In Accordance with Guidelines

Waking of Friday, February 8, 2019 ~ 3

In Accordance with Guidelines

I WARPED TO HATENO.

I INVITED BOLSON AND KARSON.

AND THEN IT WAS BACK TO TARREY TOWN.

THERE WAS A WEDDING TO GET ON! 8D

Back in Tarrey Town, I visited with Bolson and Karson again, and then at high noon, I spoke to Hudson.... who started the ceremony.

And the Tarrey Town music was softly taken over by an organ. <3

Kapson officiated, standing at the head of the Goddess Statue Fountain. And Rhondson was so pretty in white! ^_^ She came walking down the “aisle” that was simply the space devoid of guests, and her clothing glittered in a pleasing texture: white top, bare Gerudo midriff, beautiful ankle-length flowing white skirt, white shoes, and a pretty white veil nested into her lovely hair. Heh, and Hudson looked all smart and handsome too, even in his vest and bare chest. It was a happy day. ^_^

“Hudson, Before the eyes of these witnesses and before those of Goddess Hylia...” Kapson began, “Do you take Rhondson to be your wife, to have and to hold, in good times and in bad?”

“I do.”

“Excellent. And Rhondson...” He turned to the Gerudo, “Before the eyes of these witnesses and before those of Goddess Hylia... Do you take Hudson as your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health?”

The camera buckled down unusually close to the old fish’s face, his big glassy fish eyes staring....

“And do you also vow to...name your children in accordance with the Bolson Constrution naming guidelines?” I CAN’T BELIEVE HE JUST SAID THAT.

Rhondson said, “Wait a moment... Those vows are not traditional by anyone’s standards!” Well that was putting it lightly!

“What makes you say that?” said Hudson, turning. Hudson!

Bolson stood up. “They’re as traditional as it gets!”

And Karson chimed in, “I don’t think she means traditional in that sense of the word.”

“A vow of undying tradition!” Fyson cheered. What in the heck, Fyson? You weren’t—

“And a vow of guidelines compliance!” Pelison added. He was still wearing his big ol’ yellow construction helmet.

And, “I’ll take that vow!” said Greyson. Gorons! @⩄@

“Think of future generations!” Hudson said to her.

Rhondson didn’t say anything, but only looked.... doubtful.

The moment hung in the air. Young Karson looked on from behind with his mouth open in anticipation. Everyone was waiting....

Rhondson shook her head, put one hand on her hip, and momentarily lowering her voice uttered, “Well, those are the guidelines... I do.”

“Excellent,” said Kapson with an unruffled grace.

He cleared his throat with an aged little cough, and continued, “And so, dearly beloved, please help me in greeting this newly married couple.”

The bells were ringing, the confetti was flying and everyone was clapping and cheering!

Haha, Bolson was tossing the confetti!

What in the heck just happened? @ဗ@

Kapson sang out, “I wish this new couple nothing but the utmost happiness as they set out on this journey of marital bliss!” As the camera panned up to the blue beautiful sky....

“Hudson and Rhondson’s wedding was a shining beacon in an otherwise dark, dangerous world,” said the Quest Log.

“Rhondson was a little taken aback by a few of the vows, but everything worked out fine and is in perfect compliance with Bolson Construction’s guidelines.

It’s only polite to give your blessing to the lovely couple who just vowed their undying love, so go talk to Hudson.”

I spoke to Rhondson first, though.

“The wedding ceremoy...wasn’t what I expected, but it was special all the same,” she said, “Did you like the dress? I made it myself.”

“No kidding!” I said as my only response. XD <3 ^_^

“Although Hudson wanted me to weave the gems he mined into it, so every step down the aisle was a struggle.”

Heh, but she made it look good.

“Well, that’s life for you, with all its twists and turns. I hope you’ll stick with us through them.”

You bet I would, Rhondson! ^_^

And then Hudson.

“Hey. It’s you,” he said at my approach. “Thank you for attending the ceremony. ...*sniff*”

Oh gosh my CHOICES: “Are you crying?” and “Congratulations!”

I said.... Oh, man to man, I should have said Congratulations! But.....

