Link finds himself on top of the tower, his body buzzing and head reeling. It takes him a moment to regain his balance. When he finally feels steady on his own feet, he is nearly thrown to the ground when a loud laugh sounds to his left. The blond swings his head towards the laugh and is simultaneously shocked and unsurprised to see the old man standing there, who only moments ago remained at the base of the Shrine. Link squints in confusion. How did he get here so fast?
"I'm surprised it took you so long to catch up with an old man like me," He chuckles, glancing down at the shorter Link. His dark eyes twinkle with mischief and… pride?
Link leans forward a bit, "How did you…?"
But, the old man interrupts with another chuckle, "Oho ho! Leave an old man to his secrets."
He turns away from the flabbergasted boy, his face awash with the colors of the sunset. "Now then… I wanted you to join me up here so you could use this as a vantage point to search for Shrines," he explains. He bobs his head towards the slate on Link's hip, "Did you know about the scope on your Sheikah Slate?"
No, Link thinks bitterly, but how do you? He doesn't voice this question, though, and the old man continues on, "Look through it, and you can stick a pin anywhere you'd like to mark on the map."
Link frowns, "How do you know all these things?" Suspicion creeps into his tone.
The cloaked man frowns, though the expression is hard to see due to his luxurious beard. "Experience, wisdom… instinct?" He raises a challenging eyebrow, "Call it what you will and believe it only if you so please," Link detects a bit of sarcasm tinging his words. "Go ahead and take a look, if you feel so inclined to." The old man shrugs dismissively and turns his view towards the horizon.
The blond lets out a sigh and pulls out his slate, holding it up to eye level and enabling the scope. With a bit of searching he marks the three closest shrines on his map. It's hard not to notice the vast amount of land stretching beyond the plateau as he does so. The thought of exploring it all makes the boy both nervous and giddy at the same time.
With the task done, he puts away the slate and notes how dark the sky is getting. His body aches and feels like lead, and he suddenly longs for the warmth a campfire brings.
And he can have it, he realizes. He brings his slate back into his chilled hands and clicks on the icon for the Shrine of Resurrection. All he would have to do is retrace his steps and stay the night at the old man's camp. He won't mind, right?
After the trippy teleportation he makes his way back out of the cave, noting with satisfaction that this time around his boots do not get soaked from a single step in the puddle. It takes no time at all to reach the fire he had met the old man at originally, but to his shock, the old man is there lounging in his usual spot. He had beat him back! But how?
Link suspects there is more to the man that he lets on, but he doesn't question it in fear of making the stranger into an enemy. He does need that paraglider, after all. So with that, he settles down next to the crackling fire and takes a bite of the delicious looking baked apple lying next to him.
The old man raises a bushy eyebrow but opts not to say anything to the boy. As soon as Link finishes his meal he leans back against the rocky overhang and drifts into sleep.
The next day finds him ascending the same steps to the temple that he had fled from the previous day. He doesn't dare enter the building housing the terrifying creature, though. Instead, he hooks a quick left and sprints away. This is the path he needs to take to get to the first of the three Shrines.
He hops onto a worn stone wall and peers down into the valley below where a giant skull seems to be resting. Gentle lights flicker inside the skull and Link assumes the skull houses some sort of creature. Not wanting to initiate a fight this early in the morning, Link easily walks along the perimeter of the wall and jumps a small gap to reach the other side.
As he approaches the location of the Shrine, Link sees multiple ruined buildings with the robotics husks draped all over them. He shivers and fights the urge to run again, instead cautiously approaching them. He passes right by a few of them without any incident and slowly releases some of the tension gripping his body.
Just as he starts to relax, though, one of the husks sunken half into the ground stirs and alights with pink and blue lights. It's head swivels slightly and instantly sets its focus onto Link. The blond can't help but freeze in place. A red laser beam zaps onto his chest and an alarm sound blares from the awakened husk. Blue energy starts to gather around its eye and Link rolls behind a wall to get out of sight, his chest heaving.
Something prickles on the edge of his memory, something painful, something horrifying, but it can't seem to break through.
Link refuses to go back into its sight range, so he frantically searches for another way to get to the Shrine. Luckily, the walls offer good grip, so it is quite easy for him to climb over a few and land a short distance away from his destination.
