Link was really pleased with their progress so far: they had left the Domain after registering Ne'ez Yohma shrine, dropped by the Veiled Falls for Dagah Keek shrine, gotten to Soh Kofi very fast thanks to Sidon's swimming speed, and made it to the Lanaryu Tower just before nightfall. It was much quicker than Link had actually anticipated; had they walked they would have had to call it a night somewhere past the natural tunnel after the Bank of Wishes, but apparently the Zora route, aka the river, sped the way considerably.

"I've been outside of the Domain before, but only in places easily accessible via the water routes", Sidon said conversationally as they climbed up the tower. "And not very far ever since the octorok incident, which was decades ago. My father didn't want to risk me getting into more trouble in places too far away to send help to quickly. I'm the crown prince, after all, and it's my duty to not die young, or at least that's how he puts it."

Link just nodded, unable to sign while climbing. He could understand where King Dorephan was coming from, even if he felt a faint pang of regret thinking that it was because of Mipha's death that Sidon was restricted so. If Mipha was still alive she would be the crown princess and future queen, leaving Sidon with a lot less responsibilities on his shoulders. But at least Sidon could explore the world now, with Ganon gone and Link by his side to protect him. He could almost feel Mipha smiling down at them at the thought, and that made his heart considerably lighter.

They made it to the top, and Sidon promptly placed his slate on the pedestal, having already learned the drill from the three shrines they had registered on the way. He watched in fascination as the drop of condensed information splashed on the device, then looked at Link with a delighted smile.

"Did you see that? The shrines didn't do that!"

Link nodded with an indulgent smile, like he hadn't seen this a dozen times before during his grand adventure; it was brand new to Sidon, so he wasn't about to rain on his parade.

After a moment of humouring his friend, Link walked over to the edge of the tower, humming in contemplation while surveying the area, despite the darkness of the falling night. They could go either north or south if they wanted to be logical about this and do a full circle. But which to pick? It wasn't like Sidon could go to Death Mountain, but Akkala would be an excellent place to begin. Then again, Hateno Village was south of here and Link was dying to show Sidon his home…

"Scouting our route?" Sidon asked as he walked up to his friend, and grinned wide at the view. "Oh, how marvelous! I think I can see Shatterback Point from here! Too bad the Upland Zorana mountains block the view to the Domain. Oh, Hyrule Castle is right over there!"

Link chuckled, and let Sidon ooh and ahh his fill before patting his arm to get his attention.

'Any preferences for our route?'

Sidon nodded, and turned to look at the Castle again.

"I think we should follow the river north and visit the Castle", he said, and pointed at the river in question. "While Akkala would probably be nice to visit, I think getting a warp point to the Castle is a higher priority, even if we don't have an explicit deadline for our travels. Akkala is near enough to the Domain that I can go visit it later on my own if I have to, and Death Mountain lives up to its name for us Zora. I can't go anywhere near it. So it'd be much more efficient to skip them for now."

Link nodded, accepting this as their plan. Sidon had clearly been thinking about it on their way here, which Link appreciated.

'Now that that's decided, it's time to test the warping', Link signed, causing Sidon's eyes to widen. 'Climbing down from here is a hassle and we don't want to spend the night up here, so we may as well warp back to Soh Kofi shrine, which also gets us back to the road.'

Sidon looked very impressed and excited. To be fair, that was his usual look around Link, but it was still fun to see.

"Smart thinking! I wouldn't have thought of that. It goes to show that you're more used to this than I am!"

Link wasn't going to ruin Sidon's awe by mentioning that normally he just paraglided down from the towers. He preferred looking like an expert, so instead, he took out his slate and showed Sidon which shrine he meant, even if it was a little obvious.

Sidon took out his slate too and crouched next to Link to compare them. He then blinked and looked delighted again.

"I have a map now! Oh, of course I do, that was the point of getting up here, but it's still amazing to actually see the results."

Sidon's constant enthusiasm about everything was downright adorable, like always. Link gave him a furtive glance, a fond smile playing on his lips. Then he shook the wistful thoughts out of his head, and started signing instructions.

ooooo

They traveled leisurely by Sheh Rata shrine and through the Trilby Plain with very little issues. The roads were much safer nowadays with newly trained Hyrulian guards patrolling them and taking care of any monsters that got too close, not to mention the lack of blood moon meaning any slain monsters stayed dead. Link almost missed the excitement of never knowing when a bokoblin or a moblin showed up, but a much bigger part of him was glad that he could concentrate on having fun with Sidon instead of constantly worrying about the Zora Prince's safety.

'Mirro Shaz shrine is across the Pico Pond', Link signed, even though his eyes were trained on the stable at the fork of the road ahead. He liked camping just fine, but he always looked forward to sleeping in an actual bed when given the chance. Not that it would feel that luxurious just yet, considering that they had only spent one night outdoors so far. He idly wondered if Sidon would book a room as well or if he'd rather sleep submerged in the pond…

"So this is the Pico Pond?" Sidon asked with a contemplative look, "Does that make the woods ahead the Minish Woods?"

