Sleepwalker

Waking of Sunday, June 16, 2019 (comprised of raw note editings from April 5, 2023 through April 17, 2023 that I really hope sound consistent because I left it alone for too long)

Sleepwalker

I started up in Kakariko.

Where the ORB was.

....

The orb was in Impa’s house.

Impa’s house had the Worry Journal.

The Worry Journal mentioned Pikango.

....

I was going to find Pikango.

Maybe now that I had read the Worry Journal, he might have something new to say....

He usually turned up around Stables, and so I got to work sweeping the map, searching for Pikango at every single one....

Warping to shrine after shrine....

But.... I was....

....so....

....tired....

....

.

.

.

.

—Link gave an exertive little grunt and I opened my eyes.

I had accidentally climbed up onto one of the storage boxes outside.... what Stable was this?

Oh my gosh I was tired.

I’d been running on only three hours’ sleep.

Good thing I’d been facing a stable box and not.... some cliff or ravine.... or monster....

Where was I? What was next?

Lakeside Stable.

There was a girl named Cima there, at Lakeside, bearing a red exclamation mark next to her person.

Hadn’t seen one of those in a while.

I woke up a little bit more....

She related to me how frightened she was of the lightning whenever there was a thunderstorm.

Good heavens was Faron a poor choice for you, Cima.

She said lightning struck the stable so often that she became nervous at even the slightest bit of rain.... and then asked me if I could find out why.

Uh, why so much lightning, not why she was nervous.

I agreed.... But as it was not storming or even raining at the moment, I contented myself in the meanwhile with camping out for Farosh to make his passes over the lake. Got a shard of his fang for my patience.

I am so sorry, poor holy beast....

Eventually the rains did come—you never had to wait long in Faron—and I could see what Cima meant: Again and again and again the lightning pounded down directly onto the roof of the stable, shaking the building and the residents....

I donned my Thunder Helm for protection and.... probably asked Revali for a helping wing to get up there and see what was going on....

It was difficult to see in the flashing darkness of the storm, but as I drew near to the stable’s crown, I could see there was an axe hewn right into the horse’s forehead. My gosh....

I removed it, and went back down to the ground, but—

Cima was fast asleep.

It seemed I had waited into the night for the storm to arrive.

....

With nothing else for it I decided to just keep sweeping the Stables, but.... I never found Pikango.

When the sun was up again I returned to Lakeside and sought out Cima once more. I told her about the metal axe on the roof.

She was deeply grateful, and she gave me—

THE RUBBER HELM?

CIMA HAD IT?

....

Okay well I was a little more awake now, but....

Well heck.

BACK TO KAKARIKO.

I ran back into the woods to Cotera’s spring, and had her work her magic on the new piece of armor. She upgraded it past level two, and now that I had the whole Rubber set at such a level—I dived into my menus to see—

....

Unshockable was the bonus.

....

Why this was like another Thunder Helm.

....

....

Well it looked kinda neat, as I wore it.... The Helm was shaped like.... Well I guess the easiest way to describe it would be to say that it seemed as though a fish had nommed onto my head and was now clamped there, its swiftly tapering tail flipped up in a little forward-bending prawn-curl over my crown, where the fin fanned out.

Kinda reminded me of the central Zoran palace, actually....

Similar to the Ancient Helm, my eyes could not be seen.

....

I gotta go talk to Pikango down there again, but....

....I was.... so tired....

Quit the game.

Bedtime.

 

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.

Into The Dragon's Maw

Waking of a Saturday, February 3, 2018 ~ 3

Into The Dragon’s Maw

I pressed forward through the jungle again, as the rain-haze came and went. And the foliage and brush were still so thick that it came once more as a surprise when the leaves suddenly parted and I was presented with a wider view of the valley.

It took me a moment to understand what I was seeing.... I could see on my HUD that I was very near to the riverhead—I thought I should be able to make out the shape of the toothy mouth.

But that wasn’t what caught my eye first.

Looming in the dimness—was it daytime or nighttime?—a large, very large shape of stone thrust from the deepest wall at the back of the box canyon, thick, and heavy, and greened with atmosphere or moss. It was enshrouded and entangled by the sprawling plants, and hazed by distance and mist, so that it was difficult to say where the stone ended and the canyon wall began. Everything was so dim....

But even in the darkness, the shape was unmistakable—mountaining over the last grinning lake of the dragony river, flanked by two taloned paws of the same immense scale, stood the masoned head of a dragon.

Dodongo’s Cavern, I thought, seeing the enormous lower jaw there like a ramp into the Inferno. The Lizalfos that guarded it were so tiny....

Surely this must have shown up on the topo—I checked my map and could see it now, even the claws. How had I never seen—?

But it had always stood just adjacent to the gaping, bright blue mouth of the ribbony dragon river. Of course. How could anything stand out juxtaposed against that?

