The Black Stallion

Waking of Tuesday, January 1, 2019

The Black Stallion

It was the Rose Parade.

It was seeing all those danged beautiful horses with the luscious garlands of brilliant, colorful flowers hung all around their necks and flanks....

Augh.

I’d taken enough pictographs to somewhat flesh out my Compendium. I’d seen the animal section. There were horses, white horses, giant horses, donkeys, the Lord of the Mountain, stalhorses.... and I think that was it for the equines if you could count the Lord of the Mountain as an equine.

I knew I could register up to five horses, and I still had room for one more.... But it didn’t look like there were any more special horses to find, the one blank space yet to explore on my map notwithstanding.

I wanted a new horse.

I wanted a steed to wear my Extravagant Tack.

It was late, it was past my bedtime, and I had work in the morning, but.... I wanted to culminate the little zeitgeist I felt about it.... zeitgeistchen? Zeitgeistlein—I DON’T KNOW GERMAN.

I skimmed around my map. Where were there horses? I blinked as I realized it was never really something I took any special note of. I knew they could be found somewhat near to stables most of the time. And I knew where I’d seen that black one that one time....

It was the Valley of Terror then. Though the terror was all but gone for me, I think. If I did bump into the one decayed Guardian out in the field, I’d be able to take care of it.

I ran out to find the herd, but there were no all-black ones. A second herd grazed a bit to the north, but that one didn’t have any black ones either.

Where else could I warp? I really didn’t pay attention to where the horses were.... I’d always just stuck to talking to the people, waiting for clues about where the rare breeds roamed.

Those fields north of Jeddo Bridge looked promising, so I warped over to the Odyssean Sheem Dagoze Shrine, and started truckin’ it up the hill.

There were a couple of herds here as well, but again I could find no black ones.

From here I could think of nothing else but to warp back to the Ha Dahamar Shrine at the Dueling Peaks Stable, and again check the herds in the Valley of Terror. Their coats had changed upon the reload! But there were still no black ones.

I wanted a black one.

I bounced back and forth between these two fields for a while. It was most troublesome at night; it took a couple of incidents before I remembered to anticipate the dark with my Radiant Gear. That still didn’t stop the keese, though. And the dang Yigamen didn’t care what time of day it was.

At some point I added another field to search to my cycle: the Fural Plain just adjacent to the Highland Stable. I had been hesitant to go there because every previous visit to that place, at least via the road, had been plagued by that little troop of mounted Bokoblins. But it was the only other place I could think of that I was pretty sure had horses....

I was happy to discover this time, however, that the Bokoblins seemed to have gone! It had been quite a few Blood Moons since I’d cleaned them out.... but they hadn’t respawned. Huh. They reappeared in other get-rid-of-the-monsters sidequests—why hadn’t they reappeared here?

I didn’t know.

I was just happy to see them gone.

And happier to see that there were indeed horses here!

None of the ones I saw were black, though.

Poop.

I warped back and again, around and around, Ha Dahamar, Sheem Dagoze, Ka’o Makagh, Ha Dahamar, Sheem Dagoze, Ka’o Makagh....

I did this for so long—How else do you think I memorized these shrine names?

At some point I cut out the Sheem Dagoze Shrine, though. It was too long a jog to get to the horses; and the stal-creatures, keese and Yiga seemed to appear more frequently there.

So it was back and forth between the Valley of Terror and the Fural Plain. I saw reds, creams, greys, piebalds, skewbalds, appaloosas, gypsy cobs....

There!

There was a black one in the Fural Plain! But.... it had four white socks.

I chased it for a while, desperate. Had I only imagined that all-black horse before? No I hadn’t imagined it; it had kicked me in the face pretty hard. But had I imagined the color....?

I thought about just.... letting the socked horse suffice me. Maybe there were no all-black horses.... Just like there were no common all-white horses.

But....

No.

I kept warping.

And after a great, weary long time.... LO! There really was an all-black horse!

FINALLY!

It showed up on the Fural Plain on a sunny afternoon, and the flamerosy glow played havoc with my view of it through the scope—was it really black? Or was it a brown or a grey, only painted darker by a trick of the sun’s glare?

But I got closer and it was all black. There were subtle color variations on its muzzle and around its hooves.... but so were there for Memory. I didn’t think I’d find a blacker horse than this.

This chase was on.

The problem with the Fural Plain was that the grass, most of it, was remarkably short. This made sneaking up on the black horse deucedly difficult, especially as he had one other horse friend on the lookout with him. Several times I sent him trotting and galloping away into the boundaries of the field, many of which were comprised of sizeable stone cliffs. But it was a real fear of mine that the horse might come to an open spot and bolt down a road or somewhere leading out of the field. But I wasn’t sure how justified that fear really was.... Would the game keep it hemmed in?

