And the Women Better Singers

Waking of Sunday, January 6, 2019 ~ 8

And the Women Better Singers

I went talkin’ around, talkin’ around, and found the Rito Villagers to be happy again. :)

But it was most adorable when I caught one Rito woman, Bedoli, in mid-song. She was so happy that Vah Medoh had finally been appeased, she said, that she hadn’t even realized she’d been singing that old song....

It was an ancient Rito song.

“Teach it to me!” I said. :D

“Oh, well that’s embarrassing,” she answered, but she cleared her throat and sang:

The pride of the Rito, pillar in the sky,

its heart lights up when the sun is high.

And then, “...Uhhh. There’s more to the song, but I forget the rest of the words.”

XD I know that feeling, Bedoli.

She directed me, if I wanted to learn the rest of the song, to speak to her sister Laissa. And a Shrine Quest banner flashed across my screen: “The Ancient Rito Song”.

Well! :D

I ran back to the boardwalk, searching for this Laissa, and I found her in a house just lower down. She had the same plum-colored plumage as her sister....

Laissa said she would sing me the second half of the song, but only if I could recite the first half from memory.

And what followed was one of the most adorable tiny little dialogue guessing games I had ever played. X-)

I was given four response options, one of which was “The pride of the Rito”, and the rest of which were very similar. And in four consecutive parts of four choices each, I was made to reconstruct the verse that Bedoli had sung for me. And the rhyme fragments the localizers had invented were so lovely and clever! XD THIS. WAS ADORABLE.

Once I’d gotten the multiple-choice lyrics quiz right, Laissa sang me the second half of the ancient Rito song:

The heart shines upon a path not whole,

but a warming flame can stir its soul.

Hmmm.... but I thought I might know what that meant.... The “pillar” was surely the Neck of the Crane.... And I had seen a few pedestals around the edge of Lake Totori in the many times I’d taken in the view.... shadow games, perhaps?

This was further along that SHRINE QUEST anyway....

But.... first....

Kheel’s mom was looking for her.

In further meandering about the village, I had come across a light-green Rito lady named Amali. She was looking and calling for her daughter Kheel, but couldn’t find her. Did she go to the Warbler’s Nest? Amali wondered....

We were standing on the landing beside the shrine, and Amali pointed out the Warbler’s Nest to me—it was just across the lake, over on the shore: a group of tall, oddly-shaped stones encompassing a pedestal.

So that was the Warbler’s Nest. I’d seen it through my scope a few times.

Well, I’d be happy to go and take a look! I thought, :D and jumped off.

I paraglided over, and found the little Rito child straight away.

“Kheel what are you doing?” I said, “It’s late and your Mom is worried.”

“My sisters are big dumb dummies!” Kheel started. She lamented that they were all supposed to rehearse at the Warbler’s Nest, but nobody showed up. They were supposed to sing their song for the Elder here.

Then she looked at me more closely and said that I looked like somebody.... she could use....? What did she say? XD

“Thaaaaat is to say you look like a guy who likes to help people in need.”

That little snot! XD

Though now that I think about it, she did kinda have me there....

She told me to go get her sisters.

“They won’t listen to me, but they might listen to a scary-looking Hylian like you.”

Oh thanks, Kheel! XD

Heh, scary, huh? I guess it made sense.... What are Hylians to these bird-people? Weird little naked gremlin-things with squashed faces and stunted fingers? Our toes all facing in the same direction.... creepy!

And a new Shrine Quest was underway: Recital at Warbler’s Nest.

So many musical Shrine Quests! :D

Excellent! X-)

I let Amali know where Kheel had gone, but it was trickier than I thought chasing down all these little Rito sisters EVERYWHERE around the village, reminding them all of their promises to rehearse with Kheel. One was in the shop looking at ingredients, because another one, Genli (the youngest I assumed), was in the kitchen and wouldn’t rehearse until she’d had some Hearty Salmon Meuniére.... One was out actually catching the salmon from a pond on one of the rockspires leading out of the village how.... did a breed of salmon get up there?

And of course I was completely roped into helping make this dish—fortunately they provided the ingredients for me; all I had to do was cook it....

And the last sister.... was practicing on her own up on an obscure crag of the Neck. And she had the last ingredient, so I had to find her first before I could cook for Genli....

