Never The End

Evening of Wednesday, June 19, 2019 (comprised of many raw note editings from May 1 through May 10, 2023 that I really hope sound consistent because I left it alone for too long) ~ 5

Never The End

Credits.

It was really the Credits.

The game was done.

The game.... was done.

I let them wash over me.

And as they rolled, Mom asked, “Are there going to be any more Zelda games?”

Ah-heh, well.... I knew just the thing to show her.

But for whatever reason I kept it inside and only probed what she knew....

“Why do you ask?” I said, letting just a little tightness into my voice, and wondering what she suspected.

“I don’t want you to commit suicide.”

Oh.

Oh Mom—

I don’t remember if—I don’t think I responded, but only.... went back into the credits.

We were looking at the pictures, and I was identifying them.... And I saw the American’s name! Wow! He was one of only two programmers for the wildlife! They did such a wonderful job. ^_^ And I was so happy for him for going so far to follow his dream....

....

Mom.

....

I guess if someone who loves you sees you wounded, and hears you name your salve, even in dark jesting.... they don’t forget it easy.

I don’t even know if the cure is real or psychosomatic.

Maybe it doesn’t matter.

These were the most relaxing credits I had ever seen in my life. At least, that I could think of just then. Slow through the serene iterations of familiar musics.

I gave a little cheer at the name of Eiji Aonuma! And did some up-and-down worshipful bowing from the couch. Mom laughed.

And I gave another at Shigeru Miyamoto!

And at.... Satoru Iwata.

I told Mom that he’d passed away.

Still glad to see his name in this beautiful game.

The Legend of Zelda ~ Breath of the Wild

Copyright 2017

Or some such words.

This last segment came to a stop and hung still in the middle of the screen.

2017.

Two years ago.

I can still remember standing in the cold outside the GameStop. I was first in line. And that employee with the glasses and the handsomely-trimmed scruff had been so friendly. Despite that he almost forgot to give me my amiibos as well.... See the preorder receipt.... ?

It’d been a long journey.

The serene credits finished into a breathless black.

And then.... the Castle....

I had never seen it so still and sunlit before.

Birds even chirped.

Zelda and I stood before the ruined gates in the sunlight. I in my blue Champion’s Tunic, she still in her beautiful White Dress.

The malice was gone.

And the Castle was in ruins.

But.... it was quiet now.

It was at peace.

We looked on it.... and then turned our backs to go.

....as high above among the spires, the spirits of the Four Champions.... and lastly of Her Father....

                                                                                    ....departed from this world.

Seeming to sense something, Zelda stopped and looked back.

So did I—

A blue breeze was blowing through the air....

The sky was full of Silent Princess petals.

But the Princess only gazed up at her once home, the sun beyond beaming it into a silhouette.... into a line.... into a memory....

The Piano that had softly accompanied us, having had no real aim for the spotlight anymore, now turned the final notes of its wanderings to the familiar ascending Theme of Legend, as the view arced up into the blue, blue sky....

The End

But it wasn’t.

We were on a hillside. Zelda and I.

Somewhere southeast of the castle, seemed like....

Zelda once again wore the blue tunic and dark trousers in which she had so often traveled in my memories. Boots and all. She held the Sheikah Slate in her hands.

“We’ll make our way to Zora’s Domain. Divine Beast Vah Ruta...looks like it stopped working. Let’s investigate the situation.”

There was something there, I thought. Something in that last sentence. A kind of spark.

The Princess was still a nerd.

And confident, and brilliant, and determined.

She was going to make it.

But her glittering eyes softened after a moment, and she looked up.

“Mipha’s father...” she murmured, “I believe he would like to hear more about her. The least we can do is visit him and offer him some closure.”

The Piano and the Pipe courted about the hillside on the simple Hero’s Theme, as the sun shone so brightly on the rolling grass.

“Although Ganon is gone for now, there is still so much more for us to do.”

Some clouds still rolled between, though.

“And so many painful memories that we must bear.”

The Princess took a few steps forward down the hill, standing confidently.

“I believe in my heart, that if all of us work together... we can restore Hyrule to its former glory. Perhaps...even beyond.” Right on that hopeful secondary dominant, Pipe, you dastardly genius.... “But it all must start with us,” Zelda finished.

The dancing pair on the grass invited the rest of the Orchestra to the theme.

“Let’s be off,” Zelda said. And started walking straightaway.