I decided to pick off a Lizalfos or two with my bow before venturing too far from the shelter of the trees. The range made it tricky, but I couldn’t have them alerting any of their friends to my presence.

Scoping in to examine the dragon’s head further, I saw part of a cubic Korok puzzle standing on the back of the big right paw.

Well, I could do that at least, I thought, and moved ahead through the gloom.

But as I drew near, something beyond the puzzle caught my eye—something.... glowing.

A MEMORY?

I bypassed the puzzle—the light was coming from behind—inside—the dragon’s neck. It seemed much of it was hollow. That made sense, with the gaping jaw-ramp.

But as I clambered closer over the mossy, sloping terrain, I could see it was not a memory.

It was a Goddess Statue.

IN—? WHAT?

—the name of the place gleamed over the screen—

IN.... THE SPRING OF COURAGE.

THIS WAS THE SPRING OF COURAGE.

I HAD FOUND ANOTHER SPRING.

I killed the Moblin keeping the inside of the Dragon’s Head—and waded through the water to pray before the Goddess.... I think.... Oh, was there some kind of sign in the stonework or was it.... Her?

Whence came those instructions?

Hhhh, I must not put off the keeping of the log for so long.... -_-

Said to offer Farosh’s Scale to the spring.

I had two scales on me, and I parted with one.

Light shone where I dropped it into the water, right in the center before the statue of the Goddess. Golden light shooting straight up from the tiny concentric ripple....

And a mighty stone door opened in the grey canyon wall behind the Goddess.

Inside was a Blessing Shrine. The Shae Katha Shrine.

After collecting the monk’s Spirit Orb, I came back out and proceeded to climb the Dragon’s Head—a gigantic tree rooted among the springwaters inside came bursting through the top of the neck. The views from its upper boughs were excellent, and aside from that I found a Korok!

But.... it was getting late.

From the treetop I saw the other half of the cubic puzzle I’d seen on the right paw—it happened to be on the left paw, and that one held the Magnesable piece.

I paraglided down, and studied the structure very carefully before removing the spare block and trekking back behind the Dragon’s Head to the other side again. After inserting the block correctly into the first puzzle, the Korok appeared, I got a seed and....

I called it a day.

I climbed back onto the Dragon’s Head for a safe perch, settled down somewhere near its right ear, saved, and quit.

I was done.

Colossal

Waking of Saturday, January 27, 2018 ~ 2

Colossal

I made sure to change back into my winter garb before I spoke to the monk. And when I exited the shrine of Kema Kosassa . . . . the sun was shining.

The storm had passed, and the cracked snowfield shone brilliant in the daylight.

And according to my map, the Eighth Heroine stood just on the other side of the mountain, off the northern edge of the saddle snowfield.

But she was missing something, some aspect that the other seven had, according to the topo: two little jutting points off the tip of the triangle of her aerial silhouette.... I guessed I’d just see it when I got there.

I tried to climb higher for my approach, but as I scaled the western steps the wind came back, blustering the world into grey once more. A few Ice Keese came out to sport, and I was happy to collect their wings (the Great Fairies would find them useful in upgrading my clothes), but when I reached the last wall of the very highest western plateau of all the Gerudo Highlands, and tried to climb it—

That prohibiting chime.

And—

You can’t go any farther.

Huh.

I was still at an uneven, skewed edge, misaligned from the cardinal directions.

So the map was not truly rectangular after all.

Part of me.... kind of liked that. c:

It was all right; I continued northward and eventually the winds died down. And it was awful tricky out along the sheer rock walls as the shelves for my footing wore down to narrow ledges.... but the pictograph I captured of the colossal Eighth Heroine was excellent.

I begged her pardon as I paraglided over and climbed back up her person and ran around on her outstretched arms—it was the best way to regain the snowfield, and.... I like to climb on rocks.

And back up on top I immediately gave in to the temptation of a treasure chest tightly encompassed by no fewer than six baby Talus Pebblits.

I was rewarded for my persistence with a METEOR ROD, which I had never heard of before! It was powerful! 8D

The encounter had only slightly frayed my patience.... I wanted to continue to the peak east of the snowfield saddle, but the way between was thick with enemies. I didn’t want to deal with any of them, least of all that cluster of Bokoblins near the most obvious and accessible slope.

And so it was back to the western steps for a new approach. I climbed until I could climb no further, by which time the pretextual blizzard returned—this made it difficult to determine the optimum paragliding trajectory over the snowfield.... but my HUD was enough for that. It still functioned here.

I lined myself up as best as I could manage, and took a flying leap toward the slope I could not see....

The air cleared about halfway over, and I only needed a little correction. But aside from this my solution proved to be most effective! ^_^ Leaving camps of Bokoblins and multitudes of crouching Lizalfos in the dust, I hurried up the slope to the clear, bald top of Gerudo Summit where everything was open and the blue sky was so big....