My goodness.

Once I seemed to have wrapped up all of their problems, I paraglided over to meet them at the Warbler’s Nest—I’m moving, I’m hustling, I get over there, I think I’ve got them ALL squared away, but—HOLD THAT THOUGHT—

The shadow of the Neck was about to pass over the other pedestal. That shadow-heart thing.... Gotta go do that....

I left the little sisters standing there and paraglided off the Warbler’s Nest ledge and down to the path that led around the lake, running as fast as I could to overtake the shadow....!

When I got to the pedestal, I hurriedly dumped flint and faggot onto its surface and lit it up with a strike of my metal sword—and it was burning. And the shadow was coming. It would cross the pedestal in just a few seconds.

And—wouldn’t you know it.... The shaft of sunlight spearing through the Hiker’s Hollow up in the Neck.... really did light up the ground in the shape of a heart! ^_^ How Friendly. ♡

When the Neck’s shadow completely encompassed the pedestal like the eye of a needle, the pedestal lit up blue beneath the little fire I’d made, and....

The Bareeda Naag Shrine rumbled up out of the earth just a half a stone’s cast inland!

Excellent! ^_^

Cannon was the name of the challenge inside. Just Cannon. Much fun with projectiles and a LOT of lucky shots.... Got through it in a breeze.

All the better. Once I was out, OKAY, I thought, now RUN BACK TO THE GIRLS! I even used Revali’s Gale to go faster and to get up onto the Warbler’s Nest ledge again. Handy! Thank you, Revali. ^_^

The five Rito girls were there. Kheel was so grateful for all my help getting her sisters to rehearsal that she gave me a Korok Leaf. I didn’t have room for it, but I just picked something to drop in the meanwhile so I could at least hold it. For Kheel said that if I were to use it to blow wind at the stones.... the stones would sing.

The girls meanwhile practiced their own song. They stood in a neat little line, but not in age-order—or at least, not in the order I’d seen them in when I’d passed their house at night and saw them in their little hammocks, which I assumed was age-order....

No, they stood in rainbow-order, making a lovely gradient between them all. ^_^

I spoke to Kheel again as they practiced, and she said that she didn’t understand all the words, but that there was one line that always caught her ear: “When the wind convinces the stones to sing, open the monk’s door will swing” or something like that.

Ah, I have to listen to them.

Out of their standing order in line, which seemed to be based on pitch, each one sang a single note in turn: 4____ 5____ 3____ 1____ 2____.

But.... the intervals were so constricted....

They repeated the pattern.

4—5—3—1—2....?

No, that last one wasn’t two, it was the tonic! It wasn’t 4—5—3—1—2.... It was 3—4—2—7—1!

Mi____ Fa____ Re____ Ti____ Do____.

Small steps. It was a cute little tune.

I stood on the pedestal between the stones. Each stone had a hole in the middle—reminiscent of those howling stones from Twilight Princess—as well as an identifying number of knobs on top. Useful....

Wielding the Korok Leaf, I swung it to send powerful air-thrusts at each of the stones in turn. Four knobs.... It resonated the first girl’s note an octave or two lower in an airy, bass-flute kind of tone. Quite a pleasant sound actually.

Five knobs.... Three.... One....

Two!

And on the final resonation is that even a word? No it’s not—And on the final resonance.... what should come up from a nearby spot of ground further inland but another shrine!

The girls all turned around at the commotion and reacted—“Whoa! Was that weird house always there?” “No!” “Who knew Warbler’s Nest was hiding such a secret?” And other such words.

They were adorable. ^_^ Not many people ever got to see me scare up hidden shrines. Much less children at that.

They all decided to fly back home to tell their mom all about it—“Last one back is an unhatched egg!” and such. XD And with a running start back toward the lake, they all fluttered into the sky, bright little rainbow in the sun....

Ah, those girls were sweet. ^_^

But I turned toward my LONG-CHASED PRIZE.

IT HAD BEEN SUCH A BIG DAY.

AND FOR SOME REASON I WAS STILL MOVING.

I AM GOING INTO THE SHRINE NOW.

THANK YOU GIRLS, BE GOOD, AND GOOD NIGHT.

I entered the shrine as the evening was turning the world to gold—the Voo Lota Shrine. The trial within was called The Winding Route.

