Live Your Own Story in Hyrule

The freezard remains commanding the door, nothing getting in or out. So, it resumes its task as it was set to do, freeze anything and anyone that comes through. Unfortunately, that task would come to a resounding end as an arrow pierces right to its core and shatters its body leaving it in a heap of ice on the ground.

The room is now able to be entered. A victory for some and perhaps a terrible reminder for others. For this room is one that has painful familiarity attached to it. On either side of the entry way were jailing cells and set between them, heavy, iron spikes rising and falling in a rhythmic, gnashing pattern. Perhaps worst fo all, this is the source of the pungent, rustic odor of blood came from.

Within the cells are blocks of red ice, each of them occupied with a body and each of them clothed in the garb of the Sheikah. Unlike the others faced earlier they look to be in pristine condition.

Set above the cells is a second floor and its occupant was busy commanding the dead to do their bidding.

"What is taking so long!? That body should be removed by now! Out! Gone!" The screeching voice continued. Listening back to what could only be perceived as words from Stalfos, the voice squeaks in frustration.

Hovering above the Stalfos guards, Kotake can see the freezard is currently out of commission. "Which one of you bumbling fools destroyed that thing!?" She shouted. In their defense, they tried to argue that they did not, in fact, destroy the freezard.

"I know you didn't, you shambling idiots! Go and take care of whoever did it! There are others here besides us now!"

In order to keep the invaders busy, she summons up several more stalfos to head off the doors. "Get rid of them!" Meanwhile, she'll take care of the body. It's no good now, anyway and would be put to better use being a drone.

The stalfos, not prone to arguing, begin to storm out the door and directly towards the group, swords raised and shields at the ready to take them out. Already, some are jumping over the group, hoping to pin them in to pick them off.

_Link was successfully able to move the frozen Gatu away from the door, saving him. However, the ice incasing him was pretty sturdy. It might need to take a good hit in just the right way to break it open without hurting him, or some fire magic to weaken the ice so he can free himself._

A stalfos jumps atop the block of ice that is currently Gatu and begins stabbing away at it. It may not have been the freezard's intentions, but its ice has turned into a fortuitious gift as the undead warrior keeps chipping away at it, thinking an easy kill was sure to happen. As it turns out, others also had the same idea and another jumps up and starts picking away. Then another. And another!

Strategy was a thinking man's skill and maybe it was the lack of a brain inside their collective hollow noggins, but now there were too many and they all couldn't be supported on this ice, so they began to slip and tumble, sending Gatu sliding into the shield wall of the advancing Stalfos behind the party and breaking him free while the others fall into a heap of bones, working to reassemble themselves.

_Freed from his ice prison and was stuck watching everything happen whilst inside it was numbing... not to mention it gave him the weirdest case of brain freeze. He's going to be feeling that for awhile... Nevertheless, he quickly gets up onto his feet to unequip his Bow and draw his Moblin Spear and Hylian Shield to begin trying to stab and pierce the Stalfos' skulls to prevent them from re-forming quickly, having learn that from the few nights he spent in Hyrule Field where he had to deal with the undead bastards' relentlessness._

frick)

Rome got caught up a bit earlier, but seeing his friends in danger, he Light Dashes across the ground towards a stalfos, combining his Light Dash with a spin attack, aiming to smash the flame side of his blade against a couple of them.

Once the freezard is gone, Irina gets up and enters the room behind her friends, still holding her spear.

Upon hearing the loud, rhythmic noise of the iron spikes falling on the cells, Irina freezes. Her eyes are wide and her breathing is shaky, a look of panic on her face as soon as she sees the spikes and the cells.

Wolf Link whines to Gatu as he gets mobbed by the horde of stalfos, and unexpectedly freed. He can only guess how the poor man is feeling right now. He barks in encouragement then eyes the group of skeletons approaching. He growls and then charges at them like a bowling ball, with full intention to attack.

_Gatu takes out three, but is still hard pressed. He wished he had a sword instead of this spear. He wasn't as proficient, but he's doing his best._

The Stalfos are smashed and dashed. Others are sent crashing in the fight against the group as they make their way into the room. The place is still terribly cold, feeling more like the top of a snow capped mountain with the number of frozen people and the presence of an ice witch roaming about. The iron spikes continue to rise and fall with nothing to stop them from striking the floor as the means for halting their terror has also been frozen.

