The young Hylian clutched her bow tightly, eyes narrowing as she peered down from the treetop. Below her stood a single deer, a young doe - she was as of yet unaware of the huntress' presence. The girl stole an arrow from the quiver on her back, drawing it slowly so as to not make a sound. Holding her breath, she drew back the arrow, preparing to fire…
The sound of a hunting horn pierced the air. Instinctively, the huntress lowered her bow and glanced all around her, panic rising to her throat. Had she been caught?
A quick look around told her that, no, she had not been found. Her location in the tree was still safe and hidden. What had been discovered, however, was the deer.
A pack of Bokoblin rushed towards the poor animal. They were hideous, goblin-like creatures: their oblong faces ended with a short pig-like snout, their giant ears stretched out comically from either side of their heads, and at the top of their skull was a stubby spike that seemed to serve no functional purpose. Despite their ugly appearance and relatively low intelligence, the huntress knew that they were not to be taken lightly - those large ears could hear minute sounds from great distances, and their jaw held several sharp teeth that could rip through leather. Bokoblin came in different colors, too, seemingly signifying greater power and intelligence.
The Bokoblin beneath her, thankfully, were red in color, which she had learned as a young child meant the weaker and less intelligent sort. There were four in total - one carried a large stick, two carried rudimentary clubs, and one even carried a crude bow made from a large tree branch and a piece of string.
The Bokoblin themselves were now of little concern to her - if she had to, she could quickly dispatch them on short notice without much risk to her own well-being. What did worry her was the deer. That was her food, and if the Bokoblin got to it before her, she would be fresh out of luck.
She plucked a small stone from her pocket and weighed it carefully in her hand. The Bokoblin were getting closer. She had to make sure she threw it just right. When the four monsters passed just beneath her tree in pursuit of the doe, she flung her arm forward.
The projectile bounced off a tree on the other side of the path and clattered to the ground.
Immediately, the Bokoblin with the bow stopped, its ears twitching. Lifting its head into the air, it sniffed, snout flexing as it tried to determine what had happened. Not long after, its friends stopped their pursuit of the deer, too. The entire pack was thoroughly distracted. The doe would not be eaten by them, at least.
What the huntress had not considered was that the Bokoblin would now be focused on determining the source of the noise. For now, she was still safe up in her tree - should they decide to actually look up, however, there might be trouble.
She gripped her bow tightly and held an arrow at the ready as the monsters wandered in her direction. She realized with a glimmer of joy that the Bokoblin with the bow did not seem to have any arrows - her shoulders relaxed. Now knowing that none of her foes were equipped with range weapons made this all the easier. In fact...she drew the arrow back, aiming at one of the creatures with a club. With the element of surprise, she could easily overwhelm this group. Four less Bokoblin to threaten the locals.
As she released the arrow, three things happened.
First, a Bokoblin saw her and called out, pointing. It was inevitable - though she had tried to disguise herself with brown clothing and covered herself with leaves and vines, her pale skin still showed through in areas like her hands and face.
Secondly, there was the call of another group of Bokoblin from where this lot had come from. A twinge of fear stabbed through her as the huntress realized for a split-second how much more dangerous the situation had become.
Third, the world was set aflame.
A beam of light sliced through the forest and smote the Bokoblin where they stood. The explosion sent the huntress falling back against the tree - she was glad she had found a stable perch, and that the tree itself was not knocked over from the shockwave. Metallic, mechanical sounds echoed through the forest as a large metal spider crashed its way through.
A Guardian.
The huntress shuddered and flinched back against the tree. She could not under any circumstances let it see her.
To her advantage, the other Bokoblins that she had previously been unaware of were diverting the Guardian's attention, shouting in their incomprehensible language and charging at it. They never stood a chance. The metal monstrosity fired two beams of light in quick succession, the runes over its rounded frame flashing blue in each instant. In a matter of seconds, all of the Bokoblins were slain.
The huntress waited with bated breath as the Guardian moved on, wandering down the hill into the nearby the metallic sounds of its movements were out of earshot, she allowed herself to breathe and hopped down from the tree.
The results of the Guardian's attack were not pretty. Most of the Bokoblin had been completely disintegrated by its attack, reduced to little more than wisps of ash, sitting in concentrated piles on the charred earth. The only evidence of the group she had been distracting was a patch of blackened ground. Further down the path, she saw the charred corpse of a Bokoblin that had only caught the edge of an explosion. She sighed. It wasn't deer meat, but it would still do.
