At Dueling Peaks Stable, there are two dark-skinned men; one a clerk within a customer window and the other standing outside next to him. Aloy walks up to them.
"I can give you directions," the man standing outside said to her.
"Okay," Aloy said.
"Welcome to Dueling Peaks Stable!" the standing man announced while the clerk merely leaned out silently watching. "What do you think of the place? Pretty nice, yeah? It might be hard to imagine now, but this place was nearly destroyed about one hundred years ago. However, thanks to the blessings of Dueling Peaks, everything is full of life again. Even the wild horse are back. There's a lot of energy in this place! So where are you heading? Both Kakariko Village and Hateno Village are nearby."
"Ah," Aloy began as she metally digests that long-winded introduction. "Kakariko Village."
"Kakariko Village is the village where the Sheikah clan lives," the standing man answered. "It's said that, some time ago, they had advanced techniques that were more powerful than anything anyone had seen." The man then takes on a somber pose as he strokes his chin. "But that power put them at odds with the king at the time, and they were scattered across the land."
"So where is Kakariko Village at?" Aloy asked with an undertone of impatience. She has little patience for long-windedness and expects to have a question met with an answer as soon as possible.
"Anyway, if you leave here and follow the road straight to the north, you'll find a big bridge," the man answered. "Cross that and keep following the path, and you'll come to Kakariko Village gate.
"Go north and across a big bridge," Aloy answered. "Got it."
"Leave it to Rensa to tell you about the roads around this area," the standing man said eagerly, revealing his name to be Rensa. "Everything looks just as it always has, but the effects of the Great Calamity still linger." As he takes on a somber tone once again. "For example, a lot of monsters come out at night, so be careful when the sun sets."
"I've fought and killed monsters I encountered on the road to get here," Aloy explained. "One of them was this huge freak with a very long muzzle and a long curly horn on its head."
This elicted gasps from the two men and from the others nearby. They glance back and forther between each other with stunned looks.
"Y-You bested a Moblin?!" Rensa gasped.
"Is that what it's called," Aloy asked. "What about monsters about my size but with faces like boars and a single short stubby horn on the tops of their heads?"
"Those would be Bokoblins," Rensa answered.
"And lizards that walk on two legs?" Aloy asked.
"Lizalfos," Rensa answered.
"Moblins, Bokoblins, and Lizalfos," Aloy mused about the names. "Well anyway, they won't be bothering anybody anymore. Now if you'll excuse me."
Aloy turns and walks away.
"Even if you did kill those monsters," A woman called. "The blood moon will change all that."
"The blood moon?" Aloy asked.
"You really aren't from around here, are you?" The woman mused.
"Ah, no," Aloy answered carefully. "So what is this blood moon then?"
"Normally a full moon is white," the woman answered casually, only for her tone to turn ominous, "but sometimes, there will be a full moon that is red like blood . . . When that happens, Ganon's power reaches it peak and all monsters slain in the name of the light will return to flesh."
Aloy winces at her skeptically. "Okay," she said slowly. "It sounds like monster hunters won't be going out of business."
"You'll see," the woman warned as she waggled a finger at Aloy. "If you survive that long."
"I'll keep that in mind," Aloy said dryly, then turns and starts walking, leaving conversation about her behind.
" . . . She killed a Moblin! Those things are tough . . . !"
" . . . She was probably exaggerating . . . "
" . . . Don't know. She looks tough . . . "
" . . . Even so. It'll be back on the next blood moon . . . "
" . . . Hey, did any of you notice her strange ears . . . ?!"
Aloy walks past a raised meadow. She sees those horses grazing upon it, one of which takes a moment to raise its head and look at her. If that had been a machine it might have attacked her. It soon goes back to its grazing once again. Beyond it are more of those ruins.
She comes upon a turnoff from the road. Just beyond it, she sees the stairs like the ones on that stone bridge and goes up to see that it is Kakariko Bridge. She crosses it and continues onward. As she was told, she begins to find the trail getting increasingly steeper.
The sun had set and a gradually fading twilight is all that Aloy has to navigate her way by. She reaches a section of the road that overlooks a cliff and faces east. She can see more mountains and hills covered with forest and grass, along with more ponds and rivers too. She continues onward up the trail and encounters a small tunnel with a rock ceiling over it to make it as such. She hears squawking and squeaking of Bokoblins from beyond it.
Between the fading twilight and her urgency to reach Kakariko Village, Aloy sneaks past the place.
She enters a part of the trail that is narrowed because of another cliff wall on the other side of it. Aloy takes note of a tiny waterfall trickling down alongside the path to pool at the bottom. She takes out her bottle and fills it with water, then takes a drink from it. She refills it once again and stops it up to put back on herself.
Daylight continues fading as she goes further down the trail. It begins to get to a point where she needs to rely on her focus to see around. She had dealt with the night activity many times before, but this is a different world with different dangers.
"It'll probably be full on night by the time I reach Kakariko Village. Wait, what's that?" Straining her ears to listen to the sound of multiple hollow clacking. "Wind chimes?"
She continues onward. Sure enough, they get louder and she eventually notices a pointed arch up ahead and overhead with pieces of cloth dangling from it.
"An entrance maybe?" As she feels a hopeful twinge in her chest.
Aloy continues walking forward as the clacking gets louder. This time she can see pieces of board hanging from rope strung across overhead, three rows of them. She rounds a bend and begins to see the faint glow of light and quickens her pace.
She emerges from the trail into a more open area and turns off her focus for a moment. There is a campfire next to an arched entrance with a lamp on either of its poles. She walks up to the railing and looks out over the village.
"Kakariko Village!" As a pulse of relief goes through Aloy.
