Horse Abuse

Waking of Sunday, November 26, 2017 ~ 2

Horse Abuse

I was going to ride Thrice all the way to Akkala—both to report back to that soldier about Kilton, and to check on what my twelve Ancient Gears could get me from Cherry. I meanwhile left my Sheikah Sensor tuned to fishies in case I encountered any of those along the way!

And as with most of my longer rides it came with a number of stops along the way to throw Bokoblins off the other travelers. Mils and Mina.... Leekah (another rider’s horse actually kicked that Bokoblin something fierce before I finished it off).... Tye and Sorelia (that one I settled from horseback—felt rather proud!)....

I wanted to stop on Thims Bridge to play another water-goal Korok game, but the Octorok gave me trouble before I could blow it up, and I turned and—

Thrice?

Where did Thrice go!?

And then I saw the dark shape swimming in the dimness toward the other shore. Did he jump? Fall off? Did the Octorok hit him?

I ditched the Korok game and swam after him. Thrice!

Forgive me, Thrice....

Sobered, I decided there would be no more fooling around; it was time to continue our journey to Akkala.

Our rainy, rainy journey.

At the South Akkala Stable we came to a fork in the road. Would it be better to head east toward Chariots of Fire Beach? Or north through Shadow Pass?

Mmm, the route seemed shorter through Shadow Pass.... Onward we went.

....And stopped in the middle of the pass to rescue Chabi once more.

Hero work is demanding.

We also met Laroba again on the other side (“Sav’aaq!”), and she shared some new gossip: evidently a rare set of arrows was rumored to rest somewhere inside Hyrule Castle. If I ever found myself exploring that place.

Fat chance at present!

At length we finally arrived at the East Akkala Stable, and I spoke to Hoz the Guard.

He was grateful to see the pictograph of Kilton. But then....

“This will surely help me hunt him down,” he said, and gave me a silver rupee for my trouble.

D:

Mmmmrm but Kilton was helpful!

I guess I don’t really know what else I might have been expecting, given Hoz’s attitude toward the Kilton rumors when I first met him, and the fact that he was a guard....

:c

Huhhh.

....

Huh.  !

....

Good thing that pictograph was only of Kilton’s back.

It was indeed that very one that had had the quest-exclamation-mark affixed to it.

Guess we broke even there.

I thought I could just gallop past the Guardian on the way to Robbie’s; that’s what David said he did.

As it turned out, the Guardian.... had an exceptional range....

It shot Thrice.

Twice.

There were clinging flames.

Forgive me, Thrice.... Oh I was taking him home after this to a stable straight away....

The rain poured again as I walked into the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab.

My Ancient Gears sadly could not afford me any more armor, but I had plenty of Ancient Shafts on me, and I put these toward a bundle of five Ancient Arrows.

They were precious and expensive. I would have to be very careful with them in the future. No more mistakes.

That was one reason I bought the Ancient Helm first: Of the three armor pieces, the helm alone utilized Ancient Shafts, which I knew I would need later for arrow fodder. May as well have gotten the big Shaft-purchase out of the way early on, right?

Now to get Thrice out of here....

I would kill the Guardian first.

The only problem was that it was still raining outside, and the weather had broiled into a storm.

And I had only metal weapons on me.

But I could at least close the distance between myself and my quarry.... and a close lightning strike in front of me proved to be serendipitous as the small fire it sparked gave me an excellent updraft!

I tried and failed to land on top of the Guardian’s head—I’d just wondered if it could be done. It didn’t seem like it.... Would that be like the central space beneath.... Kalle Demos? I can’t believe I remembered that name....

I waited behind the rock until the storm finally blew itself out, and then dispatched the Guardian directly with melee weapons to its awful, wicked eye.

With the road safe and clear I boarded Thrice at the East Akkala Stable.... but I took out Dragmire for more riding.

Do horses heal when they are boarded at a stable, as Hylians heal when they sleep in a bed?

There was something else David had said he had done, with his own acquired Giant Horse from the Lynels’ Corridor (Shooper? Was that what he called that one? No maybe it was Shaq....).

He’d told me, and I’d seem him demonstrate, that the Big Horse was strong enough to just trample whatever baddies were in the way—even Lynels.

