Gear Out Of Time - The Knight Proper

Evening of Sunday, March 29, 2020 (comprised of somewhat-finessed note editings during April 28, 2023 that I really hope sound consistent because I left it alone for too long)

Gear Out Of Time - The Knight Proper

Looking for Shrines, I turned on my Hero’s Path in the map just to see where I hadn’t been yet. Or at least.... where I hadn’t been in a while. The Hero’s Path.... it can only record so many hours of gameplay, which I’d discovered myself to have surpassed a long time ago.

That little area just southeast of Zokassa Ridge. Mounted Archery Camp.... I’d always thought it portended Bokoblins, and I never wanted to deal with them. But, seeing the general area to be empty, I went there now.

The top of that little hill really should have had a Korok, I thought, but nothing was there. Hmmm.... I scoped around the base of the hill, and.... ah, there was the flower. As I expected, the Flower Korok led me right back up to the top of the hill. Cool.

Down near where the flower had been, there was a little tent, and two Hylians standing around. Straia and Jini.

Huh. Never met these gents before.

Straia wanted to see a Giant Horse.

Oh did he now? Remembering Zyle, I was hesitant.

Evidently the two of them were conducting an ecological survey of the animals in the region, and heard there was a Giant Horse in the area. They were trying to find it, but had just run into too many monsters to continue. Actually they had even come across a horse-like creature they had thought might be the legendary Giant Horse....

Oh no....

But that encounter did not turn out well. “Oh, it was terrible,” said Straia.

Yeah, I can imagine, buddy.

So while these two were somewhat frustrated in their efforts, they still suspected the Giant Horse was probably to be found in the Taobab Grasslands.

Huh.

Curious, I went there to check it out, just up the Zokassa Ridge and down into the valley.... But there were no more Giant Horses. Mine really was the only one.

....

Surely the game wouldn’t allow for some NPC to spirit away my Giant Horse, were I to bring it here....

....

Jini, meanwhile, wanted to instruct me in horseback archery.

Ah, so the horseback archery didn’t refer to Bokoblins after all.... That was a relief.

He told me to head down that road and I’d find a stable, and to bring back a horse, and talk to him while riding high in the saddle. If I wanted to drill, that was.

I checked my map; the road led to the Highland Stable.

....

I warped there and got Dragmire.

Straia was asleep when I returned to the Archery Camp. I woke him up and showed him what he’d been looking for—

“I’ve never seen one that big! That is definitely an endemic species!” he cried. “Sorry, but can I take a good look at that horse?”

“Go ahead,” I told him as my only option.

“Thanks, I’ll be right back.”

The screen blacked out and a parade of his breathless musings scrolled through the text box....

Hrmmm.... This is impressive.... Ah, hmm.... Quite interesting....

Heh, I wondered what features he must have been inspecting, or what differences he may have found from normal horses.

The screen came back presently. “Wow. With this much info, I can feel my spirit for discovery murmuring in contentment,” he said. Aww, that’s a good feeling. :)

He gave me a silver rupee for helping with their investigation. Very nice. ^_^

Now for Jini.... and horseback archery.

Jini didn’t just run drills, he also sold arrows. I bought some of his stock, and then he set me to the obstacle course—balloons. I’d be hitting balloon targets with arrows. While riding.

He told me to aim to hit 20 targets. If I could do that, he said, he would give me his horse gear.

Oh. :)

....

It was hard.

But he kept milking me for rupees, and I kept paying. 20 rupees a pop. Like they do.

Like I do.

And when I finally hit the 20 targets.... Jini gave me the Knight’s Bridle.

Ohhhohohohhohohhhh....

All metal and shiny....

I wanted the other piece. But Jini never gave me a target number for it. It wasn’t until I quit and came back later (like a minute later), that he told me the target to hit this time was 23, and then I could have the other piece of the set.

Oh my GOSH it was hard. Even with my Phrenic Bow, which I’d either forgotten or never realized had a zooming effect.

But at last I hit 23. Just BARELY. Oh my gosh. I even made Dad stop before crossing the room. Aaaaaughhjhgjkhsjglkfskl....