BUT I’M A GIRL PLAYING THIS GAME.

“Are you crying?” I said!

“What? No. Just something in my eye...” He offhandedly wiped his face. “And now Tarrey Town looks like a real town at long last.”

Heh, yeah, it did.

“This was all possible because of you. I can’t thank you enough for all the hard work you did. All right. This is for you.”

And he gave me.... three diamonds!

“These were found inside the boulders we smashed when we were clearing land. Rhondson and I have no use for them. You can take them.”

That was a valuable gift!

And the giant sidequest’s banner flashed across my screen:

From The Ground Up ~ Complete

Well that felt good. ^_^

The Quest Log now read:

“Hudson and Rhondson are happily married, and Tarrey Town is enjoying great prosperity.

As a sign of appreciation for bringing the town together and as compensation for your work, Hudson gave you a hefty amount of gems that were unearthed during the town’s construction.

You wished the couple eternal happiness before heading on your way.”

Aaawwwwwww. ^_^ <3 <3 <3

Tarrey Town certainly was feeling more peaceful. Moggs and Monari his wife hadn’t heard the people across the way argue in quite some time. Moggs figured every time they overcame an obstacle together their relationship grew stronger.

Man I was running out of gas.

I think I’ll spend the night in the inn (it’s 7:00pm-ish, game time), and then go to bed. Got that 10K in the morning....

Kapson is such a kind host. “Link... Are you in need of a good sleep and a hearty meal?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so. Thanks to the benevolence of the Goddess Hylia, I can offer you a place to stay. When would you like me to wake you?”

“Morning.”

“It shall be done.” So officiatious, Kapson! XD “Now then, time for a short rest...”

The screen blacked out and that nice little go-to-bed music played.

.... He didn’t charge me. ^_^

“Did you sleep well? May the kindness of Goddess Hylia be ever with you...”

Tarrey Town’s music was so lovely. <3

No Tarryin' for Tarrey!

Waking of Friday, February 8, 2019

No Tarryin’ for Tarrey!

While logging, I’d been referencing YouTube for unremembered details about the Thundra Plateau, and was shocked to remember how unconcerned the Piano was as it sat there picking its nails in the rain. When all of a sudden Oh.... so that’s where the Rubber Armor is....

I’d always meant to avoid spoilers, but....

Whoops!

I started at my house in Hateno.

Spoke to Bolson. He wondered about Hudson.

I was gonna go find Hudson.

But first, took a detour and warped to the Thundra Plateau to pick up the Rubber Shirt! That was a sneaky place to hide a treasure chest.... Now all I lacked of the set was the headpiece....

Warped back to the Wolf Shrine in Akkala—or, warped there for the “first” time.... Sailed down, lighted on the land bridge, same thing. Hi, Hudson!

He’s out here building a town.

Gave him ten bundles of wood. And now.... he needs a Goron.

Well.... If the lovely red rocks here were fated to be leveled anyway....

I warped to Goron City. I thought perhaps one of the diggers from Gorko Tunnel might be the one Hudson was looking for; they seemed like hard workers.... But neither of their names ended in –son. I asked around town, but could find no one who fit Hudson’s qualifications anywhere. Nothing.

So I ran down to the South Mine, and it was there that I met up with.... Greyson!

He was looking for somewhere where he could use his strength to help people!

“Tarrey Town!” I tell him, “It’s in Akkala!”

Oh cool, he liked that. - u - So he called to his little brother Pelison to come along and the two of them started off! Right into their own little cutscene blackout.

Well! c:

I warped after them, and Tarrey Town had another building!

AND A TROMBONE! 8D

The music had been simpler when it was just Hudson, but now.... it had another layer!

That was cool! ^__^

What was more, Greyson was much happier working for Hudson. ^_^ And little Pelison, still in his big yellow hardhat, had opened an ore shop! He said with all the rock they were moving around, they were finding some pretty good stuff to sell!

Well this place was developing quickly! :D

I spoke to Hudson again, and this time gave him twenty bundles of wood to help out. But he had another issue he was dealing with as well.... his clothes kept wearing out. He said he needed someone skilled in tailoring. Probably a Gerudo.

