"Probably not," Shada replies. "The Kroperg is more of Zaboorak's creations, and he normally makes sure to force obedience upon his creatures."

OOC: Ah, that's too bad. Pork is sooooooo good...when cooked correctly.

"Let's just forget about it!" snapped Blank, clearly nauseous with all of the Kroperg talk going back an forth between adventurers. "Sorry, but that thing smelt terrible. Alpha, did Zaris ever tell you why he chose to avoid the things? I bet he could take one, but the smell is what really kept him away." Although Blank was only joking around, he made certain to emphasize how putrid the boar's odor had been.

As he reentered the room in which the battle had ensued - and eventually ended - he tried his best to decide on a plausible means of escaping the base of the Hakiems unscathed, and as quickly as possible. He glanced around the room carefully, especially in the direction of the fake wall that the Kroperg had destroyed. He was seeking some sort of hidden door, although he doubted he would find anything useful. Maybe some treasure, he thought, grinning like a child. Now that their primary objective - finding Alpha - was complete, his secondary motive sprang up. Well, tertiary would have been the term. At the moment, secondary motive for Blank was to leave the awful lair behind forever.

EDIT: [Awareness Check], because I should always clarify XD

Nogare agreed with Blank's words. "It's best if such horrible memories are forgotten..."
He walked to Alpha, his face looking slightly afraid. "Alpha. The Haikems are looking for us. It won't be long before they find the Kroperg defeated, and look here quickly. Our cloaks will not hide us anymore, since they were torn from the creature's
attacks. I would suggest a plan before making our way out." He looks to the entrance, predicting a Haikem would come through at any time...

OOC: OK, Alf, while writing that, suddenly something came to mind. Why didn't we just run from the Kroperg, use the key on the door, save Alpha, and escape? Someone could have seen the door with one of the awareness checks...

OOC: Nogare, the answer to your question is quite simple: because none of you guys decided to try it. Honestly, if some of you had chosen to go get Alpha while the boss fight was raging, I was planning to allow it...you just wouldn't have been allowed to escape back into the hallway.

IC:
Blank's search turns up nothing at all. The false wall only holds behind it a small pen-like area. In the ruins on the far left side of the room, he spots the remains of a large door that presumably allowed it in and out of its small home.

Despite Nogare's completely correct words, Alpha takes a few seconds to look around at the ruins caused by the battle, glancing down the pit to see the Kroperg lying there, impaled in multiple places. "Phew..." Alpha says softly. "You guys sure did a number on that thing...Master and I never could figure out a way to get its fur off without using the Goldforce Power..."

Shada walks up to stand right next to him. "Well, we've got the answer now: get the fur wet, then freeze it." Alpha nods subconsciously, trying to figure out in his mind exactly how that's supposed to work. Finally, he turns away from the pit and towards the doorway leading out of here.

Just as it explodes.

'No...' Alpha thinks to himself as his scar lights up just slightly. Cursing the Core under his robes for dampening his scar's sensing abilities, he looks back up as the smoke drifts away to see Zaboorak standing there, with the hall behind him filled to the brim with Hakiems. On his left side stands Karunik, and on his right stands a woman that none of the group have ever seen before. However, she has seen them: in the room where the group had obtained their robes. The beautiful Sheikah with the Hakiems' symbol on her forehead.

As any of the men look upon her, a sudden fire enters their hearts...thoughts of her exquisite beauty become overwhelming, and even Alpha can't help but take his eyes off of this mystery woman. Shada and Rose are able to, though, and they notice that the same effect is being had on the men of the Hakiems Tribe. Karunik shakes his head, and snaps at her. "Cut that out!"

The woman jerks her head in the leader's direction as her soft cheeks grow red. "Oh, sorry! It's an unconscious thing, you know?" All of a sudden, the burning sensation in the men cuts off, and they are left with a bewilderment as to what they just experienced.

Zaboorak ignores all of this and steps forward, clapping his hands. "Well done, all of you...I mussst sssay, I'm actually impresssed. It isss no sssmall feat to be able to out-maneuver the entire Hakiemsss Tribe. Of courssse," the Zora's face takes on a grin of evil origins, "you've now ssseen far too much. It appearsss that when Zarisss arrivesss to ransssom you all, he'll be finding a lot of corpsssesss to look at!" His hand shoots forward. "KILL THEM ALL!!!"

Fear running through him, Alpha hesitates. That hesitation should have killed them.

Without warning the entire room begins to shake fiercely. The Hakiems all collapse to the ground, and even Zaboorak stumbles forward as the sheer force of the movement hits him. "Earthquake!" Tayro yells in surprise as he struggles to remain standing upright. Grabbing his staff, he manages to do so, but only barely.

Alpha's mind uses the extra second the quake has granted them to sort through his relatively few options. 'Stay here, fight them all, and we die...only other option is...' He gulps as fear enters his eyes. 'Or use that, and everyone will nearly die anyway...unless we hurry!' Grabbing the Core from beneath his robe, he slings it to the floor at Zaboorak's feet, watching it as it cracks apart and shatters upon impact with the ground. The Zora's angered cry at having months of difficult work wasted is all Alpha needs to feel satisfaction, though the fact that his scar lights up fiercely again helps too.

Struggling against the onrush of pain now that his scar is fully active, the Sheikah turns and allows the others to see the light turning purple. "Our only shot is through the Void! Get in, now!" he cries, pointing past the group to the shadows of the room. One region of shadow abruptly becomes darker than the rest, and black mist begins to slowly disperse out of the portal and into the room.

Alpha rushes forward, leaping into the Void, and hopes that the others are still able to follow him.

OOC: I believe Nogare was wondering why our checks never told us of the door. We couldn't save Alpha since we didn't know of the door.