The Shrine is separated from the awakened husk by a wall and a huge pile of rocks jammed into an archway in the wall. Link thanks the stars for those rocks as he walks up to the Shrine and enters it.
The pedestal in the Shrine grants Link two new runes- two differently shaped bombs. It's pretty self explanatory that he has to place a bomb in front of slightly cracked stone blocks. He presses a button on the slate and the stones explode as expected. Link decides he likes the bombs, they're quite straightforward and intuitive to use.
That is until he doesn't move far away enough from his next bomb and ends up propelling himself across the room. Link then decides he doesn't like bombs.
Still, he manages to find a hidden chest containing a new and better sword, although due to it's weight he cannot use a shield with it. He decides to use it anyways due to its superior quality. He tosses his short sword to the side and slights the new claymore across his back.
The next room is filled with pillars that burst diagonally out of the ground at even intervals with enough force to propel objects across the room to another pillar. He spies another chest across the room and grins, knowing exactly what he has to do.
He climbs onto the platform and is launched across the room as the pillar pushes against him. He lands neatly next to the chest and opens it quickly, excited. He hopes to find a new shirt inside, but instead he retrieves an amber. Drooping his shoulders, he pockets the item anyways, wondering if the old man would appreciate it.
He proceeds to launch a bomb across the room, exploding some blocks that are in the way, and is gifted the Spirit Orb from another monk who fades from existence. He's starting to notice a pattern in these Shrines.
As he is teleported back to the surface he comes face to face with the giant pile of very bombable rocks. He knows what he is supposed to do, but he also knows that blowing the rocks up will give the laser shooting robot the perfect target on him, as it waits patiently on the other side. Opting to not become robot dinner, he exits the area the way he entered- climbing walls.
Once his feet are planted safely in a nearby grassy field he can easily see his next Shrine- perched on the edge of a cliff. He doubts he has enough skill or stamina to climb a cliff that high and steep… he decides to look for another way up.
He starts his way across the plain, taking time to enjoy the sun's warm rays on his skin. Crickets leap out of the tall grass around him and butterflies flit just out of his reach. He enjoys his time alone with nature.
But, before long a small wooden cabin comes into his view. It's crudely made, but sturdy enough to hold up in rough weather. A fire is alight in front if it, suggesting someone has been there recently. Link approaches the cabin without precaution, glancing through the doorway curiously. Inside contains a small table, a roughly made bed, and a shelf… if one wanted to call it that. Two peppers and a notebook rest on the table.
The place puzzles the boy. The old man had told him that no others linger on the Plateau. Could he have been wrong?
Link hesitates only a moment before his hand darts out and takes the peppers for his own. This person had a home, and Link didn't. He didn't feel bad about taking the peppers, this person could spare some food.
Next he turns his head to peek at the open notebook. The handwriting contained inside is simple, yet elegant. The writing is mostly just ramblings about cooking and how the writer would gladly give up their warm doublet for a recipe he had forgotten. Link rolls his eyes and continues to inspect the place.
An axe leans against the backwall that the boy ignores; another baked apple and a strange green mushroom are delicately placed on the shelf. Link takes both.
He exits the cabin, satisfied that his pouch is starting to feel full, and continues to head towards the Shrine. But, he stops suddenly in his tracks when he sees the old man standing on the edge of a sharp drop, diligently cutting down a tall pine tree. Link mentally slaps himself, of course that was his cabin.
He glances over his large shoulder as Link approaches, a smile stretched across his face, "Oho! Fancy that! So we meet again."
The blond gestures to the tree the old man is whacking upon, "What are you doing?"
The old man pats the tree fondly, "I thought this tree here might make for some good firewood," He pauses, "However… getting a tree to fall exactly where you want it to is quite an art." He shifts and rotates his body to the side, hosting the old axe over his shoulder. "The trick is to turn your hips so that they face where you want the tree to land." He lectures the younger boy.
Just as he is about to swing his axe he stills, sniffing the air and eyeing Link, "I see you found my cabin and baked apple. Why not grab that axe I keep in there and help me out?" He asks accusingly. "I'm working up quite a sweat here… but these bones could use a break."
