It doesn't take the pair long to make their way up to the forest overlooking the village they were just in. When they come to a place where the road begins to go between to hills Colin guides them to leave the road and go up over the Southern hill.
"Um, didn't Sheik say to take the road through the canyon?"
"He said that would be one way to go, yes."
The two come across a small pond and go around it.
"So why are we avoiding the road?"
"The enemy may be watching the roads. I'm not so confident to think they wouldn't have sent someone to follow us. If at all possible I would like them not to know where we are heading."
Ahead of them is a steep hill that could almost be a cliff. They both stop their horses and stare at it.
"So, are we supposed to leave the horses?"
"No." Colin looks to both sides of the blockade before noticing what looks like an old landslide, sloped just enough for a horse to navigate. "The Sheikah made sure that there are always back ways out of their village in cases of emergency." Colin dismounts and leads his horse to the slope. "It's not much of a secret back door if just anyone can find it though."
Zelda dismounts and follows her brother up the slope, leading Epona carefully over the rough terrain. "So, no one but the Sheikah know about this route?"
"Pretty much."
"How do you know about it then?"
"Sheik has come by the castle on errands from Impa. He and I got to know each other during his visits with the prince."
"And he told you about these secret routes?"
"Eh, sort of. He technically told the prince, I just happened to be with them when he did."
They reach the top of the slope and Colin looks ahead of them. "It might be best if we continue to walk the horses for now."
They carefully make their way along the narrow path that leads up a steep cliff. Zelda makes note that if they were not already on it that it would most likely be impossible to see. Eventually they make it to the gentler hills leading along the Southern edge of the canyon. Below them they can see the road that Sheik had told them about and in the distance beyond they see a towering peak.
"That must be Mount Lanyaru." Colin mounts his horse. "We should be good to ride from here." He looks up to see the position of the sun. "We'll need to find somewhere we can set up camp soon."
Zelda follows suit and is soon back on Epona. "Which way then?"
"It's probably best to continue East."
They ride in silence for a while before Zelda breaks it.
"Colin?"
"Hmm? What is it Zelda?"
"Are we just going to wonder around while you train me? It's just, I remember hearing stories about the heroes of the past and it seems they all had trials they had to overcome on their journeys."
Colin rubs his chin and then seems to remember something. Reaching into his saddlebag he rummages around for a while before pulling out a journal with the royal crest on it. "I can't believe I almost forgot about this. The prince told me as he ordered me to leave that he had left instructions on how to find shrines that held the power to seal the evil."
"So, we need to unlock this power to help the prince?"
"Yes." Colin opens the book and glances through it. "It looks like Mount Lanyaru is actually the location of one of the shrines we need to visit."
"We should probably make our way there then."
Colin nods in agreement and puts the book away. "There's a spring dedicated to the Goddess Nayru at the top of the mountain. The entrance to the shrine we need should be up there."
"Did the prince mention how we're supposed to unlock the power hidden there?"
"No, we'll just have to figure it out once we get up there."
Zelda looks up at the mountain ahead of them. "There's a lot of snow up there, do we have the proper gear for that?"
Colin winces at the observation. "No, we'll need to buy some. There should be a village to the South of the mountain, we can buy things there."
Zelda looks thoughtful, "Colin, maybe I should go into the village alone and buy supplies to go up the mountain with."
What? No, I can't let you do that. What if one of the enemy spies you?"
Zelda rolls her eyes, "Colin, to start with they won't be looking for a girl, let alone me. Even if someone saw us entering Kakariko they would have assumed you were just helping me get to safety after the attack. More than likely they are looking for you."
Sighing, Colin can't find a fault in that argument. "Right, fine. You go in and buy supplies for us to head up the mountain. I want you to be careful though, we don't know who could be acting as spies for our enemy."
"Will do Big Brother." Zelda gives Colin a mocking salute and a cheeky grin.
"What do you mean he hasn't left Kakariko yet!"
The bokoblin that was reporting to Ganondorf was shaking at the angry growl let out by his master.
"We have had all three roads leading in and out of the village watched since last night My Lord. There has been no sign of him."
"Send someone into the village to look for him. He has no reason to stay in the village so long, find out if he snuck out somehow and where he would be heading."
The bokoblin scurries out of the throne room to follow through on his master's orders as Ganondorf turn to the prince, still trapped in a crystal prison.
"Where have you sent him?"
Link stays silent, standing with his shoulders squared.
With a growl Ganondorf lashes out and the prison around the prince shatters. Before Link can do anything about it though Ganondorf has a tight hand around his throat.
"I am not amused by your silence Prince. You will tell me what I want to know or I will find other ways to make your stay with me unpleasant."
Link grabs at the hand around his throat, pulling at the tight grip. "And what would telling you anything accomplish?"
The grip on his neck tightens, "I may need you alive, but that leaves a large margin for the state you can be in. Telling me what I want will lead to your comfort during your stay with me."
Link grits his teeth, "No amount of torture will convince me to expose our hero."
Ganondorf's grin is unsettling as he leans in close to the prince's face. "Oh, I wasn't thinking of torture."
Link's eyes widen and he goes still in the evil king's grip. His right hand begins to glow and a bright light bursts forth throwing the two across the room. Link tumbles on the floor while Ganondorf stumbles back against the throne.
Both seem to be surprised by the sudden burst of power from the prince.
Link rubs at his sore throat, bruises already showing up where Ganondorf's hand had gripped him. He looks up as Ganondorf begins to walk toward him, the evil king having recovered much more quickly than the prince.
