Disclaimer/Author note: I don't own Yakitate! Japan or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
This is another story in the "Trials of the Wild" series! Unlike the past fics, however, this will be a two-chapter fic/two-shot. The second chapter will come next week!
If you haven't read the past several oneshots in this series, you may want to do so (especially "The Breakfast Project," "A Little Training" and "You Got A Message!") to get up to speed on what's going on so far!
Warning: Canon-typical violence, some Yakitate! Japan spoilers, some Breath of the Wild spoilers, takes place post-BOTW with canon-divergence of Champions being resurrected post-Ganon's defeat, crossdressing (though it's for disguise purposes)
The Molduga Adventures of Monica and Meister
Summary: Monica and Meister must get acclimated to Gerudo Town while Riju and Urbosa are busy getting caught up to speed on the Molduga sightings in the area, before the group decides to embark on a dangerous mission...
1. A Secret Shop's Surprise
Meister Kirisaki knew that he'd have to wear a disguise. Urbosa and Riju graciously helped him get a few outfits tailored for him. But it was different when one put it on briefly for fittings, compared to putting it on and knowing that you'd be wearing nothing but this type of attire for days on end, if not weeks.
Not that he minded, of course. The lavender and blue top was nice, even if they exposed his midsection, and the matching light blue pants and shoes were pleasant to wear, and quite easily comfortable. He could see why the Gerudo wore such attire; it certainly helped with the heat, with the material being very light despite its layers. He doubted it was the most protective for combat purposes, but for travelling to and fro in the desert it was perfectly fine.
He looked at himself in the mirror, adjusting the light blue and lavender-dyed veil over the lower half of his face. Riju helped him tie his long hair into an assortment of braids, with his hair down otherwise.
"Meister?" He heard Urbosa call from outside his room. "Are you ready?"
"I'm ready!" Meister called back. He took a deep breath, gazing at himself in the mirror one more time, before picking up his bag of things and walking out of the inn's guest room.
Outside, Monica, Riju and Urbosa were standing around, presumably talking to each other, but their attention immediately snapped towards him as he offered them a sheepish smile, hoping they could see it from underneath his veil.
"Do I look okay?" He asked. He thought he looked passable, but then again he was no master of disguise in his opinion.
"Wow." Monica's eyes widened. Her attire was similar to Meister's own, since she wanted her own set of traditional Gerudo attire. Unlike his own clothing, however, her clothes were in a light green and yellow, wearing a skirt instead of pants like Urbosa did. However, she kept her hair in the familiar twin pigtails. "You look amazing!"
"R-really?" Meister looked down at himself, then up at her again. "Thank you. I do appreciate it."
He briefly wondered if he should take a picture of himself with the Shiekah Slate and send it to the others to see, for a moment.
Maybe not everyone, he decided. A select few, perhaps.
Urbosa took a step forwards, an amused smile playing at the edges of her lips. "I have to say, the outfit looks better on you than I expected, especially once Riju got your hair done…What name do you have for yourself going in?"
"Sylvia?" He asked. "Is that close enough?"
She nodded. "Sylvia will do."
Meister previously considered using Sophie's name, the name of his own sister. Then again, if it turned out that Sophie was somehow in Hyrule, too, that might not end so well. Best to use a different name.
"Should I try to stay quiet?" Meister asked. "Considering that my voice might give me away?"
"That might be the best scenario. You could try to speak a little bit, I suppose, provided you imitate the other vai's voices well-enough, but try to keep discussion to a minimum." Urbosa managed. A soft chuckle left her afterwards. "I'd hate for you to be stuck camping outside the city the entire time, waiting for the rest of us."
Meister nodded, wincing. "Right." He'd hate to burn outside in the desert heat, even if he had cooler clothing on.
Monica stared as she looked around Gerudo Town, entering through the main gates along with Urbosa, Riju and Meister. Water flowed from the walled rooftops and into fountains below. Little Gerudo girls played with each other as if it was just another day in town, while some of the Gerudo women spoke with each other and/or tried selling their wares to any visitors. Monica noticed that some of the visitors were Hylians, dressed in either Gerudo attire or their regular clothes, as well as a few Rito. However, there was one main thing they all had in common; all of them were women.