Like she did.

And.... I followed. That gilded sheath still bearing the Master Sword on my back.

Ah.... our horses. Grazing higher up the hill.

And hers so white—was that Memory she was riding, then?

It suited her.

....

It suited them both.

Zelda came near to them, but.... stopped before she got there.

I was once again faced, as I had been many times before, by only her unreadable, lovely blonde mane of hair....

It wasn’t long before she spoke.

“I can no longer hear the voice within the sword,” she halted again.

I knew that she had yearned for some connection, some awakening. To lose it again....

“I suppose it would make sense if my power had dwindled over the past 100 years...”

Princess Zelda turned then and looked at me, and even the Orchestra took pause.

The wells of her eyes ran for a thousand miles and looked.... tired of it.

But she allowed the sorrow only a moment’s heaviness on her gaze before softly blinking it away with a little turn.

“I’m surprised to admit it...” she started, and something else shaped her lips now. Something brighter, as she faced me directly. “But you know? I think I’m all right with that,” she said.... and smiled.

And the Deku Tree was right.

She did have a smile like the sun.

And I jogged just a few paces to come even with her, and follow her to the horses, as the camera swept back from the beautiful, sunlit hillside, up the slope to where the Silent Princess flowers grew all over, in the lofty heights overlooking the ruggedly beautiful kingdom of Hyrule.

The End

.....

There’s a star by my last save file.

....

I’ma look at it.

2 Spirit Orbs

118 Shrines

534 Koroks

2089 Rupees

In the castle.

And I have the pictograph of Ganon’s butt.

So.

Do I go seek shrines from here?

Or from a previous save?

If I wish to maintain this choice....

I cannot move.

....

Hm.

I quit for now.

.... Soon.

If I were to go back to a previous save, wherein I had not beaten the game yet....

That would do no justice to the adventure I just completed.

.... I feel as though I faced the same thing in.... Skyward Sword.... somewhere....

Yes. I quit for now.

....

I’m still short two shrines.

But.... should I say....

You know?

I think I’m all right with that.

 

 

 

Privy Thoughts Again

Evening of Wednesday, June 19, 2019 (comprised of many raw note editings from May 1 through May 10, 2023 that I really hope sound consistent because I left it alone for too long)

Privy Thoughts Again

I had asked the interwebs the previous day. Or the day before. For help. Help on the last two shrines. There was no answer for a long time.

But there was an answer today.

But I didn’t look at it. Because David.... encouraged me not to. He told me I was like the church member who finally just said That’s it I’m gonna try a beer, and then ALL my friends who drink would be like NONONONONO DON’T DO THAT??

Keepin’ me on the straight and narrow.

So I left the thread alone.

And I never went back.

That teaser for a Breath of the Wild sequel came out the other day.... I saw Link and Zelda traveling underground..... leading some large, horned pack-beast.... and Zelda had cut her hair!

And I just thought Underground.... underground....

If I play that game.... and I don’t meet up again with Master Kohga....

If Master Kohga doesn’t appear again with his antics

and all his silly dialogue....

If I don’t get to kick that guy’s butt again

until he becomes a good guy,

becomes a part of my nakama,

becomes my Friend....

Well that would just be the saddest panda.

~

Is nakama even the right word?

I can’t remember my Japanese art history class....

~

I had only one hundred and eighteen shrines.

....

I must....

I must look forward.

I cannot see another way....

Do I dawdle?

Do I try?

Where do I go?

....

My shoulder was too girly and roundy; no way the Little Link was gonna stay put there. I reclined him comfortably on the couch beside me instead.

....

I saved.

I went.

And I was in the Library. In a little concealed hidey-hole that had somehow always escaped my notice until now, hidden behind another Magnesable bookshelf at the head of the room.

The King’s Study.

Saved here, and....

There was a chest, with a gold rupee inside it, and....

There was a book.

Sitting open on a stately desk.

King Rhoam’s Journal.

The Writings of

Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule

Today, as the sun rose and a new day

was born, my daughter, too, joined this

sweet world.

Oh.... such a span of years in this journal!

In keeping with the traditions of

the royal family, I have decided

to name her...Zelda.

I am not a man accustomed to frivolous

musings, but now seems as good a time

as any to begin my royal memorandum.

Next.

Reports keep arriving regarding the

excavation of relics. The fortune teller’s

predictions seem to be coming true.

