The Eldest Fairy

Waking of Saturday, August 4, 2018

The Eldest Fairy

I warped back to Outskirt once again to hit up Trott.

Plus three hundred rupees.

Then to Goron City to see if Ramella had changed her mind, but she still wanted Sapphires.

No way.

From there I warped.... to Gut Check Rock. Perhaps there wasn’t a plethora of rupees this way, but being on the volcano had reminded me....

The last time I had crossed the Deplian Badlands, my shrine-detector had not been active. I wanted to comb the north skirt of the volcano again—I thought there MUST be another shrine somewhere that I had missed! For it was a difficult area to get to, and bordered only by the shrines at Gut Check rock far to the east, and the dark Thyphlo Ruins far to the west—and that shrine wasn’t even worth warping to for the dark way you would have to make out of the maze and over the bog! Dang you, Ketoh Wawai, what were you thinking?

I started westward from Gut Check Rock and climbed up and down all over the mountainside. I killed overly-ready supplies of baddies and collected tons of loot; I got a great pictograph of the Eldin Great Skeleton for those chumps at that Akkala Stable; I nicked off two shards of Dinraal’s horn! didn’t play with the Lynels, though, nope—but still.... I could not find another shrine.

Deplian Badlands.... Too bad even for any Sheikah monks?

....!

Hm. Only now do I consider how the cliff descends into the northern chasm.

I wonder what’s down there....

Although.... doesn’t my sensor detect in lateral directions just the same despite any differences in altitude? Surely I would have heard something already.... Though I’ve never put that to a rigorous test....

As I meandered back to Goron City on foot, I was at least grateful for one thing—there had been a HECKTON of rare ore deposits on the north side of the mountain. And with my new supply of baddie-bits I went to visit Tanko again and sold him a bunch of stuff, and even some Topaz.

That kicked me over ten thousand.

Okay.... hoo.

I warped back to the Gerudo Great Skeleton, and the Great Fairy Tera’s cocoon.

“I got the stuff,” I said, “....This has not been easy.”

I held it out....

The way they always grab the money from you—and just like that—

My hard-sought ten thousand rupees disappeared.

I was poor again, in goods and money.

It was the thinnest I’d felt in a while.

The Great Fairy was rejuvenated, and her cocoon pulsated and opened into a white flower with pink-orange speckles!

And up came Tera AND HER HAIR WAS SO BIG it just wouldn’t STOP—VICTORIAN—WHAT A POMPADOUR! White hair, looming in a HUGE and luscious poof to lean into a dip on her right side—and she had bigger fairy-fin ornaments behind her ears than I had seen on any of her sisters! <3

She was decadent.

She gave a watery cough before properly introducing herself as the eldest of the Great Fairy Sisters. And she said that she had seen my efforts from within her bud.

Well that was heartening. :]

She said that she sees everything. In fact, she said, she was going to predict what I was thinking at that moment!

...

...

And after a moment she said, “I bet you’re probably thinking, ‘Can’t we just get to the part where she enhances my clothes?’”

Haaa lawl. |D

“What an impatient person,” she said. But she impressed that she really did appreciate what I had done for her. And she said that now.... she could enhance my clothes TO THE MAX.

But.... I’d noticed this pattern with the clothing enhancements. My wardrobe was becoming quite extensive, and whenever I took something to a Great Fairy for an enhancement, the item was returned to me waaaay at the back of my inventory. This made it a little difficult to keep the various sets near each other and together, but I was managing that pretty well.... mostly.

I had never employed the Sort button within those menus.... Not on purpose that I can recall anyway. But you know how it is when you accumulate so many messy piles—you know where everything is.... until you clean.

But this was getting to be a lot of messy piles....

Hrmmmrmm....

Maybe I’d try it.... I walked toward the shrine until I got an autosave, after which I entered my menus and sorted my clothes.

Heh, sounds like a chore I’d been neglecting.

I observed the results, which came in two orientations: one by body part.... and oh! one by sets! :) Well that was nice! Perhaps I could utilize that....

Oh I should just do it, I thought. Besides, Tera could work on seventeen of the forty-two items of clothing I had.... I may as well.... eh?

But.... I just.... couldn’t. Not yet.

I paused again, reloaded from just before I had sorted and kept my messy closet.

