THE MOUNTAIN'S CURSE

Waking of Sunday, November 26, 2017 ~ 4

THE MOUNTAIN’S CURSE

I warped to Satori

This was what I made all those Stamina potions for.

Even in the growing light of dawn, the teal haze still cast an otherworldly cloud upon the mountaintop, shutting out all else but that shining, sheening music. The song that felt somehow.... off. Glorious and mystical to be certain, and yet.... not without talons. Not without dread. Not without a gaze that you fear to let meet your own.

I scurried to the top and IT WAS RAINING AND I COULDN’T CLIMB THE STONES, BLAST IT.

I peered between them—the Blue Beast stood in the pool—maybe it was only the rain that kept him from spying me at this distance....

But how was I supposed to get—

Okay, topo, topo—I studied the map, read the lines carefully....

That rock to the left, the one I never climbed, that one seemed to be the least steep one....!

I scrambled for it, slipping time and again in the slick rain BUT SUMMONING MY ENERGIES I MADE IT TO THE TOP. BARELY.

Augh it was nearly MIDDAY at this point. But still the teal spell held....

I paraglided down, trying to turn in the air—for the beast was facing me and I didn’t want to land on it backward—NO IT STARTED TO MOVE I MOVED WITH IT—

I landed on its back. In the right direction.

And it started to buck, and I soothed it like mad, and my stamina burned away, rings counting down so fast, and I ate stamina-filling things, and I soothed, and I ate stamina-things again, again—

AND I SOOTHED IT.

And it stood still.

OH MY GOSH I SOOTHED THIS THING NOW IF I COULD ONLY GET IT.... SOMEWHERE....

I swiveled the camera in a wonder—

IT HAD FOUR EYES, LIKE SOME DOUBLE-FACED JANUS OWL.

FLOOFY ANTENNAE LIKE A MOTH.

THE EYES ALL BLINKED AT DIFFERENT TIMES? Some Greek god reared its dusty head in my memory—

GOLDEN YELLOW CLOVEN HOOVES.

No not golden—like—just a BURNING SUN COLOR.

SUN-COLORED HOOVES.

RUNES ON ITS BODY—

THOSE WERE THE SAME SHAPES AS SHOWED IN MY SHEIKAH SLATE.

THE SAME SWIRLS AS LIVED IN THE EMPTY BLUE BEYOND MY MAP.

THIS WAS THE LORD OF THE MOUNTAIN.

The ground glowed where its feet touched.

Its feet glowed so bright....

I walked it back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in the pool, hardly daring to kick above a canter, there was so little room. I soothed it for its obedience to my every turn and change, but it returned little acknowledgement. It felt so precarious. I’d never yet been bucked off a tamed mount, but.... How could I tell what this one’s limit was?

I would be gentle, until I could get it down from this awful mountain. Study the topography, study the topography, look at the land, find a way please....

I could see a place on my map where the lines seemed farthest apart.... but it was still so steep. I considered the glimmering, rippling rocks in the downpour; the rain would do nothing to help me there.

I started slowly out along a narrow ledge—this had to be the way; the topo didn’t lie—this was the best and only way—

A flash of bright blue in the dark—the blupees still had the run of the mountaintop. No but that one there was.... on flat-ish land just below me and to the left?

I looked again at my map.... now I saw it: a clear winding path cut safely through the jagged elevations. Still steep, but consistent in its descent. How had I never seen that?

....Well, I never was one to give much thought to roads—and that when they were plain.

I turned the Lord of the Mountain back, reached the steady slope, and followed it carefully downward in the drumming rain.

And in just a moment.... the sun came out. And in the warming sunshine I could see the blupees still roamed and there were other animals around.... before the wrack of cloud enfolded us again. We seemed to move in and out of the mist—a normal, grey mist; the teal haze had gone. But the mystical, creeping, piano-string-tight music still watched us intently from every side. Watched me intently. ._.

But at length as we descended further the sun came out the final victor, and even the haunting music melted away.

Man there were goats everywhere.

The Lord of the Mountain had only hearted at me once, maybe twice, up on the gloomy mountaintop, but no more. Not once since then. And yet it did not snort and turn of its own will, or deny the directions I gave it. Did it bond fast?

It seemed to make a tinkling as it cantered over the grass.... like jingle bells....

Miraculously, unbelievably, we reached the level Nima Plain—this glowing, godly, blue thing down on the common sunny grass—and traveled thence to Sanadin Park.... and come Sanadin Park, the Lord of the Mountain followed the path on its own.