Well I knew just where to find one of those!

Gerudo Town! :D

But of course, Hudson had also said he could only take on someone whose name ended in –son, per Bolson Construction Company policy.

Criminy biscuits....

I asked around anyway. The clothing shop? It seemed like a good place to start looking for a tailor.... But their names didn’t end in –son.

WAIT.

OH MY GOSH I knew where this was going.

That one. That girl, the Gerudo, at Kara Kara Bazaar.

That one. What was her name? It ended in –son, I was sure of it.

The one who was looking for her true love.

Oh my gosh I so knew where this was going....

I sand sealed out to Kara Kara Bazaar! And I found her. Rhondson! That was her name. And she told me she was still continuing her search for a husband.

“Go to Tarrey Town!” I tell her! ^_^

“Tarrey Town?”

“It’s in Akkala!”

“Akkala... That’s a long way from here...”

But she considered, and conceded to herself that it wasn’t like she was getting anywhere here. And so she decided that.... She’d do it! She was gonna go home and pack a huge bag; it was gonna be a loooong journey.

And so she went.... with that same musical outro into a blackout.

They had all walked away with that same music. Tarrey Town music....

This was getting exciting! :D

I warped back to Tarrey Town! Still more rocks had been cleared away and there was yet another building! And little harp-like accent thingies to the music!

Hudson had been the Piano and the English horn. Greyson the trombone. Now Rhondson a harp or something like it. What a lovely ensemble this was turning out to be! ^_^

Rhondson now also had a clothing shop. And she sold the Desert Voe stuff! 8D

When I spoke to her she said she’d had to repair Hudson’s clothes just about every day. And she went on to say that actually.... it had been a little rough. The holes were enough to deal with, but.... Hudson’s clothes also stank of sweat. And whenever she brought it up, Hudson got all defensive! “Is this the only kind of voe I’ll meet around here?” she wondered unhappily at me.

She wondered....

Heh, but I didn’t.

Her future writ itself all over the sky right then and there before my eyes.

Oh this was going to be good. X-)

I continued exploring the houses again, and I saw some.... Hylians?

“Who are you?” I blundered. I didn’t recall going and finding anybody else to come here....?

I spoke to the woman and child first. Ruli was the mother, and her daughter Hunnie had been in poor health lately. They thought it would do them good to move out here where the air was fresh and there were not a lot of people.

Well it was pretty country, and very refreshing out here. Given you could keep the Guardians out of your pajamas.

“Now if my daughter’s appetite would just pick up,” Ruli went on. For she was sure Hunnie would do better if she would just eat more. “At night I need to talk to Papa again...” she finished mysteriously.

Who is Papa?

I hadn’t seen anyone else in the house.

Hm.

I looked around and THERE WAS ANOTHER HYLIAN SITTING ON THE GROUND LOOKING AT THE LAKE.

THIS WAS ALL GOING WAY TOO FAST! 8D

“Are you Papa?” I asked him, running up.

But he gave no indication of even knowing the other two.

My gosh how many people were moving out here??

Hagie was his name. He all but shoved 100 rupees into my hand to make me go kill the two Guardians in the lake. Sidequest, huh?

So I did. Easily.

Felt good, man.

On a quest so small I thought about being more present, but.... I just warped to the Wolf Shrine and sailed back in from the other direction, instead of climbing back up the big red rock.

The hundred rupees had been Hagie’s downpayment, and so now that the deed was done (he saw everything, he said), he gave me the rest: 20 rupees. Pfft.

Hagie remarked on my evidently apparent disappointment before the Sidequest Complete banner flashed across the screen. “Hobbies of the Rich” had been the name of that one.

That guy was loopy!

Aaaand I needed to harvest more wood, because this time.... Hudson needed thirty bundles of it. And after a time and going through some trees up the hill—which might have entailed the instance that certain Big Yigaman ghosted out to fight me and I narrowly evaded the razor shock from his WindCleaver only by dint of being shorter and standing downhill, and was thenceforth happy to assume that WindCleavers could not pitch their strokes—I delivered. I went back to town, and gave Hudson the thirty bundles of wood.