'Minshi Woods', Link corrected.

"Hmm? Ah, our maps call it the Minish Woods. I suppose Hylians use a different name, or have changed it over time. Your kind makes changes so often it's hard for us Zora to keep track of all of it, being long-lived and thus slow adapting as we are, much to my regret…"

'Swim or go around?' Link asked, stopping at the edge of the pond. The weather was nice and calm today, so the pond reflected his visage back to him perfectly. He took note of the lack of octroroks in the water, which was a very pleasant thing; he hated being suddenly hit by flying rocks.

"Let's go around so you can sign", Sidon said, piquing Link's interest. It wasn't often that Sidon opted to not get in the water when given the chance.

They continued walking along the edge of the lake, Link looking at Sidon questioningly.

Sidon smiled. "I see you're expecting a story? How observant of you."

Sidon looked at the lake again, eyes idly tracking the delicious looking fish in it; it had been a while since they ate, as they planned to do so at the stable.

"When I was young, the elders told me stories of little people called the Minish or the Picori", he said, and chuckled, "They were said to be the size of insects, but as intelligent as the Zora. They lived absolutely everywhere in Hyrule, hidden by their small size, but if you wanted a chance to actually see them, you'd have to come here, where their largest settlement was somewhere in the woods. However, they would only show themselves to children, who were small enough to pay attention to such tiny creatures."

Link smiled, charmed by the story. He wondered if Hylians had such tales passed down, or if the story was of purely Zora origin. He wouldn't know as he hadn't recalled most of his life, much less the little things. He doubted he ever would recover everything, and wasn't too sorry about it most of the time; his life had seemed stressful, and almost everyone from his past was dead and thus not around to be frustrated by his lack of memories of them. Besides, he liked who he was now, and too much knowledge of who he was before might change him. But he digressed.

'Did you ever see any?' he asked, since Sidon seemed to be waiting for prompting. He was proven right straight away.

"Unfortunately I was never taken here as a child, so no", Sidon said wistfully, "I planned to visit once I was big enough to be allowed to travel, but then never got around to it, and eventually forgot about it. Perhaps we can look around tomorrow, once we reach the woods? We may not be children, and perhaps the Picori aren't real, but at least I'll get to keep a promise to my younger self."

Link nodded, not minding the idea at all. If nothing else, they would probably find some mushrooms and nuts while they were at it, so it'd be useful regardless.

Sidon smiled softly. "Thank you."

They walked in comfortable silence, minds preoccupied, until they reached the shrine. Link stayed back to toss a glance towards the stable they'd be heading to as soon as this was over with, while Sidon took out his slate and touched it to the pedestal, as per usual. Then he made a surprised noise, which caused Link to look at him questioningly. Sidon was staring at his slate.

Link frowned, and took a step closer at the same moment Sidon turned towards him, the slate held up and a clawed finger pointing at something on the screen.

"Say, what is-"

Sidon's claw touched the screen, and he disappeared in an instant.

Link blinked stupidly, unable to process what had happened. His brain helpfully supplied him with "the blue light signifying warping wasn't there, so that's out" after a moment, which kick-started him again.

"Sidon!" Link yelled, looking around frantically, as if Sidon had just somehow moved to another nearby spot too quickly for him to have registered. However, the Zora was nowhere to be seen. Sidon was large and red and usually also very vocal, so the lack of his presence nearby was instantly obvious, despite the momentary denial on Link's part.

Link found himself panicking before he could help it.

He had managed to lose his best friend two days into their adventure. Sidon had disappeared. He was traveling with Link but now he was gone. Link hadn't been able to keep him safe.

His heartbeat picked up in a way that no enemy had caused in a long time. His breathing grew ragged, and it became hard to think.

No. Don't do that. Concentrate. Calm.

Link closed his eyes and took a big, shaky breath.

Think. Zelda liked to say that there was always a cause to things – nothing happened without a cause. If there was a ripple in the water, it was because something dropped into it or something breached the surface. If the grass moved, it was the wind or there was something hidden in it. So if Sidon disappeared, something caused it.

What had happened before it?

Link opened his eyes and looked at the pedestal of the shrine. He had already activated it ages ago, but he still walked up to it and touched his slate on it. Then he looked at the slate.

And blinked.

There was a new icon flashing in the rune screen, between Cryonis and the camera. It was some kind of floppy, green triangle. The explanation text underneath only said "Error, corrupted data. Contact Slateri", which wasn't very informative.

However, this had to have been what made Sidon vanish, so there was nothing to it: Link tapped the icon.

And the world promptly shot upwards.