Farrow glowered at the map crinkling beneath her gloves. She had to return to Hateno village, and unfortunately, that required making it through the pass of Twin Peaks. It was a journey she did he best to avoid.

The monsters of calamity knew the pass was perfect for ambushing travelers. The road to Hateno was frequented by traders and those seeking safety, and the monsters knew it. No matter what Farrow tried, she always had to fight something to get through.

She sighed and sat back in her saddle. They'd left Outskirts Stable almost an hour ago and the sun shone hot in the sky. So far, the day had gone well without a monster in sight, but they weren't in a dangerous area yet. Once they reached the ruins just east of the Great Plateau, it would be slow, cautious, going.

Farrow folded her map before pocketing it in her tunic. She reached up to finger the arrows in her quiver. She had roughly two dozen, and a knife for a backup. The idea of picking her way through monster infested ruins dropped a stone of anxiety into her stomach, but she'd done it before. It was just a matter of shooting them before they realized she was there.

As Farrow pondered this, a stone came clattering down the wall of the Great Plateau. She nudged Kazim away from the cliff face and scanned for any rockslides. She only saw a small plum of dust, glittering gold against the noon sky, that the stone had kicked up.

Cloth snapped in the wind behind her. She shifted in her seat to look back.

Farrow caught sight of the boy just before he crashed to the ground. She pulled Kazim to a stop, and stared at the boy splayed out in the dirt. Dismounting, she looked up at the Great Plateau towering above, and back to him. He couldn't have fallen from there. No one could have survived that fall, and she could tell from his groan he had. Besides no one could scale the plateau in the first place.

"Are you okay?" She called. She approached him but kept a hand on her knife.

The figure remained still for another moment before he coughed, raised a hand, and formed a wobbling thumbs up.

Farrow snorted and quickened her approach. She still kept a hand on her knife, but the boy seemed dazed in a way that wasn't faked.

She reached him and knelt at his side. He grimaced in pain, his eyes clenched shut as he lay face up on the grass, arms outstretched. His blonde hair shone in the sunlight and Farrow frowned. He'd pulled in back into a half-pony tail, but he didn't seem to be trying to hide it. He wore a ragged tunic and trousers that were a bit too small and on his hip was a rusted sword. Mud was smeared across his face, clothes, and hands. The boots on his feet had holes in the toes. Next to him lay a cloth contraption with a wooden skeleton. A glider, maybe? It would explain how he survived the fall.

"So," she said, wondering where she was supposed to start figuring this man out, "are you injured? Cause you gave a thumbs up but . . . "

He took a shuddering breath, opened his blue eyes and sat up. Their gazes met and he stared at her like he couldn't quite understand what he was seeing. After several seconds, Farrow waved a hand. "Concussion?"

The man jerked and shook his head. He leaned forward and reached for his boot, tugging it off with a grunt. Farrow examined the bright red skin around his ankle. "Can you move it?" she asked.

His foot twitched and the man flinched and shook his head.

Farrow frowned at him. "Are you mute or did you break your jaw?"

The man smirked and made a strange wave with his hands. Farrow blinked. Seeing her confusion, the man repeated the motion.

"Oh," Farrow said. "That's sign language isn't it?" She'd heard of it, and might have seen another traveler using it once, but she couldn't understand it.

He nodded.

"Sorry, but I'm not familiar with it. I'll take it your jaw isn't broken?" He nodded again.

"Well that's good." Farrow's attention returned to his ankle. "That's probably a sprain." Depending on how bad it was, he could be on his feet in a day, or a week. Either way he wasn't walking anytime soon. "Do you have a horse?" She couldn't see one nearby, but if he'd left it at a stable she could go get it for him.

The man shook his head, and before she could stop him, stood up. Almost immediately his foot folded beneath him. Farrow shot up and caught him under the arms. "Idiot! I just told you that was sprained! Sit down."

She dropped hum onto his butt and he gave her a sheepish smile. Farrow rolled her eyes, brought her finger to her lips and whistled.

