Impenetrable Armor -|- Shapeless Shadow

[♛Brouda]

Great pillars of fire rose from the volcano behind Brouda as he walked down Death Mountain. His heavy steps left huge footprints in the warm soil. Many monsters surrounded the young Goron, but he showed no response to the creatures. His large titan frame, and shiny blue crystals protruding from his face and body put great fear into the passing creatures. He slightly chuckled as the group passed. Spending most of his time on the mountain, Brouda knew a great deal of the local monsters and their mannerisms, but off the mountain; his knowledge is very limited. Coming to a sudden halt, his big black eyes locked on a perfect downward slop leading to one of the many hidden entrances and exits the local Goron use occasionally. Slowly, the young Goron began rotating his massive neck. Great bone cracks covered the area, but as he was doing so. Something, quickly approached from behind.

"Kyuha, kyuha!!!"

A pair of blue and red goblins screamed with a great amount of saliva dripping from there mouths. It was apparent from the way they stood; weapons ready, eyes locked on all joints of the massive Goron who stood directly in front of them, the pair wanted a fight; better yet, a meal. The Crystal King slowly gave the two his full attention, his body hot due from the hike down the mountain. The shiny minerals throughout his body caught the magnificent glow from the sun perfectly overhead, giving the young Gorons body a mystical and majestic look. With big black eyes, a smirk grew across the face of Brouda as he towered over the 5'0 creatures who dare challenged him with such bloodthirsty eyes. The beast within Brouda fought to be released, like a savage hulk wanting nothing more but to cause ultimate mayhem and destruction, but this feeling, he kept under control... For now.

"You look... Hungry?

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""Kyuha, kyuha!!!"

"So, you guys gonna "eat" me?

"...KYUHA!!!!"

"HAHAHA! You tiny monsters earned my respect!

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Without a moment of hesitation, the blue goblin ran forward with wide, uneasy movements swinging it's rusted blade from left to right as it approached the titan Goron. Brouda simply stood there as the small creature approached leaving a pool of saliva in it's path, the pool wouldn't last long though. The extreme heat made it that normal liquid stood no chance at this altitude. With a wider than normal swing with it's blue arm, the goblin released a slice with respectable speed, aimed right for the side of Brouda. "Clink!" The rusted blade made contact with the titans crystal skin, causing the brittle blade to snap right in two halves. The Red Goblin watched as the events carefully, and suddenly, the great weight of fear hit it's red,dry, and ashy body with great force. Within the time frame of half a second, Brouda moved his massive arm up, and grabbed the face of the blue goblin.

"That was a good try, Friend."

"...KYU---..."

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The sound of it's screamed came to a stop, as Brouda applied more pressure to it's head. His hand was easily three sizes bigger than it's head, so this feat of strength was no challenge at all. It's arms and legs flailed frantically within the air as it's muffled screams caused the other Goblin to shake with utter fear, it was obvious the two made a grave mistake today. Slowly, the flailing blue goblin came to a sudden halt, as red liquid feel from the cracks of Brouda's hand. The Titans eyebrows flattened as he felt the warm liquid. Instantly, he dropped the lifeless body. It remained on the ground flinching, while blood quickly poured out of it's open skull. The Red Goblin had finally seen enough, it dashed forward past Brouda, and began making it's way down the slop dodging the many boulders that rested along the way. The young Goron simpley smiled, the chase was on!

"KYUHA!!!!"

"Running away huh? Cowards don't deserve to walk this earth!"

Leaping up into the sky, Brouda came to a sudden crash; like a great meteor of crystal striking the earth with undying force. As he dashed down the slope full speed, faster than all other Goron's, even faster than some humans. The boulders in his way stood no chance, the crystals protruding out of his body, mixed with his raw physical Goron strength knocked the massive rocks out of his way like a runaway fright-train. The crushing sound of stone and rock caused the Goblin to instinctively turn around, and as it did so, all it could see was the mighty hand of a god grip around it's skull like a type of child's ball. Digging his legs into the soft soil, Brouda brought his body to a slow stop, right at the base of the slope. The Goblin flailed wildly, like it's partner before him.

