Mipha intentionally kept her head low as the Champions sauntered up the mighty slopes that lead up to the reservoir. She knew her incessantly beaming face was out of place, yet she couldn't help the feelings coursing through her at that moment. Not only had she shared something with Link rather intimate, and indeed, rather embarrassing by Zora standards, but even beyond their kisses, they shared a moment of momentous occasion, a strand of fate passing through both of their fingers entangled together. As dour as she had been to begin this leg of their journey, she now experienced much the opposite, even if the thought of hiding such emotions constrained her heart to the point of stress.

She so wanted to share it with her friends, but given the occasion in which it had occurred, alone with Link- such situations only bred suspicion and, certainly, innuendo. Link, himself, had to hold his own thrilled disposition, though being well-versed in concealing such things, he found it easier to play along in innocence, even if he couldn't help but steal glanced toward Mipha to ensure that she wasn't staring back. He hated to waste a moment of connection such as that.

"So troublesome this pathway!" Revali complained, tugging his arm within the sling there to keep it in place, its discomfort keeping him in a rather foul mood, "Certainly you Zora understand the accessibility of- Why are you smiling so much?"

Mipha's jolted as Revali's scathing criticism surprised her. Such a statement caught the others' attention, though Zelda was quick to interject on behalf of Mipha's privacy.

"Look! Almost there! Revali, you can rest up once we arrive," she spoke up with contagious elation.

He nodded plainly, "A proper Rito refuses such attempts at ill efficiency. We shall press on, despite the barely ergonomic construction of this terrain."

Link spoke up off-handedly, as if speaking only to himself, "One hundred and eighty-four steps up to the reservoir…"

Frowning, Revali spoke up with a pitherous voice, "Perhaps a moment's rest, then…"

Before anything concrete could be decided upon, Navo's inquirous expression brought him strolling in opposition to the Champions, his spear at the ready; however, upon taking a moment to size up the group, his critical gaze grew into one of incredulity. Revali's arm strung up in a sling, Urbosa bruised with bandages along her arms; Daruk, a man made from rock, wore a strap around his stomach to brace his back. While Mipha appeared normal, she was also joined by Link, whose entire face looked sunken in beneath a coiling strand of fabric that went around his cranium.

"D- Did I miss something?!" Navo questioned with a start.

Daruk groaned in heavy dismay, with the others sharing in their own displeasure as Mipha stepped forward, "Sort of. In any case, here is a message from my father. You'll recognize-"

"I- I know what to recognize!" Navo retorted, whipping his arm out to snatch the slip of paper from Mipha, "You know it d- did take you a few days to get this."

Mipha frowned, "I understand."

"That- t- It does not help with my suspicions," Navo confirmed uneasily, though his eyes began scrolling along the note regardless, "G- Well, truly, this is the King's signature and handwriting…"

"Great," Urbosa nodded stepping along, "Now we can get on- WAH!"

Navo swung his spear overtop Mipha to stop Urbosa in her tracks, a scowl leading her nowhere as he shouted, "D- DON'T YOU DARE! Th- This n- note- It assures me of your passage, but as Watcher, I remain the utmost authority on whom may be privileged enough to stand in the presence of Vah Ruta! Clearly, Mipha is the most graceful amongst us Zora; Vah Ruta would be honored to have her company. But you-!"

His eyes scanned the ragged ranks of Champions, "Vah Ruta h- has little interest in outsiders!"

"Navo," Mipha spoke up gently, a regal nature summoned to the surface as she steadied her comrade, "They all bear these marks because of me. They sacrificed much for my sake, just as you have sacrificed much for your people."

Appealing to his own sense of sacrificed seemed to quell some of Navo's nerves, or at the very least, knocked him off kilter just enough to unsettle his current course of action.

"Uh, Mr. Navo, sir," Zelda began timidly, recoiling only slightly as he drew his spear back toward her direction, "If it helps ease your mind at all-"

She removed the single necklace from her neck, "I know Mipha did the same thing, but just so I have a vested interest in keeping everything in check so far as Vah Ruta is concerned."

Handing it out toward Navi, he sneered with a sharp tone, "Lady Mipha did that to prove she was no imposter. Your necklace means little to me- I- I don't even know who you are!"

Unsure of how to reply politely, Zelda remained stagnant, though Revali was quite ready to take the fore, "It's collateral, you fool; she's taking it back once you can ensure nothing was done to that Beast."

"I- I knew that!" Navo shouted in shaking tone, swiping away the necklace from Zelda's hand, his insistence on proving his understanding all but landing him into a position to allow passage, "N- Now then, so long as all these trifling things are taken care of-"

He spun around, though still with his spear at the ready, "And no funny business!"

