Chapter 8: The Hebra Mountains
The party had traveled for a long time passing by many stables and caravans on their way to the Hebra Region. They finally arrived back in the Hebra Region just before noon. They had put on their Snowquill outfits and were comfortably navigating the snowy pathway back to the cave that they previously went through. As they arrived at the area with the cave, they noticed a fire was set up in front of it with a tent and a horse nearby. They rode closer to the fire and discovered that it was Link in his own Snowquill outfit.
"Well well well, if it ain't The Monster Squad." Link said at the sight of the party.
"I thought you said you'd leave the job to us." Poump said. Although he understood where Link came from more, he didn't like having him around.
"I never said that. I said I'd meet you guys here in the morning. As of right now it's almost noon, but that's fine because you guys needed your rest as well as the travel time to get here. Since I was waiting for you, I was able to do a bit of scouting around the area." Link got up from the fireplace. "So, shall we begin?"
"Yes, let's do this." Poump said, getting off of his horse, and the others got off of their horses as well.
"Alright. Here, follow me." Link said and he motioned for them to follow him. He walked away from the cave.
"Wait, the cave is that way." Poump said to Link, pointing at the cave.
"Of course it is! I'm showing you guys where you need to go once you get the monsters out of the cave." Link stopped walking. "Up there." He pointed up a rather steep looking hill. "A good friend of mine has set up a camp for the monsters to rest at when we're escorting them. Her name is Selmie. She probably knows these mountains even better than me. She also has a cabin up there which you will be able to take a rest at." Link turned around to the party. "Any questions?"
"No, we're good." Poump said after a brief pause. Link and the squad walked into the cave together. They walked through the dungeon, which was mostly desolate now since the enemies inside of it have been slain. They then made it to the big doorway.
Link stopped the team at the doorway. "Alright, I should've asked you this question on the boat. What color was the Lynel's mane in this colony?"
"Color?" The Zora said. "We're supposed to remember what color it's mane was?"
"Yes, their color can determine how strong they are. A red mane is when they're at their weakest, but they still pose a threat even when they're red. Blue is just above red, just slightly more powerful. White-maned Lynels are even more deadly. They have some of the best Lynel weapons and their sheer power is almost unparalleled. The final color for a Lynel's mane is silver, but we shouldn't need to worry about that since Ganon is dead. The silver-maned Lynels only existed during the time of Calamity Ganon's control." Link looked at the party. They were mostly intimidated by the idea of facing a Lynel that could possibly crush them very easily.
"I have an idea Link, since you've killed so many Lynels before, you should go in there and kill it." The Zora said. She remembered the time when he killed the Lynel in order to get shock arrows to board onto Vah Ruta.
"Our goal is to escort the monsters, not kill them, but the Lynels weren't really a part of the deal. They're too smart to follow a few Hyruleans like us. We would also risk ourselves getting killed by it outside in the snow. Big chances are the Lynel will get killed, but if we do that in front of the monsters, then they will think of us as an enemy, so we have to get them out before we even think about battling the Lynel." Link looked through the doorway and through the tunnel. "Let's go take a look. There are two tunnels along this way. One of them will lead to an area overlooking the cave with the monster colony, the other is the ground level entrance that we will need to use for escorting the monsters out of the cave." Link took out a mask that looked like a Bokoblin's head. The mask looked like it was haphazardly put together, with buttons for eyes. "Now, I will try to blend in with the monsters and communicate with them. This mask works all the time."
"Did you make that?" The Zora asked Link.
"Huh? No. I bought this from someone who only sells items during the night time at specific locations across Hyrule. He doesn't meet many people, I am one of his few customers. He usually likes it when you have monster parts on you, but since the monsters have become endangered in Hyrule, he hasn't had much business lately." Link looked at Poump. "You took one of my monster parts. Maybe you'll meet him one day, he'd like to see a new face."
"How do we meet him?" Poump asked.
"Whenever he wants. Let's get going before these monsters get hungry from the lack of food." Link was very impatient with all of the questions. He's usually used to doing things by himself when he can take things at his own pace, and he usually does things at a very fast pace. Link motioned for them to follow him. "Come on!" He said, and they followed him through the tunnel. They arrived at a fork in the tunnel. "You lot will take the right pathway. That will lead to the overlook. I will go down there and hopefully keep the monsters calm. I will also keep the Lynel calm as well. No matter what, do NOT draw your weapons, because it will hear you and probably shoot you dead on sight, so don't do anything until I give the signal." Link then went down the left pathway, and the squad took the right pathway.
