Mipha frowned as she felt her skin begin to crinkle beneath the fierce sun, the sensation of warming blood initially having caused her great joy, though between the continued exposure, as well as the sun's reflection off the sand below, the intensity of the sun's light grew dramatically, leaving her with little choice but to beginning running her hand along her arms, massaging the gears gel in between her scales to better retain moisture. Unlike Hylians and the Gerudo, Zoras didn't sweat, leaving them in danger to begin with were they unable to regulate their constantly rising body heat, though the gel served to retain her body moisture while also acting as a sort of sunblock. Still, it left her rather displeased, the gelatinous ooze resting uncomfortably along her scales.

"How intriguing," Urbosa noticed, "And it's like a night and day difference?"

Mipha nodded dejectedly, "Yeah, I mean it does, just- Its texture just kind of leaves my skin unable to breathe, you know?"

"Hmm," Urbosa mused, "I've been interested in increasing Zora traffic down here, but like you said earlier, it's quite difficult. Perhaps if we branded our own gekari gel."

Daruk chortled happily, "Quite the entrepreneur, are we!"

Allowing a proud smirk, Urbosa explained, "Well, it would be of tremendous help. We're already largely limited to female merchants to begin with; if we could bolster Zoran traders, not only would both our cultures benefit from improved relations, but my people would absolutely adore a new assortment of trinkets and adornments from Zorana."

Zelda nodded in thought, "A practical idea, though executing it might be more difficult."

"Indeed," Mipha replied with a fierce look on her face, battling with the gel, "For one, gekari gel takes generations of talent to perfect. Even the Hylian concoctions make for inferior gels unless undertaken by true masters of the craft. It's quite intensive, and not something for mass production, I don't think."

Urbosa clutched her thin in thought, "Well, it's at least something to think about. A stable just before entering the desert would also work wonders as far as trade goes, but then there's the matter of traders even wanting to come here in the first place."

"Who wouldn't want to visit this place?!" Daruk exclaimed in shock, "I haven't felt so welcomed by such extrathermal heat in all my life! I'm used to the earth itself providing immense heat and power; the sun is quite different, but still intense upon these sands!"

Urbosa sighed meekly, "Well, not everybody shares that enthusiasm. And even if they might, they would also have reservations about the prying eyes of potential cretins. Plenty of men wander around these parts, simply begging for glimpses of our town, as though it's inhabited by angelic beings or something. I've heard enough false stories about our town that make their way around the land, piquing the interests of many."

Her lips curled distasteful, "We've even had instances in the past of female travelers getting harassed by some boorish rouges. I've tried stationing soldiers along the route, but- The whole thing; it's disheartening for me, and discouraging for potential travelers."

"Bah, the nerve," Daruk frowned, crossing his arms, "You should hire a pack of Gorons! With all due respect to my sworn brother, Gorons are truly the masters of protection!"

Link shrugged weakly, his brow furrowed with confusion as to what was being insinuated.

"We can roll along these dunes like nothing!" he declared, looking around while raising a hand to cover his mouth, clearing his throat, "May I?"

Urbosa shrugged, "Why not?"

The Goron charged a marvelous smirk before raising his arms, the stretching motion causing a small collection of pebbles to fall from his shoulders, his voice proudly proclaiming, "Allow me my sale's pitch! Ahem."

He made a dramatic pose, yanking a top hat from the nether and slamming it atop his head before pointing at Urbosa, "YOU have a problem! WE have solutions!"

Throwing a hand to the ground before it flew back with a jolt in recoil, a thin cane materializing from his grasp and digging itself dramatically into the sand below, "Goron Consulting, eye-in-tee-el! We've got the brawn to make up for brains!"

Revali dropped his face into an open palm, grimacing painfully amidst a groan. The others hadn't a clue, themselves, what was going on, but armed with such massive gusto, Urbosa was increasingly intrigued by the Goron's proposition…whatever that might turn out to be. Her eyes narrowed, even with Daruk dancing in place like a mad man, throwing theatrics every which way until finally burrowing into the ground as he rolled into a ball, much to Mipha's astonishment, as well as Revali's sudden intrigue, mostly due to the foreign nature of this act.