"..K-K-K...!!!"

"Don't worry, I won't rid the world of you just yet, Friend!

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[Faden]

The mountain was the same as years before. Since he finally healed from his wounds in the forest, he checked the mountain for his small bounty. They had been avoiding him for some time, and now they brought themselves to this mountain. It was quite a smart move, but Faden suspected it was nothing about brains, it was more likely coincidence. That was beyond the point, they were not wanted alive, and only taking out the leader was needed. Goblins ran in packs, and usually one of them was smarter than the rest. They could sometimes talk, and they always had tattoo's to show their superiority.

BOOM! The sound was all too familiar, a loud crash could be heard not too far away. It was as if a steel carriage slammed against another steel carriage. Was this the cause of a Goron? He knew of them, but honestly only tales. Even though he's been here before, Goron usually stay to their village. There was no reason for them to come out, they were told to be gentle beings, but still had some sort of attitude to them. There was nothing weirder than hearing something like that. Gentle with an attitude. Made sense, right?

"Well, no sense in not checking it out." Faden moved toward the sound, and only came to a small slope. Looking down it, he noticed a large rock, no, a large crystal. Wait, the crystal was moving, and even had legs. Goron? "I thought they were rock creatures? Not shiny creatures..." he crouched down, and placed his hand under his hood that covered his eyes, even with the hood it was hard to see all the way down to them. He was holding something, and it seemed to squirm in it's grip. Though for some reason, he didn't notice the dead Goblin just a few feet behind him. Had he known that, he would of just continued watching... Thought because of this, he needed to make sure he wouldn't escape.

Enough of just watching...

[/color] thought Faden, as he began to jolt from his crouched position into a half speed dash. Within seconds, the distance was closed. There was only a few feet from the shiny-crystal creature.

From what he could see, and what he was holding, he about laughed aloud until he heard the creature talk to the Goblin. "Don't worry, I won't rid the world of you just yet, Friend!"[/b][/i] this was sad, since it would be fun to have someone else do his own work. Slowly, he glanced behind him, to see the blade of his scythe shimmer in the light from above. Then, noticed his poorly stitched shoulder armor. It didn't matter to him anymore, but always depressing for him to see.

"Sorry, I can't let him live any longer." he said, as he grabbed his scythe, and before he could even react; the squirming from the Goblin in his hand ceased to happen. It was now replaced with slight twitching, as his lower half of his body flopped to the ground. Blood and guts slowly poured from his upper half, and instead of hearing random grunts and syllables, all you heard was gurgling, then his eyes curled into this back of his head... And he was gone.

Faden turned, to look at the massive creature face to face. There was no need in killing him, but was he thinking the same toward Faden? It would be a hassle fighting him, as Faden had heard so many times how Goron's were stronger, and more dense than regular people. This was true in both senses, not just dense in body, but personality as well. "I don't need to kill you, Goron." he still didn't know if he was exactly Goron, but he did look the part from what he had heard from tales of them on Death Mountain.

"I just need to know where the others went. Were there four of them?" he knew that sometimes they only hunted in pairs, but this group had four of them with them. Even tough they were a group of four, there might of only been one of them attacking him. Perhaps his information was of no use.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[♛Brouda]

The pressure coming from Brouda's mighty palm crushed the skull of the Goblin quickly and without any type of remorse, but Brouda himself didn't realize this. Ever since the Titan was a child, he hasn't fully aware of his phenomenal strength, and this very moment was no different from those many years ago. The blue creature moved slower and slower with each passing second, while Brouda simply looked around at the surroundings. This would be the first time in almost six years since he left the village, but it was only a matter of time before this very day came to be. A few meters over to Brouda's right, he noticed a very massive boulder; much bigger than normal. He chuckled a little as the road to adventure and life was now within his very reach. The feeling of more blood dripped through the cracks of the young Gorons hand once again almost instantly causing his eyebrows to flatten in disappointment.

