The Crossing of the Paths
Second Edition
By MMM/AJ
Part I: Desert Wind

A/N: Hello again my lovely readers! If you're still here with me then it's an exciting time, as we're now entering into the home stretch for the ending of Desert Wind! After this chunk there's just two more left to go! Those last two a real seat-grippers too and have a ton of balls-to-the-wall intense content, so you're in for a ride!

These last few chunks are FUCKHUGE too! This one is a whopping 44K words long, so please make sure you have plenty of beverage on hand before you sit down with it. We're getting a ton of action scenes here, as well as a gigantic new portion of additional content that was never included in the first edition of the story. Ironically, a bunch of this was actually fully intended to be included originally, but younger me was even more smoothbrained than current me and I had simply forgotten to write it all in. I hope you'll enjoy it though, as it is very important stuff that clarifies a large portion of the plot of how the Sulaaq empire works. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Interlude 2

"You're in so much trouble young lady!" Kamilia bellowed furiously.

"Yes mother, I know." Indiru replied with quiet acceptance.

"Neither of you have any idea of just how dangerous this journey is going to be, nor how your presence is going to impact it!" Hadara added, standing next to Kamilia.

"I don't but Indiru might." Ruru replied snarkily.

The two young Princesses were standing side by side with their backs against an unoccupied Helmasaur out behind the parked caravan. They had all stopped for Molduga hunting hours at sunset and the collective forces of the three tribes were sitting together on the other side of the cluster of vehicles sharing dinner together. They had parked atop a large, sloped sandstone mesa for extra safety, and just as Indiru had predicted, they had discovered the two stowaways when they unpacked their dinner. To avoid humiliating the girls in front of the crowd, the two Chiefs had dragged them off for a private dressing down behind the vehicles out of sight and earshot.

"Indiru! Was this all your idea to drag Ruru out here along with you on this insane quest?!" Hadara asked.

"Actually yes." Indiru replied shamelessly.

Hadara looked flabbergasted by Indiru's utterly fearless admission of guilt. She sputtered in confusion for a moment before resuming.

"You're incorrigible! Ruru is rebellious enough without you making the problem even worse! Kamilia are you completely incapable of keeping any of your daughters in line?!"

"That's funny, I seem to remember your eldest daughter helping Mewtwo to lead us all on this wild Cucco chase in the first place!" Kamilia snapped back.

"Perhaps, but at least this level of insolence doesn't seem to run back through my family line for generations like yours! This wouldn't be the first time a Lasheera Princess violated her mother's orders to go running around the Vile Desert like this!" Hadara replied.

"How DARE you bring up that old garbage again like that?! Mewtwo assured me you said you regretted disrespecting our family with it!" Kamilia yelled.

Wincing slightly, Indiru worked up the courage to step forward and interrupt their bickering by poking her mother's hand.

"Mom, since we're all stuck on this journey together and can't afford to fight like this, maybe you two should be commiserating with each other over how incorrigible Ruru and I are?"

Kamilia's train of thought was completely derailed here by her daughter's sheer gumption and wit. She couldn't help but break out laughing, and ultimately this ended up infecting Hadara with laughter too.

"The pure boldness on this one!" Hadara said between laughs. "Sa'oten! I think she might be right. I apologize Kamilia, that was uncalled for and cruel of me."

"You are forgiven, but we should still discuss the topic in private later. And you, young lady, are not getting out of this so easily just by being clever! What do we even do with you two?" Kamilia said, returning her gaze to the two Princesses.

"Well you can't turn the caravan around to bring us back home. You'd lose two whole days of travel time and then you'd have no hope of ever catching up to Mewtwo and Kalana." Indiru replied quickly, eager to play her trump card on her mother.

"Who says we have to turn the whole caravan back? We could just as easily send you in only one Helmasaur while everyone else stays the course!" Kamilia retorted.

