Link The Physical

Waking of Saturday, June 2, 2018 ~ 2

Link The Physical

TO BUSINESS....

David’s ahead of me. But I would show him something he’d never done. Something I’d never done either, to be honest, but....

Well, I had faith it was possible.

Actualy.... I knew it was possible!

I’d become quite practiced at avoiding spoilerish images on the internet, but.... I recalled catching it in one YouTube thumbnail I had seen.... it had been pretty striking....

Also I’d heard tell from my Compendium that it was a thing that you could do.

As I ran from the Wetland Stable toward the Honeydell (and saved Leekah again), I felt appropriate in rather recreating what I had glimpsed in that thumbnail, and started stripping off my clothes. I left a rugged-looking spear on my back, though. And so, looking a proper barbarian, I came to the edge of the dell and peered down. The rain made it difficult to see, but there were unmistakably two bears down there.

That.... could complicate matters. I was hardly sure I could handle one bear—how could I be sure the other wouldn’t attack me while I was at it?

As I hemmed and hawed, shirtless Link did something I’d never seen him do before—seemed the programmers had added a new stance dance move....

Suddenly I saw his arms rise slowly up from his sides, straight out—I swung the camera around him to see what he was on about....

And then flex! He regarded one bicep, and then with a slight shift in posture turned his head to admire the other.

Oh my gosh! XD Oh I laughed so much at that.... XD XD XD

Well, eventually one bear ran off, but the remaining one wouldn’t come out of the cave. I couldn’t deal with it like that....

And then that one suddenly ran off too, and I was bearless.

Eh, as it was night, I returned to the Wetland Stable and rested until the morning. Whereupon I gave Honeydell another go, but there were no bears.

Hmph.

So I tried Shadow Pass. I’d seen a bear in there before. And my Compendium said they could be found in the Akkala Highlands. But when I got there all I found was a wolf.

I bounced between the two for a while, Honeydell and Shadow Pass, but with no luck—just a really bad encounter with an electric Keese in the rain—NEVER AGAIN—

And.... David had stepped out again anyway, so.... I decided to hunt some more Guardians in the meanwhile.

Back to Lomei Labyrinth. I killed the Crawler. I killed the maze-lurker. And then.... it was time to revisit the dread basement.

When I floated down this time.... they all could see me coming! I sailed quickly behind the giant pillar by the entrance....

Four Decayed Guardians in the room. That’s how many lasers there had been. I peeked round the pillar’s edge until one of them saw me.

Hoo. I could do this.

I stepped out again, its laser found me, the Piano got restless, and I had to time my parry very carefully this time—the Guardians’ laserbolts were fast, but they still took time to traverse the yards between us. A very short time....

But I whacked it back across the room nonetheless, and that Guardian exploded. Excellent!

On to the next!

I killed the four Decayed ones that way, peeping round the pillar. But there were two Stalkers left. And for those ones all I could do was . . . . well walk up to them as surely as I might, until they came to life.

Sparks and embers rained from the ceiling where the lightning struck on the maze’s rainy surface.

I almost had to come right up between the splay of their spider legs before they’d finally wake up.

Ughuhuh.

But I did it. Twice. And the swell of Strings carried me through the maniacal Piano, and presently every threat was eliminated, and I....

I HAD CLEANED THE BASEMENT.

And its yield brought me up to twenty-three gears! ^_^

HUH! After this, that thing I wanted to show David would surely pose no problem at all!

I warped back to the Wetland, and luck was on my side: the day was fair, and only one bear prowled in the Honeydell, and that well away from the cave.

David wasn’t there, but.... I knew he would be shortly.

Switching once again to my Nature Boy outfit, I leapt off the edge as silently as I could, and paraglided down in a calculated sail toward the bear . . . it was so big up close.

It sensed me just before I landed on its back, and then started jumping and rearing, trying to throw me off....

My stamina is greater than it has been—two full wheels.

And with it I was able to hold on.... and soothe the bear.

After only a moment it stood still, and only rocked in its lumbering animal stance dance beneath me.

Oh my gosh I tamed a bear! XD

And I got it to walk! :D I headed toward the road....

I’d seen David ride a deer at a walk before, but when he had tried to give it a spur it had bucked him off.