I was just confronted with a ladder leading upwards out of a tight space.

Hm.

I followed it; the shaft was also very constricted, with no other opening but at the distant, distant top. And once I reached that.... there was only a narrow hallway going forward to a switch....

Not wanting to wear down my weapons any more than absolutely necessary, I simply laid a Bomb, backed up, and flicked my own switch, thank you, Ja Baij....

And right where I had laid the Bomb, right where anyone would have been standing who decided to strike the shrine switch more directly.... a trap door opened up.

Oh my.

I stepped forward and looked down.

Oh.

Ugh.

Freakin’ lava pit. @_@

It was a dicey but fairly maneuverable paraglide between the sparse structures, mostly by power of fan-drafts. But I got the Spirit Orb all right.

Okay, I really needed to get to bed.

Ran back to Rito Village. ‘Cause I liked it here.

I had 27 Spirit Orbs to my name.

I thought of all the places I had been. Kakariko. Hateno. Zora’s Domain. Goron City. Gerudo Town. Lurelin Village. Rito Village.

Mmm Kakariko Village was nice.

But this place was just calming to my heart.

I would pray to the Goddess Statue here.

The one with a crown of flowers.

But....

If I had just one more Spirit Orb....

That would put me at seven sets....

Seven.... That’s a good number....

Hmmm....

Another day.

Good.

Night.

All.

I’m sleepin’ in a Rito Down Bed from noon-fifty until tomorrow morning.

Good night.

<3

Deep Smit

Waking of Saturday, October 27, 2018 ~ 2

Deep Smit

I didn’t have the topo, but I could see the icon indicating Lurelin Village’s location. It was directly on the other side of a sizeable mountain from where I was.

Instead of following the winding beach all the way back, I decided to take a little climb, straight up and over....

From the beach and sea level, the mountain looked rather unremarkable, but as I climbed I discovered a good number of little dells and hidden hollows, and a heckton of Blue Nightshade flowers! Cool.

And at the tippy top was a Korok. Of course.

As long as I was at the crest I decided to spend a moment taking in the view. And looking down the tumbles of another side of the mountain, I could see.... Why that’s a heart-shaped pond! One single pond—not broken down the center like that one above Hateno Village. This heart was whole.

And there were people down there....

A Hylian man and a Gerudo stood on opposing shores of the little pond. Furtively staring at one another. I spoke to them both.

Wabbin was the man’s name. And he was in some seriously deep smit. That Gerudo across the way was gorgeous. But he couldn’t work up the nerve to just go over there and talk to her....

The Gerudo, Perda, on the other hand, was feeling a bit unsure. While she was indeed out seeking her true love, and this did seem to be a place of providence for the matter, she didn’t quite know what to make of the creeper who kept staring at her from across the way....

I played a lovely game of go-between. XD

Wabbin wanted to offer her a token of his feelings—a flower. Only he didn’t have any flowers. And he begged me to find him some Blue Nightshades.

Well! As it turned out I’d just run into a huge stash of those! Not that my pockets weren’t already full of them. I handed one over.

But Wabbin was too petrified to offer the gift himself. So he asked me if I would do it.

Heh, sure thing, buddy. X-)

I took the flower to Perda, and let her know how that guy over there was totally digging on her, and well.... that put her in deep smit, too.

A few more messaging runs back and forth, and the most adorable cutscene ensued, with Wabbin and Perda finally on the same side of the pond together, Perda still holding the flower! ^_^ Awww, that was cute. Don’t see items as props too often.

And as the sun rose on the high meadow with its pond in the seaside mountain.... I was the last one to fall into deep deep smit. Because I saw just how many Hearty Radishes there were growing around here! Sweet! 8D

Those things is good eatin’!

The Prettiest Voe

Waking of Friday, January 19, 2018 ~ 4

The Prettiest Voe

A Hylian dressed like a Gerudo. A “pretty Hylian gal”.

That was who I was looking for, this cool night in Kara Kara Bazaar.

Robsten said this.... person was around the general store, but I didn’t see anybody around any of the stalls.

Ripp the guard said she’d seen a Hylian vai wandering around the inn. Said she was probably still in town, as the Divine Beast was scaring a lot of people out of traveling right now.

So to the inn I went.

But nobody new was inside.