Link rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, backtracking towards the house to retrieve the axe. He needs to get across the large gap in the ground anyways, so making a tree bridge wouldn't be a waste of his time.
Once he returns with the tool in hand, he lines himself up like the old man had told him to, hips facing the tree. With three hefty swings he manages to fell the tree… only for it to plunge into the abyss. A chuckle sounds behind him and Link shoots a glare before trying again on a second tree.
Luckily this tree manages to span the gap quite nicely and Link leaves his axe slammed into the trunk before shimmying across the makeshift bridge without saying goodbye- he has a job to do, after all.
As he hops off the other end of the trunk he stands in front of a very vertical face of a cliff. Upon inspection he finds a handful of platforms jutting out from the cliffside spaced just close enough to allow Link to climb from one to the next without worry of falling. He even manages to grab a new type of purple mushroom on his way up.
He pulls himself over the edge of the cliff and his fingers sting, his toes scream from being jammed into the small stone crevices, and his entire body glistens as though he had just stepped from under a waterfall. He slumps against the edge of the Shrine to catch is breath, then makes his way inside.
His first glimpse of the Shrine's challenges unnerves him. It looks much more complicated than the previous two. A massive gear rotates in front of him, spinning a rectangular platform in circles. Beyond that, a large yet narrow ramp has an endless stream of giant boulders running down it. He warily makes his way over to the pedestal and gains the rune of Stasis.
Upon activating Stasis, his vision is engulfed with a light yellow and the rotation gear is drenched with a darker variation of the color. He waits for the platform to spin parallel to the ground and casts Stasis on it, stopping it in time. Unsure of how long the freezing effect lasts, Link sprints across the platform to the other side.
Now feeling confident, Link watches a giant boulder roll down the ramp and smirks once he realizes what he has to do. He waits for a boulder to roll past him then sprints up the ramp, aiming his slate at the new boulder rolling towards him. He makes a mistake though. Stasis has to recharge.
Eyes widening, Link scurries back down the ramp and launches himself to the side before the new boulder can crush him into a scrawny pancake. He groans and sits up, dusting off his clothes before shooting a glare at his slate. That information would have been nice to know.
A second attempt at the boulder trick proves successful, once the slate fully recharges. He even manages to nab the chest resting at the top of the ramp and trades out his strange wooden shield for a nicely designed one.
Continuing on he finds a sledgehammer resting against a wall. He decides to leave it there, as its uneven weight distribution reminds him too much of the axe he previously used. He walks along a narrow pathway that is blocked by yet another large stone. He isn't sure what to do with it and so he frowns. He knows he has to use Stasis somehow, but the boulder is already at rest, so he isn't sure what else the rune can do for him.
He casts it on the boulder anyways, tries his best to push it, and waits for the cast to wear off. The boulder tips forward and inch. That's when he realizes what to do. Backtracking, he retrieves the sledgehammer and casts Stasis one last time. He swings the sledgehammer as best he can on the narrow platform and whacks it into the boulder. This time, when the time runs out, the boulder rockets off the platform and into the darkness below.
He tosses the sledgehammer after it, obtains the spirit orb, and leaves.
The sun is low in the sky again when he materializes outside the Shrine. As much as Link wants to finish all three shrines today, he resigns to heading back to the old man's cabin before night can truly fall.
Upon arrival, he plops down next to the old man who is relaxed in front of the fire. The said man casts him a curious glance, "How is your Shrine exploration going?" Link wearily holds up two fingers and the old man nods contemplatively.
The night air settles around them, small fireflies dart through the air. Everything is calm, which makes the pain Link's body throbs with feel even worse. His fingers and toes both ache dully and the bruise on his side stings a bit whenever he gingerly touches it. He shifts uncomfortably in place, eyes darting everywhere; the stars, the ground, the fire.
Eventually he can't take the silence anymore, "What are you doing?" He asks the man next to him who had been rubbing his hand slowly over his knee for the last few minutes.
"This body of mine isn't what it used to be," the old man grunts as he attempts to ease his tight muscles. "Recovering from a bout of hard work takes a while…" Link nods in agreement and falls back into his thoughts. His foots starts to tap against the ground while he stares off into the distance. The old man looks at him tiredly after the tapping does not cease, "Are you hungry? I have an empty pot you can use to cook yourself a meal." He gestures to a metal basin placed over the fire.