Mmmmm but to start I would let her enhance the Climber’s Bandana—that one wasn’t part of any set that I had....

It was already up to the third level, so this should have maxed it out then.

So I turned it over to Tera and she leaned in close and HER MOUTH WAS OPEN WIDE AND OH MY GOSH SHE JUST GRABBED ME IN HER GIANT FIST AND SNOODLED ME SO HARD AGAINST HER SWEETLOVING FACE AND THEN PLUNGED BACK DOWN INTO HER WATER INSIDE HER FLOWER WHAT—

Link’s scream so quickly faded away and the screen went black.

My mind instantly conjured up the deep blue, rippling, colorful world inside her home, and I wondered.... What would I see? Inside her flower?

But the screen only came back a moment later, above ground as ever.

When I came to, I was lying face down on the petally platform where would I normally speak to any Great Fairy.

I got up with a groan.

My Climber’s Bandana was enhanced.

“Want me to enhance any others?” she asked me in some such words of her own verbiage.

And I would have imagined the answer to be NOPE NO THANKS, THANKS BUT NO.

OH MY GOSH I THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA EAT ME.

But.... I upgraded a bunch of clothes anyway. And those pieces ended up all out of order in my inventory but.... that was okay. I couldn’t complain with the results; they were so strong.

“Sometimes I’m so good it’s scary,” Tera said.

One Last Look

Waking of Tuesday, May 2, 2017 ~ 4

One Last Look

The game’s rendering of the distant environment really played some cruel mirage jokes on me: I thought for sure I saw a crack in the stone that the water might flow through, but.... no, it must only have been the joint between two very large polygons.

Some way upstream, a convenient pathway led up from a sandy bank on the non-Satori side. The rock formations surrounding it were.... strange and impressive! Arcing over the path and jutting ruggedly into the air. I climbed to the highest point I could on these formations, considering what to do. I could think of only one more course to take....

My last option... was to climb Satori Mountain itself.

From its crest I could make doubly sure that the river really did stop there.

I studied the craggy mountainface over the opposite bank—the back of Satori Mountain; there was one ledge it seemed I’d be able to make if I scrambled.... I pulled out my paraglider and leapt for it.

And it was a scramble. Even with my Climber’s Bandana on, I had to drink my very last stamina elixir—the one I hadn’t used taming Memory—to get on top of it where I could properly stand again.

That had been close. And the next ledge looked.... pretty far away. But I was sure I could make it.... if I could beeline most directly....

I started climbing....

I got.... close....

But my grip was failing....

And I hadn’t found level enough footing to rest—

And I was out of elixirs. And my raw Stamella Shrooms wouldn’t help me.

I started to slide.

I dug my heels into the rock, balancing madly and slowing myself somewhat—I could feel my energy coming back to me if I could just stop my sliding—the rock slid up before my face—I dropped from slope to slope—my toes wouldn’t grip—my arms were burned out—I couldn’t hold on—

And then there was nothing but air. The rushing grew louder in my ears as I dropped, too winded even to pull out my paraglider.

I fell two hundred feet.

My boots slammed onto a large boulder beside the river as I crunched down onto heels and tibias and fibulas and femurs that should have snapped like dry twigs—

But the shimmering teal spectre of a she-Zora enfolded me in its gentle arms before dissipating in a twinkling and a loving whisper . . . .

I stood stunned for a moment.

I was whole.

I was fine.

....I was back at the bottom of the river.

“....Thanks, Mipha,” I murmured, and started swimming toward the pathway out again.

In the end I simply made the little trek back to Jeddo Bridge, and crossed over to Satori Mountain from there. The climb to its peak was easy enough, and, as I traveled by daylight, no glowing beasts crossed my path, which was nice. I did however encounter a great unkindness of ravens higher up [it was actually a murder of crows]—I snapped the pictograph of one of them as my shrine-detector began to beep.

Satori Mountain was hilly; the shrine was difficult to find. It seemed to be directly on the other side of the peak from where I was.

But that was fine with me—I needed to climb up there anyway. And I did. And it was cold at the top.

I didn’t think to put on my Warm Doublet, but just quickly scanned the surrounding landscape.

The rivers did not continue further that I could see.

They really did stop.