I chased the horse for [game-] days, trying to maneuver it into one of the grassier spots where I could approach it more stealthily. The intermittent Yiga did not make things any easier.

But at great length I was finally able to mount the black stallion and soothe him into submission, whereupon I took him straight to the stable for to register him before anything else could happen.

I thought for a long time about his name. Jett? No, too literal. This was one of the harder conniptions I’d had over naming a steed! I wanted something strong-sounding, something ancient, something kingly, something like one of those archaic words that has a CH pronounced like a K....

Archeantus?

Mmm.... I didn’t even type it in. A strong name, but.... maybe not the strongest namesake.

Archibald?

That wasn’t a K sound....

I was just stuck on this Arch- usage....

Somehow in all the archaisms I swayed into the possibility of Oberon. Mmm, the deep vowels matched his coat and color.... and the reference matched the mystique of an all-black horse!

But I also thought of the name of Knight. Strong and royal to be sure.... though the pun was perhaps not as sophisticated.

I swiveled between these two for a while. Oberon and Knight. But Knight felt more alive, sharper, keener, and faster. Not so serious or reserved as Oberon. Or as wise-sounding, but that was okay.

Knight it was!

I rode him around the Fural Plain until his trust in me was such that I could alter his mane and other trappings. And back at the stable.... on went the Extravagant Tack.

....

Knight looked embarrassed in it, too.

Hmm.

I.... fiddled with it....

....

A look at Knight’s statistics showed me that he had.... four of five points in speed.

That was faster even than Memory.

Dang he was a fast horse. I could see the difference as I rode and spurred him into a gallop—how fast the land flew by around us!

Hah hah, he truly was a Knight!

I rode him to the Dueling Peaks Stable, just to get a look at him in motion in this momentary tack and mane-style....

And then I remembered upon arrival Uh, no mane-changers here.

So I rode to Outskirt, took him to the girl by the manger, and played with his mane some more....

“Oh my gosh you’re ridiculous, you spend three hours finding a horse and playing dress up with it. This is why I’m ahead of you in getting shrines.”

Beautiful lines from David.

In the end, I just stuck with the mohawk and the Extravagant Tack. The mohawk suited his wild temperament. And Knight could stand the Extravagant Tack. He could make up for the flamboyant red feather springing from his crown. He was the fastest horse in my team. And a glorious, powerful midnight black besides!

Knight could wear the Extravagant Tack with welcome challenge to any who scorned.

But a horse named Oberon would never have been able to abide it at all.

I rode to the Tabantha Bridge Stable.

I was ready.

Faron's Five-Cent Tour

Waking of Saturday, October 27, 2018 ~ 4

Faron’s Five-Cent Tour

I warped to the Shoda Sah Shrine in the rainy jungles of Faron, and went up the plateau. I’d seen it from the top of that mountain above the Twin Bridges.... the Lynel. Except it was a White Lynel now.

It had stood between me and the tower. I remembered....

I killed it. Awesomely. I don’t think I even got a scratch.

And I floated down a level to the next broad shelf, and found a Red Hinox.

I killed it, too.

Down another level and I ran into a nest of Lizalfos.

Killed ‘em.

And there, out from the edge of the next shelf downward.... was the crown of the Sheikah Tower. I could have floated over and it would have been a very short climb to the top, but....

I looked down.

An Electric Wizzrobe pranced around the tower’s base, and a cloud of Keese swarmed about its middling heights.

A few appeals to Ja Baij and they were all gone.

I sailed down and ran around the base for a little bit, scaring up what Koroks I could, before giving the tower a proper climb.

And the Faron Tower and local map were mine.

Cooool. I could see the places I’d been to—that pointy sandbar was called Cape Cresia, with a Soka Point at its tip.

All the Floria names were cool. I made my way north to a Keelay Plain—which was one of the very few places I’ve found that have gravel—enjoyed the foley—played some dangerous bog games looking for Koroks in Tobio’s Hollow, then up to the Jia Highlands and Angel Peak.

I was getting quite good at clearing out entire camps of Moblins and Bokoblins before they even knew I was there.

I remember paragliding in to the very last Bokoblin in my mask, his start of surprise and then friendly approach to come talk Bokoblin to me, and how I cut him down in two rapid strokes the instant he was close enough.

Didn’t even give him time to blink.

“I’m a heartless murderer,” I said to myself.

Of course, that very night was a Blood Moon and they all came straight back. In the high meadow I killed the stray Guardian one more time before getting out of there and paragliding all the way to Dueling Peaks Stable—I’d wanted to do that since I first climbed up to Misko’s Cache above the Twin Bridges. I was in roughly the same area....

But I couldn’t think of any business to see to at Dueling Peaks Stable, and I was getting tired, which meant.... it was another warping meander back to the Great Fairy Tera.

I upgraded a crapton of clothes.

And I considered....

I considered.... sorting.... for a while....

Sooorrrrt?

No.

