Return to Serenne

Waking of Saturday, November 3, 2018

Return to Serenne

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I am he,” I said. Lol so stoic....

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

Well that was friendly! :)

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

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

Oof wow. XD

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

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

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

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.

In the face of my vexations

Evening of Friday, January 5, 2018 ~ 2

In the face of my vexations

I bought all the arrows from that donkey-pulling merchant at the Gerudo Canyon Stable.

The sun was sinking. I had to hurry.

Calisa was nowhere to be seen. But there was another Gerudo—Lukan—whom I had seen by the stable before. Lukan was a soldier who posed as a merchant, in order to keep a better eye out for bandits from the Yiga Clan.

I thought about walking out with her for.... another attempt at the desert, but....

That life had already been lived.

And yet how I still pressed to repeat even a nighttime journey just the same.

I turned my back on the stable, and set my face toward the end of the canyon and the beginning of the sand....

Three Stalmoblins clawed up out of the earth.

Dang it.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go—

I dashed to isolate one of them, cutting him down quickly and dispatching the head—

But there was another voice behind me.

I turned to take on the second monster—and saw Lukan engaged with the third!

She was a soldier after all.

The manied hands made.... such light work.

And Lukan gave me a warming dish as thanks for the team effort!

Maybe I’ll walk out with Lukan after all, I thought, picking up the monster bits that had rolled back toward the stable.

And so it was Lukan’s company I kept as I walked once again into the icy, starlit desert.

It seemed Calisa did want to come along after all, though; for after a time I noticed she and some other merchant had started out from the canyon some distance behind us.

Well, the more the merrier.

Lukan advised me on the dangers of the desert as we traveled: “There are sandstorms so thick out there you can’t tell vai from voe.”

Vai, huh? Must be their word for female....

It was six in the morning when we came close to the bazaar, and Vah Naboris rumbled and roared.

The sandstorm was greenish, lighter with the dawn, and not the same. Not as good.

Not the blue pre-dawn dimness that was light enough to the eyes, dark enough to the heart, and far enough that it might have held the vast emptiness of space. The color of desolation.

But I took it.

And Ripp the guard told me all about the Divine Beast once more.

....

Nine o’clock.

....

Why is it so difficult?

I wish I could forget, but I have to remember....

Zelda ran panting over the desert sand. Ran for her life. Head, neck, and arms pumping momentum over exhausted legs. Tired, desperate, ragged gasps punctuated by the jarring of terrified vocal chords as she turned and turned again and turned again to see behind her.

A Yiga Clansman. Red and lithe. The vision of speed. Low and streamlined as a cat.

His scythe was drawn.

She ran.

In all the desert so open and vast, the one jutting hill of beige stone approaching fast on her left—

Two more Yiga leapt out from behind it to bar her way. Scythes—

Of course they planned it that way.

She had not wherewith to fight.

She could not turn left or right, only back and forth in snapping glances as they closed in, the chaser stepping now; his run was over. And in the whirling panic to measure and shrink from the press at every side she stumbled to the ground. On palms and rump, heels and elbows she shuffled herself backward, away from the chaser, shaking as he neared.

And the chaser stepped his last step and raised his scythe above his head against the dusty sky and they meant to kill and it was happening too fast and there was no hesitation and his arm reached its apex and came rushing down.

Metal clashed and sparked against metal—the scythe flew up into the air.

One stroke.

Zelda turned with a gasp.

But Link wasn’t looking at her—his sword was still outstretched from the parry as he stared the other two down.

Behind them both, the chaser’s limbs folded and he fell on his side, limp, and dead.

The other two Yiga stepped back uncertainly....

Link didn’t flinch. And Zelda only looked at his face: steady, and hard, the gaze unreturned for it was busy, as her breath came back to her.

I think.... that this is the first time I have ever felt . . . . heartless, for the rapier precision I commit by my words.

What is this log doing to me?

The Entry With No Point

Evening of Friday, January 5, 2018

The Entry With No Point

Chasing Koroks sufficed to wear my Flameblade down to nothing until it broke, whereupon I could finally raid the Silver Bokoblin’s treasure chest—a Knight’s Claymore, I think. A fine weapon. Though I do like the one-handed blades.... they are faster. I feel like I can never find enough of those....