Hudson told me that with the growth of the town, they needed distribution. They needed a general store. They needed somebody who knew how to distribute goods and keep a store running.

“So a traveling merchant?” I asked. Oh great, I’m gonna have to find somebody on the road....

“Yeah, a Rito would be able to get around and move goods!” says Hudson.

Oh.

Well, the only Rito I knew of outside of their hometown were Kass, Frita and Guy. And none of their names.... well....

....

Hmmmm.

....

So I went to Rito Town and started up around the Neck, looking for SONS.... Not Laissa. Not Harth—“Not you I like you too much,” I said.

WAIT A MINUTE!

I stopped.

“That guy!”

I jumped over the rail and sailed back down to the first level and found.... Fyson! The sulky teal one who wanted to leave his mom’s store and open up a store of his own and sell anything he wanted!

“Heard of Tarrey Town?” I grinned.

I told him all about it, and he remarked that Akkala was pretty far away.... But he also said that he’s got to leave the nest somehow.... and the thought of his own store.... It sounded wonderful....

He’d do it! ^_^

And he went.... and walked off into the blackout. Every time one of these people had walked off, he’d had that same little music that saw him off....

I warped back to Tarrey Town and there was a fresh clarinet! ^_^

Ah! But it felt so special that a denizen of my favorite town in the game should be accompanied by my own instrument. ♡

And Fyson was selling arrows! 8D Handy! ^_^

And now Hudson needed 50 bundles of wood! 8O

I didn’t have fifty bundles of wood!

Aaaand ssoooo.... I decided I’d better just fall back on an old reliable source of mine, and went and blew up the woods outside of Hateno, in the old Concussion Forest.

Remember?

After I’d completely deforested the slopes west of Hateno Village, I came back to Tarrey Town—and in fact I did catch Ruli and Hagie together.... so Hagie must have been the “Papa” of that family—and remembered I needed to talk to Rhondson some more....

And I talked to her....

AND THEY WERE ENGAGED!

RHONDSON AND HUDSON WERE ENGAGED!

“What!?” I say.

But haha, she only laughed at my surprise, and said I could talk to Hudson to know more.

Heh, I’d forgotten to talk to her last time. Guessed I’d never know the interrim.... unless I checked YouTube or something.

So I talked to Hudson and gave him the fifty bundles of wood.

And he wanted to talk about something a little.... personal....

I asked him what it was....

“I got engaged!” he says.

“No way!” I say, XD “To who?”

Was that in the game? Eh I’ll chalk it up to a Clemensism.

“To who?”

“To Rhondson.”

Aaaand my choices: “You’re a cute couple!” or “What a surprise!” XD

I say.... “What a surprise!” XD

“You say that, but for some reason, I think you mean the opposite,” says Hudson. XD XD XD XD XD

He goes on, “Anyway, we want to have a little ceremony to celebrate, but we need someone priest-like to officiate.”

Oh, I have known just the guy for MONTHS....

“Priest-like, huh...” I smirk.

Hudson continued, “If we’re looking for a people devout enough to have a priest-like person...I’d suggest the Zora.”

Way ahead of you buddy. X-)

And again, the stipulation of the name ending in –son....

I was in Zora’s Domain in a trice, hoofing it up out of the shrine chamber and making my way back toward the sleeping quarters....

Kapson.

“If during your travels you meet any engaged couples I would like you to introduce them to me.” He said this as if we’d just been continuing our conversation from so long ago. “Joining two souls is a true honor, one I shall stake my life on. Just one more wedding...and I shall be fulfilled.”

“Get a load of this...” I said. XD XD XD XD And I fell into the inevitable gesticulations.

Kapson looked pleased. “I have been waiting to hear those words,” he smiled. “Now, please tell me the specifics...”

“Tarrey Town in Akkala!” I let him know.

“As for the location... Hmmm...” Kapson thought to himself. “Tarrey Town in Akkala... Akkala isn’t too far from here. It would please me to hurry there right away.”

