The Stalfos Partner contract (mission, me and Rython)

Aberham wrote:Mission Name: The stalfos partner contract
Mission Rank: Experenced
Location: The lost woods
Description: The stalfos problem in the lost woods has been getting worse and worse latly. You and another adventurer have been contracted to deal with it. You will be able to find 24 if you search hard enough at night.
Requirements: Kill 24 Stalfos
Player Count: 2
Reward: 300k rupees and 500 xp each.
Word Count: 3500 Seven five hundred word posts.
Mission Boss: N/A

Aberham was having a tough time getting to the location they had agreed on.

There were absolutely no landmarks in the lost woods, and plenty of monsters. He had to carve his way through monsters almost as much as he had to carve through the paths on his horse! Still, joey made the trip much more bearable. It wasn't like the last time he had come here where he sliced his way through vines until his machete dulled!

On the long trip he read and reread the contract many times. Twenty four stalfos would be quite a lot, he really hoped that his partner was well equipped for this battle as well. He briefly wondered if they would have to track down each individual skeleton. It would take days in this forest! No, he hoped that they could find some sort of nest for the wandering monsters and destroy them all in one fail swoop.

It had taken him a few days to make it to Hyrule after he had done all those other jobs. He was much stronger for his training and he was still cleaning out the blood of several Hyilian knights for this. The partner in this case would be more like an intern. Watching how he did things and only participating when asked. The dark knight would get his half of the pay and whatever scrub good enough to get the partner position would get invaluable experience.

Aberham always wondered what it would be like to have a squire. Would his partner be young and brash or experienced and wise. Well not that wise to give up a six figure salary towards Aberham that was for sure! Aberham would be raking in twice as much dough than he was used to! All the other guy had to do was hold his sword, exist at the job site and not get stabbed before Aberham had killed a few skeletons. Simple.

The extra long trip left his mind to wonder. He began to think of the war effort. They would have to be aggressive in these early days. If they took to long to conquer the island or recruit a sizable army it could very well mean the entire conflict. Aberham would have to strengthen up with missions such as these in order to hone in his skill and be ready for the long battles ahead. Aberham wondered what the residents of the islands would do now that the children had spread fear into their hearts. Would they heed their warning? Try and call for help from Hyrule? Only time would tell...

He was about to be late at this rate. He spurred his horse on and clung to his saddle. Joey gallopted at top speed and after three miles he began to slow down. Aberham did not once even think for a second that his partner would be someone he knew, or had worked with before. Once they arrived Aberham pulled on the saddle and caused his horse to stop.

Going out in the middle of the night to go kill stuff kind of sucked, but eh. Rython had to get the money necessary to upgrade his armor and weapons, and going on this rather dangerous mission would be perfect for him. When he saw the amount of money that was being rewarded, he couldn't resist. Three hundred thousand rupees...before he took this contract, it took him around four missions to make that kind of money. It was kind of shocking, for sure.

Rython, due to his unfortunate money situation was a pretty minimalistic dude. He wore his purple jumpsuit, a leather backpack, and...that was pretty much it. Since he couldn't afford to get a horse to ride him to the location, he was forced to walk. At least it let him observe his surroundings and get in touch with his thoughts, but to him, that wasn't much of an upside.

Hm...the mission. I guess it will increase my ability at finding stuff, if that even means anything good. Twenty four Stalfos...and I've heard stories about Stalfos being very hard to catch. Bah! I could be in my bed sleeping like a normal person! But I guess if I slept instead of being out here like a real man, I wouldn't be able to beat my brother..

The location of the Stalfos worried him. The Lost Woods...the name was self explanitory. Many adventurers were lost in these forests, dying horrible, painful deaths from the beasts, or starvation. Perhaps that was the reason it the amount of pay was so high.

He entered the woods, very annoyed as he looked around. Everything looked the same! How the hell did any of the animals get around here?

