Farrow was feet away from the tailor's shop when the door swung open. Link wobbled out of the doorway. He wore silver armor from head to toe, and clanked and stumbled as he walked.
She threw her good hand up. "What was the one thing I said?"
Link jerked and turned to face her with a sheepish grin. He raised his hands, presumably to sign at her, and blinked when the iron gloves wouldn't move correctly. He frowned.
Farrow ran a hand down her face and sighed. "Do you still have some money at least?"
Link nodded.
"Good. Go back inside." Link raised his foot, tried to turn, and nearly tipped over. Farrow caught his elbow and shouldered him into facing the tailor. "Now do you see why this was a bad idea?"
Link sighed and nodded. They hobbled back into the shop to find it empty aside from rolls of cloth and mannequins.
"Weren't you just in here?" Farrow asked, looking around for the shop keeper.
"Welcome," a low voice said right behind Farrow. She jumped, and spun to find a young woman flinching back. She'd been hidden behind the open door.
"Sorry," the woman said, shuffling at staring at her feet. "I-um . . . How can I help you?"
Farrow took a deep breath and blew it out. "He," she pointed to Link, who waved, "needs a regular tunic, trousers, and boots if you have them. Something simple. I need a new tunic too." Her tunic's shoulder had been sewn roughly back together, but the cut in it was too large to truly mend, and it was very stained.
The woman nodded. "I'll be right back." She shuffled off.
Farrow turned to Link and raised an eyebrow. "Can you get that off?"
Link froze, staring at her as if the thought of getting out of the armor hadn't occurred to him. He turned red and shook his head.
Farrow snorted and pulled his helmet off. "Hope your magic box has room for all this."
He nodded and Farrow fumbled with one hand at the strap of his shoulder guards. "By the way," she said, frowning, "I think you should hide your hair."
Link removed the clunky gloves and signed 'why?'
"We're gonna keep attracting attention if you don't hide it. What happened with the Yiga clan member will happen again." Farrow's shoulder twinged. "I'm not saying hiding your hair will prevent that completely, but we could avoid more trouble if you do."
Link sighed and considered the floor before glancing at her. He nodded.
"Okay," Farrow said. "Do you want me to dye it? Or you could wear a hood like that," she nodded to a blue hood on display in the corner.
Link hummed, narrowing his eyes at the accessory.
|||((0))|||
They stepped out of the tailor together. Farrow's new tunic ended up being a grey and blue tunic with mid-length sleeves. Link had gotten a full outfit. He wore a deep red tunic, with a brown leather breastplate, trousers, brown leather boots, some arm guards, and the blue hood. He already had it pulled up over his hair, casting his face in shadows.
Farrow elbowed him. "How are the real clothes?"
Link grinned and stomped his boots. He signed something that Farrow thought meant 'much better.'
"Hm, good," Farrow looked to the edge of the village, her smile fading. "Are you ready to go to Kakariko?"
Link followed her gaze and nodded, his own smile dimming.
Farrow could deny the fear creeping up her spine. She'd accepted the job of escorting Link around Hyrule, and she didn't regret it, but it was going to be dangerous. Link would be hunted, by the Yiga, monsters, and guardians, and she'd be with him for it. She had no doubt what happened on the road here would happen again, and the wound in her shoulder burned with the memory.
She took a deep breath. She was used to danger; this would just be a little different. She'd traveled alone, but now she had a partner to back her up, even if the enemies would sometimes be crazy murdering cultists. She could handle it.
She turned in the direction of their horses. "Then let's get this show on the road."
They trotted out of Hateno village moments later, the sound of children's laughter, the farm animals, and human chatter fading behind them. In its place, the rush of wind through the trees and the chirping of birds rose up to surround them.
They reached the fork in the path and Farrow was about to direct Kazim to the right when Link whistled softly behind her. She turned to see him point to the left.
Farrow raised an eyebrow. "Somewhere else you need to go first?"
Link nodded and pointed up, over the tree tops. Farrow followed the gesture and found one of the glowing towers set on the cliff above the forest. "Right," she muttered, "that's a thing."
"Okay," she tugged Kazim to the left. "Let's go."