Indiru's confidence instantly dissolved into a vat of icy cold fear as she realized the sheer magnitude of the miscalculation in her plan. With just those two quick sentences Kamilia had completely undermined her entire course and now there was a good chance she would be sent home and nobody would be able to warn Mewtwo about what she'd foreseen. Her instincts were still screaming at her that she couldn't tell anyone about the contents of that vision. Word would eventually make it to the Doomseers no matter who she told and they would use it as an excuse to kill Mewtwo on sight. But how would she convince her mother to allow her to come along without telling her about that vision? Desperate and without any other ideas to try, Indiru clenched her eyes shut, balled up her fists, and intentionally tried to will her Seer power to activate. She didn't want to endure another round of the pain it always brought but she was out of options. The only silver lining she could grip onto through all this was the fact that somehow her gift seemed to work regardless of whether a drain device was active nearby or not.

Rolling waves of nausea and creeping physical malaise flushed over her body, causing her face to grimace involuntarily. She quivered a little bit as her powers responded, starting to cloud her senses with that familiar dark fog. Kamilia immediately noticed her daughter's pained expression and bodily shaking, and knelt down in front of her with a worried expression.

"I'ru what's wrong? Is it happening again?"

Indiru didn't respond, preferring instead to maintain her concentration. She tuned out everything they said from that point on in order to continue her efforts, but at least she did still feel it when her mother wrapped her arms around her protectively. The sensation made the effort to induce the vision a lot more bearable. Still, what felt like several minutes passed with no luck. The only thing she got was a much stronger feeling that she needed to avoid telling her mother the truth. Her gift staunchly refused to tell her how to convince her to let them come along though. Once Indiru had had enough and had given up on forcing the vision, reality returned to her senses and she saw that Ruru and Hadara had left to give them some space and privacy. Kamilia's arms were still wrapped around her, and that maternal embrace reminded Indiru again of how she had needed to resort to manipulating her mother's protective side earlier. It would probably work again, even if she utterly loathed herself for stooping that low.

"Ok mom, it's over now." She said quietly.

"Are you ok Vehví? It didn't show you anything horrific this time did it?"

"No, but it did show me the same thing as last time when I spilled my dinner back home. I didn't tell you because I didn't think you'd believe me."

"I'll still keep believing you even if some of your visions always end up wrong. A seer's gift cannot be ignored. Please tell me if it's important."

Indiru paused for just a brief moment to gather her thoughts and assemble a story for her mother that contained as much truth as possible. She was confident in her ability to lie convincingly by now, but she knew that maximizing the amount of truth in her story would make it a lot easier to remember and maintain.

"These two visions were blurry and obscure; they didn't have enough detail for me to make out the logistics of how, but I saw myself saving Mewtwo from being captured by a Sulaaq thrall's ambush while everyone was busy fighting. It felt like the Goddesses were very clearly warning me that I needed to come along with you on this quest in order to save Mewtwo and enable his success. And after I saved him, he would be able to find, subdue, and bring Ciela home to us."

"But why didn't you tell me any of this before we left?" Kamilia asked.

"Mom... be honest with me. Do you really think there was anything I could have possibly said that could have convinced you to allow me to come along on this quest?"

This actually gave Kamilia pause for a few moments before she sighed and shook her head.

"Sa'oten, you really are incorrigible aren't you? Alright, point taken, but why drag Ruru into all this too? My relationship with Chief Quindalo is already fraught enough as is without all this making it worse."

"Because she's brave, selfless, compassionate, and has the spirit of a great warrior burning inside her, not too unlike Ciela. I miss Ciela and I didn't think I'd have the courage to do something like this without someone like her with me." Indiru replied. This time she didn't feel guilty about invoking her sister's name since she was telling the truth.

Tears welled up in Kamilia's eyes and a totally heartbroken look came over her face. She tugged Indiru into another hug, even tighter this time. Burying her face into Indiru's shoulder, she replied quietly.

"I miss her too. I pray to Nariva every single night that she might one day return to us."

"I think... as long as the four of us stick together and nobody gets sent back to Ven'vha, we will rescue her. It's not a promise, I know my gift can sometimes be wrong. But maybe, if you can talk Chief Quindalo into letting Ruru stay, we'll make it and bring her back."

"I'll try, I'ru. I'll try."