I bought all of Shailu’s (newly-stocked) arrows again and went back outside. There was really only one more place to check. That spot up on top of the big, bulbous rock. The spot which David had been so eager for me to visit....

So I climbed the ladders, got up on top, and saw a Hylian standing there, clad in shimmering purplish silks, looking out into the desert where Vah Naboris stomped.

The Gerudo clothes made the figure seem.... well really short.

I got the person’s attention. Vilia was her name.

“Oh my what a lovely young lad you are,” she said, “Do you need something from me?”

“I NEED YOUR CLOTHES,” I said in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice.

Oh my gosh and what a low voice this woman had.

This ‘Vilia’ went on to.... compliment my looks or something I DON’T REMEMBER BECAUSE IT WAS TOO RIDICULOUS—

And I was presented with a couple of choices in the dialogue, and I tried to keep it.... Well, I didn’t want to upset anything.

“You’re very beautiful!” I said. And she was so tickled by this that she offered to give me some Gerudo clothing of my own because it would just look so enchanting on my adorable body why is this pervert offering me clothes I’m a man.

Six hundred rupees and a fade-to-black later, I stood on the rock in a lavender scarf and top, green harem pants and lightweight slippers on my feet—

“*Eeeeee!*” Vilia squealed, complete with asterisks and music note icons!

—And absolutely nothing on my midriff.

“You look adorable!!” Vilia went on, while Link first cupped his hands to the sides of his blushing face, and then WILTED into this girlish stance dance, swaying uncertainly with his shoulders hunched, his low hands clasped together, and his eyes down and away.

Oh my gosh. XD

I didn’t really catch much of the rest of what Vilia said, except when the wind blew her scarf out of the way and I swore she had a beard.

“And make sure to watch out for the wind,” she advised.

At which Link delivered a most timely facepalm, and the cinematic drew to a close.

“Be sure to come back and see me any time if you need more clothes!”

Uh, yeah, sure thing, Vilia. ಠ_ಠ

The Point With No Entry

Waking of Friday, January 19, 2018 ~ 3

The Point With No Entry

As Gerudo Town remained impenetrable, and as no clues seemed to present themselves to me locally, I grabbed a sand seal, counted on its speed to blunt the impending heat exhaustion, and started back toward the oasis at Kara Kara Bazaar.

But I didn’t get far before I saw a voe on the road—a man. And in a fit of considering my optionnnnns I decided to hop off the sand seal, and talk to him.

His name was Gartan

He was a merchant.

That was all.

Well that was a wasted sand seal—I ran back to the safety of Gerudo Town, as it was nearest.... and saw another guy, running around. Literally running before the forward wall.

I stopped him to talk. His name was Bozai, and he sported obnoxious glasses, an overlarge chin, and unflatteringly long dark hair.

But he also had.... Sand Boots? That let him run at normal speed over the sand?

Heck yes!

But Nope, says he. He would mayyyybe give them to a girl, but not a guy.

Huh.... Well it seemed an interesting item to keep my eyes out for anyway.

But it still didn’t get me into the town.

I saw Lukan come up the road to enter the city! But nothing she could offer was much help to get inside either.

I tried walking around the outer wall—there were other entrances, but they too were of course guarded by Gerudo.

I even climbed up on top of the wall a little bit....

I could see into the town.

A handful of red-haired girls, oblivious with their backs to me. Some were so young....

It felt indecent.

I did not drop down inside. I just kept circumnavigating.... and kept running into Bozai and his ridiculous boots—turned out he was running around trying to show off and catch some Gerudo lady’s eye.

Well.... good luck with that, Bozai.

All of the Gerudo guards told me much the same thing, this was Gerudo Town, no voe allowed, the Divine Beast this, the burning desert that, blah blah blah....

I finally tried talking to Benja again, by the shrine. And this time, I found out what he had meant before when he said it was all research.

Benja told me he’d heard of a man who knew a way to sneak into Gerudo Town! A man who’d been in and out of the city several times before! That’s why Benja was keeping such a sharp eye on the road leading in—he wanted to catch the man at it and learn the secret.

He also said the man frequently visited Kara Kara Bazaar.

Huh.... well this was interesting news!

When it was cool enough I grabbed a sand seal and hightailed it back to Kara Kara Bazaar, and told Robsten I had found his caravan leader.