That Fortune-Teller again....

Calamity Ganon was not a figure of fable,

or even of legend. He actually existed in

our great land of Hyrule.

What was that even like? To not know, to have him be so distant.... So distant it feels like just a legend. A story....

We must investigate all the relics, learn

as much as we can. But understanding

the Divine Beasts alone will take time...

Zelda’s eyes lit up like a wildfire when

I told her about the relics... I must admit,

she has a knack for research.

The King admits it.... But.... He still must have felt the sway of the mighty responsibilities on their shoulders....

Next.

My Queen has left this world. [Oh....] Her death

was so sudden and unexpected, I awaken

most nights unsure if she is really gone.

Zelda never cried, never faltered. [No?] Not

even during the royal funeral or later

when she and I were alone with our grief.

I must assume her strength is a result of

us repeatedly informing her of her duty

to be a valiant and steady princess.

I wonder.... That woman from her dream....

For a child of merely six [Six??] years of age,

her conduct was truly that of a born

leader. Her strength gives me hope.

From now on, I must raise her all alone...

Now, only I remain to prepare her for her

difficult future as princess of Hyrule.

I wonder.... if there have ever been Hyrulean Princesses who were not named Zelda....

Next.

Zelda finally reported back after her visit

to the fountain. [Oh not this day already, surely....] It seems her sacred

sealing power has still yet to awaken.

It has been a year and three months

since her mother passed. [Oh, no, she was younger then.... a different fountain maybe....] Perhaps she is

held back by heartache too deep to heal.

If the Ganon prophecy wasn’t looming

over our heads, I would tell her to take

her time... To wait until she is ready.

They—or he—did feel the pressure, then.

But our situation is dire and leaves no

room for weakness—even on behalf of

my beloved daughter.

It.... must have been hard. For him.

My heart breaks for Zelda, but I must act

as a king, not a father. I must order her

to train relentlessly at the fountain.

Next.

I was told Zelda went off to research

ancient technology, so I had no

choice but to confront her about it.

That day.

She claims she was simply using her day

off from training to indulge in a bit of

research, but still I scolded her.

She won’t get it through her head...

Forcing me to tell her the same thing

I have been repeating ad nauseam.

No but she must have known.... But felt so helpless....

The reason her sacred powers still won’t

awaken is because she’s spending all her

efforts playing at being a scholar!

Huhhhh.

Next.

In truth, I understand Zelda’s feelings.

Painfully so. She lost her mother, her

teacher, before she could learn from her.

Ten pointless years of self-training,

without so much as a book or note

to help her find her way...

It sounds.... hard.

Those in the castle talk behind her back.

And I, her only family, scold her for

her shortcomings.

Hhhhh.

No wonder she wishes to hide away in

her beloved relic research. I’d love

nothing more than to console her...

These two poor hard lost souls.

But I must stay strong. She MUST

fulfill her duty, just as we all must.

Even if she comes to despise me.

I cannot fault him. He is being a father. He is being a man.

Next.

I have been told my Zelda went to the

Spring of Wisdom...

Not this day.

This will likely be her last chance. [....Does he.... sense something, somehow?]

If she is unable to awaken her power

at Lanayru, all hope is truly lost.

No.

Please, do not tell me the King died thinking ruin and calamity had come upon him because of his daughter....

If she comes back without success,

then I shall speak kindly with her.

Scolding is pointless now.

Lost.... lost....

Lost chances.

I forced 10 years of training on her...

and after all that, it seems her power

will stubbornly awaken some other way.

Perhaps I should encourage her to keep

researching her beloved relics. They may

just lead her to answers I can’t provide.

For now, I sit anxiously, more a father

than a king in this moment. I sit and

await my daughter’s return.

....

That.... is the end.

This study.

....

I wonder how it ended for him.

....

I have to go.

I will try to make my way to the top.

After I save again....

~

 

Rhoam's Gift

Continuation of Friday, May 10, 2019 (including raw note editings from April 5, 2023 through April 10, 2023 that I really hope sound consistent because I left it alone for too long)

Rhoam’s Gift

I leapt off the Observation Room’s balcony, due south for Castle Town.

It was night.

The Malcontent Piano was different at night. Only fitful, having nightmares.

Back in the town I was showing David the terrifying trick to Stasising sleepy Guardians and making them fall into oblivion.... when there was a Blood Moon.