IC: After blankly witnessing the scene as it unfolded in front of him, it occurs to Grenada that if Alpha is running from this fight, it might be wise to do the same. Turning to the Void, he charges, trying to make it before anything bad happens..

OOC: Um, yeah MG, you guys did. It's the same door that Shada was attempting to unlock when the Kroperg burst out from behind the wall.

Well, at least I can use this little happening as an informal poll of who actually read my posts and who didn't...

What is this? thought Blank, a look on his face that signified his confusion, fright and misunderstanding of the situation. He gazed at the Hakiems that had filed into the room, as well as at the leaders of the tribe. Karunik and Zaboorak. He had never really met them; his only experience against the wily villains was a multitude of darts sticking in his body. As he listened to the Zora's emphasized s', he drew his sword. That's driving me crazy! Keep it up, and I'll just have to shear that devious tongue of his off, thought the nomad. He felt very disheartened as he did, though, as he knew that Zaboorak, Karunik and the soldiers backing them were infinitely stronger than him.

And then there was the woman. He gazed at her, his eyes focusing primarily on her gorgeous features, the other enemies fading from focus until there was nothing but her. Alpha was normally unaffected by the charms of women that Blank would be infatuated with, and so the female that even he had almost succumbed to was overpowering for his senses. As Karunik snapped and ordered her to stop whatever it was she was doing to captivate the party's minds, Blank too awakened from his vacation away from the danger and reality of the situation.

Just in time to see Alpha magically open a dark portal. What is this? he thought again, repeating the shock inside his head. The void of darkness opened before him, seemingly seeping out from wherever it led to. And yet in his own paralyzing shock, coupled by the urge to live another day, he found himself walking towards it. Alpha had jumped through courageously, but... Blank was not sure which was safer - following the Sheikah into the Void or remaining in the base with the Hakiems. He chose, of course, the former of the two mystery outcomes, and leaped towards the portal, awaiting whatever could happen, but more importantly, hoping he ended up somewhere safe.

OOC: Hey, I read every post, but I forgot about that. So, how come she unlocked it twice? I believe there was a click the first time, then she unlocked it when we entered. And if I didn't how would I know that was on page 53?

OOC: Well, I guess I'm amoung that poll. Sorry man. You know what? I'm even more sorry to myself! Nogare is smart. But his writer shares not the same virtues... Oh,this is extremely embarrassing... Maybe I should use the ebarrassed smily then...

IC: Nogare leaped at the void, not knowing if it was the right thing to do. GHe closed his eyes. Was this the right thing to do?

Dogura noticed the void open up, and saw it not only as a strange occurence, but a small window of opertunity. Gathering his courage, he dashed straight through the portal.

OOC: Thats a good point Grenada. Perhaps Alpha hasnt even been reading his own posts

'Kill you later, Karunik and don't think I've forgotten about you, Calamari.' He says in he usual display of bravado, when in actuality he his scared out of his wits. He runs towards the portal but stops just short of it and makes a throwaway comment about it; 'This looks like something out of that Twilightly tale about that princess.' Then he simply takes one extended step into the portal and into the Void.

OOC: She had to remove the key to fight, remember. The door locked back afterwards; you don't expect a simple lock on a prison door, do you?

IC:
As you enter into the mysterious place Alpha has opened a portal into, you're shocked at the very sight of it all...you can see clearly, but there is no light coming from anything; even the portal doesn't appear to be allowing light in...you can breath without difficulty, but you can't feel any air around you...you can walk if you want, and ground will be there...or you can swim, and you'll have no trouble...you can even fly without being aerodynamic at all...this is the Void.

And the drawback? The moment you enter it, a sharp pain seems to fill your body. Already weak from the battle with the Kroperg, it's no surprise that Alpha believed this place could kill you all...

But as you glance over at the Sheikah, you see that he seems perfectly fine...and not merely because he's at full health. This world doesn't appear to have any visible effect on him. It's almost as if he controls it...

Alpha looks around as the last of the group leap into the Void. Without conscious thought, he severs the connection to the Hakiems base and begins trying to build up a new one. As he does so, he glances over to see Calla, already falling unconscious due to the dark energies of the Void. 'As I feared...they won't survive for long. This world is a poison to any who enter it...' He takes the Rito girl into his arms and stretches out with his thoughts, slowly but surely creating a new portal.

When it finally large enough to pass through, he jerks his head towards it, in indication that you need to get going.

why? I've survived in worlds worse than this. kasei didn't realy want to go first, he needed to make sur the others made it through... heh, that rito doesn't look too strong. kasei noddes to the collapsed rito in alpha's hands. it is then that the pain goes through kasei's body. it is unbearable, but he doesn't move from the spot, he couldn't if he tried.

OOC: Okay, backtracking some to the point yada yada yada. You'll see what I mean. And I laugh at you guys who had male characters. XD

IC:
Rose sees the effect the woman has on all the men and snorts. But once an important looking man tells her to cut it out and a Zora tells the Hakiems to kill them, she decided to ready her sword, which she hadn't sheathed since the battle with Kroperg. That's when Alpha threw the orb at the Zora and a portal opens. Seeing Alpha go into it, she decides it's a good idea to follow.

Pain grips her when she steps inside. She sees Alpha indicate another portal. She doesn't hesitate to go through it.

Nogare, as his throw of of such a thing existed came to pass, nodded as Alpha commanded his direction. But as he drifted over to his destination, he heard Kasei's comment. Nogare, who was very mad at Kasei for a number of things already, one of which was for amputating his left ring finger, quickly countered, "That Rito child has about as much experience with strength as you have for becoming a good person, Kasei. It is not her fault! Why would she get stronger?! She won't!" He left it at that. He was now was were Alpha had told him to go...