The path up the cliff lead out of the forest and gave way to rolling fields. It left Farrow a clear view of the road up to the tower. It was clear, except for the roaming dots near the base that must have been monsters.
Farrow looked back to Link. "There's about four bokoblins waiting." She frowned at her shoulder. "And I'm not going to be much help like this." She would be able to make do with a knife, but there was no way she'd be able to draw her bow. And Link didn't have a sword. He'd left it with the Yiga member he'd killed.
Link's eyes narrowed as he scanned the tower. He nodded and held out a thumbs up before nudging his horse forward.
Farrow grimaced, but followed. "If you say so."
When they reached the last few trees before the open stretch to the tower, they stopped and tied their horses to the trees out of sight. Link readied his bow, while Farrow drew her knife. Link crouched low, made a follow me motion, and ducked into the tall grass of the field.
Farrow followed, the blades of grass brushing the pointed tips of her ears. She couldn't see the monsters past Link's back and the tall grass, but she trusted he'd keep them hidden for as long as possible.
Link came to a stopped and glanced back at her. 'Ready?' he signed. Farrow nodded. Link knelt, drew his bow, and aimed at the base of the tower. After a breath, he let the arrow fly with a twang. Something yelped in the distance, and a moment later several other monsters howled in rage. They'd been spotted.
Link rose and ran to the left, away from her, already notching another arrow. Farrow stayed in her crouch and moved right. When she heard the twang and thud of another loosed arrow, she rose.
The two remaining monsters faced Link as he ran, their backs to her. He had enough distance for another shot, but they were closing in.
Farrow gripped her knife and ran towards the nearest bokoblin, making sure she stayed just to the side to give Link a clear shot if he needed it. She reached the monster and drove her knife down into its spine. It shrieked in rage and surprise before dissolving into a cloud of calamity. Farrow held her breath and danced back.
The remaining monster paused at the noise, giving Link the moment he needed to shoot it. Farrow moved away from the dissipating clouds of calamity, scanning the field. The only movement was the grass rippling in the wind.
"That went pretty well," Farrow said.
Link grinned and strolled passed her towards the base of the tower. She followed, and when they reached the bottom, looked up. The height of it left her dizzy.
The structure was the strangest thing she'd ever seen. A mesh of metal covered the outside of it, with tiers of a stone-like material protruding from the sides. Inside, a core of glowing orange lit the structure like fire, but she couldn't feel any warmth coming from it. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard a low hum emanating from the tower. When she placed a hand against the metal she found it cold, despite that the fact that it was out in the sun.
She glanced at Link and he pointed to himself, the top of the tower, and signed 'wait here.'
She nodded. "Don't fall."
He waved a hand before gripping the metal mesh and hauling himself up. Farrow watched him climb, before moving away from the tower to get a better view. His progress was slow, but steady. When he reached the top he pulled himself over the edge and out of sight. A moment later his head peaked over the edge. He gave a wave before disappearing again.
Farrow knew Link used the towers to make a map on his Sheikah slate. She didn't bother trying to imagine how it did that, but she expected it to be fairly quick. She didn't expect the deep rumble of sound, like someone had struck the world's largest bell. The sound was harmonious and low, rolling over the field and over the land. As it did, the spires at the top of the tower rotated to face upwards, grinding with a sound like stone on stone. In the same moment, the orange core of the tower blazed blue.
Farrow's shoulder's slowly relaxed as the sound faded and the tower once again became motionless. A moment later Link's silhouette stepped up to the edge of the tower. She had a moment of panic before she saw the glider in his hands, and he stepped off the edge.
He drifted down, his hood blown back onto his shoulders and his cape fluttering. He landed a few feet away and stowed the glider back in his slate before flicking his hood up.
Farrow walked to stand beside him. "Does the tower always do that?" She asked.
He nodded and power up the Sheikah slate before turning it to face her. She recognized a map of the area, and was amazed at the detail of it. She could see Hateno Village to the east, and the ridges of the cliffs they stood on now. The coast line, which she rarely saw, lay to the south and east in razor detail. "That's amazing," she muttered.