Kazim trotted over and came to a stop next to the man. Kazim snuffled at the man's hair before snorting. The whole time, the man sat frozen with a look of mild alarm.

"Relax," Farrow said. "Kazim is a gentle giant. We'll give you a lift to the nearest stable."

As she spoke, she helped the man to his feet, taking the weight from his injured side. Once next to Kazim, the man gripped the saddle and hauled himself up with his good leg and a little assistance from Farrow. Once he was seated, he gripped the saddle horn with white knuckles.

"Where were you headed?" Farrow asked. As she spoke she collected his boot and glider and stowed them on Kazim's saddle.

The man craned his neck and pointed to the dark forms of the Twin Peaks on the horizon.

"Twin Peaks huh? I was heading that way too." She took Kazim's reigns and they started back towards the road. The man startled and hunched in the saddle.

"Sit upright and don't worry. You'll get used to it. What's your name, by the way?"

The man raised a hand, then froze with a puzzled look.

"Oh right." Farrow withdrew her sketchbook from her bag and handed it to him along with the charcoal.

The man took them, scribbled something down and handed it back.

"Link, huh?" Farrow glanced at him to confirm and he smile, then pointed to her with a questioning look.

"I'm Farrow. Nice to meet you. Hang on to this for now." She handed back the book to him. "If you need to tell me something, just write it down."

He accepted the book with a sort of bow and tucked it into his belt.

"So . . ." Farrow glanced up at the plateau, "did you actually come from up there?"

Link followed her look and nodded.

Farrow stared at him. "How?" Link gave her a perplexed frowned.

Farrow jerked a hand up at the plateau. "No one gets up there. It's too dangerous. So how did you end up there?" Farrow watched Link's expression shift from puzzlement to distress as he looked away from her to the ground. He shrugged.

"Okay," Farrow said, keeping her skepticism from her voice. She wasn't really sure what to make of that. She wanted to help Link, but she didn't know much about him. He'd demonstrated his strength when he hauled himself into Kazim's saddle, and he still had that sword on his belt. And he must be capable of defending himself if he wore his hair like that. Her trepidation returned and she made a mental note to keep an eye on him. But his ankle was twisted, and aside from his vagueness, he seemed like a decent guy.

They traveled for a while with only the sound of Kazim's hoof falls passing between them. As Farrow had known would happen, they weren't making good time. Having to travel on foot had slowed them, but it wasn't as if she had a deadline to make. She didn't mind.

The scratch of charcoal on paper came from behind her. Farrow turned to see Link scribbling into her sketchbook. After a moment, he held it out to her.

'Where are you traveling to?' she read.

"Hateno Village. I've got some trading to do there. What about you? You have to be going somewhere beyond Twin Peaks, right?"

Link nodded as she handed the book back to him. 'I'm trying to find Kakariko Village.'

Farrow squinted at him. "Why? They don't like visitors, and the place is really hard to find."

Link's expression grew solemn. 'I was told to go there and find Impa.'

Farrow sensed there was more he wasn't saying. But she didn't expect him to tell everything about himself to a stranger.

"Hmm," Farrow said. "I think I may have heard of her before . . ." Farrow wracked her brain for answers. Impa sounded like a sheikah name, but Farrow didn't know many Sheika besides Purah and Symin. "Oh. That might be Purah's sister."

Farrow looked up to see Link staring at her with wide eyes. He raised his hands and made several gestures, before shaking his head and reaching out for the sketchbook.

'Who is Purah? And do you know who Impa is?' he wrote.

Farrow quirked an eyebrow. "You're looking for someone you don't know?"

Link looked away.

Farrow sighed. "Purah is a scientist who lives just outside of Hateno village. She studies ancient tech. If I'm right, and if mind you, then Impa is her younger sister who lives in Kakariko village. I don't know much else about Impa, but Purah and I have met a few times."

Link nodded and gazed back towards the mountains. Then he pointed to her, the horse and wrote, 'thank you,' before putting a hand to his chin and sweeping it down.

Farrow pointed. "That means thank you, right?" she imitated the motion.

Link nodded with a grin.