Aaaand promptly turned around and ran back the other way when I saw that prowling equine silhouette.

The Lynel didn’t see me, but I could hear it roaring as I skirted about the edges of the peak. Thank goodness the cap was so rounded—there was so little to hide behind up here; the extra horizons were most welcome.

I came behind the single, house-sized butte on the peak that could offer sufficient cover—and laid my eyes on the most abrupt spectacle: a browned and weathered sword-hilt made of stone, jutting up from a deep crack in the rounded snowcap. It was about forty times the size of life.

I peeked over the edge of the little gorge; a Moblin snoozed before the spot where the giant blade was plunged into the earth.

Hhhhrm I didn’t want to deal with him just then.

But that Lynel....

This was the high haunt of Farosh. I might get scales or hornshards here.... But I wouldn’t be able to move freely with that Lynel in the way....

A White Lynel. The most powerful according to my Compendium.

Never faced one of those before.

....

No time like the present.

I camped atop the little butte, just far back enough to be out of sight. The high, rushing winds made Bomb Golf somewhat impractical, and so I switched to strong bows and specialty arrows. Still, the monster wandered where he would, and over distance my aim was weak. It was more a matter of persistence than patience, with the Lynel. I could sometimes pique his curiosity to draw him in by showing my head and tempting his terrible question-mark-thermometer before ducking down again. But he did not always come by me as the Molduga had. And once, getting wise, he came too close—and I found myself pinned down in my only retreat, which had been discovered from the desperation of the moment: clinging still and silent to the backside of the frozen butte while the monster surveyed the top.... until he finally wandered back down into his snowy field, and I could hunt him again.

In the end, busting Duplex Bows and with nothing but fletched wooden shafts to my name, I brought him down. And it was the first time among the bits left over that I was rewarded with Lynel Guts. They were quite.... colorful as I recall.

And then the run of the Dragon’s Nest was mine.

....For the moment anyway; I did not think I would be able to abide a Blood Moon up here.

I ran around and found the landscape to be more crowded than I had expected, with Pebblits, Octoroks, and un-Magnesable treasure chests. But these were paltry hurdles to clear for the ranging over of my prize.

There was a terrific gash carved across the summit, so big it registered on my topo. Ice and stone lay in broken slabs about it and scattered along its bottom. I wondered if Farosh had done that with his passing.... just scratched it right into the mountaintop. By the look of him he’d certainly be capable of such a feat. And at the end of another such depression, that giant sword stuck in the earth.

I crept up easily on the Moblin as he dozed, and sneakstruck him in the back.

I really do love that feature. X3

But one thing I have noticed about the really tough enemies.... is that one sneakstrike will not always bring them down. :c

But I put as hefty a dent as was possible in his health meter in one go for the opening salvo, and that was good enough to go on for the moment. A few more hits and he was down, and I was free to regard the giant sword.

It stood at an angle, and, in a most artistic juxtaposition, a regular-sized sword stood plunged into the snow at a mirrored angle, just before its base. Maybe the Moblin had been guarding it, or admiring it.

It was some beautiful thing with a shining golden hilt.... Gerudo I think....

But I had no room for it in my inventory.

I really.... really did need to see Mr. Hestu again.

In due course Farosh returned and I claimed a shard of his horn and sent him spiraling back into the heavens—so close now....

After this I knew it could be days before he’d make another appearance, and so set out to explore what remained to be explored. And in running all over the rest of the mountaintop, dodging Pebblits through the gouge like TIE Fighters in the Death Star’s channel, I gave in to my own peer pressure and simply demonstrated for David what the un-Magnesable chests were.... Ah I am too impatient....

As I checked my map to be sure I had swept over everything of at least visible interest, I spied a Korok circle down off the summit on the other side, the northern side. It sat low on a long plateau, with no small amount of topo lines in between. Very close laterally, but much farther away in terms of elevation. But the Kema Kosassa Shrine was enough to get me back if I wanted.

I stepped to the edge of the snowcap....

Hhhhh, there was always a hesitance. No, there was sometimes a hesitance.

You can’t fly and stay King of the Mountain.

In a wrenching jump my boots parted company with the Dragon’s Nest and I sailed down over the white northern ranges descending in rocky cascades all below me, the low plateau stretching ahead for all the world like Bright Angel Trail beyond Indian Gardens....

That freaking Korok was so much trouble....

I’ll give you a hint: No, you can’t carry the rock up that hill.

The last thing I regarded about the mountain was something I thought I had seen before, though I couldn’t remember when: Carved into the north face of the bare red rock was a large, four-pointed symbol of some kind—a lightning motif.

I was closer than I’d ever been to it. But.... I was tired. I would hike to it another time.

