The setting sun cast a reddish hue on Hateno's white windmills as the quartet exited through the inn's front door and began walking eastward through the village. The main path crossed a small stream stemming from a nearby pond before weaving between the gradually climbing hills into which the community was built.
Closely packed homes along the path gave way to small farms that were set further apart from one another while claiming more land. Link saw one wife and husband corralling a small flock of sheep into a large enclosure. Their son was trying none too successfully to herd a handful of cuccos into their coop.
The sprawling farms — along with their accompanying hills — forced the path to tack back and forth while still climbing toward the group's destination. Link was beginning to wonder whether he had left this visit until too late when, at the path's next sharp bend, a curious object caught his attention.
It looked like a torch sconce, but it was driven into the ground alongside the road rather than hanging from a wall. Instead of iron, the work was composed of a bronze-like metal adorned with swirling patterns. The torch's light was accessible through four open windows on each side, though the top of the sconce served to shield it from the rain.
Most unique of all was the flame itself: a fire of pure and bright blue that appeared to burn without the aid of fuel. It simply hovered inside the sconce, casting an eerie light reflected in the curious eyes of its four visitors.
"That… that has never been lit before," Reede stammered. "I have never seen anything like that. Have you, Master Dorian?"
The young Sheikah hardly bothered to shake his head while drawing closer to the torch. He was clearly fascinated, the unusual light lending an unnatural glow to his wide eyes. "Much of the ancient Sheikah technology was lost to us in the Calamity," Dorian informed them. "If Lady Impa chooses not to divulge it, it is unknown. Like you, I have never seen this before."
Link remained silent. Though he had never seen a torch exactly like this, its design all but screamed of the same origin as the Sheikah towers and shrines he had frequented since awakening. Each was made for a different purpose, but Link was beginning to realize that all Sheikah craft were similar not only in appearance, but in their sense of mystery and wonder. He was reminded that, once again, he was at the mercy of a people far more knowledgeable than himself. His lack of memories only emphasized that disadvantage, one that was suddenly more discomfiting than ever.
"I don't know about you lot, but I'd rather get a move on than stare at the ruddy thing for the rest of the night."
The blunt blade of Brigo's tact severed the spell between fire and friends. Dorian was initially reluctant to leave this new marvel behind, but he was quickly rewarded with the sight of more torches along the path as it continued its upward track. The sun was nearly gone now, allowing the scattered blue lights to jointly illuminate the last and tallest hill with increasing brightness.
It was their destination that held the small party's attention now. The last rays of daylight illuminated the building at the hill's summit, and it was as unique a sight as the torches leading to it.
As with many of the larger homes of Hateno, a small white storage tower was attached to the main square building. Wooden stairs wound their way around its length, providing access to the tower storerooms. This edition, however, did not stop with a circular red-tiled roof. Precariously perched on top of the tower and held fast by wooden beams was another house, a haphazard structure of wood that seemed more like a disorderly nest than an actual home.
Set apart from the unusual abode sat what could only be described as a forge, though it was unlike any Link had seen before. The thing was bulbous, with blue-glowing Sheikah sigils carved all around it. One short, bronze torch sat in front of the furnace, its bowl filled with blue fire. Ropes extended from the forge's base and through a hole cut into the house's wall, though for what reason Link could not begin to fathom.
Dorian, however, was drawn to another curiosity on the other side of the building. As he followed, Link saw the southern side of the hill was actually a massive cliff face that made this side of Hateno all but inaccessible. He pulled out his Sheikah Slate and, upon examining the map, saw that the vast ocean below was called the Necluda Sea. A steep and narrow path led from the back of the village to the beach, but it appeared useful only to those coming from Hateno. The only way for strangers to use it would be to arrive by water, as either side of the beach was cut off by Ebon Mountain to the west and Walnot Mountain to the east. The resulting bay was very likely the villagers' source of fish.
