Aloy and Link walk across the desert. Gerudo Town is ever up ahead in a haze, looking so close yet so far as the sun continues getting ever higher and the day hotter. At one point, they come upon a pair of hydromelons growing on the ground and Link harvests them.
Aloy remembers that she and Link have their last respective fireproof elixir and takes hers out, then drinks it. She ends up discovering that there is no change in the heat that she is feeling.
"I don't get it," Aloy winced as she stares at the empty bottle. "It worked back at Death Mountain! So why isn't it working here! And it was even hotter back there than around here!"
Link suggests that maybe it has to do with the elixir only working in the vicinity of Death Mountain.
"So we're gonna have to find the elixir that Rito Guy told us about," Aloy sighed, but Link informs her that the insects to make it are found only in the Gerudo Highlands.
Link takes a drink of water, as does Aloy. Next, Link takes out one of the hydromelons and cuts it in half, giving one piece to Aloy for her to eat. They feel better and keep going. Link tells her that if they can make it inside that shrine, they should be okay. They continue onward as the town very slowly but steadily grows larger. The heat hammering down upon them.
By late morning, they arrive at the walled town of Gerudo Town. They see the entrance with a guard on either side of it and the shrine further down. Next to that shrine is a man staring intently at the town walls. The duo approach the shrine. The man is portly with brown hair and seemingly too heavily dressed for this hot environment. He gives a start at the presence of Aloy and Link.
"Oh, I was so focused just now," he said with embarrassment. "Do you have business with me?"
"You don't seem to be bothered by the heat," Aloy noted.
"That's because I drank a chilly elixir," the man answered.
Link then asks the man if he is spying.
"What?! N-No! I'm not a spy! I'm a merchant!" the man answered indignantly. "I may not look like it, but I'm actually the leader of a caravan! I've traveled all the way here, but this town doesn't allow men to go in . . . So . . . that's why I . . . had to . . . um . . ." At a loss for what to say next.
"Are you sure you're not a spy?" Aloy asked.
"It's research! Research!" The man shouted indignantly as his face reddens, though it could be more from the sun than his embarrassment, then in a lower but intense tone. "And think what you want, but I've finally found some key info on how to sneak into Gerudo Town!"
Link asks what info.
The man chuckles. "Well," he next said in a mysterious tone, "allow me to share with you . . . my heroic tale! It's been close to a week now . . . The guards have kicked me out more times than I can count."
"Wow, they definitely must be a patient lot," Aloy quipped.
"I almost gave up hope," the man continued. "However!" His tone intense. "I have learned only recently of a man that slipped into this well-guarded town!"
"How did he do that?!" Aloy gasped, now more interested, along with Link.
"That I do not know," the man answered. "But what I do know is that this man frequently travels between Kara Kara Bazaar and Gerudo Town. I've been waiting here, trying to spot him as he travels!"
Aloy and Link look at each other with matching quizzical expressions, and walk well away from the man.
"That could be worth looking into," Aloy said in a low tone, with Link agreeing. "We should wait for a moment before we attempt to do anything. That desert was punishing. In the meantime, why don't we check out that shrine?"
Link agrees and the duo walk back up to the shrine as the man continues to ignore them, staring at the town. Link takes out the Sheikah Slate and activates the shrine and they enter, going down into the interior where a monk named Dago Chisay telepathically welcomes them and offers this test in the name of the goddess Hylia. The coolness of the place being a welcomed relief to the punishing heat outside.
Aloy and Link are upon a raised platform with a staircase on either side. Down below on the floor are lines of green, meaning that electrical currents run about them, but only go as far as metal squares. There are metal boxes around the place and a metal barrel below. Along the back are barred areas, with one of them having the monk behind it.
"It looks like the electricity will have to be connected through those crates and barrels," Aloy said.
Link agrees, and he gets to work with the Sheikah Slate using Magnesis to manipulate crates and barrels to join up electrical currents to the rooms, raising their bars to first gain access to another barrel then afterwards get a chest with a thunderblade in it. Aloy watches from up above since there was really nothing for her to do in here.
Link finally raises the one barring them entry to the monk and Aloy hurries down to join him.
"I felt so useless up there," she sighed.
They walk up to the monk. This one wearing a hat like Impa's over his veiled face, save that it has strips of white cloth around the rim. His legs are further crossed over and his hands are raised upward so that a brass ring is levitating above either one. They receive the spirit orb and the monk telepathically praises them, then dissolves into blue light motes.
"Now then," Aloy then said firmly. "Before we leave, we need to figure out what our next move is going to be since you won't be able to enter that town."
Link nods as he speaks his understanding of the situation. He is silent for a moment as he contemplates this. He next takes a deep breath and tells Aloy to go into Gerudo Town and wait for him there while he returns to Kara Kara Bazaar to investigate the rumors about the man who gained entry into Gerudo Town without detection.
