Aloy stands while gaping with intense shock at the impossible shift in scenery. She shuts her eyes tightly and opens them once again, but it is still mountains and hills of forest and grass around her. Not the flat landscape with the ruins of Elisabet's house and freshly dug grave. She removes her focus for a moment to see if it is a trick of her focus, but it is not as such.
Her mind seems to step outside of her body, causing her to do a pratfall as everything begins to feel false. She blinks hard and hunches over, then lifts her hands to press her palms against her own forehead while gawking downward at the grassy ground with a thousand yard stare.
"Wha-What's going on?!" Aloy gasped feebly. "Whe-Where am I . . . ?!Wha-What has happened . . . ?! A-Am I d-dreaming . . . ?! A-Am I g-going m-mad?!" She shuts her eyes tightly and her face twists from the effort to reign in her bewilderment. "Come on, Aloy! Get a grip! Get a grip!"
Aloy steadies her breathing and tries to suppress her confusion over this bizarre set of circumstances. Numbness overcomes her, which actually helps her relax. She sighs deeply and opens her eyes to reveal a weary look as she stands to look around once again. It is a clear day with tuffs of cloud in the sky and the sun above the horizon. For a moment, she cannot tell if it is sunset or sunrise, but she soon sees that it is sunrise as the sun gets higher.
She turns away and does a double take at a black and orange conical structure set upon a two-stepped platform. It was near her all along, it was only that she neglected to notice it in the first place due to her shock. She scans it with her focus, only for a reading of unknown to be returned. She walks up to it for a closer examination and reaches out to touch it, feeling its smooth hard black shiny surface that looks to be made of a substance that Aloy cannot tell if it is metal or stone. It is basically black, with the orange set in it as several lines connecting several dots upon the upper part and large folds and waves along its base and around its doorframe, of which is tinged with moss. Next to its door is a pedestal with a control panel upon it with what looks like an teardrop eye etched into it. At a casual glance, the door looked solid black, but she eventually notices the glyphs etched into it in high relief with lines seperating sentences.
Aloy takes out her spear and attempts to override the control panel, but nothing happens.
"This definitely wasn't built by the Old Ones," Aloy mused aloud as she puts her spear away. "So where am I then?" As she turns and walks off of it.
She walks over to the ledge of what turns out to be part of a hill jutting outward. Down below is a road running past a ruined covered wagon and a cylindrical building with a large animal head on its roof fashioned from wooden beams, boards, and cloth. There are people around it and Aloy notices one of them riding a large animal. Its torso and limbs remind her of a broadback, but it has a longish head attached to a long neck with what looks to be a crest of hair running from the top of its head down the full length of its nape.
Aloy takes another look around and gasps with shock at a sight that causes her heart to skip a beat. Far off in the distance is the palace in her vision engulfed in that purplish black cloud. She can almost see a shape within it flying about, but it is much too distant to make out clearly. Nevertheless, she can feel a jab of fear in her soul like an icicle over the sight of it.
She looks back down the hill at that building and begins her descent. Aloy reaches the bottom of the hill and walks up to that building, encountering more of those large creatures in a fenced off area standing side-by-side grazing at a feeding trough. Now that she has a closer look at them, she can see that they have solid black eyes on the sides of their heads. They have individual colored pelts and do have an actual crest of hair. She reads them with her focus, but it reads back, unknown.
Aloy takes notice of a girl with black hair petting them over. She is dressed in an outfit resembling Carja clothing, but also wears a poofy conical hat with a wide upturned brim and a large tassel attached to the peak.
Aloy next notices something about that girl, prompting her to read her with her focus and get the word, unknown.
She . . . has pointed ears?! Aloy thought with bewilderment.
The girl notices Aloy and straights to smile at her.
"Hello there, traveler," she said cordially. "Welcome to our stable. You will stay awhile, won't you?"
"Ah," Aloy began with confusion as she tries to recollect her thoughts, "I don't believe I can."
"If you have a horse, we can change its gear or mane style," the girl continued. "We're always happy to meet new horses, so stop on by!"
"H-Horse?" Aloy inquired slowly as she stares at the creatures, of which her focus records them as such.
"Yes," the girl answered with a quick nod, "bring a horse here if you should catch one. Then you'll be able to register it and have it kept here where it will be cared for until you need it. But you have to pay and you can only keep up to five horses at a time. We have a system of stables throughout Hyrule, so you can have your horse kept at any of them. This is Outskirt Stable by the way."
"Lovely," Aloy mused as she walks several steps closer, then looks into the trough to notice that they are eating grain. "So this is what they eat?"