It became really easy for Indiru to lose track of the days now that she was riding along with her mother in a Helmasaur instead of being crammed in the back of a Terrapin. She couldn't spend time with Ruru during the drive since Ruru had to ride along with her own mother instead, but the two met up every evening and morning when the caravan stopped for molduga hunting hours. Tonight's sunset stop proved extremely eventful, as Indiru heard her mother mumbling something aloud as they searched for a good place to park. Curious, Indiru stood from her seat and crept up to peer through the gap between the passenger cabin and driver's compartment. She saw a huge stone outcropping sticking up above the dunes in the distance. It was too small to be a mountain but too large to be a mere hill. Then the crackling sound of the radio flaring to life nearly made Indiru jump out of her skin. Hadara's voice came through the radio on Kamilia's panel once the static cleared.

"Kamilia, Lamira, do you see that strange rock formation ahead?"

"Yes, it's kind of hard to miss." Lamira responded.

"What exactly is it? It looks nothing like the usual mesas and formations." Kamilia said.

Something suddenly clicked into place in Indiru's mind and she remembered the vision that had given her Mewtwo's map. This must be the colossal statue of the Goddess she'd seen roughly at the halfway point. She stepped closer to her mother and tapped her arm.

"Mom, it's Lady Nariva's holiest place."

"Vehví what did I tell you about interrupting me when I'm driving?" Kamilia scolded her gently.

"That I shouldn't." Indiru sighed. "Just be careful up here mom, I had a bad feeling that there might be monsters here."

"I will, just go sit down ok sweetie?"

"Yes mom."

Indiru remembered well the strict promise her mother had asked her to make in order to be allowed to come along for the rest of the journey: she had to stay clear of all possible sources of danger and not interfere with any of the warriors. She didn't exactly want to break this promise but ultimately she knew that she would do anything she had to in order to save Mewtwo, and by extension, the rest of the world. That aside, she didn't expect Mewtwo and Kalana to have tarried here for long, so she had no reason to get herself involved directly in what was about to happen. She was quite content to stand back and watch and listen while the caravan approached the holy site. She heard the chiefs chattering and speculating the entire time as they approached, but when they arrived at the site and pulled around to check its Eastern side a shocked, reverent silence fell over all of them.

Even though the colossal statue was slightly familiar to Indiru from her vision, actually seeing it in person was an entirely different experience. The sheer scope and scale of it was a stark reminder to Indiru of just how tiny she really was. The stoic expression on the statue's face was also a solemn reminder of their people's long history; it evoked the struggles and suffering of her distant ancestors as well as their stubborn refusal to give in. She suddenly found herself wishing she could explore the interior with the others despite the imminent danger she knew to be inside. It was a frustrating feeling and she could do nothing with it as she sat down and watched what her mother and the other chiefs did next. They argued quietly for a few minutes over whether they could afford the time loss to stop and investigate, and ultimately they did decide to stop since the sun was getting low in the sky. They were only an hour or so too early for molduga hunting hours, and that would give them another hour they would have lost anyway. The big sandstone plaza in front of the entrance was a perfect spot to shelter for that time anyway. Soon the entire caravan was parked in an encircling formation around the edges of the plaza and teams of warriors began to pile out and sweep the area for threats. It wasn't until Nereti declared the area clear that Kamilia allowed Indiru to step out into the open air and watch the proceedings.

As the sun dipped lower and began to properly set, the three chiefs led an impromptu group prayer session at the foot of the colossus. The Arbiters stood watch at the temple's entrance for safety's sake since they hadn't yet swept the interior and there could still be monsters inside. Everyone else gathered on the square in tightly packed rows and knelt reverently. Two members of Sumati's troupe played the traditional Requiem while Kamilia led everyone in reciting a prayer to Nariva. Indiru respectfully bowed and prayed with them, though her mind wandered in boredom as the ceremony dragged on for several more minutes. Eventually she sneakily raised her head to peek around at her surroundings just to break the monotony. It was then when she spotted something that caused her to freeze in place with shock. High up above the assembly, standing atop one of the statue's open palms, was the ethereal figure of Nabooru! The ghostly apparition was difficult to make out in much detail due to its translucent nature, but Indiru had seen enough drawings and sculptures of Nabooru to instantly recognize her face. She was looking down at the crowd of praying Gerudos with a curious, amazed look on her face. She wasn't focusing on any single one person in particular, but soon her eyes settled on Hadara at the head of the ceremony. A warm smile flowed over her still-youthful features and then she spontaneously dematerialized.