Not in one go, of course, but a galloping pass at a stationary Lynel would deal out some degree of damage.

Dragmire did have the greatest level of strength of any horse I had seen.

I wondered if I could make a pattern of David’s hit-and-run technique....

Dragmire and I plunged into the lush lowlands of Akkala, toward Tempest Gulch.

Toward the Lynel.

It.... didn’t work.

The Lynel was bewildered and bebothered for a short time, but there came a point where he’d had enough—and combusting arrows soon followed.

More flames—clinging, searing flames—

I boarded Dragmire again.

My poor babies.

It was enough. It was too much.

No more endangering the horses.

Further Distraction

Waking of Sunday, November 26, 2017

Further Distraction

I went out onto the Sahasra Slope. There had recently been a Blood Moon.

It was time to hunt Guardians.

The one in the gorge—that first terrible moving one I had ever seen—went down without a hitch. Something even happened as I sported with it on the rocky slope—it momentarily tipped over backward, so that I could see a glowing orb of some kind set into its underside—a weak spot?

I would have to research that further.

....Research. What a laughable euphemism.

The second one, across the gorge, was a little more frightening, but I was able to take it down just the same. My Ancient Gear collection was mounting up....!

The third one back toward the village however.... Night was falling just as I engaged that one, and some Stalcreatures burst out of the earth at precisely the wrong moment.

I lost an Ancient Arrow.

And the Guardian was hammering me—

I warped back to Kakariko. Blasted Stalkoblins!

No....

No, it was another case of lack of situational awareness, that’s what it was.

I looked up from the shrine’s warp pad, and saw a familiar canvas peeping between the peaks across the valley.

Kilton was back.

I ran and sailed and climbed my way over to him, and first snapped his pictograph—that soldier from the East Akkala Stable wanted to have that.

But I realized the picture was only of Kilton’s back, and the beak-like tatter of his hood. So I drew his attention so that he turned around, and snapped another pictograph.

The quest-exclamation-mark was still affixed to the back-picture in my album, though. Hm.

Eh, whatever.

Kilton had some new wares for me to look at—a Lizalfos Mask.... and a Monster Saddle and Monster Bridle. OuO

I was more careful with my Mon-accruing this time, trading easily replaceable monster bits for just enough currency to pay for those three items.

Heh, the Lizalfos Mask is great. My head twitches just like a bird’s. XD

But I also wanted to see how that new tack looked!

Wanting to keep to the road, I only warped to the Dueling Peaks Stable, wondering if perhaps I could change tack there.

It was raining when I arrived. Hino griped to me that he couldn’t see the moon in this weather. But what was more, everyone was inside! I couldn’t ask anyone about my horse’s gear.

So I warped on ahead to the Outskirt Stable; the weather was clear there.

I had the girl put the Monster Tack on Thrice. (I was sure he’d be okay with it. He’s been around Bokoblins before after all.)

It looked wicked! OuO XD

Tattered and ragged, patched and uneven, homespun as if by spiders from a forgotten cave on Halloween night.... with scary polo wraps to match! C8

It was cool! XD

And Thrice’s entire head was covered—except for one ear, I think—and he had those bulging mesh eye-covers—and mean-looking kind of plates down the back of his neck—it looked so scary! XD

Hah, I’d love to see David’s reaction when he sees me riding with that gear! ^_^

The Ultimate Game

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 3

The Ultimate Game

It was strange remembering that there were other climes I loved. There were too many mysteries on the volcano; I wasn’t ready to leave them unsolved.

But at length I paraglided down to the Foothill Stable. There was something I’d seen David do in his game.... maybe it was the only thing that could get me to finally come down, for I wanted to try it, too....

~

David had been at the Outskirt Stable. I had directed him there and told him there was a man named Trott who would buy his Raw Gourmet Meat for a hundred rupees a cut.

And as he visited around with the other people at the stable, he came to that girl by the stalls and manger, and she made the offer to style his horse’s mane and tail.

“They can change the mane and tail design?” David blurted through an open grin.

“Yeah,” I said, and then added wryly, “Man, you really don’t talk to anyone, do you?”

David laughed.

I guess we’re each ahead of the other in our own ways.