"It took us most of the morning to get here," Aloy pointed out. "So assuming you were to learn anything about this man the moment you returned there, it will be evening by the time you return here."
Link tells her that he will return for her anyway and together they will try to figure out a way to get inside that Divine Beast.
Aloy and Link return outside to discover that the man is still there staring at Gerudo Town, as if oblivious to what the duo had done behind his back. Aloy and Link walk away from the Sheikah Shrine. The heat of the day enveloping them once again.
"While I'm inside Gerudo Town, I'll be listening for any information that might aid us in getting into the Divine Beast," Aloy said, and Link nods. "Well then," as she backs away from him, "good luck, Link."
Link smiles and turns to walk back to Kara Kara Bazaar.
Aloy turns toward Gerudo Town. She scans the place with her focus, seeing its denizens, the Gerudo, through the wall of the town and the walls of the inside buildings. She goes back to normal sight and walks briskly over to the entrance where two Gerudo guards are stationed on either side. Despite the heat, they seem unfazed by it. For a moment, Aloy feels somewhat apprehensive about entering, feeling that they might stop her for some other reason.
But Aloy walks past them and through the entrance. Once inside, she takes a moment to stop and look around at Gerudo City.
In the center of the city is a large open plaza that is raised from the surrounding ground that has streams of water flowing along its sides. There are palm trees there with a lantern near its base. The waterway starts from the background as it flows down alongside a large set of stairs that lead up to what can only be a palace that reminds Aloy of Avad's abode. Alongside each stair bannister are steps that the water flows down over that start from up above the palace. The buildings around the place are off-white and look to have been molded from the sand, and have colorul canopies over their entrances.
Aloy looks around at the Gerudo to see that they all share the same generic features: red hair, brown skin, convex faces with prominant aquiline noses; extraordinarily tall with wiry long proportioned bodies and disproportionately wide hips that give them the appearance of having a pinched waist. Individually, however, there are those who are shorter-though still taller than Aloy. Those with a thicker waist and those with skin or hair that is either lighter or darker than what is typical of their kind.
Their fashion basically consists of those white sirwals with patterns of elongated fleurs-de-lis or otherwise; a top that bares their shoulders and midriffs to show off their muscularity; high-heel shoes; and various wristlets and armlets, along with other accessories that appear to be of gold. Individually, the waists and crotches of their sirwals are different colors and patterns, with their tops matching those colors. There are some who wear split sided skirts.
But all-in-all, they are female.
Aloy also notices that not everyone in here is a Gerudo. There is a Goron, some Hylians, and even a Rito. No Zora though as it must have to do with the hot dry conditions of this area of Hyrule. Like the Gerudo, they are also female as well. At least . . . the Goron has to be.
Aloy walks up to a nearby Gerudo who has a thicker waist than many of her kind.
"Sav'aaq!" The Gerudo greets her cordially.
"Um . . . savak," Aloy tries to pronounce.
"Even with the Divine Beast out there making a fuss, a little vai like you just strolls into town," the Gerudo said with an impressed tone. "You've done well to make it to Gerudo Town. The chief keeps saying that everything is going to be okay, but thinking about the Divine Beast makes me so uneasy."
"The chief?" Aloy inquired.
"This town is led by our fantastic chief, Lady Riju," the Gerudo said with pride. "She became chief after her mother, our old chief, passed away. Though young, Lady Riju was our old chief's only child, so naturally the duties of leading the Gerudo fell to her. There have been other troubles on top of the Divine Beast acting violently. I hear it has the chief and her advisors pretty worried . . . Well . . . I'll just try to keep my spirits up. Maybe visit the canteen then get a good night's sleep . . . Would you like to join me, little vai?"
"Ahhh," Aloy began as she pondered how to get out of this. This Gerudo's tone and gaze up and down her body is making her feel as if she is being undressed. "I'm expecting someone soon. Hopefully he-I mean she-will be here soon."
"Oh, okay." The Gerudo leaves.
Aloy sighs both from the discomfort of being flirted with by another female and the heat bearing down. She looks at the twin streams of water flowing by and reaches down to take a couple of handfuls of water for a drink, then next splashes some of the water on her face. She takes another look around and decides to go talk to the Goron.
"Uhh . . . Sav'aaq!" The Goron said. "That V sound is really tricky to master . . . I feel like I got it there, though."
"Ah, yeah," Aloy answered. "Are you a female?"
"No, I'm not," the Goron answered. "And I'm confused as to why they let us into the town even though we are male."
"Maybe, It's your appearance," Aloy theorized. "Or maybe you're just not their type. But then again neither are the Rito and that one over there don't look male. Wait a minute, I've seen Goron children, so how do you have children? Ah, never mind. Forget that I asked."
Aloy walks away and finds herself over next to the Rito with dark purple plummage and obviously female, given her feminine appearance.
"Good day!" The Rito said.
"Good day," Aloy answered. "You're female, right?"