Not cleaning my closet yet

GOOD NIGHT.

The Least Dangerous Game

Waking of Friday, October 12, 2018 ~ 2

The Least Dangerous Game

Eventually I floated down all the way to the Afromsia Coast.

I had reached the sea. At last I could switch out my one defense point Warm Doublet for something stronger.

There were more Koroks down here, hiding beneath huge stone slabs on the beach. And it had already been quite a fruitful Korok hunt up on the mountain! I was on a roll....

I started southward along the shore, using my Zora Armor to swim for it whenever the beach ran out and gave way to rocks, until I came to a certain Mapla Point.... and its resident Talus.

I recognized it. This was the first Talus David had ever defeated. I had helped him that time.

Now I took my own turn killing it, after which I continued to scare up a mess of Koroks, as well as a lot of new seafood: crabs, fish, porgies.... Lizalfos....

Following the coast, which bent in a general westerly direction now, I swam across Deepback Bay—which I’d always thought was a cool name whenever I saw it on my map—to reach Hateno Beach, which I traversed, and traversed, scaring up Koroks and killing baddies all the way, until I finally came to a landmark I recognized: the Hateno trailhead.

But I saw something else that piqued my interest, even further west.

Way up on top of a lone spire of rock standing out in the water.... was Kass!

So I swam out to meet him—killing an Octorok, in the water, along the way! Felt so boss.... Its Lizalfos pal proved to be a bit more trouble, though. Never mind him then! I swam out to the rocks, the Lizalfos buggered off, and I climbed up to visit with Kass.

He sang me a song about a Hero’s Stash, located at 17 of 24.... and said that this rock would show the way....

Well anything of twenty-four had to be a time of day.... and it was half past three! An easy wait.

And when five o’clock rolled around, the rock spire’s shadow pointed to.... Eventide Isle.

Well.... I knew what was over there.

I’d seen David do it.

Hadn’t done it myself yet! But....

Well.

Soon.

Before I took my leave from Kass’ rock I wanted to check if there were anything Magnesable in the surrounding waters. I took out a Bomb instead on accident.

“Wah!” Kass jolted with a start! XD

I put the Bomb away, switched to the appropriate Slate function, and swept the area.... but could see nothing. Well.... no worries.

I paraglided back toward the shore, coming up short and splashing down almost on top of that pesky Lizalfos I’d run into before. And this time, I killed the beast—in the water! In its own element! Excellent.

For old time’s sake I hiked up to Hateno by the grassy seaside switchbacks. I even considered the house. But once again I left it alone. I didn’t have the money for it at the moment anyway.

I’d picked up an awful lot of Luminous Stone in my travels thus far. Breaking from the Korok hunt for a spell, I warped to Cotera to see about my clothes. I had her do up my Radiant Suit, but.... not the Climbing Pants yet. I still wanted to show Siara all the funny animations, especially that fourth one. Later.

As long as I was in the neighborhood I paraglided across Kakariko Village and headed out the back door to the Sahasra Slope—and had the easiest time I’d ever had killing all three Guardians out there—and got a core for my trouble!

Life was just a bowl of cherries today! ^_^

From thence.... it was just a big crawl around the Dueling Peaks and all the western foothills and surrounding regions looking for more Koroks. It was, once again, pretty fruitful! Though the Silver Bokoblins down in that silty monster-nest did give me a bit of trouble. I thought I should see Hestu again soon.... maybe....

But before I did, I decided to warp over to Gerudo Town and check on Pokki.

She was in the canteen.

“I ask you, Furosa, is there anything better than a taste of Noble Pursuit?” she asked as she leaned against the bar.

“You were at death’s door and you ran all the way here for that! Good grief... You’re in incredible shape,” said Furosa in response, “Does that mean you don’t plan to investigate that shrine anymore?”

“Definitely. I never dreamed that kind of work would be so dull...”

Dull. Hah....

“I’m not surprised you found it dull,” said Furosa, “That sort of thing isn’t really “you”.”

“Yeah, you know what really is “me”? Drinking.”

HAH! XD That made me laugh! It was.... a little bit refreshing to have conversation so uncoddled from the NPCs!

While I was there, I went to see what those three gossips—Heh, Three Gossips—in the other room had to say. They spoke of one Perda, who had gone to find the Lover’s Pond.

Hmmmm....

Maybe I would make it an adventure for another day.

But for now....

It was time to head to Korok Woods. And Hestu. I’d accumulated an awful lot of Korok Seeds since I’d last seen him. I wanted to see what he might be able to do for me.

“Shaka-kala!” he exclaimed as always. With music notes flanking his speech.

“Weapon please,” I asked. And he obliged.

And when he had finished, “Dah-na-na-na-naaaaaaaa!” OH YEAH HE SANG THE SONG! With more music notes flanking! XD I’d forgotten!