Instead I warped to Kakariko, and Cotera’s spring, where—wouldn’t you know it—the guts and hooves and horns I had recently taken from the Lynel came in handy in upgrading my Barbarian Helm! In fact I was able to upgrade a whole lot of clothes....

I guessed I had amassed quite a few extra materials since the last time I’d seen a Great Fairy.

Revisiting the Dragon

Waking of Monday, July 3, 2017

Revisiting the Dragon

Loitering at the Lake Tower. Looking for Farosh.

I was patient this time, and eventually he did appear.

I tried something I hadn’t tried before: when the updrafts came, I leapt off the east turret of the southern bridge tower, paraglided up as Farosh loomed close—he was passing me rather quickly—nocked an arrow, took aim in the slowed time and let fly! Hoping I would hit his horn though it didn’t look like I did!

One of his attendant lightning balls zapped me and I fell in the lake and drowned.

BUT! When I respawned on the bridge, there was a glowing something down on the shore beneath the bridge! Had my arrow knocked it off?

I paraglided down, took a picture—was it one of those items the camera couldn’t identify?—and it was Farosh’s Scale.

Was this the thing that I needed?

Mmm part of me didn’t think so, but WHAT IF?

I looked around—Farosh was nowhere in sight. Where had he disappeared to?

Eh I guessed lightning dragon spirits could manifest or unmanifest at will.

I waited again.

And again Farosh came.

And again I shot him with an arrow! A bit more arbitrary this time, on the underbelly as he passed over the bridge, and I kept my feet on the solid stone.

And again a scale of his fell off and floated glowing in the water!

I paraglided down to collect it, and then warped away to the shrine near Mija’s Spring!

Unfortunately Mija couldn’t do anything with Farosh’s Scales. Evidently I really did need to land an arrow directly on Farosh’s horn.

Hhhhummmmm....

I wandered out to that other little red plateau or butte that stood above the wetlands, connected to the cliffs below Mija’s Spring by a thin, curving natural bridge. I hadn’t been out here before. I expected either a Korok.... or something sinister....

But I found neither. Instead there was a Goddess statue. <3

I was overdue for some praying—she gave me a heart container and another stamina vessel.

Heh, maybe now I can reach that big cubic maze island off Robbie’s laboratory....

But not just now; I was busy. Back to the lake I went.

And again I waited, in the meantime sporting with the Lizalfos in the middle of the bridge, and chasing a particularly devious Korok down one of the broken support pillars.

And again Farosh came.

I climbed back onto the southern bridge tower—it’s a pretty good spot—No wait I think I changed my mind. I got onto the bridge itself, directly in front of where Farosh would be going....

And he came closer.... and closer....

AND CLOSER....

And I jumped for it, pulled back an arrow, utilized the slowed time, adjusted for gravity and arcing, led the target a bit.... and let fly!

There was definitely a sound—a ringing, important-sounding sound, when you hit Farosh with an arrow.

I fired two arrows—had been firing twice at every jump so far, but had only ever managed to knock off one item at a time.

And it streaked off the dragon’s body in a long tail of light, down below the bridge again.

Was this the one I needed a boat to reach? I don’t remember. Dang Octoroks....

And this time.... this time.... I’D GOT IT!

A Shard of Farosh’s Horn! ^_^

And I looked around again, hoping he would make another pass.... but he had vanished again.

Where did he go?

I waited a long, long time for him to show his face again. Seemed he never did if you were looking for him.

One Lizalfos was still alive out on the bridge. An archer. I spent a lot of time running in, jogging back and forth in front of him, collecting the arrows he tried to shoot me with, and then jogging back out when the supply ran dry—after about six or so. I’d put distance between us until he disappeared, and then run back to see him repopulate on the screen, and do it all over again.

I milked that arrow-lizard for so long....

But then finally—the erhu sounded again.

Farosh time!

I ran back to that spot on the bridge.... leapt and fired in slow motion just the same—and got another hornshard. Excellent!

And I saw where Farosh went this time.

Evidently every time someone shoots him with an arrow, he flies straight up into the sky, twining higher and higher and higher—so slowly, so massively—until a great cloudy vortex coalesces high in the heavens, and swallows him up.

Well I guess I can’t really blame him.

If somebody were shooting me with arrows, I’d leave too.

Sorry, Farosh!

Back to Mija!

And she worked her magic!

That souped up my Champion’s Tunic all right! 8 to 14! Dandy! ^_^

And now.... NORTHWARD! Along the path to Chariots-of-Fire Beach and then inland toward the Quarry! There was a memory there, I was quite sure of it....!

Loose Ends

Waking of Friday, June 30, 2017

Loose Ends

And promptly ignored my log for a week.

You know, it is great to take Link romping all over the hills and through the woods and up and down the mountains but ahhh—there is just something really nice about doing it yourself. Bugs and sweat notwithstanding.