Back at the Riverside Stable I took out Brown and rode him all the way back to the Gerudo Canyon Stable.

I thought it miraculous that no one called for rescue along the way.

And we galloped right past the Hinox—I’d been tiptoeing round him up ‘til then. We were too fast for him to give us any trouble, and when we stopped to look behind, it was only to see him flop enormously back onto the ground for another nap. David and I chuckled....

In Gerudo Canyon I finally caved to the sidequest and decided I would gather rushrooms for that old man—Pirou was his name.

The rushrooms were plentiful near the stable, but it wasn’t too much of a chore to find a few more higher up. My climbing for them took me all over, right up to where I swear I’d been before, just before I came to The Tallest Tower.

I was quite high up by the time I’d collected at least fifty-six of them (the old man wanted fifty-five, but I wanted to keep my inventory oriented as it was). And from my altitude I could see a strange little rash of vegetation across the canyon, the green stark against the beige, on one of the great shelves of land leading up to the Wasteland Tower.

Baobabs.

The distance was vast but I managed to paraglide to the shelf just shy of the little copse, and then climbed up to see what I could see.

And what I saw was Guardians—

Paused and switched the sensor to detect Decayed Guardians—

....

Nothing.

There was no beeping.

These Guardians were truly dead.

I was safe.

Or was I?—there was movement over there—

But it was only a Lizalfos.

That was easy enough to deal with; on went my mask and I hunched over, head twitching and bird-like.

But I quickly found that even Kilton’s handiwork wasn’t enough to protect me from the blasted penetrating curiosity of a baddie..... when that baddie was an Electric Lizalfos.

It came close and when its sputtering, fritzing, zapping horn touched me—

Well it hurt more than my feelings, I’ll tell you that.

And so trying to avoid all the friendly advances, in the guise of a lizard I salvaged all I could from the remains of the dead Guardians—and one of them gave me gears!

Excellent.

I wanted to explore further—I even managed to kill one or two of the Electric Lizalfos, and there was a small troop of Moblins further up the hill I wanted to visit, but.... when the Blood Moon started coming on.... I decided it was probably better that I just go. I had the old man’s rushrooms; it was time to paraglide back.

The midnight vision happened to strike me in mid-flight, almost directly above the stable.

It’s strange, when you’re up in the air and well away from anything and thus assured in the knowledge that you are safe.... and yet when all that air around you turns so vivid blood red....

I enjoyed the novelty of the occurrence but it was a little like floating tiny and alone and naked under the gaze of Sauron.

When the vision had passed, I quickly dropped altitude and gave Pirou his blasted rushrooms.

Fifty-five bleedin’ rushrooms they take too long to gather....

And Pirou gave me a diamond in return.

....

Well I guess that was.... swell of him.

Not worth it.

Words of Wisdom

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 10

Words of Wisdom

Maybe if I hadn’t been so low on sleep.... I might have reveled in it a bit more—rescuing lost adventurers from the Bokoblins.... Wasn’t this the kind of stuff I kept hoping would turn up in Mei’s sidequest....?

I ran and paraglided my way back to Gerudo Canyon Stable.

The five oily friends were gathered around the warmth of the wok-fire, the resident shepherd dog lounging in their midst.

I spoke to Sesami first:

“Oh, hey! I’ve been waiting for you.

You saved them! I thought my friends

were dead, but you brought them all

back to me!

I can’t thank you enough.

My friends said you were outnumbered,

but you were still able to take those

monsters down with style.

As soon as they all got back safely, a

wave of emotion washed over me.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

I want you to have this.”

Sesami handed me a gold rupee—its radiant golden shine illuminated my soul.

“Sorry it’s so small. Everyone chipped in

for it, but we’re in the middle of

traveling, y’know?

In a way, I’m kind of glad all of this

happened. It’s helped me realize just

how important friendship is.

Opening up to others might make you

more vulnerable, but it’s also the only

way to give your life any value.