And I’d made it. And Jini gave me the Knight’s Saddle.

And I took Dragmire back to the Highland Stable—and since he doesn’t like his tack messed with anyway, I got out—of course—Knight.

Oh, Knight looked STUNNING in the Knight’s Tack.

I played dress-up with so many of my horses then.... I now have more tack sets than I have horses.... not that I can change out Dragmire’s anyway....

Stable, Royal, Monster, Extravagant, Ancient, and Knight.

Cool.

And whatever else I did with my other horses, when I finally settled back to Knight in his Knight’s Tack, and I took him out for a ride.... stopping now and again to stir up treasure or Koroks.... at some point near the Dueling Peaks, I changed my own get-up to be a Knight as well, changed my weapon, changed my shield.... ehh stuck with the Duplex Bow, but whatever.... all the others were Lynel Bows—well, the few Lynel bows I had left; I’d shattered so many running that horseback archery course.

But oh we looked stunning together. A Proper Knight on a Proper Knight’s Horse.

It’s almost time for me to go to work. New schedule.

Oh. David doesn’t work today. I didn’t have to wake up this early.

But if I didn’t.... I couldn’t have written this much.

....

I got to the Dueling Peaks Stable very late, and slept until the morning.

 

 

What Garill Knew

Waking of Saturday, May 4, 2019 ~ 2

What Garill Knew

It’s 8:40 in the evening.

I’ll go out and get Dragmire.

Oh, but not before snagging a Korok behind Impa’s house first.

After that I come back to the broad thoroughfare before the house; I’d left Dragmire there to graze and lounge beside Cado and Dorian.

I give him a carrot.

And we are on our way.

Dorian says it’s dangerous to travel at night, but....

I’m going.

I round onto Hestu’s Hillside and can see the Dueling Peaks Stable in the far distance.

Very close.

Dragmire and I continue down the road at a trot.

Talk with Brokka.

Talk with Bugut.

Old friends.

But still keeping my eyes peeled for enemies.

I see the disguised Yiga by the foot of the mountain. In your dreams, creeper.

I pass by, and cross Kakariko Bridge.

And.... there’s another lady walking on the road. I suspect her, but—I hear them.

Stal creatures. And a Yiga man, laughing as he foregoes pretense and somersaults from nowhere to have it out with me....

I put on my Radiant Gear—too late—and kill the Stalkoblins, and the Yiga Archer....

And with the threats put down I see the lady breathe a sigh of relief....

I collect the spoils, and then go to check on her....

.... But she is yet a Traveler?

I must say, this is a trick I had not seen them use before.

Fine. What.

“Hey, buuuuuddy!”

“Me?” My response.

“Awwww! You’re so cuuute!”

Really.

“Want to spend some.... tiiiiime with meee?”

My choices: “OK...” and “I refuse!”

I’d rather not, lady.

“I refuse!”

“Whaaaaa—?! But whyyyyy?” she pouts. “Don’t you like meeee? If you doooo, please cloooose those eyes!”

Choices: “Well...OK, then.” or “No, I don’t like you.”

I’m not going to play your games.

“No, I don’t like you.”

“You’re so meeeean. Well, theeeen... Hylian Champion...”

The tissue-thin guise dropped and her face contorted into a snarl.

“Begone, enemy of my Master!”

YOU begone!

It’s on.

Aaaand it’s over quickly.

Not tonight.

I am busy.

So near the stable.

I’ll put Dragmire to manger first.

And I do. Thanks, Tasseren.

It will be light, soon.

....

I think I’ll go find Garill.

I kill things that get in my way. But that Bokoblin.... it went after someone else. I pursue and kill it anyway.

Still wary from the bridge I do not talk to the other man this time until I’m sure I know him. It’s Agus. And his donkey.

Don’t think the Yiga keep donkeys....

I buy all his milk and butter.

Thanks, Agus.

Heh, and as I continue along the winding road.... here comes Joute, the old Witcher III guy who spooked me in the rain before on his pale horse. Joute.

“White horsies, giants, and bony ones too. They’re out there for catchin’, and that’s what you should do...” he sings. “You like my song about the legendary horses? There’s only one of each, but I took some liberties to make it musical.”