"Wow!" Zelda cried out excitedly.

A rumble left the rocky ball, as though it took Daruk a great deal of effort to speak in such a form, "Buuut wait, theeeere's more! We Gorooons tread across all terrrrrain at toooop speed, with eeeease!"

Revali's lips crinkled in awaiting suspense, finally resorting to goading the stone man, "Well, of with it! Course along these sands like a dervish, or do not!"

"Haaaang ooooon," Daruk groaned loudly as his body began to whirr atop the sand.

Another burst of painful grumbling left him, clearly having lost his use for this form for quite some time, allowing his rocky joints to churn awake. He spun quicker, careful to turn himself so as to encircle his adoring crowd, rather than speed off unto the ends of the desert; his body began to heat up with friction, his heart raced. A gasp of air left him once his body fell into its top speed in rhythmic fashion, his Goron heart forcing his body to work in overtime as a rush blew through his head from the excitement.

"BWAH HA HA!" he laughed a boisterous laugh, the speed allowing his body to expand in centrifugal fury, his speech returning as a result, "ARE YOU NOT TAKEN INTO SEVERE ASTONISHMENT?!"

Zelda bit her lip at the sight before them, careful not to say a word as she lowered her head, though still keeping her woeful eyes latched solely on the spinning Goron. Link sighed, dropping his head while Urbosa frowned in disappointment, though unable to hide the soft upturn at the edge of her lip, amusement creeping in. Mipha looked on, her excitement having turned into embarrassment, turning in surprise toward Revali as the Rito threw his arms out in disgust.

"Bah! This…PARLOR trick is wearing immensely thin!" he shouted with great dismay.

Link shrugged, "He's probably making better time than you in a windstorm."

Revali turned away in disgust, shaking his head in disappointment, mostly in himself for having allowed his attention to stay upon the Goron for any distinct length of time. The others looked on in gradual, disheartened dread, even as Daruk went on with his boisterous showboating.

"MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE!" he shouted, only causing his speed and trajectory to increase further.

Despite his intense focus, the Goron hadn't pressed onward an inch. As soon as he'd gone into his curled metamorphosis, his large frame had immediately sunk into the sand below, leaving his ever-increasing speed to be for naught, as well as his arching trajectory, which only caused him to spin in circles while stuck in that spot. As he entered maximum overdrive, however, a spewing of sand went spitting out from behind him, which combined with his spinning, leaving the Company wholly awash with sand, a chorus of unamused faces left there for Daruk as he slowed to a stop, hurrying back to his feet and reaching his arms out in triumph.

"TA DAA-! Hey, what happened to you all?!"

Zelda reached up weakly, rubbing the sand from her face before speaking gentle, "Uh, Daruk, I- I don't- I think you didn't-"

"PAH!" Revali spat out the sand from beneath his beak, "I MUST say, Goron, this vitriolic undertaking of yours has done NOTHING but mislay an intensely puerile impetus!"

Daruk watched him with confusion, "…was the pitch that good?"

"No! You irritating- GAH!" Revali shouted painfully, his hands hurriedly stroking his feathers, "This stuff is-! How can you live like this?!"

Urbosa smirked, "Elephants bathe in the stuff."

"Oh! Perfect!" Revali spewed sarcastically, "Let's just take billions of years of eroding rock, corpses, and goddess knows WHAT else- and DUMP it all over our bodies! Just have a merry old time BATHING in this insufferable- Get off!"

He continued brushing his feathers, too detested to even think of bringing his beak down to preen himself in such a state. His eyes coiled in a mix between hatred and despair, desperation; his feathers were his proudest feature- one of the few things he knew he could-

Revali jerked away in sudden recoil as he noticed Mipha's approach, yanking his arm up to shield his face in instinct before, "What is it, Zora?!"

She only smiled, bringing the jar of gekari gel from her side, earning her yet another reproachful gasp from Revali, "You've got to be kidding me! What is this?! Open season on my plumage?!"

"No," Mipha assured softly, "Just- Trust me."