Link nodded, and when she was done gaping, put the slate away.
"Do you know how it does that?" she asked, as they returned to their horses. He shook his head, glancing back at the tower.
Link helped her back onto Kazim and they were off again.
For the next hour they traveled through the forest in silence. As they went, birds flitted from tree to tree, insects buzzed somewhere in the foliage, and a herd of deer startled and crashed away from them through the brush.
When they turned a corner in the road, Farrow relax mood darkened. They'd reach the point in the path when the Yiga member had attacked them. Farrow's shoulder itched as she scanned the area.
There was no sign of the body Farrow knew should be here, or Link's sword. During the fight, the path had been muddy, but now it was dried. The imprints of boots and horse hooves marked the dirt, but none of the smears of the struggle they should have left were there. There wasn't any blood either. It was if the fight had never happened.
"I guess the Sheikah know what they're doing," Farrow said. From what she could see, and other Yiga members that came to investigate what happened to their comrade would be at a loss.
Link silently examined their surroundings before raising his hands. 'Sorry,' he signed.
Farrow frowned, trying to read his expression, but his raised hood hid his eyes. His mouth was set in a thin line though. "Sorry? For what?"
Link sighed and took out his sketchbook. He wrote, pausing halfway through before turning the page to face her. 'You got hurt because you were with me. Maybe you shouldn't come with me.'
Farrow sat back in her saddle and shook her head. "To be blunt: yes, I got hurt because the Yiga member was trying to attack you. This time." Farrow glared at her injured arm. "But they cause problems for regular travelers, on occasion. If you're lucky they just rob you. If you're not, well, people go missing. And eventually, they were going to figure out why blonde kids have stopped appearing. After that, they would have tracked me down."
Farrow had considered the problem before. Its why she asked the families she worked with never to talk about the hair dye, unless another family had a child with blonde hair. Even then, she knew it just bought her a little time. Eventually the Yiga would have figured out what was going on, and who was responsible. She had the rough plan of going into hiding, or trying to fight, but she wasn't sure what the best option was.
Farrow met Link's eyes. "By helping you, I'm helping take them down. By coming with you I'm in danger, but I'm protecting myself too. It's a preemptive strike, sort of."
Link blinked at her and nodded, his expression not exactly happy, but a bit lighter.
"Besides," Farrow grimaced, "pretty sure you saved my life at the end of the fight there." As she spoke, she frowned, recalling what had happened. "By the way, I thought I saw you—or I thought I saw something strange, when you stabbed her. What was that?"
Link blinked at her, his face blank before comprehension lit in his eyes. He shrugged and shook his head. 'I'm not sure,' he wrote. 'But it seemed like everything slowed down except me.'
Farrow thought that sounded right. Link had moved much faster what should have been possible. And she heard the Hero referred to as the Hero of Time before. Maybe that had something to do with what Link had done. "Maybe that's one of the things Impa can fill us in on." Her gaze drifted to Link's horse. "What her name, by the way?"
|||((0))|||
"How about Willow?"
He shook his head.
"Iris."
'No.'
"Coal."
Link gave her look and shook his head.
They were nearly at the entrance of the pass to Sheikah village and Link still hadn't picked a name for his horse.
"You'll have to pick something soon. You've had what? Three days to think about—" Link pulled his horse to a stop, his gaze locked on something ahead. "What's wrong?" Farrow asked, also pulling back on Kazim's reigns. She scanned the road ahead. A cliff on their left rose above them and a steep drop into the river on the right left them boxed in. But the road was wide and open, only dotted with a few thin bushes and small trees along the edges, as far as Farrow could see.
She glanced back as Link to see him glancing from her to the road with a baffled expression. "What?" She asked again.
Link signed something—Farrow thought she caught the sign of 'see'—and pointed to the road. Farrow followed his gesture to small tree growing by the edge of the path. She stared, but couldn't see anything strange about it.
"Sorry," she said. "You've lost me. What are we looking at?"
Link hesitated, then wrote 'tree-man.'
Farrow squinted at him, then the tree, and back. "Are you feeling okay?" She reached out to put a hand on his forehead. "You don't feel like you have a fever . . ."