The unholy smoke was so unwelcome as it began to drip up from the ground. In a place like this.... I was on the fountain in the ruined central square when midnight struck.

“Not like this,” I imitated Dean’s voice.

When the warning vision faded and I came back, one newly revitalized Guardian targeted me. I killed it before warping to the Plateau Tower.

I went to the Temple of Time to pray, but received no answers about shrines.

I climbed up into the Temple’s high chamber, but King Rhoam wasn’t there.

So I went to Rhoam’s old house. There was.... a chest.

I blinked, and opened it.

A Warm Doublet?

I.... I have his Warm Doublet now.

I looked at the Old Man’s Diary on the table:

Link...

Oh.

Bit by bit, you may come to realize who

I am. I am sorry for not revealing my

true identity to you sooner.

Have I.... seen this before?

The truth is, after you awoke from your

long Slumber of Restoration, I did not

know how to tell you all there was to say.

Read more:

Perhaps deceiving you was not the right

thing to do. Still...you must admit I put

on a great performance!

Heh, you sure did. Had me fooled, that’s for sure.

But all joking aside...what I ask of you

is of the utmost importance, dear hero.

I implore you, with all my heart...

defeat Calamity Ganon and save

my precious daughter, Zelda.

I understand this is no simple task I am

asking of you, but I know beyond a

shadow of a doubt that you can do it.

I.... have faith in myself too, it’s just....

I do not doubt it for a moment. I see

courage in your eyes, just as I did

100 years ago. I believe in you, Link.

....Thank you, King Rhoam.

Read more:

Ah, yes, one more thing. I have left the

warm doublet here as a gift of sorts.

I’m sure it will be useful on your journey.

Heh, wish I’d known to come back here, back then.

You can also weather the cold with

cooking alone, but I caution against it.

There is no time for recklessness.

Good idea.

We are all counting on you.

....

That was all there was.

....

I could sleep in his little hut if I wanted to.

Hm but I did need more arrows.... I got down to nine for the first time in a long time.

....

I’m just gonna go plunder every town I know for arrows.

I hit Kakariko and cleaned it out.

But at Hateno.... I actually decided to make another stop first.

My closet was in a precarious situation.

I had two Warm Doublets.

And that terrible Sort button loomed threatening to wreak irreparable havoc on all my perfect messy piles.... I didn’t want to lose track....

So.... I decided to go to the Dye Shop, so I could differentiate Rhoam’s gift from the other Warm Doublet.

....

Good gravy. I have never logged about Hateno Village’s Dye Shop.

Well, Hateno did leave me with such a sour and sullen flavor when I first rode in. All these people.... So contented. So convenient. So wrapped up in their yarnball world of happy colors when there were terrors hunting the unwary on the road, just outside the gate.

Hunting me.

Hunting anyone I cared about.

Didn’t they know there wasn’t a thing I didn’t cherish?

Maybe that’s why it was such a pain.

I followed the thoroughfare until I came to the paint-splotched building with the big open wall like a garage. I had passed it many times but never gone further than chatting with the proprietor.

Ah, Zunari, from Wind Waker. That’s who he looked like. I remembered.

No, wait—researching—Doc Bandam, excuse me. That’s who he looked like. The Chu Jelly Shop owner.

But this man’s name was Sayge.

Hah, a colorful name.

“You can’t miss him,” his clappercalling wife had always told me when I passed. And she was right. Just a little way into the building and—the color, the face, the forehead, bare knees, that garish lava-pink combover—had he dyed it himself?

He wore a leather apron over what appeared to be his bare chest, and hanging in its row of loops was an assortment of vials filled with different colored liquids. Splashes and stains of different hues smattered his attire and the workshop at large.

I’d never given this place a try. The taste of the town was just too sour in my mouth when I’d first rode in, on that rainy day so long ago. The unfeeling, heedless color of the place.

Though.... perhaps I oughtn’t to have expected the world to turn for any misery I suffered.

I wanted the man’s service now. I wanted Rhoam’s Warm Doublet to stay its original friendly green. But the one I purchased.... Well, I went to see what Sayge could do for me.

“Hue do you do?” he started off.

Oh boy.

Well at least he loved his work.

It seemed clothing could be dyed for 20 rupees a pop, but it also required me to bring some ingredients of my own.

Well, my pockets were certainly full enough; I didn’t anticipate running tight just there.