Good work.... good work.... well done.... well done.... I chanted under my breath—

It still felt fragile as glass and ice.

We crossed Manhala Bridge, and came into the Outskirt Stable as the sun was readying to set. Oh my gosh when David saw this.... but I was alone right now.

“Looks like you’ve caught yourself a new steed! Do you want to register it?” said Embry.

HECK YES. “Yes, please.”

“Understoo—Uh...” Embry looked up.

“Wh-what is that?

Can that...THING you’re riding be the

fabled Lord of the Mountain?!”

YES AND I WANTED TO REGISTER IT OH MY GOSH THIS WAS GONNA BE AWESOME WHAT WOULD THE TACK LOOK LIKE OH PLZ PLZ PLZ COME ON GAME DO IT....

Embry yelped in fright and trembled where he stood.

“Why in Hylia’s name would you bring

something like that here? We’ll all be

cursed!”

THE TV TURNED OFF BY ITSELF.

At Jeddo Bridge

Waking of Tuesday, May 2, 2017 ~ 2

At Jeddo Bridge

Toffa was the man’s name. The old man at the stable who had asked me to go find the white horse.

I didn’t dare show him until after I’d registered him though; he is willful.

A proud and powerful beast. <3

Toffa was shocked and delighted and dumbfounded and just full of joy. The sight of the pure white horse!

“Son, you just made my life,” he said, “I guess staying alive in this godforsaken land was worth it after all.”

The stories from his grandfather were true. This must have been some grandchild of that stallion from long ago, and it was magnificent. He became wistful. “They say the sight of the Princess riding her white horse was a beauty beyond all words,” he said.

He was so happy to have seen the white horse, that he gave me—the Royal Family’s saddle and bridle?

They were the very same. The same from my memory.

Augh, and how splendid Memory looked wearing them.

Regal and handsome.

I do wonder where and how Toffa came by that tack....

I rode Memory over the road north, all the way to the base of a big hill where we saw a moblin lurking around a bit higher up, and then back again to the stable. Just for us to get a bit more used to each other. The piano rollicked along in our wake all the way like sunlit raindrops, cadencing perfectly when we stopped.

But after that I boarded him again; there were no guarantees of flat ground where I was headed. The Stables would take good care of him while I was out.

I headed north again on foot, crossed Manhala Bridge, crested Sanadin Park Hill, and jogged across the skirts of Satori Mountain. A wide green field lay at its foot to my left—it again looked like a gorgeous place to have a row with something big and mean....

I didn’t stray into it, but kept near the river.

It was quite a long trek, and the rain came again before the end of it, this time with lightning. Strange, it’s become second nature to just switch to non-conductive gear; and if the ground beside me is flash-fried in an earthshaking bolt of electricity, I hardly even bat my eyes anymore at the little grassfires that may be left over.

I neared a very sticky bridge—I mean the sight of it made it seem comprised of just such a mess of sticks.

Was this the rickety-looking bridge I’d seen from below....?

Jeddo Bridge it was called. And shortly before I set foot upon it, I heard once again the sweet, poignant little waltz played on an accordion....

Through the downpour’s haze I could just make out, on the other side of the bridge, perched atop a big craggy hillock like a one-man stage.... Kass. Joying out his song to the wild wild rain in sweetloving abandon like he does. I love that guy. <3

As I crossed the bridge I could tell it wasn’t as rickety as it looked—but did it ever look it. If I didn’t know any better I’d say something huge had taken bites out of it.

Come to think of it, I guess I really didn’t know any better. o.O

I could see the river far below. This was the split that I had been looking for! Excellent.

But I had little time to celebrate because just before I reached the other side of the bridge, three stalmoblins burrowed up out of it and laid me out flat. I very nearly plummeted into the gorge, but only just managed to cling onto the stone just below the bridgeplanks—but I wouldn’t be able to hold on for long in this rain....!

But I looked, and there was a little ledge just below me. I dropped down onto it and sheltered beneath the northern end of the bridge for a while, the stalmoblins jabbing stupidly in my general direction with their spears. But they lost track of me momentarily and only snorfled around for some sign of anything else to harass.

I couldn’t very well climb back up.... I’d make a beautiful target until I reached the top. And besides that it was still raining.

I guessed I’d just have to wait for a change in the weather, or daybreak. Or both.

At length the stalmoblins disappeared and I did make it up to see Kass.