Ah! Delightful times. ^_^

Well I’d had 99 Korok Seeds on me, and that expansion had cost me 45. And I asked, and the next weapon expansion would cost 55. And I only had 54 left.

Rats! Heh.... Guess I cut my Korok hunt only just a little too short....

Did I want to get another shield slot in the meanwhile? I could afford it. But.... only one more Korok Seed and I could get the weapon; it’d be a shame to let the opportunity go to waste.... Besides, in normal play I felt the need for expansion more in my weapons inventory than in my shields.... Still, maybe if I expanded my shield inventory some more, well, maybe it would run out of upgrading room, like my bows had. Why not....?

Nah. Not right now. I decided to wait.

It’d been a great hunt, but.... I was done for now.

I went to Pepp’s, and slept.

Good night.

Big Sticks

Waking of Saturday, August 11, 2018

Big Sticks

It was always nice at Dueling Peaks. My very first stable.

Poor in both money and supplies, I thought about taking a horse out to ride over to Faron Woods, combing the land for materials along the way. There was also that pesky leaf stamp I had left over there; couldn’t remember what that was about; needed to clear it up....

I chose Memory, and we started out well enough, but on the way we ran into a Big Yiga.

I’d seen David duke it out with these guys. They were slower than their lithe and lean, scythe-wielding counterparts, but thick and tough as old jerky. And they had a few nasty tricks of their own, one of which sent some burrowing devil-flame toward you through the ground....

Fortunately I’d seen David deal with that too.

I leapt as the flame came near and rode the updraft as it combusted beneath me, sailing toward my assailant to get in a few hits of my own....

He went down in due time, and at the end of it all I came back to Memory and found him unharmed; that was good. We weren’t even safe while riding....

The Yiga had dropped a Windcleaver, its long blade shimmering in a ripple as if from water-reflected light....

Nebb wanted to see that. It was a long way to Hateno, not to mention in the opposite direction from Faron Woods, but.... as long as the Windcleaver had just fallen into my lap like that.... I decided to head that way anyway.

However, I was still combing for materials, regardless of my destination. And I found that you can’t really make good progress in any direction when you make it your top priority to chase every little thing you spy along the wayside.

I became VERY distracted near Fort Hateno, climbing all over the hills to the north after Rushrooms and Swift Violets and mineral deposits and critters.... I wandered all OVER those hills and all the dips and climbs beyond....

For certain it did slow me down, but I definitely did not come away emptyhanded—for aside from my scroungings I discovered another Meteor Rod. It was held in the clutches of a prancing Fire Wizzrobe whom I sniped with an Ice Arrow from a high hill. Poor devil never knew what hit him.

I wonder if it respawns when he does at the Blood Moon....

I’m pretty sure that was the case with that insanely powerful Trilizal Boomerang in the western desert. The one with which the Silver Bokoblin zlashed me in the face.

That brute could hit.

The Meteor Rod Wizzrobe danced at the head of the river that ran beneath Kakariko Bridge. I’d definitely have to see whether he’d come back later.... and what heat he’d be packing.... No pun intended.

I eventually came back to the deep-grey clifftops at the south end of all the ranges I had wandered, and looking down to the valley floor saw poor Memory still standing, waiting for me between Fort Hateno and the ensuing forest. He’d been so patient with me. Good boy.

I sailed down and we continued to Hateno, where I showed Nebb the Windcleaver, for which privilege he dropped a sweet hundred rupees. Cool.

Another Hat!

Waking of Saturday, August 4, 2018 ~ 2

Another Hat!

I sand-sealed back to Gerudo Town and found Barta again. As we visited in the barracks, she confided to me that when I’d shown up out there in the desert, she thought the voe of her dreams had appeared.

....Heh.

I also spoke to Liana, and she was so happy I’d found Barta, she said, “Here, take this,” and handed me a hundred rupees, “Go buy yourself something nice at the market.”

Aww, thanks, Liana. ^_^

I said hi to Captain Teake on my way into the palace, where I saw that young Chief Riju had a certain red exclamation mark above her head.... Had I really already....?

I spoke to her.

“You’ve brought back the smiles to my people,” she said, “I know that you more than anyone else will be able to use this helm to its full potential.”

Or some.... such.... words.... Ah, that wonderful little ITEM GET song played, and I found myself in brand new possession of the Thunder Helm.

I was now LIGHTNING PROOF.

SWEET.

Would it make the same bubble-effect in a large radius around me? Would it glow?

I almost tried it on right then and there, but I remembered myself, and where I was.... I would have to leave town first.

I took my leave of the palace and jogged outside to put it on and have a look at myself!

....

There was no glowing or magical effect. Which wasn’t completely unexpected. I was sure it would still protect me well enough....

It did make me look just as buggy-eyed as it had done the Chief, but it was otherwise very shiny and ornate!

Cool. ^_^

Agh but I did not want to stop—I warped to Dueling Peaks to check with Hino just one more time.