That's when a thought came into his head. He had a pretty good sense of smell..something about a mutation in his genes. Plus, he often carried around plants that increased his senses many times over in situations like these. Taking one of these herbs out of his backpack, with one whiff of it, he was able to smell things with far more clarity, able to distinguish smells that had the tiniest of differences. Next, he had to lay down a trail, picking a nearby bush, opening his zipper, and letting the golden shower rain over this poor, poor, bush.

Now that he knew where the entrance would be, the only thing left was to find his partner and defeat the beasts. Hopefully, his partner wasn't too deep in these woods, or worse. Rython wandered deeper into the forest, looking for either Stalfos or his partner. Fifteen minutes later, he heard some rustling noises and turned to the source, surprised at who he saw. Aberham, a partner from a previous mission, was working with Rython once again. Rython couldn't help but be a little disappointed, hoping it was some hot babe.

"Oh..uh, hey! Didn't expect for you to be here, either! So what are we going to do? I planted a trail so we can know our way back to the entrance, but have you got any clue where the Stalfos may be? I want to kick some ass!"

WC :522

"Hello Rython." Said Aberham, even his voice had increased in power tremendously, though he tried not to sound as gruff as he did when he was on a job, since he was talking to an old partner who was his friend. "Yes, I have been able to track down their nest to some degree. There are much more bony footprints here than anywhere else for miles." Aberhams gift gave him the ability to see through darkness. His horse had a lamp on it's side so it could see where it was going. But Aberham needed no such help to see. He could only tell that the lost woods were dark because he had taught himself the ability to discern natural light from the light that he could see anywhere with his blessing.

He picked up his lance and pointed in the direction of a few loose tree's. If Rython squinted his eyes he would be able to see where a sword had been dragged on the ground into the clearing. "These monsters will all be heavily armed, and these are the Stalfos that can come back if you do not destroy or remove their skulls. I need to know this without a single boast. Can you fight twenty four stalfos, quite possibly more. Without getting maimed. This is no place for amateurs, and I know that these monsters get more aggressive at night. I have killed many stalfos in my career, but never this many. Not at once. The pay may sound nice on paper, but you can;t use any of it if you are dead."

Aberham had seen the fighter back when he was on the same level as Aberham, he was very capable for his level and fought like he had a powerful blessing behind him. But this mission was still above him. Aberham could not confirm that he could kill this many stalfos and keep dead weight safe at the same time. He was wearing two pieces of powerful armor, he knew he could escape on his horse if things went south. But if Rython got overwhelmed by the crowd, as it could so easily happen, then he could easily die without a scrap of armor on him to save his life.

He turned to face the clearing in the tree's. They were very near the ruins of a town. The stalfos were likely spending most of their time around the graveyard waiting for travelers to fall into their grasp. Stalfos killed not out of hunger, but out of sheer malice. For a moment he wondered to himself on the nature of these very creatures. They say if you get lost in the lost woods, the very same forest that they were in right now. That you would eventually become a stalfos. Did they have some way fo indoctrinating corpses into their ranks? The undead were a terrifying demographic, no getting around it. But he also had many other questions. Where did they get their weapons? The hooked blades had to be made by somebody, do they know they were once human? How smart are they really? He got his spear ready to run them through.

It was kind of like Aberham was trying to spook Rython, the way he was talking. He NEEDED to do this..if he couldn't beat these skeletons, then he deserved to die here. It meant that he wasn't strong enough to beat his brother. Plus, he wasn't a slacker when it came to his power. No matter what, he wouldn't make himself look like fodder. He was going to prove Abe wrong and beat some Stalfos ass!

"Look, I appreciate the concern, I really do. But, nothing you say is going to convince me. You could say these Stalfos were all capable of destroying the planet with a single flick of the wrist, and I'd still charge in. You wanna know why? Because if I just die here, then it means I deserve it...besides, my brother could have killed these stalfos with his eyes closed at my age. I won't let that smug bastard show me up! Now let's go and get our money!"