I myself hadn’t even looked at the mane designs. But David did then, with.... Shooper I think was that particular horse’s name.

There were so many fun and amazing styles.... XD

~

Now at the Foothill Stable below the volcano, I took out Brown. I knew I could have just warped, but....

I like riding the roads.

I rode Brown aaaall the way to Kakariko Village, by way of the Sahasra Slope, and then aaaall the way to the Outskirt Stable.

But.... I couldn’t bring myself to do up his mane and tail. He just looks so good the way he is!

Thrice, however, I gave a long mane and tail, reminiscent of his wild upbringing.

And Memory? Mmm with his royal tack he did not look out of place wearing braids. Ehhhhhh BECAUSE.

And as long as I had a mount under me, thinking of new lands and new stables.... I decided it was time I took the road out across and beyond Digdogg Suspension Bridge.

And so Memory and I set out toward the desert canyon....

But we hadn’t been traveling for more than five or ten minutes—game minutes no less—before my swiveling view gave me a glance of Satori Mountain.

It was lit up.

The sun wasn’t even down.

I looked at the clock: the time was five pm, and the whole of the night lay ahead of me.

....

I brought Memory to a screaming halt, dashed back to the stable, and boarded him again.

I wanted to try and catch those Blupees at their meeting!

When I warped to Satori Mountain it was raining, and I shivered in the cold, but my Warm Doublet was enough for that.

I hiked up the slippery slope to the three-way crevasse at the mountain’s peak, and creeping forward to the highest split, I once again saw those little blue rabbitkabobs visiting with each other in the ghostly teal haze.

I was able to snap their pictograph this time. Blupees, my Compendium said.

Huh, from David’s mention of their name I’d thought of it spelled ‘blupies’ in my head.

Ah well.

I edged toward them, wondering how they would react—

There was something else in the clearing beyond.

Big. And glowing.

Crystal-blue like the rabbits.

Was this the Beast that Quince had told me about so long ago?

I snapped this one’s pictograph, too. And—

The Lord of the Mountain, my Compendium called it.

Huh. o.o

This was that beast.

It pawed the ground like a horse, looking about like a nervous deer, and its face.... made me think of an owl for some reason. Strange antlers sprang from its crown.

The ultimate game, I thought.

Wasn’t that what somebody had said?

Satori Mountain was the place to find game.

And this Lord of the Mountain.... wasn’t this the ultimate game?

I nocked an Ice Arrow, took aim, and let fly.

The thing reared and froze and I was paragliding in. The nearby blupees scattered and disappeared. I hit the beast again and again while the ice held, but when it finally broke free—

It vanished.

It was gone.

All the blupees were gone, too.

And the night was clear; the teal haze evaporated, and I could see the stars.

It seemed the mountain wouldn’t light up anymore, if that one got scared off.

The Long Way Back

Waking of Wednesday, May 10, 2017

The Long Way Back

I shared a somewhat.... irksome exchange with David the other day, as I lamented to him about all the dead-ended rivers I had searched. I told him I had searched every waterway downstream from the wetlands, and that none of them led to Lake Hylia.

And in a terrible digging voice and with shrewdly narrowed eyes he answered, “Are you sure?”

Well.

I did wonder about that lake beneath Digdogg Suspension Bridge, and I hiked to the actual bridge (upon which I had never set foot) to have a look. In skirting round the sleeping Hinox and peering down over the edge, the water really did seem to come to a dead end just there.

But I wanted to be thorough. I pressed on into the desert landscape of the other side, had it out with a couple of mounted bokoblins—and one of their horses, a pretty, peach-dusty thing with a sandy mane, decided he didn’t want me on his back, and promptly jumped us both into the drink.

David lost it completely.

I just.... blinked.

....

The horse looked like a good mount, but I had no stamina for swimming after him, and so warped to the shrine just away beneath the bridge. After that it was a boat-ride back to the waterfall, a quick ascension in my Zora Armor, and.... I was still quite far away from where I had been....

But, as I was so close to the Great Plateau, I simply put on my Warm Doublet, warped to the shrine on the icy mountain, ENCOUNTERED A STRANGE TREASURE CHEST with the letters “EX” on it—for a moment I was terrified it might be a T-shirt or something.... but it was Bomb Arrows—don’t ask—and PARAGLIDED back to Digdogg Suspension Bridge.