The extra six or seven thousand feet of elevation wasn’t so bad either. Lovely climate. <3 Mm, got a little burned that day at Big Lake, but hey, more vitamin D for me, cool.

Only problem left is what to do with the rest of those six hundred and forty-two gingersnaps we made. Mother and I had combined our forces for three days baking those. I don’t know whether to be madly unimpressed that our multitudinous relations didn’t make a bigger dent.... or delighted that there are so many left over for us.

Mmm I think I’m leaning toward delighted.

Okay. I wanted to go back to Akkala. It was time to get my Hero back on track. Dang these Zelda games.... so much wandering.... sirens over every hill.... Hhhh. <3

Akkala.

But I’d sew up some loose ends on the way.

My first stop was the Scary Tower. I mean the Central Tower. I’d seen a Korok’s pinwheel on my way from there to that northern shrine, but I hadn’t stopped to play; I hadn’t been able to find whatever I was supposed to shoot. The targets—sometimes they are silent, and obscure.

But I returned there now—Guardian lasers pointed at my back as I sailed toward those woods! And taking my time with a much more careful eye.... I found the Korok and got his seed.

The next Korok I scared up was much easier—that one that had been hiding beneath the memory tree by the lake. That rainy, rainy memory.

And after that, I really wanted to try to somehow harvest a bit of Farosh’s horn! But loiter all I might atop the Lake Tower, the bridge towers, or along the Bridge of Hylia itself.... he did not show himself.

I warped to Satori Mountain, near where I had seen him for the very first time; perhaps he would show himself there....

No such luck.

I looked at far away, as yet unreached shrines from the top of the mountain, marking them with beacons so I could see how far away they were on my map.... and then deleting those beacons.

“What are you doing?” David seemed shocked. “Don’t you want to leave the marker there?”

ô_ô

It had never really bothered me before, leaving the shrines not in my present path lost in the blue. But.... I found a suitable stamp to mark the spot, and slapped it on the map, and David was sufficed, and I grinned sheepishly.

I didn’t find Farosh from Satori Mountain.

I did however find that giant skeleton in the high meadow again.

It was on its feet and moving around this time. o_o

It was David’s first time seeing it, too.

I didn’t take a picture but I was pretty sure it must have been a Stal-Hinox.

The sun came up and it burrowed back into the ground.

There was still no sign of Farosh.

I went after another loose end in the meanwhile—long ago on my search for Mei, I had left my green marker on a shrine I had seen, in a cave beneath a pockmarked grey hill very near the castle.

I warped to the shrine in that giant Crack-in-the-Earth north of Jeddo Bridge—can’t remember the name of it—and upon rematerializing I remembered that, you know? That was the first shrine I encountered with.... different music; I’ve come across shrines bearing different musical flavors now and again—

And from there I was able to paraglide over the river and onto the grey hill, in the western regions of the castle lands.

The cave was blocked by briars and explodable boulders, easy enough to overcome with some flint and a bomb.

David and I.... rather blanched when we saw it was a combat shrine.

But it was only a Minor Test of Strength.

We exhaled in unison and shared a soft laugh of relief. ^_^;;

When I’d done the shrine I climbed up on top of the hill, looking for Koroks. I found a couple in the nearby vicinity, skirting round the creeping Guardian Flyers.... I also found a Talus on a hill that had looked promising.... I’ll have to remember that....

And as I swept my eyes over the wooded land surrounding that hill, I saw what must definitely have been a Korok’s hiding place: little statues with shallow bowls for offerings before them. They stood even nearer the castle.

I paraglided down into the place—Hyrule Castle Prison or something it was called. I don’t really recall exactly, because just then a laser settled over my heart and the triplet Piano started up at a tempo rather faster than normal. o_o

Korok would have to wait—I ran for cover behind a tree—ran with all the strength I had, but my stamina failed me within a yard of it—

The blast came and blowed me right up.

But Mipha covered me, as I knew she would.

But if I was in real trouble, I couldn’t count on her aid a second time so soon—I swiveled my camera—

A loose, six-legged Guardian.

Its health meter reflected 2000 hit points.

And it was RIGHT up in my grill now—the flames from its first attack hadn’t even gone out—

I was obliged to leave.

I warped once again to the Lake Tower.

But Farosh still did not show himself. Stubborn dragon.... where was he?

Soooo I decided to sew up a few more loose ends: I’d left a few of my beacon markers all over the map—like that green one for the shrine under the hill. I wanted to go try and pick the rest of them up.

The purple one was in the southwestern part of the Lynels’ Corridor, signifying some explodable rocks I had seen. Cleaning those up was easy enough—nifty weaponry!