He hadn’t heard me come up on him; he was thinking about his teacher, who had passed away a long time ago. He played me the last song his teacher had taught him, and it spoke a riddle of a single arrow passing through two rings to make a shrine appear....

“Do you suppose it means all these strangely-shaped rocks?” Kass suggested, for there were numerous rings carved from jutting stones all around.

An Odyssean challenge!

Well! :D

I went to it.

It was tricky, as the land was so hilly and angled, and some blue chuchus interrupted me, but eventually I found a couple of rings I could thread a single arrow through. And as I did, the shrine of Sheem Dagoze rumbled out of the earth....

“Kass, look what I did!” I ran back to show him. He was politely astounded. ^_^

I had a warpable right at the root of the split I needed to search. Excellent!

Off-White Memory

Waking of Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Off-White Memory

I stepped out of the Outskirt Stable, it was five o’clock in the morning, the sun was shining.... Time for a new adventure!

Time to go find that other split of the river!

After consulting my compass and buying every arrow Beedle had in stock (it was my first time purchasing arrows), I took off northward, crossing to the west side of the river when I came to Manhala Bridge.

I didn’t care for the path, as usual, but instead scrambled almost straight up the rocky sides of this big hump of earth. Always head to high ground!

It was grassy on top, and—wouldn’t you know it—as I continued north, I did catch a glimpse of a white horse off to my left, just trotting through the rolling flowers. Very pretty.

It wasn’t pure white—its mane was a kind of cream-color.

But I’d say it was definitely a one-color horse.

Still.... I had my own business to attend to. I didn’t change course as it came trotting in my general direction. Would it see me and stop? Whatever it did, I had to keep moving north.

But I paused when I saw some structures just ahead on the other end of this big hill.

Baddies?

I didn’t see any movement. I came closer.

The place was called Sanadin Park Ruins. But it didn’t seem very ruinous. On the contrary it looked.... well quite pleasant still, even after all these years.

Maybe monsters had never come here.

And then, up on top, in the center of the structures, I saw a bit of statuary—a horse.

It was the horse statue from one of Zelda’s pictographs!

I climbed up and took a few more pictographs myself. I’m not sure how the Princess must have managed the angle she got before, but I tried to recapture it as best I could.... I fell over the railing a couple of times.

After one of these times, I ran back round to get on top again, and—

“Glendo?”

Glendo was there on his horse! Out of nowhere! I often saw him at the Outskirt Stable, warning me of the monsters that come out at night....

“Glendo could you clear off, please? I’m trying to have a moment here....”

I milled around on the grass for a while until he finally scooted his horse back toward the stable, muttering something about “something seems off....”

I stopped, thinking to ask him about it, but.... in that moment he got too far away.

I turned back to the statue. Now that I was properly alone with it again, I could get a few more good pictographs....

But very shortly after Glendo had gone, the daylight began to dim. The blue began to brood into a creamy haze, and then a light grey, and then a dark grey, and then.... rain began to fall.

Well.

Not the picturesque reunion I’d been hoping for, but....

Hhhh and all the gay little flowers so sodden.

-_-

But I couldn’t wait there forever.

I stepped in front of the statue, and looked at Zelda’s pictograph....

The sun hung low and the sky was shot with gold. Sunset I think.

Princess Zelda and I rode our horses along that very hill above Manhala Bridge, toward Sanadin Park. Just at a walk.

Her horse was white—it was just like that one I had seen.... all white with a creamy mane. My own horse.... heh, looked kinda like Brown, actually. Dark, with four white socks.

She was just talking. About her horse’s saddle and bridle—very lovely tack, all gleaming and befitting a horse who bears royalty on his back. She said he wore it well.

My horse’s gear wasn’t so splendid—I even had a bedroll behind my saddle. What kind of life did I lead?

She thanked me for some advice—about riding I guess—and then we came to the little deck by the statue, and dismounted.

She stepped toward the railing, and the sun’s light haloed her in a brilliant red glow.

“Do you see that mountain? That is Mount Lanayru, named for the Goddess of Wisdom....”

It was far away.

Zelda said she had prayed at both the Spring of Power and the Spring of Courage, but that neither instance had awoken anything inside her.

She also said that no one under the age of seventeen was allowed to—

She looked again at Mount Lanayru, at whose top was the Spring of Wisdom.

It was a tall mountain, I knew. Treacherously tall.