He pushed her hand away with a sort and dismounted. Farrow sighed, getting the feeling hero-brand-weirdness was going to become a regular part of her life. She dismounted as well and followed Link to the tree.
He ended up stopping next to a tree but facing the space beside it, and signed 'hello,' into the empty air.
Farrow stood beside him, eyebrow raised and trying to reserve judgment for now. Link paused and made a few more signs Farrow couldn't follow before holding out a hand to her.
Farrow blinked and let Link take her hand and raise it towards the empty air. And suddenly her palm was pressed against smooth tree bark, and the empty space had been filled by a looming tree. Except it wasn't a tree.
"Ah!" Farrow jumped, pulling her hand back from the creature. It was humanoid, twice as tall as her, and looked like a tree that had decided to go for a walk. Its face lacked any details in its features, all that it had was the suggestion of a nose and eyebrows in the shape of the bark and leaf that resembled a beard. Branches stretched from its head and were covered in rustling leaves while its limbs lacked hands.
"Hiya!" The creature said. "Nice to meet you."
Farrow caught Link watching her panic with amusement, and cleared her throat. "Yes—sorry. Hi. Nice to meet you too." She blinked. "Who are you?"
"I'm Hestu. Sorry to startle you but most Hylians can't see us without some help."
"Hmm," Farrow managed.
'What are you?' Link signed.
"I'm a korok!" Hestu exclaimed. "You'd think of us as forest spirits."
"That's . . . interesting," Farrow settled on. She wasn't sure how much she liked the idea of giant, invisible tree men walking around, even if this one seemed nice so far. "How many of you guys are around?"
Hestu hummed. "It depends on the forest. There's not many of us in most forests, maybe two or three at most, but hundred in the Lost Woods! Speaking of, I'm a bit lost. Do you know where I am?"
Farrow didn't know where the Lost Woods was, but maybe the name explained that. Link took out his slate and showed Hestu the map of the area.
The tree-man hummed, examining the picture. "Ah!" he said. "I see now! Thank you Mr. Hero and Ms. Traveler. Here!" The creature reached into is satchel and withdrew two oranges. He handed one to each of them, and was trotting down the path away from them. "Come visit sometime Mr. Hero!"
Farrow blinked at the fruit in her hand, then at Link. "Mr. Hero?"
Link pulled his hood lower as his face turned red.
|||((0))|||
Grey cliffs rose up on either side of the entrance to the pass. The cliffs formed wall around the path, making the road ahead shadowed from the setting sun. Every so often she could hear the echoing clatter of stones sliding down the cliff from somewhere further into the pass. Moss grew on the grey stone walls, and the occasional trickle of water was visible shining in the dim light.
Farrow eyed the entrance with growing apprehension.
They'd been here for almost an hour, waiting for their contact to show up and guide them in, but since they'd arrived Farrow hadn't seen so much as a flicker of movement from the pass. And with the setting sun, she was growing nervous.
"Purah sent the message right?" Farrow asked. "I wasn't just hallucinating?"
Link nodded, but his brow was furrowed. They stood next to each other, their backs to one of the cliff faces as their horses grazed nearby.
Farrow eyed the path back down the hill to the river and sighed. It was too late to make it back to the stable before dark, and this road was too open to camp on. If night fell, they'd have to risk entering the pass for the night. Which shouldn't be too bad. They didn't have to too far in, so getting lost wasn't a problem. But she couldn't help imagining another Yiga attack, but this time in the dark of night with the cliffs boxing them in.
Link clapped his hands, startling Farrow.
"What?" she asked, seeing his giddy smile.
He fumbled to get his sketchbook. 'Midnight,' he wrote and pointed to his horse.
"Midnight, huh?" Farrow thought he'd taken an awful long time to come up with such a simple name, but she could appreciate his careful consideration she supposed.
Link nodded. 'feels right somehow,' he wrote.
"Well she'd nearly ink black," Farrow said, "so I guess it fits pretty well."
Something dropped into the space in front of her nose. She caught sight of a small, grey orb, before it landed at her feet and burst into a cloud of smoke. The cloud engulfed them in and instant.