As she sliced up the creature into carryable chunks, she kept a wary eye out for the Guardian. Never had she seen one that close before - they usually kept to the valley. Had something disturbed it from its usual path?
An hour passed and she was able to get a good bit of meat off the Bokoblin. The more charred bits she sliced and slipped into her own mouth - the less cooked bits she would take back home for the others. But before she could return, she needed to get a look at what had caused the Guardian to stray.
Moving north-east along the edge of the Cotera Woods, the huntress kept low to the ground to avoid detection. You never knew what sort of monsters might be making camp nearby. After a decent hike, she arrived at the rim of Kakariko Valley.
She frowned as she peered over the edge of the cliff. Kakariko Valley used to be the home of Kakariko Village, a Sheikah stronghold in the Necluda region. Now, however, it was in ruins. She recalled the history she had been taught as a young child. Nearly a hundred years after the Great Calamity, the legendary hero Link had returned to do battle with Calamity Ganon...and failed. Both he and the princess Zelda were slain on Hyrule Field. As a result, the Guardians had gone wild, sweeping across the land and ravaging everything.
Case in point, Kakariko Village was no longer recognizable as a habitable place. None of the original structures remained; they were just piles of rubble now. The entire village had been razed to the ground, and then some.
The huntress caught sight of the two Guardian Stalkers which typically prowled the area, and she ducked low to avoid being spotted. She knew there was a third Guardian down there, as well: a decayed machine which had become embedded in the ground, rusting away. Ever since she was a child, she had learned their patterns of movement - she knew that the decaying Guardian only activated when something was nearby, and that the other two went in a tight circle around the edge of the valley. Great black scars marred the cliff face where unfortunate victims had been too reckless.
After a minute, she peered back over the edge and was relieved to find the Guardians following their usual movements. She was fairly certain she recognized the one as the machine that had rampaged by her earlier that day - a chip near the machine's glowing red eye was unique compared to its companion. Yet there was nothing that explained to her why it had come up from the valley. Everything looked perfectly normal.
That was when she saw the third Stalker.
It came from the north, where the old graveyard used to be. Something about it seemed...off. The way it walked, the way it looked around, seemed unlike the other Guardians. The others moved systematically, their motions and observations moving as if through a natural loop. This one, however, looked around as if searching for something specific, scanning the top of the cliffs as it entered the center of the valley.
The huntress ducked down low. That must have been the Guardian that attacked the Bokoblins earlier. But why was it acting so strange?
Part of her wanted to investigate further, but the logical part of her knew that staying near such a Guardian would most certainly be a death wish. Her best option at this point was to start heading home.
She reevaluated her options. Normally to get home, she would just cut through the Cotera Woods. This new Guardian, however, unnerved her. The woods might not be her safest option anymore. A new route was necessary.
Her new path led the huntress up the Pierre Plateau, a barren stretch of land that she tended to avoid due to the difficulty of climbing everywhere. Despite this challenge, she knew that monsters rarely made their home here. Guardian Stalkers couldn't climb up the steep slopes, either, so she felt secure in the safety of the plateau.
As she walked, she noticed a small trail of smoke at the top of the plateau. She eyed it warily. There was always the chance that it could be a group of Bokoblins...but she had never seen any make the climb all that way. It must be other Hylians. After a climb that seemed to take an eternity, she arrived at the top.
And was promptly met with the tip of a sword pointing at her.
"Oh," the boy said. "It's you."
"Hey, Red." The huntress grunted as she heaved herself on to the top of the flat rock. She nodded at the smaller girl who was sitting by the fire. "Suki."
The small girl just nodded and said nothing. She was roasting something over the tiny campfire - it smelled delicious.
"What brings Frida the Legendary Huntress to our neck of the woods?" The boy's words were nice, but the smirk on his face said otherwise.
The huntress rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm so legendary I failed to catch even a single deer today. I saw your campfire and wanted to take a look."
The boy, Red, sat down next to the fire and leaned back, hands behind his head. "Oh yeah? Then what's in the bag? Getting stingy on us?"
Frida hefted the bag and set it down on the ground before sitting down herself. "It's Bokoblin. They were going after my doe, and then a Guardian went after them. This was all that was left."
Suki's head lifted. "A Guardian? Where?"
"The woods. I saw it again down in the valley with those other Stalkers - it was acting really weird. Different from the others, like it was actually intelligent and not just a mindless robot." She shrugged. "I dunno. I figure I'll tell the others back home. Someone might actually have to take care of it."