Stunned speechless by what she had seen, Indiru knelt there unmoving for a few minutes longer and stared fixated at the statue's empty hand. She didn't snap out of it until she heard Hadara's voice and the accompanying music stop. With lightning quick reflexes she ducked her head back down to avoid being caught not praying during the ceremony, then slowly sat up to feign naturally finishing her prayer. She heard Hadara calling out for volunteers to help search the Temple's interior but didn't pay much attention. Instead she focused on searching the crowd for Ruru, and then rushed over to talk to her. She was staying back by the line of Helmasaurs out of the way of the crowd as instructed, since she too had been forced to make a similar promise to her own mother to be allowed to come along.

"Hey Ruru!" She shouted once she had pushed her way over to her.

"Hey Indiru! Good timing! I heard we might end up camping out around the Temple overnight and figured I'd ask my mom if we could invite you over for a sleepover at our tent." Ruru replied.

"That sounds really fun, but there was something else I wanted to ask you about too. Did you see anything weird during the prayer ceremony?"

"Uh no, my eyes were closed the entire time. Why? Oh, were you breaking the rules and peeking?" Ruru asked, a mischievous grin crossing her face.

Indiru checked their surroundings to make sure nobody in the crowd was close enough to hear her whispering, then nodded slightly and replied. "Yeah, and I saw a ghost!"

Ruru's eyes widened with childish wonder and amazement. "Woah, you mean like a person ghost? Not just a poe or a fairy?"

"Yes, and you're not gonna believe who it was!"

"Who?!"

"Exalted Nabooru!"

"No way!" Ruru shouted.

Several Gerudos looked over at them curiously from the crowd due to the volume of the shout. Indiru winced and raised one finger to her lips to shush Ruru gently.

"Shh! People will think I'm crazy or having a new vision if they hear!"

"So you think it wasn't related to your visions then?" Ruru asked.

"No! Goddesses, not everything about me revolves around that stuff! Besides, she wasn't just looking at me specifically. She was standing up there on one of the statue's upturned hands and looking down at the whole crowd, then your mom, while smiling happily."

"Well I think this calls for a ghost hunt!" Ruru said boldly.

"What? No way! Everyone is already gathering over there to investigate the Temple, we don't need to get involved. Besides, you know we already promised our moms we'd stay out of danger. If we broke our promises they could still send us home in one Helmasaur. I can't risk... I mean, we can't risk that!" Indiru replied, quickly correcting herself.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'you' can't risk that? Is there something making you worried about being caught now? You weren't being this cautious when you invited me on this mission with you." Ruru said.

"Err, I..." Indiru stumbled.

She didn't want to tell Ruru about her vision either; that terrible gut feeling about secrecy still hadn't gone away. That meant that she couldn't tell Ruru why she was so much more worried about being sent back. She hated lying to Ruru perhaps even more than lying to her mother, but she had to make something up. Her mind was locking up though, she couldn't seem to mentally handle the sudden development of Ruru's suspicion.

"Why did you invite me on this mission anyway? I thought it was just the desire to do hero stuff, but you've never told me any specific details. Do you have some sort of secret plan you're hiding from me?"

"N-no! Well sorta. Kinda. I can't talk to you about it." Indiru stuttered.

"Why not? We're supposed to be members of the Four Heroines! We even made up our own secret handshake together! You can't just keep secrets from me, especially ones this important!"

Feeling backed into a corner, Indiru had to concede that Ruru had a point. In the absence of any other ideas she made a snap judgment to tell Ruru as much of the truth as possible despite her instincts screaming at her about the risks of toeing that line so closely. She led Ruru inside one of the empty Helmasaurs for some privacy and made sure nobody was sitting in the driver's side before beginning to spill the beans.

"Ok listen! Before we left I had a vision that something awful was going to happen to Mewtwo and your sister, but the vision came with an overpowering sensation that I couldn't tell anyone about it or I wouldn't be able to save them. I had the singular, overwhelming feeling that I had to tag along with the caravan to catch up with him and warn him myself. Because of these feelings I don't want to tell you any more than this, I am already taking a huge risk just by telling you this much. But I don't like lying to people, it feels awful. Especially lying to you; you're my fellow Heroine and I need you to trust me."

Ruru kept a stoic look on her face and then nodded when Indiru finished.