Daruk chuckled, elbowing Link's arm with a gentle force, "He must truly not know us!"

"Funny business does seem to be our mode of operation often times," Link sighed as if ashamed of the fact.

Zelda spoke up ahead of the two, all but prepared for gleaning whatever knowledge she could now that the Watcher appeared to be on their side, "Mr. Navo, sir? You Zora ride waterfalls, correct? Why build stairs?"

His intrigue piqued by such interest in his line of work, Navo near-happily chided, "W- Well, uh- The history of the reservoir is more or less overdrawn by legend and folklore by now, but you have those who propose our ancestors built it along with assistance of the other peoples of Hyrule, given its importance to Hyrule as a whole, but there is another school of thought that the Sheikah constructed the reservoir, along with our Domain. Either way, stairs were required in both instances."

"Uh huh, uh huh," Zelda nodded, quickly reaching her arm in Link's direction, wiggling it incessantly until he placed his notebook into her hand, "Which do you believe it to be?"

Navo failed to reply, though not in rudeness; rather, he took on an air of indelibly careful thought, his lips curling inward as he decided upon revealing his thoughts, "Well, that is- Vah Ruto is Sheikah herself, so unless she moved, the reservoir must have been created by Sheikah hands as well, but-"

"But?" Zelda replied, almost giddy.

Sighing deeply, Navo admitted, "There must have been some divine hands at work as well."

"You don't say," Zelda muttered as she scribbled, "We've been atop of Vah Naboris, but we didn't catch anything that hinted to the divine, did we?"

Urbosa shrugged, "There are tales, sure, but to so degrade the intelligence of the Sheikah seems to be an example of our own feigned temperance."

Bowing his head, Navo trembled at the thoughts mulling around his head, "I don't know about the other Beasts, but- I do so certainly know Vah Ruta, and she- she certainly does have a personality about her. There's more to her than mechanical parts, and- "

Mipha sidled closer to Zelda to offer her own opinion quietly enough, "I mentioned that Navo is a tad bit… you know…"

Reassuring her with an astute nod, Zelda replied, "It's fascinating nonetheless."

She returned her attention to Navo's continued speaking, "-she certainly understands the world around her. I mean, she is the primary reason for stabilizing the climate of Hyrule as a whole. There's something about her that goes beyond mere machine, you know?"

"Like a soul, perhaps?" Zelda asked, her hand ascribble with a furious pace.

At that, Navo went silent. Whether or not it was due to him understanding how odd his attachment to the Beast was, Zelda wasn't able to tell, but seeming to overcome his inhibitions toward speaking further, Navo turned over his shoulder to eye his guests.

"I've said too much," he relayed with a twinge of regret in his voice.

Zelda frowned sadly, "Sorry. I'm just- Look, the whole reason we're here is to understand Vah Ruta, or- Well, the Divine Beasts as a whole. So little is known, and as time is of short commodity, I mean- Any insights you could offer, regardless of how strange, would be tremendously appreciated. Vah Ruta is the only Beast to have protectors, after all."

The group roaming astride for another few moments, Navo finally sounded his lips in fretful acceptance, caught between his expertise being drawn upon once again as well as his admiration of the subject in question. He reached up to stroke his chin with a sigh, turning over his shoulder.

"You won't, uh- tell anybody, will you?"

Zelda smiled, "Of course not. It's purely for study!"

Navo's eyes strayed toward Revali, "Even the mean one?"

"Pah!" Revali charged with a start, "I strive to maintain excellence in my own personage, and have no qualms demanding the same from others, but I am not mean!"

Link nodded, "Oh, good. We finally have a description for it."

Frowning, Revali ignored his retort, instead assuring Navo with a snort, "Say what you must. I haven't a qualm about keeping it to myself."

Navo bit his lip as the group took to the collection of steps at the base of the reservoir, beginning their ascent, "Well, I- I'm convinced that Vah Ruta has a personality. Not like we living beings, but- She speaks to me."

"Fascinating!" Zelda spouted with interest, "What does she say?"

Shrugging, Navo replied quickly as though to explain away whatever insanity might have been associated with such a claim, "I- Nothing crazy! You know, we maintain her well-being and she has an interest in our own. She thanks me when I'm descaling the rust from her legs, and she- you know, asks about my day."

He lowered his head, "She was the one who goaded me into mating when the King expressed his displeasure that my line would end with me… Vah Ruta assured me that any time apart from her would be worthwhile if it meant my children would be in her service and care…"

Zelda scribbled at a rushed pace, "Urbosa, have any Gerudo expressed similar phenomenon?"