This came as a relief to Robsten, and I told him further that his caravan leader was keeping an eye out for that guy—it would definitely be somebody sneaky.... And I asked him if he’d seen anybody like that.

Somebody sneaky?

AND HE SAYS “There was that pretty Hylian gal at the general store. It’s unusual to see a Hylian girl dressed like a Gerudo...”

?

!?

Oh...

my....

The Fool Cautious

Waking of Wednesday, March 29, 2017 ~ 3

The Fool Cautious

A traveler stood on one of the nearest hilltops to my right.

I felt.... as if I could see right through him, but I went to speak to him anyway. I felt like I needed the practice....

He tried to sell me bananas. Twice.

I declined both times.

And either he took offense at that or he just plain hadn’t liked me all along, because he tried to kill me shortly thereafter. But I killed him first, and then I took his bananas anyway. And his rupees!

Nice of the Goron traveling likewise north along the road to stop and just kind of look on while I crossed blades with a murderous assassin. I suppose it was either a nod of confidence to my strength.... or a supreme display of apathy.

Well.... I guess stopping and staying was a step up from the flailing retreat I’ve seen most self-respecting Hylians take.

Anyway I don’t know the Gorons’ ways.

Yiga! YOU KEEP COMING FOR ME I WILL GO FULL CURARE ALL OVER YOUR—

Hhhhh....

I had a Zora to find.

But she wasn’t anywhere.

It started to rain, and I pressed on until I came to a bridge. I was off my map now. I ventured out onto the planks, but couldn’t really see anything through the haze. Except another octorok a little downstream. I dropped a bomb into the water and dodged his shots while I waited for it to float closer to him—did you know octoroks have the mind to lead their targets? And quite skillfully at that.

How interesting, I thought, and then blew him up.

I kept moving.

A little further along the road, I came across a young woman running through the rain. “I have the worst luck...” I heard her mutter.

Well, everybody gets caught in the rain some time, I thought.

But that wasn’t what she was running from—a black bokoblin was chasing after her.

I ran in and killed the thing, and the girl stopped. She had brown hair, and she wore a pink tunic and a timid, weary kind of posture, a little hunched and bowed beneath the downpour.

I didn’t speak to her, but only followed after her as she started to run up the road again. Pulling back from my full jog, I kept pace by her side; I would at least escort her until she reached.... whatever orange glow that was that I had seen in the distance. Flickering and indefinite, far ahead behind some trees.... maybe a fire’s glare.... Another house like Doctor Calip’s, perhaps? Maybe that’s where this girl was headed....

And then as we neared, and it came looming out of the gloom with its gentle flute and soft guitar, I saw the mighty horse’s head.

It was a stable.

And on the other side of the road, off to the left by the river, standing beneath a large tree was....

Mister Hestu??

8D

Without a Paddle

Waking of Wednesday, March 29, 2017 ~ 2

Without a Paddle

I wandered further and further downstream in search of more tablets, but the most interesting thing I encountered was a Korok that bested me round the underside of a cliff—I’ll catch that one later....

But I thought, as long as I was headed downstream, I really ought to keep an eye out for Fronk’s wife.

I recalled something about a Bank of Wishes being important, and made my way there through nest after nest of lizalfos....

And indeed, there was a Zora standing there on the Bank of Wishes. But it wasn’t Mei.

It was Finley, a short, younger Zora, kind of orangey-colored—and probably the only young female in all of Zora’s Domain who didn’t give seven whits beyond the norm about Prince Sidon or his fanclub.

I stopped to chat.

Finley already had a sweetheart you see. But she had never met him. She just sent letters to him from the Bank of Wishes, floating them down the stream in tubular letter-carrying boxes made of red wood.

She asked me if I would follow the letter she was about to release, find out who was receiving them, and then return and tell her what kind of person he was.

I couldn’t really see any way out of this one. She was just a kid. And she’d promised her mother that she wouldn’t wander too far....

Well I was dressed for the occasion in my Zora Armor. “Fine...” I said, and leapt into the water after her letter.

To conserve my energy, I let the current carry me along—at times it pushed me through great schools of fish, some of which I’d never seen before! I scrabbled them right out of the river; I’ll cook them up later....