And here I was given a choice of response: “By yourself?” or “Yes, please!”

I showed concern; he was quite an old fish. “By yourself?”

But he laughed a grizzled old laugh. “No need to worry about me. I have always had confidence in my fins and feet!”

Well that was good to hear, then. He sounded like a hale old fish. :) And he was bigger than I was anyway....

“It has been a long while since I have had work. I am eager to put my skills to good use! You should come as well. I will start my preparations in Tarrey Town in the meantime.”

And he walked off with the same music.... ^_^

Hahhh....

So he really wasn’t for Tye and Sorelia after all.

I followed after him right away....

And, you know, despite all the buildings, and the beautiful red rocks being cleared away.... Tarrey Town still really was quite lovely. ^_^

Only....

It was RAINING when I warped back! I DID NOT WANT TO DO THIS ON A RAINY DAY.

I went to look for shrines instead!

Or something....

Studying my map I warped here and there, poking and checking.... Okay, a CHEST beside the shrine name meant all the treasure inside had been gotten.... I looked around, sweeping the cursor over my shrine-markers. Dang I’ve missed a lot of treasure.... Huh, the Blessing Ones were probably just weapons I didn’t have room for....

Okay back to Akkala. Impatience took me quickly and I warped back to Tarrey Town.

The rain had stopped.

And now there was a guitar. ^_^

Heh, a guitar for a Zora, how fitting....

The island was completely developed now. Five comely buildings stood in a neat circle around the edges of the now flat rock. Oh but I wish they hadn’t paved the little Goddess statue pond. It seemed so.... sterile, now. It looked like.... It looked like....

It looked like IKEA.

....

I found another new Hylian in town as well, lounging out on a balcony. A Sheikah! I spoke to him....

And oh my gosh it was Granté! Wasn’t he.... Robbie’s and.... her....’s.... son? Jerrin! Jerrin. Robbie’s and Jerrin’s son? He was.

And HE SOLD ULTRA RARE ARMOR?

UUUHHHHHHHHHHH?????? THIS KID SOLD THE ENTIRE RUBBER SET????

WHAT IN THE WORLD WHERE DID HE’S GOT ALL THESE CLOTHES??? [[Grammar from my original notes.]]

OH MY GOSH HE’S GOT THE OLD SHIRT, WELL-WORN TROUSERS, Rubber ensemble, Climber’s ensemble, Barbarian ensemble, Sand Boots and Snow Boots!

And the ensemble pieces were 4,000 rupees a pop!

Huh.... I wondered....

Not that I had that kind of cash on me right then.

I looked around some more.... And found that Ha! Kapson ran the inn. XD That was a nice, grandfatherly fit for the hale old fish. ^_^

I visited with him and he said an important guest had yet to arrive before the wedding could take place.... and that I could talk to Hudson for the details....

So I went back outside and talked to Hudson. He was grateful that I’d found Kapson.

“He and I talked earlier,” Hudson started, “and he said that he literally was a priest before he retired. You can’t get more priest-like than that.”

XD

“And his name is Kapson, so I have no objections there.”

Naturally!

We talked a bit more, and I gathered that Oh, he wanted me to find guests! Bolson and Karson! But of course. XD

Hudson said he was busy preparing for the ceremony, and asked me if I could invite them.

Oh buddy.... You’ve got your hands full; just leave it to Link....

The stage seemed set.... This was all so exciting!

Almost all seemed to be just about in readiness....

All Heroes

Waking of Thursday, May 11, 2017 ~ 6

All Heroes

One thing left to do.

I warped back to Zora’s Domain.

I found Mei hiding in Kapson’s pool away behind the stairs. She told me her husband had given her a stern scolding. Well, good on Fronk. What had she been thinking?

I found her children in the square; Tumbo only ran in his hyper little circle as children do, carefree as anything, and Keye was still playing with Laruta beside Lady Mipha’s statue—imaginary spear practice.

They both seemed untroubled.

But where was Fronk?

As always it was a trek around the entire Domain before I found him, hard at work on one of the many pillars along the stairways and ramps.