"I do trust you Indiru. I won't ask you to risk telling me any more than that, even if I do kinda think that that urge to keep the vision a secret could be your powers making a mistake. We both gotta trust each other if we're gonna succeed in saving Mewtwo and my sister. But... I just have one question for you. Why did you invite me along on this mission specifically? Why not someone else, or even just go alone? If this vision is urging you to keep its contents secret then wouldn't it be safer to go solo? Did you really just feel sorry for me being left behind by my sister and Mewtwo?"

"Well, the idea of sneaking along came first before the vision, and at that point it really was just wanting to do hero stuff, but I also had a feeling that I might get a vision like that and I'd need to be along with the caravan to act on it. The vision came to me right after I invited you, and then... well... then I was just... scared." Indiru admitted quietly. She looked down at her feet as she continued speaking, now feeling too ashamed to look Ruru in the eye.

"You, and your sister, and Mewtwo, and my sister too, everyone is always so brave. I've tried to be that brave all my life, but I've never had the strength for it. My "gift" has shown me so many awful things since I could first remember and all I could do was sit in fear and try to warn my mom."

Indiru paused for a moment here and shuddered as old, painful memories began to well up in her mind again. She could sense that these were the same ones that had come bubbling up to the surface right after her vision of Mewtwo's capture. She had fought hard to suppress them before, but this time it was futile. As they returned to her she immediately knew why she had suppressed them. Everything began to fit together and make sense in the most terrible way.

"The only other time I tried to act on one of my visions I failed so badly it got people hurt."

A look of sadness and empathy played over Ruru's face and she leaned in and hugged Indiru tightly. Indiru returned that hug immediately and took a deep breath to calm herself. A stormy sea of emotions was churning in her gut and the hug was helping her immensely to keep it under control.

"What happened?" Ruru asked as she let go of the hug.

"A year ago I had a vision that Ciela was going to be captured by the Sulaaq and made into a thrall during a botched tower raid. I tried to warn her but she didn't believe me. She was too confident in her own fighting skills and thought that vision was one of my wrong ones. I tried to tell mom too but she just sided with Ciela. So I did the only thing I could think of, I snuck out and followed them to the tower, hoping to be there to prevent Ciela from being captured. But the vision hadn't warned me that there would be Goron thralls there that day and one of them grabbed me when I got too close to the fighting. Ciela saw it happen and rushed over to save me, and in the ensuing fight she risked herself to free me and got caught herself instead. I can still remember seeing her shouting something at me that I couldn't hear through my earplugs before the thralls dragged her away. I never saw her again after that..."

Indiru trailed off at this point, unable to bring herself to form any additional words as sorrow and guilt choked her. Tears rolled down her face as the memories of those events played out freely in her mind again. She'd done such a good job of blocking those memories out up until now. She had almost completely forgotten, since it had been easy to promise herself that they'd just catch up to Mewtwo before the battle and warn him without putting herself in harm's way this time. Now that Ruru had dug those memories out though it proved impossible to re-bury them again. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and fought the emotions down long enough to finish her thoughts.

"Ruru... I had the memories of that mostly locked away up until now, but I think I still knew deep down that they were there and I was risking the same folly a second time, even if it was a subconscious feeling. That's why I needed someone else with courage to stay with me throughout this. I needed someone not just as an adventuring partner to stick by my side, but someone who was brave enough to keep me going. That's the honest truth."

"Hey, I wouldn't say you're not brave enough. You can't be brave without being afraid first, kinda like how you can't feel full without feeling hungry first. In fact, since you have more fear than I do, I'd say you're even more brave than I am. I'm just overconfident!" Ruru replied with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Would you say you're the best at being overconfident?" Indiru asked, a tentative smile forming on her face as she set up a joke for Ruru.

"Damn right I am! I'm the most overconfident Gerudo since, well, ever!" She replied, striking a heroic pose and then accidentally banging her left elbow on the wall of the compartment. She grabbed that elbow and began to jump up and down while shouting.

"Ow! Ow ow ow Goddesses damnit!"

The perfect comedic timing of that moment was too much for Indiru, she broke down into a giggle fit strong enough that she had to lean against the seats to avoid falling over. Now she had tears of laughter flowing down her face instead of tears of sadness.

"Oh my Goddesses Ruru! Hahahahaha! That was too perfect! I really needed that!"