The young Sheikah did not stop to admire the breathtaking view. Instead, Dorian was inspecting an enormous cylinder covered in Sheikah runes. The device was propped up with large wooden polls so it could rest lengthwise in an elevated position. The contraption was set high enough to where the smaller end hovered just above a wooden platform extending from halfway up the tower's spiral staircase winding. That end was much smaller than the other, and Link saw the latter was capped with a circle of blue glass.
"I have seen one of these before, though on a much smaller scale," Dorian offered eagerly while eying the device. "The Gerudo are known to make them. It is called a telescope. Master Cado has one. They are ingenious. If you look through one end, whatever it shows you in the distance appears much closer than it actually is."
Link nodded thoughtfully. That much information was useful just looking at the thing. The larger end pointed to the east and the lands beyond the village — the same area Link and his friends had traversed just a few days earlier. He did not think it a coincidence, not when Impa had seemed to have his journey here prearranged.
"Are… are we going to knock?" Reede called hesitantly from the front of the house. "I do not think it wise to linger uninvited outside a Sheikah's home."
Dorian immediately blushed in embarrassment. He and Link made their way to the village head and patrolman, who were eyeing the front door as if wondering whether their curious snooping might bring the inhabitants' wrath upon them. Link put a comforting hand on Reede's shoulder.
"You have done much for me this day, friend," Link told him warmly. "Please, go back to your village and enjoy the company of your loved ones. I do not know what the nature or length of my conversation with these people will be, but I assure you it will be more complicated than you need after the last few days."
The village head returned Link's gesture of friendship with his own. "It is I who am grateful, Sir Link," he replied earnestly. "Not only for your service to my village in its darkest hour, but for the friendship of one such as you. If you have need of anything later today, tomorrow or ten years from now, it will be freely given here."
With that and warm farewells to Brigo and Dorian, Reede turned back down the winding path and descended to his village. Link was briefly envious. His home. Reede knew who he was and what his life expected of him. Well, hopefully, the time had finally come for Link to learn that much for himself.
Brigo and Dorian were patiently waiting. Both had far more dealings with the Sheikah than Link, at least more than he could remember. Squaring himself to the door — it bore a very faded Sheikah eye painted over its wooden surface — he approached and knocked.
Link was not sure what he had expected. Vague ideas of an elderly Sheikah wise woman similar to Impa had come to mind. Perhaps the old man Reede had mentioned.
He certainly did not expect to hear a small girl's voice call out gleefully from within the house.
"Oh good, you're here!" it shouted enthusiastically. "Well, don't stand outside dawdling like a love-shy Gerudo! Come in!"
Link's lifted eyebrows earned only a shrug from Brigo and a perplexed expression from Dorian. Reminding himself of all the reasons he knew this was the right place, Link opened the door.
His first reaction was one of utter shock at the difference between this Sheikah abode and those in Kakariko Village. The latter had been neat to the point of meticulousness, with everything laid out in symmetrical patterns that allowed as much space as possible. Link had unconsciously assumed he would see more of the same here.
That expectation was shattered by an explosion of mess and disorder. Books and parchments lay scattered on the floor and surfaces of shelves and tables. Wooden boxes were shoved and stacked into every available corner. Lit lanterns were spread about haphazardly, and Link thought it a miracle none had turned the place into a massive bonfire already.
Even with the clutter, the interior of the house was large, allowing room for an object that immediately seized Link's attention. Set atop a wide wooden platform to his left glowed a squat, bronzed pedestal. Its light came from a series of constellations etched on the pedestal's surface. Directly above it hovered a stalactite made of obsidian-like stone with Sheikah runes carved along its length.
Link's fixation on the familiar object was interrupted by the same girly voice he had heard outside.
"Nice, isn't it?"
Startled, Link turned and found the source of the juvenile tones. Standing atop a wooden bench near the biggest — and messiest — table in the house, was a girl of no more than six or seven years old. A white coat flared over a dark blue skirt that stopped just shy of her stubby little knees, below which stretched long blue socks ending inside a pair of tiny blue shoes.
