Aloy looks around for the source of that voice, even scanning with her focus.
"Well, well," the voice rumbled in a smooth echoic bass. "It's you. You finally decided to return. Better late than never."
Aloy gapes with awe up at the source of that voice after finally discovering it . . . a tree. And a colossal oak at that with a face that has a wide thick-lipped mouth, a bulbous nose, and slits for eyes with long branches for eyebrows.
"After one hundred years, I'd nearly given up hope on seeing you again," the mouth on that tree moved with each soft echoic bass word it spoke. "Even my patience has limits, you know . . . And you even found a partner to help you with the cause. A pity she had to be pulled out of her world like that."
"A talking tree," Aloy muttered with numb bemusement. "People with pointed ears, fish people, all female people, bird people, a tree like person. A monster beyond what Hades ever was threatening to destroy everything. And now this . . . a talking tree."
"That look on your face, boy, tells me that you have no recollection of me, however," the tree rumbled. "I have watched over Hyrule since time immemorial. Many have referred to me over the ages as the Deku Tree. That is the weapon created by the ancient Goddess. The sword that seals the darkness-that only the chosen knight can wield against the Calamity Ganon. Believe it or not . . . it was actually you who wielded that sword one hundred years ago. But I must warn you to take extreme caution. The sword stands as a test to anyone who would dare attempt to possess it. As you are now, I cannot say whether you are worthy or not . . . If you sought to free the sword in any sort of weakened state, you would surely lose your life where you stand. Best of luck, young man . . ."
That is when Aloy takes notice of tiny figures around them that look to be no higher than her knee. They are vaguely humanoid in shape with leaves for faces, each of them individualized.
So those are Koroks, eh . . . ? Strange creatures.
She scans them and puts in the information to read them as Koroks.
"If you hope to pull the sword from its resting place," the Great Deku Tree continued, "you must use your true strength. Let us see whether or not you currently possess said power."
Link takes a deep breath and carefully grasps the sword's hilt.
"Be careful, Link," Aloy cautioned. "Ah, hey . . . tree," as she looks up at the Great Deku Tree. "You will warn him if anything starts to go wrong, right?"
"Indeed I will, young girl," the Deku Tree answered.
"Thanks," Aloy sighed, then turns to Link. "Okay, go for it, Link."
Link tenses, then pulls. And pulls. And pulls. And pulls. The effort on his face building by the second, along with the tension in the air of which Aloy can feel. Link's face continues to twist. And with it, pain. Aloy gasps and tenses up, wanting to shove Link away from that sword. Sweat trickles down Link's face as the effort and pain begin to build. Aloy is but a second away from shoving Link away and tenses to make her move.
"Enough."
The Great Deku Tree had proclaimed simply, though his soft echoic bass made it sound almost like a shout. It was that single simple word that caused Link to instantly stop, and sag to the ground panting.
"You would have lost your life if you hadn't released your grip on the sword, young boy," the Great Deku Tree rumbled with concern. "Prepare before you try again . . . for I will not stay your hand partway through the next time."
"Link, are you alright?" Aloy asked softly as she clasps his shoulder.
Link assures her that he is and takes out a hearty mushroom skewer to eat, regaining his strength. He also takes a slug of water and stands with a sigh. He next explains to Aloy that it felt as if his life was being drained out of him.
"So your stamina was getting drained?" Aloy asked.
Link corrects her, stating that it felt more profound in that it literally felt as if his lifeforce was being drained away.
"So what must be done to-" Aloy began, only to stop and realize something. "The Sheikah Shrines! We just need to go and conquer more of those places to get more spirit orbs. Then you can find a statue and trade them for increased durability."
"There is a Goddess statue here," the Great Deku Tree rumbled softly.
"Where?" Aloy asked.
"Over there," the Deku Tree answered as Koroks are seen waving and jumping up and down to get Aloy and Link's attention at a Goddess statue near them.
"Durability?" Aloy asked, and Link verfies it so.
The duo walk up to the Goddess statue and first Link, then Aloy trade in four of their spirit orbs to get a durability boost.
"Now that that is settled," Aloy said. "Let's find out if there's a Sheikah Shrine around here."
Link agrees, then takes out the Sheikah Slate and tells her about the detector in it as he turns it on and tunes it to Sheikah Shrines. He points it around and it starts beeping as he points it past the Great Deku Tree. They track the source and finally come upon a Sheikah Shrine hidden behind a huge root and covered in moss. Link opens the shrine and the duo enter it.
Inside, the monk telepathically greets them as Keo Ruug and offers this trail in the name of the Goddess Hylia. The interior is huge with a set of stairs before them that lead up to a platform with a sign on it. On either side of that platform are a number of Sheikah sphere indentations, and four spheres, two on either side. They ascend the stairs and Link reads the sign to her.