"Do you think you can escape?" Link struggles to his feet to stand opposite his foe.
"The thought had crossed my mind."
Ganondorf narrows his eyes and lashes out his hand, the symbol of power glowing on the back of it as he unleashes an orb of power at the prince. A barrier comes up around Link and deflects the orb. Link manages a nervous laugh at that, eyes trained on the evil king before him.
"My beasts are all throughout the castle and the town. You can try to run, but you will not make it very far before they catch you."
"You know I think I'll take my chances with that." Link turns and begins running for the door, another orb of power is flung past him, striking the door and shattering it. He ducks through the explosion as Ganondorf tries to pursue him only to find that Link had cast a barrier on his feet to hold him in place. The evil king shouts his outrage as the Prince flees through the castle. The main gate would certainly have a heavy guard on it, but he does not head that direction. Years ago, he had led his men on a training exercise through the secret passages of the castle. It was to familiarize them with all the nooks and crannies the castle held to give them the upper hand should the castle ever come under attack. Now that familiarization let him take servant's passages and hidden routes down through the castle eventually leading down to an alcove with a suit of armor standing in it. Behind the armor is a banner, behind which the prince ducks just in time to avoid a troop of bokoblins that are running past.
Link takes a moment to breath before stepping further back into the alcove and into a secret passage. It was designed to allow the royal family to escape the castle if it should come under siege, or to allow members of the Sheikah clan to infiltrate in the case of the castle being overtaken. Now he was using it himself to escape.
Carefully Link makes his way down the steep stairs that lead under the river and come out on the opposite side. As he does so he tries to think of where he can go. Kakariko is out, Ganondorf's eyes are already on the village. Then an idea strikes him. Lontown. The passage he is in lets out on the West side of the river anyway. Colin's hometown wouldn't be getting watched as closely as many of the other safe haven's available to him.
He reaches the end of the passage, a stone door with an old Sheikah mechanism to activate it. Carefully Link listens at the door to make sure that nothing might be waiting on the other side before opening it. It opens into a small cave with little more than a crack in the stone to mark the entrance, which is also overgrown with plants. The opening would be difficult for him to squeeze through in his full armor. Closing the door to the passage behind him he begins to take off his breastplate and bulkier pieces, leaving them in a pile. Once he is down to a long sleeved green tunic and tan pants he cautiously goes to the crack that leads out of the cave. Peeking out he tries confirm that there is no one out there before he leaves, making his way West to Lontown.
Zelda had left Colin with the horses in a hidden spot off the road leading into Hateno City, the city was a bustling place of trade and had grown in the last century from a quaint village to a city renowned for the research center on the hill overlooking it. Many people came here to study and pursue higher education and because of that others had come to sell their goods to the students of the research center. Zelda pushes her way through the crowded streets until she spots a shop selling clothing and makes her way there.
Upon entering the store, she sees a few displays with various items for sale. Looking around she sees a sign for mountaineering gear.
"Hello, can I help you find something?"
Zelda looks up from the jacket she was looking at to see the shop keeper at the counter. "Uh, I was just looking for a couple of jackets for a trip up Mount Lanyaru."
"Oh, are you one of the research students?"
Zelda nods, "Yes. Myself and colleague are going to be doing research on the weather patterns higher up the mountain."
"That sounds exciting." The shop keeper comes out and walks over to where Zelda is standing. "We actually have a few pieces of Rito clothing, they're enchanted to keep the wearer warm even in the coldest of temperatures." They hold up a headband with feathers coming off it.
Zelda admires it, "It looks expensive, I don't have a large budget for equipment and I need to get enough for my partner and myself."
"Ah, well in that case," The shopkeeper puts the headband back where it came from and steps around her to reach a shelf with two green jackets on it. "These are the cheapest I have that I would feel comfortable selling you for your trip. The mountain gets rather cold the higher you go and anything cheaper than this would still let you freeze."
Zelda nods, "Thank you. Do you happen to also have sleeping bags? We may need to stay the night up there and would rather be prepared."
"Yes, we do." The shopkeeper goes to a nearby shelf and pulls down two brown bundles rolled and strapped together. "Here you go. Is there anything else you may need for your trip?"
"No." Zelda shakes her head and the shopkeeper takes the sleeping bags over to the counter and sets them down. Zelda sets the jackets next to them. "How much?"
"Eight hundred rupees."
Zelda swallows and looks in the purse Colin had given her to buy supplies. She hadn't had much when she left home, just enough for room and board at the inns along the way to Castletown, most of that she had spent already. Opening the purse, she looks inside to see three gold rupees and sighs in relief, she'd have enough leftover to buy some food at the general store. Pulling out the rupees she hands them to the shop keeper and waits for her change.
With the transaction complete, Zelda hurries across the street where she had spotted a general store and goes in to buy a few staples for their trip. They had gotten things back in Kakariko, but there was no telling how long it would be before they could stop in another village or town.
With her purchases in hand she makes her way out of town and quickly back up to where she had left Colin.
"I'm back!"
Colin sends her smile when he sees her and hurries over to help with the equipment she had gotten. He raises an eyebrow at the food she had bought and she shrugs at him.
"You're concerned about spies. Aside from the fact that I pretended to be a student at the research center going up the mountain to study weather patterns, I didn't know when we'd next be able to buy food."
"Good thinking. Come on, let's pack this up and get moving."
