From chatter amidst the other Hylian men in the bazaar, it seemed that the only way into town was by using a disguise, and there was someone who had managed to make it work, but Link was sure he had talked to everyone around the bazaar. He clambered to the top of the stone pillar, hoping to get a better viewpoint - and up there, was greeted by a someone in purple Gerudo clothing, though they didn't look particularly Gerudo…
"Oh my, what a lovely young man you are. Do you need something from me?" they asked, and Link looked wary before explaining his situation. He had to get in.
"I need to get into Gerudo Town, and I heard about a man sneaking in somehow," Link mentioned.
"What's that? You heard about a man sneaking into Gerudo Town? I don't know anything about him… sorry I couldn't be of more help," they replied, and Link squinted at their face, unsure if they - she - he? Was just playing him.
"You're making my cheeks red, staring at me like that," they replied, and Link laughed nervously in response.
"You're beautiful," he replied simply, wondering if flattery would do the trick.
"Oh, you sure know what to say! In fact, I bet these clothes would look quite fetching on you. I'd have to charge you of course, but I'm sure people would see you completely differently if you wore them!"
Link blinked. Did they know what he was trying to do, and just weren't admitting it?
"What do you say? Six hundred rupees?"
A moment later, and Link - at request of the stranger - had quickly changed into his new clothes. His new, surprisingly silky, somewhat see-through, women's clothing. They fit like a charm, despite being made for a completely different body type, but Link was skinny enough that it seemed to do the trick. The pants were… airy, to say the least.
Link offered a quick thank-you to the mystery person and then parasailed down towards Gerudo Town. He completed the shrine outside first, and then walked hesitantly through the town gates - the guards gave him a bit of a look, but otherwise let him pass, and he let out a sigh of relief as he moved in. Still, there were other Gerudo all over, and he didn't feel comfortable trying on any other clothes as he went. Riju's quarters were clearly up ahead, so Link made his way up the steps, unsure what to expect.
When he got to the royal room, his eyes immediately landed on the throne, but it took him a moment to actually spot Riju. She was about half the height of most Gerudo, but clearly the leader, wearing a crown and resting casually on the chair that seemed about three times too big for her. But if Link knew the Gerudo, he knew she'd grow into it.
"Yet another traveller," she said casually, resting her chin on her hand propped against the chair. "How did you get in here? It seems you have something rather interesting there."
Her eyes narrowed, looking at his hip, and he knew she was seeing the Sheikah Slate. He approached, walking along red carpet and pillars; the entire room was open air, and the draft made it comfortably airy inside. The guard next to Riju's throne suddenly stood taller, slamming her sheathed sword against the ground.
"You stand before Lady Riju, chief of the Gerudo! Declare your business, but come no closer!"
Link was taken aback, but it did the trick - he stopped in his tracks.
"Hold on, Buliara," Riju interrupted, "this one doesn't seem like an ordinary traveler. What is your name?"
"Link," he replied quickly, realising a moment later he hadn't tried to edit his voice at all. Shit. A knowing smile crept across Riju's lips, but Buliara hadn't noticed.
"And what is it you came all the way here to tell me, Link?"
"I can calm Naboris," he replied quickly. "I've already appeased two of the four divine beasts."
Buliara immediately protested, and Link understood somewhat - how could he hope to calm the beasts? They could only be controlled by Champions, strong warriors, who had all died a century ago. But Riju turned to her, and the two of them conversed momentarily in whispers; all the while casting sideways glances at Link. He waited.
"What of the sword?"
"The device on his hip-"
"There was no Hylian vai in the Champions- a voe!"
"A voe in Gerudo is a crime. But a voe who is a Champion…"
Riju finally made up her mind, much to the disdain of Buliara.
"We would never mistreat a friend of Lady Urbosa's. And if you're here to help us with Naboris, we are allies."
"How can we trust him? Perhaps if he were to recover your stolen Thunder Helm," Buliara suggested, grinning at Link in a way that told him it would be no easy task. He looked back at Riju. The look on her face told him that it was settled.
"You'd never be able to approach Naboris without the heirloom, anyways," Riju added, resting her chin on her hand. "You know… I take heart in having a visitor as rare as you. Lady Urbosa must be looking out for us."