"Yes," the female Rito answered. "I really want to use the actual Gerudo greeting . . . You know . . . Sav'aaq! But I'm worried I'd mess it up and embarrass myself . . . You know like . . . 'Look at me! I can speak another language!' It just feels like bragging."
"Don't overthink it," Aloy said assuredly.
"You really think I'm putting too much thought into it?" The Rito mused.
"Hey, you're not Gerudo, so I think they can cut you some slack," Aloy said.
"Maybe you're right. Gerudo Town is so different from home . . . I live in Rito Village. We don't get many visitors there, so I'm not really familiar with non-Rito."
Ah, good! She won't think my ears are strange! Aloy thought with ease.
"But now that I'm here," the Rito continued, "I should enjoy myself! I wanted to start by trying out some of the meat here, but . . ."
"But?" Aloy inquired.
"Well," the Rito began, "they don't seem to have poultry."
Aloy thought wryly about that remark. A bird person eating a bird?!
Aloy leaves and walks around some more, wondering where to go to next. Who to listen too. It is as she is passing four little girls that their conversation makes her stop and listen.
"Hey, you guys!" One with tiny pig tails on the top of her head asked. "Are you in love?"
"When I'm all growed up, I will be!" Another with her hair in a very short bobcut answered. "I'll got to Miss Ashai's class, and I'll become in love and I'll get married!"
"Mom says it's really strange that Miss Ashai is unmarried but teaches her class on voe," another with a short high ponytail answered. "I wonder what unmarried means . . ."
"I heard that being in love and being married is the sweetest thing in the world!" Another with a scruffier high ponytail said. "But I really like berries, and those are really sweet. I don't know if I can handle something sweeter than that!"
Aloy smirks over their talk and walks away. That is when she does a double take upon noticing four Gerudo guards, with one of them dressed more flashily to show that she ranks higher than the other three guards.
The reason for Aloy noticing them is that they are walking directly toward her while staring at her sternly, causing Aloy to stop.
"You there, little vai," one of the guards stated in an authorative voice while pointing at Aloy and the other guards fan out around Aloy to block her. "You are coming with us."
"Wha-What is this about?!" Aloy fretted as her heart skips a beat from deep concern.
"Silence!" The guard who spoke to her snapped. "Now come!"
As two of the guards grab either of Aloy's arms and force her to walk.
What're they gonna do to me?! What do they want?! Aloy fretted inwardly.
Aloy is led toward the palace as those nearby stop whatever it is they are doing and stare. Once inside that palace, Aloy notices two Gerudo statues atop of high pedestals and a flight of ascending stairs on either side against the wall. Beyond them are shallow pools of water set into the floor flowing from behind a throne that has a Gerudo sitting on it and her armored guard standing alongside her left armed with a large sword.
"Halt." the Gerudo on the throne commanded, causing Aloy's escort to stop and make her stop in return. "Captain Teake, What is going on?" As the Gerudo in question gets up from the throne and walks forward several steps, with her guard following. The Gerudo is young and beautiful with green eyes. She is dressed in a black split skirt with a white hem that has gold discs dangling from its edges, and a matching top. She wears gold bangles and a choker, along with black armlets, and black shoes with golden tips. Her hair is long and full as opposed to lanky like most Gerudo, with a gold headband and crown set into her hair that resembles cresents set on their sides facing downward and six spokes on its bottom that spread away from the center.
What is she, twelve-thirteen? Aloy thought. She must be their leader.
"We have reason to believe that we have captured a spy, my lady," Captain Teake, the guard who commanded Aloy, answered. "And we are taking her down below for interrogation."
Aloy gasps slight. Are they gonna torture me?!
"Very well," the girl answered as she takes a moment to look down and clasp her chin in thought. "But I want to oversee this."
They force Aloy along to the right. Aloy feels less concerned as this young girl is accompanying them. They might not want to torture her if a girl is present. They go downstairs, where she finds herself in the soldier's barracks. One side of the wall has a large exit out into the nearby back street. There are more Gerudo about the place.
"Stand to attention!" Captain Teake commanded, causing the rest of the Gerudo to do so. "This vai is believed to be a spy," as she shakes Aloy a bit to show her off. "We have taken her down here to determine whether she is or not. The Chief has decided to sit in on this."
The other guards come closer and form a circle around her, with the girl nearby and closely guarded.
"You, outsider," The girl asked Aloy. "What did you do to arouse suspicion?"
"I don't know!" Aloy answered emphatically. "I was just minding my own business when they showed up and dragged me here!"
"One of the guards at the town entrance informed us that there was something odd about that vai," Captain Teake said. "So she became concerned that she might be a Yiga spy."
"Let me guess, it was my ears that caught her attention," Aloy answered curtly as she manually folds her own ears down.
"Alright," Captain Teake stated, and the Gerudo get ready to carry out whatever orders they are about to be given. "Strip her!"
