Part One - Vah Naboris

The Company made their way up the ragged cliffside of Satori Mountain, more so rounding it than challenging the strenuous inclines that a direct route would encounter. Mipha took the fore, her slick skin allowing her to better challenge the Rock faces, while Daruk remained last, vigilantly prepared to make a mad dash to catch anybody who might fall, though Revali made it known, already, that gravity was a mere tempestuous beast for one with such a gift as he had, that of flight.

So lost in her map was Zelda that Link remained close behind her so that he may take hold of her shoulders, directing her when she inadvertently strode too near an edge, losing herself in millennia of histories upon the scroll of parchment paper in her hand.

"Oh, this is interesting," she suddenly mentioned aloud, "Mogg Latan is right up this next incline, it seems."

"Allow me to fetch a tissue," Revali muttered at her foreign words.

Zelda shook her head, "No, no, no. Back when Purah and I were first investigating-"

"Context, dear," Urbosa noted constructively.

Sighing dramatically, Zelda dropped her arms in front of her, "Purah is a Sheikah lady- you know, the oldest race of beings on this earth? When I first grew interested in all this old Sheikah technology being dug up, I went to her sister, Impa, who was uninterested in unlocking that past, so-"

"H-Hold up," Daruk interrupted warily, "That past? Why do you make it sound so ominous..?"

Zelda's brow curled worriedly, "I didn't make it sound that bad, did I? I just meant-"

"About as ominous as a tsunami ravaging the entirety of Death Mountain," Link teased, earning a particularly frightened glance from his sworn brother.

"No, no!" Zelda exclaimed impatiently, "Look, the Sheikah are wary of using anything from their past. Not because it's dangerous; just because they figure the past is where it belongs."

"Then you've got the Yiga Clan, Sheikah who believe that technology should have been used all along," Urbosa noted with a nod, "Though they're terribly bitter that their more-conservative kin have more or less 'won out' on public opinion."

Zelda held up her hands, "Not that any of that is relevant right this instant! Look, Purah and I went through and catalogued all of the known shrines, as well as those theoretical ones that pass along the ley lines at key junctions- little invisible pathways through the ground that act like a network that binds all Sheikah technology. So we essentially named them all as landmarks so that, at the very least, they'll have some use until we figure out how to use them."

"Hmm, what about that shrine just as you pass into Gerudo Desert?" Urbosa wondered aloud, "What's it called?"

Zelda brought her map back up, closing it in onto her face at the tiny script, "Uhh… Kay Noh Shrine."

"Bwah ha ha! Such silly names!" Daruk exclaimed happily.

Mipha's voice perked up, "Must be derived from the old Sheikah language, correct?"

"Exactly; we figured that would be the most reverent thing to do, if only to remind us of the past," Zelda confirmed easily.

Hiding a giggle at the prospect of the giant formation in the center of her home, what name would it have, Mipha asked, "May I ask about the one within Zora's Domain?"

Zelda nodded inattentively, as though her attention were far elsewhere, but answered, "Hmm, I think- Ne'ez Yohma."

"Pfft," Daruk managed, quickly covering his mouth to shield the others from his boisterous laughter.

"You can let it loose, Daruk; nobody will be offended," Zelda offered with a soft smile.

He quickly shook his head, still pressing his hand against his face, "Last time I gave anything more than a chortle, the mountain I was standing let me know it disapproved. I'd hate to know my carelessness would be putting our troupe in danger."

"Oh, by the skies above!" Revali exclaimed, turning to Daruk with a fierce expression, "Just imbibe, you man of mineral! You haven't an inkling how it sets my feathers asunder when people deny pleasure- just let loose! C'mon! Ha!"

Daruk's face twisted into something that emulated a blush as Revali repeated, "Come on! HA!"

"H-Ha…"

The group coming to a stop, turning to watch the odd scene, Urbosa dropped her face into her hand, "Daruk, would you please just go along with it so we may move along?"

Daruk bit his lip, "But I don't quite feel like laughing anymore..."

Groaning, Revali turned toward Zelda, "Recite more from the scroll of immense study, if you would."

Zelda's brow curled with confusion as she turned her attention to her parchment paper, though Revali quickly reoriented his ire, "No, no- actually, you, Zora, you have the voice of a crestfallen octo who's just peered upon the horizon, you'd be better to recite."

"P-Pardon..?"

"Recite! Please, it would do me the honor!" Revali goaded, puffing up his chestful of feathers in preparation for Mipha's recitation.

She turned toward Link for reassurance, the Hylian merely shrugging in reply as Mipha lowered her head in defeat, reaching out for the scroll of paper Zelda was offering her, even the Hyrulian Princess wearing a look of worry. Still, Mipha's resolve was strengthened by the eyes upon her in expectation, clearing her throat as she squinted at the foreign script.

"Uh… D-Dayn Whoma…," she weakly eeked out with worrisome eyes turned atop the scroll toward Revali, who quickly spun his head to examine Daruk.

"Well?" he wondered aloud, "Why have you not lightened the hearts, yet, of your peers with your spirited ejection of laughter?"