I do like it, Joute.

The Guardians grow thick now. Here in the Valley of Terror.

I heard that.... Octorok....

Found it. Killed it.

So close to the fort now.... I’ve surely passed where the memory lies....

But I continue....

Garill. My friend. ^_^

“Incredible!” I hear him say.

And I visit with him.

“The more I see of this place, the more it hits me just how hard the old tragedy struck here. But even knowing that, seeing so many Guardians... It boggles the mind. That warrior must have been some threat to the forces of darkness, huh?”

Huh. Well, I would like to think so at least.

Garill doesn’t say anything else.

....

Good old Garill.

I’ll take his pictograph.

I coax him to speak again; try and get him to look up....

“If I’d been alive 100 years ago...I like to think I’d have fought these Guardians here, right at the warrior’s side.”

More....

“The warrior and his soldiers at Fort Hateno risked their lives to protect the world. I wasn’t there at the time, but I’m alive now because of them, and I’ve got to make sure future generations know it!”

Now there’s a good smiling face! ^_^

Got a good pictograph.

Now.... to find that memory....

Heh, I see Toma heading back toward the crossroads too, on her horse.

More familiar faces than I’d realized, around these parts.

Wander, wander.... back into the field.... I won’t be able to tell until I’m within a few feet of it.... There was a Guardian’s husk in the foreground of the painting on Impa’s wall. I look around all the clusters of Guardians, but.... No.... Must be further out....

I might have to kill all the central baddies....

And I do. That Frostspear did come in handy!

Searching, seaching.... Not in any of these clusters near the wall, then....

Perhaps that cluster farther back. Is that the one with an active Decayed one in it?

I go. Find three more Bokoblins, but.... nothing else.

I won’t be able to tell until I’m within a few feet of it.... Was that a trick of the setting sun’s glare? Or....

No.

It’s here.

It’s right here.

My memory.

!

And.... a lot of.... swords. In the ground. Oh....

Oh...

What....

What happened in this place?

....

It’s been two years and two months and two days.

It’s time for me to find out.

Return to Serenne

Waking of Saturday, November 3, 2018

Return to Serenne

I’d heard from somewhere, maybe somewheres, very probably including Madman Joseph, that there were 900 Koroks in this game.

I wondered just how deep my pockets could go, or would even need to go. Would I break through some kind of boundary with Hestu, once each of my inventories took up an entire screen? Would I reach hammerspace?

I wandered out from Tera’s fountain and into the desert. I’d caught unintended glimpses of map screens in my researching for finessing the log; the Korok Seed icons were practically tripping over each other. But where were they all hiding in this wasteland?

I trekked all over the desert, all over the highlands, killed the Lynel.... I found a few more Koroks.... But.... where were they all hiding?

Done with the puzzling Koroks for the moment I finally paraglided down to the Gerudo Canyon Stable, and took out.... Dragmire. Hadn’t ridden him in a while. I wanted him to carry me now, all the way to the Serenne Stable. Faron was found and mapped. It was time to head northwest.

We hit the road, stopping only a few times to rescue people—Regan, Chabi....

Near the Coliseum I bought all of Botrick’s arrows; I was always happy to do business with him. And at the Outskirt Stable I stopped to sell some more meat to Trott; he was always happy to do business with me.

But I didn’t continue right away. There was one other person I’d been meaning to speak to here at this stable....

Aliza stood out in the dappled shade of the trees by the road. “So did you find the Hero of Legend?” she asked when I approached. She was excited.

My choices of response made me laugh—it was either “I am he.” or “Bye.” XD

“I am he,” I said. Lol so stoic....

Aliza was.... surprised! She’d been waiting so long, but.... I wasn’t at all what she expected. It was a shame, she told me, because I wasn’t even her type! But she gave me something she had been saving for me anyway—a Star Fragment.

Well that was friendly! :)

“It feels SO good to finally check that off my bucket list!” she finished.

Then when I spoke to her again.... “You must be really busy, saving the world and all. How about instead of talking to random strangers, you think a little more about doing your job, yeah?”