No wonder Kawachi and Shachioko barely lasted about an hour in the town, Monica realized. In this sea of women, or at least feminine-passing beings, it would be easy to spot anyone sticking out.
There were also a few Gorons buying wares or asking guards for directions, but Monica vaguely remembered Riju explaining that Gorons didn't exactly have a set gender that they identified themselves as (despite all of them calling each other "brother"). Also, since they were nice and polite, the Gerudo couldn't exactly kick them out. Said Gorons were few compared to everyone else, and no one minded them being present anyway. Monica supposed that to prevent from being kicked out, either you had to A. be a woman or disguised as one very well or B. be a Goron.
"So, we're here to get ingredients." Monica spotted the hydromelons at one merchant stall, and even some cooked meat at another. "We should definitely get some hydromelons…I wonder if they have coconut, too."
"It would certainly be refreshing, and well-suited for the desert." She heard Meister murmur, standing by her side. "We should definitely look into that as much as we can."
"You know," Riju looked towards them, "I know that some of the vai here have nightly cooking classes. You could probably ask to join them. I can also ask the cooks here for further information about local ingreidents for you."
"That will have to be after our meeting with Buliara and the other guards, though." Urbosa noted. "In the meantime, you both should get acquainted with Gerudo Town and its surroundings. And," She looked towards Meister, raising a brow, "Don't get caught. Riju and I can meet you in the town square later."
"Of course." Meister nodded, and Monica also agreed. As Riju and Urbosa headed into the palace to speak with the guards, Monica looked around. There were a lot of pathways leading further into town, and even some side alleys.
"So," Meister spoke up, "Where should we look first?"
"I think we should check out the marketplace, since that's probably where we'll find all the food or most of it." Monica tilted her head to the side. "I can probably chat up some of the vai, and you can stay quiet, if that's okay with you. That way you won't get caught!"
"That could possibly work." He managed, but then his brows furrowed lightly. "However, what if any of them tried to speak directly to me? I could pretend to be mute, but I don't think that would work out well in the long run…"
"And if anyone overheard us talking, that would ruin the disguise." Monica grimaced lightly. "Uh…can we say you're selectively mute? Or maybe you're not great at speaking the language! Do you know any other languages you could speak in?"
"I know the Gerudo have their own language, but I only know a few words." He shook his head. "And I don't think I can go around speaking French majority of the time, because you wouldn't understand me. Unless you know French, that is."
"Right. I definitely don't know French." She winced. "Okay, just, uh…try to speak as little as possible. We'll stick with the original plan. You stay as quiet as possible, and I'll do most of the talking!"
"Okay." He offered her a sheepish smile. "I'm counting on you."
A soft chuckle left Monica at that. "I'll do my best!"
Luckily for Meister, it was actually quite easy to avoid conversation or at least let Monica do most of the talking. He'd pretend to browse wares while Monica talked with the merchants, asking for recommendations, and he also took his time observing the others around him.
Female Rito and Gerudo chatting about their homelands, about finding voe or maybe some interesting places to go…it probably wasn't an uncommon occurrence. The General Manager of Pantasia briefly thought of Teba, Revali, and the other Rito in Rito Village. He hoped they were okay. Glancing at the Shiekah Slate he held, he quickly typed a message into it for Revali and Teba to read.
"Hope you two got to Rito Village swiftly. Monica and I are currently in Gerudo Town and checking out the marketplace while Riju and Urbosa get caught up on Molduga sightings."
Surprisingly, it didn't take long for someone to respond.
"Was starting to get worried about you. Glad to hear that you're fine. – Teba"
And then another message, from a very familiar Rito:
"Finally caught up with Azuma and Link. The two of them are being ridiculous and freezing their butts off. Currently getting them warmed up. – Revali."
Well, at least Azuma and Link were fine. Meister was glad to hear that they were in good hands…or wings, to be more precise.
"Sylvia?" Meister looked up from the Shiekah Slate to see Monica waving at him, gesturing for him to follow her. There was no way Monica could address Meister by his real name, lest she give away his identity by accident. "Over here!"
