Zelda's POV:

Robbie spent the morning looking over Link's body, undoing his bandages and observing the progress of his scars. Link gets quite embarrassed as Robbie inspects his body, shooting quick glances over to me.

"Yes, yes it appears you've healed up quite well! How do you feel?"

"Still pretty sore," he says quietly, getting dressed after Robbie is done looking over him. Adjusting his leather strap on his Champions tunic and rests the Master sword on his back.

"Well that's not surprising, seeing as the condition you arrived in," Jerrin says, holding out a tray with four cups of freshly brewed tea. "But it appears the elixir of resurrection worked as well as you predicted Robbie!" she finished excitedly.

"Well what can I say? Are you impressed?" We nod our heads in acknowledgment. Robbie makes an excited pose, with an instrumental sound effect to go with it emitted by Cherry.

"I also haven't forgotten my promise to you Princess!" he finishes. Walking over to his desk, he picks up the Sheikah slate and two other pendants. Handing them both over to me. Once I grabbed the handheld slate, it immediately activated on its own. Link walks over to me and glances over my shoulder, curious about the slates activation.

"You can now detect malice with the Sheikah slate!"

BING BING

New sensor type—detected.

Installation, complete.

Malice detection: ON

"Incredible…"

"If any malice is detected nearby, the slate will begin beeping until you reach its source!"

"With this, we'll be able to stop the multiplication of malice monsters much sooner! Thank you so much Robbie!"

Link reaches for the two pendants and gently takes them from me, arching his brow perplexed.

"What are these?"

"Those are travel medallions,"

Link and I share looks of confusion, while staring at these ancient-like pendants. We let Robbie continue his explanation.

"If you keep those on you, you'll never have to worry about getting separated from each other ever again! With just the press of the center button, it'll automatically take you to where the Sheikah slate is, as long as one of you carries the slate, you'll never have to worry about losing each other," he says pridefully, and laughs with pride, "Pretty cool, huh?"

"That would make traveling a lot easier if that's the case," Link smiles, "We could use the teleportation mechanic the slate has, together,"

He slides the medallion on his hip, and looks towards me as I put mine on, placing it on the other side of my hip as well. He gives me a sweet smile and looks back towards Robbie and Jerrin.

"This'll help us a lot, thanks Robbie, and of course you too Jerrin," He gives a slight bow in thanks to the helpful couple,

"Bah you're too modest Link! This was nothing, you saved my Cherry. Consider this payment," he says sincerely.

"Where will you two be heading out next?" Jerrin asks, Link looks back at me for an answer. As if he were saying with his eyes,

"Where you go, I go,"

"Well…we still have a mission to do! The only logical place to go next would be the Eldin region to find a worthy Goron candidate to pilot Vah Rudania," I pipe up.

"So you're finding new pilots for the Divine Beasts? RADICAAAL!" he finishes in a high-pitched voice. "We'll be here creating new tech to assist you behind the scenes Princess, whatever you need to restore Hyrule to its former glory, we'll get it!"

"Please take care of yourself Robbie, don't be afraid to call on us again," I say to him.

"If you see our son Grante, on your travels, please give him our regards," Jerrin says sweetly.

"I'll tell him to pay you a visit," Link chuckles, opening the door from the laboratory, waiting for me to exit first. Before we leave, I turn back and give a big hug to Jerrin and Robbie. If it weren't for them, it's possible Link wouldn't be here.

"I'm so glad you made it through the Calamity alright Robbie…" I whisper.

He lightly pats my back softly, and gives me a genuine smile.

"We're glad to have you back Princess,"

I give him a sweet nod and turn away, exiting the laboratory. Link and I wave them both off and begin to head down towards the stable. I look down at the Sheikah slate and look out for anything different to appear on the map; treating the slate like a new toy. Link can be heard chuckling towards me, when I can barely keep my eyes on the road.

"I'll make us some breakfast and we'll head out to Death Mountain, I've got to make some fireproof elixirs if that's the case…" he trails off, placing his hand on his chin in thought on what he needs to pack up for the journey ahead. I stare off into the distance and up to Death Mountain, and still marvel at the beauty and natural wonder of the deadly volcano, just calmly sitting there, dormant.

When we make it to the stable, Link prepares us a hearty breakfast. A real treat considering that we hardly ate yesterday. He was probably starving.

We scarf down the food, and afterwards, Link cleans out the pot and adds a new set of ingredients. The ingredients smell gamey and earthy, adding a few drops of a purple liquid for the final touch, before the pot makes an exploding sound. He coughs, wafting the smoke out of our faces and looks down at his handiwork.