Could I get the bear to go faster than a walk? Safely at least?

But I was content to just go lumbering forward for the moment. It was such a big animal—and its tail was quite as fluffy as a rabbit’s!

As I neared the way out of the dell, the bear roared and tried to throw me off again, but I was able to soothe it once more.

It was around this time that David entered the room.

“....Why are you riding a bear?” he said flatly.

“Well that’s not the reaction I was hoping for!” I said, “Have you ever ridden a bear?”

“No,” he laughed.

But I was glad that I seemed to have thoroughly captured his attentions with the spectacle for the moment. ^_^

Spectacled.... Spectacled bear.

LOL.

I asked him about spurring his deer before, and then.... decided to try it on the bear. I hit A—

And the bear started into a great burly lope! It ran down the road! With me on its back! Oh my gosh! XD XD

At whiles it would get tired of me and grunt and roar, but I was able to get it all the way back to the Wetland Stable.

And I wondered....

The more attentive denizens of the stable all cowered and whimpered at my approach—even Kass siffened and looked at me with some pause, his accordion momentarily forgotten. But Lawdon (whom I’d been giving a lot of business to lately) said automatically when I rode up, “Well, looks like you’ve caught yourself a new steed! Would you like to register it?”

“Yes, please!”

“Understoo— Uh...”

And then he looked at my big new mount.

“Oh for the love of Hylia... That’s not a horse!”

XD XD XD XD

“We only board horses here, no exceptions,” he told me.

XD XD XD XD XD XD XD

Oh that was PRECIOUS! ^_^

Ah!

Delightful. > u <

Agh well I figured I’d dealt with the poor bear for long enough at that point. But when I thought about dismounting.... I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t go savaging all the people standing around.

So I rode him back home.

It was rather terrifying and alarming every time he tried to buck me off. And I wondered if, when I let him go.... he’d turn on me and I’d have to kill him.

I equipped something a bit stronger than my scary-looking Nature Boy spear, just in case. But when I got off, we just ran our separate ways from each other.

Heh. Cool.

I rode a bear! ^_^

The Long Way Back

Waking of Wednesday, May 10, 2017

The Long Way Back

I shared a somewhat.... irksome exchange with David the other day, as I lamented to him about all the dead-ended rivers I had searched. I told him I had searched every waterway downstream from the wetlands, and that none of them led to Lake Hylia.

And in a terrible digging voice and with shrewdly narrowed eyes he answered, “Are you sure?”

Well.

I did wonder about that lake beneath Digdogg Suspension Bridge, and I hiked to the actual bridge (upon which I had never set foot) to have a look. In skirting round the sleeping Hinox and peering down over the edge, the water really did seem to come to a dead end just there.

But I wanted to be thorough. I pressed on into the desert landscape of the other side, had it out with a couple of mounted bokoblins—and one of their horses, a pretty, peach-dusty thing with a sandy mane, decided he didn’t want me on his back, and promptly jumped us both into the drink.

David lost it completely.

I just.... blinked.

....

The horse looked like a good mount, but I had no stamina for swimming after him, and so warped to the shrine just away beneath the bridge. After that it was a boat-ride back to the waterfall, a quick ascension in my Zora Armor, and.... I was still quite far away from where I had been....

But, as I was so close to the Great Plateau, I simply put on my Warm Doublet, warped to the shrine on the icy mountain, ENCOUNTERED A STRANGE TREASURE CHEST with the letters “EX” on it—for a moment I was terrified it might be a T-shirt or something.... but it was Bomb Arrows—don’t ask—and PARAGLIDED back to Digdogg Suspension Bridge.

I’d dealt with the bokoblins, and I finished off their friends in a nearby treehouse—David got quite a kick out of the Great Thunderblade I had acquired from Sheem Dagoze.

And after a good look about the place.... I decided that Yes, this really was a dead end to the river.

Ignoring my shrine-locator’s beeping, I ran all the way back to the Outskirt Stable.

It was....

It was time to start back. And set my face toward Akkala. And Robbie.

I did still decide to do this all on foot, however.

“Aren’t you gonna just.... Beam-Me-Up-Scotty?” David asked.