Other times I swam to the bank and employed my bombs to clear the stream of obstacles—carefully, per Finley’s warning, for the letter-carriers were fragile.

Other times still it was bow work against octoroks and waterborne lizalfos.

You know, my bow work has been improving greatly I think.

Maybe I used to be a great archer.

Maybe....

As I moved further and further downstream still, coming across familiar landmarks and stretches of road I recognized from my initial ascent to the Domain, I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of another Zora about. “Mei!” I shouted her name, again and again—“Meeei!”—but there was never any answer—just more lizalfos.

It started to rain at the edge of the wetlands. It was a bit of a trick to follow the letter beneath the tangle of boardwalks where the lizalfos keep an impressive haunt. Many arrows were fired. Many remains collected.

But at last the letter seemed to wander into a little dead end inlet surrounded by a low, sandy bank. I could see a half-tent set up near the trees at its deepest point. And as I drew nearer, I saw there was a man there. A Hylian. He stood up at my approach, as I kept even with the bobbing letter-carrier....

His name was Sasan, and he guessed who I was right away: someone sent to follow this letter for Finley. And to report back to her on what I found.

He had already gathered that she was a lovely young lady Zora of the Domain. But then he immediately confessed to feeling guilty and awful because he had lied in his letters to her, claiming to be a “buff traveler”.

Ah, he didn’t look so scrawny, buck up, man....

He had been sending his letters back to her via travelers who were on their way to Zora’s Domain, and he asked me if the road there was long.

Remembering my experience along it.... I could do naught but answer in the affirmative.

He considered traveling it to reach the Domain, but once again began to fret and tremble, wondering if he could face her after he had deceived her....

My two options were Good luck with that, and....

“Love reigns supreme,” I said, and this seemed to instill him with some confidence.

What did it matter? If he truly loved her, he should go and find her.

And he thanked me, and we parted.

I took a moment to collect what wreckage and spoils came floating my way from my sporting with the lizalfos about their boardwalks, and then had a good long look at my map.

The wetlands were vast. Locating Fronk’s wife seemed a much taller order from here at the river’s mouth. The marsh and currents spread in all directions, and I do mean all. Beyond the boardwalks, the shallow marsh extended far to the south and farther into the west. Another river broke off from the southern part of the marsh and curved back eastward before ending in a small, and I imagine deep, lake. But what looked like the easiest course for the main flow of the water to take.... was north. That way had the fewest obstructions, geological or otherwise.

But could she have washed this far down?

What if I’d passed her?

But hadn’t I been combing the Domain with a careful eye for days on end? Surely I’d have seen her if she were there. Surely someone would have seen her anywhere upstream of the Bank of Wishes anyway, if little Finley could venture that far. And downstream of the Bank of Wishes.... well I’d spent most of that stretch in the water—that had to count for something; I’d have bumped into her for sure....

No, she had to be somewhere downstream of the rivermouth. And the most likely downstream direction was north.

Then that was the way I would go.

Fortunately there was a road that ran alongside the river, all the way off the edge of my map. I followed it, drawing nearer and nearer to the unknown, the river on my left, and sprawling, mounting hills creeping up on my right, which grew into great rocky canyons and ridges in the distance. I wondered if I was near the volcano.... there was at least one Goron on the road with me....

“Meeei!” I called out, but to no avail. Even when I reached a small lake on my right that looked like it might have caught anything washed down in a flood.

But there was nothing there. Just a stray octorok, and some mineral deposits on the other side, which I collected before moving on.

Where could she be?

The Fool Remiss

Waking of Saturday, March 25, 2017 ~ 3

The Fool Remiss

Just after the wetlands, I wandered into a dry flat stretch, and the sun was going down. A little pillar of smoke rose on the far side of a prominent hill before me.

Friend?

Or foe?

....I went to investigate.

And who should I see on the other side, but two struggling travelers having it out with a couple of black bokoblins. Huh. Well.

The man stood near the fire—well, footed it back and forth, really, as he bandied blades with his opponents. He looked quite dashing actually, landing a blow with his sword here and there and sending his assailants flying.

The woman meanwhile had fled a short distance toward where I was coming from and was now looking on helplessly.

I approached and studied her as she shrieked in terror, in desperation—she had large, quiet eyes and a wide, roundish nose on her face.