The squad made it to an area that overlooked the whole cave, just as Link mentioned. The roof of the cave was still fortified by the huge skeleton of the fish creature. And the monsters were all walking around their own little village, which was built with animal bones, wooden logs, and fur skins draped the roofs of some of the homesteads. Poump identified that this village had Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizalfos. He looked down and almost had a heart attack when he saw the Lynel walking around. It had a Silver-mane, as Link had said. It also had some really mean looking weapons on its back, and it had extremely muscular arms and a dangerous looking six-pack. It's horns on its head added to the menace. Despite its pure power, Poump thought to himself about scenarios of fighting it face to face with this beast.
After a minute, Link came out from the tunnel. The squad looked down at Link with his Bokoblin mask on. The Lynel turned around to Link, curling it's nostrils at the sight of him. Link kept a reasonable distance away from the beast, and it didn't bother with confronting him. Link walked up to the monster village. The monsters collectively gathered around him. Link then pulled out a large wad of meat and even threw a few apples at them and they started digging in voraciously. Link looked at the Lynel, which had ignored him, and then he looked up at the squad. He gave a signal to come down. The Zora turned around to back through the tunnel, when all of a sudden she heard something that caused her heart to sink.
"BACKAAAAW!" It sounded like the cucco fell down! The Zora instinctively ran towards the cucco's cry, and ran past Poump and the Sheikah who also had looks of horror on their faces. She saw the cucco had landed next to the Lynel. The Lynel looked at the cucco for a little bit. Link looked at this in horror.
"DON'T EAT HER!" The Zora said, and she jumped right down, spear first at the Lynel. Poump jumped down as well and instead of pulling out his sword, he jumped down fist first at the Lynel. The Sheikah decided to join them, but instead teleported down behind the Lynel. The Zora landed on the Lynel's back and stabbed at it while it flailed around. Poump made it down towards the Lynel with his fist meeting its face. The Lynel knocked itself to the side and bucked the Zora right off of it's back and also accidently knocked Poump over with its legs, causing Poump to ragdoll on the floor. The Lynel turned around at the squad and looked at them with infinite rage. It took out its weapons and roared a bloodcurdling roar that shook the whole cave. It raised its weapons way above its head.
"Run away you fools!" Link screamed to the squad. The Sheikah ran away and the Zora picked up the cucco and ran away from the Lynel, but instead Poump ran straight at the Lynel. "You idiot! Don't go towards the Lynel!" Link yelled to Poump, but it was too late and the Lynel plunged its sword into the floor causing an eruption of flames to surround itself. Poump saw the burst of flames erupt and despite covering his eyes, was blasted back by the pure force of the flames. He landed on his back inflamed by the Lynel's attack. He tried patting the fire off of himself. The Zora looked around the cave and noticed a small water pond, and waved her spear to bring the water towards Poump and wash the flames right off of him.
The monsters took out their weapons and started screaming, but Link turned around to them and waved the Master Sword right in front of them. The monsters immediately stopped their outcry, as they squinted their eyes at the brilliant light that the sword was emanating. Link pointed their sword behind them and they went back towards their homes. He sheathed the Master Sword and ran straight for the squad as they were dealing with the Lynel. "Hey! You lot! Escort the monsters out now! I will deal with the Lynel!" Link yelled as he threw his Bokoblin mask right off and requipped his Snowquill headdress. Link stopped right in front of the Lynel and brandished his Master Sword and held his Hylian Shield in his other hand. "Get them out of here now!"
The squad ran right up to the monsters. The Sheikah pulled out the Ocarina of Time and started whistling Saria's Song. The monsters looked at the Sheikah with intrigue, and started putting on their own fur coats and followed the sound of the music. The Sheikah observed the monsters coming closer and started walking towards the exit of the cave. Poump and the Zora stayed next to the Sheikah. The monsters followed in a line behind the Sheikah and started going out of the cave. Poump looked back at Link, staring down the Lynel which was 5 times the size of him. He was inspired by this. The Lynel swiped down towards Link and Link responded to the swing with a bash from his shield, which blew the Lynel back. Once all the monsters were out of the cave, Poump was still behind, watching Link fight the Lynel. He dodged one of its attacks, flew back and swiped multiple times at the Lynel's legs. Link noticed that Poump was watching.