Meister nodded, putting the Shiekah Slate away carefully before running after her.
"I asked around a bit and I figured we could get some Hydromelons." Monica noted. "In addition to that, there are a couple people selling coconuts, too."
"Are those the only foods unique to Gerudo Town or the desert?" Meister asked, frowning lightly. That didn't sound like a lot of food to bring back.
"Well…" Monica paused, before shaking her head. "I overheard two other things. Something about the Molduga's guts being great for medicinal purposes."
His brows furrowed. "You're not suggesting," He managed, "That we should go out and kill Moldugas, are you?"
"Not right away!" The other protested, nose wrinkling at that. "I mean, those things are huge. There's no way both of us alone could take them down. Maybe Urbosa and Riju, but that's about it. But if we bring some of those gut back, maybe their medicinal properties can help Azuma restore his memory if he eats them!"
That…didn't sound like a bad idea, actually. The General Manager nodded lightly in agreement.
"That could work," He managed. "The problem is, and as you pointed out, neither of us alone could take down the Molduga easily, let alone multiple Moldugas. However, that should be something we can bring up to Urbosa and Riju. If we find a way to kill at least a few Moldugas, we can both help out Gerudo Town and also get the supplies we need."
"Perfect!" The pâtissier pumped a fist at that, smiling. "That sounds like a plan. However…" She examined him, tilting her head. "You're going to need better armor than what you're wearing. The desert's really hot, so your normal clothing wouldn't work."
"I only brought one change of normal clothes with me." Meister admitted, scratching the back of his head lightly, careful not to accidentally pull down the veil he wore. "And even if we are outside Gerudo Town while fighting the Moldugas, they'll be too warm to wear out here."
"I overheard two of the Gerudo mention a secret shop for voe clothing." Monica's eyebrows rose a bit as she smiled at him, and Meister swallowed.
"Should we try to find this secret shop while we're here, then?" He asked, frowning lightly.
"Of course! It's gotta be somewhere in this town." Monica looked around quickly, before looking back at him. "If we find the shop, we can get you some proper armor to wear in the desert. That way you won't get heatstroke while fighting."
He nodded. "Sounds like a plan. The problem is…where exactly is the shop?"
"Uh…" She offered him a sheepish grin this time. "That's the problem. It's a secret."
Urbosa was worried. She and Riju quickly spoke with Buliara and the other guards about the Molduga sightings, and…the information they received was far from pleasant. Granted, Moldugas were always tricky to deal with, but the fact that five of them suddenly emerged after the Blood Moon – the same Blood Moon that she and the entire party got caught in while enroute to Hyrule Castle at the time – wasn't good.
The meeting just ended, and as the guards left to patrol town, Riju looked up at her.
"Lady Urbosa? Are you okay?"
"I'm worried, I admit." Urbosa looked towards the current chieftan, jaw clenching lightly. "I know I'm not as caught up on Moldugas during these past several years compared to you, but this can't be normal."
"Five is a lot." Riju agreed. "I've heard of up to three lingering around town, but five?" Her brows furrowed as she shook her head. "Taking care of the Moldugas as soon as possible should be our priority. We should meet up with Monica and Sylva-er, Sylvia outside."
Urbosa nodded. "I'll go speak with them, Riju. I imagine you have much else to catch up with here in Gerudo Town."
Riju nodded. "Right. I'll ask the chefs about securing food native to this desert for our two bakers to bring to Hyrule Castle, too."
Urbosa went outside of the palace, knowing well that Monica and Meister were probably waiting for her and/or Riju at this point. However….
She didn't see them in town square.
Oh no.
The Gerudo Champion forced herself to inhale deeply, looking around. Were the two lost? It could be a bit tricky to navigate, for newcomers. With a careful pace, she began navigating the town herself, looking for them.
Monica was pretty sure, at this point, that she and Meister were lost.
Where the heck was that secret shop!? How many alleys had they gone through? Did they have to start climbing the town walls to reach the rooftops and find it from there?
A slow groan left her as she slumped against the closest wall, head first. "Where is it!?"