Sayge also told me it was the tradition in Hateno to dye a person’s entire outfit, from head to toe, all at once.

Oh gosh, then these splatters on the wall—I wondered. Was he going to blast me with some kind of pressure hose?

He had me stand in a large empty quarter of the room at any rate, and—oh, but the menus were generous in letting me see what different colors would look like. And there were quite a few of them to choose from, too!

The menus also allowed me to get into my inventory to change or rearrange my outfit if I wanted—because it seemed when I previewed a color, the projected outcome of the dye-job was reflected across every item I were wearing.

They really would spray everything at once.

So, I stripped off my pants and whatever was on my head until I stood there in the single, thick winter doublet and nothing else.... except for those first sleek blue undershorts I’d had from the Shrine of Resurrection.

It looked.... kind of ridiculous.

I tried to imagine my Hylian Trousers or the Snowquill Trousers still on me, as I cycled through the different colors for the Winter Doublet.... Some colors looked better than others. Why does navy seem to be so universally appealing? But grey looked nice, too. But.... mmmm.... cold....

I took the Warm Doublet I purchased, and chose.... white.

Oh, but Sayge still needed ingredients from me.

And again the menus offered me all kinds of free-reign; I could even still cancel back out if I wanted—

It’s just that the service seemed so scarily final. I mean, yes, this was just one spare Warm Doublet, but some of my clothes I had worked incredibly hard for!

Who could ever do this to his clothing?

Hhhhh—I flicked through my items. Everything I could use for white dye stood out strong; the rest was greyed out.

Flick, flick, flick.... I scrolled through the pages. Lynel horns? As dye!?

The nerve to even suggest it! Those were hard-won!

I guess they were certainly white enough, though.

How interesting.... the entire spread of everything that Link could carry in his inventory.... That the whole of it should be further engineered to provide a balanced rainbow of hues. Apples for red, rushrooms for purple....

Amazing.

I needed to provide five ingredients, and my store of White Chuchu Jelly was ample enough for that. I loaded up my arms with the stuff, and Sayge took my money. No turning back now.

This was it.

My first time dying something.

“All right then,” said Sayge, “hold on to your britches!”

Uh?

I’m standing there.... holding the Chuchu Jellies.... the camera looming in like a cat out for mischief, while the Piano wound up like a ticking bomb, and then....

The floor fell out from under me! And with a gasp and a start, Link fell into a big VAT below and poof!—

....

I stepped out from the glittering cloud as it dissipated, and looked down at myself.

My clothes were magically dyed.

....

Never done that before.

That was....

Well....

....

Never done that before. XD Heh, delightful.

Sayge complimented my outfit, and then I learned—he could change back any dyed item to its original color if I wanted? For 20 more rupees....

HOOOOO what sighs of relief were mine!

Then, I could try things out with no worries of losing any original coloration forever.... albeit a bit expensively....

Well that was good to know!

Wish he’d let on about that a little sooner....

Ah, delightful and lulzy.... But now.... really I needed to stay focused....

Back to arrow-shopping.

....

....

.......

. . . . . . .

Dang this game preying on my girly need to try on clothes.

NOT RIGHT NOW I need arrows.

LINK IS A MAN AND HE NEEDS HIS ARROWS.

FOR KILLING THINGS.

....

Went to Goron City, but no arrows there. Just some Sugar Cane and Goron Spice.

Went to Gerudo Town; always a good supply. I also stopped at that jewelry shop and got the Opal Earrings and the Amber Earrings. Just because.

Just because of all the outfittery on my brain? I wonder....

Went to Outskirt Stable and found Botrick nearby; bought all his arrows....

When did I start running out of juice?

I warped to the Sho Dantu Shrine and made for the head of Satan Canyon, and the Yiga Hideout. But in going through it I only found that it was eerily empty. What was I looking for?

Could I even tell anymore?

The place was creepy, and so I decided instead to go scope out some cliffside scaffolds on the north side of the Gerudo Highlands, which I didn’t think I had explored before.

But I didn’t find much. Just some ‘Blins to kill, and wolves like gangbusters.

....

I’m going back to the Old Man’s Hut.

I made the old Warm Doublet, the one I had just dyed white, Link’s new pajamas. Those and his Snowquill Trousers. I took everything else off.

8:45 pm.

Slept until the morning.

Good night.