He gives off a small smile, proud of the turnout for the potion-like substance. Adding the grayish looking liquid into a small glass bottle. The overwhelming smell of the potion suddenly starts to get to me, and I cover my nose.

"Just what is that exactly?"

"Fireproof potions, you'll need them to traverse the Mountain,"

"Perhaps I chose to forget with that atrocious smell," He chuckles and hands the potion over to me, where I properly store the potion for now.

To my dismay, the Sheikah slates start to beep lightly. There's a small icon that appears on the bottom right side where the sensor symbol is colored a light magenta, and a small dot appears over a piece of land not far from here. Link looks over to see the Sheikah slate and immediately recognizes where that dot is located.

"Well…it appears Death Mountain will have to wait just a little bit longer," I say sadly.

Malice is still nearby…and Link is still probably weak from the battle from yesterday. It doesn't appear to be a large presence though…perhaps this will be a good opportunity to harness my power once again.

I didn't even realize that I was staring down at my hand, until Link snapped me out of it by speaking out, "It looks like it's coming from Tarry Town, I guess it's on the way to the Mountain," scratching his head in hesitation, trying to make the best of the unprecedented incident. Then, he conjures up the Zero-cycle, and begins revving the engine.

"You're always the optimist," I say cheekily, walking towards the cycle and placing myself on the passenger side, holding him from behind. With a couple more revs, Link speeds off, heading towards the nearby village.

"I must say, it is quite odd that malice would be near such a populated area," I say to myself.

"Whatever it is, we can't allow it to spread like last time," Link responds.

He's not wrong, now that we know exactly what kind of threat this can pose. If an isolated village is the target here, they'll stand no chance against whatever the malice has corrupted…

We arrive in the afternoon part of the day and pull up to…a town I've never seen before. When we dismount the cycle, I look over to Link who enters the village with familiarity.

"This is…Tarry Town?"

Link nods his head, and walks by my side.

"I'll show you around, we might be able to find some clues around here too,"

As we walk into the village, we're immediately greeted by an elder Zora who waves us over to what appears to be an inn.

"Do my old eyes deceive me? Is that who I think it is?" the elder Zora asks Link. Squinting his slit eyes towards me.

Link gives him a small wave, "Kapson! I'm sure you remember princess Zelda," he says with a gentle smile. The elder Zora steps back, shocked.

"Princess Zelda…so it's true…the Calamity really is defeated…"

I just nod my head towards him, "Y-Yes, we have successfully defeated Ganon…"

"So then…our Lady Mipha can finally rest in peace…" he says in a melancholy tone. "I am glad to see that you are alright Princess, you as well Link,"

"I-I'm thankful for your kindness…Kapson…right?"

"You catch on quickly, so what brings you two out here?"

"We're…following up on a lead," Link says carefully.

"Hmm…well, if you plan on staying long, you're always welcome,"

"We appreciate that," Link nods.

"May the Goddess smile upon you," he bows in respect, heading back to his home.

I look over to Link, perplexed by the situation.

"It's unusual for a Zora to be all the way out here, does he really live here?" still amazed, as we walk further into town.

"He has more of a purpose up here while living out the rest of his years in retirement, I think he's pretty content," Link responds.

"Well…as long as he's happy with the path he's chosen," looking down at the slate, curious as to why the beeping noise has suddenly ceased.

Has it disappeared?

We approach a table filled with general goods, ingredients, and a well stocked supply of multiple different arrows. The Rito store owner and the Goron customer chatting it up at the table both look excited to see us approaching them; looking over to Link with familiarity.

"Link! It's so good to see you, brother!" the Goron cheers.

"Nice of you to drop by, with a friend no less," the Rito smirks. "Here to pick up some more arrows?"

"Nothing today, thanks Fyson," he grins.

"What about you, miss?" he looks over to me.

"No, but thank you!" shaking my head. The Rito extends his feathered hand out towards me.

"Well, in any case, the name is Fyson. Any friend of Links is a friend of mine," I happily take his hand and shake it gently.

"A pleasure, my name is Zelda,"

"Zelda? What a beautiful name! So…what brings you to Tarry Town?"

"W-Well we're actually here because—"

The Goron gets in between me and Link, placing his heavy hands on our backs and leans in close. Letting out a thunderous laugh.

"Fyson! Can't you tell? It's pretty obvious!"

Really? It's obvious?