"Hey come on! That actually hurt!" Ruru protested with a pouty face, still cradling her elbow.

"Hahahah, sorry! Sorry! That timing was just flawless is all. You really are something else!"

"You said that before and I still don't know what it means!" Ruru said, frowning as she tried rubbing her elbow.

"It means that you're a really, really, really good friend Ruru."

"Oh! Well that's what Mewtwo always told me." Ruru replied, her confident smile returning.


Dinner was eventful that evening too, as Indiru got to sit near her mother and listen in on her discussion with Nereti and the other guards who had swept the Temple interior with her. They had found dozens of Lizalfos corpses inside, as well as a Dinolfos corpse too. On top of all this they found ample evidence of it being Mewtwo and Kalana who had come here and slaughtered them all. Hadara now sounded far more hopeful about their chances of catching up to them since the duo had spent so much time clearing the Temple out. There had already been some discussion about staying the night at the Temple's plaza to get some rest, but now they fully settled on it since they felt this afforded them more than the extra time needed. Indiru allowed herself the luxury of some increased optimism too, but fate seemed determined to keep smacking it down. That night after she finished her dinner and went to bed in her tent, a nightmarish new vision came to her in her sleep.

Indiru had been having a fairly innocuous dream about coconuts sprouting legs and walking around when the nightmare started. Her surroundings went black and she saw Mewtwo strapped down to a metal table with cuffs around his ankles and wrists. His eyes were bleary and red as if he had been crying profusely recently and he was glaring in Indiru's direction with a look of blind rage. Suddenly he managed to get his right hand free, though Indiru had been too fixated on his gaze to notice how. He reached his freed hand down and grabbed a small Gerudo dagger out of the shadows next to his table and hurled it toward her!

Indiru couldn't seem to move quickly enough to avoid the flying blade; her body felt like it was stuck in some sort of thick, viscous gel. The dagger passed right through her harmlessly, though her vision did flicker and fog over for a moment when it did. She heard the sound of a sickening impact of steel piercing flesh though, causing her blood to chill. She struggled to force her body to turn around as fast as possible to see the source of the sound. What she saw was so horrible though that she wished she'd never looked. There was Kalana strapped to another table just like Mewtwo with her limbs bound in cuffs. The dagger had kept sailing through the air after passing through Indiru and had plunged itself directly into her throat! The sight of that dagger sticking out of Kalana's neck, as well as the eye-bulging look of horror on her face, was too much of a shock for Indiru to bear and she bolted upright in her tent.

Cold sweat dripped down Indiru's body, causing her nighttime blanket to stick to her. Her heart was racing painfully and fresh tears had already begun welling up in her eyes. Her mind churned with dread as it struggled to process the contents of what she'd seen. Was Mewtwo actually going to betray them? Were the Doomseers right? How much of that vision was prophetic and how much was just a fabrication of her subconscious? She could feel herself choking back sobs as the emotions overwhelmed her, though she fought them back in order to avoid waking her mother. Kamilia was lying right next to her, curled up in her own blanket and snoring soundly. Indiru desperately needed to confide in someone now due to the dark spectre of dread that was choking her, but there was no way on Earth she'd tell her mother about it. She was about to suffer some sort of mental implosion or breakdown and she could no longer afford to bottle it up. She needed help from someone. Anyone. In that moment the only person she could think of that she could trust was Ruru. Their earlier conversation was still fresh in her mind, especially the part where Ruru agreed not to pry into Indiru's visions too deeply. She made a snap decision to sneak out and try to get into the tent that Ruru and Hadara shared.

It took some slow, cautious, and skillful movement for Indiru to get unwrapped, dressed, and out of the tent without waking her mother. She peered around to check her surroundings as she climbed out of the tent, wanting to make sure she wasn't caught by any of the night guards. Lucky for her, the guards were all posted on top of the circle of vehicles and were facing outward to watch for attackers from the desert. None of them were paying attention to the tents that filled the plaza. There was still enough moonlight for Indiru to navigate by, but she had to near-constantly rub the tears out of her eyes in order to see properly. At least she knew which tent belonged to Ruru and Hadara since she'd visited them before the planned sleepover had been canceled. It wasn't even too far away from hers, so reaching it only took a few minutes despite Indiru taking extra time to be as quiet as possible. With practiced skill she undid the tent flap and crept inside.

