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"Okay…" Warro muttered, walking ahead of Kuro and towards the middle of the room, but before he could take another step forward, he was jerked back by the collar of his tunic and nearly fell over.

"Last time we let you out, on your own, you activated a trap!" Kuro exclaimed. "Learn, Warro, learn!"

"However, that was the only way we would have gotten the key, it seemed," argued Devon as she helped Warro back up. "Besides, how was he supposed to know a trap was on that tile?"

"Because we told him to always be wary of traps, when we were in dungeons," Kuro retorted. Devon responded and an argument began as Warro walked off, curious about the two blocks that appeared to be connected to the walls of the room.
There has to be something for these, he thought as he approached one. We got the las key by me stepping on a tile, so I wonder… Warro looked at the blocks as the frequently unused gears, in his head, began to turn. He approached one of the blocks and pressed his shoulder up against it with a grunt. He pushed with all his might, his feet sliding on the ground, but the block did not budge from its spot.

"Warro, what are you doing?" Kuro looked at Warro, her arms akimbo. "Those things are connected to the wall. You can't--"

--CLICK!

The ground rumbled and dust fell from the cracks in the ceiling as the block that Warro had been pushing, moved away from him. The wall was moving, and revealed the door to the next room.

"You told me that dungeons were filled with puzz… puzz… " Warro sighed; the word was on the tip of his tongue.

"Puzzles," Kuro finished for him. "How did you know what to do?"

"Warro's not as stupid as you think," Devon interjected.

"I know that!" Kuro turned back to Warro and asked again. "How did you know what to do? This one was not an accident, like last time."

"I just thought it might've been a switch," Warro explained. "The entrance and the other room looked almost the same. This one was different."

"He makes a good point," Devon said, patting Warro on his shoulder, with a grin on her face.
"So, how did you know you had to push it, in that way, and where to push it?"
"First thing that I thinked of," Warro responded, scratching the back of his head with a smile.

"'Thought,' Warro," Kuro corrected. "And it was just Luck again… as always." She sighed and shook her head.

"Well, we shouldn't complain, if his luck is this good." Devon stood between the two of them and pointed ahead. "I mean, we got the last room, ahead, it seems." Through the small corridor, the trio could see their foe: a black knight holding a sword and shield. "That must be the Darknut."

"Alright, Devon, Kuro, leave this to me!" Warro said with confidence. He brandished his sword and shield, and raced toward the Darknut, leaving Kuro and Devon behind.

"Warro, wait!" Devon called, chasing after him.

"You idiot!" Kuro followed Devon and ran alongside her. She turned to Devon, whom she knew had a battle plan in mind. The two had learned to work together, when they knew Warro was in trouble and this was no exception. What was their plan going to be this time?

"Tag, you're it!" Warro yelled as he leapt up into the air, attacking the Darknut with a Jump Attack. "Yaaa--" The Darknut's shield connected with Warro's jaw and knocked him into the wall. Kuro and Devon rushed in just as Warro's body slid down the wall and slumped, unconscious.

"You go left, I'll go right!" Devon called out. "If we take him on from both sides, we should be able to distract him!" Kuro nodded. She held the handle of her shortsword at the ready, just in case she was disarmed, like she frequently was. The girls split up and attacked the Darknut from the sides. "Warro may be a pushover, but we aren't!" she said as she locked blades with the Darknut. Kuro attacked it from behind, knocking its pauldrons off of its shoulders.

"Its armor is pretty old," said Kuro as she ducked under the shield that had been swung toward her head. She countered with another strike and stabbed into the back of the armor covering his back with the tip of her halberd. Surprisingly, the blade pierced the old metal, cracking it.

"Seems that way." Devon blocked the Darknut's blade and cut through its chest plate as Kuro broke through the armor on its back. It swung its arms and knocked the two girls back. Its strength had increased as well as its speed. The Darknut threw its shield at Kuro and its sword at Devon; Devon jumped to the side and Kuro ducked. The Darknut then brandished another sword, one more slender and lighter than the last one. It jumped towards Devon and slashed with nearly blinding speed. "Great Di--" Devon caught the Darknut's sword between her falchions, crossed like an X. The Darknut quickly realized Devon's clamp on its blade was strong, and it responded with a boot to her gut. Devon fell backwards and rolled on the ground.

"Devon!" Kuro yelled before turning to the Darknut and lashing out a flurry of attacks with her halberd, the Darknut jumping out of the range of her pole-arm with each attempt. "Stand still, damn you!" The Darknut deflected her halberd, leaving Kuro open for impaling. Her eyes widened; her balance was off and she had no time to react. The blade was going to pierce her.

"You make this protecting stuff look so easy, Kuro." Kuro blinked once, in disbelief. The tip of the blade was just inches from her and covered in someone's blood. She looked up and saw a Warro standing in front of her with the blade going through him. Kuro knew from her experience with fighting the wound had missed any vital organs and was not fatal, but seeing Warro with a sword stabbed through him was enough for her to scream. "WARRO!" Devon rose to her feet and was frozen, when she saw Warro as well.

"It's alright," Warro said. Something in his voice… something was different; it sounded more confident, even though he was severely wounded. "It's just a flesh wound." In Warro's hands were his sword and shield and his grip on them tightened. "And no flesh wound is enough to take down a magician like myself!"

"Magician?" Kuro whispered to herself. A smile went across her face and she nodded. "You're right! Let's kick his a**!"

"Warro, are you sure?" Devon asked as she joined the group. "We can handle it. You barely were able to fight it with its armor on!" The Darknut pulled it's blade out of Warro, who staggered back slightly, into Kuro, who blushed slightly when he ran into her.

"The least could've done was be gentle!" Warro said, placing the hand protected by the shield over his wound. "But you hurt Devon and tried to hurt Kuro. Tch, I'll make sure you won' be able to use that sword again!" He stood upright, the pain in his side disappearing as his anger rose. "You think you're fast, let's see you keep up with me." And Warro was off and his blade met the Darknut's , sparks forming between the two swords from the force of the impact. In one Deadlock, he turned to Devon and Kuro. "What're you waiting for? I have his distracted for you!" His eyes squinted and he took a deep breath through his teeth as his strength began to falter under the Darknut's strength. "Stop being useless!"

Kuro nodded and turned to Devon who was just stunned by Warro's comment. It did make her angry, especially since Warro was one to talk, but now was not the time to fight with her group members. "Right," said Devon as she charged forth with Kuro coming up from behind. The Darknut jarred as Devon's sword and Kuro's halberd pierced its chainmail. It let out a groan, before disappearing in a black smoke, leaving behind a Heart Container and a small, white baton. Kuro leaned over and picked it up.

"The Wind Waker!" she exclaimed as Warro bent down and took the Heart Container. His wounds healed instantly and he grew stronger. Kuro wrapped her arms around him and hugged Warro. "You really saved us, you know that, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, yeah," Warro said yawning. "I'm just not too great at protecting you. Stick to keeping me safe, okay?" Kuro laughed, while Devon was absolutely confused. She could tell that Warro was not acting like himself, and she could tell Kuro was acting differently too. Normally, if Warro acted like that, she'd have been pummeling him for "being stupid."

"Well, at least we have our ticket to go to Labrynna," she said, before the three of them left the cave.

~End of Chapter~