“I don’t wanna Beam-Me-Up-Scotty,” I said.

“You’re gonna walk the whole way?”

Well, maybe I’d Beam-Me-Up-Scotty just a little. I warped back to the Sheem Dagoze Shrine, and started north, for the Elma Knolls.

But first I came to that big toothy crack in the earth, found a shrine in the bottom of it, and completed that—I’m up to nine Spirit Orbs now; I really should find a Goddess statue....

And after that it was a very long jog past that sparse ruin over the water where I’d played hide-and-seek with the Korok—The Ancient Laboratory Ruin or something like that—aaaaall the way across the Elma Knolls with their endless wolves, and those mounted bokoblins with the fire arrows or whatever they were.... Got hit a couple of times there—

I didn’t feel like chewing through my food, but decided that, if I fell, I would just rely on Mipha.

What good is a gift avoided? And Mipha’s was a very good gift.

It was a very long trek, and the bokoblins cut me down to one heart, and a mob of giant blue chuchus cut me down to one quarter heart—but I kept running. And I kept killing wolves, never shying.

And it was raining, and I found Mils and Mina—not Nina, as it turned out—fighting against some bokoblins on the road, and I helped them out, and—

“Well there’s a split off the river,” said David.

I looked toward the castle. Beneath the unholy Calamitous Clouds, one fell fork split off and meandered away into the blackened landscape. It looked just like another part of the moat.

“I don’t think Lake Hylia’s in there,” I gestured to the castle lands.

“But.... open your map; maybe it connects with.... these down here.”

He indicated some rivers along the vein that ran between the Dueling Peaks.

“ . . . . Huh,” I said, “Maybe.” Perhaps.... this warranted some looking in to.

Also I had the feeling David was . . . . mmmm maybe nudging me around a bit.

The sun came out like a bad cliché when I finally jogged onto the friendly grounds of the Woodland Stable. It was 11:15 in the morning. I decided to take a forty-five minute nap to rejuvenate my aching one-quarter-heart body, and at noon, I took Thrice out for a ride.

We took the Thims Bridge road, over the mossy mounded hills and past the Honeydell—saving Leekah from a bokoblin on the way of course. But I stopped at one junction of the road I had never explored.

“Stay here,” I told Thrice, and climbed a bit over the rocks beside the long stretch of a T-junction. The stretch that pointed toward the castle....

“In my experience,” said David, “The closer you are to the castle....”

The farther you are from harm? I thought hopefully.

“The closer you are to trouble,” he finished.

“I’m just gonna take a little look,” I assured him, inwardly thinking how VERY like Famous Last Words those sounded....

I crept among the rocks until I was high enough to peer into the central plain before the castle. There at the base of the hill I was on.... coursed a little river. Flowing north to south. One that very probably could only have come from that split David had shown me earlier, among the big cubic stones surrounding the castle.

. . . .

Maybe....

Maybe....

I looked at my map again.

The river system near the Dueling Peaks.... the river that this one by the Honeydell may have connected with.... was called the Hylia River. And it was joined by the Squabble River from the Dueling Peaks....

But further downstream it was still called the Hylia River....

And then it ran away southward off of my known map.

Could it be . . . . ?

I came back to Thrice, and we pressed on to the Wetland Stable—saving Leekah again on the way—and I stopped.

Oh I was aching to go on. I had arced all the way north around the castle again in a great upside-down U, and I still had the drive and energy to keep going....!

But it was late again, and I did have to get up early.

But to be absolutely sure....

To see those waterways....

There was one more thing I could do in pursuit of the hapless missing Mei.

And it lay at the top of the alleged scariest Sheikah Tower in all the land.

Fight For Your Honey!

Waking of Friday, April 14, 2017 ~ 5

Fight For Your Honey!

Now I could set out for the Woodland Stable. There seemed to be a spread of low mountains between me and Thims Bridge. And the path like a stream of water wound through the lowest parts....

Well I didn’t like that at all—I climbed up into the hills on the right side where I could keep a better eye on things, and I found some very craggy land indeed! There was an especially deep little sunken dell in the ground where it looked like there might be a Korok hiding—and which had two bears in it, skulking around the entrance of a small cave.