Link stops fidgeting and his stomach growls loudly at the mention of food. He would love to use the pot, but…
"Got any tips?" He fingers the bottom of his shirt, embarrassed that he doesn't know the slightest about how to cook a decent meal.
"Just grab some ingredients and toss them in!" The old man proclaims, though a hearty smirk rests upon his lips. "Try to consider how the ingredients will complement one another."
The boy looks dubiously at his pack, pulling out a few of the mushrooms he had gathered throughout the day. He eyes the pot in self doubt. He'd end up ruining it. The old man leans forward a bit and tries to encourage him, "It's all about being creative and trying different things."
Link takes the purple and green mushrooms and throws them in the pot. After a moment of hesitation he also throws the pepper he had taken from the cabin in as well. He ends up with a pretty decent looking mushroom skewer after a bit and feels proud of himself.
The old man claps his hands together cheerily as link digs into his new meal, "Not bad, my boy," He takes a second look at the skewer and raises his white eyebrows, "Certainly not good… but not bad either." Link takes no offense.
The night passes quietly as the old man stargazes and Link sharpens his claymore. No other words are spoken between the two, but Link thinks it is nice to have company. Even if the company is a sarcastic old man.
The next morning Link warps to the Shrine of Resurrection, hoping that he can find a more gentle way up the mountain that the steep cliffs he had climbed the previous day. He makes his way to the expanse of grass above the Shrine of Resurrection and eyes the last Shrine. Which is on a snowy mountain. Of course. Link steels his resolve and starts to tromp through the snow, but quickly retreats after his fingers start to turn purple.
Great, he wouldn't be able to make it the the top of the snowy peaks without turning into an icicle himself.
He remembers that the old man's diary had mentioned a trade of a warm doublet for a specific recipe… Link sighs in resignation and hopes that the old man doesn't try to change this deal as well. What was the recipe called? Oh yes, spicy steak and seafood… or something link that.
He glances down at the forest that expands behind him. There must be some forest creatures living there, right? He should be able to hunt for some meat at the very least. He sighs again and makes his ways into the depths of the trees.
As soon as Link enters, he spots a whole camp of the red goblins. He notices that one even has a bow clutched within its clawed hands. A bow that he can take and use to hunt. Determined, Link slinks around the edge of the camp past the fire where three of them are cheering and around to the raised platform where the bow holding monster resides. He'd just take down this one, grab the bow, and leave.
He stealthily makes his way for the ladder attached to the platform, but the goblin notices him right as he grabs a hold of the bottommost rung. It yelps and blows an ear shattering note through a small horn it has. Link quickly ascends the ladder and sends his claymore smoothly through its neck, causing it- and the bow- to fall to the ground. Link dives after the discarded weapon and arrows as the three around the fire charge at him with flaming weapons.
Knowing that he can't make a clean escape anymore, Link shoves the arrows into his belt loop and tosses the bow onto his back before pulling out his claymore. He'd have to fight his way out of here.
He swings his sword in a wide arc over his head as his enemies close in on him and discovers with pleasant surprise that the momentum of his swing is enough to knock their shields to the side. He takes advantage of one of the now expose goblins and runs it through. It's a bit of a struggle to retract his sword from the body, and as a result he barely manages to dodge a flaming club aimed for his head.
An arrow lodges at his feet and he realizes another monster is perched across the camp on another lookout tower. Link starts to regret staying to attack the camp. His distraction makes him take a hit on his already injured side and he has to roll in the grass before the flames can lick up his clothes.
Luckily, this roll places him right next to the ladder he had climbed earlier, and he quickly shimmies his way up. The height advantage allows him to pull out his new bow and finish off the two grounded enemies with a few will placed shots to the head. The only other thing alive in the camp is the goblin that had shot an arrow at him. He doubts his bow can shoot an arrow all the way across the camp, so he hops down from his platform and darts behind a wooden box for cover. An arrow thunks against the box and Link uses the time it takes for the goblin to nock another arrow to sprint to the next cover. How convenient that the goblins kept large boxes throughout their campsite.
