Words of Wisdom

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 10

Words of Wisdom

Maybe if I hadn’t been so low on sleep.... I might have reveled in it a bit more—rescuing lost adventurers from the Bokoblins.... Wasn’t this the kind of stuff I kept hoping would turn up in Mei’s sidequest....?

I ran and paraglided my way back to Gerudo Canyon Stable.

The five oily friends were gathered around the warmth of the wok-fire, the resident shepherd dog lounging in their midst.

I spoke to Sesami first:

“Oh, hey! I’ve been waiting for you.

You saved them! I thought my friends

were dead, but you brought them all

back to me!

I can’t thank you enough.

My friends said you were outnumbered,

but you were still able to take those

monsters down with style.

As soon as they all got back safely, a

wave of emotion washed over me.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

I want you to have this.”

Sesami handed me a gold rupee—its radiant golden shine illuminated my soul.

“Sorry it’s so small. Everyone chipped in

for it, but we’re in the middle of

traveling, y’know?

In a way, I’m kind of glad all of this

happened. It’s helped me realize just

how important friendship is.

Opening up to others might make you

more vulnerable, but it’s also the only

way to give your life any value.

That said, caring for others is an

emotional liability, so my friends and I

have all decided to part ways.

Not really sure what the takeaway is

here...”

The banner bearing the title of the sidequest—Missing in Action—flashed across the top of the screen. Status: Complete.

But I still spoke to the adventurers. Flaxel was next:

“I was gonna yell at Sesami for leaving me

to die, but as soon as he saw my face, he

looked like he was gonna start sobbing...

I can’t be mad at him for being scared.

That’s just the way he is.”

She smiled and gave a friendly sigh.

“Anyway, thanks for the help. If I ever get

the chance to save you, I’ll take it.”

And then Canolo:

“If you hadn’t come along...”

She shuddered.

“Thanks for saving me.

I had no idea traveling was so

dangerous. There was nothing like this

in the travel guidebook...

I guess you can’t assume to know

anything until you experience it for

yourself.

But at least I’ve figured out that traveling

isn’t my thing. I’m going to rest here

awhile and then head back home.”

And with a smiling laugh she added as an afterthought:

“I get the feeling that going home isn’t an

option for you, so take care of yourself

out there.”

It was nice to see that the women had calmed down and made up.

Of the four recently returned adventurers, only Oliff was on his feet. He leaned against a stack of nearby crates:

“Your swordsmanship...

It was something straight from the tales

of the legendary hero said to have saved

Hyrule during the Great Calamity!”

I must say it does give me a right sheepish little smile when they bring that up.

“Those dusty old legends are a hundred

years old, but here you are in the flesh!

A modern-day hero!”

He cleared his throat.

“Excuse me for prattling on.

I’ll take my leave now. Thank you again.”

But the NPC didn’t go anywhere. He just stood there with his steely gaze. Like they do.

I rather like that one; he seems a noble swordsman. I truly hope I meet him again in the game some time.

Palme was the last adventurer I spoke to:

“I asked Sesami why he didn’t come to

save me.

He spouted some garbage about the

sword of legend in an attempt to dodge

the conversation.

I thought Sesami was a big wuss, but

then I realized that I’m the wussiest of

all.

Instead of trying to help myself out of

that mess, I cowered and waited for

someone else to help me.

That’s why I’ve decided to split from the

group. I need to stop relying on others

to help me and help myself instead.”

And here he gave a hopeful smile.

“And maybe once I learn to help myself,

I’ll be able to help others.

Like you helped me.”

And on those words from the last adventurer, and glancing at the brightness of the sunlight peeping beneath the dining room curtains.... I called it quits, and started my morning.

I’d been taking a small, evening class on Thursdays—almost an informal get-together, really—and we would just discuss the principles of self-reliance. Avoiding debt, working smarter and harder, maintaining budgets, the importance of networking, of identifying good vocational fits....

It was just a really nice assortment of basic life skills that.... honestly, why don’t they teach those in college?

Oh yeah, because then they couldn’t rope you into being their debt-slave.

They never caught me accepting a student loan. Ugh.

Thanks for teaching me to be money-wise, Mom and Dad.

Some principles I had learned long ago. Some tips and tricks were revelatory and new. Some practices I knew about.... but didn’t practice.

But the whole basic end of it all....

The whole point....

Hahh, that the entirety of our exertions, the culmination of all our aspirations in and out of that class.... should then and there be spoken back to me so succinctly, so precisely, so simply, by that pudgy little man with the unflattering haircut.

“Maybe once I learn to help myself,

I’ll be able to help others.”

Maybe that’s why it just so happened to strike me so deeply that sleep-deprived morning. Heh, the bell it rang was so loud and clear I couldn’t help grinning as I shut down the console.

Why do we learn to help ourselves?

So we can have enough in life.

And with enough in life, we are able to help others.

And why do we help others?

Because.... that’s the only way to give our lives any value.

Search and Rescue

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 9

Search and Rescue

The Kousok Plateau turned out to be one of the wide mountain shelves overlooking the canyon I had ridden through to get to the Gerudo Canyon Stable.

Now, I had seen, many times, quite plainly, the expansive network of footpath-scaffolds anchored into the sheer rock walls of this canyon—of Gerudo Canyon. I had wondered if they were of Gerudo make.

And you know, maybe they were and maybe they weren’t; I suppose it doesn’t matter.

Because whoever made them, the Bokoblins had them now.

At some point, I ventured off the shelf of Kousok Plateau and down into this wooden tangle. And as soon as I saw who was home, on went the Bokoblin Mask.