It was the girl's face, however, that caused Link to think hard. Overlarge round eyes with soft red irises gazed at him from behind a round pair of red spectacles. Completely white eyebrows complemented a head full of equally white hair done up in a bun, which was topped by a curious piece of bronze headwear.
It was not the strangeness of the girl's appearance, however, that had Link wracking his brain. Finally, he remembered.
"I saw you!" he spluttered. "In the village, the day before the Ganonspawn attacked!"
The girl gave him a winning smile that would have set any parent aglow.
"Right first time, Linky!" she praised. "Looks like a century's worth of sleep hasn't made you any dumber! That's worth noting!"
With that, the little girl immediately scrunched her face over a small notebook and began scribbling furiously with a quill. Brigo unsuccessfully tried to turn an abrupt fit of laughter into a cough, while Dorian simply stared with his mouth agape at the absurdity of it all.
Completely nonplussed, Link tried to think up an appropriate response when a polite cough sounded from the far corner of the house. The trio was so taken aback by the girl's appearance and greeting that they had failed to notice an elderly Sheikah man thumbing through a book near an overstuffed bookshelf. Narrow, rectangular spectacles framed a kindly face adorned with a thin white beard and the usual white Sheikah hair held up in a bun. Like many of his kind in Kakariko, the man wore cream trousers and coat over a close-fitting tunic of dark blue. Despite his scholarly appearance, Link thought he looked fit enough to do more than throw books at a would-be attacker.
Now, however, the man's expression was merely apologetic.
"Please excuse Ms. Purah," he said kindly, but with a look of someone beseeching no small amount of patience and understanding. "As the Hateno Ancient Tech lab director, she is the world's foremost authority on ancient Hyrule culture. In her current state, however, she can appear to be a bit…"
"Director!" Dorian yelped. "Her? But, you can't mean—"
"Don't coddle them, Symin!" the girl snapped peevishly from the depths of her notebook. "That's exactly what my sister would do, and you're better than that! Impa thinks she knows what's best, but I say that—"
"Sister?" Dorian spluttered. "What do you mean…? She can't be…? How?"
The girl finally deigned to stop writing and looked up at the trio, all of which wore even more shocked expressions than when they had first entered.
"Yes," she began huffily, "I am Purah — Ms. Purah to you — Director of the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab of Hyrule. Impa is my sister and you," she added pointedly while looking directly at Link, "are Link, wielder of The Sword That Seals The Darkness, knight of Hyrule, Hylian Champion and chosen protector of Princess Zelda. To me, however, you will always be Linky, an adorably quiet boy with the table manners of a starving Goron."
If anything, Purah's last words floored Link more than her first. Linky? Brigo's cough had apparently worsened. Link tried to focus.
"I assume Impa told you I was coming," he began. "I will admit, I didn't expect—"
"Impa! Impa! Impa!" the girl whined in a sickly sweet voice. "Why does everyone want to talk about my sister! She's not that special! She didn't unlock the secrets of the Sheikah Slate! She didn't put it and you in the Shrine of Resurrection! She—"
Now it was Link's turn to interrupt.
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" he protested while taking a few steps toward Purah. Even in his flustered state, however, he did not fail to see Symin retrieve a curved Sheikah sword from behind a pile of books. Link stopped himself a couple steps short of the director, who was gazing at him in shock. Still, he had to restrain himself from giving full vent to his frustration. After expecting the same sort of wisely mysterious games he had received from Impa, this juvenile brand of confusion was infuriating.
"What do you mean you put me in the Shrine of Resurrection?" Link demanded. "You wouldn't have been a thought in your grandmother's heart! Tell me what you know, girl, but do not trifle with me after what I have suffered the last fortnight!"
Silence, coiled and ready to spring, dominated the room. Symin's eyes were narrowed to slits. He no longer pretended to conceal his weapon. The Sheikah's hand visibly gripped the hilt and was a breath away from drawing the blade free. Brigo was not laughing, but instead nervously fingering his spear. Dorian looked desperately between Link, Symin and Purah, clearly torn as to where his loyalties lay.