I shivered—the altitude was beginning to affect my wellbeing. I had to get lower, and find that shrine....

The shrine belonged to one Mogg Latan, and he seemed to really enjoy making life tremendously difficult. That was a hard-won Spirit Orb. Well played, Mogg Latan.

It was dark when I emerged from the shrine, I don’t remember whether from the night or only the rain. But there were still no glowing beasts about, which was just spiffing.

I surveyed the land as best I could from a lower perch.

The splits of the river seemed to encompass Satori Mountain for most of its circumference. They did all seem to head in a general south-southwestern direction before they ran out.... all of them reaching just to the left of that tiered red mountain range....

Maybe....

Maybe if the rivers had been overflowing.... did they connect to something further? More waterways?

I would take just one more look—just one more.

I would paraglide across the little valley, climb up over the shoulder of the tiered mountains, and if there was no water over on the other side....

Then I would need a new plan to find Mei.

I first took a little break to investigate an enormous skeleton crashed on a high meadow of the mountain—there was a mighty Gerudo sword buried in its ribcage—and then with a flying leap took the long sail through the air to the foothills of the tiered red mountain range.

The Gerudo Highlands they were called. And they were full of Koroks, and wolves.

It was not a long climb. Just to the shoulder. Just to the shoulder—I stopped to riddle out the most elaborate Korok stone-circle I had ever seen, and then kept running—killing more wolves along the way—

Just to the shoulder....

And I mounted the last wide hill and I looked over the land on the other side—

More mountains met my gaze.

Just a beigesandy expanse of valleys and canyons and plateaus that looked.... vaguely familiar actually....

“Wait a minute,” I asked David, “Isn’t this the place where you found the giant golden statue of Tingle?”

He said it was.

But there were no waterways.

“Is there water in the bottom of that canyon?” I pressed.

David said there wasn’t.

There was no water on this side.

I did not know where the lake was.

I couldn’t find Mei.

I couldn’t find Mei.

After a long while....

I went back to the Outskirt Stable.

It wasn’t far, just a long paraglide back across the other split of the river, and a quick dodge round a skipping Fire Wizzrobe.

I booked my bunk again, and slept.

Memory is not fully bonded with me yet. But I don’t begrudge him some part of himself to keep to himself.

He is a noble stallion.

AN UNEXPECTED AND IMMEDIATELY URGENT DETOUR

Waking of Friday, April 14, 2017 ~ 10

AN UNEXPECTED AND IMMEDIATELY URGENT DETOUR

A circularish bog.... with a bunch of wooden platforms in it....?

I pulled out my Sheikah Slate and opened the pictograph album.... one of these.... one of Zelda’s pictographs.... THERE IT WAS.

The roundish body of water with all the platforms.... on top of a hill?

With a river running nearby and there was the castle behind it?

“OH MY GOSH THAT’S HERE!” I shouted.

I looked at the pictograph—I was too low and to the right—I needed to be up and to the left—Forget the forest, forget Akkala! I needed to climb the mountain!

I paraglided from the hilltop, across the road, and into the red, red stone of the foothills of Death Mountain.

And I scrambled for it.

It was a place called Eldin Canyon, and it was easy enough to ascend—especially with my Climber’s Bandana.

Quickly, quickly, up, up, up! I was in such a hurry to try and unlock my memory I barely gave myself time to take in what oddities and little terrors I passed. There were glowing-hot rocks—fiery versions of those creepy little golems I’d run into outside Hateno. Infantile Taluses, I think. I blew them up with bombs. And there were big, plump birds—Eldin Ostriches—that looked delicious.... And dangerous! Those legs looked powerful.... But they were afraid of my presence, and fled. I didn’t try to catch any.

I HAD MORE PRESSING MATTERS TO ATTEND TO!

The temperature rose as I climbed higher and higher—the baking oven heat just next to intolerable. But not quite. Not quite dangerous. I could take it....

But as I scaled one cliff wall, and just reached the lip of its top and looked over—I briefly saw the glare of lava—

And whatever wooden weapon I had slung across my back burst into flame.

I backed up immediately, shielding my face below the rock again—I hadn’t known I was so close to the open magma flow! Dropping back down to the dirt below, I quickly put out the fire.

I paused, considering.