"Ugh, looks like ou---..."

"Sorry, I can't let him live any longer." A voice from behind The Crystal King spoke softly. Before the young Goron was even able to respond to such weird talk, the Goblins frantic moving came to a complete and sudden halt. Big black eyes, looked down towards the ground, there, Brouda saw a great deal of red liquid; undeniably blood. Within the massive puddle of organs, the Titan saw his reflection within the liquid of life. His smooth brown colored face, small traces of crystal protruding from the rock like facial hair, which protected his face. Smirking slightly, he tossed the remaining half of the body behind him, with a great feat of Goron strength and pride. The upper-half landed back on top of the slope with a loud echo; "Splat...." A few feet directly ahead of Brouda stood a human man with a bladed weapon the young Goron was unfamiliar with.

"..."

The two men looked each other in the eyes. Both showed signs of pride and strength, but Brouda's somewhat "gentle" nature overcame his raging emotion. The beast within was caged once again. "I don't need to kill you, Goron." The man quickly said after a few moments of silence. The Titans eyebrows flattened once again as his ears caught the few words. "I just need to know where the others went. Were there four of them?" The unknown man continued to speak looking at Brouda for any type of information. The Crystal King couldn't help but bust out in a friendly laugh. His laughter carried aross the entire mountain almost as if every creature, and even the gods themselves were listening .

"Sorry Friend, I've seen no sign of anymore Goblins.

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[Faden]

There wasn't much time to be made here. Slipping his hand over his mask, he gently lowered it so he could show his face completely. Taking the hood off, he sighed gently. Lowering his eyes to the ground, he followed the cracks of the brindled ground. "I have been following these goblins for days, they are being pursued by a very wealthy Hylian, but they are always hiding. I can never find them, and this is the first time I've been able to kill one." he said, as he remembered that it was saddening that his tail would still have to be tailed. I mean he thought he'd of ended it with information on which way they had traveled, but hopefully they'd be easier to find now.

The creature's laugh didn't intimidate him much, and his crimson red eyes now peered deep into the creature's. Trying to find a weakness, he couldn't really. Though what he remembered of these creatures, they were very naive. They never left this mountain, and if they did they usually intimidated villages, and ended in them being run out. There was no real Gorons mixed in with other races. It was too much of a hassle, and difference.

"I could use your help, I don't know these mountains. I am sure you do though. They usually hide out in small dark places, so that's why they came here, I suppose." his eyes checked for any signs of movement around, as he slid his scythe quickly toward the ground. The blood from the Goblin slid right off the blade, and it pointed straight toward the ground. He held it out to his side, the blade almost able to touch the ground, but it hovered mere inches from it.

The rock below was warm, he could feel it through his own leathered boots. It was odd how warm it was, even almost close enough to burn his feet, but he ignored it. "How about it, Goron?" he asked, slowing his sentences a bit, as if to make it easier for him to understand. Well, the Goron was able to form sentences without seemingly sounding stupid. So Faden still acted toward him, as if he was dense as he heard they were supposed to be. Though that laugh still haunted him, and it tore at him briefly.

"Your laugh, what was it directed toward?" he asked, as his crimson stare turned into a dark glare.

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[♛Brouda]

Brouda watched as the mysterious figure slowly shifted the mask back over his face. Was this being some type of assassin? It would make sense, or maybe he was a sword for hire; a mercenary? The lifestyle of a mercenary is something that caught Brouda's interest, but his moral code would never allow the titan to enjoy such a lifestyle. The young Goron turned his head back to the massive boulder a few meters away, once again. It was only a matter of time before he came apart of the events happening in the real world. After a few moments, The Crystal King faced the figure, forcing his head downward to get a good look at the much smaller and shorter being. The small being then began explaining how his been following a pack of Goblins for days. Obviously his trail went cold.

"Hm?"