“Oh Link... LINK... LINK!!” he shouted when he saw me, and promptly began almost to melt at my feet, words spilling, tumbling, cascading out of his mouth—

I honestly don’t remember the specifics of any of the things he said to me, though I know there were many Thank yous.

But—I remember his gratitude. His sincere, unadorned.... unfathomable relief and gratitude to have his family back together again.

And that was all.

And.... it was enough.

Maybe I had been a fool.

I knew setting out to find Fronk’s wife wouldn’t necessarily bring me any closer to resolving the ills of the world.

But I did it anyway.

And I knew Robbie was waiting. And Purah. And Impa. But....

I kept searching anyway.

I put the whole world on hold.

Why?

....

Well to find one slippery fish woman, that’s why.

I did it because I wanted to.

I did it because.... families should be together.

I did it because—

That’s what Heroes do.

They help people.

Even when it’s foolish.

Even when they’re laughed at.

Even when the thanks are small.

Even when it’s terrifying or painful....

They do it because it’s what’s right.

Maybe I’ll try on the flight gloves next time. Seems like Dad’s old occupation may just sum up my whole job as the Hero of Hyrule, my whole experience just playing this game:

I Search, and I Rescue.

Maybe I hadn’t been a fool, whatever all Heroes may be called.

I don’t regret anything.

Waking of Tuesday, May 23, 2017

After all the places I’d been, all the towers I’d climbed, all the memories I’d found, all the shrines I’d combed, and all the friends I’d made, at the end of my Fool’s Errand, I prayed once again before the Goddess Hylia, and received a Hero’s Reward, manifold greater than any yet that I had gained.

Because I am a Hero.

The Silent Treatment

Waking of Friday, April 14, 2017

The Silent Treatment

It was time for a new plan.

I had seen Sheikah Towers in close range of two of the places I could comfortably haunt. One was up on a hill behind the Woodland Stable, above the river that bent toward the castle. The other was northward beyond the hills of Upland Zorana, in what had to be Akkala.

I would first climb and activate the tower behind the stable, and thereby attain a map of the area. And if, from whatever the map could tell me, the river steered clear enough away from the castle, then I would follow it, for Mei. But it if ran too close to Calamity Ganon, then I would head to Akkala, and Mei would have to wait.

Because I wouldn’t be able to help anybody if I got myself killed along the way.

I needed this Robbie, I needed more shrines....

I needed to get stronger.

Why was I so set on finding the missing Mei?

Maybe it was just that a missing person seemed so much more desperate than getting rid of a Hinox, or harvesting luminous stones.... Maybe it was just poor Fronk. And poor Fronk’s children, Tumbo and Keye.

Where was their wife and mother?

I had to make one last effort for now, but first I would take a couple of pit stops along the way to the Woodland Stable....

Was I visiting with the Prince again when I left? Whom did I give a heart attack to when I teleported away from Zora’s Domain....?

My first stop was Cotera’s Forest, above Kakariko Village. There were living Silent Princess flowers in there, and perhaps Tye and Sorelia—that was her name—would react better to a pictograph of one of them.

I found the flower, snapped its image, and was on my way.

The fairies had still not returned to those woods.

Did I destroy their population when I caught so many there before....?

I wonder....

My next stop was the shrine near where I first met Ledo, in the river by the wetlands. I could reach Tye and Sorelia’s camp easily enough from there.

I had it out with some stray lizalfos, swam to the shore, killed a mounted bokoblin, briefly mounted his black appaloosa—but, not wanting to get attached to it, I got off again pretty quick—and jogged to Tye and Sorelia’s camp.

Those two, I swear, I can’t leave them alone for one minute.

Tye was trading sword strokes with one black—er, blue.... blue bokoblin, while the other blue bokoblin was chasing Sorelia around the field. Blasted base animals....

I gave the Hylians a hand in finishing off the monsters, and then the three of us reconvened at their little shelter.

This was it, surely. I would show them the pictograph of the flower, and then they would want to know where it was, and I would tell them somehow, so they could go make their vows.... but not before I took a pictograph of them to take back to Kapson in Zora’s Domain, and he could marry them!