From the neck down, I was still wearing full Zora Armor. So sleek, formfitting, made for the water.... I didn’t want to damage it....

Perhaps it was time to switch back to my Hylian attire, which I did. Though I passed up the Hylian Hood and just kept the Climber’s Bandana on my head.

Maybe it made no difference, but it somehow seemed.... more fitting for the terrain. Rugged. Ah, I’d missed this stuff....

And up I went again.... being careful to take a different avenue....

Near the crest of one great lumpy crag of the mountain—my gosh the whole thing just went on forever—it was like traversing the Superstitions from Peralta Trailhead all the way to First Water all over again—plus about sixty degrees of incline and ending in a fiery explosion—

UH, near the crest of one of the innumerable regular-sized mountains that somehow comprised the foothills of this gigantic.... unbelievably huge.... oh the word “mountain” just doesn’t seem to encompass it....

Anyway ON TOP OF A BIG ROCK I MET SOME RED LIZALFOS.

I ran in to cut them down, but.... they moved differently, these ones.... Instead of darting in low over the ground like a snake to end up right next to me, they paused at some distance away—and simply breathed fire at me, in front of a slow, pressing march.

I couldn’t get close; I had to withdraw and change tack.

Running back down the hill a ways, I tried to stay as high as I could on a sort of side-slope that arced up concave from the hillside where I was.

Fire-breathers, huh?

I had never purchased specialty arrows before, but I had found and acquired a few in my wanderings. And I had a good many ice arrows on my person just then....

It was a trick to get close enough to see the lizalfos, but remain far enough away for them not to notice. It was trickier still to aim over such distances—and angles. No flat ground here. I must say, I startled them with a few misfires and made them dart about a bit, but in the end.... with one arrow apiece, they shattered into frozen crystal fragments that melted right away in the burning heat.

The way was clear. I moved all over the hill where the lizalfos had stood, looking down at the bog. Was this right? No, I had to be higher. I got on the rock where the first lizalfos had scorched me. Was it high enough?

I took pictograph after pictograph but they didn’t line up. The parallax bend of the river was off.... and there was a rock somewhere in the foreground that I was missing.

I climbed higher, up to the craggy pinnacle of the concave side-slope I had sheltered on.

This was it.

And.... there was a Korok hiding.

I flushed him out and took his seed, and then walked to the edge, looking out at the Training Camp, and the Castle beyond....

The sun was rising.

No, the sun was setting. And there were scads of slain monsters littering the hill I had just climbed. Bokoblins. Moblins. I could have sworn I even saw the severed head of a Black Lynel, still glowering in a frozen snarl.

Zelda’s voice was sounding.... something about me overdoing it....

I wasn’t immortal, she reminded me.

And she was seeing to some minor injury I had sustained, but it wasn’t bad. Just a little scratched up is all.

She was some Princess, to go climbing all the way out here with me—and through the midst of so many enemies....

She wore clothes like mine. Blue tunic. Dun trousers. Boots for easy movement. A pretty braid of her dusky-blonde hair banded over the top of her head.

She was worried.

No, she wasn’t worried; her voice and her manner were too steady for that.

But she expressed a kind of concern. An unsettlement.

About the increasing frequency of these monster appearances—and the exceedingly more powerful breeds that manifested.

Something about the Calamity....

Something about the Calamity impending....

Was it closing in?

I spent all day on that rock.

I’d almost started down as the morning got on—indeed I did start down—but....

No. I wanted to wait. Until the right time.

I climbed back up, and stayed there a long time after.

Just the Korok and his circle of stones for company.

Until sunset, when I took a few more pictographs.

And that was enough.

Everything was so tiny below me: the Sheikah Tower, the Training Camp, and waaaay down there in the valley, the little horsehead shape of the Woodland Stable.

I paraglided from crag to crag back down the mountain, and soon found myself to be sailing over some enormous switchbacks.

So there’d been a road I could have used.

But there were also a few black moblins scattered along it—sleeping mostly—and one ice wizzrobe, whom I would not have cared to run into.

No, I preferred the avenue of my own making: right up the hills near the forest (Yay Bandana), and right down the hills through the air.

I sailed right down to the Woodland Stable, and for twenty rupees booked a bed to sleep in.

It had been a long day.

A long few days.