Mipha manages to free Redvali from his ice prison, sending a jets of water from the prongs of her spear into the ice to make it easier to split open. "There! Now, you can join the fight!" She looks back at the current state of things. "Or...perhaps warm up first. I think that is a more viable option. There's a lot of the enemy still left here to engage with."

Kotake had since gotten rid of the body, discarding it like trash into a chute to be dealt with at the other end. Flying over to the elevated flooring she used as her station of sorts, she plucks up an object and begins to carry it with her. It has the appearance of a large shard of glass and briefly captures the glint of light from a couple of torches in the room.

"You miserable fiends haven't finished them off yet!?" She waves her arms to summon ice keese into the area and points them in the group's direction. "Go and make sure they feel an unforgiving chill! They should be beaten and crushed! Turned to slush under the weight of these metal spines!" She cackles.

Irina needs a moment to force herself back into the present. This room drags too much of the past back with it, but her friends are still fighting and this is no moment to have doubts.

Seeing much of the group already occupied with the Stalfos, Irina quickly studies the witches and the ice keese. Then she runs to Rome, “Rome!” she calls over the noise of battle. “Can you take care of the ice keese, and the ice witch, with the fire side of your blade? And if she is too far, use it to light Revali’s arrows. They won’t miss.”

Then she turns her eyes toward Koume, resolve hardening. “With a little help from Princess Mipha,” she says, already moving, “I can go for that fire witch!”

"Tell you what, I'll think of a surprise and it'll be on the house." Fallon replies to Saria, jotting down 'surprise' and circling it. "Okay, that ought to take care of things and--" her head lowers to see her little one at the table. "Play? That is what you are offering after they have just arrived?" She smiles, giving way to the table so they can all take off. "Of course, they wouldn't say no to that offer."

She chuckles and clears the milk and water cups while she determines what would be good for them to eat. "Make sure you stay close by!!" She called out to them, ensuring her voice could be heard through and beyond the door.

"Okay, now what to feed to them... Perhaps some cuccoo tenders. I think that'll be good. Side of greenery and that ought to cover it."

That in mind, she quickly heads to the kitchen to drop off the glasses and put the order in. She then hustles towards the exit so she could watch them and wait for the order to finish.

"Okay Mommy!" Naomi says as she follows the other two, her brain immediately filing the instruction under 'Things that have been responded to and thus require no further thought'.

Out in the field, Naomi spreads her arms to the others. "So what should we play? How abouuuuuuuut" (points at Aio) "you're the heroic knight," (points at Saria) "you're the pretty princess," (points at self) "and I'M the ferocious dragon?" >:) Naomi raises her hands high like claws and stomps dramatically toward Saria. "IIIIII'M GOING TO EEEEAAAT YOOOOUUUUU!" >:O

Aio stares at Naomi blankly. He clearly didn't understand her. He wonders why this girl is threatening the other girl.

As he doesn't quite understand the rules of the game, he does the same and chases after Saria, holding his hands up like a dragon as well. He calls out "Raaawr!" and something unintelligible in his language.

Saria lets out a scream as both come after her and laughs, running. She looks at Aio and points at Naomi without stopping. "Attack HER, not me! We are the good guys! Dragon! Dragon! " She repeats, hoping to teach Aio a new word.

Aio begins chasing after Naomi, too, and calls her by what he thinks is probably her name, "Dragon! Dragon!"

Fallon opens the door and is immediately met with screaming and shouts of a dragon. She hurries outside, checking the sky and surroundings to see if one had suddenly popped up. Thankfully, there was no such creature and further processing allowed her to realize they were just playing out here. Of course, that's what they intended to do in the first place, but flashbacks of moldugas and spiders said otherwise. Briefly, anyway.

So, she heads back towards the walls of the inn and leans against them, watching them play and enjoy life for the time being. A refreshing change of scenery to what she knows lies beyond.