Oof wow. XD

We rode on, not meeting a whole lot of other people on the road except for a guy named Savelle at the north end of the Breach of Demise. He had a cool helm. Made me want to get on enhancing my Soldier’s Armor....

We reached Serenne Stable in the ten o’clock hour where I boarded Dragmire and spent the night . . . . and when I woke up in the morning it was raining.

But here I took a break to eat dinner and then to watch a movie with friends. It was a little after Halloween, but we still enjoyed a corny run of Spaced Invaders. But in the opening credits I thought I recognized that name.... Ariana.... Ariana Richards.... And as the movie progressed and we came to the part with the young girl OH MY GOSH IT WAS LEX—she was so little!—was this her breakout role....?

Horse Abuse

Waking of Sunday, November 26, 2017 ~ 2

Horse Abuse

I was going to ride Thrice all the way to Akkala—both to report back to that soldier about Kilton, and to check on what my twelve Ancient Gears could get me from Cherry. I meanwhile left my Sheikah Sensor tuned to fishies in case I encountered any of those along the way!

And as with most of my longer rides it came with a number of stops along the way to throw Bokoblins off the other travelers. Mils and Mina.... Leekah (another rider’s horse actually kicked that Bokoblin something fierce before I finished it off).... Tye and Sorelia (that one I settled from horseback—felt rather proud!)....

I wanted to stop on Thims Bridge to play another water-goal Korok game, but the Octorok gave me trouble before I could blow it up, and I turned and—

Thrice?

Where did Thrice go!?

And then I saw the dark shape swimming in the dimness toward the other shore. Did he jump? Fall off? Did the Octorok hit him?

I ditched the Korok game and swam after him. Thrice!

Forgive me, Thrice....

Sobered, I decided there would be no more fooling around; it was time to continue our journey to Akkala.

Our rainy, rainy journey.

At the South Akkala Stable we came to a fork in the road. Would it be better to head east toward Chariots of Fire Beach? Or north through Shadow Pass?

Mmm, the route seemed shorter through Shadow Pass.... Onward we went.

....And stopped in the middle of the pass to rescue Chabi once more.

Hero work is demanding.

We also met Laroba again on the other side (“Sav’aaq!”), and she shared some new gossip: evidently a rare set of arrows was rumored to rest somewhere inside Hyrule Castle. If I ever found myself exploring that place.

Fat chance at present!

At length we finally arrived at the East Akkala Stable, and I spoke to Hoz the Guard.

He was grateful to see the pictograph of Kilton. But then....

“This will surely help me hunt him down,” he said, and gave me a silver rupee for my trouble.

D:

Mmmmrm but Kilton was helpful!

I guess I don’t really know what else I might have been expecting, given Hoz’s attitude toward the Kilton rumors when I first met him, and the fact that he was a guard....

:c

Huhhh.

....

Huh.  !

....

Good thing that pictograph was only of Kilton’s back.

It was indeed that very one that had had the quest-exclamation-mark affixed to it.

Guess we broke even there.

I thought I could just gallop past the Guardian on the way to Robbie’s; that’s what David said he did.

As it turned out, the Guardian.... had an exceptional range....

It shot Thrice.

Twice.

There were clinging flames.

Forgive me, Thrice.... Oh I was taking him home after this to a stable straight away....

The rain poured again as I walked into the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab.

My Ancient Gears sadly could not afford me any more armor, but I had plenty of Ancient Shafts on me, and I put these toward a bundle of five Ancient Arrows.

They were precious and expensive. I would have to be very careful with them in the future. No more mistakes.

That was one reason I bought the Ancient Helm first: Of the three armor pieces, the helm alone utilized Ancient Shafts, which I knew I would need later for arrow fodder. May as well have gotten the big Shaft-purchase out of the way early on, right?

Now to get Thrice out of here....

I would kill the Guardian first.

The only problem was that it was still raining outside, and the weather had broiled into a storm.

And I had only metal weapons on me.

But I could at least close the distance between myself and my quarry.... and a close lightning strike in front of me proved to be serendipitous as the small fire it sparked gave me an excellent updraft!