Urbosa was the Gerudo Champion Link remembered from one of his memories - the first one he'd received - but the name and face still didn't click with any emotions or feelings. He couldn't put his finger still on who she really was.
The Gerudo military captain told him where to go. Turned out the Yiga were the ones who had stolen the thunder helm; it was time to get revenge for them terrorizing Zelda a century ago. The only issue is that they were human, legitimately human, not soulless monsters… killing them always hurt, at least a little. But Link had something more important now. He had someone he had to protect.
The trip to the Yiga Clan hideout was long and arduous, but he did find another Sheikah Tower along the way; and he met with Kass again, the traveling Rito bard, at the top. It was hard to miss his accordion music, and Link found himself feeling relieved and cheery when he heard the tunes echoing through the canyon.
"I know a song about this place, would you like to hear it?"
Another shrine lifted from the ground when Link solved Kass's puzzle. By the time he'd completed that, it was past midday, and he hurried towards the hideout before night fell. The desert was freezing at night, and he wasn't sure whether he preferred too hot or too cold at this point. On the plus side, the Yiga - for being such a stealthy bunch - made their headquarters easily found. Statues and banners flew all throughout the cavern where they hid, and Link made his way through unobstructed, until a room with banners and a lit torch acted as a dead end.
Until he burned the banners. Was it supposed to be this easy?
There were tons of bananas nearby, and by now Link had noticed that in fact, all the Yiga he'd encountered kept bananas with them. They loved them so much that he was able to distract them to sneak through their base. It was tidy at least, and when he finally found his way to the end, a massive hole in the mountain where their leader awaited him, Link felt like it had taken altogether no effort at all. But Naboris, he knew, would not be this easy.
Something went poof! In front of him and Link turned to see a Yiga - albeit one with a beer belly - appear before him. It had to be the leader Kohga, the one he kept hearing about, but he seemed… like he'd gotten old, somehow. Like the shadow of a man who was once in his prime. Link winced. He hadn't had to kill anyone yet. He didn't feel like needing to do it now.
The ninja groaned, stretching his shoulders and looking at Link with what he assumed was an accusatory expression under his upside-down Sheikah mask.
"Who the heck are you? And what are you doing in my napping spot?"
"I'm here for the Thunder Helm you stole from the Gerudo," Link replied, "we don't need to fight."
"Wait a minute!" he interrupted, staring unmoving at Link. "Is that - a Sheikah Slate? Yeah! It's you! You're that Link guy I've been looking for!"
The yiga lord began to laugh, throwing his head back.
"What luck! My scouts are out there looking high and low for you, but you just wander into my hideout! Oh- excuse me," he said suddenly folding his arms, "I haven't introduced myself yet. I am the leader of the Yiga Clan! The strong! The burly! The one, the only - Master Kohga!"
"...cool," Link said.
Master Kohga wielded some sort of telekinesis and tried to throw metal balls at Link, but an arrow to the face tended to distract him enough to be hit with his own weapons. Not only that, but he didn't learn; the ninja only continued trying larger and larger weapons until finally one of them was too big and rolled him over, pushing him into the giant hole behind him. A yell erupted but faded as he fell, however far. The blonde winced. At least he hadn't had to finish the job.
Link had been antsy lately in completing his tasks. The shrines had made him more powerful, more enduring, than he felt he ever could have been a century ago, but really, it was hard to tell. Nonetheless, he hurried back to Gerudo Town, nearly forgetting to change into his vai clothing before he walked through the gates, and presented the thunder helm to Riju. She had been waiting for him in the back, overlooking the desert that sat behind the city.
"I am, as you have no doubt noticed, still but a child. The people look at me with nothing but warmth in their eyes, but even this brings me some pain, I must admit… I've tried so hard to be worthy of their love, to be a worthy chief, and to prove it to myself, too. When my family heirloom was stolen, I felt as though a shadow had fallen over me. Yes, your arrival in the midst of all this must be the work of Lady Urbosa," Riju decided, and Link returned the smile she cast him.