He frowned, eyeing the others, "Yes, trust. A fine lot of people here for that."

Urbosa returned a droll stare of her own, while Link watched with curiosity, catching Mipha as she handled the Rito's arm with such immense respect, even catching Revali off guard, her voice breaking ever so slightly across the wind, "This stuff also cleanses any impurities from between our scales, so- I figured it might get all that sand from between your feathers, as well."

The Rito sneered, though failed to physically repel her actions, allowing Mipha to press on. She carefully dripped a line of the gelatinous, gooey substance down Revali's arm, twisting it at his hand to allow the gel to cascade over either side, it's viscosity seeming to decrease as it went along as though the more impurities it found, the quicker it slid down his skin. Revali's eyes narrowed as the gel made it around his arm, gently pittering to the ground, leaving him rather surprised by the ordeal.

"H-Hey, that's-" he paused, almost with a worrisome air, "That's not bad."

Mipha smiled up at him, "It's not bad on clearing debris from metal coils, either."

"Metal coils, I-!" Revali began, immediately retorting with a zealous rebuke at such a reference, though just as suddenly pulled back his tongue, his face twisting as he instead managed, "Well, thank you."

She only smiled in reply, though her hand remained at his, allowing her to leave the jar of gekari gel in his palm for him to take. Revali's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he noticed what she had left him, curiously cocking his eyes back toward her.

"Do you not need this?" he asked incredulously.

Mipha merely shrugged with a grin, "I've applied all of it that I should need. It's lasts awhile for us, so- Your feathers are so majestic; it'd be a shame for them to lose their luster, huh?"

The Rito man, still suspicious, nonetheless accepted the jar, working off its lid to apply some more as Mipha gave a courteous nod of her head before joining the others, whom had taken to roasting a very confused Daruk, leaving Revali to watch her cautiously, as though unsure of her intentions.

She'd used this stuff on herself, so it wasn't poisoned or anything, he ascertained. Perhaps it was safe to use, regardless.

Urbosa's face shone brilliantly as the Company made their way into Kara Kara Bazaar, the only all-inclusive commercial spot in the desert, leaving it to be rather hectic during the days. Locals took up shops to sell their wares, so foreign to the rest of the world, especially the men, while travelers from around Hyrule came to sell their own mundane items that, here, were sought after. Rupees flowed like a waterfall here, thanks to how private the Gerudo were; Urbosa had turned ancient tradition into a lucrative asset that better helped the Gerudo in times of crises.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to my pride and joy- Kara Kara Bazaar!" she exclaimed happily, her face beaming excitedly, "Where tradition polymerizes with modernity. You can find a Gerudo elder selling ancient tosht dolls, and in the stall next to her, some bomb arrows. The second biggest commercial hub outside of Hyrule Kingdom."

"Oooh, wowie," Daruk mused weakly, leading by his nose, "The smells…"

Urbosa grinned, "We have quite the culinary fusion here, too. Mipha, you're familiar with the thistle roots of Necluda? Try cooking those with some safflina leaf and a bit of meat- you'll drool so much, you'd think you had filled that dam of yours by yourself!"

Giggling at the thought, Mipha took in the marketplace herself, keeping an eye out on all the eclectic vendors, all of whom seemed to incredibly different from the others when it came to their wares. She quickly jumped to the side as Daruk charged forward, desperate to find any source of the smells he was taking in, daring his tongue to go any second longer without tasting the delicacies here.

"Uh Daruk," Link minded, grabbing hold of the Gerudo's arm, "We've got a job to do, remember?"

Daruk turned with puppy-dog eyes, nearly in a breathless whine, "B-But-"

Chuckling at his insatiable reply, Urbosa grinned, "Normally I'd be the first to offer you the luxuries of these lands, but- It is as Link says. Vah Nabooris won't remain in its clear state for long; any moment, she could start up another lightning storm, so we'd best progress while we can."

Zelda smiled, reaching over to pat Daruk's arm herself, "Don't worry; we'll make time on our way back."

"Indeed," Urbosa nodded, "Until then, Zelda, Daruk, you two are with me. Lady Mipha, will you be joining us as well?"