“She looks like one of ‘em,” David said.

I inwardly concurred. Just look at her stupid pouty lips....

The man was holding his own fairly well for a while—I was impressed. But eventually the bokoblins bested him. He went down and they walloped away on his prone form while the stars circled his head.

I supposed this was as good a time as any for me to step in.

I honestly can’t remember how I dispatched the bokoblins. Did I draw them away and beat them up? Or just snipe them both in the face? Maybe both—arrows are pretty good attention-getters....

Once the bokoblins were dead, the man came round to his senses and the woman came back to his side, and they both drew in close to their fire, near which a little half-tent had been erected, and an unlit wok sat waiting. Huh....

Still I said nothing, but only watched them. And as the woman came and collapsed beneath the shelter, looked to the man and said “Oh my sweet Tye!”—

I was the world’s most amazing idiot.

The man had a name. The woman had a name.

They were not Yiga Clansmen.

Some Hero.

I spoke with this Tye. What were the two of them doing, roaming around in the wilds all alone?

He said something about looking for a living Silent Princess—a specimen of flower. I’d seen them before. I even had some on me (but they wouldn’t regard my samples).

And something else about the two of them being betrothed to be married.

!

Oh. I knew of someone they just had to meet.

???

But oh dear.... How in the world could I get them all the way to Zora’s Domain along such a dangerous road?

Huh.

Well time enough to burn that bridge when we come to it after I sort out their flower business.

But first....

I really just wanted to get to that Shrine....

Zora's Domain Again

Waking of Saturday, March 18, 2017 ~ 14

Zora’s Domain Again

I coalesced into myself near the gates of Zora’s Domain.

Rivan was the first person I saw.

He marveled to me at the clearness of the sky.

I felt different.

I walked inward, passing familiar faces, Fronk, Trello, Laflat....

I showed Laflat the pictograph I had taken of the charging Lynel, and she made a rather undignified squeak at the sight of it. But she was grateful to see it; it would help her scare the young Zoras from going near the mountain.

Scare away, Laflat. The terror of that thing was completely justified.

In return for my high-stakes pictography, she gave me a pair of Zora Greaves. She said they used to be very common—Zoras had gifted them to visiting Hylians after the Hylians had collaborated with the Zoras to construct the Eastern Reservoir wall. Now, however, you didn’t see them all that much, because Hylians didn’t visit so often anymore. The very pair she had given me was the last one in the stock room before her father had to close down their armor shop.

Well, I could certainly look the part now, couldn’t I?

But I didn’t don them just yet. It felt.... a little presumptuous, on my way to see the King once again.

Back in the throne room before King Dorephan. Sidon and Muzu were there, too, as were many of the Zoras I had met. A small throng of blues and greens and reds and blacks—I could pick out a few individuals....

There followed from the King some pomp and circumstance, but.... beneath all that, I think what struck me as perhaps the heaviest honor—or perhaps the most dearly bought by its bestower—was Muzu, repentant. He hoped, he said, that I would be able to forgive him for his words to me before, if not now, then some day.

Many of the elders I passed on my way back into the Domain still resented me for stealing away their princess. And I don’t suppose I can blame them, trying to see it from their side. But.... Muzu’s olive branch was a gracious and most welcome gesture.

The King awarded me with a treasure that had belonged to Lady Mipha—the Lightscale Trident—which reminded him....

“Where is your trusty sword, Link? The one with the power to seal away the darkness?”

I looked at him. “What sword?” I said.

“...So you have forgotten that as well,” he replied mysteriously, his eyes shrewd. He assured me that it was a weapon only I could wield, and that it was no doubt only resting somewhere in Hyrule, waiting for its master’s return.

The King lauded me a little further until the meeting finally dissolved into the cheers and shouts of gratitude and relief from the attending Zoras....

I spoke again with the King after everyone had left, and he asked after his daughter. After all, she had not returned with me. So the King had held out some hope yet....

“I met her spirit,” I told him after a moment.

He leaned forward all at once toward me again—that one his size could move so....

“Her spirit, you say? Did she say anything?” he asked.

And I told him.

“I see...” he said, “so she really is....”

What could I say?

What do you say to a father?

“She really loved you, Link,” he said to me. And he asked me to promise to him that I would remember her always.

“I’ll never forget her,” I said.