Higher Than Thou

Waking of Thursday, April 6, 2017 ~ 5

Higher Than Thou

I don’t know why I didn’t just warp directly back to Zora’s Domain. I was practically there anyway. Maybe I just wanted to be thorough.

I climbed the dam.

Actually the ground mounded at its base was quite manageable up to a considerable height, and after that.... Well the dam wall itself was a bit sheer and slow-going, but the cliff face to my right seemed.... maybe.... like it was.... doable.... perhaps....?

I was still wearing my Climber’s Bandana. Even so I had to drink two stamina elixirs on the way up, but I made it. And only a little more scrambling got me on top of the dam itself. I was back in the Reservoir. I was on one of the distant docks I had seen when I’d stood on the other shore with Prince Sidon.

My but this world was large.

I headed north along the top of the dam, toward the Domain. I wanted to find Fronk. But as I scrambled over the rockfalls and high meadows of those mountains, something else caught my eye: back across the river, on the south cliffs, down a bit from the top, something glowed....

There was a little shelf of grass there. Was it another historical tablet?

I regarded where I was and where I had come from. It had been a long climb.

But that shelf across the river wasn’t so low that I’d have to drink more elixirs to return to where I was now.

It was so far distant though; the canyon was wide....

Still.... I had to investigate.

Out came the paraglider and I watched my shadow as I floated between the mountains....

I touched down on the far shelf and started running up toward where I had seen the glow. There was an overhang there, it had to be just beneath those rocks, nestled into the mountain, surely—

It wasn’t.

It was just the glassy indigo stone that juts up so often around Zora’s Domain, shimmering in the dimness.

There was nothing here.

Oh, nothing but a treasure chest....

It was stuck in the ground and I had to dislodge it using Magnesis—a bit startling when it came free so suddenly and shot into the air—I almost lost it into the river.

But I magnetized it up into the little alcove where I’d seen the glow, and opened it there.

I don’t even remember what it contained.

But the area was looted, and it was time to climb back.

As my path was slightly different this time before I reached the top of the dam again, I passed a bit more closely to an area I hadn’t been—and heard a Hinox snoring there.

I crept closer inland and saw its huge black form.

You know, I’ve been saying black, but my Compendium informs me they’re actually blue. As are the “black” moblins and bokoblins I’ve been seeing.

I suppose they do have a bluish tint.

Heh, like blue tigers....

Anyway, I saw where the Hinox was lying, and I saw that there was a handy clifftop nearby to the left, the dam-ward direction. It could be an easy kill.... I decided to go for it.

I headed for the high ground, but when I finally came to the crest of that shelf.... I heard a troop of lizalfos croaking and rumbling to each other! I crept closer and saw through the grass: the lizalfos had the high ground.

However.... to the left again, the dam-ward direction once more, the mountain shelves just kept on mounting. And so I backed off and away for one more scramble to the higher ground. And when I came to THAT shelf.... it was empty.

Oh-ho-ho-ho it was empty.

I walked on over to the edge and peered down into the lizalfos camp. No fewer than five of them sat chirruping around their fire. And I saw a powder keg, how excellent.

I produced a single bomb and chucked it over the edge with a little Hup!

I didn’t give them time to notice or to contemplate their predicament, but detonated just before impact, and the whole lot of them went up in a searing fiery ball that rocked the mountains.

All except for one, and just a few more bombs took care of him.

I floated down on my paraglider and collected all the spoils I could find before walking over to the next precipice, and there below me was the Hinox.

I had plenty of arrows, and so got to work. The big brute got to his feet, the fatshnazzy brass band started up with its drums, and it was on.

And it was here that I accidentally discovered something supremely useful:

An arrow to the eye of a Hinox was substantially more damaging than an arrow anywhere else.

I suppose I should have known.

Every time I hit him in the eye, he winced and clutched his face and shook horribly! I almost felt bad for him. Almost, but not quite. My aim was getting quite good now, and with only a few more arrows, I brought him down.

And it was another paragliding float down, another mess of spoils to collect. Ah, felt good; I do love raining terror from above!

I’ve not yet cooked anything with Hinox Toenails in it.