"They're here to pick out a sparkling diamond for their happy engagement!" he booms, slapping our backs in a friendly manner. Completely oblivious of Link's still serious injury on his back currently in a fragile healing state. His statement makes me speechless, leaving me gasping for air, and my face feels hot.

Link emits a a low groan, hiding his bruising pain, then looks over to me with a flushed face. He gently shakes off the heavy Goron. Swaying his hands back and forth.

"T-That's not why we're here…" Link stutters, pawing his neck nervously.

"Aww shucks…"

"C'mon Greyson don't embarrass them, they'll tell us when they're ready," Fyson smirks.

"W-We're not—" Link says slowly,

"So if you're not here to announce your engagement, what are you here for? It's unlike you to just say 'hi'," Fyson interrupts.

"W-We came here to follow up on a lead, you haven't seen anything suspicious around lately, have you?" Link asks sternly, his face still beat red.

"Suspicious? Hmm…can't say that I have honestly," the Rito shakes his head, then looks over at the Goron, "You, Greyson?"

The Goron, Greyson, scratches his head thinking to himself. "Hmmm…nothin' is ringin' any bells…Pelison wouldn't know anything either since he's always with me…I would maybe ask Hudson or Rhondson if you wanted to know any more than that!" he concludes.

Link looks over to me and quickly with a look of concern, then back over to his friends.

"Well, I guess we'll talk to them and see if they've seen anything, thanks though. C'mon Zel,"

"R-Right!"

As we begin walking away, the Rito lets out a gasp, "W-Wait!"

I turn around and look back towards him, waiting in anticipation.

"Somethin' up Fyson?" Greyson asks. The Rito begins to rub his chin, furrowing his brows, and looks up to us.

"Now that you mention it…" he darts his eyes looking around the enclosed town, checking to see if he's drawn any attention to himself. We walk back slowly towards the two, and the Rito whispers over to us.

"Now that you mention it…Hagie has been acting…strange since this morning…"

Link, who looked on in anticipation seconds ago, immediately lets out a disappointed sigh.

"Fyson, Hagie is strange," he says bluntly.

"And a rude customer!" the Goron adds. Link nods his head in agreement. The Rito appears agitated by his friends' rebuttals and lets out a defeated groan.

"UGH! You know what I mean!"

"What makes you think he's acting any differently than normal?" Link asks, not blowing him off completely.

"Well…it might be nothing, but his daughter hasn't been seen with him today. And he's been acting rather…shady. Just staring off into the wetlands below,"

"Maybe she's sick?" Link questions.

"An' maybe he's just sulking cause' no one wants to hang out with that old geezer!" Greyson booms.i

"Forget I said anything, I can't quite put my feather on it but he seems—off…"

"I'll keep my eye on him while we're here, but I hope you're right that it's nothing,"

"For all of our sake, I hope so too,'' Fyson says worriedly.

"Let me know when you're ready to pick out a sparkling diamond for your happy union!" the Goron interjects. Once again, my cheeks begin to burn and I look over to Link whose face is crimson red. He grits his teeth in annoyance,

"I–I CAN FIND MY OWN DIAMOND!" he blurts out. Looking as though he immediately regretted saying that, he covers his mouth, and turns his head away from me. I feel like I can't breathe from his sudden outburst, I-I shouldn't look into it too much, but hearing Link get so frazzled is so…unlike him. The Goron and Rito burst out into laughter from our reactions, leaving us looking towards each other, chuckling nervously.

We wave off the Rito and Goron as they wish us well on our search, and begin heading back over to the next part of town.

"You seem well acquainted with the people in this town,"

"Not for long…" he says sternly, clenching his fist still looking embarrassed from the Gorons' joking antics. I let out a small giggle and pushed my elbow against his shoulder.

"You don't mean that…besides…I thought you said you weren't that popular,"

"I–I'm not…" Link whispers,

"Oh really? I bet you can name everyone here,"

"That doesn't mean anything…"

It's best if I stop teasing him, I think he's still reeling from Greysons joking. I can't stop myself from chuckling ever so slightly thinking back on it.

"So this…is a brand new town formed after the Calamity?" I ask curiously. Link nods to me with a sweet grin.

"Do you remember Bolson?"

"That sweet construction worker from Hateno? How could I not? He's pretty…memorable," I giggle softly.

"Well, he sent out one of his workers, Hudson, out here to start up this new town, and I happened to find him out here on my travels,"

"Small world!"