As he went deeper in the forest, he noticed that it was getting dark. Thankfully, a lamp from Abe's horse provided a source of light. Squinting, looking for any clues on where to go, he found a decent sword, and picked it up, slipping it between his belt so he didn't have to spend time holding it. He wasn't very good at swords because he preferred to feel his fists against his opponent's face, but it would make it easier to kill these damn Stalfos until he got a move similar to a sword.

Rython followed Aberham as they began cutting through the forest, looking for Stalfos to kill. The Stalfos were certainly a mysterious and evil race that needed to be eradicated..they weren't like animals who did what they did for survival, which sickened him. How could they kill people so nonchalantly? They'd probably killed children before, which got his blood boiling. He wouldn't show an ounce of mercy to these cold, heartless creatures. Along with Aberham, he was ready to obliterate them.

Rython entered an abandoned town. Since they were undead creatures, they were probably around the graveyard, which is where he was going right now. Once finding this graveyard, he found a couple of Stalfos in the area. He held the element of surprise, as they didn't seem to notice him. With a single leap, he took out the blade, slicing the head of one Stalfos off, watching it roll harmlessly on the dirt. Stealth was the key to not getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of Stalfos. Hopefully, more wouldn't come out of nowhere. Rython saw three currently, but due to the darkness, it was possible more were hidden in the shadow. Also, some could be wandering throughout the town.

Rython moved on to the next Stalfos, ready to execute him with a decapitation. Another head rolled off, however the third Stalfos was aware enough to hear this, and began charging at Rython. Quickly, he put the blade away as it would only hinder him, dodging a few strike and landing blows to the head in return. To win, he would need to snap the monster's head off. Once he saw an opening, he grabbed ahold of the beast's head, twisting it so hard it came off.

WC: 541

"So be it." Said Aberham.

He was certain all the way down to the bottom of his heart that this kid was doing this for all the wrong reasons, he knew that he was probably going to die because he bit off more than he could chew just to match his brother, he knew that he could probably stop this from happening as well. What a terrible bother the kid must have had, Aberham had tried his damnedest to be the best big brother he could be to almost ten younger siblings. But no matter how good he was there would always be some people who just would not get it.

He shook his head and his horse walked into the town. It was mostly a ruin, with a single dry wooden building right in the middle that had somehow survived all the years. He scanned the enter town. It was mostly ruins and small stone walls at about waste height. It was all old stone, who knows how long this place has been abandoned? Long enough for massive tree's to grow around it and for roots to begin the climb up the buildings and the walls. He counted how many stalfos he saw, there were around the number they had been contracted to kill. It would be a simple job, for him. Gods permitting.

Aberham had no such qualms of being overwhelmed. He urged his horse into a gallop and took it right into the center of town. On the way he grabbed the lantern with his right hand and switched his spear over to his left. He had trained very hard to work on his ambidexterity, he had to prepare to beat the hero of Hyrule in their inevitable battle. Out here no one but his partner wold be able to hear him. He raised the lantern high and yelled. "For Ganondorf!!!" Then he chucked his lamp over his head and it spun into the air, before crashing into an ages old window and slamming into a dry bed with dusty sheets and a carpet.

The house grew on fire second by second and every single stalfos was drawn to him. They shuffled forward with their swords and other old but sharp weapons dragging on the ground. Aberham slammed his one sided lance into the first one he saw, cracking his head irreparably and causing his bones to fall on the floor.

The Stalfos were many and they all came for him, there would be a few that Rython could pick off without alerting the horde. He slammed his lance into another stalfos, and another. But only put down one for good. He yelled out some more, urging them to come his way. It was truly a terrifying sight. Aberham was surrounded slowly by the armed warriors of the damned, but he was fighting like any champion of Ganondorf could be expected to do. His lance wirled around and he was able to knock down many skelitons on their backs and put down two more permanently. The fire was growing faster than you would expect, and by the next post it would be completely covered in fire. Illuminating the horrors of the night for all to see.