That said, caring for others is an

emotional liability, so my friends and I

have all decided to part ways.

Not really sure what the takeaway is

here...”

The banner bearing the title of the sidequest—Missing in Action—flashed across the top of the screen. Status: Complete.

But I still spoke to the adventurers. Flaxel was next:

“I was gonna yell at Sesami for leaving me

to die, but as soon as he saw my face, he

looked like he was gonna start sobbing...

I can’t be mad at him for being scared.

That’s just the way he is.”

She smiled and gave a friendly sigh.

“Anyway, thanks for the help. If I ever get

the chance to save you, I’ll take it.”

And then Canolo:

“If you hadn’t come along...”

She shuddered.

“Thanks for saving me.

I had no idea traveling was so

dangerous. There was nothing like this

in the travel guidebook...

I guess you can’t assume to know

anything until you experience it for

yourself.

But at least I’ve figured out that traveling

isn’t my thing. I’m going to rest here

awhile and then head back home.”

And with a smiling laugh she added as an afterthought:

“I get the feeling that going home isn’t an

option for you, so take care of yourself

out there.”

It was nice to see that the women had calmed down and made up.

Of the four recently returned adventurers, only Oliff was on his feet. He leaned against a stack of nearby crates:

“Your swordsmanship...

It was something straight from the tales

of the legendary hero said to have saved

Hyrule during the Great Calamity!”

I must say it does give me a right sheepish little smile when they bring that up.

“Those dusty old legends are a hundred

years old, but here you are in the flesh!

A modern-day hero!”

He cleared his throat.

“Excuse me for prattling on.

I’ll take my leave now. Thank you again.”

But the NPC didn’t go anywhere. He just stood there with his steely gaze. Like they do.

I rather like that one; he seems a noble swordsman. I truly hope I meet him again in the game some time.

Palme was the last adventurer I spoke to:

“I asked Sesami why he didn’t come to

save me.

He spouted some garbage about the

sword of legend in an attempt to dodge

the conversation.

I thought Sesami was a big wuss, but

then I realized that I’m the wussiest of

all.

Instead of trying to help myself out of

that mess, I cowered and waited for

someone else to help me.

That’s why I’ve decided to split from the

group. I need to stop relying on others

to help me and help myself instead.”

And here he gave a hopeful smile.

“And maybe once I learn to help myself,

I’ll be able to help others.

Like you helped me.”

And on those words from the last adventurer, and glancing at the brightness of the sunlight peeping beneath the dining room curtains.... I called it quits, and started my morning.

I’d been taking a small, evening class on Thursdays—almost an informal get-together, really—and we would just discuss the principles of self-reliance. Avoiding debt, working smarter and harder, maintaining budgets, the importance of networking, of identifying good vocational fits....

It was just a really nice assortment of basic life skills that.... honestly, why don’t they teach those in college?

Oh yeah, because then they couldn’t rope you into being their debt-slave.

They never caught me accepting a student loan. Ugh.

Thanks for teaching me to be money-wise, Mom and Dad.

Some principles I had learned long ago. Some tips and tricks were revelatory and new. Some practices I knew about.... but didn’t practice.

But the whole basic end of it all....

The whole point....

Hahh, that the entirety of our exertions, the culmination of all our aspirations in and out of that class.... should then and there be spoken back to me so succinctly, so precisely, so simply, by that pudgy little man with the unflattering haircut.

“Maybe once I learn to help myself,

I’ll be able to help others.”

Maybe that’s why it just so happened to strike me so deeply that sleep-deprived morning. Heh, the bell it rang was so loud and clear I couldn’t help grinning as I shut down the console.

Why do we learn to help ourselves?

So we can have enough in life.

And with enough in life, we are able to help others.

And why do we help others?

Because.... that’s the only way to give our lives any value.

Search and Rescue

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 9

Search and Rescue

The Kousok Plateau turned out to be one of the wide mountain shelves overlooking the canyon I had ridden through to get to the Gerudo Canyon Stable.

Now, I had seen, many times, quite plainly, the expansive network of footpath-scaffolds anchored into the sheer rock walls of this canyon—of Gerudo Canyon. I had wondered if they were of Gerudo make.