The red one was away south of Hateno, on the slope before a prominent shrine overlooking the sea. I had visited that shrine once, but as I had not been able to best the Modest Test of Strength inside, I had decided to reload an earlier save in order to escape. This was before I had stopped grouping the activation of shrines with the completion of them in my mind; it hadn’t occurred to me to just lock down the warpable spot, if nothing else. I kinda wish it had....

But I went to the red marker, and found it to be floating in the air beside a tree. That was all. Nothing special. Guess from a distance I’d thought it was something else.

The blue one was far, far away to the northwest of the Elma Knolls. What had I seen there....?

It was too far away for me to care just then. I didn’t feel like running all over those hills, and so went back to the Lake Tower to see if Farosh would show his face.

He didn’t.

Satori Mountain was glowing though.

I’d never gone to visit it during a glowing time, and so decided.... What the hey.

I warped to the shrine near its top, and started climbing. I got onto one of the three highest boulders, and the very air around me took on that phantom teal glow....

I looked down into the little three-way crevasse at its peak.... There at the open end of one of the passes.... three of those little mystical rabbitkabobs sat facing each other.

“Are those blupees?” David asked in excitement. “They’re having a meeting!” he laughed.

....Blupees?

“....Did you know.... that’s what they’re called? Sorry....” he added.

“It’s okay,” I said.

They were right there, but.... still too far away.... I dropped down to get closer, the curvature of the mountain momentary blotting them from my sight! Would they startle and bolt if they saw me coming?

I moved toward them....

But just as my line of sight topped that little rise in the ground—what were those little yellowy dinglethings on their ears?—the teal glow faded, and.... they were gone.

Haaooohhhhhhh it made me want to come back heeeeeere....

I really was procrastinating. It was late and I had to go to bed. David kept reminding me of this. And I kept brushing him off as I swiveled pointlessly around on my map, looking for excuses....

But he knew how to get me off the game. “How about you watch me do that Ishto Soh Shrine?” he suggested.

“Okay!” I agreed immediately as I gamboled through the crows around Satori’s crown. That was a good idea.

But I found one last excuse on the map before I stopped: that big weird island-thing near Mount Daphnes, with a long bridge to reach it in the middle of a large pond of some sort....

“Come on,” David groaned.

I warped to the beloved Shrine of KAAM YA’TAK....

Had to take out a couple of Moblins on my way—I rather laughed at how the one second-nearest the bridge didn’t really seem to care at all as I bombed the living daylights out of his fellow who was nearest the bridge.

No honor among Ganon’s Minions I guess.

The “island” it turned out was a giant stump. Called The Ancient Stump, in fact. The surrounding pond churned with Lizalfos like an evil moat. The bridge was kept by one solitary blue bokoblin, and on the Stump itself, another bokoblin and a moblin, both blue, sat doing nothing.

I ran in to alleviate their boredom, but they couldn’t quite keep up with the exercise.... When I’d taken care of them both, I had a good look at what was stuck in the stump on the far side: a Great Fireblade.

Ohh-ho-ho-ho it was pretty. OuO Two-handed and heavy, like the Great Thunderblade, but of the fire element rather than the electricity element.

Cool. X-)

“Okay!” David pressed, but I dragged it out for one moment more as I jumped into a Korok ring in the moat far below, and collected a seed....

And then it was back to the Lake Tower and OFF with the game! ^_^

David’s turn!

I ran off to brush my teeth or something while he made his way toward the shrine. And when I came back, I had the delight of watching him interact with Moza. X-)

Now, typically, the shrines I suck at, David aces, and the shrines David sucks at, I ace. But the Ishto Soh Shrine proved quite as maddening for him as it had for me.

I could only encourage him along the route that I had taken, which was to lay out some bombs by the switch, get up the first stair by bow and/or paraglider, get up the next two stairs by the previously laid bombs, and get up the last stair by one more very clever bomb....

And eventually, David got it that way too.

This was all after watching him try the most amazingly outlandish tactics to advance, and seeing them not work; and telling him of all the ridiculously crazy tactics I had tried, and how those had failed; and laughing a lot in between.

But afterward, David went back in the shrine to see if he couldn’t figure out the right way to do it....

I noticed the music was different, after the shrine had been beaten. A soft difference. Subtle. The chimes seemed gentler, and muted....  as if.... as if this were only the ghost of the task you’d had to do. A shadow. An echo.

It was quite nice. <3

But David was busy squeezing his head around that Bravery’s Grasp title of the shrine-task.... and he inspected the laser....

AND WE BOTH THOUGHT OH NO WAY....

AND THEN HE PICKED UP THE LASER.

OH MY GOSH—what heavy palms I dragged down my unbelieving face.

“I wanna take this outside!” said David! 8D

He set the laser on the moving platform and moved up the stairway in seconds.

Dang.

Ah, Zelda.

Delightful.

David paraglided down into the Corridor and—oh my gosh—rode the Lynel for all his stamina . . . . and then I went to bed.