The girl frowns curiously at Aloy, then leans forward slightly.
"What?" Aloy asked.
"What's up with your ears?" The girl asked suspiciously.
Aloy blinks in silence at the girl and now understands that oval pointed ears are the norm, and ears like her own are unknown around these parts. Wherever these parts are.
"Do you know anything about a palace enveloped by a purplish black cloud in the form of a monster?" Aloy instead asked.
The girl gasps as she tenses up with a look of horror, as do the other people from nearby of which Aloy looks around at, noticing their oval pointed ears as well.
"Was it something I said?" Aloy mused.
"You must be talking about Hyrule Castle," the girl answered fretfully.
"I guess I am," Aloy answered dryly. "So humor me. What's going on with . . . Hyrule Castle nowadays?" Trying to put on a jovial mood so as to cover her strangeness to this girl, and the rest.
"It's still the same as it has been for the past one hundred years," the girl answered. "The Calamity Ganon is still trying to escape so that it can destroy the whole world. It's a pity that the hero was killed by him."
What?! Aloy exclaimed inwardly as she feels a jab of disappointment, then thinks on how to get an answer without arousing more unnecessary suspicion. "So . . . where's the hero buried at then? I figure I should go pay my respects at his grave."
"His body was never found," the girl answered. "Although some say that he is not really dead."
"I guess not finding a body would compel people to believe that he might still be alive," Aloy said dryly. "Although if this happened one hundred years ago, he definitely would be dead now."
"Maybe," the girl answered, "but it's rumored that the Sheikah rescued him and put him into a deep sleep somewhere secret so that he can recover then rise to challenge Ganon once again."
Aloy ponders that answer.
Was that him I was shown?! And where will I find him?! These Sheikah might know something. But how to go about this? My ears alone make me suspicous.
"Well," Aloy began as her mind races on what to say, "I got lost looking for the Sheikah. Are they up that road?" As she points up it in the attempt to incite an answer from the girl.
"Yes, but Kakariko Village is a long way from here," the girl answered. "You'll have to catch yourself a horse if you want to get there before sunset."
"I'm in no mood to catch a horse," Aloy answered, while at the same time relieved. "So, the Sheikah are up that road, you say?"
"Go up this road," the girl pointed. "But do not deviate from it. If you reach a large stone bridge with a Sheikah Shrine next to it, then you're going in the right direction. Once across, keep traveling until you enter a valley called Dualing Peaks. You will eventually reach a huge open space where another one of our stables is located and next to another Sheikah Shrine. The stable is called Dueling Peaks Stable. You'll know it when you see it. Well, up the road past it is Kakariko Village."
"Got it," Aloy said. "Stay on this road and cross a stone bridge next to a Sheikah Shrine. Then keep going until I enter a valley where I will find a huge open space with another stable called Dueling Peaks Stable that is next to another Sheikah Shrine."
"Yes, that's correct," the girl answered.
"Well then, I better get going," Aloy said as she turns and starts walking.
"Beware of monsters," the girl called out to her. "They're more active at night."
"I'll keep that in mind," Aloy said dryly, not really believing her.
Aloy walks past more people. She can see that they are also dressed in a similar fashion to the girl, although some don't have hats. She also takes note of a small creature with them that seems to be use to their presence. It is a furry creature with a small body and legs, along with a jutting muzzle and floppy ears. The creature simply lies there and rolls around.
It must be a pet of some sort. Aloy mused, then continues onward, leaving a change in conversation.
" . . . That girl is either very brave or very foolish . . . "
" . . . Wonder what she want's with the Sheikah? Outsiders don't casually go to Kakariko Village . . . "
" . . . Did you notice how small and round her ears are . . . ?!"
" . . . She must be from a faraway land . . . "
As Aloy walks upon the road, she takes note of a high sheer cliff alongside her.
"That is one huge cliff," she mused. "Looks almost like . . . a tower of sorts. And what the hell is a Sheikah Shrine . . . ? I guess It'll be obvious to me since it'll be next to a stone bridge."
The sun continues rising higher as she continues walking upon that road with that massive tower-like cliff on her right, and that grim view of Hyrule Castle to her left, though distantly. The road is little more than a wide trampled path created from decades of trampling over the most convenient route over land. She passes grassy hills and ruins of stone buildings, none of which look like the ruins of the Metal World.
"I guess this world and my world have something in common," Aloy mused. "We had the Faro machines, then Hades, and they have this . . . Calamity Ganon."