Hard to believe those actually qualify as elixir ingredients. Ughuhuh.... 9__9

With a Fine-Toothed Comb

Waking of Thursday, April 6, 2017

With a Fine-Toothed Comb

I spent a little time at the Woodland Stable. This one wasn’t crawling with sets of twins like the other one, and the man behind the counter seemed.... a bit more easy-going as well. There was a friendly dog shepherding over some goats in a pen—we became good buddies <3—er, the dog and I, not the goats and I—and I found a really lovely new labrys to swing around.

I saw a man come riding a grey horse along the road in the direction I’d been going; his name was Zorona and his heart was set on the mysteries of the world! Whether solving them or just reveling in their existence I wasn’t quite sure.

There was another man, with white-blonde hair dangling in his eyes, who hung around the stable. He introduced himself as Molo and it was his ambition to go and loot Hyrule Castle. I did not encourage him in this endeavor as we conversed.

He admitted that every person he’d ever known who had ventured there had never come back.... but he guessed it was because they were all too busy being rich! I don’t doubt there must have been great treasures left behind there.... but so many people I’d met had warned of how dangerous it was.... and I’d seen a few Guardians. Uhuhuh.

Molo, don’t say YOLO, just stay where you are.

One other older gentleman whose name I can’t remember informed me about the surrounding areas near the stable—this was the Eldin region. This was the home of the volcano. To the north was the great forest, but he warned me against straying too deeply into it, something about the Lost Woods at its heart.... And Hyrule Field was.... in another direction near here, south or east I think he said. And there was a third feature he directed me to, I’m sure of it.... maybe it was the volcano itself.

Well, it’s hard to memorize the whole map, as I discovered when I warped back to the Lanayru Tower. That other river I’d thought ran back toward the east off the wetlands was actually the other runoff from the East Reservoir Lake. I suppose it flowed into the wetlands. Or it would have, if not for the big dam wall in the way.

But it was, in essence, what I’d thought it to be: another extensive dead-ended waterway for me to search.

Starting from the tower I began a broad, clockwise trek around the entire delta proper, scouring the islets as I went, but saw no sign of Mei.

I did, however, near the southeastern reaches of my circuit, spy a GUARDIAN “STALKER” AS MY COMPENDIUM CALLED IT, LOOSE AND MOVING THROUGH THE MARSH OH GOSH NO PLEASE NO WHY JUST—

It had six legs, and it was very much alive—oh my gosh was this the one I’d seen loose on the Sahasra Slope, made its way down to the marshes now?

Oh gads....

Off came the Zora Helm, on went the Climber’s Bandana, and I climbed up into the mountains to give it a very wide berth as I continued my circuit of the wetlands. I did stop on a little grassy shelf with a single large tree to see if I could shoot it with arrows and chuck bombs at it, but.... well, I did give it a very wide berth. I couldn’t come close to hitting it with anything. I’m not sure whether this disappointed me or not.

If only I’d had a Korok Leaf.... I could do that bomb-golfing thing I’d seen David do....

I kept to the hills until I came to another little deep-water spot tendriling off the marshes in the southwest. It was near a sad little abandoned homestead ruin, with trees, and a well, and a single Korok spriting around in the grass. There were some rusted weapons here and there.... maybe it had belonged to a soldier. Maybe he’d had a family.

It started to rain.

There was a little raft-boat with a sail down near where the little waterway broke off.

But I didn’t have a Korok Leaf!

I’d never really made room for one in my inventory, but seeing David play.... hhhh I kept seeing more and more reasons to pick one up now. I’ve never yet bothered with the boats I’ve seen but I want to now....!

I felled a tree near the old homestead but got nothing but wood. Go figure.

Well, I couldn’t see anything down the short little waterway, and so moved on. The mountains crumbled away, the land leveled out, and became a smooth sweep off the wetlands.

I think this was where I ran into those mounted bokoblins.

I felt a little bad for their horses.... because you see, in my long searching trek through all the islets and the ruins therein, I’d run into a few more of those skipping lightning-ghost things. They could be tricky customers but I’d taken care of them, and stolen their Lightning Rod weapons. And it was one of these weapons I used to stop the charging bokoblin riders.

The peachy, skewbald steed I hit first seized up, neighing high and loud, and the bokoblin fell off and we had it out on the ground. I brought down the one on the brown horse in roughly the same manner. And then....