Purah, however, simply gawked at him with childish eyes as wide as they could go. Her girlish lashes enhanced the effect, and Link was suddenly aware that he had shouted at a child.
"Sissy told me you had changed, but I didn't expect this," she said slowly. "I must make a note — no. No, clearly, I must help you first. Symin! Please take notes while we talk. I do not want to forget anything that might help my research later!"
The Sheikah's hand left the sword hilt at once. With a perfect bow to Purah, Symin pulled up a chair, removed his own notebook from inside his coat and began scribbling furiously. Purah gestured to the bench on the opposite side of the table.
"Please, sit," she said in clipped tones. "I assume these two are your friends, Linky, otherwise you would not have brought them with you."
Link nodded without hesitation, and he could almost feel the tension leave his companions. "I trust Brigo and Dorian with my life, Purah. And it is Link." He had only just regained that name, and from Zelda herself. He would not have it changed to something so ridiculous so soon after acquiring it. Purah greeted his insistence with an impatient wave of her tiny hand.
"Yes, yes, yes," she said hurriedly. "Link, then. Brigo? I'll find out later how a Hebran came this far southeast. And Dorian, you're awfully young and eager for one of my 'brothers,' aren't you? Still, no matter. Yes, yes, yes, sit down."
The trio finally took their seats opposite of Purah, who was sifting through her books for a specific volume. Locating it — an especially thick and weathered edition — she flipped it open toward the end while murmuring rapidly to herself. After but a moment, she looked up at them with those enormous eyes. Like a baby owl, Link thought irritably.
"You two will have to be patient," Purah sternly issued to Brigo and Dorian. "What I have to say is for Link and Link alone. Do not interrupt me with questions! Link, if you have one, I may or may not choose to answer. That's up to me. Got it? Good."
Link's eyes narrowed, a fact which did not go unnoticed by the director.
"At least I told you, didn't I?" Purah challenged him. "I doubt sissy was as honest with you, was she?"
Link could not help but exhale at that. Impa had made every pretense of knowing all while telling extremely little. Satisfied that her point and terms were accepted, Purah continued.
"Some of what I will say depends on the facts, otherwise I could give you false or useless information," she said in clipped tones. "That being said, I must ask you questions along the way. Now then, Link, I take it that you do not, in fact, remember me? And by me, I mean a person named Purah, not a six-year-old girl."
Slightly confused, Link wracked his brain for any sign of familiarity. As with nearly everything else, however, his mind was devoid of any concrete memory from before his long sleep. He shook his head, saving the time words would require so Purah could get on with her story.
"Hmmm," she mused. "Well, I have to say, Link, I'm a little hurt. As I said before, I was the one who took you to the Shrine of Resurrection after Calamity Ganon fatally wounded you. Clearly, that fact requires some explanation for you to accept it. Very well, then."
Purah leaned forward, her tiny hands splayed on the table and her eyes wide with the light of a child about to impart an extraordinary tale.
"I am one hundred twenty-three years old."
AUTHOR NOTES
How many of us have thought/said some version of, "If I could go back knowing what I know now..."? I'm not sure we realize that we would still convey that knowledge with all the tact of that younger self. That was the fun of writing out Purah's character. Cramming 123 years of wisdom into a six-year-old was daunting, but it also bred some of the most naturally enjoyable dialogue to date. Link enters a Sheikah abode expecting a watershed moment of wisdom and enlightenment, only to see it countered by one of least inspiring sights/sounds/impressions imaginable.
If this introduction to Purah is the appetizer, the next chapter is the main course, which both figuratively and literally has a lot more meat to it. Those of you who have played the BOTW game may recall her journal. Keep that in mind heading into Saturday. As always, feel free to drop a comment about what you like, dislike or are just plain thinking. Thanks so much for your precious time in reading. Hope life is treating you well. - MattWords