Riding the Dragon

Waking of Thursday, May 25, 2017

Riding the Dragon

Hm, maybe I’m getting too in-depth with these entries. I feel like they might be stressing me out. Maybe I’ll try and sparse ‘em up like they were at the beginning....

I warped to the Dueling Peaks Tower, paraglided through the rain over to Giro’s Woods, and made my way back to Deya Village Ruins. It didn’t take too long to recolate the Two Statues memory. Luckily the sun had come out by then, and I was able to get a few decent pictographs.

A wonderfully scudded sky blew indecisive sun and shadow over the hill as I remembered....

But in my memory.... it was raining after all.

Zelda sat beneath the tree, beside the statues. “This won’t let up any time soon,” she said.

I was standing. Moving. Honing my skill. My sword was in my hands, and I cut and sliced through various stances, ending on a deep exhale as I brought the blade in before me.

“Do you ever wonder if you’ll wake up one day and realize you’re not a fighter?”

I didn’t.... quite understand.

I think I still don’t understand. What she was talking about.

Of all the memories I had revisited, I recall this one the least vividly. Perhaps because there was one thing she said that seemed to blot out all others—so strong, I don’t even remember the way she worded it. Just the raw concept rings in my mind:

She said I take after my father.

I have a father.

I was born into a house of the Royal Guard. It had been expected all my life that I would become a Knight.

Then why was Princess Zelda saying these things....?

I took after my father, I had great skill, prowess....

“It’s no wonder that you would be the chosen one,” she said.

Chosen one?

It was always expected that I would become a Knight.

That was how I was raised.

“But if you had been told that your entire life....” she said.

Why did she look so.... sad?

“Do you think you would have chosen a different path?”

Why did she look so sad?

I came back to myself in the half-sun, took a few more pictographs, forgot to scare up the Korok that would have photobombed them, and moved on.

Now that I was so close to it again, I really was curious about that huge, dark-stoned bridge. I climbed the tree over the Two Statues, and leapt from its branches to paraglide across the river toward it....

I bypassed the bokoblin’s treehouse and went for the bridge’s north end. The Bridge of Hylia it was called. An impressive structure.

But the whole time as I crossed it, I kept looking over the edge, and straining my ears for that beautiful erhu.... Where was Farosh? Wouldn’t he rise? He did for David....

I had a brief party with three Lizalfos in the middle of the bridge, and a troublesome scuffle with their stal-counterparts at the south end, and some stalbokoblins. Nearly knocked me off into the lake! That annoying one with the swinging spear....

But I put them all down, and considered the nearby Sheikah Tower....

Nnnnnghyeahhh I would do the tower north of Upland Zorana first. I was pretty sure that would show me Akkala.

But while I was on the bridge I decided to climb up on top of the south bridge-tower just because of.... curiosity.

“That’s a good reason,” David affirmed.

As I climbed onto the last parapet—“Hey there’s an updraft!” I said. It had blown up out of nowhere.

“That’s because—!” David started, but he didn’t need to continue.

As I got on top, Farosh was right there, twining before my eyes!

“Isn’t that a sight!” I beamed.

I remembered—how David had said he’d encountered a simliar updraft when Farosh flew by, and followed it out of curiosity. How he’d said he’d gotten too close to Farosh, and been zapped by one of his little lightning balls.

Well, the next time Farosh came around, erhu in tow, I decided that.... I wanted to see where that updraft would take me too!

I leapt after Farosh and it was a turbulent affair! Getting close! LIGHTNING BALLS! Dodging, dodging—and how he twined all about! And I was too low and he was above me! And there were so many lightning balls! Beeeennnding to the right to follow his course—and I zipped around one lightning ball so close I thought for sure I’d had it—

And then Farosh dipped lower—I was weaving, darting, dodging and—wonder of wonders—I got above his back.

Maybe it was just the lightning balls that were dangerous. Maybe he’d acknowledge me somehow if I actually made contact....

Now or never—I let go of my paraglider.

SIZZLE.

I bounced off his back with a painful choking sound.

But his back was still beneath me.

SIZZLE. “Hlck!”

I bounced again as he continued in his perfect, sinuous course.

SIZZLE. “Agck!”

Bounce.

SIZZLE. “Gmff!”

Bounce.

SIZZLE. “Hrack!”

Bounce.

“Oh my gosh, Farosh! Let me OFF!” If I could just tip down over his flank—

“It doesn’t keep hurting you!” David pointed out. And I looked at my hearts. I was down one from those stal-fiends on the bridge, but I wasn’t going down any further.

SIZZLE. “GYAAAH!”

That was so comforting.

Farosh’s long, long body and tail finally passed out from under me and I fell through the cool, soothing air, and parachuted toward a little dock on the central southern shore. “I RODE THE DRAGON!” I cheered. 8D

“I wouldn’t exactly call that riding,” said David.

