Even though he had started remembering things only a couple of months ago, the land of Hyrule was still a weird place for Link. He had gotten used to chopping trees for firewood, blasting shiny ores alongside cliffsides for flint and gemstones, and even knocking out the skeletons that would appear almost out of thin air every night, but one thing he could not get used to was the Hylians he met along the way.
The Sheikah Slate said that Link was in Central Hyrule, but Link knew it more by its reputation than what the Sheikah Slate called it. Link hadn't been paying too much attention to the Hylian gossip. In fact, he tried to steer clear of many of the Hylians at the local stables, namely Beetle, who Link would have sworn on the Goddess Hylia was following him wherever he went. Either way, Link's interest had gotten the best of him when he heard one Hylian mention a particular place... something about "where that flower bitch lives." Since then, Link was determined to find where that flower bitch lived... and today he would find out.
Link stood tall on a tree branch, overlooking a small island with a blue shrine by Hylia River in the Central Hyrule. A great oak grew by the water's edge, shading some of the most colorful flowers Link had ever seen in his time in Hyrule. In fact, now that he thought about it, Link couldn't put a name to most of them, aside from the Safflinas and Armoranths. They seemed to glow in the warm sun of Central Hyrule, almost too perfect to exist. They made Link want to pick a bouquet and put a vase of them on his table in Hateno. They would look good there, maybe Zelda would like them... Wait, who was Zelda again?
He shook his head to clear his thoughts precisely like an etch-a-sketch and then swan-dived into the river and swam for the island. The water was a refreshing kind of cold, something Link was grateful for. He emerged on the shore, caught his breath, and straightened himself out. He didn't mind soaking clothing, but they were dragging him down, despite how cool they felt in the hot morning sun. He put his Hylian Hood in the sun to dry, same with his boots. It wouldn't take long for them to dry. Now time for the flowers...
Link knelt to a bunch of Cool Safflinas close to the water's edge. They seemed so perfect, like the Goddess Hylia had blessed them with her everlasting beauty. Link's fingers had only just grazed the stem of one of the Cool Safflinas when the moment was gone. Just like that, he was grabbed from behind and shoved onto his back! Link acted fast, springing back onto his feet to get a good look at who'd attacked him. He put a hand on the sword on his back, ready to strike... but hesitantly let it go when he saw it was just a Hylian woman.
"Please do not touch the flowers," the woman said, annoyed. Her voice was low, almost as if she was trying not to hurt the flowers' feelings.
Link could come up with only one thing to say. "I'm Link, though," he replied. He didn't know why, but the fact that his name was Link seemed to get the Hylians and the Sheikah riled up when he mentioned his name. All Link knew was that he always got what he wanted when he namedropped, and he definitely wanted a bouquet of those flowers.
The woman's lips were in a thin line. "I don't care who you are. Don't touch the flowers."
Link put two and two together. If he was wrong about this, he would never get his bouquet today, but it was worth a try. Nothing he couldn't steal tomorrow. "Aren't you the flower bitch?" he asked.
"Yes, and proud of it." She crossed her arms and held her head up higher. "Although I'd rather be called Magda. Hylian gossip sure gets around."
"Okay, Magda," Link said. This was turning out better than expected. "What's so special about your flowers?"
Her words were short and disappointing, just like her name. "Nothing you'd understand."
"Right," Link concluded. He pointed vaguely behind him. "I gotta... rain check?"
Magda was more interested in her flowers, already bent down over them and whispering sweet nothings to them. Link caught snippets of "you'll be alright" and "no more Hylians will bother you anymore" before he slunk back to his clothes he'd put to dry earlier. Magda didn't look like a Lynel, but she sure sounded like one.
At that thought, Link knew what to do. He went around the circle of flowers to the other side, behind the blue shrine in the middle of the flowers, with Magda's back to him and still consumed with the flowers. It was there that Link knelt down to pick another Safflina, a Cool one this time. He eyed Magda as his hand reached ever closer to the Safflina stem... closer... a little bit more... he was almost touchi -
"Hey!" Magda yelled. She whirled around lightning-fast at Link, her face red and her fists shaking with anger. "What do you think you're doing?! You must not harm the flowers!"
Link's hand flew back to his pockets. "Sorry, I was just - "
"Just harming the flowers?!" She huffed. "Don't even think about it!"
"I didn't even touch it though," Link protested.
Magda walked over to Link, examining the Cool Safflinas Link stood by. "I know what I saw," she insisted. It was then followed by a soft "it's okay, little Safflinas, you're safe now..."
Link sighed. He left Magda to her flowers once more. Getting the bouquet today would be tricky but not impossible. Link grabbed the clothes drying by the water. It'd been maybe ten minutes since he'd last left them, but the hot sun had done its work. Link folded them up and put them in his inventory. He then grabbed his Sheikah Set and a Lizal Tri-Boomerang. He wasn't particularly prude at changing in front of someone else, but Magda was too involved in her flowers to pay any attention to Link.
Link's hair was pulled up in a top knot, his Sheikah suit was skin-tight to keep his movements quiet, and his feet were padded to lessen the sound of his footsteps. Once Link pulled the black mask over his mouth and wrapped the white scarf around his neck, he took a few practice steps... The grass barely moved around his feet, and the dirt and pebbles by the River Hylia were smushed by Link's footprints but they didn't make their crumbled sound. Success! Link was ready!