But Hino wasn’t there.

I blinked and turned to gather Swift Violets from around the waterfall behind the shrine for a bit.... and after I had plucked as many as I could, then Hino made an appearance.

But there was no Blood Moon tonight.

Hhhhh.

It was in the three o’clock hour in the afternoon. A bit later for myself on the couch.

....

I just went to bed, and slept until morning.

Good night.

Firefooted Flight

Waking of Tuesday, June 5, 2018 ~ 2

Firefooted Flight

Hateno Tower was fabulously tall. And it overlooked that stretch of road where I had met Teli.

Actually.... it overlooked a lot of things, and I had to play marker games on my map and through my scope before I was able to locate the miniscule strip of beige between a tiny cliff and a pinprick lake that I was looking for.

But the distance wasn’t too great for my paraglider.

I swooped in, shed some leftover altitude and perched on a great big spire of stone beside the small lake. I felt like some bird of prey as I scanned the little valley.... and there was Teli on the path, just making his way into the bottleneck preceding the Cliffs of Quince to the west....

I swooped down to catch him before he could get too far, and found that he was carrying different wares this time, but no cores.

Hmmm.

I warped back to Hateno Tower and tried this approach a few times. The results were variable, but.... it seemed a bit of patience was in order....

In the meantime I warped back to Dueling Peaks. Maybe I was thinking again of going to the desert. Maybe I was just continuing to look for ways to waste time. I don’t really remember, because the latter won out, and was then therefore free to rewrite the history of my inner battles as it saw fit.... had I had any.

I decided, after a very long time of avoiding it, to once again take on Rensa in his horse-taming challenge—the same challenge that had brought my beloved Brown to me, if you recall—or rather, that had left the brown horse standing stark in the field, caught between the wild and the domestic, which I had then decided out of a sense of duty to take on and care for as my own.

You know I do not like to attempt to take a horse out of the wild lightly.

My efforts this time would have to be perfect.... Or close enough to it.

Rensa started the clock and I was off. Sprinting into the fields I quickly found a small herd grazing.... I was wearing my Stealth Suit for an extra edge, but as I neared the herd, I really wondered how much good it would do me. I didn’t have to worry about making a sound, even at high speed—But not every horse would turn its gaze away at the same time, and so I found myself pinned in a crouch afterall.

Some horses trotted away, but I was able to come close behind one handsome red one....

And on I jumped, and soothed it to a huffing standstill before urging it back toward the stable!

I would make it this time.... I would make it....

And I did. With twenty or thirty seconds to spare, no less. Out of two minutes. Not bad.

And Rensa rewarded me with a fifty-rupee purse.

Cool.

But I did not register the horse.

Instead, I rode him all the way to Gerudo Canyon, admiring his form from all angles as he picked up the road and followed it. He was a handsome beast: red body, white socks and muzzle, fiery mane and tail....

I woulda called him Firefoot.

But I didn’t.

I sold him to a man named Zyle, for three hundred rupees.

I had met Zyle many, many moons previously, in Gerudo Canyon. He was stranded halfway from anywhere in a little alcove against the canyon wall, just waiting for someone who would be willing to sell him a good, strong mount....

As the one who had tamed it and ridden it so far already, I felt a certain amount of responsibility toward the fiery steed. It was hard to hand him over.... But....

Zyle would take good care of him.

After the exchange, Zyle thanked me for my help, and started walking his new horse toward the Gerudo Canyon Stable.

I walked with him.

Ah what fine screens of the two of us traveling and glancing as though in friendly conversation on the long and dusty road.... I wished I could still save screenshots.

I had thought to see what would happen if I walked all the way to the stable with Zyle, but.... well, the NPCs, they just move so slowly....

I’m afraid I became impatient, and got a little ahead of myself running circles around my companions, and in my haste.... I lost them.

Once they fell out of proximity, the game depopulated them.

Hhhhh.

Well....

I continued on foot to the Gerudo Canyon Stable, arriving there just after midday, the one or two o’clock hour, and.... I slept until the evening.

Necluda's Backyard

Waking of Saturday, June 2, 2018 ~ 3

Necluda’s Backyard

I didn’t have enough cores on me to get the Ancient Greaves from Cherry. But with twenty-three gears.... I was able to have Cotera upgrade my Ancient Helm and Ancient Cuirass.

Funny how I could just blow them all like that. I guess when terror and difficulty no longer affect the value by creating rarity and scarcity.... Hrm, then again with a more ready supply for my demand maybe I could even make a little cash on the side....

But I never really studied economics.

I needed to get to the desert, but I only warped to Dueling Peaks. I don’t know what it is—sometimes I just like to take my journeys in smaller steps.

