Distraction

Waking of Saturday, November 25, 2017 ~ 2

Distraction

Time washed ugly hours over me as I watched the ink dry on the unending archives of my magpie brain. No blasted Delete key....

I wish.... I could be forgetful like some people.

I don’t like buzzkill.

Is it wrong of me to so want to honor the cinematic experience?

It was made to be seen and heard. And felt, depending on your rumble settings.

First impressions.... shouldn’t be cheapened.

And for some things.... every impression is important. Every meeting must be respected.

Am I wrong?

I did not save. I reloaded from before I had even spoken to the returned Oily Adventurers, and when I spoke to them this time, I took note of their words, so that I would have them for when I would have composed the previous entry.

Are you confused yet?

I took out Thrice and rode him hard all the way to the Outskirt Stable, and boarded him there.

Then I climbed up the back side of the Coliseum.

I just wanted to run away, be about something, plunge headlong into anything. And there was a Lynel in there.

Handy that the Coliseum was built up against the side of a great, jutting mountain, spiking into the air like Weaver’s Needle. From its top I could peer down inside the structure. But I couldn’t quite see the bottom....

I crept down closer and got on top of the ancient wall.

More than the Lynel met my gaze—there were ringing walkways, each level populated by a different kind of beast.

The Moblins were highest and nearest, then Lizalfos, and then Bokoblins down near the Lynel, who prowled the main floor. Three of each.

I had to clear part of the Moblins’ level for Bomb Golf to be any good. The bombs—they disappear if they roll or fall too far away.

But bombs were far too slow against this Lynel. I think it was a blue one. Very powerful.

Did I venture down into the Lizalfos level?

How close did I get before I reached the optimum range for archery....?

I used almost all my specialty arrows to kill the Lynel, and then cleaned out the rest of the Coliseum. This yielded plenty of monster bits, but only a couple of minor chests.

The Lynel gave an excellent bow, though.

The Lynel....

When I saw it give off that sudden flash as I was pelting it.... I ducked back, fearful of incoming Shock Arrows.

But it wasn’t firing at me.

It was doing something else.

I caught a glimpse of it later, as I struck it again.

It teleported.

A short distance away.

I didn’t know Lynels could do that.

Afterward I went outside to talk to Dai about what I’d done, but he cowered as he ever did behind that big chunk of stone.

As long as the Coliseum was clear, I took the opportunity to chase up what Koroks I could in the area. A bit tricky in the rain.

After this it was a venture into the field and another saving of Mils and Mina and from there.... I looked at my map.

There was another Korok circle I hadn’t noticed before, on Satori Mountain.

And so to Satori Mountain I went, and chased up Koroks and gathered various plants and captured bugs and things.... It was all in a little glen there, on that mountain, that I had not been in before. Cool, and shaded, and quiet, and peaceful. With the laughing of the water so soft and lovely. It was very relaxing.

Except perhaps for the occasional Octorok, but I dealt with them easily enough.

As I ventured farther and farther from the Glen of Quietude in my quest for plants and critters, I came upon the Satori Mountain Stalnox, as they are called. Rather the opposite of calm and peaceful, but I was feeling refreshed, and wanted a go.

My Compendium said if I could destroy its eye I could defeat it.

The Stalnox’s tack was quite unexpected however: as soon as it caught on to my presence and intentions, it retreated down the mountain. Right down the steep path on the western slope, toward the baobabs far below.

I tailed it, but did not want to get too close, or too low—fighting on uneven ground might take unexpected tolls on my stamina.

And so I simply remained on the shelf where I was. There were a few large boulders nearby, obviously meant to be rolled down the hill. My aim was terrible, though, and the Stalnox got away.

Where was it going?

Did the music fade away?

I don’t remember.

But I did not have to wonder long. Presently the Stalnox started lumbering back up the same path again. Maybe I could get a shot at its eye as it neared....

Its gaze stayed fixed upon me as it came closer and closer.... and when it was in a decent range, I fired.

Khing! Direct hit to the eye!

And his slow recovery cycle allowed me to keep him pinned!

Khing! Khing! Khing! Down went his health meter.

But when it reached about the halfway point, THE STALNOX RATHER FELL ALL TO PIECES AND HIS EYEBALL POPPED OUT AND DISAPPEARED BELOW THE ROCK I WAS STANDING ON. Oh shoot, was it going to roll away before I could kill it? I jumped forward to chase it—the collapsing bones MURDERED the framerate in cold blood—I came free and caught sight of the eyeball just exploding in a puff of evil.... and.... the thing was dead.

Monster bits spilled down the slope in a small avalanche. That was unexpected....

I guess.... somehow that did it!

After a while I finally sailed back down to Sanadin Park and thence to the Outskirt Stable, and did some business with the bespectacled Botrick—bought every last one of his arrows, and sold him what I could sell him.