This time, he was smart about where to position himself so Magda would not see. He chose right underneath the shade of the oak tree. His Sheikah Set would blend in with the darker wood to camouflage him a little bit. Link knelt by the trunk of the tree to an Armoranth plant. Beautiful, as all the others, and smelling softly of what Link could only describe as a sweet Wildberry/Palm Fruit mixture. Carefully, Link put a gloved hand on the stem of the Armoranth to hold it in place, his other hand ready with the Lizal Tri-Boomerang. Just as he was about to cut the flower free, Magda gave a sharp gasp.
Link automatically removed his hands from the Armoranth, acting as if he was cleaning his scarf from invisible dust, or fiddling with the Lizal Tri-Boomerang, or relaxing by the oak tree - anything that would get Magda off his back. Instead, Magda sprung to her feet, wincing, with her hands on her heart like she had been stabbed there.
"No!" she shouted, stumbling to Link. "You must not hurt the flowers! They - "
"How, Magda?" He had been patient with this Hylian woman, but now his patience was fast leaving him. Each word was like its own dagger being thrown at her. "How am I hurting the flowers?"
"They are screaming out in pain!"
"They are screaming to be picked!" Link interjected.
"They just want to grow in peace!"
"They want so badly to sit in a vase in my house!"
"I speak for the flowers!"
"I do, too!" In one fellow swoop, Link bent down, picked a shining white tulip, and held it up in Magda's face. "Hear that? It liked being picked!"
Something in Magda snapped at the sight. She balled her fists, her face turning as red as Spicy Peppers. Link didn't push around too easy, but Magda made it look as easy as dislocating a skeleton head from its body. She went on the offensive, livid, pushing Link back with every word. "How many times do I have to say it?! Please treat the flowers with care! They're living things, you kno - !"
Link froze. He had edged so far back from Magda that one of the Silent Princesses rubbed against his leg.
What was worse?
Magda noticed.
Even more worse?
His Lizal Tri-Boomerang was unreachable by the oak tree.
She was eerily quiet as she stared at Link and the Silent Princess behind him. Her whole body shook with rage similar to a Lynel.
"So many times," she hissed. "I've lost count of how many times I've told you..."
"It's been five times," Link said reluctantly. This was only a Hylian woman but Link was genuinely scared for his wellbeing. Instinctively, he put a hand on the sword on his back. The sword was sharp, and Link wasn't entirely comfortable using it against an unarmed Hylian woman. He didn't want to use it either, but it brought him some reassurance that he had something to fight back with.
Magda continued like she hadn't heard Link. "It's just so many now... How do you not understand? Why don't you get it...?"
She let out a scream so vile that pierced Link's heart, screaming as if she were offering herself as a sacrifice to the Goddess Hylia. She then proceeded to run into the field of flowers, stepping on the tulips, the Safflinas, the Armoranths, and kicked up dust and blades of grass as she went along. Link moved to stop Magda, but something inside himself wouldn't let his feet come any closer.
"I worked day... after day... after day... to plant those flowers...! Then you come and hurt them... over... and over...!" she got out through her angry sobs. She ran so fast that she tripped herself up and fell on her face over the flowers. She picked herself up, sniffing and wiping her tears, and looked at Link with hatred worse than a Lynel.
Link winced. He wanted to reason with Magda, to defend himself, but his voice failed him. His chance was over when Magda summoned her inner Calamity Ganon.
"I will make you understand the flowers' rage!"
With that, Magda ran full force at Link.
Link sat on the other side of the River Hylia as he watched the sunset, his feet dangling in the water. The Riverside Stable behind him didn't have any ice, so the river provided for a good alternative, especially now that it was getting dark. He held a plate of Hearty Salt-Grilled Fish in his lap, still hot from the cooking pot. All his muscles ached from the one-sided fight with Magda earlier today, and Link had wounds he would nurse in the coming days. It would be a slow process to heal them up again, but the Hearty Salt-Grilled Fish made the process easier to handle. It always seemed to give Link more health durability after he ate it, and he definitely needed it tonight.
Link stared at the Sunset Fireflies that had popped up across the river. They twinkled lazily, and the chirp of crickets sounded like a sweet lullaby. They would have lulled Link right to sleep had it not been for the fact that the River Hylia was getting a bit too cold. Link moved to wrap up the night at the Riverside Stable. He struggled to get to his feet. His legs were bruised from the stick and rock weapons Magda had found. His health would recover in a matter of days, though. Magda's flowers would take many blood moons.
Link walked into the Riverside Stable, careful to avoid the travelers who'd stopped at the stable and, of course, Beetle. The last thing on his mind was talking to the travelers, especially since his last conversation with someone had ruined his day. He paid the bed fee to Ember, the Stable bellhop/horsekeeper, and sat down with a sigh on one of the beds in the Stable. He wrapped himself in the blanket, rubbing his feet to get the feeling back in them. Warmed up now, he gathered his thoughts.
The vase of flowers would have to wait, he decided, and if picking his own bouquet of flowers was its own shrine, this would have been called A Major Test of Strength. The Guardians wouldn't even need to be involved. No, Magda was worse than the Guardians. She was... She was... Link thought about it for a moment.
Well, the Hylians at the stables were right. She was Magda, the flower bitch.
And now Link had lived to see why.
Author's Note: Online college and Coronavirus quarantine isn't the greatest combination, but BOTW is fun. Haven't written in years, but I thought it'd be nice to come back to it. I wanted to explore the Watch Out For The Flowers quest a bit more, anyway. Seriously tho, that quest was harder than taking down the Lynels, storming Hyrule Castle, fighting the flying Guardians, and defeating Calamity Ganon. Hope you enjoyed my take on the quest! Take care, yall! :D