"Ooooh, and is that someone going to be you, Frida?" Red smiled wide. "I can picture it: the legendary Frida, Vanquisher of Guardians. You'd be the hottest warrior yet."
The huntress glared at him. There was a time that she appreciated his flirtatious attitude...then she realized that he was like that with every girl their age. It quickly became irritating.
She was about to open her mouth and let out a vicious retort when the sound of a distant explosion stopped her short. All three Hylians glanced in the direction of the sound. A trail of smoke was rising up from the nearby woods. Another explosion echoed around the plateau. Frida clenched her fist. It must be that Guardian Stalker.
They heard someone cry out. "Help me!"
Frida turned to Red and Suki. The teenage boy's eyes went wide. "Ohhhh no," he said. "No no. You can't convince me to go down there."
"Fine, then don't come." Frida grabbed her bow and made her way to the edge of the plateau. Suki followed, a short sword in her hands.
Red let out a dramatic sigh. "Fiiiiine."
They quickly raced down the plateau and to the edge of the woods. In that time, the sounds of several more Guardian blasts interrupted what was usually a quiet peace, and the cries for help continued. Frida wondered what kind of fool would have gone and gotten the attention of the Guardian. Everyone back at the colony knew better.
An explosion erupted closeby, and the trio dropped low to the ground. Frida peered through the trees. The shining metal shape of the Guardian could be seen, racing about in pursuit of its prey. But where was the person calling for help?
"HELP ME!" The cry came again.
Frida rushed forward, leaping from the top of a hill onto a large tree branch. She clambered up to the center and looked out. As Suki and Red joined her, she finally caught sight of the unfortunate victim.
It was the strangest little creature she ever did see. It was like a tree, but shrunk down to the size of a small cat, with stubby little arms and legs. A green leaf was pasted in front of what was probably its face, a few holes designating crude eyes.
"What is that thing?" she muttered.
Suki knelt next to her, peering forward. "I think that's...a Korok."
Frida had heard of Koroks back home, of course. An urban legend: small forest-dwelling fairy creatures, often invisible, that were well-known for their proclivity to cause mischief and get into trouble. Well, judging by how angry the Guardian seemed to be with it, the Korok definitely appeared to be in trouble.
"What are you two talking about?" Red kept looking around.
"There, don't you see it?" Frida pointed directly at the Korok as it yelped away from another beam blast.
"I can't see anything."
"We have to help it." Suki's voice was quiet but firm.
"Help it?" Red whispered. "What, you want us to fight the Guardian?" He paused, his skin turning pale in the silence. "You want us to fight the Guardian. You want us to- hoo boy, you're crazy, sis."
"No, she's not." Frida hushed him. "We just have to hit it in its eye."
"Oh, that's all?"
"Will you just-" Frida stopped talking mid-argument. Suki had dropped down from the tree and was rushing towards the Guardian. "Suki!"
Frida leapt down, too, drawing an arrow and firing it at the mechanical monstrosity. The arrow bounced off the Stalker's rounded body harmlessly, but the Guardian took notice and turned toward her.
"NO!" Red jumped down from the tree and tossed a rock at it. The Guardian immediately whirled towards him, the red eye glowing in preparation to fire.
Suki lunged forward, swinging her sword down with force on one of the spider-like bot's legs. The sword made connection and dug through the rubbery substance...and then remained stuck there, only halfway through. The leg kicked out, sending Suki flying backwards into the brush.
Frida fired another arrow. It flung forward and struck the Guardian just next to its eye, doing seemingly nothing to actually harm it. She launched another, and another. Both arrows were close, but neither quite made their mark. The machine was learning, moving from side to side, its head rotating in order to avoid getting struck. The huntress had been right in her assumption: this Guardian was different from the others.
It lurched forward, its eye flashing with light in preparation to strike. Frida reached for another arrow, realizing this was her moment...and found only empty space. She looked back at her quiver. It was empty! She had used up all her arrows.
She turned back to the Guardian. It was only a few feet away now. It seemed to almost be waiting for her to turn back, waiting for her to stare it in the eye. A small red laser focused on her chest, dead-center. It was about to fire.
She was about to die.
Frida raised her hands in preparation for the end. She knew there was nothing for her to do now. She started to close her eyes, hoping it would be swift and painless.
Her hand flashed with golden light. A symbol appeared on the back of her hand. The light from her hand expanded outward.
In a single moment, everything was consumed by light.