Well I got on the peachy one, and he bucked for a bit before calming down, but.... mm, the brown was closer to being a one-color horse, and so I got on that one instead.

He bucked too, but I soothed him and saw—this one had three speed-bursts at a gallop.

Brown only had two.

Well that could be useful....

I let this new horse carry me for a bit. His body was all brown, mane and tail black, with four black socks and a white muzzle. I don’t suppose he was anything fancy, but he was just dandy fine for moving across this flatter part of the land.

I left him at the shore at times, to go in and scout out more islets, or to kill lizalfos or bokoblins. And when I’d come back to him he’d wander a bit before I got on.... but he was a good, patient horse. Even when the lashing rain came back.

I rode the horse the rest of the way around the marshes and the surrounding areas. I even came across Tye and S.... Ssss—uh, Saaalisa? Salisa? I came across Tye and his sweetheart again. And killed their bokoblin assailants once more. I rode and searched and searched and rode until I came all the way back to the Moor Garrison Ruins, near where I’d first met Ledo.

I’d circled the entire marsh, and not seen one lick of the missing Mei.... I had even cleaned out every bokoblin nest I had come to and searched among all the buildings. I’d combed through the ruins, I’d left no stone unturned, no box unexploded.

I had not gone up the long waterway toward the Eastern Reservoir; I’d thought to save that for last as it was so extensive. But....

There was no sign of Mei.

Maybe she really was further down the river.

And this horse....

This chuffing, wandering horse was starting to grow on me just a little bit.

I decided to take him up to the Woodland Stable and have him registered.

I rode him into the marsh; it was quite shallow. But.... huh, to get him across to the north bank....

I consulted my map. The water was pretty deep on the north side of the big island. I might.... dear me, I might have to ride him through the boardwalks—

But then I remembered! Thims Bridge! Northward along the river! I could cross him over there.

And so I took the new horse along the other bank now with me, still keeping an eye out for the missing Mei. We had a nasty run-in with another bokoblin camp—the horse got stuck over a rock on the ground as they closed in around us—I did the best I could with a sword until they knocked me clean off. The horse made a break for it, but I could only turn my attention to the bokoblins and pray he didn’t run too far....

Turned out he didn’t. Also turned out the camp was full of high explosives, and I felt quite lucky none of them went off or was employed during the scuffle.

I bombed them just to clear the area, scooped up the spoils, and the horse and I moved on.

He moved at a nice clip, and the ever lurking Piano picked up on the change of movement and plinked happily along around us, sounding like raindrops in the sunshine. At such a pace it was only a short time before we came to Thims Bridge. But just before we did.... I heard a sound I hadn’t heard before. I slowed the horse, the Piano shied and flitted away, and I scanned the sunlit slope to my left, but could only see a couple of foxes.

And there it was again. High, soft.... kind of whistling.... it sounded like.... howling....

But no I was sure those were foxes. And as I came nearer, there I could see the red of their coats. And they scampered away at my approach.

Were there....

Are there wolves in Hyrule?

(I ain’t gonna lie; I seen a few fanarts with ‘em.)

Horsey and I crossed the bridge, and from there it was just a short trot back to the stable. I spoke to the man at the window, and registered my new steed.

I called him.... Thrice. Once for his three-fold endurance, and once for what I imagined must have been his third life—a life before bokoblins, a life with bokoblins.... and now hopefully third time’s the charmed life with Link.

I’ll take good care of him.

Besides, the name Mudfoot for his black socks seemed too sloggish and slow.

A New Hat!

Waking of Saturday, MARCH FOURTH, 2017 ~ 2

A New Hat!

On the track above the river, on the northern mountain of Dueling Peaks, lay the Shrine of.... Ree Dahee I want to say.

Some shrines did not upload new functionalities to my Sheikah Slate, but merely offered trials, the passing through of which would win me a Spirit Orb from the resident Shaman, before releasing him to his rest.

I do not remember the trial of Ree Dahee, but I remember the chest in his shrine—for all the shrines I had been in contained a chest you could reach if you were clever.

And this chest held the Climber’s Bandana—it upped your climbing ability!

I’d had nothing on my head so far, but proudly equipped my new bandana with its striking geometric designs in ruddy, earthy colors.

I looked like a pirate. ^_^