Naomi blinks at the swift derailment of her CAREFULLY CRAFTED FANTASY WORLD. o.O; At least Saria seems to get the idea and is trying to explain it to Aio -- but it looks like he still thinks _he's_ a dragon. Okay, well, maybe he can be a knight AND a dragon! Like some kind of...dragon man!

<https://i.redd.it/xcbi8yj0nhv81.jpg>

"Ummm...OHNOES IT IS THE DRAGONBORN! BUT YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME UNLESS YOU FIND THE, ummm, MAGICAL HELMET OF RAINBOW FLAMES! IT IS IN, ummmmmmmmmm...aaaaaa SECRET PLACE THAT--THAT ONLY THE ROYAL FAMILY KNOWS ABOUT!" Yeah, Naomi is totally engaging in AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION and not dumping her DM responsibilities on Saria. n.n

Those were a lot of words and Aio understood none of them! He continues to chase Dragon and shouts her name. He giggles with excitement as the air and sun and open space combine to create a volatile reaction of fun.

As the screams of the children echo through the field outside of the Wolfos, a tall imposing Gerudo woman cuts the horizon perpendicularly. She holds a spear and walks in a relaxed pace but with a serious expression. The expression softens when she sees the children playing, particularly the boy.

She stops and observes them by the stables outside of the inn.

Saria laughs and nods, pointing at Noemi! "Yes! Catch the dragon!"

Seeing Risa arrive, Saria hmms, touching her chin with a finger. She approaches Risa and Fallon and brings her hands to her back. "Excuse me, I have a question."

"As you know, Aio is living in the Kokiri Forest now. Do you know of any grown-ups that may help us build a treehouse for him?"

Risa crouches down to become eye-level with the forest child. She rests her elbow on her knee and says, "A treehouse?" She thinks, and says, "Sweetie, I am from the desert. I don't know much about trees. But I will find someone who can help."

Fallon laughed to herself. Of all the things Naomi could've been, a dragon...born was not one she expected. Yet, she could appreciate her imagination. Those bedtime stories must've sounded far more spectacular to her than she'd thought.

Spotting movement in the distance, she looked towards it and found it was a friendly face upon closer inspection. She smiled as Risa approached, acknowledging her presence with a nod.

With Saria now approaching, she then pondered her question, "You need help with one, hm? Well, I'm not much of a builder, but I can assist in whatever way I can. I'll have to ask my husband if he has any suggestions or ideas. All else fails, I could just read about trees and houses and then attempt to replicate it."

Saria grins, her hands on her back while she listens to them. "You are big and strong women, so I knew you could help! Thank you." With this, she goes back to playing with her friends.

GUUUHHHH!!! &gt;_&lt;; Being a DM is so FRUSTRATING! You put in all this work to give the players an intricate world to interact with, and they just want to be MURDER HOBOS that solve every problem by charging at it swords waving! "Okay, fine! TAG, YOU'RE IT!" Naomi shouts to Aio. Then she turns and dashes away.

Saria runs after the Wolfos family with Link. When they arrive at the temple, the kokiri's interest switches from the animals to the building. She runs to it, touching the wall and looking for the door curiously. "What is this place? Have you been here before?" she asks Link.

Link shakes his head. "I haven't. And from the looks of these vines, it doesn't look like anybody has been here for a while." He looks up at the stone walls and tries to peer into an opening. "Let's explore it!"

Saria grabs one of the vines to make a small climb to one of the openings. "Hellooooo!" She looks inside and hmms. "I am so curious to see what is in there..." She follows you, wondering if you fit into the opening.

Link barely fits but he squeezes in, pushing past vines and other plants. There is a sudden drop but plenty of vines to hold onto. He climbs down. Some light filters in from other windows and a hole in the roof. He reaches a large central room and calls out to you.

Saria almost falls as well, and not as gracefully as Link. She grabs onto the vines, almost getting trapped in them, but climbs down after Link and looks around. "This is place is so mysterious! I wonder how long it has been empty. We should be careful; there might be some skulltullas and deku babas around."

_------+++++++++++++++------_

A certain Gerudo chef is examining the few fallen logs at the edge of the Woods, turning them over and disturbing the life within as her little troop begin the trek to Kokiri Forest proper.