"Don't breathe it!" Farrow yelled, shoving Link out of the cloud and following him. They put their backs to the cliff as Farrow pulled her knife from her belt. She saw Link had his bow drawn.
They scanned the road, but it was empty.
"My apologies," a deep voice spoke, coming from above them, "but we had to check for any disguising enchantments. Please lower your weapons and we may speak."
Farrow looked up to see two figures perched on the edge of the cliff, outlined by the orange sky. She could barely make out the white robes and hair that were similar to Purah's, glowing softly in the light of the sunset.
Farrow and Link shared a look before slowly lowering their weapons. A moment later the figures stepped off the edge. Farrow flinched, but they landed in the grass soundlessly.
One was a man, broad chested with a bushy beard and mustache. A katana hung from his belt, and Farrow was sure he had several other weapons she couldn't see. Next to him and a little behind, stood a young woman. She wore a scarf draw up around the lower half of her face and had a long knife sheathed at her waist. They bowed.
"It is an honor to meet you, Hero. We received Doctor Purah's message and we are here to escort you to the village. I'm Dorian, one of Impa's trusted, and this is Paya, a warrior in training."
The woman's eye crinkled in a nervous smile and she gave them a hesitant wave. It helped to break down some of the apprehension Farrow had of her.
"Hi," Farrow said. "I'm Farrow and this is Link." Link waved. She wasn't sure how to handle two warriors being so formal, but she was trying to be polite.
Dorian nodded and gestured to the path. "Are you ready to travel to the village?"
Farrow nodded and went get their horses.
Dorian and Paya walked ahead, with Farrow and Link behind guiding their horses. The high cliffs surrounding them left Farrow uneasy. Water trickled down the face of the stone into a small creek that ran alongside the path. Occasionally a frog would jump in, startled by their approach, and creating a splash that echoed off the stone walls.
It would be too easy to get lost here, or for monsters to pin them in. And her shoulder was starting to ache again. Farrow glanced at Link and found his expression was troubled as well.
She nudged him and spoke in a whisper. "What's wrong?"
Link grimaced and took out his sketchbook. 'Nervous about Impa,' he wrote. 'I'm nervous about what she'll tell me.'
Farrow nodded. It sounded like the lady was highly regarded, and someone who knew Link from before the fall of Hyrule. Of course he'd be apprehensive.
Farrow nodded. "I get it. But remember: you don't owe her anything. We can leave anytime, and I'll come with, okay?" She smiled.
Link's shoulder's relaxed and he returned the expression. There was still some tension around his eyes, but he was more at ease than before.
"We have arrived," Dorian said.
Farrow looked up to see a wooded gate arching over the path. A layer of red paint coated the entire structure, with a golden eye staring out at them from the center of the arch. As they passed beneath it, Farrow hear a faint hum in the air. On the other side, the cliffs parted around a village.
A waterfall cascaded down one of the cliffs and into a river that snaked through the village. Wooden homes with straw rooves lined the dirt roads and the smell of flowers drifted from blooming trees. Chickens pecked the dirt, clucking softly and several Sheikah walked between houses and gardens of vegetables.
Farrow took it all in and smiled at the smell of fresh turned dirt and flowers. It was a village of warriors, she had no doubt, but it was peaceful. Farrow turned to Link to see him smiling warmly at the sight.
Dorian stopped and turned to them. "Welcome to Kakariko Village. I have business to attend to, so Paya shall take you to see Lady Impa." He smiled. "I hope you enjoy your time here." Then he nodded to Paya and disappeared between the houses of the village.
Farrow faced Paya, and found that what she could see of the woman's face was turning red.
"R-right," she said, wringing her hands. "My grandmother lives in that house." She nodded to an ornate house on the far side of the village and set into the cliff. On either side twin waterfalls fell into a pool at the base of the home. "Please, um, follow me." She turned and stared down the path, her spine as stiff as a board.
Beside her, Link grimaced. Farrow elbowed him gently. "She's just a person. You got this."
After a moment Link took a deep breath and he nodded. Together, they followed Paya into Kakariko.