The road leads her around that unnatural cliff, putting her back to distant Hyrule Castle. As she walks further on, the road soon begins to lead away from the tower-like cliff so that her back will be to it. With her back to that huge topographical feature, Aloy stops for a moment to gaze down the direction she believes she must take. The road seems to disappear off into the distance as it winds through hills, off to mountains so distant that they are barely visible in a haze.
"It looks as if she was right. That does look like a long way . . .I just hope that this Kakariko Village is down that way, and that I reach it before sunset."
She walks on, until . . .
"What the?!" Aloy exclaimed as she tenses due to rumbling and tremors.
That is when a thin tower rises far up ahead. She looks around and also sees a few more such structures rising in extremely distant places as well. The towers stop rising as does the rumbling. Aloy looks around for a moment at the ones she could make out.
"What was that all about . . . ?! Did that Calamity Ganon do that . . . ?!"
Aloy continues walking.
As the morning progresses into noon, Aloy continues to follow that road as it winds throughout hilly terrain that is mostly grass, but also bare rock in some places. She passes more ruins of stone buildings. She notices a ruined covered wagon off to one side and later encounters a cave on the other side of the road. She pauses at the cave for a moment and wonders what could be in there. Her desire to see these Sheikah proves stronger and she continues on her journey. She notices a very tall thin stone pillar with a wide top, of which the road takes her past. There is a flag pole up ahead with a ragged flag fluttering from above an entrance of sorts. The road brings her through a ruined town made up of stone buildings.
The sound of grunting and snorting gets her attention and she looks to see someone, no something rise. She gawks at something freakishly tall, so tall that her head levels with its waist. It looks vaguely like a man in shape, save for its skin and weird animal head with a long curly horn protruding from atop its head. The creature is wearing a loincloth of animal skin and bindings wrapped around its arms.
The creature looks at her and roars, then briskly strides toward her.
"Ahh! What is that thing!" Aloy exclaimed as she moves, trying to put as much distance between herself and it.
The creature swipes at her, but misses. Aloy rounds the corner of a building, but the creature stalks after her as she can hear the thump of its footsteps in pursuit of her. She slips around the other side of the building before it can find her. Once there, she thinks on what to use on that massive monster. For this, she takes out her tripcaster. She first fires one shot to stick in a wall of a building, then fires another shot into another building to stretch a wire across between two explosive poles.
The beast rounds the corner and runs toward her, into the tripwire. The bombs explode, sending chucks of rock everywhere and causing the creature to roar in pain as it falls backward. Aloy already has her hunter bow out and releases a fire arrow into the creature's face, where it explodes with flame. The creature roars in more pain as it clasps at its muzzle. Aloy next releases an ice arrow into it, then another fire arrow. She alternates between ice and fire arrows to damage the creature as much as possible.
Once the creature is slow and pained in its movements, she takes out a tearblast arrow and aims at its chest. She releases and the arrow sticks to it, make a buzzing drone that rapidly rises in pitch, then explodes. The creature lets out one more roar and finally falls silent. Aloy sighs and puts her bow away.
"Phew! What is that freak . . . ?! And that girl did say monsters! So there are more of these things . . . !? And I thought my world was dangerous!"
Aloy continues along once again, leaving the ruins behind. She finally encounters that large stone bridge she was told about. At first, Aloy doesn't see anything around that looks like a shrine, until she finally notices it off to one side as it had been obstructed from view by a large rocky hill that it is next to.
"So that's what that thing back up on that hill is." As she records it with her focus. "A Sheikah Shrine, eh? And there's suppose to be another one of these down by this Dueling Peaks Stable. Though I wonder why this one is glowing orange now?"
Aloy is about to cross the bridge when she notices off to her left and down upon the shore a group of people camping near the river. They have scrawny misshapen bodies with pot bellies, large bulbous heads with pig snouts, tusks, and a single stubby horn on top of their head. They also have brownish red skin and each wear a loincloth of animal skin. They also have their weapons nearby. They are talking amongst themselves in a series of squeaks and squawks.
They must be monsters too. Better avoid them.
But one of those creatures notices Aloy and squawks loudly, causing the rest to look at her with their beady yellow eyes. They jump to their feet and run to pick up their weapons consisting of spears and clubs, then run toward her.
"I really need to stop hoping to avoid trouble!" Aloy sighed with irritation while taking out her spear this time.
Note:
The dialogue used in Breath of the Wild will also be used in this fanfiction, but with Aloy now included, there are going to be changes and additions to it.
While other people have attempted to guage the size of Hyrule, I feel that the best way to do that is to measure the length of the days and nights in the game and measure it to walking speed. I think it is something along the lines of one second of real world time equal to one minute of game world time, with walking speed being two miles per hour.