"Run! Now!" Link said, as he pulled out a bow and knocked an arrow towards the cave above Poump. The arrow flew through the air and just in time, Poump noticed that there was smoke coming from the arrow, so he swiftly ran back into the tunnel and then the entrance collapsed into a rock pile, blocking the passageway to the cave. Poump didn't worry much about Link. Despite his fascination with Link's bravery, he could care less if he died in there. Plus, Poump knew that Link was going to be fine because of all of the stories of Link facing forces much greater than it. So he followed the line of monsters out of the cave and into the snow.
The Sheikah continued blowing the tune into the Ocarina, and the Zora decided to lead the Sheikah up the hill they had to climb. It was a long, steep, and arduous hill, and it was snowy no less. The Sheikah, the Zora, and Poump switched places on the Ocarina in order to preserve their own energy along the way up the hill. They didn't care much about using the Ocarina another person's mouth touched because they understood how important this mission was. Each time one of the party members didn't have the Ocarina, they turned around to the monsters in order to make sure they didn't trail off the beaten path. The Zora would hold the cucco when she wasn't blowing in the Ocarina.
They finally made it to the top of the hill. At the top, they saw a log cabin, and a small camp set up under a protruding rock that gave cover from the snow. The Sheikah walked towards the camp and waited for the monsters to settle down at the camp. They noticed some campfires set up at the camp, as well as some meat on a few spits above the campfires. The monsters contently sat down around the campfires and started digging into the bountiful amount of meat. The Lizalfos didn't seem to be cold in anyway, in fact, they weren't even wearing any fur coats. They still sat aside the other monsters peacefully. Poump was very tired but noticed that there was a blue Shrine glowing nearby. He decided to not bother with it.
Someone walked out of the wooden cabin. It appeared to be a female Hylian. "Oh! It seems this Monster Squad has arrived here right before my very eyes! Come on in and make yourselves at home." The party walked into the cabin and plopped themselves onto some of the furniture inside. There was a fireplace on one of the sides of the cabin. The cucco took this as a good opportunity to warm itself up and parked itself next to the fire.
The party started fading away and eventually fell asleep.
After the snoozing, the party woke up. They looked around the room and couldn't help but notice the walls were decorated with many different shields. "Ah yes, I'm a big fan of shields." The Hylian woman was stirring away at some ingredients in a cooking pot. "Do you know who I am?"
The whole party looked at her confused.
"Well come on now! You're in the one and only abode of Selmie the Shield Surfer! Y'know! World record holder for the longest Shield Surf across Hyrule!" She looked at them as they stared blankly at her. "Oh right. Shield Surfing isn't a very popular sport. And I also live up here alone in the Hebra Mountains so there's that." She stirred away at the cooking pot and eventually took some bowls and scooped the pot's insides with each bowl. "Dig in, you must be hungry. You guys knocked out for an hour!"
The squad sipped away at the bowls of food. It was warm and energizing, filling them all with more stamina. "So your name is Selmie?" The Sheikah asked.
"Yes! And I will help you guys with your monster quest!" Selmie replied with enthusiasm.
"Why do you live out here alone in the Hebra Mountains?" The Sheikah asked Selmie.
"I like it out here. Far away from any settlements. The only people who come up here are either daredevils willing to race me in Shield Surfing, or hikers that are fortunate enough to brave the cold of the mountains. I like adventurous types." She walked towards the window of the cabin and looked outside. "So those are the monsters. Man, they look mean, don't they. I'm so glad that they will be out of Hyrule soon. My friend already talked to me about the plan to get them off of the mainland."
"Your friend's name is Link, right?" Poump said.
"Why yes, if not the Great Hero himself." She looked out of the window and widened her eyes. "Speak of the devil." She opened up the door and Link walked inside, bathed in blood, breathing heavily. He seemed to have something large on his waist. "By the Goddess! What happened?"
Link walked in feeling extremely weary and walked right up to the cooking pot, scooped some of the soup out and drank it with his bare hands, despite how searing hot it was. "I had to fight a Lynel. I killed it. Took its head, its organs, its hooves. Boy oh boy, I haven't fought one in a while."
"Well get some rest Link. You look miserable." Selmie said, as she covered him up with a fur pelt. Link looked at the squad, and then back at Selmie.
"Deal with them. The monsters. Help guide these folks down the mountain to Rito Village, Selmie." Link said as he scooped up some food from the cooking pot, this time with a bowl.
"What?! You expect me to help them guide those carnivorous and foul creatures?" Selmie replied with distaste.
"Yes. You know these mountains even better than me, Selmie. All you need to do is take them to Rito Village. Zelda and I have already discussed with the Chief of the Rito the plans on what to do with the monsters." Link took a sip from the bowl. "Now guide them, Selmie. I'll meet you guys down at the Rito Village. For now, allow me to heal myself up."