Scratching her head amidst the bizarre tale being relayed, Urbosa's brow furrowed as she answered, "I, uh, don't think so. Though, Vah Naboris is largely solitary; it's lightning storms prevents much of any interaction, so…"

"I wonder if these Beasts don't all have personalities if given the same treatment as Vah Ruta," Zelda hypothesized.

Daruk covered his mouth to cough as his eyes trailed off, wondering if Zelda were merely humoring Navo's words or sincerely questioning all that had been known about the Divine Beasts.

"There just machines," Urbosa muttered calmly, a dour tone accompanying her as she wished no ill will toward Navo.

The Watcher's shoulders slumped, "I'm well aware how crazy I seem. Trust me, I've been told. I could see it in the eyes of the woman who was all but assigned to be my mate. My own daughter, bless her, refuses to bring her friends to see the reservoir."

Mipha frowned as the discussion soured, though Navo gave a hopeful conclusion, "If they could see Vah Ruta as I do- If they spent the time I have with her-"

He sighed, "Perhaps I am crazy. If I do hear her- If I answer. If I've come to know her as another person. Even if I'm insane, is it not just as real, if only to me?"

Mipha reached over to tenderly grasp his arm, catching his attention with a smile, "Navo? You're the best Watcher this Domain has had in its service in decades. We're lucky to have you, and whether Hyrule knows it or not, the whole of its breadth owes you tremendously."

"Thank you, Lady Mipha," he spoke assuredly, "D- Despite knowing how I'm viewed by some, I- I pay little mind to it. So long as my Gaddison thinks me a suitable father to her, and I certainly attempt to be, I'm content with my life beyond this reservoir."

Giving him a gentle smile, Mipha nodded to him in understanding.

"Seventy-fi- Gah," Revali grumbled, giving up his counting as they made it to the midway point of the immense stairway, leaving Link with a hidden smirk.

"Careful now," Daruk instructed as he helped Urbosa onto Vah Ruta's entrance platform from a small boat that had been kept atop the reservoir.

Urbosa eyed him with a sarcastic zeal, "Yes, I was planning on simply missing my step before you mentioned that."

Grinning, Daruk questioned, "And yet we'll never know, now that I've said something!"

"Goddess…" Urbosa frowned, turning to the others, "Are we sure Daruk isn't a dad?"

Mipha giggled, "He does wear the white hair of a man with a progeny following behind him."

Such a regal way of putting it left Daruk crossing his arms with a ground smile, despite Link's droll voice, "I'm pretty certain. Unless he carved out a son and breathed into it life without relaying it to his Sworn Brother."

He gave a questioning glare toward Daruk, "He does have enough dad jokes, though; it wouldn't surprise me."

"You say it like it's a bad thing! To have attained such jokes that are described as such- It may well be a sign of honor!" Daruk reasoned.

"P- Pardon me," Navo's voice rang out from behind the boat, having ferried it across by the power of his own legs, "Lady Mipha, if you would offer me the honor of your assurance that nothing of harm will come to Vah Ruta?"

Mipha nodded with a sincere smile, "You have it in droves. We're simply looking around."

"G- Good," Navo replied quietly, "I have a few matters to attend to, s- so- In an hour's time, I shall return."

"Thank you," replied Mipha before returning to the Champions, "Alright then. Zelda?"

"Roger!" Zelda replied with a heated voice, holding her hand up clutching Link's notebook, remaining there wholly still in her pose before Link recognized her game, sighing and holding out his own hand for Zelda to slam the notebook into.

"Let's roll!" Zelda shouted exuberantly before disappearing into Vah Ruta, leaving Link a frown as he readied his notebook, warming up his fingers for dictation.

"Flair for the dramatic," he muttered to Mipha as she smirked in good humor.

Urbosa chimed, "Oh, but how true that is. C'mon."

The others filed in only to find Zelda already attempting to climb up one contraption, her voice bellowing out with a brightness that so wholly captured her adventurous spirit, "Gee whiz this is massive! Did it look this huge from the outside?!"

"Z- Zelda!" Link shouted instinctively, forcing her down from her perch, "Honestly, the biggest threat to you is you."

Pouting as she sauntered back to the group, Zelda murmured, "You're no fun…"

"Alright, we should probably have a plan in place anyway," Urbosa noted, "Navo isn't gonna want us stowing away in here for long."

Mipha nodded, "That's correct. Perhaps we split up once more, recalling what we learned from Vah Naboris."

Rushing through his notebook, Link noted plainly, "Here's your notes from then… Let's see…"

"I had a thought, actually, as I sat in the prison," Mipha spoke up, turning to Urbosa, "What was it that Ilem said about metalworking with swords? About how every sword is marked, in some way, by its crafter like an autograph?"