I’d dealt with the bokoblins, and I finished off their friends in a nearby treehouse—David got quite a kick out of the Great Thunderblade I had acquired from Sheem Dagoze.

And after a good look about the place.... I decided that Yes, this really was a dead end to the river.

Ignoring my shrine-locator’s beeping, I ran all the way back to the Outskirt Stable.

It was....

It was time to start back. And set my face toward Akkala. And Robbie.

I did still decide to do this all on foot, however.

“Aren’t you gonna just.... Beam-Me-Up-Scotty?” David asked.

“I don’t wanna Beam-Me-Up-Scotty,” I said.

“You’re gonna walk the whole way?”

Well, maybe I’d Beam-Me-Up-Scotty just a little. I warped back to the Sheem Dagoze Shrine, and started north, for the Elma Knolls.

But first I came to that big toothy crack in the earth, found a shrine in the bottom of it, and completed that—I’m up to nine Spirit Orbs now; I really should find a Goddess statue....

And after that it was a very long jog past that sparse ruin over the water where I’d played hide-and-seek with the Korok—The Ancient Laboratory Ruin or something like that—aaaaall the way across the Elma Knolls with their endless wolves, and those mounted bokoblins with the fire arrows or whatever they were.... Got hit a couple of times there—

I didn’t feel like chewing through my food, but decided that, if I fell, I would just rely on Mipha.

What good is a gift avoided? And Mipha’s was a very good gift.

It was a very long trek, and the bokoblins cut me down to one heart, and a mob of giant blue chuchus cut me down to one quarter heart—but I kept running. And I kept killing wolves, never shying.

And it was raining, and I found Mils and Mina—not Nina, as it turned out—fighting against some bokoblins on the road, and I helped them out, and—

“Well there’s a split off the river,” said David.

I looked toward the castle. Beneath the unholy Calamitous Clouds, one fell fork split off and meandered away into the blackened landscape. It looked just like another part of the moat.

“I don’t think Lake Hylia’s in there,” I gestured to the castle lands.

“But.... open your map; maybe it connects with.... these down here.”

He indicated some rivers along the vein that ran between the Dueling Peaks.

“ . . . . Huh,” I said, “Maybe.” Perhaps.... this warranted some looking in to.

Also I had the feeling David was . . . . mmmm maybe nudging me around a bit.

The sun came out like a bad cliché when I finally jogged onto the friendly grounds of the Woodland Stable. It was 11:15 in the morning. I decided to take a forty-five minute nap to rejuvenate my aching one-quarter-heart body, and at noon, I took Thrice out for a ride.

We took the Thims Bridge road, over the mossy mounded hills and past the Honeydell—saving Leekah from a bokoblin on the way of course. But I stopped at one junction of the road I had never explored.

“Stay here,” I told Thrice, and climbed a bit over the rocks beside the long stretch of a T-junction. The stretch that pointed toward the castle....

“In my experience,” said David, “The closer you are to the castle....”

The farther you are from harm? I thought hopefully.

“The closer you are to trouble,” he finished.

“I’m just gonna take a little look,” I assured him, inwardly thinking how VERY like Famous Last Words those sounded....

I crept among the rocks until I was high enough to peer into the central plain before the castle. There at the base of the hill I was on.... coursed a little river. Flowing north to south. One that very probably could only have come from that split David had shown me earlier, among the big cubic stones surrounding the castle.

. . . .

Maybe....

Maybe....

I looked at my map again.

The river system near the Dueling Peaks.... the river that this one by the Honeydell may have connected with.... was called the Hylia River. And it was joined by the Squabble River from the Dueling Peaks....

But further downstream it was still called the Hylia River....

And then it ran away southward off of my known map.

Could it be . . . . ?

I came back to Thrice, and we pressed on to the Wetland Stable—saving Leekah again on the way—and I stopped.

Oh I was aching to go on. I had arced all the way north around the castle again in a great upside-down U, and I still had the drive and energy to keep going....!

But it was late again, and I did have to get up early.

But to be absolutely sure....

To see those waterways....

