The next morning:

After eating some scrambled eggs and grilled porcini mushrooms for breakfast, the pair walked out into the morning breeze, and began the plan for their journey:

"So, Link," Lumine said, "What's your mission as a Knight of Hyrule?"

Link wasn't surprised she asked.

"I am Princess Zelda's sole bodyguard. Though she doesn't need one all the time, so I am free to be committed to other tasks. Speaking of which, here comes my cavalry regiment right now! They're here to repair the damage that the Moblins did, and that means the villagers will get new crops, livestock and fresh water reserves."

Ten men on horses came riding in, and they saluted Link. The highest ranking cavalryman spoke first:

"My young lord, we came to fend off the beasts, but they seem to have fled already. How did you manage it on your own?"

"I helped," Lumine told the sergeant. "And the villagers actually got involved in the battle too."

"Goodness gracious!," the sergeant said back. "The villagers actually stood up and fought the Moblins? And are you a friend of Link's?"

"I sure am! Oh, and my name's Lumine, I'm a traveler from a foreign kingdom. Can you do the village a favor and help them restock on provisions?"

"No problem! We'll leave you, now. I saw you were in a conversation. Still, I haven't met a foreigner from outside of Hyrule until you came..."

This left Link and Lumine to make their decisions:

Lumine: I'm looking for my brother, Aether, who was tragically taken away from me by a demon god. Link, do you have to return to Princess Zelda?

Link: Actually no, Lumine. The Princess is busy meditating in Hyrule Castle's Constellation Observatory. I've been given the job of getting rid of the monsters currently troubling the Divine Beast operation sites. Tell you what, if you help me do that, I'll help you find your brother.

Lumine: Okay, but what are the Divine Beasts?

Link: Four gigantic ancient robots, built in the shape of animals, using a fusion of magic and technology. They are Hyrule's bastions against the hordes of monsters coming from the Abyss. And they are each guarded by a specific mystical race, wildly different from us humans.

Lumine: Hold on, the Abyss?! That's where the demons who waged war on my homeland come from!!! I know the Abyss. It is a force of hate and destruction, the source of all corruption. And as for mystical races, I've come across dragons, forest spirits, fox envoys, the hilichurls, and artificial humans, to name a few.

Link: So you've seen the terrible things I've seen in Hyrule. Lumine, I think you're here for a reason. Not just to find your brother. But because this nation needs heroes like you. We're in this together, you see. Now, since we've discussed why we're going on an adventure, we need to choose where.

Lumine: You mentioned the Divine Beasts. Which one are you the most familiar with?

Link: I say we visit the building site of Vah Ruta, in Zora's Domain. The Zora are a race of amphibious dolphin-like humanoids who inhabit both freshwater and saltwater. They usually keep to themselves, but the threat from the Abyss has forced them to cooperate with the humans in Hyrule. The reason why we should go there first is because the Zora Princess, Mipha, is my old childhood friend. I haven't seen her in ages... and she has never sent me letters of any sort.

Lumine: So you're good friends with the royal leader of these dolphin people? I mean, if I had a long adventure ahead of me, I'd prefer having a friend to help me out. So let's go find Mipha.

Link: We should both start out now, then. It's a long way up the river... we follow the Lanayru River upstream, which will lead us to Zora's Domain and then Vah Ruta.

And so the two heroes got on horseback and headed out, beginning a long and perilous odyssey...

Just a few hours after they left, though, the village got another unexpected visitor:

Tartaglia had gotten to Kakariko, but his old sparring partner had eluded him yet again. He spoke to a forest ranger about her whereabouts.

Tartaglia: Did you see a girl in a white and blue dress around these parts? Did she have a short haircut and tundra flowers in her hair?

Gilan: She left just 6 hours ago. If you get the fastest horse around here, you could catch up to them.

Tartaglia: Then take me to the stables, RIGHT AWAY!

Gilan: Okay, geez! You don't have to be so demanding!

Meanwhile (again) somewhere near Zora's Domain, probably at Lanayru Tower:

Outrider Amber had arrived in a very strange place. She was in the middle of a forest made of coral, ON LAND, something that she had only read about in a geography book a long while back. And she was lost for sure. In addition, a massive tower made of some unknown metal dominated the terrain for miles around.

One moment she was tracking bandits through the forests of Mondstadt, the next she was in an alien landscape that she had never expected to see.

Amber shook her head, but then, a mysterious voice spoke into her brain:

"Greetings, Outrider Amber. You have left Teyvat entirely, and are now on a collision course with destiny somewhere else."

Amber was shocked to hear this, and she could tell it wasn't her imagination giving these words to her. A brush with the Abyss had given her firsthand experience of what telepathy was like.

"Aaah! Are you some monster coming to devour me?"

"No, I am merely a wandering spirit, looking for heroes like you, because my nation desperately needs them. You're not going back to Mondstadt unless you find Lumine and help her with the journey she embarked upon. Remember how Lumine disappeared two weeks ago back in the city? I'll tell you where she is if you do what I say."

"Okay, fine! I'll go along. You've convinced me enough by whisking me away into a coral forest, and talking through my mind. Lumine disappeared, where'd she go?"

"She's coming right this way in a few days' time. Meet her at the settlement near the waterfalls east of here. If you see humanoid beings with fins, flippers and scales, you will know that you are in the right place."

Amber understood. She had to find her good friend Lumine, or be stuck alone in a foreign land.

"Guess I have no other options... now to find the waterfalls and these fishy looking people. They might be a lot more inviting than hilichurls."

First Tartaglia and now Amber. Who will the Voice recruit next to assist our two heroes in the first leg of their journey? Or maybe two helpers is enough... for now.