The Huntress sat at a table in the tavern. She had learned that a man that matched the description of her prey often frequented here. But the man, Sheik, bothered her. Wasn't he an assist to the King? Or was the Moblin a traitor? Hmm… she'd have to look into it. But killing Sheik didn't exactly feel like a good idea to her for other reasons as well. It just felt wrong.
"Here is your meal, miss," a waitress said timidly, placing down a plate of what smelled like it had been cooked in malice. Probably had been cooked in malice. It looked like it was supposed to be some sort of meatloaf. She took a deeper sniff and immediately gagged. Miniblins smelled better than this. She pushed it away. No way in hell she was going to eat that. A terrifyingly familiar scent came to her nose. Th-that scent… she turned and saw the man that she had been sent to capture, yet, he smelled like the princess, who was dead. She narrowed her eyes at him. There was more to this man, then there appeared. The man caught her eye before quickly looking away. "Meet me in the forest" his crimson eyes seem to say. The Huntress thought that maybe she had imagined it, but she was certain that was what she had read in his eyes. But, then the question was, what would someone who was a complete stranger want with her? Today seemed to be filled with strangeness.
The woods were the same as the always been. It seemed that time never touched them, but if you looked closely, you could see the slight difference in them. The Huntress waited patiently for Sheik.
"It's been a long time since I last saw you, Linkle," said a man's voice from behind her, "but, you prefer 'huntress' don't you?"
She turned around, "how do you know my name? As far as I'm concerned we have never met."
"And we haven't" the man replied, "I suppose the person who bore your name is dead now. Just like your beautiful princess."
Who...is this? Linkle thought to herself, and what did he mean by 'person who bore your name is dead now'? "Who are you?" she growled.
"A wandering minstrel who wishes to help bring back your humanity"
"My humanity?" she laughed, "you came a tad too late, my friend. My humanity is long gone."
"That is untrue," Sheik replied softly, "you still retain, but a sliver of it. It may not seem like a lot, but it is enough."
Linkle thought about this. She had been taught to keep the beast within at bay, yet she had never been able to completely do it (and now completely and utterly failed at). Perhaps this is what he spoke of? The part of her, she had never been able to keep in its cage? But if her humanity could still be saved then maybe the princess was still alive as well. It was stupid logic, but the way things worked after the Demon King came into power, it was actually relatively sound. "How do you plan on helping me?"
Sheik's eyes glimmered slightly and said: "by giving you the locations of the four temples of each goddess and the springs within."
"And what am I supposed to do at these springs..?" she asked, what was she getting herself into?
"You are to meditate." he replied, "You will know when you have succeeded."
That was it? That seemed a bit too easy. Then again, she'd have to find these temples, and go through whatever the temple threw at her. "Okay. So, where are the temples located?"
Sheik grinned beneath his mask.
Linkle frowned at the old map that Sheik had given her, as well as the instructions she had been given. According to her instructions, she had to find the Temple of Power. Which, was located inside Death Mountain. Welp, this was going to be fun. What was she going to do about the Gorons? They had become wary of outsiders shortly before all hell broke loose, along with the Zora. And that meant they were not keen on letting anyone within the Volcano. Who would actually want to go in a volcano where they were most likely going to die, was beyond her, even though she was in that exact position. Hmm… from her position in the woods, she would need to go north. She would also get there easier if she was in her wolf form. She changed, thankful that she could no longer feel her spine repositioning itself. It was still rather painful, but not as painful as the first few times. She broke into a run. If Wagner had thought her demon before he would most definitely consider her a complete monster now.
As she came upon Death Mountain, Linkle could tell that something was terribly wrong. A dark pinkish fog circled the great mountain. Malice in its' gas state. Invisible to humans, it could create monsters out of anything. Suddenly, she was very glad that she had such a great sense of smell, even if it did make it difficult to be in the city. Now, how was she going to get past it? She could barrow beneath it, but the soil looked like it was tainted as well. Wait a minute.
She looked up. The pinkish fog only reached up maybe six feet high and was only a foot thick. Easily jumpable. She would just need a running start and a long sturdy stick. Linkle found one such stick quite quickly, due to a dried up Deku Baba that was nearby. In her human form, she went back several feet and began to run toward the fog. Just before she reached the fog, she put down the stick and allowed its momentum to launch herself over. She landed neatly and safe on the other side. Now to see the state of the Gorons and if they were even willing to let an outsider within their sacred mountain.
Unexpectedly, the Gorons were actually quite welcoming to her. It turned out they were very eager to meet someone who wasn't a monster and could tell them of the fate of the rest of Hyrule. Linkle tried to give them as good an answer as she could, but often she could not give them an answer to their many questions.
"Are you a part of house Lukami?" said the Goron elder, Gor Darbus,
Linkle was caught off guard, "um, yes. Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"
"Then I'm guessing the reason you have come is not to help but to go into the Temple of Power. Am I wrong?" he replied.
"No, you're not," she said, "but, how did you know?"
"Let's just say you are not the first in your family to come to us" Gor Darbus looked at her sadly,
"But, our issue is the temple. So, perhaps while you go through it you can fix whatever is going on inside"