Daruk wondered along, "You think the same might be true about the Divine Beasts?"

"An interesting thought," Zelda concluded with affirmation, "We'll keep an eye out for such things as we explore."

Link spoke up, "Okay… So the most notable things about Naboris was the terminals; there were five small ones that seemed to all connect to a main one, possibly connected like the shrines in leylines. Sadly, we lost the diagram; I couldn't recover it from memory."

"In any case, that autograph thing? If all of these Beasts are designed in much the same way, for instance, all with the same number of terminals, that's something," Urbosa nodded in consideration.

Zelda agreed, "Exactly. Just keep a look out, alright? Revali, how's your wing doing?"

"A veritable thorn in the podotheca, if you must know," he complained, though quickly shrugged with indifference, "Though, if you require the power bestowed upon me in the form of flight, I should find myself able to manifest such things."

"Excellent!" replied Zelda enthusiastically.

"You are a better scribe than I could have ever hoped for!" Zelda proclaimed, patting Link's back as he scrolled down the notes taken from the exploration of Vah Ruta, "So intent are you to retain these notes, you imprint them upon your flubbin' m- Tch-!"

She smacked her wrist, whispering to herself, "No more scholar speak! No more!"

"I am a knight by trade," Link assured readily, "Any command, I strive to accomplish to the best of my ability."

Zelda's lips pursed in frustration, "Well, yeah, but I'd have forgotten in that madness that followed. There's a reason I keep such strenuous notes in the first place."

"Then why assign them to me?" Link questioned, raising his eyes from the page in hand.

Grinning, Zelda answered, "Well now it's because I know you're super good at it!"

Unhappy with such a declaration, Link shook his head with dissatisfaction while returning to his notation.

"Now, we know Vah Ruta seems far more capable in terms of movement. I suppose it has to be, given it's purpose, but we've already found evidence that this Beast is supposed to move from within in some manner; I mean, it has those propeller things than cannot move outside of external means."

Zelda grumbled, "Argh! I wish we knew how to operate these! It's as if we're finding ancient tomes that hold so much knowledge yet we cannot comprehend the language! It's so frustrating. If Auntie Purah were here, she'd figure it out."

"Well, I do suppose this is your time to shine," Link considered before finishing up the last of his notes.

"Perhaps," Zelda muttered listlessly, her finger absent-mindedly tapping the Sheikah Slate that rest upon her belt, "Rain nor wind could accomplish its movement. It would have to be something directed toward it, like a waterfall?"

Link flipped through his notes, "There was some discussion over the ability to pilot these things."

Nodding diligently, Zelda agreed, "Correct. The Sheikah legends tell of such a thing; the Sheikah themselves piloted these Beasts to combat an ancient evil themselves before leaving them in the hands of those who would come after them."

The two stood there silently, Zelda in thought while Link simply reviewed the notes, muttering to himself in meandering thoughts, "I mean, it has a trunk. Should aim that thing at the turbine."

"What?" Zelda asked in sudden astonishment, "Was that-?!"

"OI!" came a cry from above, Daruk's booming voice echoing only somewhat within the half-enclosed Beast, "We've got five terminals on this one as well! Revali scoped out the fifth one on its trunk!"

"Exactly!" Zelda cried, shoving Link at his shoulder in her elation, forcing a recoil from him.

He seethed, "Gah! You know, I liked it better when you spoke like an Akkalan child!"

"The trunk! That's it!" Zelda shouted, "I knew these things were piloted, sure, but I hadn't an idea just how! Perhaps each one acts like a marionette of sorts, with the pilot contorting different parts of their bodies! For Vah Ruta, the trunk; Vah Naboris-"

She stroked her chin, "That one eludes me. We didn't notice anything, did we?"

Sighing with impatience, Link fingered through their notes once again, "I don't recall anything, no."

Zelda peered up as Urbosa crawled down from a nearby outcropping, trudging on over with a thumb over her shoulder, "I checked each terminal. Whatever keeps this thing powered enough to create water is not powering its terminals; they're all stone cold."

"Urbosa! Vah Naboris- If the pilots of these Beasts used them like puppets, controlling their very bodies- What might Vah Naboris do?"

The Gerudo gave a quizzical look, "Do what now?"

Link raised his arm to resemble an elephant's trunk with a look of utter sarcasm on his face before returning to his notebook, leaving Urbosa with, "Oh, the trunk?"

Snapping her finger in a bluster of discovery, Zelda shouted, "That's it! These things must move by way of their pilots! How else could Ruta be here without the reservoir?!"