"Hey Ruru." She whispered, prodding the sleeping princess with one finger.

Still snoring softly, Ruru failed to respond entirely. Indiru prodded her harder, first in the side and then on her face. Still nothing. Frowning deeply with frustration, Indiru resorted to grabbing Ruru by the shoulders and shaking her as quietly as possible until she opened her eyes.

"Huh-wha?" Ruru mumbled.

Indiru put one finger to her lips silently and Ruru sat up and rubbed her eyes. She instantly noticed the tear-stained, bleary look of dread on her friend's face though and knew something serious was going on. Indiru gestured to Ruru to follow her, and Ruru got up and hastily dressed herself before she crept out of the tent with her. There was only one spot they could go to in order to talk without being heard or seen: the entrance to the Spirit Temple. Indiru took her there and they stopped in the hallway just short of the first room.

"What's wrong? Was it another bad vision?" Ruru asked, still keeping her voice down.

Indiru gave her a silent nod but didn't say a word. She couldn't bring herself to tell Ruru that she'd just foreseen her sister's death.

"Really bad one huh?" Ruru asked.

Indiru nodded a second time, wiping her eyes.

"What did you see?"

Indiru struggled for a moment to come up with a way to spin it that wouldn't upset Ruru. Her mind suddenly flashed back to seeing the spirit of Nabooru earlier that day and an idea struck her. Yes, ghosts, of course! She could use possession for this.

"I saw... I think... some sort of evil spirit, or the Incantation, is going to take over Mewtwo's mind. I saw him attacking Kalana and he didn't look like his normal self."

A terrified look played out over Ruru's face as she responded. "That's awful! Was this something new you just saw and not related to the last vision that you didn't want to tell anyone about?"

"Yes, brand new. I'm... I'm not sure how to cope with it. Part of me is terrified it's a sign that the Doomseers are right and my hopeful visions were wrong."

Ruru shook her head emphatically, just like Indiru figured she would.

"That's a load of cucco poop! He's too powerful a sorcerer to just be possessed by a ghost! Even if he got caught off guard, this is why we're following him. As long as we make it in time to warn him then everything will be alright. Besides, the timing of when you woke me up makes it seem like you had this vision while sleeping, right?" Ruru asked.

"Yeah I did." Indiru admitted softly.

"So can you easily tell which parts are real premonition and which parts are just a dream?"

"No... not really."

"Then the whole thing could be a smelly old pile of molduga droppings that your brain made to scare you with!"

"I guess... but the uncertainty is going to bother me for the rest of the trip. I don't think I'm going to get any more sleep tonight."

Ruru furrowed her brow and gave Indiru a sympathetic, concerned look. Then her face brightened as an idea came to her.

"I know just what we can do. Let's go into the Temple together and do that ghost hunt I suggested earlier today."

"What? Why?" Indiru asked, genuinely confused by Ruru's logic.

"Because you told me you saw Nabooru's spirit earlier and that means she's still in here somewhere. The old stories all described her as a brave and selfless Heroine who would give her life to save a stranger and who loved kids. Maybe if you meet her she'll be able to help you feel better." Ruru explained.

"Isn't this going to be super dangerous though? The Temple could still be hiding some sneaky monsters and neither of us has a weapon or any warrior or magic training!" Indiru protested.

"Nope! I overheard my mom talking to the Arbiters earlier and they already swept the entire thing and found nothing alive. There was evidence of a big fire, lots of smoke, and lots and lots of dead Lizalfos and other baddies. They think Mewtwo and Kalana cleared the whole place out." Ruru replied.

"Yeah I heard that, but don't you think some could have been missed?"

"Nope! My sister doesn't just walk past a monster without noticing it!"

"Ok... but if our moms catch us-"

Ruru shook her head and cut Indiru off. "They won't catch us, you're the most skilled person at sneaking I've ever met and besides, these stone walls are so thick I bet we could scream at the top of our lungs in there and not be heard. As long as we're not gone for more than an hour or two we should be fine."

"Well... I dunno..."

"Aw come on, please? You're the one who convinced me to even stow away and come along on this mission in the first place! What happened to that adventurous spirit?"