There was one more thing I could do in pursuit of the hapless missing Mei.

And it lay at the top of the alleged scariest Sheikah Tower in all the land.

The Last River

Waking of Thursday, April 6, 2017 ~ 3

The Last River

You know those Stables really are amazing. I’d registered Thrice and boarded him there at the Woodland Stable, but when I went to take him out again, the man said, “Okay, so you want us to take Brown into our care?”

o__o They could do that?

Well.... I answered in the affirmative, and he said, “All right, wait just a moment,” the screen went black, and then I had Thrice and I guess.... they had Brown.

(Though how they fetched him all the way from Kakariko, I dunno. Are they packin’ their own Sheikah Slates....?)

I spoke to the man again, and asked to take out Brown this time.

And a similar scene ensued, and then Thrice was gone and Brown was there.

He looked at me like he knew something.... like I’d been out riding other horses....

“Oh, buddy....” I soothed him. He’s my boy; I still loved him.

But I boarded him again. Kakariko’s a nice place, but maybe it’d be nice in a proper stable too. Besides, the way I was headed, there was definitely no room for horsing around.

I warped back to the Lanayru Tower. There was just one more river to sweep—the long river that curved back east toward the Reservoir.

I clambered over the mountains along the north bank for a time, but the river was so far below me I couldn’t see it. The air seemed too fogged by distance and moisture.

Across the canyon, on the south bank, the mountains seemed almost as high—you know, maybe I shouldn’t even call it a bank; the river was flanked on both sides by sheer cliff walls in a deep ravine.

At any rate the southern cliffs seemed high, but it looked like there was a little grassy shelf a bit closer to the water that I might reach by paraglider. Maybe I’d be able to see more from there. I made sure to get plenty of altitude before I made the attempt to cross. If I came up short and ended up in the drink, I doubted I’d be able to do much besides warp back to the tower and start all over again.

But I made the crossing without a hitch and with a good two feet of landing-zone to spare. Steadying myself on the new surface, I turned around and peered back down into the ravine.

I was still quite high up.

But the river seemed to be empty.

There was nowhere to go but on toward the Reservoir. If Mei wasn’t here.... I scrambled up the cliff face, startling a few herons, and it started to rain. It was a slick run to get to the top but I made it all right—and immediately wondered if I had come up on the clifftop near some kind of settlement, for I heard music. An accordion. Was there some kind of carnival going on? I looked around wildly for some sign—

And I saw, some distance away, near a great jutting crag over the water, a figure standing on a little hump of grass, swaying gently, his arms full of something. That seemed to be the source of the music.

He wasn’t a bokoblin or any other kind of monster. I approached.

But as I came near, I saw through the haze of rain and gasped—there were feathers—blue feathers—cresting from this person’s head; the arms, the forearms were too broad, because they were wings, also blue—and a great grey parrot’s beak so prominent on the front of the face—

(“Rito?” I whispered.)

I approached him slowly—it was a him, right?—and only stood beside him for a moment as he played on. I watched his colorfully striped feather-fingers as they pressed the keys.... This was so weird....

And then I engaged his attention and he startled slightly, blustering something about having thought he was all alone up here—

And then, as so many seem to have done all along my road, he sputtered out, “Wait.... that thing there on you waist!”

My Sheikah Slate.

“No, but it couldn’t be....” And then he caught himself and apologized, “I’m sorry, it’s nothing, I don’t mean to pry.”

It was my turn to say something.

And I wanted so badly to ask him, Are you a... bird?

But....

He had been kind enough to stop himself, to calm down, to try and be polite. I thought.... I would give him the same courtesy.

I only smiled and said, “No worries.”

He introduced himself as Kass—just Kass—and told me about the song he had been playing.

Oh but I sort of wished I’d asked him about his race....

But I did listen to his song. It was a lovely tune, really. Plaintive, melancholy chords; it was just really wonderful. But the lyrics were somewhat cryptic. It spoke of a beast with a crown of bone, running through the lush green, and if you mounted it on its throne, then the shrine could be seen.

The actual rhyme was smoother than that, but that’s something how it went.