Grabbing his stomach, Daruk weakly answered, "I'm just a bit queasy at the moment…"

His piercing eyes narrowing as his mind churned with curiosity, Revali's onslaught was interrupted by Urbosa slipping the scroll from Mipha's hands and rolling it up, slapping it across her wrist to gather the Company's attention, "At this rate, we'll not make it back down before nightfall. Zelda, if you'd please."

"Y-Yes!" Zelda yipped attentively, her eyes curiously resting atop of Mipha as she readied her speech, "We press on. Mipha, if you don't mind remaining up front?"

Nodding diligently, Mipha strode back toward the front, making a point to hide her face from Link as she passed by him, forcing a curious few thoughts to from in the man's head as he watched her only fleetingly, retraining his attention back toward the group before falling into formation.

"There!" Zelda shouted excitedly, bursting forth from the single-filed group to dash up the final embankment concealing the giant, ornate structure that sat nestled along the cliffside.

The Company trudged up that same mound that Zelda had so desperately bolstered her resolve to overtake, finding her having already taken the lifeless terminal that poked out from the front of the shrine itself in her hands, running her skin over the coolly smooth surface. Link groaned, having already recognized Zelda's fascination with these things from their original journey, though he still made it to her side amidst the confused musings from behind him.

"Intriguing," Daruk nodded, reaching out to run his own hand along the odd surface of the shrine, following one of the discolored strands of squiggling lines that embraced the rock-like formation, "This is no rock I'm familiar with. Its igneous, though; considering the Sheikah were building these so long ago, it's possible the world was such that they had access to earth we know nothing of."

"An astute observation!" Zelda opined happily, turning to Link, "Do you concur?!"

Link's eyes narrowed with confusion, having no clue as to what she was wanting from him, only watching as Zelda returned to the structure, "Either this is foreign rock- like from a comet or shooting star- or perhaps it's somehow manufactured?"

"Manufactured?" Daruk questioned while stroking his chin.

Mipha spoke up, "Vah Ruta does create it's own water, independent of any climate conditions. I suppose if the Sheikah were capable of that-"

She paused as Zelda froze, save for her eyes tensing in study, lowering herself closer to the strange pedestal until her face was nary a few inches away, leaving Urbosa to warn, "Watch it. She's in scholar mode."

Zelda sent a glare toward the Gerudo woman, "I'm not in some mode."

"I do believe the same look is brought upon fish from their skyward brethren in nature," Revali shrugged, "Particularly before a very intense swooping that results in a pin-point snatching of said fish into one's beaks."

"Translation," Urbosa grinned, "Scholar Mode: Activated."

Like a gremlin, Zelda spun slowly back toward her ancient terminal with a curled face, simply returning to her scrutiny of the object while Link pointed out, "There seems to be a spot for your slate, huh?"

"Yeah, but-" Zelda sighed, "Purah and I tried as many shrines as we could reach, to no avail. It's almost like they're all powered down or something."

Weakly still, she pulled her Sheikah Slate from her pocket, sliding it into the simple slot upon the terminal, again, to no results. Even so, most of the group had had their curiosity piqued, with even Ravali giving the Slate a glance as though expecting it to work some magic to power on the shrine.

Sighing, Zelda pulled away the Slate, "And that's what is called a failed hypothesis."

"Pah," Revali scoffed, "What was, once, does not always remain. I've trail the skies, all throughout my life, with such an idea plastered upon my mind."

He brought a feathered arm across his chest before bowing, "Some Rito wisdom to pass onto the Princess of Hyrule Kingdom. I only hope to continue such a trend."

Urbosa hid her rolling eyes while Link curled his lips inward, biting down to keep from scoffing aloud.

Zelda wiggled a finger across her face in thought, her eyes turning suspiciously toward Daruk, "Might you be able to tell this rock and the material of the Beasts to be similar?"

"Uhh…" Daruk replied warily, "I suppose I could, but- I was never good at retention of- That is to say-"

He chuckled, scratching the back of his head nervously as his brow curled with embarrassment, "I was always better acquainted with, uh- taste, I suppose."

"Oh, by the goddess," Revali exclaimed unhappily, rolling his head along his shoulders, "I'm to be told we're beginning this venture by having a Goron take a taste of some stony structure only to taste another and compare the two's compositions?!"

Urbosa grinned, "It's a pretty neat trick, Rito."

"Indeed," Link nodded, taking a chance at a jab, "I'd like to catch you doing him one better."

Revali physically cringed in revulsion, the two currently facing the quandary not having noticed the rest of the Company's arguing, instead finding Zelda seriously considering Daruk's offer. She peered at the structure inquirously, finally pounding a fist into her open palm, turning toward the Goron enthusiastically.

"Will you?!"

"I- I suppose, but-" he replied, eyeing the others, "Could, uh- you guys turn away..?"