However this does make it easier to get distracted. After learning from Hino that there would be no blood moon tonight, I went inside the stable and spoke to a couple of guys I hadn’t interacted with in a long time, but whose facial animations I just really enjoyed: Domidak and Prissen, twins I think, brothers at least, stood in the back of the stable musing on some mysterious clue they had heard regarding the hidden treasure of one Misko.

I remembered. They would tell me the clue if I paid them a hundred rupees. When I’d talked to them the last time, which was also the first time, I blew them off right away! I didn’t have money to just throw around!

Well, now I did. I paid their silly price and they told me the clue, something about the little twin over the little river, and that the treasure was at that river’s source....?

A glance at the map told me all I needed to know: the Big Twin and Little Twin Bridges were just a stone’s cast south of the stable.

One sizeable climb up a waterfall later and I had found Misko’s treasure: a few fine ore samples, and no shortage of rupees.

Nice.

As long as I was so high up I decided to have a little look around, and kept climbing the mountain. The peak didn’t seem too far distant, and I was betting I’d find a Korok at least—which I did.

I also found that I was a little bit off my charted map.

I did not know the name of this mountain, but it certainly offered me some great views, particularly of the red plateaus beyond Faron Woods. I could even see a Blue-Maned Lynel prowling around the top of one broad butte, roaring in the rain. I Stasised him for kicks before marking his location on my map; I’d have to be careful when I ventured out that way—

AND THEN OF A SUDDEN FAROSH CAME FLOATING UP OUT OF A SMALL LAKE. I watched him arc smoothly into the air to swoop low over the watery valley between the red buttes.... and then descend into another small lake on the other side.

And then after a while, he flew the same graceful path in reverse. Heh. It made me think of something playful, jumping from puddle to puddle, only greatly slowed for its enormous scale.

And then after a time, he emerged from one of the lakes, and took to the sky.

David had never seen him do this before. But I had.

We watched him for his whole, long, slow flight, up into his vortex of cloud far away above the distant sea....

I only guessed it was above the water for the marker I stuck to his tail just as he was disappearing; it showed up on my map pretty far to the south....

David enjoyed the rare sight anyway. :)

But now.... I really did want to be on my way toward the desert.

I’d thought about seeing if I could paraglide all the way back to the stable from the heights above the waterfall, but David suggested I go straight down and keep to the cliff’s edge along the river on my way out. There wasn’t even a bank down there that I could see.... But, trusting in his tidbit, I performed one of the more thrilling HALO-jumps I’d ever done and pulled up on my paraglider just short of smattering all over the large stone at the waterfall’s base.

Link’s got good arms.

I waded downstream until I came to a little stretch of explodable wall! This I removed with a Bomb I let float down the current toward it, and when I came round to see what lay beyond the opening, I was shocked to discover.... a Shrine!

And then I remembered my Sheikah Sensor had still been tuned to detect Hearty Bass.

Heh. Silly me.

I switched my Sensor back to detecting Shrines, and then stepped inside this one, the Toto Sah Shrine. There were Apparatuses inside. Uh, Apparati?

At any rate it was a most engaging challenge. And when I was done I combed the little woods nearby to see what I had placed stamps there for—I was rather at the limit of how many stamps I could place on my map, and wanted to get rid of what I could.

I found the treasure box I had marked, but I could not make sense of why I had placed a leaf stamp nearby. I removed it anyway.

Aside from that, the only other interesting thing I found was a Stalnox lying facedown under the sunshine. I decided I didn’t want to hang around for when that thing woke up, and so made my way back to the Dueling Peaks Stable via the adjoining Valley of Terror.

I find myself no more struck with incapacitating fear in the face of Guardians.

I can handle them.

When I finally got back to the stable, and told Domidak and Prissen that I had found Misko’s treasure.... they didn’t believe me.

Eh, that was okay.

I’d gained back more rupees than I had paid them for the clue.

I rode Brown all the way to the desert with only a few more stops along the way—grabbed a Moblin Club to show Nebb in Hateno.... almost rode right by an embattled Mils and Mina.... but turned around to make sure they were all right anyway.... And they were.

It rained a lot.

Eventually and on the last legs of my battery, I made it to the Gerudo Canyon Stable, where I saved, and quit.

Further Distraction

Waking of Sunday, November 26, 2017

Further Distraction

I went out onto the Sahasra Slope. There had recently been a Blood Moon.

It was time to hunt Guardians.

The one in the gorge—that first terrible moving one I had ever seen—went down without a hitch. Something even happened as I sported with it on the rocky slope—it momentarily tipped over backward, so that I could see a glowing orb of some kind set into its underside—a weak spot?

I would have to research that further.

....Research. What a laughable euphemism.

The second one, across the gorge, was a little more frightening, but I was able to take it down just the same. My Ancient Gear collection was mounting up....!

The third one back toward the village however.... Night was falling just as I engaged that one, and some Stalcreatures burst out of the earth at precisely the wrong moment.

I lost an Ancient Arrow.

