A Study of the Fauna of Termina [For kasumu_sekai]

[feathered_mages]

The next time the younger Rydia sees the little Black Mages, they may seem a bit more prepared for a trip. At least judging from the new little grade-school-type backpacks they're sporting. Blaze had picked those up for them at the Nexus Mall, being of the opinion that visiting other worlds was a great opportunity to pick up Shiny Things and that it might help to have something to carry them in. He couldn't use a backpack himself, what with the wings, but he has no doubts about their usefulness.

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[feathered_mages]

It's a very rare thing when Magelets don't want hugs. Mistral snuggles as well, but is torn between seeking comfort and getting to the mountain as quickly as possible. So, after a moment, he'll reluctantly pull away from the hugging and start off in that direction.

It's not all that far. Past the short wall separating the beach from the grassy area, and from there to a spot where the grass gives way to an odd area of bare rock dotted with giant mushroom-shaped stone formations. There are still patches of snow, mostly in the shade beneath the strange stone shapes. And from the nearest of those patches, something will throw a snowball at them.

[feathered_mages]

The answer is another snowball, a little smaller than a tennisball. The real answer can be seen scooting around in the remaining snow under the nearest mushroom-like stone formation. It's an Eeno, barely a foot tall. There's another smaller one nearby, and a few shifting bits of snow that might be others.

Mistral just stares for a moment and shakes his head as if he can't believe what he's seeing. "They've shrunk. They're melting along with the snow."

[feathered_mages]

Mistral's already using blizzard spells, focusing on making hollow ice-cube 'boxes'. "Maybe I can move them to the Ice Cavern," he explains. "It's melting too, but not this fast."

He'll then start chasing Eenos, trying to scoop one up and put it in a box with some snow. It only takes half a second for the Magelets to join in, and occasionally throw some snowballs back at the Eenos.

This isn't going so well, though, as far as getting them 'crated' to be moved. At least not until Mistral remembers there's a much easier way... turning the hollow cubes on their sides and some use of his Bell later and the surviving Eenos just slide into the boxes.

The Magelets are a little disappointed the snowball fight is over for now.

[feathered_mages]

Mistral nods. It would probably make more sense to take this lot to the Ice Cavern and then come back, but he's not thinking of that. Instead, he'll try making a sled out of ice to put the crates on, but it doesn't pull well on bare ground. The Magelets are helping by casting the occasional ice-based spell on the Eenos to keep them cool.

"Maybe we could float the sled," suggests Kaze.

"Are there more ice monsters all up the mountain?" asks Luca, looking at the mountain trail ahead of them.

[feathered_mages]

Mistral hesitates a moment, torn between doing that and searching for more surviving monsters, and then nods. It would actually go faster to drop them off as they were found. Digging his PINPoint from a pocket, he'll grab the edge of the ice-sled and a moment later is gone.

The Magelets look around for any more Eenos, but find none. They do find a couple flowers poking out of the snow, though.

[feathered_mages]

Mistral is soon back. It didn't take long to pull the sled into the cave entrance and tip the Eenos out of the ice-cube boxes. They'd started to recover and regain size almost as soon as they'd been back in a cold environment - as can be noted by the little Waltz's current state. He's been rather thoroughly pelted with snowballs.

[feathered_mages]

"I think so," Mistral replies, trying to dust some of the snow off his hat. It's making the brim sag and getting in the way of seeing where he's going. Soon, though, he can find the foot of the mountain trail again. It's not as harsh and bare a mountain as Hyrule's Death Mountain, having large patches of grass and the occasional conifer tree. There are some patches of snow here and there, and Mistral checks them before stopping at the bottom of a tree with a sigh.

"I found Snowball in a tree like this one, but it looks like most of the snow on it is gone." And standing under a conifer tree that contains a few small bits of slush might not be a good idea, as a glob of it falls from the branches and lands on the Waltz with a very wet 'splut'.

The Magelets are also checking patches of snow, though they're not entirely sure what for. Anything that moves is their guess.

[feathered_mages]

"I don't know," says Mistral, sad about it as well. He really liked the Boes...

As soon as Whyt touches it, a good portion of the 'slush' wriggles and turns to look at them with big yellow eyes.

The Magelets sound excited about something, too, in a patch of snow not too far away. They've managed to find a couple of Boes as well, by the tactic of nearly tripping over them, and are now trying to catch them.

[feathered_mages]

The Boe, which had been about to pounce, stays where it is instead.

"There's a Boe on my hat, isn't there?" asks Mistral. It's not really a question, since he can guess the answer.

[feathered_mages]

The boe just wriggles a little, as if making itself comfortable. There's a solid shape, more or less air temperature, under there somewhere. Soft, kind of squishy, and covered in an odd white glow that lets it blend in perfectly with snow until you see the eyes.

Without snow, though, White Boes are pretty vulnerable and prone to being picked off by other critters that want to see if they're tasty.

Or, as the others are finding, being picked up by Magelets who want to see if they're cuddly.

[feathered_mages]

"Okay," says Mistral, who's making more hollow ice cube containers and another sled for gathering up the Boes the Magelets have managed to find. He's prompted the Hiploop to search the area and headbutt any trees to shake down Boes that might be hiding up in them.

Rydia's Boe just snuggles into the snow and closes its eyes, perfectly concealed.

[feathered_mages]

The Boes snuggle into piles in the ice boxes, making it look like the boxes are half full of snow. Mistral's taking the boxes to the Ice Cavern as they're filled up.

There had been quite a lot of Boes still hiding in the remaining snow - more Boes than snow, really, it seems. But soon it seems they've found them all, though the Magelets keep searching for a few more minutes just to be sure. They're so hard to spot, after all. And Mistral has learned that the Hiploop really likes to headbutt things, and is still running into any trees.

[feathered_mages]

Mistral's trying not to giggle himself. "I'm not sure... get away from the trees?" He knows he could use his Bell to get the Hiploop's attention, but he's a little reluctant to do so right away. It just looks like it's having fun.

Lono waddles up with one last Boe that the Hiploop knocked out of a tree, and Mistral decides to let the pet play until he's back from dropping the load off. Then he'll give in and use his Bell to get the Hiploop to stop attacking trees so they can continue up the mountain.