Crossing his massive hulk like arms across his chest, Brouda began thinking about the local pack of Goblins. The creatures are tricky; they never stay in one place for to long, and they normally like to hunt in small groups; two - three max. This wouldn't be the first time Brouda came to terms with the pack, but it would be the first time he actually killed a few. Finding them would be the hard part, but it wouldn't be impossible if one tried hard enough. Shifting his big black eyes back on top of the cliff, he realized that would be the perfect place for this unknown being to restart his search. Up in that direction rested a underground cavern, connected by thousands of tunnels. The Masked Man began shouting words for his mouth once again. This time, the information coming from his lips would be correct. But he wanted Brouda's help in searching for the remaining pack.

"You want my help, huh?"

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Looking down at the bladed weapon the unknown figure held, Brouda couldn't help but smirk a little. The weapon was unlike any he has seen before. It was truly unique and original, at least in his own mind. Steam rose for The Crystal King's exposed feet. The warm soil didn't faze the local Goron, but other races; that was a different story. Death Mountain can be a cruel and unforgiving place if one doesn't respect the beauty and power of mother-nature. The man asked Brouda for help one last time. This time, it seemed he dragged out the words, but Brouda didn't think much of it. Suddenly, right before the Titan could even answer, the unknown figure mentioned the laugh from early, and what it was directed at. The young Gorons eyebrows flatted yet again, lying seemed like the best thing to do at this point, but lying was the ultimate sign of cowardliness. The crimson red eyes from the man ticked the Titan, he couldn't help but bust out laughing once again.

"You said 'you didn't need to kill me', right? I just find it funny you can think such a thing can be done. That's all, Friend.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/b][/font][/size]

[Faden]

Goron's were stated on being 100% infatuated with their own abilities. They thought they were unstoppable, an impenetrable force, they even are said to think they are stronger than anything around. Faden found this amusing, and began to chuckle. Slowly, he swept his scythe across the air, once more. The blade extended from it's tip emitting a sort of shadowy steam. Ignoring his previous ambiguous question, his anger rose a bit with his conceited answer to Faden's question. His chuckle stopped short, his eyes narrowed, and he raised his mask above his mouth and began to talk through it once more.

"You think you're some sort of immortal being, or that because of my small appearance compared to you, that I'm a weakling?" Faden wouldn't take this lying down. He was the type to not take a joke, or even an insult in good taste. No apology room was even allowed here, he didn't hate him for what he said, as being caught up in your own abilities can make you that naive.

His eyes were streamlined, as slowly behind him his shadow began to emit a steam. This wasn't the same as the steam emitting from the ground, but more like black smoke. Before it was possible to access what was going on with it. Sprouting to life before the Goron's very eyes, four tendrils slipped into reality from Faden's own shadow. Since his position toward the sun, his shadow was directly to the right of him, and slightly tilted toward his back.

Steam rose from the ground just below the Goron once more, and within that instant Faden darted toward the left of the being. This was his full speed, it was as if he had disappeared from view completely. Sometimes, the display of speed amazed Faden himself. There was no time to get caught up in his abilities, he wanted to show this Goron how mortal he really was. Faden thought this to be an easy task.

Not only did he flow amazingly with how fast he moved... But the tendrils behind him awaited his opponent to make a move, and they would instinctively protect Faden on call.

Within these couple of seconds of his momentum, he used it to shift to the right side quickly. This sudden switch of direction, was to make sure if the Goron was readying for a frontal assault, it would catch him off guard. For a moment, Faden needed registered what the Goron was made of, he was quite shiny, and his skin did look like he had an armor overlaying most of his body. Was it a good thing to hit him in this shiny armor? Probably not, so he aimed his blade quickly toward the creatures chest, with a small slash. This wasn't to scar, or mortally wound. It was just a display of power. The shadow tip would slide across the creatures chest, before slowly being drawn back as Faden stopped slightly behind the creature.

If the hit landed, Faden would now be off to the left of the creature, and a small cut would appear on an empty part of his chest. Not only that, Faden's shadow would now extend over the creatures body. The creature's height was massive, and his shadow only would reach his stomach, but this was enough to show a threat. As if he moved, the tendrils would grab unto him, trying to hold him in place.