I tried and failed to land on top of the Guardian’s head—I’d just wondered if it could be done. It didn’t seem like it.... Would that be like the central space beneath.... Kalle Demos? I can’t believe I remembered that name....

I waited behind the rock until the storm finally blew itself out, and then dispatched the Guardian directly with melee weapons to its awful, wicked eye.

With the road safe and clear I boarded Thrice at the East Akkala Stable.... but I took out Dragmire for more riding.

Do horses heal when they are boarded at a stable, as Hylians heal when they sleep in a bed?

There was something else David had said he had done, with his own acquired Giant Horse from the Lynels’ Corridor (Shooper? Was that what he called that one? No maybe it was Shaq....).

He’d told me, and I’d seem him demonstrate, that the Big Horse was strong enough to just trample whatever baddies were in the way—even Lynels.

Not in one go, of course, but a galloping pass at a stationary Lynel would deal out some degree of damage.

Dragmire did have the greatest level of strength of any horse I had seen.

I wondered if I could make a pattern of David’s hit-and-run technique....

Dragmire and I plunged into the lush lowlands of Akkala, toward Tempest Gulch.

Toward the Lynel.

It.... didn’t work.

The Lynel was bewildered and bebothered for a short time, but there came a point where he’d had enough—and combusting arrows soon followed.

More flames—clinging, searing flames—

I boarded Dragmire again.

My poor babies.

It was enough. It was too much.

No more endangering the horses.

A Climb about the Canyon

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 7

A Climb about the Canyon

It was well past midnight, and I really, really did need to get to bed and to sleep.

I wanted to end the session, but.... maybe just one more thing first....

I rode a bit further on from the Gerudo Canyon Stable, and the canyon came to an abrupt end at the edge of a vast and sandy desert scape. I tried Dragmire at the edge of the desert, but he would go no further. There was something of a small ledge that dropped down several feet, and so I tried him again at the high end of a ramp that seemed meant for foot traffic.... but he wasn’t having it.

So I ran him back to the stable and boarded him.

That would be the last thing I did. Maybe.

It didn’t seem like it would hurt just to talk to the stable people first.

Beedle was there—no, I wasn’t going to trade him my Energetic Rhino Beetle; most of his trades seemed like not such great deals anyway. And Kass was there—he said he was impressed with me for having come so far! “Even I, blessed with the gift of flight, had trouble getting here,” he said.

I did not stay to listen to his song, though.

A man named Sesami told me he and his friends had been jumped by some baddies around such-and-such plateau, and they were lost and would I please go help to find them. Their names were Oliff, Flaxel, Canolo and Palme.

What an oily-sounding bunch. XD

And then there was an old man who was in need of Rushrooms. He wanted to gather a bunch of them, but he was too old and frail to climb up to where they grew on the cliff walls.

AND WOULD I PLEASE HELP HIM.

Well that.... didn’t seem like too much work.

Maybe I would just dart up and grab him the Rushrooms—they grew everywhere around here it seemed—and I would make THAT the last thing I did before I went to bed.

It turned out he needed quite a few of them—certainly more than I had on me; I never gather those things....

And so I climbed a few hills, climbed a few cliffs, up the one side of the canyon, the side overhanging the ground where the stable stood.... And then I decided to check out the side across the way, the hilly side that mounted up beyond the Kay Noh Shrine.

I’d been curious about that side. Huge and angular steps of grey stone stood in stark contrast to the beigeruddy, windswept curves of the rest of the canyon. A castle among the cliffs.

No, not a castle—a fortress.

It was hard not to see the old Gerudo’s Fortress in those shapes.

There were no doors in these stones, though. Only a few ladders and pulleys led the way to the top.

Up and up and up I climbed.... losing track of everything. Weird scapes opened up before my eyes. Strange lands and monumental shapes. It was as if I had entered a Land of Goddesses; a ring of Desert Colossi stood ancient and imposing, facing inward together as if in prayer.

Away out in the desert, I saw the Divine Beast stomping around.

And looking up.... there was the Sheikah Tower.

It was quite close.

Should I....?

....