"I insisted on helping him out, he didn't ask to much from me, just some wood and recruit the people he was looking for to come here,"

"So…Kapson, Fyson, Greyson, you recruited them all here?"

Wait…hold on…

"Is it pure coincidence that everyone we've met has a name that ends with 'son'?"

Link lets out a long sigh, "No…no it's not," ruffling his bangs.

"It's part of the Bolson Construction accordance policy," an unknown voice interrupts.

"Pardon?" I look around confused, interested to see who said that and notice a short burly Hylian with an…interesting hairstyle. Standing alongside a tall, beautiful Gerudo woman who's running an open tailor shop.

"Sav'aaq," the Gerudo says calmly.

I wave to the Gerudo and look over to the short Hylian man giving me a blank stare,

"Welcome to Tarry Town,"

"T-Thank you, and you are?"

"Name's Hudson, and this is my wife Rhondson," he says quickly.

This is getting…too weird…

"U-Uh…nice to meet you,"

The Hylian man just gives me a short nod and glances over to Link. "What can I do for you, Link?"

"I was hoping to ask you if you've seen anything suspicious lately,"

The Hylian looks over to the tall Gerudo, who crosses her arms and shakes her head, and looks back over to us, indifferent.

"Nah, can't say that we have,"

This is getting us nowhere!

"I see, know anybody that might?" Link asks.

Hudson points over towards a balcony at a nearby home.

"Grante might've, can't promise you nothin' though…" he says bluntly.

"He's been stargazing lately. Hasn't really left his patio for the last couple days, that's all we really know," the Gerudo says. Link and I both look towards her. Finally something that might be promising.

"Thanks Rhondson," Link says sweetly. Before we make our quick exit, I feel a hand gently land on my shoulder. I look over to see the beautiful Gerudo giving me a soft smile.

"Vai, I can't help but take notice of your beautiful garments. Would you…mind if I took a moment to study the style? I can stitch up the small tears I see for your trouble,"

"O-Oh! Well…I would be appreciative of a touch up," I say, then look over to Link. "If that's alright with you?"

Link looks bewildered to the question, "Why wouldn't it?"

"W-Well…we need to speak with Grante…"

"Don't worry about it, I'll go talk to him real quick, just enjoy your time," he says softly, then turns away and briskly jogs in the direction of a nearby home. I turn back to Rhondson, excited to finally get a touch up on my clothes.

"Whelp, I guess I better back to those blueprints, it was nice meetin' yah," Hudson says in a mono tone.

"Y-Yes you as well,"

What is with this guy?

"Come, my material is at home,"

We made it to Rhondsons home and she made me set myself up at her stand. She didn't say a word, and just looked quietly over my normal travel gear that, by now, has gone through the ringer of sorts. The sleeves torn in parts, riddled with mud and blood stains, and threading coming undone on the well crafted embroidery.

"I'm so glad to have come across you, it's been awhile since I've had the luxury of getting tailored,"

"It's hard finding a good one these days, we're spread far and thin,"

"That's quite a shame…"

She takes a hold of the small fabric on my sleeves and begins sowing the slits together. Studying the feeling of the smooth, breathable fabric, being careful not to prick me as she moves to other sections of my body, preserving the original material. I try to hold my breath for as long as possible, keeping myself as still as a statue.

"Can I ask you something?" she says out of nowhere.

"O-Oh! Yes of course,"

"Where are you from?"

"I…uh…live in Hateno Village…"

It's not…TECHNICALLY a lie…when this is all over we can always…go back…

"Is that how you and Link met?"

"U-Uhm w-well…"

"It's okay…you don't have to lie to me,"

W-What? How can she tell?

"This material is not something you normally see these days, it's quite rare, no way a normal girl from Hateno would have something this valuable…" she looks over to me with a suspicious glance. I can't help but chuckle at the feeling of getting caught.

"You've got quite the eye, don't you?"

"Comes with the trade, so, gonna tell me where you're really from? And how do you know Link?" she smirks, leaning in close.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you,"

"Try me," continuing back on fixing my clothes.

"W-Well, I'm not sure if you've heard of the royal family of Hyrule,"

"You're kidding, are you saying that you're the—"

KNOCK KNOCK

"Curses, hold on for one moment. Come in!" Rhondson calls out.

The door creaks open slowly, and a middle aged Hylian enters through the door. Rhondson puts herself in front of me and puts up an obvious fake smile.

"Oh…it's you…"

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything ladies, I heard we have a visitor!"

"Since when were you interested in newcomers Hagie?"