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[♛Brouda]

Brouda stood, arms crossed up against his chest, with a large friendly smile showing a great amount of Canine type teeth. But instantly, it was apparent the unknown being didn't take the comment so well. The Titans face slowly returned to normal, as his eyebrows remained flattened. The mans movements with the bladed weapon indicated he was wanting to prove the comment wrong, or so The Crystal King thought. He could be wrong, he really hoped he was wrong. The Masked Man rose the mask upon his face up to his lips, and began spitting words once again. But these words, were words of someone that felt disrespected.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Friend."

Brouda's tone became more serious, as he slowly lowered his hulk like arms back down to his waist area. A type of steam, no smoke began emitting from the ground which the unknown figure stood upon. The Crystal King thought nothing of this "smoke", he simply watched the man while eyeing the smoke slightly. Suddenly, four whips of pure darkness appeared behind the man, moving with synchronized movement, and now, it was obviously the fight was on. The Titan watched all joints, anything this man planed on doing, Brouda would be ready to counter accordingly. The unknown figure moved to the left with respectable speed, but the young Goron kept up with blur like appearance. He followed the man out the corner of his eye, not wanting to give any sign that he knew exactly where he was going.

"Much Faster than myself, but that doesn't mean anything, HAHA!"

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He softly whispered to himself as he watched the blur move, and change direction to the right at a whim. His training and pure love for a good fight brought his mind and body up to terms with even the fastest of opponents. And plus, the bright shine from the bladed weapon he held, gave Brouda a even better position to exactly what this unknown man was attempting, thanks to the sun. The Crystal King knew what needed to be done. The tattoo going down his arm began to burn, but not hot, more like cold; like a soft winter breeze. As the man approached; weapon ready, it was obvious he would aim for a spot not covered by the Impenetrable armor. And the only area easily accused would be his chest or lower. Right before the moment of contact, Brouda would spin his hulk like body in a full 360 degrees, demonstrating a feat of speed of his own. the speed at which the man was moving made it almost impossible to just instantly stop and dodge. The four feet Crystal protruding from his back would be around the same length as the man from head to waist, so contact should be easily made. But, Crystal also stuck out of his arms and feet, so they would stop anything that decided to move low. Brouda still kept a clam mind, if this unknown being tried anything else, he would counter once again. If contact was made, the man would suffer a great deal of cuts and piercings along his body, do to the razor sharp crystal.

"The power of a Goron should never be underestimated..."[/blockquote][/blockquote][/b][/font][/size]

[Faden]

"Heh." the plan in his head was obvious, it wouldn't be easy to show his power. Though, as the creature spun, his tendrils collided directly with the crystals. The shadow grabbed to the edge of the scythe as it clashed with the crystal. Using this force, he quickly lifted his body up, the shadow keeping his balance quickly. Just as he did this, he watched as his scythe's blade now dug through the creature's crystal. The blade itself wasn't etching into it, but the shadow was piercing a part of the crystal.

If that didn't hurt, then perhaps he was wrong. Just the fact that he was able to move freely without his shoulders hurting him, it meant that he was healed. This made him happy as he quickly soared over the creatures back, toward the front of him. Just before he was able to reach the ground. The scythe snapped back. Which as the creature finished his 360 slung Faden from his back, along with his scythe's grip. Luckily, and unluckily there was a massive rock formation six feet from the creature. This allowed Faden to stop his massive momentum, but only to have him slap quickly against it. Sliding to the ground from it, he looked up.

"You shouldn't belittle an opponent like that, it will end in your own demise." he said, as his shadow slowly ascended up his body, now making his hooded robe seem as though it were emitting pure shadow. They were now around seven feet away from each other, and this time, he waited to hear the Goron's new conceited words.