I debated.

.......

The hour was so late....

. . . . . . .

Was that the sun?

A Ride into the Desert

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 6

A Ride into the Desert

Back at the Outskirt Stable I cooked up a loooot of stamina elixirs for a later attempt at the beast of Satori Mountain.

But for now.... it was time to take Dragmire out for a ride. Up the road we went, between the towering hills and across the green fields, past the lumbering pack of Moblins to Digdogg Suspension Bridge. I walked him quietly here, and we sneaked round the side of the slumbering Hinox before plunging on ahead into the sandy desert lands.

Dragmire it seemed, while not able to put out bursts of speed, nevertheless had a tremendous power of strength. David enjoyed demonstrating this for me with his own tamed version of the Dark Horse—plowing over Bokoblins and Lizalfos, stunning or even killing them. He even took several damaging passes at a Lynel before this last creature had evidently had enough, and started pelting him with arrows.

He fled then.

But for myself I tried not to run Dragmire into too many obstacles. Clomp straight through them though he could, I didn’t want to overstrain him if I could help it.

At least, not without good reason and low-risk opportunity—I make no promises to smaller monsters on foot.

I had often been a very slow traveler, cautiously combing over the landscape as I moved, scouting dangers from all angles before proceeding, and generally creeping with the prudence—and speed—of a church mouse.

But here and now on my gargantuan horse.... and maybe.... just maybe feeling the press of time....

I needed to move.

We just.... went for a ride. Into the canyon. Dragmire led the way; he knew to follow the road. And the path went deeper, and the bordering canyon walls became taller, and the sunbaked land glowed dusty gold in the daylight—it was stunning.

I did not even slow down—except when I briefly had to dismount in order to Magnese an obstacle out of the way.

But onward we pressed. And after a time, we came to the Gerudo Canyon Stable.

I met a treasure-seeking Gerudo there named Calisa.

I am beginning to lose track of all the Sav’greetings they hail me with.

Calisa said that among the voe of this stable there didn’t seem to be too much treasure around here. “Well, except maybe for you,” she added.

^_^;;

I locked down the adjacent Kay Noh Shrine up on the hill across the way—and I decided that that was going to be the last thing I did. It was getting pretty late, and I really did need to get to bed.

I wouldn’t go any further tonight.

....

One guess how long my resolution lasted.

Blue Bedlam

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 5

Blue Bedlam

The tack the stable gave me for Dragmire was.... exquisite! Guess they had to make it specially for him, as he was so huge. Heh, bright orange tassels to match his fire-bright mane and tail.... cool.

But there was one more thing left to do that would make his appearance perfect.

I boarded my new giant steed and warped back to the Outskirt Stable. It was Dragmire I would take out past Digdogg Suspension Bridge and into the desert; that was only fitting. But first....

I took Dragmire back out, and walked him over to the girl by the manger.

She was going to give my horse the Mohawk befitting the lineage of his grandsires.

The girl automatically began to ramble off her spiel asking if I’d like her to do up my horse’s mane and tail, but she stopped in mid-sentence.

“Whoa!” she said, looking up, “That’s no pony you have there, is it!”

She remarked on his size, and said she wasn’t sure they had any implements big enough for him, and went on to mention that he didn’t seem like the type to enjoy having his hair messed with anyway.

:c

So....

No Mohawk for Dragmire.

Hhhhhhh.

I looked at some of my other horses.... changed Memory’s braids to a single French braid.... yes that looked good.

I guessed the Dark Horse was too special to mess with.

Well.... that was fine, Nintendo.

I’d still take him out into the desert lands—his desert lands—as I pressed forward in my journey.

....

Or I would, in a little bit, anyway.

Satori Mountain was glowing again.

Back went Dragmire into the stable, and back I warped to the high, cold peak of Satori Mountain.

This time I scrambled all the way to the top of one of the three stones at its crest, giving myself an open view into the high clearing.

I felt like I’d stepped into a Studio Ghibli film.