She turned then, slipping the helmet on her head carefully, but it was somewhat too big and she had to hold it to keep it from tilting when she looked back at Link. It was a bizarre looking helmet, brassy gold with six glass "eyes" that glowed turquoise.
"How do I look?" Riju asked, and Link was about to tell her but the sight of the helm had struck a chord. He stared at the helmet, and felt the now-familiar feeling of a memory resurfacing; Urbosa and Zelda, atop Vah Naboris. Zelda was asleep, resting on Urbosa, and Link felt a pang in his heart as he remembered fully who the Gerudo Champion had been. Protective, motherly, but more than anything, a good friend. She knew Link better than he knew himself sometimes, and she knew Zelda, too - it was evident from what she had said to him that night. The Link a hundred years ago had obviously been undergoing some sort of emotional turmoil. Zelda had been struggling to unlock her sealing power, this he remembered from a couple of the memories he had unlocked already, but the notion that he made it all the worse with the 'sword' on his back… of course. The sword that seals the darkness. So Link had already succeeded, as a Champion, in finding his weapon, but Zelda had not.
"What's wrong?" Riju asked, looking confused, but the girl decided to move past it. "Anyways, what matters now is - how is it? Does it look alright?"
"It's a bit big," Link admitted, and Riju sighed in response, the helm tilting a little bit again before she readjusted it.
"You don't say," she mumbled. "Well, Link, as chief, and as a Gerudo, I must find some way to stop Vah Naboris before it threatens my people. Will you help me?"
"Of course," he replied urgently.
"Who would have thought that just before such a momentous battle, hearing a simple, confident pledge of support from you would be just what I need?" Riju laughed. "I'll head out now. Meet me at the lookout post south of town, and bring a sand seal."
The sandstorm that surrounded Naboris filled Link's stomach with dread. It was the first thing that had really done so since he returned. The swirls of malice surrounding the castle were scary, sure, but Link's feelings towards Ganon were more bitter and angry than fearful. Even Rudania, sinking in lava, had been more accessible than this. The poor visibility and jerking, unpredictable movements of the camel, with it's massive stature and heavy feet, caught Link a little bit off guard.
Riju awaited him at the lookout like she said. He rented a sand seal from the vendors, and with a nod, they set off; Riju warned him to stay close, as her lightning helm would only protect the area near her. Link was to fire bomb arrows at the beasts' feet, and thankfully, they were big targets. The two of them surfed with their seals, underfoot of the camel, which knew they were there and began firing supercharged bolts of lightning at them. Electricity crackled over the protective seal the thunder helm granted them, and Link fired bomb after bomb while balancing on the shield dragged by the sand seal.
When each of the legs finally lost their electricity, the beast let out a cry. It's legs halted, and it fell into the sand on its knees, bowed downwards. Link's seal slid to a stop behind Riju, and he ran to catch up with her. She took the helm off her head, and shook out her long red braid.
"Unfortunately, I cannot appease Naboris on my own," she said, looking to him with trust in her eyes, "so this task falls to you."
He broke into a run, looking back for just a moment to nod assuredly to Riju, and headed straight for the camel. As soon as he set foot on a ramp leading up to the entrance, it shook, and began to lift; Link fell, grasping onto the stone for stability as the beast returned to full height and began walking again. Looks like it would be doing the rounds while he tried to appease it. The first pedestal was in front of him a little ways, and Link was surprised to see that unlike the other beasts, this one was not entirely indoors; in fact the platform he was standing on was very open, with no rails or walls to stop him from falling to the sand below if he missed a step.
"Well, well, well - you sure do know how to keep a woman waiting," Urbosa's voice greeted him, faraway but close. Link smiled.
"Sorry," he replied, though he wasn't sure if she could hear him.
"I can't wait to see you take Naboris back from Ganon! But one thing at a time- you'll need a map to find your way around."
Of course. Just like the others. As Link found his way into the belly of the beast, literally, he realised immediately what would have to be done; everything could spin. The map confirmed this when he received it, and with a pledge of support from Urbosa - you're ready for this! - Link pushed forward.