And then she turned to me again and told me that tomorrow was her seventeenth birthday.

Would she climb the mountain, then?

Her hair was so red....

Rain dripped down my face, and the grass was wet and the flowers were soaked under the grey, grey sky.

Under cover of the downpour, I found the white horse again. The white horse I hadn’t thought much of. But now that I knew what it was.... And it looked just like him, too.... Just like him....

He bucked me off once, and as the rain thinned out and stopped, it was a long crouch through the moonlit grass to sneak up on him again.

The second time I didn’t let go.

It took nearly every stamina-based meal and elixir I had to stay on his back—but I did.

He is strong. He is fierce.

He is WILD.

And I brought him back to the Outskirt Stable. And I registered him there, and I called him....

Memory.

Dead End at Digdogg

Waking of Saturday, April 22, 2017 ~ 3

Dead End at Digdogg

“Where are you going, anyway?” David had asked before, “Where the heck are you?”

“I’m looking for someone,” I kept saying in Luke Skywalker’s voice.

“Who?”

“Her—”

“Princess Zelda?”

“Noooo—”

The right fork of the river twined away between massive, towering cliffs. I saw a rickety old bridge spanning between them on a higher ledge.... seemed like a great nest for baddies to hide out....

But per David’s suggestion, following the left fork, which followed the map line, did seem like a sound plan....

Surely the river that led to this Lake Hylia would be important enough to have map-boundaries drawn along it....

And so the left fork it was.

I still didn’t let on much about my plan to David, though.

The water was flowing roughly southward now, and I was still on the outside—the west side now. The dangerous lands of the castle were on the east.

My path took me along a high ledge on a great beige cliff face. It had been raining—maybe that thunderhead from before had finally caught up and swept across my path. But as I skirted over the living stone, the rain began to thin to just a few spitty drops, and the sun began to shine through....

And it became so bright....

The mist left over from the rain was blinding!

“It’s SO—BRIGHT,” I exclaimed to David, who could see this quite clearly.

“WHY IS IT SO BRIGHT?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

I turned this way and that. The cliff face reflected the sun’s light like a solar oven panel, bouncing it into the lingering moisture—

“WHY IS IT SO BRIGHT?” I yammered again.

“I don’t know!” David shouted, laughing.

I was getting low on sleep.

Utterly bewildered, I ran ahead through the impossible brightness....

I did stop briefly to search out another ruin—this one on the castleward side of the river, though it appeared safe enough to have a look....

The ruin was flooded, up to the depth of about my knees. Watergrass and floating leaves parted at my passing.

There were a few things to loot, guarded only by a couple of near-sighted lizalfos. The first one went down like a charm, but the second one gave me a fright when he pulled back on a nocked Shock Arrow.

But my blade cut him down before he could let fly.

And after looting the whole place—I COMMANDEERED A CONVENIENT RAFT AND FINALLY USED MY KOROK LEAF TO GO BOATING DOWN THE RIVER!

I might have accidentally killed some ducks with my boat.

I will eat them later with much gratitude.

I rafted and rafted until I came to a little bokoblin camp, grounded my boat and promptly slaughtered the lot of them.

But the river split again!

This time I took the right fork; it seemed deeper, a heavier flow.... But owing to some obstacles in the way, I had to leave my raft behind.

I passed a Gleeok Bridge.

I hoped there wouldn’t be any nearby. o__o

And then I passed a Manhala Bridge.

My goodness, or any of those either! Spelling notwithstanding.

And after a little waterfall, I finally came to a Digdogg Suspension Bridge!

There was a Hinox sleeping on it.

Well.... on a small landmass in its midst, anyway.

There didn’t seem to be any Gleeoks or Manhandlas or Digdoggs about.... but I was certainly enjoying these lovely bridge names.

My Shrine-detector had been beeping at me—and I saw the culprit structure far below me at the water’s level beneath Digdogg Suspension Bridge.

It was a long way down, but, after considering and finding myself with nothing much left to do on the cliff-face, I leapt off the edge, floated laterally to just about where the shrine was, and—at David’s insistence—HALO jumped down to it.

I completed it, collected a Spirit Orb, came out, and was delighted to find another boat available to use. And I did use it, for a while, all around the expansive sort of little lake beneath where the Hinox slumbered.

But....

BUT....

This waterway....

This waterway had come to an end.

I boated around beneath the suspension bridge, but....

There was nowhere else to go.

This was not Lake Hylia.

The little right fork had been a dead end.