Blupees pattered around everywhere, taking slow little hops and sniffing the airs, the grasses, each other, their ears perking and twitching. They seemed drawn in toward the center, toward the perfectly round pool beside the cherry tree, but they would not touch or enter the shallow water. The sight of them—twenty at least—ringing the edge of the pool, gleaming like lanterns in the ghostly teal haze.... was striking.

And standing once again in the water.... the blue beast. The Lord of the Mountain.

I paraglided in this time, and landed on its back.

And it dawns on me, the brazen disrespect my avatar must have for these holy mystical creatures.

Unsurprisingly, it began to buck and kick. But to my amazement, the unmistakable Soothe-button icon appeared.

I pressed it. Repeatedly. I patted the creature’s neck and murmured soothing sounds, but my stamina was burning away fast.

And I had no more elixirs to extend it.

The Lord of the Mountain bucked me off and vanished.

The Blupees scattered where I rolled to a halt off the side of the pool. I rose back to my feet, exhausted, wondering if I’d blown another opportunity.

But the teal haze did not dissipate. Before my eyes, the blue beast rematerialized in the pool, standing peacefully as it had before, pawing the pool’s shallow bottom and dipping its strange head.

It was not facing me—otherwise I think it would have bolted. I think it also helped that I stood several paces away from it.

It stood in perfect perpendicular profile to me.

Was it a mount? Or was it game?

Maybe it was remembering how ineffective my previous sword strokes had been that made me draw my strongest bow and nock a Bomb Arrow to the string.

I overestimated the arc, and the arrow just shaved the creature’s back before detonating on the far side of the pool.

There was lantern-blue bedlam on the mountaintop. The blue beast bolted, evaporating into thin air in a heartbeat, while the Blupees darted confusedly in all directions.

And yet, after a moment had passed and the rabbitkabobs had calmed down.... the blue beast appeared yet again.

This time I didn’t miss. But there was little difference to the result—the blue beast, now on fire, turned and ran, disappearing in mid-stride as it had before. The Bomb Arrow had not been able to fell it.

And this time, the ghostly teal haze did evaporate, the night became clear, the Blupees were gone.... and I was alone.

Guess it’s three strikes and you’re out.

Something glimmered on the far side of the pool.

I walked across the shallow water to find.... rupees.

I guessed I’d blown up a few Blupees with that first Bomb Arrow.

I pocketed the money.

....

Is that why it’s spelled Blupees and not Blupies?

The Big Dang Horse

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 4

The Big Dang Horse

What had commandeered my attention after I set my controller down to charge....? Probably just the necessaries of life.

I came back and found that my lonely WiiU had gone to sleep.

Rats! I hadn’t found a proper saving point!

I restarted it all back up....

And I was on Satori Mountain.

The glowing beast wasn’t there. But the Korok I scared up was.... some consolation I suppose.

I went back to the Outskirt Stable. Probably. I let myself play too far and too long without logging—it gets hard to remember—

Suffice it to say that the sirens played havoc in my head again and I was off to the Great Plateau.

They say Hylians have long ears to hear the voices of the Gods.

I think when I play it’s more like hearing the call of attention deficit disorder.

Hm, or since he’s the avatar, and I’m the player, does that make me the God? He does so readily obey my every whim.... though I allow him the moments that must be lived one way and no other.

But let’s not get too meta just here.

The rain was pouring on the Stasis Shrine, but through the din I could still hear the mean, scruffling sounds of stal-creatures clawing up out of the earth and wishing to do me ill.

Not wanting to deal with them I ran toward the first empty edge I could see and jumped off into the cacophonous, blustering night.

I couldn’t see anything for the rain. Just dim looming shapes in the distance—mountains and hills. I had to consult my map to orient myself.

I wanted back in the Lynels’ Corridor.

I had unfinished business there.

Maybe it was that I had finally taken my horses out and showed them a little bit of love. Ah, my sweet babies.... I like to keep them locked up safe and sound—no telling what we might encounter out in the world. I didn’t want anything to happen to them.

Mm but they were still my proud and wonderful beasts, and I still liked to ride the roads with them.

And there had been that Mohawk mane style....

....

There was only one animal in the world for which that style would be so.... singularly and definitively befitting.

