Hey, everyone got that Zelda was implying that Umbra was a girl with her remark, right?


Oni

The Oni was a race that Faeore created. They were powerful, potent creatures. They were the race that Din blessed to give them the strength to uphold Nayru's laws. They were a timeless race, blessed to never die from age. There were no children in the Oni, nor were there old men. They were all the same age, all in their prime, all at their peak of strength. They had been blessed to never age once they reached their own summit of power.

Their leader was the strongest and most courageous of them all. Their leader held our most powerful blessings and upheld Nayru's laws to their full extent. He was called "Fierce Deity" by the races that were not Oni.


Link walked back to the town he had left earlier in the day. By the position of the sun it was around noon, he figured. He felt a gnawing feeling in his stomach and thought that it was time to get some food. He had been hungry for hours, that didn't surprise him. He had run out of the house without breakfast, only eating a piece of salted meat, and had expended a lot of energy fighting in the Water Gate.

"Hey, do you think they'll be mad if at you for leaving without letting them know?"

Link shrugged, "They should be able to figure out that I would leave first thing after I got up."

"Phlo is gonna be so angry at you." Navi said. Link only nodded and continued on his path to the lakeside.

Link heard the woman talking before he got to her. He stopped walking and hid behind something. Her voice was moving, as though she were walking.

"That damn fool. He should have least eaten before leaving."

"Sister," He heard Aeon say, "Please, calm down. You look like you're going to kill him when you see him."

"I might just do that. Or at least hurt him a little. What was he thinking?! Leaving without letting us know. Bheesty's worried sick. Din, what a fool."

Link pressed himself against the wall at Phlo's words. He crouched down and ducked behind a crate, hoping that Phlo wouldn't spot him while he hid. There was nothing he feared more than an angry woman, especially one of Phlo's personality. Navi fluttered by Link's head.

He listened as Phlo passed by his spot. After he was certain he was safe, he got up and walked out of the lakeside town. There was nothing to keep him there. He played Epona's song and the mare galloped over to him. She whinnied and waited for him to mount her.

He checked her bags and then jumped astride her back. Link gently patted her neck and she ran forwards. He steered her towards the north, the direction of the desert. It would be the easiest to clear the rest of the Holy Sites by first visiting the desert.

It took him several hours to get to the edge of the desert, by now the sun was quietly slipping beyond the forest that was just beyond the edges of the desert. He exhaled heavily and pushed Epona forwards. The horse eyed the sand warily but followed Link's commands. The soft sand made it harder for Epona to run, however they pressed forward faster than Link could have done on his own.

Night had claimed the land by the time they made it to the desert town that was in front of the Holy Site, the Sand Arena. It was a stone building that was multi-tiered and was in a circle, as though there was to be a great fight in the center. Even from a mile distant, the Arena was a monument on the horizon, a tribute to the goddesses and their might.

He checked in at a small inn. The town was buried in a cliff side to protect it from the terrible sand storms that plagued the desert. He put Epona into a stable, despite her protestations, so that she would not get lost in the desert sands. He took the saddle and bags off of her, patted her neck, feed her several carrots, brushed her down, and left her there. She whinnied after him, as if questioning why she was locked up in the stable.

He then went into the tavern that was attached to the inn. A waitress came over to him and she asked for his order. He took a sum of thirty rupees out of his wallet and placed them on the table in front of her. Navi rested on his shoulder.

"He'd like a large plate of meat, some bread, and a drink. He's says that you can keep whatever's left."

"Hon, that'll give me ten extra. You sure about that? I can just give you the blue ones back if you'd like."

Link waved a hand dismissively. "He says that you can have it." Navi translated.

The waitress nodded and pocketed the rupees. In minutes she came back with a tray of food for Link. There was a quarter of a loaf of bread, at least half a pound of meat and a large mug of a foaming and yellow liquid. She dropped the tray on the table in front of Link and walked off.

Link stared at the mug; he had never drunk anything like it before. He took a careful sniff and didn't find it to be poisonous. He took a sip and found the taste slightly unusual. He shrugged and downed the food and the mug. He found himself surprisingly thirsty, so he called the waitress over for a second drink and gave her another blue rupee. She gave him an odd look, but returned with another glass. He gulped it down quickly.

Navi rested on the table in front of the tray. She wondered like Link what the mug was. She looked around and saw that most of the people in the tavern were drinking mugs filled with a similar drink, so she shrugged it off.

Link got up, knowing that his bill had been paid in advance and walked out of the tavern. He went to the room he had checked out and sat by the window. The moon shone brightly in the room. After some time his vision became distorted a fragment. Link passed it off on exhaustion and the mist he had inhaled earlier in the day. He walked over to his gear that had been stowed by the foot of the bed, double-checked it and kicked his boots off next to his shield. He jumped into the bed and quickly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning he awoke with a sharp pain in his head. He rubbed his right temple, for that was the side that hurt the most, and wondered what had caused his headache. He groaned at the pain, and got out of the bed. He was surprised, after two large drinks the previous night his throat was parched. Link rubbed his burning eyes and slowly got his things together, finding that even after a solid and restful night's sleep he was still drowsy.

He walked down the stairs and into the tavern, intent on getting some more food and some water. The waitress from the night before was in there and greeted him.

"Link would like some food and some water."

"Alright, hon. Wait one moment while I get it for ye."

He sat down at the same table from the night before and was grateful for the silence. The thought of noise made his head hurt. The waitress came and brought him a bowl of porridge and some biscuits. She gave him a large glass of water. Link downed it gratefully.

"You look like you have a pretty bad hangover, hon. You alright?" The waitress inquired. "I was wondering if you'd be a'right with two beers an' all."

Link looked up at her curiously, holding half of a biscuit in his hand.

Navi voiced his question, "What's beer?"

The waitress was stunned into silence. "You've never heard o' beer before, hon? What do you do?"

"He wanders around helping people. He mostly eats dried meat and drinks water from rivers and lakes. Link never comes into taverns for food. So, what's beer?"

"It's an alcoholic drink, hon. You mean you've never drunk alcohol before?"

He shook his head and the waitress sighed. "Well, hon, it's a type of drink that'll make your head seem a bit off kilter an' a lil' while later ye'll have a hangover, like a headache and so on. You drank two pints last night, I was wonderin' if you could even behave normal with that much. There's nothin' that'd cure it though, gotta rough it out." With that she walked off.

Link nodded. That explained why he felt so bad. He finished his food and made a note to himself never to drink alcohol again.

He put a hand to his head and walked out of the inn, paying for the night's stay. He had Navi tell the inn keeper that Epona was to stay in the stables until he returned later on in the day. He didn't want to take her to the Holy Site. The inn keeper nodded at him and agreed to it.

Link stopped at the stables, patted Epona's mane and fed her more carrots. She nuzzled him, she could tell that there was something wrong with him. Link patted her mane and left her locked up again. She stamped her feet and pawed the ground with her hooves. She was anxious being locked up in the stables for so long. Link ignored it and walked out of the town.

To compliment the effect of the beer, Link found that there was a strong sand storm blowing out in the desert. Link groaned and walked out of the town into the blistering sand. He put a hand in front of his face to protect his eyes, gritted his teeth and pressed his way through the desert storms.

After a long time the torrent of sand was broken by the small maze that guarded the entrance to the Sand Arena. Link spat out the sand that had made it into his mouth and found that the effects of the beer had been alleviated by a great amount. He sighed and rubbed his eyes and took a sip of the water from the skein attached to his belt.