"Look to the stars for guidance. The constellations are the key," Aloy echoed as she looks around.
Near the base of platform is a ramp that leads down to a barred off area, with a short wall that they can easily see over. On either side of them there are the indentations. Twenty in all, ten on either side and two per row. On the walls are blue lamp posts numbering from one to five in each row.
"It's obvious that we need to put two spheres in two out of ten pits on either side in order to open that door," Aloy said. "The rows are also numbered, meaning that we have to figure out the four numbers that go from either one to five." She sighs with frustration as she runs her hand through her hair. "Great, that means there are thousands of possible combinations."
They continue looking around for clues. That is when Aloy notices something and her thoughts begin to formulate the answer to this puzzle. But Link then explains that there must be over a hundred Sheikah Shrines scattered throughout Hyrule and the sooner they deal with them, the sooner they can return and he can get that sword. He next tells Aloy to kneel down beside him because he will be using Revali's Gale to get over there.
"Ah, Link?" Aloy said delicately.
Link then tells her that she can tell him afterwards, and Aloy kneels down beside him with a sigh of her own. Link unleashes Revali's Gale and the duo shoot high up, then glide toward the other side, over the wall that was blocking their path. They are in another larger area with the monk in the back and land. The monk has a large white disk with red trimming on his back, and is bent forward and kneeling while hands are raised in prayer. The duo collect their spirit orb and are on their way out as the bars behind them had risen.
It is as they are walking past the platform to return outside that Aloy speaks up.
"Link, before we leave, I want to show you something." She then turns around and runs back up at the top of that platform with Link following. She points out. "In the four rows that make up those sphere pits, there's a constellation upon that wall. Now, look up at the map of constellations over there above where the monk was. Notice how all four of those constellations from those rows are up there? And why there are a number of those lamp posts for each row? We were supposed to put a sphere in the pit that matched the constellation from there and how many times it was repeated. That three-starred constellation over there is repeated up on that map five times, so a sphere will go into row five; That seven starred constellation next to it is repeated up on that map three times, so a sphere will go into row three; That thirteen starred constellation over there has only one display up on that map, so a sphere will go into row one; and that seven starred constellation next to it is repeated twice up on that map, so a sphere will go into row two."
Link sighs as he closes his eyes and droops his head while stroking his own forehead for a moment. He straightens and regretfully explains to Aloy that between being unable to get that sword out and having to go find more shrines, the pressure was getting to him.
"I get it," Aloy said softly as she clasps his shoulder. "If it were on me, I might've skipped the puzzle too."
Link then asks Aloy how she got the puzzle so quickly.
"Well . . . I've spent years living off the land. So my sense of observation is heightened to the point that I can easily notice details most people overlook."
Link nods in understanding, saying that from what he can remember, he never lived that sort of lifestyle.
They return outside and Link takes out the Sheikah Slate to bring up the map for where they should begin their journey.
"Maybe there are more Sheikah Shrines around here," Aloy suggested.
Link nods as tells her that they should get starting, saying that this venture could takes days. Weeks even. The Sheikah Shrine detector begins to go off.
Aloy takes a deep sigh. "Then let's get started."
For one month, they search throughout Hyrule for Sheikah Shrines to enter and conquer so that they could get that shared spirit orb. They search for those Sheikah Shrines simply by following the Sheikah Slate's detector that had been attuned to them. They fought enemies from Keese and Chuchus up to Hinoxes and Lynels. At times, they were out at night, forcing them to contend with Stalkoblins, Stalizalfos, and Salmoblins. There was even a Stalnox, a skeletal Hinox, that they had to fight as well; a difficult battle as they had to destroy its single black eye that had managed to fall out of its eye socket. They even encountered more Yiga who were determined to avenge their Master Kohga.
Aloy and Link traveled under clear sky, cloudy sky, and even cloudy sky with rain falling. There were times when thunderstorms blew up, forcing them to seek shelter as the metal on them could attract lightening. Despite having to fight at night, they always tried to find a place to bed down, sometimes in a stable.
They traversed every terrain that Hyrule possesses. Snowy mountains where Aloy had to eat warm food that offered her temporary resistance to the cold. A village by the seashore even. The Forgotten Temple, where they had to contend with a multitude of paralyzed Guardians. Labyrinths even. Even an island that had them stripped down to their undergarments that forced them to fight off enemies with whatever weapons they could find on that island. Upon getting the Sheikah Shrine to rise, they got their stuff back and were able to simply acquire the blessing within it.
They also ended up returning to places where they had once been. Back to the Gerudo Desert, where they had to eat cold food that offered temporary risistance to the heat of the day. Back to Death Mountain where they had to drink fireproof elixirs to prevent themselves from being burned to death. Back to Zora's Domain. Back to Rito Village. More dormant Sheikah Towers were encountered and then activated, adding more of the map of Hyrule to the Sheikah Slate.