I touched down in the grasslands and jogged quickly toward the baobabs—there were wolves about and I didn’t need their attentions right now.

Presently the herd came into view. But.... they all looked the same. Five or six animals, milling around, cropping the grass.... All the same size.

Where was the big one?

Off to my right, right against the western mountain, one more dark horse pawed unconcernedly about. Fine place for it to stand when I was trying to compare them all.

I was sure it was the one from before—deep black body and a flaming orange mane and tail—but I wanted to make extra sure. I headed toward it, scooting round the baobabs in a fine game of ring-around-the-rosie until I was able to cow it back toward its fellows.

It joined up with them smoothly enough, droplets of water cleaving together. But was it all the way into their midst? The screen gave me no depth perception. The dark one still stood out big among the herd, and I was too far away to tell clearly—Was it larger for its size? Or for its nearness?

A littler horse walked in front of it.

Oh yeah, that was the big one.

And now that I had more stamina, I wanted to try it again.

And the slow chase was on.

I crouched down and crept carefully up behind it, freezing when it turned, pausing as long as I needed, closer and closer.... The other horses snorted and cantered away if they saw me, but my only concern was the Dark One.

Careful not to come up directly behind it—didn’t want a kick in the face, not from that one—I came close to its right flank.... and hopped on.

The thing jumped and bucked as I patted and soothed it frantically—my legs were spread wide over its huge barrel trunk—and my stamina began to burn away. I had much more of it this time, but it was going down fast.

But a quick look into my pockets showed me my stock of stamina dishes and elixirs—I used them all—and on the dregs of the very last one....

The Dark Horse stamped itself into a huff, and stood still beneath me.

I’d got it!

What a BEAST he was! Strong, and proud, and beautiful. I walked him back and forth, here and there, patting his neck, trotting him, reassuring him, soothing him and murmuring sweet sounds beneath the baobabs.

Hahhh! When I got this beauty back to a stable I’d—

And then I saw the problem.

The northern end of the Lynel’s Corridor is a box canyon. To the north is the towering wall of the Great Plateau. To the west, the red tiers of the Gerudo Highlands. To the east, the lush but steep mountain range bordering the lake.

The only way out of this place was southward, past not one but two Lynels, and a small battalion of mounted Bokoblins.

Touché, Nintendo. Touché.

There was no way I was attempting that on a steed that had anything less than complete trust in me. I couldn’t afford any refusals.

And so I continued trotting the Dark One back and forth, back and forth, round and round, again and again, now stopping, now starting, now sprinting, now stepping, always assuring him with pats to his neck, but not too many too fast, correcting him quickly, rewarding him fairly, and loving him gently.

He was a giant to be sure, but he seemed to have no energy for bursts of speed. His fastest gallop.... was his only gallop. This had me worried for getting past those Lynels, but.... after a long time of learning and bonding and with nothing else for it.... we turned our heads southward, and plunged down the grassland.

The Lynels were actually.... surprisingly easy to slip past! And they did not pursue us once we were out of their prowling grounds. And with a bit of weaving and dodging, the Bokoblins did not pose much of a threat either!

I pressed the Dark One onward down the road—we weren’t going to stop for anything until I could register this beast!

And we came at length to the Highland Stable, and it was once again that terrible conniption of deciding on a fitting name.

I knew whose horse this had to be descended from. It was obvious. The huge size, the soot-black coat, the mane like a raging fire. The proximity to Gerudo lands.

But to name him after anything having to do with such a figure.... it would be like a swear word. ._.

And yet.... how could I choose anything else? It would feel untrue. Unfaithful.

But truth and faithfulness notwithstanding, did such a figure even deserve any such honor?

This was a real pickle.

....

You know, perhaps his name had already gone down in history a thousand times as the darkest curse a man could utter.

But perhaps his surname.... the second name he took from the time he rode the black horse with the flaming mane.... perhaps that name was and had always been a purely Gerudo device.

And he wasn’t a Gerudo. Not really.

Maybe it was a good, proud name once. A strong Gerudo name.

Maybe it could be again.

I spent my twenty rupees at the stable counter, and I called my gargantuan steed....

Dragmire.