But I could not show them my pictograph.

There was no option. I couldn’t tell them about it.

I tried tuning my Sheikah Slate’s sensor to detect Silent Princess flowers. Maybe they would hear and remark on the beeping....

They didn’t.

What did I need to do to draw their attention to it?

I tried again dropping an actual specimen of Silent Princess at their feet, on the ground before their eyes, but they said nothing.

WHAT MORE DID THEY WANT?

It was a chore picking that thing back up, let me tell you, trying to maneuver to a place where the A button would let me collect an item rather than speak to a person.

Tye.... you’re killin’ me, man, you gotta work with me here, come on....

I snapped their pictograph where they sat anyway. For Kapson. I don’t know why.

It was a good pictograph.

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

Waking of Friday, March 17, 2017 ~ 2

Zora’s Domain

I took my time meeting all the Zoras I could. I even found Gruve! So he’d made it down off that tower after all—dived off into the river, he told me. Said he was so deeply moved seeing his reflection in the water as he came down. Said a Zora’s diving form is his most beautiful form, the very pinnacle of grace and beauty. Diving is his favorite thing, you know, and he loves looking for diving spots. But his current favorite is Shatterback Point, at the top of Ploymus Mountain overlooking the Eastern Reservoir. I couldn’t help have seen that one on my map, with a name like that.

But, as Rivan had suggested, in meeting the people I tried to stay away from the elderly—they really didn’t like me around here.

But there was one wizened old dust-red Zora I found gazing into a pool beneath some waterfalls. Kapson was his name, and he told me he tried to condemn the action rather than the person, that he wanted to try to forgive, and that was comforting. He didn’t scowl or sneer or hiss at me like most of the other elders did. “Mortality lays claim to all,” he said, or something like it. I gazed with him a while into the pool, too.

And there was one little girl from the Prince Sidon fanclub, what was her name.... Laruta or Laruto? One of those. She kept singing a song about a scale of light cleaving or separating a veiled fall.... And I’d heard of a Lightscale Trident, and on my map I saw the Veiled Falls....

Things I wanted to keep in mind....

Something else interesting I noted.... Rivan and the elders didn’t seem to be the only ones who recognized me. The innkeeper, a pinkish lady Zora, addressed me excitedly as Linny.

“Linny! It is you, isn’t it!?”

Oh how I grinned at the response which simply read, “Precisely.”

But that wasn’t who I was in this game.

And one of the guards before the throne room, Bazz—though he seemed a little abashed to ask me outright to verify my identity, simply hinted to me that any member of the Big Bad Bazz Brigade would know their secret catchphrase or passcode or whatever it was.... “Fluffy white clouds, Clear blue....”

“Zora?” I supplied.

That was it. Somehow I’d known.

I think.... he said I used to train him. At the sword.

I must have come here often in my previous life.

I wish I could remember....

Whenever I tried to ask people about Mipha, they told me a little bit—she was the Zora Champion, she was Sidon’s elder sister, she had fallen to Calamity Ganon....

“But,” they kept telling me, “you really should hear this from King Dorephan.”

Dorephan. I recognized that name. That was the name of the Zora King who had defeated the Guardian. The account had said he still had a scar upon his head from the battle—a mark of his bravery.

How long do Zoras live?

I also caught a little of what the Zoras—or Prince Sidon anyway—possibly wanted me for. I’d heard that some of the Zoras had tried to quiet Vah Ruta’s ceaseless water-raging by using Shock Arrows. Bazz’s father, the former Demon Sergeant Seggin, was in fact hunched at the top of a staircase poking at a Shock Arrow repeatedly in an attempt to up his tolerance against them—the Zora are weak against electricity you see. They have trouble even touching them. And I recalled that Goron I’d met in the general store saying he was there because Prince Sidon has recruited him to help deal with Vah Ruta “because I can touch Shock Arrows!” He clenched his massive fist and grinned. But Prince Sidon had told him he’d ‘never be able to carry you on my back’....

What did it all mean....?

I wondered....

I really wondered.