She heard Meister sigh softly, and she turned her head to the left to see him, shaking his head lightly. "Maybe we should just regroup with Urbosa and Riju for now. They did promise to meet up with us in the town square."
"Yeah, maybe…" Her mind drifted to Kai. At least he was nice and cool in Zora's Domain, with all the water. Out here, in Gerudo Desert, it was so darn hot. Wasn't there supposed to be a bar in this town? Maybe she could persuade Meister to get a drink or two with her. Might give them inspiration for possible breads to bake back at Hyrule Castle.
At least she didn't have to worry about lava, she supposed, like Shachioko and Kuroyanagi were going through at Goron City right now.
"What's the password?"
A yelp left Monica as she jumped forwards, whirling around and realizing that she'd leaned behind a door.
"Password?" Meister repeated, frowning as he looked towards the door.
Monica stared at the door. "Is this…?" The secret shop? She vaguely recalled hearing the password to get into said shop, and she quickly blurted it out. "GSC – diamond!"
Monica heard the door unlock from the inside, before it opened.
"What you said just now–" Meister cleared his throat, before asking, "That's the password for the shop?"
"It is." Monica confirmed. "Gerudo Secret Club is the official name of the place."
"Well…" Meister paused, looking between him and Monica, before gesturing towards the open door with a hand. "Want to go in? Ladies first."
"We're both ladies in this case." Monica pointed out, before a chuckle left her. "Let's go!"
The shop's interior was rather spacious, though a little cozy; rows of various types of armor lined the display shelves, and a Gerudo woman stood at the main counter as Meister and Monica entered the shop.
"Savaaq," the Gerudo greeted them, before she raised a brow at Meister specifically. "Ho…a rare visitor, hm?"
Meister swallowed lightly. Did she realize that he was a voe underneath all this Gerudo attire? A chuckle left the shopkeeper, before she spoke up again.
"No need to worry. Your secret's safe with me, and this shop is as well. Please, feel free to look around."
"Thank you." Meister managed softly, offering her a smile before looking towards Monica. "Thanks for finding this place. I'm sure we can find something useful, here."
The armor in this place was quite unique, honestly. There was a luminous, shining one made of Luminous stones, made to look like a skeleton (great for nighttime travel, Meister guessed), as well as other types of armor. One set of armor, the shopkeeper helpfully pointed out, was voe armor made for desert travel.
It…didn't look like it was that protective, honestly. Sure, the spaulders were made of metal, and clearly more protective compared to traditional Gerudo attire, but it still seemed pretty exposed compared to most sets of armor Meister saw during his time in Hyrule, so far. Perhaps that was the price for staying cool from the desert heat.
"So we have the headband, the spaulders, and the trousers…" Meister heard Monica muse, before she looked up at him. "Do you have enough Rupees for any of these? I don't."
"No." Meister admitted, shaking his head. "Perhaps the headband or trousers…" He looked towards the shopkeeper. "Pardon me, but how much is the Desert Voe Headband?"
"It's four-hundred and fifty Rupees." The shopkeeper answered. "The trousers are six-hundred and fifty, and the spaulders are one-thousand, three-hundred Rupees."
"Oof." Monica's nose wrinkled at that. "I definitely don't have enough for any of those three…"
"I only have enough for either the trousers or the headband." Meister noted. Which one of the two would be more useful? It didn't take too long for him to decide. "I'll take the trousers, please, for six-hundred and fifty rupees."
"Wait, what!?" Monica's eyes widened as she looked towards him. "You have that many Rupees!?"
"Yeah." He stared back at her. "Did they not have many boulders and other pieces of rock to break, back at Zora's Domain? In the mountains near Rito Village, there are many of them. Revali and Teba pointed them out to me so I could sell the ores I mined in exchange for Rupees. Otherwise, there were less ways to get anything I needed, like new clothing for instance."
"We definitely didn't have that many boulders." Monica muttered with a sigh, and Meister could only chuckle at seeing her befallen face.
"It's okay. At least you didn't paraglide into a tree several times…" He paused, before asking Monica, "Do you think Riju and Urbosa are finished their meeting by now?"