Revali let loose another scoff as Zelda hurriedly spun away from the shrine, gesturing at the others to follow along, with a hushed number of disbelieving tones in accompaniment. His nervousness levied for a few precious moments, Daruk was left alone with nothing more than his intention to leave a good first impression for the Princess, taking a deep breath before reaching his face closer toward the shrine's outermost casing, his tongue stretching out and ever so delicately pressing against-

"AAA!" he cried out loud, throwing his head back amidst the Company's sudden whirling around to figure out what had happened, Daruk crying out painfully again, his tongue held beyond his lips, "AAAA!"

Revali crossed his arms, shaking his head as Link burst past him, forcing the Rito to steady himself before muttering, "Welp, he's done for."

Tears swelled up in Daruk's eyes as his arms flailed around, his feet dancing in place as his cries carried on, forcing Link to quickly take to the soil below, Zelda's worried shouting joining the noisy atmosphere, "Daruk?! A-Are you okay?!"

"AAAH!" came his reply, as though he were a child greeted with a disagreeable taste, though unable to spit it out.

Link took a handful of dirt and rushed toward Daruk, tossing the dry dirt right into the Goron's face, an allotment of the soil catching his face, meeting the Company with a moment of quieted whimpers from Daruk, though not for long, his cries immediately continuing as he shook his head rapidly as though to communicate to Link that his action hadn't took.

"This is just-" Revali murmured as he looked off into the distance, unable to realize that he'd become the target of Link's rushed stare.

In a split second, Link aimed a finger toward the Zora among them, "Mipha! Your knife!"

Her eyes growing wide, Mipha didn't bother to argue, simply grabbing hold of the Zoran knife at her waist while Link zoomed toward Revali, stealing a stride beneath his wayward glare and pilfering an arrow from his quiver, the movement forcing his attention back onto the Hylian, "I BEG your PARDON, whelp?!"

Mipha tossed the knife past Zelda's trembling frame and into Link's free hand, before he began rapidly sliding the knife along the length of the arrow's head, rushing to collect metallic shavings from the Rito's ammunition, much to the revulsion of Revali.

Daruk continued to wail, though came to sudden halt as Link tossed the metal shavings into his mouth, the Goron suddenly beginning to calm down, much to the relief of Zelda, especially, who quickly strode toward Daruk as Link backed up with a sigh, the Princess immediately doing all she could to hug the man.

"I- I'm so sorry!" she cried in apology.

The Goron shook his head before clearing his throat, "N-N-No prob-lem. I j- That was the foulest, most disgusting taste I've ever had the displeasure of tasting!"

"As if that were not obvious from the very start!" Revali spewed as he yanked the ruined arrow from Link's hand, sneering toward the Hylian, "You'd better hope I decide not to peck out an eyebrow because of that."

Link sneered back in a sarcastic fashion as Daruk's voice returned mid-sentence, "-had it not been for my sworn brother! Such quick thinking!"

Shrugging, Link assured him, "I remembered that time you took a bite out of that rock eye and found a ruby inside it only after chewing it up. Your friends seemed to have already realized what your Company has- your taste is not only your biggest attribute-"

"Hm, yes; it's my biggest weakness as well," Daruk chuckled, gently patting Zelda's head as she pulled away, "Worry not, Prin- er, Zelda. I must assure you that doing my best to perform your requests does nothing less than please me."

Zelda sighed, "Well- at least warn me, next time. I do not wish for any of you to go through any trouble for my sake."

"Well, if you truly wish for me to accomplish this task, please, may the goddess allow us to come across something better able to sate my pallet aside from, uh, Revali's…"

He turned toward Revali, who'd still kept his head turned away in a huff, arms crossed. Slowly enough, at being referred to, the Rito man's eyes peered from their narrowed window before quickly shutting again, allowing Revali his stuffy air as he replied.

"Were it not so jarring to discover that the very things meant to keep me alive were also something of a delicacy…"

Grinning, Urbosa reached over to playfully tap the Rito's shoulders, "Perhaps you shouldn't do any pecking, now that Link knows to simply sick his Goron brother on your arrows."

A fierce stare lead from Revali to Link, his feathers brushing against the breeze while he frowned, leaving Urbosa to continue along, breaking the tension with a rousing declaration, "Okay, we've been lollygagging too much! Zelda, would you please do the honors of continuing our expedition to the summit?"

Zelda felt the stares trailing from Urbosa to herself, a quivering running along her spine as those pairs of eyes all came upon her, the Princess' voice shaking back into normalcy, "O-Okay! Champions! We'll-"

"-and Link…" Revali muttered in a heated breath.

A strand of awkward air pattered amongst the group, leaving Zelda to pick up the pieces on the fly, "Er, let's press on! We'll take a break at the summit after we've offered our prayers, and hopefully, be back at the base by nightfall. Alright?"

Only nodding heads came in reply, allowing Zelda to turn back up toward the incline just nearby, trudging upward as the rocky terrain ended, leaving Mipha off point for the time being. Her resolve, she hoped, would drown out the insecurities she felt about those stares that rested upon her after Urbosa took control of the group.

Stares that certainly appeared to her to be ones of uncertainty.