And I chased more Koroks.

There were plenty of water-goal Koroks I hadn’t been able or willing to reach before, but I wanted one of them now—that one near Manhala Bridge.

I went upstream and fetched the boat from those flooded ruins with the near-sighted Lizalfos, and sailed it down the river....

It’s easy to put a rock in a water-goal when you have a boat.

Is it really cheating my guts out if I’m only using what is at my disposal?

I got the Korok seed.

And then it was off to Kakariko to see if any of my clothes could be upgraded—and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the fairies were back! 8D I had gone through a couple of the ones in my pockets, and they respawned here! That was encouraging. ^_^

It turned out Cotera could only upgrade my Ancient Helm, if I gave her ten of my Ancient Gears. Right then and there.

Didn’t she know how hard those were to come by?

I forgot that idea, and checked the rest of my wardrobe. It looked.... like the next enhancement to my Zora ensemble could be reached easily enough.

I just needed some fish.

Fortunately, I had a sample of what I needed on me—I threw a Hearty Bass on the ground, took a picture of it, loaded it into my Compendium, and tuned my sensor.... If I could just get enough of these....

But first I headed down from Cotera’s spring into the village proper, and found Paya up in Impa’s house.

“It’s almost dawn,” she said, “If you haven’t slept yet, you really should... Staying up late can’t be great for your health.”

....

I considered the hour.

It was quite late. Not as late as last time, but.... still quite late.

I’d been all over the map.

I know from experience that it’s hard to go to bed without having caught something you’ve been chasing.

I think.... it’s the same going to bed without having escaped something you’ve been fleeing.

My rage was not done.

But.... maybe Paya was right.

I saved my game,

and quit,

and went to bed.

Dead End with Dai

Waking of Saturday, April 22, 2017 ~ 5

Dead End with Dai

“Where’d you get all those rupees anyway?” said David.

I had well over four and a half thousand at this point.

“I dunno, I’ve just been around. Sold stuff. Monster parts.” And then I thought— “Why, how many rupees do you have?”

He named some hundred. Four hundred something maybe?

“Four hundred?” I drawled and rolled my eyes so hard at him.

He laughed.

The left fork of the second split of the river seemed to SPLIT YET AGAIN.

I couldn’t take much more of this.

Between these newest forks of the river, on a towering mound of land, there stood a tall, circular structure of light stone—a coliseum—globbed upon by a great pool of malice near its base.

And beyond this coliseum was the old Plateau.

I had come quite close to it—its River of the Dead had even emptied into that lake beneath Digdogg Suspension Bridge. Strange, such a big circle I’d walked in it seemed....

At any rate, this third split of the river seemed to girdle the coliseum on both sides, perhaps even making an island of it....

I wanted to keep an eye on both splits for as long as I could.

There was a long dark bridge I could access which would take me to the coliseum.

It looked scary, I couldn’t see its top or any bad guys that might be patrolling it, and it just reeked of trouble.

But I was the Hero, and it was time to be Foolish.

So up I ran, up the little hill to the bridge. And the bridge, though worn a bit, was empty.

I ran ahead. And when I skipped past a few malice-pools and came to the other side, amid all the crumbled bits of walls and other things rubbled around on the grassy sward, I saw—

“What is that?” said David.

I looked carefully through my scope. “....It’s a backpack,” I said.

It was someone’s back.

And that someone was trembling.

I approached carefully, and I saw, quite clearly, the most probable reason for the man’s distress:

Prowling around inside the coliseum.... was what appeared to be a Black Lynel.

It stalked backward and forward, pausing at whiles to roar in challenge to the air....

Oh gads....

“What is that?” asked David.

“It’s.... I-It’s a-a—”

I legitimately could not speak.

I moved to where the man stood behind a weathered bit of light-stoned wall.

I didn’t think he was a Yiga.... He looked too terrified and his reason for it was too real.

I spoke with him.

His name was Dai, and he was evidently having second thoughts about facing whatever was in there, despite the untold riches rumored to then be found.

I discouraged him most heartily from his endeavor, and continued to follow the left fork, trying to keep low and out of sight of that Lynel if there were any more gaping holes in the coliseum walls....!

I found a Korok on the way. Cheery as ever and giggling its little “Twee-hee!”

Man....

Just....

Not something you really expect to hear in close quarters to a Lynel.

I was very close to the actual walls of the Great Plateau now, and before I got there.... the river ran out.

“Maybe the other one keeps going! Just gotta go around the horn....” I said hopefully.

I ran in a rightward curve until the coliseum walls pressed too close and the ground ran out from beneath my feet, I paraglided off the great mound of land and sailed round its sheer earthy sides, I hit the ground running, I came to the other split, the final split—

And it was a dead end too.