"No problem," Farrow said. "Travelers got to look out for each other these days. Speaking of which, we're going to need to stop soon." Farrow eyed one of the old banners hung high above the road. The old lumber of the post creaked as the tattered banner trailed in the wind. It was the land mark she used to track how close she was to the monster path. "We're approaching a road that usually has monster ambushes." The road that lay south of the Forest of Time ran through the ruins of an outpost. The crumbling stone walls and rusted weapons made for a perfect monster haunt. And unfortunately it was the road they had to take to get to Twin Peaks.

"I'll have to leave you with Kazim and take them out before bringing you through."

Link rapped the cover of the sketch book to get Farrow's attention. When she glanced back he held out the sketchbook and touched a hand to his sword. 'I can fight them.'

Farrow shook her head. "Not on that leg you can't. I appreciate it, but I'll be fine." She grinned and swung her bow off her shoulder. "I'm not a bad shot."

Link's eyes narrowed on the bow. He pointed to it, then himself, then gestured from his sword to her.

"Trade weapons?" Farrow asked. Link nodded emphatically.

It would keep Link off his leg. He could shoot from horse back while she stayed mobile with the sword. There was the chance he could try to take her stuff and make a run for it, but Kazim would buck him off as soon as they left her sight.

"Can you shoot?"

Link held out a hand and smirked. Farrow handed him the bow and slid an arrow from her quiver. "If you can hit . . . " Farrow pulled Kazim to a stop and pointed to an apple in a tree about fifty feet away "that apple, we'll trade weapons and go together."

Link narrowed his eyes at the target. His back straightened as he knocked the arrow with a flick of his wrist and drew the bow. He aimed, the string creaking as he held it steady, then he released.

The arrow whizzed from the bow and hit the apple, sending both spinning to the earth.

Farrow whistled. "Yep. You're good."

Link grinned and held the bow out to her with a smug flourish.

Farrow rolled her eyes and accepted it. She jogged off the retrieve the arrow. She fed the apple to Kazim once she'd returned. He crunched happily. "I'll let you shoot but—well—are you going to hide your hair?"

Link's brow furrowed and he gave her a questioning look.

"You know," Farrow said, "because its blonde?" Link confused expression stayed in place. It was like he didn't understand why it was a problem. But that couldn't be possible. Even if he'd grown up somewhere relatively safe like Hateno Village, he must know. But it seemed he didn't.

"Monsters attack people with blond hair," Farrow explained, watching Link's confusion deepen. "It's usually kids, but if they see anyone with blond hair they'll attack you in a frenzy."

Link blinked and flipped open the book. 'Why?' he wrote.

Farrow grimaced. "I don't know for sure. Some say monster just don't like the color, or its bad luck. But, from what Purah told me, I think they're looking for the hero, from the legends."

Link's confusion turned to concerned, and after a moment he rolled his hand in a 'go on,' gesture.

Farrow shrugged. "I don't know much. Purah told me that before the calamity the hero had blonde hair, and the legends said he's always born with blonde hair." Blonde hair was easily the rarest hair color in Hylians. Maybe one in a hundred kids born had it, and many of them turned brunette as they aged. "Purah said the calamity thinks it killed the hero, so it's looking to kill his reincarnation before he can grow up to fight."

Link's expression slackened as he stared at her. His lips had gone pale.

Farrow raised her hands in a panic. "Don't worry! I have a bandana you can cover your hair with, and even dye if you need it."

But Link was already shaking his head and waving away her offer.

"You don't want either?"

He took a deep breath and when he released it he wore a look of determination. 'No thank you,' he wrote, 'what is your plan of attack?'

Farrow, accepting that he wanted to change the subject, pointed ahead. "The road turns left up there. Once it does, we'll be in monster territory. Before that, we're going to trade weapons. You'll hang back and shoot any enemies you can without being spotted while I'll sneak ahead and take out the rest. Then I'll come back for you and Kazim, we'll advance, and then we repeat until we reach the end. Sound like a plan?"

Link eyed the turn in the road, only minutes away at the pace they were going, and nodded.

"All right," Farrow grinned. "Together, then."