I stayed up top and gave them a wide berth for the time being—I’d heard things from David. I think he said a bear killed him once.

Besides, there was a big nasty treehouse up ahead that I wanted to clear out.

It held no bokoblins or moblins, though. Just a few large stray blue chuchus. I dispatched them and looted what was worth looting, and then came back to the Korok in the dell.

A few bombs scared off the bears, but I made sure to scout out a quick escape-route if they should come back while I was flushing out that Korok....

But they never came back.

I found some honey in their cave—swarming with bees, but a bomb took care of that, too. Useful tactic for later, I think.

There was a flat way out of Honeydell—mm, yes that fits—which led straight back to the road, but I climbed back out by going straight up the cliff. I didn’t want to run into those bears!

Only a little more trekking, a little more sniping, another treasure chest inside a big mossy skull-rock.... and I had arrived at Thims Bridge. I knew it! I knew they connected. :)

The rain started to come down as I crossed to the other side of the river, and I saw a man sheltering beneath a little half-tent beside a fire.

I’d never yet seen a Yiga with a campfire, so I talked to him. I can’t remember if his name was Fin or Russ, but he and his buddy, whose name was also either Fin or Russ, were in the business of selling shields.

I’ll say Fin was at the tent. His buddy Russ was up on a hill just to the south, beneath a large and prominent tree. All their wares were up there, because aside from selling shields, they were also teaching people how to shield-surf, which was most effective when going downhill.

David told me he’d done this! I remembered!

Like friggin’ Legolas at Helm’s Deep! 8D

Well.... movie Legolas. ^_~

I didn’t buy from them, but I learned the trick! And then continued on my way.

Another blue bokoblin was ruckusing around up ahead—chasing somebody it looked like.

I ran to get closer, and it was.... Leekah again?

I cut down her assailant, and she stopped and stood shivering in the rain, her poor familiar hunch making her look pitiful and vulnerable. When I spoke to her, she thanked me again for rescuing her, and gave me some honey.

Huh, I briefly wondered if she must have frequented that little Honeydell I’d visited!

This time, she continued down the road at a jog toward the Woodland Stable—just the place I’d wanted to go as well. I escorted her.

It was beginning to thunder.... I had to switch to non-conductive weaponry and equipment. The sky was already dark from the brooding rainclouds, but the sun must have gone down behind them, because only a short while later, no fewer than three stalizalfos popped up out of the earth in front of us.

Leekah shrieked and fled while I charged in, trying to draw their attention. The trouble with these blasted stal-creatures was that they just went all to pieces when you hit them.... but you had to find and finish off their heads or else they would eventually locate their members and put themselves back together again.

In a mad, rattling fray of bones, I took down at least two of them, chasing down their bouncing skulls—did one of them come so conveniently flying my way? Did Leekah punt it over for me to finish off? I could have sworn....

My blade put an end to their mischief. But as I turned to confront the last one—they’re usually so easy—so easy to dodge....

I took a bad arrow-hit.

Ugh, that hurt.... so many hearts....

A few bites of simmered fruit from my pocket, and a final charge, and I cut him down as well, before returning to Leekah in the new pouring stillness.

“We have got to stop meeting like this,” I told her.

She once again expressed her profound gratitude to me.... and gave me more honey.

She really is a sweet girl.

No pun intended.

On our final jog over the last few dozen yards to the stable, we passed another person just jogging out, heading southward, the way we had come. Tall, dark-skinned, ruddy-haired, and wearing poofy pink harem pants. A woman....

I caught her attention and we splashed to a halt beside each other on the road. “Sav’saaba!” she hailed. She introduced herself as Karsh of the Gerudo. “Remember it!” she said, and remarked further on how probably the only people capable of matching her own endurance were the Gorons....

We continued on our separate ways beneath the raging storm.

I’d never seen a Gerudo before.... at least not in present memory.

Now there went a damsel who looked hard put to be put in distress.

[[Fanart should have Link putting his cloak around her poor shivering figure as he helps to steady her in the pouring rain. But I was wearing the Zora ensemble + bandana at the time.]] - [[originally withheld from the blog; added from the log 2018-09-17 per entry of Wednesday, June 20, 2018 ~ 6: Unsaved Again]]