I warped to the Bosh Kala Shrine—the shrine by Proxim Bridge—and had a nice visit with Brigo. He wasn’t so skittish this time, but dutifully patrolled the bridge, as it constituted part of an important route.

After that I decided to chase down a beacon I had left in my scope—I had placed it on a shrine just a little north of Proxim Bridge, between Proxim Bridge and the Floret Sandbar.

And heading north from Proxim Bridge, sporting with a few octoroks and a rich little camp of bokoblins, I came upon the Riverside Stable.

So this was the Riverside Stable that bored kid at the Wetland Stable had mentioned!

A couple of people spoke to me, such that I gained a couple of new sidequests:

Gotter, a food connoisseur who was strangely obsessed with beauty and whose grandfather’s grandfather had been the Royal Family’s chef, asked whether, if I ever got inside Hyrule Castle, would I please keep my eyes out for a cookbook?

“Gotter.... you nuts,” I said, and fled inside the stable, where I met Parcy.

She told me she used to sneak inside the castle all the time for all the cool treasure there.

ò__O ????

But no longer, ever since it had become so dangerous.

But she asked me, if I ever went inside the castle—what was wrong with these people?—would I keep my eyes out for the Royal Guards’ gear?

Hey, I was a Royal Guard—you filchin’ my stuff, Parcy?

I spoke to the innkeep, thinking maybe I’d just take a little nap. His name was Ember.

Huh, Embry had been the name of the one at the Outskirt Stable.... I hadn’t been keeping track otherwise. Were all their names somewhat similar?

It was in the nine o’clock hour. I slept until noon.

It was overcast when I woke up.

Water's End

Waking of Thursday, May 11, 2017 ~ 3

Water’s End

Farosh did move slowly. Before he had even touched back down into the water after first rising from it, I climbed and floated my way down to the little dock, and its raft.

The mighty bridge stood to my left, its near end connecting with a much higher part of the land only a short lateral distance away, and its far end angling somewhat rightward across my view before it connected with the opposite shore.

In this part of the lake I could see almost the entire shoreline. It was mostly just a grassmossy green all around, steep, and hilly, and unremarkably empty. The only things of import I imagined were those little islets out in the middle.

To my left, the other part of the lake, striped by the bridge’s huge dark pillars, seemed to go just a little bit further, bending away out of sight, oblong and obscure.... The river had to course further south from there....

I would explore the islands first.

The sun sank as I made ready to launch. One octorok some way offshore gave me a bit of trouble as I did this—they are devilish hard to see after dark, out there in the rippling water. I spent quite a few arrows pinning it down, dancing my way round its own pounding projectiles all the while; but eventually I dispatched it, and was soon blowing my way across the water’s surface, heading for the small cluster of green islets.

The rain came back as I neared them. And.... it was the queerest thing—I found some Lizalfos roaming around the little slips of land, but.... I’d never seen them act this way before....

I do believe they were playing! In the rain!

One of them was, anyway. He splished around in the water near a steep, rocky little beach—and then he would get up onto the land, climb a tiny bit onto the rocks.... and then jump back into the water! Whereupon he would splish around some more! :D

He did this like four times while I watched! Cannonballs!

I must say it was quite adorable. I almost regretted having to kill them all. But I really did want to explore these islands thoroughly.

Unfortunately all I found were more Lizalfos, a devious land-crawling octorok of a breed I’d never seen, which alarmed me something vicious before it escaped, and a shrine belonging to one Ya Naga.

The Ya Naga Shrine is the FUNNEST and also the SHORTEST shrine I have ever been through. Hahh.... like a rollercoaster over too fast.

The skies had cleared again by the time I came out, and I steered my little raft over toward the bridge. I sailed right between two of its mighty pillars, one of which had completely crumbled away; a Korok gamboled in the remaining foundations.

And the second half of the lake.... seemed empty.

But I kept on.

Surely the waterway had to continue....

I pressed my course on toward the south, the rolling moss-green shorelines passing by in bending hills, teasing at what lay behind them....

But there was no more river. This seemed to be the end.

There. On the far shore. The farthest shore. A tree.

One, single, tall, thick tree.

The only landmark touching the water.

I was forcibly reminded of the time I met Sasan after drifting downstream from Zora’s Domain. Surely this was the place where I would find Mei, here at the last edges of this body of water—was this Lake Hylia after all?

This was where I would find her, and she would be so despondent, possibly injured, and I would have to escort her all the way back.... Would she require a horse ride? And Fronk would be so relieved.... their family would be so happy to finally be together again....

The large tree drew nearer.

I blew my raft right up onto the shore.

There was nobody there.

Only a few castaway wooden treasure chests bobbed dimly in the light of the moon, just off the shore.