inot his bag for any left over bombs.... nope. He was empty. "How about the goron's smash it?"

Eberron's eyes snapped open and his hat flew off his head and hit the ground with a crash in a particularly comical manner as he moved suddenly, gazing at Nier with what would best be described as a look of pure shock and wide eyed awe.

"SMASH IT!"

Eberron's voice was unusually high pitched, and he appeared to be almost coming out in a sweat, quite an accomplishment considering his relative lack of visible perspiration during the trip through the desert.

"No.... no no no, this is a sacred place..."

Eberron looked around desperately at the others as if searching for some kind of excuse or support.

"Look, it's... Isn't it beautiful? You can't destroy such craftsmanship as that! I'm sure if we just... move it somehow."

Glancing at the floor nearby, Eberron presumed that pulling it out of the way would be out of the question, the surface seemed to be almost impossibly smooth. Wonderfully smooth...

"It's beautiful. So we'll just push it."

Grinning widely, Eberron placed himself in the middle and anchored his feet into the ground.

"Like Miss Aria said, we should push it! The strongest people should come help me, we can do it if we all push together at the same time. Even if we just move it a tiny bit with each push."

Eberron's grin grew even wider, as he anticipated the coming struggle. This would be fun, like wrestling with his father when he was still younger... Words suddenly came flooding back to him from that time, and Eberron looked over his shoulder, his face suddenly more serious and his voice noticeably changed.

"Remember to push from your feet, from your legs. Not from the back."

"I guess I could help you out." Lawliet said as he walked over to the rock trying to get to a position in which would be approprite for him. Eventually he just decided screw it and got next to Ebberon and began to push the boulder.

Dogura meandered around the people, and pressed his arms up against the blow. Darkin placed the provisions on the ground, and followed suit. He took his place next to Dogura, and they waited for the rest of the group.

"So you think we'll make it through this whole thing?"

"Haha! That's why we're here. To find out!"

"I find your sense of adventure pretty reckless."

"There is not adventure without danger. Life is about risks. If you're not taking them, then you're not living!"

"Well where have I heard that before..."

The duo chuckled, lost in old memories of times long gone past, as they waited for everyone to line up and push.

From the other side of the room, the Deku heard Aria and Eberron's conversation. "Every little bit will help." That prompted him to come running over to the block. "Wait for me! Wait for me!" Braylor, who was dwarfed by the others, wasn't able to slow down before he reached the block and almost toppled over backward when he bounced off it. After he caught his balance, he pressed his hands against the smooth stone and planted his feet on the ground, pushing with his legs, just as Eberron had suggested.

HP: 52/52
SPL: 10/10
WILL: 9/9

"How about the goron's smash it?"

The temptation to beat the Hylian to a bloody pulp was great within the two Gerudo, but they were able to master the impulse. "Did you not listen to a word I said!" Aria hissed. "Would you set off a bomb to destroy a part of your temple?! Another idiotic comment like that, and I swear I will send you away from us to find your way back to civilization without a guide!"

OOC: Seriously, Kagari, READ all posts and take everything that is said into consideration. Your lost post suggests to me that you haven't read a word about Aria's request to treat the temple with respect. On the chance that you did and you just want to make Nier a total jackass, then I'm serious; I'll have Aria and Katharina throw Nier out, and you won't be allowed to participate in this topic. I'm not trying to be a bad guy here; I just want you to start thinking, really start thinking, about what the other characters are saying and doing and how your character should appropriately respond. If you want to make your character a jerk, that's fine, but I will be drawing a line on what is acceptable behavior within the temples.

IC:
And so the pushing effort began. Eberron, though a Goron, did not give quite the push one would expect from his race, but it was still somewhat respectable. [6 roll + 9 STR] Lawliet's push was rather feeble and barely added to the force that was being exerted on the boulder. [1 roll + 2 STR] Dogura gave a mighty push, and it was largely through his effort that the giant stone block slowly slid through the tunnel and fell with a surprising soft thud into a hole in the ground, opening the way into the next room. [20 roll + 4 STR] Everyone else's strengths hardly seemed necessary. [If it is of interest, Darkin's Strength Check came up as 15 and Braylor's as 25 (he, too, rolled a natural 20); the total came up as 82, 42 more points than the required 40 needed to move the block.]

In this next room, maybe about half the size of the temple's entrance hall, were three possible exits. The far left one has been blocked; whether by time or foe, they couldn't tell. The middle door is chained and lock; the group would obviously need to find a key to enter. However, the remaining doorway looked perfectly accessible. Except for two of the room's features. The first is the Beamos, a motionless statue, or would be if not for the slowly revolving eye. The other is a Trap, which made a noise of metal scrapping over stone as it circled the room around the Beamos.

"We could probably run past these without harm," Katharina suggested. "Though it might be easier to disable them. They're definitely not supposed to be there."

Aria - HP: 42/42 --------|| SPL 15/15 ---
Katharina - HP: 53/53 ----------||| SPL 21/21 ----|

OOC: Kokiri wolf, I have been reading the post. It is that Nier is lazy and doesn't listen unless he wants to really, but He is really helpful and smart when he wants to be. Also, Beamos are disabled by an arrow right? Nier could shot it.

IC: "I'm sorry Aria, I'll pay more attention next time," He said as he did a somewhat bow thing. He then got up and studied the doors. One is chained and locked which will need a key, one is blocked by something mysterious and the other is guarded by a beamos. So the beamos do was the only option for now, He thought. He lifted his bow from his back and into his two hands. He then grabbed an arrow from his quiver. He then remimbered that the eye must be open. He also noticed the metal scrapping. Another trap? He looked out to see it. I'll disarm it, he thought.

Disarm trap l1

Braylor stared in wonder at the rotating eye. It was obvious what the Trap could do, but he had never seen a Beamos before. He figured he better not get to close to it though. Being the curious type, he wanted to know how it got there, something must have place it there; it didn't look like it could have walked in there by itself. Maybe if someone could disable it, as Katharina suggested, he could investigate the matter. He thought of a way they might be able to do something about the Beamos. "Could someone knock its head off?" he asked, his voice filled with excitement. "A bomb... No, that might break something."

HP: 52/52
SPL: 10/10
WILL: 9/9