It was certainly an interesting plane to explore. I had seen it back in the trailer—Link had backflipped in slow motion out of reach of a monster, and then launched a volley of spear-jabs....

I didn’t suppose I would find myself in that situation now, not with the mask on, and that was fine with me. I had to wrap up soon so I could start the new day.

Don’t stay up all night, kids. @_@

Bokoblins eyed me curiously as I squeezed past them on the narrow walkways, following me and trying to strike up snorting conversations. Islander Hawks circled the sky at my level. I updated my Compendium with a really splendid pictograph of one. ^_^

But I had no more excuses—the insistent, responsible draw of the stable and a stopping point pulled me onward as I dragged my feet through every step I could savor.

And then I noticed a commotion.

Beneath a tented platform at the dead end of one scaffold, two Bokoblins were yammering and stomping and swinging at.... a person.

Why.... that must’ve been one of the people who had gone missing—one of the oily guys!

Deliriously hungry to extend my distractions, I ran in to help—and the oily guy.... was an oily girl. She cried for assistance.

The Bokoblins seemed to debate about what to make of me, until I started hitting them. After that they gave me only a little bit of trouble before I had dispatched them both.

The woman stood panting, and I spoke to her. Her name was Flaxel. She had short brown hair and an attractive face. I asked her if she knew Sesami, and told her that he had asked me to come find his friends.

“You mean Sesami’s been kicking back at the stable this whole time?” she shrieked.

Actually he had seemed really, really worried, but I didn’t get a chance to tell her that.

She did thank me for getting her out of a tight spot, and then huffed off toward the stable, ready to give Sesami a piece of her mind, looked like.

Huh. Well that was one person saved. There had been four....

But maybe.... the rest would be easy to stumble across as well.

And as it turned out.... they rather were.

I found a somewhat heavyset woman called Canolo next, in a similar predicament, and her reaction was much the same as Flaxel’s had been. Her pink overcoat, high, dark pigtails, and pouty face did little to aid any justification she may have tried to display in her outburst.

How could they be so angry? I thought. If it’d been me, I don’t think I’d have room to be angry, for the mountains of relief I would feel.

Then again.... I suppose they are female.

(We can be craaazyyyy....)

I found a man next, lithe and lean-bodied, with dark hair in a ponytail, and steely eyes. He seemed to be standing a little more confidently against his opponents, but he welcomed my help all the same, and a little more graciously at that. His name was Oliff, and he complimented me on my swordsmanship. He was happy to learn what had become of Sesami, and where he could be found, and he set off at a confident stride toward the stable.

One left.

It took some scouting and backtracking, but after a short time I came to one more soul with his back against the wall.

This man had a dark, somewhat unflattering haircut and a pudgy face, and his name was Palme. He did not seem quite as able as Oliff had been, nor was he as waspish as Flaxel or Canolo. He was just a man, and he was simply grateful for my help and information. And he hurried on his way.

I looked at the clock.

I.... kind of had to hurry on my way, too.

The four missing persons were rescued; it was time to head back to the stable.

A Climb about the Canyon

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 7

A Climb about the Canyon

It was well past midnight, and I really, really did need to get to bed and to sleep.

I wanted to end the session, but.... maybe just one more thing first....

I rode a bit further on from the Gerudo Canyon Stable, and the canyon came to an abrupt end at the edge of a vast and sandy desert scape. I tried Dragmire at the edge of the desert, but he would go no further. There was something of a small ledge that dropped down several feet, and so I tried him again at the high end of a ramp that seemed meant for foot traffic.... but he wasn’t having it.

So I ran him back to the stable and boarded him.

That would be the last thing I did. Maybe.

It didn’t seem like it would hurt just to talk to the stable people first.

Beedle was there—no, I wasn’t going to trade him my Energetic Rhino Beetle; most of his trades seemed like not such great deals anyway. And Kass was there—he said he was impressed with me for having come so far! “Even I, blessed with the gift of flight, had trouble getting here,” he said.

I did not stay to listen to his song, though.

A man named Sesami told me he and his friends had been jumped by some baddies around such-and-such plateau, and they were lost and would I please go help to find them. Their names were Oliff, Flaxel, Canolo and Palme.

What an oily-sounding bunch. XD

And then there was an old man who was in need of Rushrooms. He wanted to gather a bunch of them, but he was too old and frail to climb up to where they grew on the cliff walls.

AND WOULD I PLEASE HELP HIM.

Well that.... didn’t seem like too much work.

Maybe I would just dart up and grab him the Rushrooms—they grew everywhere around here it seemed—and I would make THAT the last thing I did before I went to bed.

It turned out he needed quite a few of them—certainly more than I had on me; I never gather those things....

And so I climbed a few hills, climbed a few cliffs, up the one side of the canyon, the side overhanging the ground where the stable stood.... And then I decided to check out the side across the way, the hilly side that mounted up beyond the Kay Noh Shrine.

I’d been curious about that side. Huge and angular steps of grey stone stood in stark contrast to the beigeruddy, windswept curves of the rest of the canyon. A castle among the cliffs.

No, not a castle—a fortress.

It was hard not to see the old Gerudo’s Fortress in those shapes.

There were no doors in these stones, though. Only a few ladders and pulleys led the way to the top.

Up and up and up I climbed.... losing track of everything. Weird scapes opened up before my eyes. Strange lands and monumental shapes. It was as if I had entered a Land of Goddesses; a ring of Desert Colossi stood ancient and imposing, facing inward together as if in prayer.

Away out in the desert, I saw the Divine Beast stomping around.

And looking up.... there was the Sheikah Tower.

It was quite close.

Should I....?

....

I debated.

.......

The hour was so late....

. . . . . . .

Was that the sun?