Some Sheikah Shrines were obvious as they simply walked up to them. Some were in more difficult places to reach and climbing, even gliding to them was in order. Some were hidden as a large round platform made from the same substance as the Shrines were obvious. For these, a puzzle had to be completed. At one, a heat endurance with Gorons as they had to stay on a hot plate with them and remain to the last. For this, they drank fireproof elixirs, claiming them to be mere drinks to rehydrate themselves. At another, Aloy had to defend Link as he carried a Sheikah Sphere along a sand spit shaped into a spiral. It was these sorts of shrines that needed to be revealed that did not have any tests inside them; Aloy and Link simply walked up to a monk in front of them, with Link opening a chest to get some sort of weapon or treasure along the way, and then claim the shared spirit orb.
One of the shrines they managed to complete was even surrounded by rows of flowers that were tended to by a strange woman. Whenever Aloy or Link set foot on a flower, the strange woman would severely reprimand them for this. And when Link stepped on one flower too many, the flower lady went berserk and began running over the flowers trampling the rest ranting and raving over how she had worked so hard for months to plant and tend to them. Then screamed at Link as she glared at him with demented eyes that he will understand "the flower's rage" and charged at him, slam tackling him and straddled his chest to unleash a flurry of punches from which Link had to shield his head with his arms while calling to Aloy for help. But Aloy was torn between wanting to rush to his aid and just watching that ridiculous scene being played out. The woman had finished beating on him and Link just laid there groaning and moaning in pain until he finally got up with help from Aloy and they carefully navigated that flower field and entered that shrine to conquer and get their spirit orb.
After ever fourth Sheikah Shrine they overcame, they sought out a Goddess statue; then, Link would choose increased durability while Aloy more or less mixed it up by alternating between increased durability and stamina.
And yet during that month, it was not all about the Sheikah Shrines. It was during that time that they ended up getting a place called Tarry Town constructed as they met certain individuals who wanted to go somewhere they could use their skills or fulfill their dreams. Aloy and Link even attended a wedding between a Gerudo and the man who set them on the journey to build Tarry Town. All those who live there had son in their name, save for Granté, the son of Robbie and Jerrin. And it was from Granté that Link bought a Hylian Shield for three thousand rupees, for it was during that month that Aloy and Link accrued thousands of rupees between themselves. Also during those times, they discovered various Koroks across Hyrule and Link was able to collect Korok Seeds from them.
When they finally returned to the Korok Forest via warp to the Keo Ruug Shrine, Link sought out Hestu and gave him those Korok Seeds to expand his weapon, shield, and bow satchels even further.
Link now stands over the sword that cuts through darkness as he glares down at it. Aloy is nearby watching intently. Both have a harder look to them: a look of having traveled and fighting off danger for the past month.
"Hey, Deku Tree," Aloy called. "Does Link seem stronger to you now?"
The Great Deku Tree rumbles smoothly in though. "He does," he finally answered. "And so do you. But definitely he does and should be strong enough to remove the sword that seals the darkness without it killing him."
"Well Link," Aloy said. "This is it . . . For a month we have traveled all over Hyrule searching out Sheikah Shrines, then finding and conquering them. Are you up to it or do you think we should go and find some more shrines out there. Because I get the feeling that there are still more out there. So if you're still not feeling confident enough, we can go and find a few more shrines to activate."
Link gives Aloy an earnest look as he holds his hand up while stating that it is okay and tells her that he can do this now. He glares down at the sword, then slowly crouches as he firmly clasps the hilt, flexing his fingers in the process. He closes his eyes, then inhales and exhales slowly. Aloy watches with concern, along with the Koroks. The atmosphere seems heavier, as if the forest is holding its breath.
Link's face tenses up and he pulls. And pulls. And pulls. And pulls. Little by little, the sword rises as motes of light travel up the blade. The effort building up in his face by the second. Sweat begins to trickle down the sides of his face. Aloy's worry increases with each second Link continues pulling up on that sword.
What if he's not strong enough?! Aloy fretted inwardly. What if it kills him?!
The effort continues to increase on Link's face as more sweat continues trickling down his ever twisting face as pain begins to work its way in.
I've gotta do something?! Aloy continued to fret inwardly. But Link said that he could do this! I gotta trust him . . . ! But what if he made a mistake?!
Link's face is warped with effort and pain as the sweat continues to drip off him as if he were in the rain.
Link?! Please?! Aloy screamed inside as she hyperventilates and tenses to stop him. Come on . . . ?! No! I gotta do something!
There is a brief flash of light from the pedestal and tendrils of mist fly away from it. Link stands erect with the sword in both hands and free from the pedestal.