"Probably." Monica grimaced, before she looked towards the shopkeeper. "We'll come back later! Thanks for your help!"
"No problem." The shopkeeper offered them a smile as she handed Meister a package of what was, presumably, the Voe trousers. "Have a good day!"
With that, the two rushed out of the shop to find Urbosa…
Urbosa hadn't expected Meister and Monica to literally run into her, but it happened. A tangle of limbs and screams filled her space as she managed to stay standing, despite running into them, but the other two landed on the ground with an "Ouch!" and "Hey!'
"Apologies." Urbosa chuckled softly as she looked down at the two on the ground. "I was getting worried about you two, since you weren't at the town square."
"Sorry about worrying you." Monica offered her a sheepish grin, getting up before giving Meister a hand. "We got a little carried away in finding some useful things."
Meister nodded in agreement, adjusting his veil as he picked up a package he had with him. Urbosa guessed it was armor, or something else – not that she wanted to bother asking right now, anyway. "Monica and I were talking earlier, and we heard that Molduga guts have medicinal properties. Is that true?"
"It is." Urbosa confirmed, before she frowned, thinking of her earlier discussion with Riju. "Speaking of Moldugas, it seems that the situation is much more dire than what we first perceived. Apparently, five Moldugas were sighted close to Gerudo Town. We need to get rid of them as soon as possible."
"Five?" Monica's jaw dropped.
Meister swallowed. "How tall are these Moldugas?"
Urbosa frowned. "Taller than any of us. Much, much taller." It was best to give them details of what exactly they were dealing with. "They roam around under the sands, trying to consume any unlucky victims that walk over the surface. To sneak past them, one either has to be stealthy, lucky, or both."
Often lucky, in Urbosa's opinion. She'd heard many stories in her time and the current day of people trying to outrun Moldugas, or barely escaping with their lives by leaping from one section of rock to another over the sands to stay off the sand and avoid detection. Going against a Molduga was impossible for any novice fighter alone.
"What about flying?" She heard Meister ask, and she looked towards him as he spoke, seeing one of his brows rise a little. "As long as we don't touch the sand…it won't detect us, correct? What if we could find a way to lure them out of the sand and I can shoot them while in the air? Or is that too risky?"
"I know you have experience with aviation and arrows, and I can see how that would work." Urbosa managed, trying to visualize it in her mind; Monica and Urbosa ducking for cover, Meister shooting bomb arrows or electric arrows at it from above as it emerged from the sands. "For a lone Molduga, I can see that working. But five of them at once is a bit much…"
"Is there a way to blow up all of them at once?" Monica asked, tilting her head. "Do you have any cannons?"
"The closest we have to a force taking out Moldugas in one shot," Urbosa mused, thinking of the Divine Beast, "is me piloting Divine Beast Vah Naboris. I can likely take them out that way, but I'll need some help luring them out."
"We could be bait?" Monica immediately offered, but she winced, shaking her head. "Maybe not…"
"Actually," Urbosa looked between both Monica and Meister, "That could be possible. Riju and I were thinking of sending out some Gerudo soldiers to act as bait. I can shoot them down with Vah Naboris once the Moldugas emerge, while you and the others get back to safety."
It sounded liked a somewhat-dangerous plan, and it probably was, but…it could work, Urbosa realized. She paused, looking between Monica and Meister, before speaking again.
"However, this is a very dangerous task I'd be asking either of you to participate in. It's also a priority to keep both of you safe. If neither of you wish to be involved in this, I understand that entirely. I plan to head out there with some of the soldiers tomorrow morning."
Monica knew this was dangerous. Moldugas were definitely huge, definitely dangerous, and, realistically, something she nor Meister should be involved in. Staying in town would be the right choice, right?
But as Meister looked towards her, and she looked towards him, she could tell that he wanted to help. And to be honest, she did too. Besides, they would have Urbosa and a couple of the Gerudo soldiers by their sides, and with this Vah Naboris, whatever this Divine Beast was, maybe they'd be fine. So she took a deep breath, and nodded as she looked towards Urbosa one more time.
"I think you can count both of us in."
Besides, Monica wasn't about to give up the chance to grab some useful ingredients while she was at it.