"Since they give off the aura of nobility! Something I can relate too,"

Hagie…so this is that person that Fyson was mentioning that was acting strange. I should be on my guard with him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rhondson covers. The Hylian lets out a pompous laugh and walks past her and towards me.

"Pah! Of course you don't," and then looks over to me. "You're a noblewoman, I can tell just by the way you carry yourself,"

Immediately put off by his forwardness, I step down from the stand and create some space in between us.

"My apologies, but I think you may have me confused with someone else," I say coldly.

"There's no doubt about it! I've been waiting to tell someone like you a secret that I've uncovered from this newfound town,"

"Sorry, but I'm not interested," and walked past him, nearing my way to the door.

"Even if it involved an ancient treasure?" he says smoothly. I stop in my tracks and look back over to him. The knowledge of our ancient history is all but lost in this time. If there's even a hope that something new could possibly be uncovered that will help us in the growth of Hyrule then I must take the risk in at least hearing him out. I know that he's not to be trusted but…

"You have my attention…"

Link's POV:

Grante's home was unlocked unsurprisingly. I let myself in and made my way up to his favorite spot, the balcony. The cool breeze of the Akkala region blew through my bangs once I opened the patio door. A short, hunched over Sheikah man looks to me with familiarity.

"Yo,"

"Makin' your rounds Link?"

"Saved best for last," I chuckle.

"C'mon, don't flatter me," he says bashfully.

I lean against the railing and face him, noticing a telescope pointed upwards. "I heard you've been stargazing,"

"Is that what everyone is calling it?" Grante scoffs, and looks out to the expansive highlands on the horizon.

"Well, mind tellin' me what it is then?"

"What do you want to know exactly?"

"Robbie told me you were seeing some strange lights in the sky, we got a lead thanks to your dad that there might be something called malice forming nearby. Seen anything strange since last night?"

"Since last night? It was a pretty quiet evening yesterday, but…there was…something…"

"Like…?"

"It was hardly visible with the rain, but it looked like a small magenta looking light, heading towards the wetlands below,"

"Has there been any influx of monsters?"

Grante holds his chin and ponders for a moment, "No monsters thankfully, just those strange lights getting a little too close for comfort if you ask me,"

"And you saw some yesterday night?"

Grante just nods his head, "Yeah, but nothing else to note about," looking out to the distance, monitoring the dark clouds, and low sounds of thunder slowly approaching the town.

More rain huh?

"Looks like it's coming this way, are you and that woman planning on traveling through that?"

"Wouldn't want her to get sick, so we'll probably have to wait it out for now. It's kind of a bummer, she's been wanting to get back to a certain mission we're on,"

"Well, best of luck to you two,"

It must've been a small amount of malice that made its way over here. I'll have to go check out the wetlands and dispose of it before it can grow any more power.

I need to get back to Zelda.

"Thanks for the info Grante, I'll take care of it,"

"You think what I saw could potentially be a threat?"

"Absolutely," I say coldly, sending shivers down the nervous Sheikah man's spine. I wave him off, but before heading down from the balcony, I turn around.

I nearly forgot.

"By the way…"

Grante straightens out and doesn't sway his gaze away from me, "Y-Yes?"

"Say 'hi' to your mom once in a while, okay? Y'know she probably worries about you,"

"I–I…"

"See yah," and gently close the patio door behind me, making my way down to the bottom and head over to the Hudson and Rhondson's home, hoping to meet back up with Zelda. But then, I notice Hagie leaving their house.

He pays no mind to me when, and walks away back to his normal spot, at the edge staring off at the wetlands, despite the incoming rain that is already beginning to lightly drizzle over the whole town. I don't forget what Fyson mentioned earlier, warning me to be wary of his strange behavior. But…he doesn't seem out of his normal character…for now.

I walk into Rhondsons home, expecting to see Zelda by her side, but…it's just the tall Gerudo, finishing sewing up a familiar looking tunic. She looks up to me and walks up to me.

"Well that took you long enough," she said stoically.

"Where's Zelda?"

"If you're talking about that vai of yours, she took off, said she'd be back soon. Something about wanting to check on an ancient treasure that Hagie was on about,"

I can feel my heart fall to the floor.

Zelda's…gone…?

"Here, she said she wanted me to patch this up for you," she says quickly, tossing me the tunic that I got ripped up in my fight yesterday, now all stitched up as if it's brand new. But I don't have time to think about that now. I begin to clench the tunic in pure frustration.

"Did she say where she was going?"

"The Torin wetlands, just outside of town,"