Stalfos count: 17

Finished up with the graveyard, Rython looked in awe at the sky, seeing massive flames. His partner must have been kicking some serious ass...or, his ass was being kicked. Nah. He had confidence in the dude, and from what he observed, he wasn't some piece of trash fighter. Not stronger then Rython, but he could still hold his own in a fight.

Rython was determined not to let Aberham have more kills then him, roaming the graveyard for more kills. Three Stalfos...assuming that Aberham at least killed one, that would mean...they still had a rather long night ahead of them.

Finding no remaining Stalfos, he began to walk out of the graveyard and find some more to kill, when he heard a branch snapping. Quickly turning around, he saw a Stalfos charging towards him. The distance was far enough where he was able to withdraw his blade and slash his head off..that meant four down! Sheathing his blade, he left the graveyard.

Since this town was abandoned, he wondered what happened to the civilians all here. Were some of the Stalfos the deceased souls of former residents? Why did some people feel like moving out of the town..a bad economy? Perhaps a bandit raid? Whatever it was, just being here gave Rython the chills. The town was emitting a constant, depressing aura. The sooner they finished the mission, the better. To try and distract himself, he played with a single coin in his pocket and twiddled his thumbs. But, no matter how much he tried distracting himself, he still got this shitty feeling. He didn't know if it was from some sort of magical source, or a general vibe. But, then, he knew.

This town reminded him of his own home, minus the flaming sky and Stalfos. Cold. Barren...depressing. He'd just visited the place about a year ago, the bodies long since decomposed and the town in the mountains completely gone. Although he tried to visit his former home every year, he didn't know if he could go anymore. It was just to depressing, just like this town. He really hated thinking about this, and kept on attempting to send it to the back of his mind as he entered a rundown barbershop. The smell was pungent, especially since he used his strength enhancement. Cow manure, horse pee, dog sex...and many, many more smells that were absolutely putrid! He could write a whole story just from the smells.

But, before he could win the best selling book of the year award, he would go need to deal with this trio of Stalfos. It seemed strange that he'd only seen them in groups of three, but he didn't have the time to analyze it. He needed to deal with them first, of course. Group fights were what Rython specializers in. They taught him never to put too much attention on one person, or else you'd give the other a chance to strike. One or two hits, and move on. Use your surroundings any way you can..

The Stalfos surrounded him, launching attacks that Rython managed to avoid and counter with a quick swipe to the face. One Stalfos made the mistake of attempting to kick Rython, but he easily grabbed the foot and swung him around, the Stalfos smashing into the others and sending him on the floor. Then, he released the one he was holding, sending him flying on the floor.

"Now's my chance!"

Taking the blade out, he killed each one while they were down, leaving the barbershop.

WC: 584

Remaining Stalfos: 14

As the flames rose higher and higher up into the sky they spread to the two almost completely demolished buildings on their side. Aberham raised his lance and yelled again! He fought harder and faster with each new stalfos that came at him but he was quickly overwhelmed. What made these creatures so bloodthirsty? Their weapons raked against his armor in many places and his horse, despite his excellent training, was freaking out.

It was when his rapid lance strikes slowed down and he could feel the blows and attacks start to get to much for him that he knew he had to escape. So he jabbed his spurs into his horse so hard it bled and launched a magical ax forward, it slammed into skeleton after skeleton, it did not kill any and it did not need to. But it's momentum knocked so many to the side that it created the perfect escape path. His horse Joey cried out and made a brake down the path. Stepping on many skeletal soldiers that were starting to reform after the ax strike and causing the process to have to be restarted again.

Once they were ten yards away from the horde of Stalfos Aberham strapped his lance onto the side of his horse and did a back flip off of it as it ran off into the distance, he landed with a slam was his two pairs of heavy armor his the ground. He drew the sword off his back and turned to face the mighty numbers of the stalfos with renewed drive.

One such stalfos lumbered forward while carrying a massive sword in one hand, he swung it over his head with great strength for an undead fighter with no muscles to speak of. Aberham blocked with his shield at just the right time and the blade shattered into over thirty pieces. Then Aberham slammed the shield into the stalfos and before it could figure out what happened and reform from the pile of bones it was now in on the ground Aberham leapt onto it and slammed his shield into the skull, breaking it into over thirty pieces.