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[♛Brouda]

The sheer speed and momentum from the spinning crystal caused a type of low pitched whistling sound as the many spikes cut through the air like a hot knife through butter. But something was a slightly off. In the middle of his mighty spin, Brouda heard no blood covered scream, he felt no flesh ripping tugs, but he did feel a very soft push upon his back. Suddenly, the faint sound of crackling crystals erupted within his ears, causing his eyebrows to flatten once again. At the climax of the great spin, the young Goron instantly knew the unknown man was no longer in front of him. The unknown force pushing up against his back aided in The Masked Mans escape. Slowly turning his body to face the unknown being, Brouda couldn't help but bust out into yet another friendly laugh. Big black gentle eyes locked on the unknown being, darkness covered his entire body, but Brouda thought nothing of this strange feat. More words came from the mouth of the mysterious man; words of advice it seemed, but this to, the Titan paid little attention too. Laughter continued to erupt from his mouth like a massive volcano.

"You've earned my respect, Friend! One normally falls to my abilities as a fighter. If you wish, we can continue if the words I've spoken insulted you. Even though, that were never my intentions.

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[Faden]

Slowly the shadow began to evaporate from his clothing. It began to recede completely back to it's original position. Now, the sun had moved, and his position changed. Though, he wasn't sure what to take from what the creature had said.

"Showing signs of weakness will also get you killed, Goron." he said, now willing to just call him what he saw fit. There was no use to continue his hostilities, as he needed to search for the Goblins before the day's end. It was a form of income to him, and he had became a hired sword, or how would you say... Hired scythe?

This made no difference in the matter, and he looked back up at the Goron, his red eyes showing no signs of weakness. He was battle ridden, and knew of all sorts of pains. Finding weakness in this man's eyes would be harder than anything this poor Goron would know.

"Rather than fight, I was still wondering if you would help. Since your massive size and strength, you might be able to pull the rest of them out of hiding." he said, as he began to brush off his robes, and slid his scythe back unto his back. "I need to kill their leader, and return his head for the reward. The one you killed there was a grunt, I guess I was hoping you had done my job for me when I first saw you." he said, as he slowly brought his arms to his sides, as he let his words sink in.

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[♛Brouda]

This amazed Brouda greatly. He's only be away from the Goron Village for a matter of hours, and already, the Titan ran into a challenger on the same skill level as himself. The passion within his big black eyes shined greatly as he reviled a great amount of sharp canine teeth with a simple faint smile. The Crystal King watched the man closely, his burning pupils shifting from joint to joint. He also caught a faint glimpses of the mysterious black "smoke". But upon focusing harder, Brouda quickly realized it wasn't "smoke"; but more like this unknown mans shadow. It had a mind of it's own; a whole other entity in its self, and as the position from the sun changed, it quickly moved back to The Masked Mans side; with movements similar to a all mighty snake, and returned back to it's original state as if nothing has changed at all. Things began clicking within the Titans head. Could this strange ability the unknown man possessed be the cause of the cracking sound he heard from the crystal running up and down his back? The more he understood, the more Brouda became confused, but he liked this feeling. The world had many new things to offer the young Goron, and he was willing to learn it all!

"HAHA! What you call weakness, I call pride. And a man without pride, is a man without purpose. Don't you agree, Friend?

The young Goron chuckled his same normal laugh with erupting effects from his wide open mouth. But deep within The Crystal King, he was a little upset the battle was over. The Titan wanted to see more of this "Shadow" ability, but the time for "learning" could wait. For now, this man needed help finding the remaining creatures, and the Titan couldn't leave such a worthy opponent in a time of crisis. The Masked Man looked up at Brouda with powerful red eyes, but the young Goron's friendly eyes didn't take this as a threat; but more like a younger Goron trying to prove his worth and strength, and Brouda respected this greatly. The man began speaking once again; asking for help and actually giving a reason why he need to hunt the reaming Goblins. Brouda took in the words as his vision shifted to the top of the hill he just recently ran down. A perfect path would be clear, do to his sheer strength and ability as a Goron.

"Up there, lays a cave, to a endless series of caverns. That'll be your best bet to start looking, Friend. But you won't do it alone, this Goron never leaves the worthy in a time of need.

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