She took a triumphant swing through the air, "Take that, Phepea from the leatherworking shop! Who's loose in the head now?! Just because I haven't a clue how to tan a hide doesn't mean I-!"

"Ahem," Urbosa cleared her throat, simultaneously doing the same to Zelda's mind.

"Sorry," Zelda apologized, "Look. It's starting to make all of the sense. There's just a little more we need to understand. How do we power these things, and how do we pilot them?"

Revali swung back into the Beast's interior, coming to a rather uneven landing before nursing his arm once more, Zelda immediately questioning him as he opened his mouth only to be quelled by her energy, "Well?! Well?! Anything?!"

"Phuh-! I-!"

Zelda pawed at him as if to shake the information out of him, forcing him to leap backward, "Unhand me! Goddess, I'd rather you revert to that speech that comes from the infantile gurgles of a loonlet!"

Link shrugged at the odd comparison between the two of them.

"S- Sorry," Zelda replied with a miffed tone as Revali stroked his mantle.

He answered unsurely, "No harm done, just- Watch the feathers, alright? Now, what was this inquiry you were so incessantly desperate for me to divulge?"

Zelda nodded, "Daruk mentioned the terminal on Vah Ruta's trunk, but what about a potential power source?"

Clearing his throat, Revali puffed out his chest, much to Zelda's elation, his voice bellowing, "Actually, no."

Zelda deflated about as quickly as his plumage.

"I wouldn't even know what to look for, to begin with," he shrugged with a smarmy tone, "I will remind you that we Rito dare not even greet our physical embodiment of the great god, Witwa, upon the sky!"

He sneered indifferently, "or Vah Medoh, as your Hylian tongue seems to better understand."

Returning to Link, finding him resuming his scribbling, Zelda still asked, "You're getting all this, correct?"

A knowing glance found her as he tilted his head just enough for her to catch wind of such a thing before returning to his writing.

"Child, calm down," Urbosa insisted, "We've two more Beasts yet. The most troublesome to meet, at that. You have plenty of time to work this all out, especially while not under the nose of Navo."

Sighing dramatically, Zelda nodded nevertheless, "You're right. There's just so, so much! I'm a tizzy of excitement and wonderment and- OOF! It's spectacular!"

Urbosa couldn't help but muster a smile as she watched her so easily descend into happiness as easily as a child might. It reminded her of her own lost childhood- how she might have acted had she not been forced into her role from infancy.

As Revali fixed his plumage, Daruk and Mipha emerged from above the rest of the group, immediately perplexed by Zelda's excitement, which now had manifest in a series of hopping up and down.

"Did we figure it out?!" Daruk asked with anticipation.

Zelda smiled, "Not yet, but we're getting closer! Perhaps with the next Beast, we'll get it. We're only missing two ingredients now."

She lowered her head in some reverence, "The Sheikah- They're all looking upon us with such expectation… They've left us all they possibly could, and yet-"

Her hands hardening into fists, the grinned, "We are gonna figure it out. Not only have we come so far, but- We have centuries of Sheikah ingenuity to guide us, if only we can learn to understand all that they've left us."

"Centuries for us, but also for whatever evils we'll be fighting," Urbosa replied somberly, "For the tools that ultimately defeated that evil that once plagued this world- Should it return, it won't exactly be ignorant of their existence…or their operation."

Zelda confidently proclaimed, "Then we'll just have to beat them to it. More than these Beasts, we have far more than that evil will ever hope to have."

Daruk gave a concerned glance toward Mipha, expecting Zelda to reference the Master Sword, though the Princess of Hyrule Kingdom instead mustered the gusto to declare, "We have Champions on our side."

"Pah. Appealing to our sense of pride once again, are we?" Revali stoked with a sneer, though it crept subtly into a smirk, "I like it."

"As do I," Mipha agreed with a humbled smile, "If we truly composite the whole of Hyrule- We already outnumber whatever might come in our way."

She flashed a glance toward Link, who caught her with a look of his own as Zelda further declared, "And we've something to fight for!"

The two broke their gazes with equalizing embarrassment.

"Our homes," Zelda nodded gallantly, "Something the invasion of evil could never hope to comprehend."

Urbosa smirked, "As I said. Our little bird has grown up. Giving rousing speeches, fearing not a thing that might-"

"HEY!"

Zelda leapt upward in surprise before diving in Urbosa's arms as Navo stepped into the interior of the Beast, "I said an hour!"

Shaking from Urbosa's laughter, Zelda quickly recovered, making herself up as she straightened out her tunic, keeping her head low ashamedly while Urbosa surmised, "Alright, we'll work on that second part."