He saw as the jawbone relaxed, and gave up all of its menacing nature. The piece of death overcame the skeleton and it's hand lost it's grip on what little remained of his sword. The last remains of someone who had been brought back to the realm of the living through a curse on the forest or dark magic were laid to a final rest.

The full moon rose overhead as Aberham stood up with his sword hanging on the side. Aberham smiled as he felt the rush of battle overcome him. This is what knights like him lived for! He slammed his sword into an unaware stalfos causing it to crumble into a pile of bones than wiped around his sword and cleaved directly into the skull of another monster. Every single one of the Stalfos were focused on Aberham, there was absolutely none Rython could pick off without directly joining Aberham. Though it might be better for him to stay outside of the brunt of this battle. For now.

Stalfos: 12

Aberham fought them outside of their main group knowing for sure that if he took them on directly he would be overwhelmed and maimed in a couple of seconds. A stalfos swung his sword at him and he blocked it with his jet black shield. He was loosing ground rapidly at this rate. Dread filled his very heart with every step he took behind him, his partner could not help him now. He would have to kill the remaining half all on his own. He gritted his teeth and took it as he was forced back, but he fought twice as hard and lost half as much ground. He was minimizing the amounts of hits he was taking and was waiting for the right opertunety to show itself for him to pick off even a single skeleton. He would not, and could not die here tonight! He drew on his inner well of courage and fought even harder against the menace.

They were a damn scourge upon the earth, and had to be stopped by whatever means neccicary. He cried out in pain as he felt something hot on his ankle, a quick glance behind him told him that he had no more ground to loose. For even a single step back would end with him meeting a fiery death. He took a deep breath, and knew he had to fight better in every single way. A stalfos noticed this fear and charged forward to end him with the flames. Aberham looked him in the holes that were once eyes, ducked low, and slammed his shield into the pelvis of the monster and flipped him over his shield into the flaming building behind him. He collapsed into a pile of bones and began to burn up before he could reform. He let out a roar of triumph and fought his way three steps forward.

The first Stalfos he met had plenty of fighting left to do. He and Aberham entered a brief blade clash, but he was the one with meat left on his bones. The stalfos fought hard against his will but one final push and he was forced to take a step back. He was quite a good swordsman for a dead man, or woman. Aberham began dueling it with great speed and forosity. For a brief flash it looked like the skeletons much faster movement and strikes would win the day for him. He appeared to get the upper hand on him before getting cut down by Aberham literally. He reformed in less than a second, shaking off what would have been a fatal attack to any human. Abe was much better than his foe with a weapon. Before he could get his bearings the black knight cleaved his head in twain. One less Stalfos to worry about.

For a brief moment it seemed that the Stalfos had just now found out about the fourteen skeletons now missing from their number, they stepped away from Aberham fearfully and gave him the slightest few moments to recover. It was all he needed, he would mount a much greater attack now....

Stalfos: 10

Aberham stood taller, it was time for these monsters to be drastically culled down. He picked himself up off of his slouch and stood intimidatingly tall. In a world where being five six was the average beating this average by an entire foot was quite a feat. His cape bellowed in the wind, the roaring flames just behind him. It was then that he realized that some of the skeletons, mostly the ones that showed the most signs of age could be intimidated. It was the fresh sets of bones that were almost entirely fearless, and he knew why. One of the last Stalfos he had cut down was a very fresh set. It's sword had still maintained some of it's luster. They could reform much faster, he was quickly reminded of this when he slashed his sword directly at the spines of one of the monsters, it crumbled to the ground satisfyingly but in less than two seconds in stood just as tall, only this time he had the tiniest of marks where his sword had struck.