It took longer than Rudania and Ruta put together, at least a couple hours of running around, spinning the map, and grappling onto ledges. Naboris was a living puzzle, and it was a test of balance and opportunism as Link attempted to find each terminal. When he finally found himself at the last one, he was reminded suddenly of the battle to come. Judging by the beast itself - and the strength it would take for anything to defeat Urbosa - this blight in particular would not be fun.
As the beast formed itself with a shriek in the belly of Naboris, Link noticed first thing that it had a shield. That was unique. At least it didn't have a sword as big as Fireblight's, but the electricity that crackled around it told Link it had its own element at play. He readied his sword.
The shield it held, thankfully, broke fast as Link hammered away at it. The blight was faster than the others he had faced, but its movements were predictable, so Link was able to dodge and he finally felt like he was making some good headway, the beast screeched; it was bringing out the big guns in form of lightning rods, but Link hadn't realised it at first. The metal fell around Link, and he focused on dodging it; he didn't realise that electricity would be coursing through it a moment later, and when it struck him, his entire body lit up. Sword and shield clattered to the ground, his heart felt like it had stopped and started again, and he was thrown to the inner wall of Naboris' belly like a ragdoll before rolling back down to the bottom.
He groaned, and had barely gotten to his feet when more metal fell around him. Desperately, he threw himself out of the way, crawling towards his sword and shield and trying to ignore the electric burns that now decorated his right shoulder. It seared, but there was no time to eat or drink anything; the blight had flown towards him again, and the knight barely moved out of the way in time to counter with more hits from his sword.
Again the metal fell and again Link barely dodged it. How was he supposed to counter that? Finally he made it back up onto the platforms so he would be on equal footing with the beast, and used magnesis to move one of the rods away. A second later it clicked. Maybe the blight couldn't control the electricity once it was fired… maybe.
The next time the rods fell, Link dodged, but grabbed one of the rods using magnesis and pushed it midair towards the blight. When the lightning coursed through it predictably, it hit the blight as well, knocking him downwards. Link took the opportunity to jump, and finished him off with a stab to the chest. Fluid and malice escaped into thin air, sinking around Link's feet until there was no trace it had ever been there. He let out a sigh of relief, grimaced at the pain in his shoulder, and dug out a couple omelettes to ease the pain. It worked, but when he looked back at his arm, the scars were still there, like branches of a tree spreading out from his collarbone.
The main terminal sat waiting for him, and as Link pressed his Sheikah slate to it, it glowed blue. Footsteps distracted him then, and he turned to see Urbosa walking down the steps into Naboris, arms folded and a smile on her face.
"I knew you wouldn't let us down, Link. Thanks to your valor and skill, my soul is free, and Naboris is ours once again. Which means that finally, we can complete what we started years ago. We Gerudo have no tolerance for unfinished business," she reminded him, and Link grinned back at her.
"I've waited so long for the moment to see you finally rush Hyrule Castle… as well as for the moment when I incinerate Ganon into a pile of ash. Which reminds me, I wanted to give you a little something… please accept this gift, which has come to be known as Urbosa's Fury. It will no doubt be of use to you."
Link had nearly forgotten about the gifts from Daruk and Mipha. Urbosa's Fury invoked a new sort of power, a tingling sensation that coursed through his veins, and when he snapped his fingers the energy released in the form of lightning around him. An offensive ability. Nice.
"Both you and the princess… I know you have suffered much regarding what happened to us Champions. But this had to happen. No one need carry blame. So please, make it clear so she understands that? Tell her to shed any worries. And let her know… I couldn't be more proud of her," Urbosa added, and Link felt his heart aching again. Her. The Zelda he didn't remember. He felt envious of Urbosa now, that she remembered who she was, who Zelda was. But Link pushed his feelings aside. He would get there, eventually.
"You take good care of the princess," Urbosa said, as Link began to feel himself disappearing. "Oh, and also… take good care of Hyrule," she added with a wink. This caught Link off guard, but he had no time to ask why or say thank-you or anything at all, really; he would save Hyrule, but what responsibility did he have after that to look after it? Didn't that fall simply to Zelda?
Clearly there was more that he didn't know, or hadn't realised yet. Once again he knew he had to find the other memories. Surely there would be some on the way to Rito Village, where the last Divine Beast was waiting for him… and then there would be only one thing left. He was nearly there.