And you know, maybe they were and maybe they weren’t; I suppose it doesn’t matter.

Because whoever made them, the Bokoblins had them now.

At some point, I ventured off the shelf of Kousok Plateau and down into this wooden tangle. And as soon as I saw who was home, on went the Bokoblin Mask.

It was certainly an interesting plane to explore. I had seen it back in the trailer—Link had backflipped in slow motion out of reach of a monster, and then launched a volley of spear-jabs....

I didn’t suppose I would find myself in that situation now, not with the mask on, and that was fine with me. I had to wrap up soon so I could start the new day.

Don’t stay up all night, kids. @_@

Bokoblins eyed me curiously as I squeezed past them on the narrow walkways, following me and trying to strike up snorting conversations. Islander Hawks circled the sky at my level. I updated my Compendium with a really splendid pictograph of one. ^_^

But I had no more excuses—the insistent, responsible draw of the stable and a stopping point pulled me onward as I dragged my feet through every step I could savor.

And then I noticed a commotion.

Beneath a tented platform at the dead end of one scaffold, two Bokoblins were yammering and stomping and swinging at.... a person.

Why.... that must’ve been one of the people who had gone missing—one of the oily guys!

Deliriously hungry to extend my distractions, I ran in to help—and the oily guy.... was an oily girl. She cried for assistance.

The Bokoblins seemed to debate about what to make of me, until I started hitting them. After that they gave me only a little bit of trouble before I had dispatched them both.

The woman stood panting, and I spoke to her. Her name was Flaxel. She had short brown hair and an attractive face. I asked her if she knew Sesami, and told her that he had asked me to come find his friends.

“You mean Sesami’s been kicking back at the stable this whole time?” she shrieked.

Actually he had seemed really, really worried, but I didn’t get a chance to tell her that.

She did thank me for getting her out of a tight spot, and then huffed off toward the stable, ready to give Sesami a piece of her mind, looked like.

Huh. Well that was one person saved. There had been four....

But maybe.... the rest would be easy to stumble across as well.

And as it turned out.... they rather were.

I found a somewhat heavyset woman called Canolo next, in a similar predicament, and her reaction was much the same as Flaxel’s had been. Her pink overcoat, high, dark pigtails, and pouty face did little to aid any justification she may have tried to display in her outburst.

How could they be so angry? I thought. If it’d been me, I don’t think I’d have room to be angry, for the mountains of relief I would feel.

Then again.... I suppose they are female.

(We can be craaazyyyy....)

I found a man next, lithe and lean-bodied, with dark hair in a ponytail, and steely eyes. He seemed to be standing a little more confidently against his opponents, but he welcomed my help all the same, and a little more graciously at that. His name was Oliff, and he complimented me on my swordsmanship. He was happy to learn what had become of Sesami, and where he could be found, and he set off at a confident stride toward the stable.

One left.

It took some scouting and backtracking, but after a short time I came to one more soul with his back against the wall.

This man had a dark, somewhat unflattering haircut and a pudgy face, and his name was Palme. He did not seem quite as able as Oliff had been, nor was he as waspish as Flaxel or Canolo. He was just a man, and he was simply grateful for my help and information. And he hurried on his way.

I looked at the clock.

I.... kind of had to hurry on my way, too.

The four missing persons were rescued; it was time to head back to the stable.

A Climb about the Canyon

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 7

A Climb about the Canyon

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

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

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

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

That would be the last thing I did. Maybe.

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

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

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

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

What an oily-sounding bunch. XD

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

AND WOULD I PLEASE HELP HIM.

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

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

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

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

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

No, not a castle—a fortress.

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

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

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

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

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

It was quite close.

Should I....?

....

I debated.

.......

The hour was so late....

. . . . . . .

Was that the sun?

A Ride into the Desert

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 6

A Ride into the Desert

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

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

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

He fled then.

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

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

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

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

I needed to move.

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

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

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

I met a treasure-seeking Gerudo there named Calisa.

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

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

^_^;;

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

I wouldn’t go any further tonight.

....

One guess how long my resolution lasted.