He repeats this process until he gets to the ladder and he greets the creature at the top with a claymore to the face before it can imbed him with a final arrow. The blow sends the creature flying into the lake next to the camp.
He relaxes immediately, taking the moment of peace to look at the rest of the camp from his high viewpoint. A large hunk of meat is grilling over the fire- must have been what the three goblins were dancing about. A chest is also present, resting on a platform next to the fire. It's designed in the shape of a skull, and the eyes seem to glow a bright white.
Link helps himself to a bite of the nicely grilled meat before making his way to the chest. He leaves the camp with a new bow, a fully stomach, and an opal.
The boy immerses himself back into the woods, bow out and ready to shoot whatever game he comes across.
But, for as lush as the forest seems to be, an hour passes and Link is left with nothing to show for it. He had found a pack of wild boar and crouched to move closer and get a better shot, but he ended up scaring them away. He was starting to get annoyed at the multitude of plants clinging to him everytime he hid in the bushes.
Eventually, he spots another figure moving through the woods- and a large one at that. Grinning slightly to himself, he slowly approaches, drawing back his bow. He's just about to let the arrow fly before he realizes the frame looks much too familiar. He slaps his forehead with the palm of his hand and walks toward the figure. Towards the old man.
The stranger is hidden behind a tree, a wooden bow in hand. He turns towards Link as he approaches, "Well, well, well... So we meet again," he greets Link.
Link throws his hands out in exasperation, "What are you doing?"
The old man blinks, "Can you not see that I'm hunting here?" He motions for Link to lower, "You'll scare off my prey like that. At least crouch a bit." And with that, he stalks away after a squirrel. Link simply shakes his head and walks off in the opposite direction. What a strange man.
Two hours later he is finally able to fell a boar and uses his claymore to carve off two large portions of meat. He checks it off the list. Next, a fish. He hopes that the type of fish doesn't matter as he warps to the very first Shrine he completed. He had been hoping to find some fish in the ponds surrounding the Shrine, but what he finds instead are chests submerged in the water. He uses Magenisis to swiftly retrieve them, and isn't too disappointed by the amber and opal he gains.
He manages to catch a bass in a nearby pond and starts the long trek back to the log cabin. His back aches from crouching in the woods all day long and his clothes are soaked from his dip in the pond. He desires nothing more than to curl up by the fire and sleep the night away.
But first, he has to get the warm doublet. He has spent much too long on this plateau.
He finally makes it to the cabin and he immediately retrieves his three ingredients- the boar meat, the fish, and another pepper he stole from the old man- and dumps them roughly into the pot. He makes eye contact with the old man who is lounging by the fire once again. He tries to express as much of his exhaustion and frustration as possible through one gaze. His attempt is answered by a lazy raise of bushy eyebrows. Link huffs and turns his attention back onto the sizzling food.
When the meal is done he holds it out to the dozing man. The old man's dark eyes widen in shock as he fully registers what Link has in his hands. "That looks just like my signature perfect dish, spicy meat and seafood fry! But how did you- ?!" The old man mutters. Link nods at the dish, wanting him to take it.
But, the old man shakes his hands, refusing. "No need to give me the perfection. But, could I trouble you instead to share the recipe?" Link deadpans. The dish was literally named spicy meat and seafood fry. Was the old man dense? Or did he just make Link go through the arduous task of collecting the ingredients for fun?
"Peppers. Meat. Bass." Link responds flatly.
"Ah of course! Hyrule bass! How could I have forgotten?" The old man exclaims, slapping his forehead in laughter. "Please allow me to reward your culinary efforts with this warm doublet." The old man pulls the item of clothing off the log he leans against and tosses it at the boy who barely keeps it from landing in his newly cooked meal. "With that, you will be able to resist the bite of colder environments. But all I really need to warm up is that delicious spicy meat and seafood fry." He rubs his stomach and makes a satisfied noise.
Link makes sure to eat as obnoxiously as possible. The old man doesn't seem to notice and instead jots down things in his journal. Once his meal is finished Link curls on his side and drapes the warm doublet over himself like a blanket. He feels a comforting warmth spread through him and he flickers his blue eyes closed, ready to retreat into his dreams.