She lowered her head to hide a weak smile, "While I'd like to visit, it would not be prudent of me. I'd be wise to remain with this oasis."

Urbosa eyes Revali, who'd been indulging himself with the remaining bit of gekari gel, leaving incredibly little to be given back to the Zora, though as long as she didn't seem to have any reservations, the Gerudo shrugged, nodding in agreement.

"Already, Zelda and Daruk, we'll head on out. At this rate, nightfall will be soon and we can traverse these lands without much dread of the rising heat," Urbosa confirmed aloud.

Zelda agreed, though she added, "Link, are you okay with..?"

He tilted his head easily, "I suppose I can trust your care with Urbosa. I've done it before."

The Gerudo smirked, pulling Zelda into a forceful sidelong embrace, "I wouldn't let the very winds touch her if I so willed it. She's safe in my care."

Zelda did her best to hide a giggle, finishing the assignments with ease, "Alright, Link, Mipha, Revali, you three hang out here for the night, and don't have too much fun without us."

Her eyes studied Link and Revali, the Rito still preoccupied with rubbing the gel across his plumage, "You two, please don't kill one another."

"PAH!" Revali immediately jerked his attention toward Zelda, "A true warrior such as myself would never allow death to come to someone so revolting without at least five days worth of suffering! This blackguard deserves that, and more, were it up to me."

Link turned toward him, "For my attitude?"

The Rito frowned, dropping his head to return to his gelatinous preening, "You deserve something…"

Link sighed, returning to Zelda with a simple, "You have my word. Mipha 'n I used to spar years ago; so long as she's here, I doubt I could make it past her anyway."

He turned to give the Zora a mischievous grin, "I only beat her once or twice."

"Because you cheated," she reminded with a pristine smile, careful to keep her head low.

Link reiterated for the others, "Birdbrain will be fine."

"Good," Zelda sighed, as though the thought had plagued her for a time, "In that case, we'd better get a move on. Other than maybe a meal for Daruk's sake, we'll grab the helm and return immediately in the morning."

Urbosa frowned, "We have some athletes who've taken up seal-surfing, but until that becomes more of a commercial venture, that's about all we can do. We won't tarry."

Link and Mipha both nodded, with Revali chirping up later with a quick, "Well, get a move on! This heat is murder on my auriculars!"

On that unceremonious note, the three non-male members of the Company headed off further into the desert, the rest of their mission becoming clearing by the day, save for the matter of how to approach the Divine Beast itself. As Mipha stood there, she figured so long as she and Revali were doing little of importance, the least they could do was come up with some ideas for when the others returned, though that thought only forced her attention back to Link, who wasn't an official Champion himself. He had become so integral that she often forgot that he hardly even wanted to be here, yet despite his rivalry with Revali, he seemed to be a rather good sport about the whole thing.

She smiled carelessly while watching him, quickly hiding herself as he turned away with a sigh, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Well, so long as the ancient dictates of the Gerudo people dictate, we're kind of stuck here. You need anything for your scales, Lady Mipha?"

The Zora shuddered at his sudden reverence, "L-Lady Mipha?"

Link shrugged, "Well, it only bothers the Princess to be so casual, so-. Does it bother you?"

"N-No, I just-" she stammered nervously, "I was just getting used to it is all. It's kind of weird to hear, now."

Smiling at her childishness, Link shrugged, "Alright, I'll stick with 'Mipha'. Need anything?"

"Just some, uh…" she began, pausing disjointedly as her nerves reverberated, "If you find some swift violet, that's- supposed to be good for dry scales."

Link nodded, "Consider it done. I'll check out the market if you need to go ahead and get a swim in."

His brow narrowed with confusion, "Would anybody mind you doing that?"

Mipha shrugged, "I-I guess Lady Urbosa would have been the one to ask…"

With that lingering question, the two went about as though it had been answered, especially with the setting sun meaning traffic was decreasing anyway. With less and less people, Mipha's apprehension abated only for a brief moment, thinking more and more about her current predicament.

Much like a few nights ago, she and Link were more or less alone together.