"You got it, boss." Selmie replied. She turned to the squad. "You heard the man, let's take these vile creatures down the mountain now!" She grabbed one of the shields on the wall, lit a torch and headed out into the snow. The party followed.
They walked up to the monsters which had eaten all of the meat in the camp. "Alright Selmie, just give us the directions and we'll follow." The Sheikah said. He pulled out the Ocarina and started whistling the tune. The monsters followed him, and Selmie started walking down the hill. Poump quickly registered the Shrine nearby and followed suit.
It was a very uneventful hike. The party did their thing by taking turns using the Ocarina, while Selmie marched ahead with the torch shining brightly. Out of nowhere, a large rock started moving and appeared to be walking towards them. The Zora waved her spear and caused the snow underneath the rock to melt and made it fall down the hill far away from them.
Another interesting run in was with a bear. The bear approached the party, but was intimidated by Selmie waving her torch in front of its face. The bear ran away into the snow. The party eventually noticed the faint outline of a tall rock in the distance. "We're close." Selmie said after a long time of silence.
They walked down further and further until the snow stopped and they could clearly see the tall rock. They took notice of some Ritos flying towards wooden structures built on the side of the rock. "Welcome to Rito Village." Selmie said, as she put her torch out. Some Rito approached the party.
"You appear to be the fabled Monster Squad that Zelda has sent over here. We have an area in the woods nearby that will be sufficient for them to live in, so follow us and we will handle them." The Rito led the party towards a wooded area and then Poump stopped blowing on the Ocarina, exhausted from all of the blowing. The Rito both turned around to the party.
"Good job guys." Poump heard some rustling in the trees above and noticed a Rito untying a rope, and then a large and elaborate wooden cage erupted from the floor and encaged all of the monsters. The monsters all looked around angrily and started beating on the wooden cages while making loud noises. "Serves you right, scum!" One of the Rito said, as it spit at the monsters.
"Whoa whoa whoa, you don't need to do all of that!" The Sheikah said to the Rito.\
"And why not?" The Rito turned around to the Sheikah. "These brutes used to eat people, not only Hylians, but us Rito as well!"
"I know that, but we can't be mean to these monsters right now! We mean to only escort them off of Hyrule away from the mainland. Far away to an island that will allow them to live at peace with themselves. Zelda's plan is good, trust me. We shouldn't be agitating them even more now." The Sheikah put his hand on the Rito's shoulder. "Think about this, the future of Hyrule lies in our hands. We need to be kind to these monsters if we want them gone."
The Rito begrudgingly accepted the Sheikah's words. "You're right. Lower the cages." The other Rito lowered the cages around the monsters. Immediately some Rito started throwing meat onto the floor.
"Now, be a good bunch of Rito and make sure these monsters are well taken care of." The Sheikah said.
"Don't worry, we will." The Rito replied to the Sheikah. "We've had a bad history with these monsters, but that doesn't mean we need to make them more aggressive."
"Have you built a camp for these monsters?" The Sheikah asked.
"Why of course we have. Those were the orders." The Rito walked just a little bit into the woods and showcased an area where the monsters can camp. "We had this set up to be a playground for young Rito, but for now, it will have to work as a camp for these things. There's good animal hunting around this area, and monsters don't usually travel away from an area where they set up camp. We'll take good care of them. Thank you, Sheikah, for opening my eyes to the bigger picture."
"You're welcome." The Sheikah said.
"Since you're here, take a rest at Rito Village, you should be exhausted."
"That we'll do." The Sheikah turned around to walk towards the Rito Village. Poump took the opportunity to try out the Sheikah Slate's camera function, so he snapped a pic of the monsters with the Rito.
The party walked back towards the tall rock with wooden buildings around it. They noticed the tall rock came out of a circular and steep fall, with water at the bottom. The only way into the village was across a few wooden bridges that lead to different land masses. They crossed the final bridge and were greeted by two guardsmen Rito holding their spears with discipline. The Rito allowed them to enter.
"I haven't been in this village for a while." Selmie said. "You guys can do whatever you want, I'll be doing my own thing. Good job out there." Selmie continued walking up the steps of the village.
The Monster Squad made it to a place with a sign titled "SWALLOW'S ROOST". There was a Rito at the front of the place. "Welcome to Swallow's Roost!" The Rito said with a welcoming vibe. "A normal bed will be 20 rupees, and a Rito Down Bed will be 80 rupees!"