Hm, I wondered what kind of “beast” could be roaming around these parts—for it was very green here. Kass and I both wondered, really. And what kind of shrine could be revealed by one mounting a beast on its throne? It all reminded me of Doctor Calip’s research, actually.... hidden shrines....

But perhaps it was a mystery for another day, for I was very near the end of combing through every single waterway of Zora’s Domain.

I bade Kass goodbye, and he played on as I trekked ahead through the rain. The southern cliff-bank gradually began to roll lower and lower toward the water level, until the land became quite flattened out in a little sunken dell and I saw something I’d completely forgotten about: a shrine I had marked!

There was a shrine, just outside the Eastern Reservoir.

There it was, at the water’s end.

And it was surrounded by lizalfos.

With a Fine-Toothed Comb

Waking of Thursday, April 6, 2017

With a Fine-Toothed Comb

I spent a little time at the Woodland Stable. This one wasn’t crawling with sets of twins like the other one, and the man behind the counter seemed.... a bit more easy-going as well. There was a friendly dog shepherding over some goats in a pen—we became good buddies <3—er, the dog and I, not the goats and I—and I found a really lovely new labrys to swing around.

I saw a man come riding a grey horse along the road in the direction I’d been going; his name was Zorona and his heart was set on the mysteries of the world! Whether solving them or just reveling in their existence I wasn’t quite sure.

There was another man, with white-blonde hair dangling in his eyes, who hung around the stable. He introduced himself as Molo and it was his ambition to go and loot Hyrule Castle. I did not encourage him in this endeavor as we conversed.

He admitted that every person he’d ever known who had ventured there had never come back.... but he guessed it was because they were all too busy being rich! I don’t doubt there must have been great treasures left behind there.... but so many people I’d met had warned of how dangerous it was.... and I’d seen a few Guardians. Uhuhuh.

Molo, don’t say YOLO, just stay where you are.

One other older gentleman whose name I can’t remember informed me about the surrounding areas near the stable—this was the Eldin region. This was the home of the volcano. To the north was the great forest, but he warned me against straying too deeply into it, something about the Lost Woods at its heart.... And Hyrule Field was.... in another direction near here, south or east I think he said. And there was a third feature he directed me to, I’m sure of it.... maybe it was the volcano itself.

Well, it’s hard to memorize the whole map, as I discovered when I warped back to the Lanayru Tower. That other river I’d thought ran back toward the east off the wetlands was actually the other runoff from the East Reservoir Lake. I suppose it flowed into the wetlands. Or it would have, if not for the big dam wall in the way.

But it was, in essence, what I’d thought it to be: another extensive dead-ended waterway for me to search.

Starting from the tower I began a broad, clockwise trek around the entire delta proper, scouring the islets as I went, but saw no sign of Mei.

I did, however, near the southeastern reaches of my circuit, spy a GUARDIAN “STALKER” AS MY COMPENDIUM CALLED IT, LOOSE AND MOVING THROUGH THE MARSH OH GOSH NO PLEASE NO WHY JUST—

It had six legs, and it was very much alive—oh my gosh was this the one I’d seen loose on the Sahasra Slope, made its way down to the marshes now?

Oh gads....

Off came the Zora Helm, on went the Climber’s Bandana, and I climbed up into the mountains to give it a very wide berth as I continued my circuit of the wetlands. I did stop on a little grassy shelf with a single large tree to see if I could shoot it with arrows and chuck bombs at it, but.... well, I did give it a very wide berth. I couldn’t come close to hitting it with anything. I’m not sure whether this disappointed me or not.

If only I’d had a Korok Leaf.... I could do that bomb-golfing thing I’d seen David do....

I kept to the hills until I came to another little deep-water spot tendriling off the marshes in the southwest. It was near a sad little abandoned homestead ruin, with trees, and a well, and a single Korok spriting around in the grass. There were some rusted weapons here and there.... maybe it had belonged to a soldier. Maybe he’d had a family.

It started to rain.

There was a little raft-boat with a sail down near where the little waterway broke off.

But I didn’t have a Korok Leaf!

I’d never really made room for one in my inventory, but seeing David play.... hhhh I kept seeing more and more reasons to pick one up now. I’ve never yet bothered with the boats I’ve seen but I want to now....!

I felled a tree near the old homestead but got nothing but wood. Go figure.

