So I'm going to switch back to Zelda for a bit and then back to Riju.
56th Entry: Missing Children
Inside the Yiga Clan's hideout, which turned out to be in the Gerudo Highlands, the disguised Zelda followed Link in his wolf form as he followed the scent of the kidnapped children while Midna stayed in Link's shadow. Unlike the world outside, the underground hideout was not affected by the Twilight which Zelda speculated to be the work of the Yiga Clan's mysterious benefactor. She and Link avoided the patrolling Yiga Clan guards and found a bunch of jail cells, including one that was full of children with one girl that looked about Zelda's age. She had medium sand-blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a white top and khaki pants. Link barked when he saw her, which got the girl's attention.
"Who's there?" the girl asked nervously.
Zelda checked that the coast was clear and then stepped forward with Link walking beside her. "I'm here to get you out."
"You're a Sheikah!" the girl exclaimed excitedly. "Thank the Goddess."
"We were so worried that no one was going to find us here," said a younger girl with short brunette hair.
"Only you and Illia were worried, Beth," said a young boy with a red bandana tied around his head. "And Colin."
"No, I wasn't, Talo!" cried a boy with short blond hair.
"Yeah, you were," claimed a brown-haired toddler.
"Malo!" snapped a dark-skinned boy with short dark hair tied up. "Why do you and Talo have to be so mean?"
"Yeah," added a younger dark-skinned boy.
"Whatever, Zuta and Kinov," Talo said dismissively.
"That's enough!" the sand-blonde girl Illia stated, and looked back at Zelda. "This brave young Sheikah boy has come to rescue us and all we're doing is arguing in front of him."
Realizing she was indeed pretending to be a boy, Zelda once again deepened her voice. "Oh, it's not a problem. But we do need to get you out of here."
From Link's shadow appeared a set of keys, which Link picked up with his mouth. He gave the keys to Zelda, who was initially baffled.
Midna must have picked them off one of the guards, Zelda thought as she undid the lock on the children's cell.
###
After Riju collected all the Tears of Light from within Vah Naboris while fighting Beasts along the way using Urbosa's Fury, she placed the grapevine that contained them on Vah Naboris' main terminal. When this happened, the main terminal opened up and a glowing creature emerged from it that was shaped like a snake.
"Well done, Riju, Champion of the Gerudos," said the snake-like creature. "I am Lanayru, one of the four Light Spirits from the Hero of Twilight's time."
The snake's words confused Riju. "Are you the same Lanayru that the Lanayru Province is named after?"
"Correct," replied Lanayru.
"Then why did you appear here in the Gerudo Province instead of the actual Lanayru Province?"
"Because I was attracted to your desert, which the Lanayru Province resembled long before Hyrule was a kingdom."
Lanayru then glowed brighter, causing Riju to cover her eyes. But for a brief moment, she thought she saw Lanayru transform from a snake into a large dragon wearing a yellow robe with a cloud-like beard before disappearing altogether. Outside, the sky went from orange back to blue followed by the black squares vanishing. Riju immediately climbed onto the head of Vah Naboris to get a better look, and while the sky over Gerudo Desert and Highlands were completely normal, the rest of Hyrule was still covered in Twilight.
"I hope the other Champions do well in awakening the Light Spirits that are in their Divine Beasts," Riju muttered out loud.
"As long as they believe in themselves, they'll do fine," Nabooru said. "You should have a little more faith in them."
Then Nabooru vanished just like Lanayru, leaving Riju all alone on top of Vah Naboris' head. Her vision also went from being negative to normal, causing her to rub her eyes.
"Riju!"
Surprised, Riju looked down and saw Buliara looking up at her.
"How did you get there?" Buliara demanded.
While Riju was happy to see Buliara acknowledging her, she wasn't sure if her Sense ability was still activated. So she jumped off Vah Naboris' head, much to the shock of the bodyguards below, while Buliara got underneath Riju and caught her. Though Riju was partially terrified from falling at such a tremendous height, she hugged Buliara tightly.
"Thank the Goddess I caught you in time," Buliara said, setting Riju down. "But why did you do something so foolish? You could've been killed!"
"I'm sorry," Riju apologized. "But I had to make sure it was really you and not your Spirit."
"Spirit?" Buliara blinked. "What are you talking about?"
After Riju explained what happened to her inside Vah Naboris and the Twilight taking over Hyrule, she proved it by having everyone climb onto Vah Naboris' topside and seeing the land beyond the Gerudo Province.
Buliara gripped her scimitar tightly. "We must let Lady Urbosa know about this."
"I agree," Riju nodded. "We also need to secure the Arbiter's Grounds and destroy the Mirror of Twilight for good."
"Unfortunately, it will take too long for us to get back to Gerudo Town on foot, let alone Sand Seals," Buliara grumbled.
Riju suddenly got an idea and went back into Vah Naboris. She went to the main terminal and placed her Sheikah Slate on it, praying something would happen. To her surprise, the terminal lit up along with the various blue lights throughout the Divine Beast which let out a guttural bellow. Using the main terminal, she made Vah Naboris turn around which made Buliara and the other bodyguards almost fall off.
"Sorry," Riju apologized, stopping Vah Naboris for the moment.
Buliara and the other bodyguards quickly made their way into Vah Naboris, where they joined Riju at the main terminal.
"Are you controlling Vah Naboris?" Buliara asked. When Riju nodded, Buliara was astounded. "How?"
"I guess the Light Spirit granted me control of Vah Naboris as a reward for waking him up," Riju speculated. "Or it could be the work of this Lana woman."
With everyone inside, Riju steered Vah Naboris down the cliffside into the Gerudo Desert where they made their way toward Gerudo Town in record time.
To be continued…