"We'll take the normal beds please." The Sheikah said as he handed the Rito 60 rupees.
"I wanted to sleep somewhere else!" Poump said with distaste.
"That's not normal, Poump. You're sleeping with us whether you like it or not." The Sheikah said. He had grown tired of Poump's insistence to sleep in random places. It dishonored the establishments they went to and also put a bad face to themselves. Mostly he didn't want to repeat the same mistake that they did back in Hateno Village's Inn. The party settled into their resting areas. "Call Zelda with the Slate." The Sheikah ordered.
"Alright." Poump took his Sheikah Slate out and proceeded to call Zelda.
Zelda picked up. "Hello, what has happened so far?"
"We managed to escort the monsters successfully to Rito Village, your highness." Poump said. He then sent an image of the monsters to Zelda.
"Ah yes, very good. I'll send all of you your 10,000 rupees. I'm sending it to Rito Village by mailman, so don't leave the village until then. Hang out and relax. You still have plenty of challenges ahead of you." Zelda hung up.
The party noticed that the sun was in the middle of setting. It had been a long day. The Sheikah and The Zora decided to take a nap. The cucco likewise took a nap. Poump decided to walk up the Rito Village because he was curious about other things. The calming and welcoming vibe of the village made him feel at home. He noticed lots of areas where Rito flew into and out of the village. They looked like landing pads. The largest one had an emblem that looked very familiar to him but he couldn't pinpoint where he remembered it from. He ascended the steps until he made it to an area with grass and a Shrine. He noticed a Rito that he knew before. This Rito was playing an accordion as he watched the sun set.
"Kass?" Poump said with a little bit of doubt.
The Rito turned around and stopped playing. "Poump! My former music student!" Kass was a rather large Rito with light blue feathers. He's a very well established music maker, and even hosted many music classes all across Hyrule. He taught music at Hyrule Castle Town and knew who Poump and his friend group were. "Here, sit with me and watch the sunset." Poump sat right next to Kass.
Poump awkwardly sat next to Kass. He didn't know what to say.
"So I heard that Zelda has trusted you with a mission to escort the monsters out of Hyrule?" Kass said to break the silence. He played the accordion very softly.
"Yes, she has. We managed to escort the first colony of monsters into the woods nearby. We just have two more colonies to deal with now."
"Good. Very good." Kass looked at the sun sinking into the horizon. He seemed quiet. His accordion was playing very quietly, but with a recognizable tune. "Do you believe in destiny, Poump?"
"Destiny?" Poump replied.
"Yes, destiny. The idea that you are destined to fulfill a role in life. That you are needed for a specific purpose. Much like how the sun is destined to set, and the moon is destined to rise in its place."
Poump thought about this a little bit. "I never really thought about being defined by destiny. From my perspective, everyone across Hyrule is doing their own thing, living their own lives."
"What about Link? And Zelda? You've heard of what they went through in order to bring Hyrule back, right? If you look through the history of Hyrule, you'll see that there is always a Hero clad in green, protecting or assisting a Princess against a Malicious force. And they are always bound by three triangles, the Hero, the Princess, and the Malicious force. Do you know what they are called?"
"They're called the Triforce, right?"
"Yes, precisely." Kass said. "Each of these individuals are destined by the Goddesses to appear all throughout Hyrule's history. It is said the Hero possesses the Triforce of Courage. The Princess possesses the Triforce of Wisdom. And the Malicious force possesses the Triforce of Power."
"Why would the Goddesses give an evil being one of the Triforces?" Poump asked.
"That is unknown. History books like to write it in their own ways. Some say that it was as if the Goddesses made a divine prank to give this Malicious force the chosen power of the gods. Others say that this was made as a part of a curse to doom Hyrule into a constant state of repeating its own history." Kass continued playing softly. "I could go on about this, but I know you have other things you need to worry about."
"Thanks for the history lesson, Kass." Poump said. He was half listening, but didn't want to disrespect his former music teacher. "I'll go off and do my own thing now."
"As you should be." Kass said, as he turned to look back at the horizon, which the sun had now completely receded behind.
Poump walked up to the Shrine and registered it. He started heading back to Swallow's Roost when he heard a noise behind him. It was Link, this time wearing his Green Tunic. "Hey there Poump. Just came here to check in with some folks." Link walked past him and headed down the village walkway. Poump walked down as well but didn't want to be too close to Link. He still didn't like him much, but was very fascinated by his bravery. He still thought of him as a nutcase.
Poump made it down to Swallow's Roost and slept in his bed.