Well, I couldn’t see anything down the short little waterway, and so moved on. The mountains crumbled away, the land leveled out, and became a smooth sweep off the wetlands.

I think this was where I ran into those mounted bokoblins.

I felt a little bad for their horses.... because you see, in my long searching trek through all the islets and the ruins therein, I’d run into a few more of those skipping lightning-ghost things. They could be tricky customers but I’d taken care of them, and stolen their Lightning Rod weapons. And it was one of these weapons I used to stop the charging bokoblin riders.

The peachy, skewbald steed I hit first seized up, neighing high and loud, and the bokoblin fell off and we had it out on the ground. I brought down the one on the brown horse in roughly the same manner. And then....

Well I got on the peachy one, and he bucked for a bit before calming down, but.... mm, the brown was closer to being a one-color horse, and so I got on that one instead.

He bucked too, but I soothed him and saw—this one had three speed-bursts at a gallop.

Brown only had two.

Well that could be useful....

I let this new horse carry me for a bit. His body was all brown, mane and tail black, with four black socks and a white muzzle. I don’t suppose he was anything fancy, but he was just dandy fine for moving across this flatter part of the land.

I left him at the shore at times, to go in and scout out more islets, or to kill lizalfos or bokoblins. And when I’d come back to him he’d wander a bit before I got on.... but he was a good, patient horse. Even when the lashing rain came back.

I rode the horse the rest of the way around the marshes and the surrounding areas. I even came across Tye and S.... Ssss—uh, Saaalisa? Salisa? I came across Tye and his sweetheart again. And killed their bokoblin assailants once more. I rode and searched and searched and rode until I came all the way back to the Moor Garrison Ruins, near where I’d first met Ledo.

I’d circled the entire marsh, and not seen one lick of the missing Mei.... I had even cleaned out every bokoblin nest I had come to and searched among all the buildings. I’d combed through the ruins, I’d left no stone unturned, no box unexploded.

I had not gone up the long waterway toward the Eastern Reservoir; I’d thought to save that for last as it was so extensive. But....

There was no sign of Mei.

Maybe she really was further down the river.

And this horse....

This chuffing, wandering horse was starting to grow on me just a little bit.

I decided to take him up to the Woodland Stable and have him registered.

I rode him into the marsh; it was quite shallow. But.... huh, to get him across to the north bank....

I consulted my map. The water was pretty deep on the north side of the big island. I might.... dear me, I might have to ride him through the boardwalks—

But then I remembered! Thims Bridge! Northward along the river! I could cross him over there.

And so I took the new horse along the other bank now with me, still keeping an eye out for the missing Mei. We had a nasty run-in with another bokoblin camp—the horse got stuck over a rock on the ground as they closed in around us—I did the best I could with a sword until they knocked me clean off. The horse made a break for it, but I could only turn my attention to the bokoblins and pray he didn’t run too far....

Turned out he didn’t. Also turned out the camp was full of high explosives, and I felt quite lucky none of them went off or was employed during the scuffle.

I bombed them just to clear the area, scooped up the spoils, and the horse and I moved on.

He moved at a nice clip, and the ever lurking Piano picked up on the change of movement and plinked happily along around us, sounding like raindrops in the sunshine. At such a pace it was only a short time before we came to Thims Bridge. But just before we did.... I heard a sound I hadn’t heard before. I slowed the horse, the Piano shied and flitted away, and I scanned the sunlit slope to my left, but could only see a couple of foxes.

And there it was again. High, soft.... kind of whistling.... it sounded like.... howling....

But no I was sure those were foxes. And as I came nearer, there I could see the red of their coats. And they scampered away at my approach.

Were there....

Are there wolves in Hyrule?

(I ain’t gonna lie; I seen a few fanarts with ‘em.)

Horsey and I crossed the bridge, and from there it was just a short trot back to the stable. I spoke to the man at the window, and registered my new steed.

I called him.... Thrice. Once for his three-fold endurance, and once for what I imagined must have been his third life—a life before bokoblins, a life with bokoblins.... and now hopefully third time’s the charmed life with Link.

I’ll take good care of him.

Besides, the name Mudfoot for his black socks seemed too sloggish and slow.