He faced five of the newest skeletons you could see, one still had a great degree of whiteness to his every bone, almost in health. It had so few markings on it he would not be surprised if this was the first battle it had been in. It dashed forward with it's hooked sword in hand, it raised it high in a toast to the night sky and brought it down overhead on Aberhams shield. He blocked it just in time and stunned his foe. He smashed him back with his shield and forced his way into the main group. It was not that he had intentionally surrounded himself in his enemy's, it was that he had penetrated their ranks and was about to deal some punishment on them. Without missing a single beat he brought his leg up high and smashed an armored foot right down on the skull of the fallen monster. Preventing it from ever reforming ever again. It served him right for so foolishly attacking him.

He began to take blows from all around him, what his impressive steel armor could not block or totally negate his under armor picked up the slack. Sparks began to fly from the blows of aged metal against well maintained armor of great quality. One skeleton was bold enough to attempt a two handed attack. Aberham spun around and cleaved his sword right in two pieces at the hilt. The skeleton looked so surprised, it's jaw hung slack as Aberham stabbed him right in the nose hole. Three skeletons were coordinating quite well, showing some vestige of partnership between them all. One was on defensive duty, he blocked any attacks initiated by Aberham with his shield. While his others tried to use their extended reaches with their swords to lean in past him and get in a cheeky attack. This sent Aberham into a blood churning rage. He spun his body around and every attacker was pushed back long enough for him to lunge with his sword into the skeletons shield, it got caught in the cheap metal immediately and Aberham pulled the shield out along with it's users arm. He kicked off the shield and the skeleton could not defend himself and got his head shattered by a blow with Aberhams sword. Two of his friends followed closely behind.

Stalfos: 5

Abe crushed the skull of a young Stalfos under his mighty heel.

He looked up with a grin hidden behind his visor. The remaining four were old and presumably weaker. These were the foes he had fought in his early days, he was most familiar with these foes. They were so pathetically easy to kill he knew deep in his heart that he had already won this battle. He rushed forward into the remaining five at a pace resembling a jog. The five would not go down easily however, and two stepped forward in a vain hope of stopping him. Weather they were a couple who passed one right after the next or just two completely different people who never knew each other and got lost in these woods until they died but their skeletons continued to roam the very forest which claimed their lives he would never know. He hoped it was not the later, but logic pointed to this forest being a place of vile evil and misdirection that had claimed the lives of many. He stepped forward to put their souls at peace. One. More. Time.

They were easily able to get the first few strikes out, the first one he met with his sword and directed it to it's proper place on the ground, the second he blocked with his shield at just the right time. For the third he could not hope to block so he let it bounce harmlessly off the side of his armor, it was like a child trying to break down a brick wall. It did so little damage that besides the force he could not even feel it. He took his sword over his head in two hands and brought it down on the shoulder of the closest one to him. He crumbled to the ground, but slowly started to get up. Then he slammed his shield into the next one and drove him back before he rotated his entire body three hundred and sixty degree's and cut his forhead off perfectly down the middle.

The other three were upon him now, he had to put his entire body behind his shield just to withstand the last ditch attacks from all three of them at once. Their weapons slammed into his shield over and over until one stepped past his guard and got a shot it right on his side. He felt it rake his armor and it even managed to break his skin. When he was dressing his many bruises after this battle he would notice that this was the only wound he had that bled, truly a great accomplishment on the skeletons part. But in retaliation he cut his arms off at the wrists making him drop his sword followed by a swift blow to the head, a large crack filled the night air and the skeliton fell and never got up. He turned to the other two and attacked so fast and so mightily that he was able to beat down both of their poor defenses at the same time. He yelled out in mighty victory on his foes before he cut both of their heads into two pieces with one mighty strike.

He turned to face the last Stalfos, who had recently brought himself back up from a pile of bones. His first attack raked against his shield, the next one hit his armor so hard it caused sparks. The final attack was never finished, because Aberham had executed three of his own which caused the skeleton to die permanently. He fell to the ground breathing hard and deep.

Approved for Abe. Due to Rython no longer being with us on the site, and his not fuly contributing, rewards from him shall be witheld. Locked.