And the Guardian was hammering me—

I warped back to Kakariko. Blasted Stalkoblins!

No....

No, it was another case of lack of situational awareness, that’s what it was.

I looked up from the shrine’s warp pad, and saw a familiar canvas peeping between the peaks across the valley.

Kilton was back.

I ran and sailed and climbed my way over to him, and first snapped his pictograph—that soldier from the East Akkala Stable wanted to have that.

But I realized the picture was only of Kilton’s back, and the beak-like tatter of his hood. So I drew his attention so that he turned around, and snapped another pictograph.

The quest-exclamation-mark was still affixed to the back-picture in my album, though. Hm.

Eh, whatever.

Kilton had some new wares for me to look at—a Lizalfos Mask.... and a Monster Saddle and Monster Bridle. OuO

I was more careful with my Mon-accruing this time, trading easily replaceable monster bits for just enough currency to pay for those three items.

Heh, the Lizalfos Mask is great. My head twitches just like a bird’s. XD

But I also wanted to see how that new tack looked!

Wanting to keep to the road, I only warped to the Dueling Peaks Stable, wondering if perhaps I could change tack there.

It was raining when I arrived. Hino griped to me that he couldn’t see the moon in this weather. But what was more, everyone was inside! I couldn’t ask anyone about my horse’s gear.

So I warped on ahead to the Outskirt Stable; the weather was clear there.

I had the girl put the Monster Tack on Thrice. (I was sure he’d be okay with it. He’s been around Bokoblins before after all.)

It looked wicked! OuO XD

Tattered and ragged, patched and uneven, homespun as if by spiders from a forgotten cave on Halloween night.... with scary polo wraps to match! C8

It was cool! XD

And Thrice’s entire head was covered—except for one ear, I think—and he had those bulging mesh eye-covers—and mean-looking kind of plates down the back of his neck—it looked so scary! XD

Hah, I’d love to see David’s reaction when he sees me riding with that gear! ^_^

Sweaty Palms

Waking of Saturday, April 15, 2017

Sweaty Palms

“I found Gorignak,” said David.

I just said, “Ah!” and we looked at each other for a moment, both of us knowing I was afraid of spoilers—from either end.

“It’s probably the same one you found,” David said, “I’m pretty sure.” The words were so confidently weighted.

I still didn’t say anything.

“Where did you find yours?” he pressed, “It’s fine.”

“....The South Dueling Peak,” I finally said, “Just below the frost line.”

“Yeah. That’s where I found it.”

“And it asploded into a million Ambers.”

“Yup.”

“You know,” I went on, “I remember coming upon that field, and thinking This just LOOKS like a place for a boss fight....”

David laughed.

He’s ahead of me in the game I think. Sometimes I’ll come in the door and hear things I know I shouldn’t be hearing, whereupon I’ll plug my ears and dash away to my room. Other times I have to occupy the same space out of necessity, making a lunch or something, and I’ll just refrain from looking at the TV, and he’ll keep from initiating any important cutscenes. It’s easy enough, until David starts reacting in blustering whattheheckitude at whatever he is seeing.

At one such time I stood where I could not see the TV, just David’s face. He’d just ascended some kind of big, bald, sand-stony mountain I think, and from the sounds he made and the faces he pulled, you’d think he’d just come upon a giant marble statue of Tingle.

“Gold, actually,” he said.

“Gold statue of Tingle?”

“Yes.”

It’s.... maddening.

“I really want to watch you play this part when you get here,” he told me.

Sometimes I’ll watch him play, but only when he’s in places I’ve already been.

I saw him climbing around Zora’s Domain. Ralis Pond, actually! He barely saw the Hinox in time before blundering into it (it was raining). He climbed all over until he paraglided down onto the bridge and into the Domain proper.

And Rivan and Dunma were the first Zoras he had ever laid eyes on.

“What?” I was incredulous. “HOW? How did you even—? Where did you even come from?”

“The south,” David said, “It took me a really.... REALLY long time.”

I told him I’d let him watch me play that other part, if some day he would show me just how in the world he made it all the way into the heart of Zora’s Domain without bumping into any Zora.

And he had to climb down to get to the Lanayru Tower, because he had never even been to the wetlands.

What in the.... just.... ?

One thing I was sad about for him though was that once he did climb Lanayru Tower, Gruve was not at the top. He didn’t get to see that little exchange. Pity.

Sometimes I’ll watch him play even when he’s just near enough to places I’ve already explored.

I saw him sail far out to an island off the coast near Hateno Village once.

(That was probably when I developed Korok Leaf Envy.)

But ah, what another charming animation we found there—have you ever tried to kick open a treasure chest when you have no shoes on your feet?

Oh dear me. Poor Link! X-)

Made us laugh something grand.