She reads the place with her focus and can see the inhabitants in their homes, lying down asleep. Though she does notice two people standing in front of a large building on either side of a stairway leading up. She can see that they look to be sleeping though as she can see that their heads are nodded forward. Then it comes to her.
So what now? I'm going to have to approach them tomorrow morning. I just have to find somewhere I can bed down for the night.
Aloy crosses a small bridge and quietly treads along, hoping to find any place that she can rest without disturbing them. The soft rustle that her feet makes against the grass seems like thunder to her ears. Up ahead, she notices a trail leading upward into the forest and takes it near the top. She encounters another Sheikah Shrine with its orange glow providing some light and heads up another elevating trail that leads into the forest. The sky is clear with stars beginning to come out as the last strands of twilight fade away. She scans the surroundings up ahead. Up the trail she ends up seeing the outline of something odd. Like a huge ball that pulsates and reads something as . . . alive inside it.
Don't know what that is, but I'm not gonna risk raising the alarm of whoever that might be up ahead. So where should I bed down for the night . . . ? Hey, that looks promising!
As she notices another elevating path on her right and goes up it. Since it is narrower, the darkness is more intense, but her focus keeps her informed as she can see the outlines around the environment. Further in, she can see a pond as the starlight reflects from it and the narrow bridge some five logs wide serves as a darker contrast to the water. On the other side is a meadow with what looks to be a raised platform as she can see glowing orange patterns on it.
Aloy crosses the bridge and goes up to the platform in question. It is a large black round platform with glowing orange glyphs arranged upon it in one of two rows that intersect in the center where there is a large round indent. She steps onto the platform and kneels to touch it, finding it to be warm to the touch, especially where upon those glowing orange glyphs, and is made from the same material as the Sheikah Shrines.
I wonder if it has something to do with those shrines? And since it's warm, it should make a good bed.
Aloy lies upon it, feeling the surface's warmth against her cheek. She drifts toward sleep as years of sleeping outside and upon hard surfaces has inured her to them.
Aloy is yanked out of drowsiness by a feeling that something is wrong. She opens her eyes and looks up at the sky to see a red full moon overhead.
Blood moon. She thought fretfully.
The feeling grows into unease. It is as if a nameless formless invisible terror seems to be all around and there is nowhere to flee. Aloy feels paralyzed. She wants to get up and run for her life, but cannot. She feels as if whatever is out there will attack her the moment she moves.
What is going on?!
Moving only her eyes, she continues to stare up at the bright red moon. The redness begins to fade to pink and finally the moon is white once again. That feeling of terror vanishes and Aloy breathes a sigh of relief as she moves and sits up.
"What was that . . . ?! Of course, that woman told me about the blood moon . . . After what I had felt, I wonder if there's any truth to that woman's words?"
Aloy repositions herself to get comfortable once again in the attempt to fall asleep, with the hope of not having to deal with those monsters again.
Aloy awakens with a gasp after being painfully poked in the ribs by something pointed, yet dull. She notices two pairs of sandaled feet each wearing off-white socks with a seperate compartment for their big toes. She looks up at the sight of two men standing over her, both burly with white beards and wearing off-white attire with deep red trimming and a navy shirt underneath their jackets. They have white hair done up into a top tail and wear what look like off-white oval mats with navy and red coloration that are tied upon the tops of their heads. They each possess a spear.
Spears that they point at her whilst glowering down at her.
"O-Okay, listen," Aloy gasped as she slowly rises while raising her hands. "I can explain."
"Silence!" One of the men exclaimed. "You can explain yourself before Impa, Yiga spy!"
"Hands on your head, now!" The other man commanded menacingly as if to stab Aloy.
Aloy complies, weaving her fingers amongst themselves to hold firm; knowing that her Shield Weaver could easily deflect any blow that they might do to her. But she wants to clear up this misunderstanding. That and this Impa also sounded like their leader.
One of the men presses the speartip against her throat where one of her carotid arteries is located. The Shield Weaver can only deflect oncoming blows, not a blade pressing against her skin; so all it takes is a single thrust and she will bleed to death in a matter of minutes. The other man walks around and positions himself directly behind her, then manhandles her as he begins searching her, hauling her weapons and supplies off.
Bear with it, Aloy! Bear with it! They're just concerned!
Aloy tries to take her mind off of this situation by glancing up at the sky. It is the very early morning as the sun has been up for half an hour now. The sky is also clear.
"Her ears are so odd," the man behind her said as he tugs on one of them.
"Probably a part of her disguise," the man in front said. "The Yiga will disguise themselves like regular people, and this one probably thought to look like a Gerudo."
"Then it is a poor disguise," the other man behind her continued as he continues pulling her stuff off of her. "She may have gotten their hair color right, but the Gerudo are much taller, darker, and have protrusive faces with prominent noses."
"Either way, she could still be dangerous."
"Her weapons are of unusual make," the man behind her said. "And there are some unusual supplies on her too. Then there's this unusual armor. It doesn't look like Sheikah technology."
"Probably of Yiga design," the other man surmised.
"I don't think the Yiga are capable of making something like this."
"Who are the-" Aloy said.
"Silence!" The man at the front snapped as she feels the ever so slight pressing of the spear against her throat.
I better keep my mouth shut! Aloy thought frefully.
Her hands are next roughly grabbed by the man behind her and wretched down behind her back. She next feels a rope being tied around them, then looped over her head to go around her neck.
"Get up!" The man behind finally demanded as he forces Aloy onto her feet, then shoves her into walking. "Now move!"
"Where are you taking me?" Aloy asked.
"To Impa, our chief," the man in front of her said. "She will know what to do with you."
Note:
I decided to have Aloy unaware of Hestu because she is not in tune with Hyrule like its inhabitants are.