We try not to spoil each other, but we’re okay with giving each other little hints, I think. There were electric green chuchus on that island—the first I’d seen in the game—and I passed on Joseph’s warning that those kind blow up. David appreciated that. He also was glad for the tip I gave him on just setting bombs down beside those hidden land-bound octoroks, and then backing up and blowing them up once they show their ugly faces.

And of course I was happy for the extra brainstorming he offered when I was stuck inside Vah Ruta.... and a few shrines....

But there is one thing he always—

Actually there are probably a lot of things he makes fun of me for.

But there is one thing so constant, that his opportunities to poke fun at me for it are far more numerous than the rest, and that is that.... sometimes when I play the game, my palms sweat more profusely than they’ve ever done before in my LIFE.

As a matter of fact, after I started the game, my palms seemed to oversweat wherever I was—for like two weeks straight. Probably longer.

I did feel slightly vindicated once he started his game file, and said to me at one point as he scaled a giant cliff face, “I can see why your hands sweat.”

But he still digs me for it when I get it going bad.

Very occasionally, my father has seen me play this game. And simply due to the law of averages, he’s therefore seen my hands sweat too.

I’ll keep pausing and apologizing for no reason as I wipe my palms down on my sleeves or the front of my shirt....

And Dad will always say “We’ll have to get you some flight gloves.”

And I’ll laugh.

Or.... that’s how it used to go.

Because on this day, Dad made sure to watch me, and beckon me, as I came up and looked at the entertainment center cupboard where my WiiU lives. Because he wanted to see how I would react. Because there draped over the cupboard door were two long green flight gloves.

“What?” I laughed. :D

“Those are for you!” he smiled.

“What the heck??” I laughed some more.

“Try ‘em on! They’re brand new.”

I did.

“Oh they fit great. You look awesome.”

“Where did you even get these?”

“At the store where helicopter pilots know to look for flight gloves.”

“What the heck, Dad?” XD XD

We hugged.

The flight gloves happened to match the mud-green T-shirt I’d been wearing.

And they came halfway up my forearms.

I felt like a superhero.

He used to do a lot of search and rescue, Dad did.

Maybe that’s why.... I’d been trying so long.... so hard....

Had it somehow become.... a familial trait?

Was it just something in my blood?

What I Came For

Waking of Friday, April 14, 2017 ~ 8

What I Came For

I thought I’d heard of a Shiekah Tower like this from Joseph. Something about bogs.... something about the tower being surrounded by giant stones.... something about bombs....

But I don’t think this was that tower.

This tower did indeed have one large grey stone of some kind beside it in the bog. But there was also some strange, large.... dark.... rounding kind of shape high atop its crown. It was difficult to make out from below.

I remembered the Hateno Tower and its briars. Was this another obstacle, only situated at the top instead of crawling along its length? But it looked too thick and solid to be briars. Oh gosh, had bad guys taken it over? Would I have to fight them up there once I scaled it?

I had been so confused as to what was on top of this tower, and I wanted to get rid of it or burn it off it as soon as I could.

But when I came close I understood. And I didn’t think fire was gonna do it.

The large grey stone at the tower’s base and the dark rounding shape at its crown were two halves of a bokoblins’ skull-den—those skull-shaped cave-enclosures they like to hide in. The tower’s eruption from the ground must have cracked this one in two. And now this Sheikah Tower had.... well a very nice lid I guess.

A hat like a big busted eggshell.

Well that was swell.

Wished I could’ve removed it.

Especially once I reached the top—that thick stone casing really obstructed the view. But, no matter. I just had to distill the rune and my map could tell me of the surroundings.... This would tell me the river’s course.

This would tell me about Mei.

I activated the pedestal. The runes dripped down, the teardrop fell into my Sheikah Slate....

According to the map, the river out of the wetlands ran right through Ganon’s backyard. I could even see what must have been the dock Molo had said was situated just north of the castle—the way to get inside, he’d said.

It was all too close.

The castle was right there.

Traveling that way.... I could very well be seeking my own death.

Not now. Not in my present state.

Mei, I’m sorry.... but I have to get to Akkala.

If they don’t find you soon, then I will.... when I’m strong enough to do so.

My map also said there was a Great Hyrule Forest to the north, but.... I couldn’t see it at all from the tower-top. Nor could I see the castle very well. The big dratted stone casing was in the way.

But then I considered.... well....

Did I really want to be visible to the great Calamity, at the top of a glowing blue tower so close to the castle?

Maybe the eggshell cap wasn’t so bad.

I spent a while at the top of the tower; I could still see a great distance over a broad area. I even counted the towers I had already been to; I could see all of them but Hateno. The Dueling Peaks looked like molehills, and the Great Plateau was so far away and tiny....

When the sky was dark again the rain came back—and I started to freeze. I’d been able to see my breath, and my cheeks had had that rosy ice-bitten tint to them, but I hadn’t realized I was that high up.

I put on my Warm Doublet and passed the night beneath the shelter of the tower’s rune stone.