"It's still asleep back in my tent." Indiru joked in a deadpan tone. "But I guess I do want to see the inside of a place this historic and holy..."

"That's the spirit! Come on, let's go!" Ruru said, grabbing Indiru's hand and dragging her in further.

"Hey hey hey! Stop it! I can't exactly sneak properly with you dragging me around everywhere like a leashed animal!"

"Oh, right, sorry!"

Ruru let go of her hand and the two of them crept silently down the hall into the first room. Indiru stopped to cast her gaze around the whole chamber while Ruru immediately marveled at the twin cobra statues framing the stairs.

"Whoa! Indiru look at those awesome carvings!"

Ruru ran up to the base of the left cobra statue and began to examine it up close. Indiru however took her time to slowly cross the room and observe everything carefully. She noted curiously that the torches that illuminated the chamber still looked fresh and new despite having been burning for Goddess knows how long.

"I think there's something written on the hoods of these snakes but I can't read it. The lettering is all funny." Ruru said.

She was standing on her tiptoes to even reach the inscription. Indiru came up alongside her and tried to read it too, but the text was worn down and chipped in many places.

"I can't make out much, just something about time and silver."

"Darn. Must be too old. Come on, let's keep going!" Ruru said.

They climbed the stairs briskly and curiously examined the second half of the room. Ruru tugged on the rope ladder hanging down from the opening in the ceiling while Indiru crouched down to peer into the hole in the left wall.

"I wonder what's up there?"

"I wonder what's in there?"

They each asked these questions simultaneously, then exchanged surprised and amused glances over the timing.

"Hey Ruru, think you can fit in this narrow hole? I'm just a bit too big."

"Sure, but it's really dark in there and I can't use any magic to light it up since we're still near a tower. I'm not exactly a fan of the idea of crawling around in the dark."

"Yeah me neither." Indiru replied.

They stood there for a moment staring at the hole and trying to come up with a solution.

"You know what? Neither my sister nor Mewtwo could have fit in there either, so there's no reason for us to go in there. It's probably full of small monsters that they and the guards couldn't reach and I don't have my staff with me to defend myself." Ruru pointed out.

"Makes sense. Plus, fighting this close to the entrance might make enough noise to reach the guards outside and get us caught. Besides, it looks like there's actual light up in the path in the ceiling. It makes more sense to check there first and come back to look here afterward if the upper route turns out to be a dead end." Indiru replied.

Ruru nodded energetically in response and then dashed over to grab onto the rope ladder. She seemed quite relieved that they both were on the same page when it came to making excuses to skip that little hellhole.

"I like climbing more than crawling anyway."

The duo scaled the rope with relative ease and made their way down the convoluted hallway beyond. They were stumped at the mechanical door for a further few moments just like Mewtwo and Kalana had been, then subsequently stumbled into the solution by accident too. The large sanctum containing the statue of Nariva caused them to come to an abrupt halt.

"Wow..." Indiru whispered as she took a few steps forward and stared up at the statue.

Ruru was equally moved for a brief moment before she remembered the rules that her mother had taught her. She elbowed Indiru in the side lightly and gestured to the floor, then knelt respectfully. Indiru briefly looked confused and then mortified before kneeling as well to join Ruru in prayer. Lacking the Maraqé that she normally would have used to offer a song to the Goddess, Ruru instead wordlessly sang the Requiem out loud. She felt a little bit self conscious about her singing voice but reminded herself that it was the sincerity of the song rather than the quality that mattered most to Nariva. A few moments later and the song finished, and the two of them returned to their feet and crossed the rest of the distance to the statue's base.

"Lady Nabooru? Are you there? Hello?" Ruru called out as she turned around and examined the room.

Indiru still felt a little nervous about making too much noise despite how deep they had gotten into the Temple. Instead of shouting like Ruru she curiously inspected the half-destroyed altar sitting at Nariva's feet. At first she was distracted by feelings of sadness and anger over how badly the altar had been desecrated, but then she noticed something unusual. There were two distinct sets of inscriptions carved into the flat upper surface of the altar and they actually looked brand new. The Gerudo letters were carved with a level of artful precision that Indiru had never seen before, especially in this ancient place.

"Ruru come look at this!"

"What? What is it?"

Indiru insistently pointed down at the two sets of inscriptions and Ruru came over and read the first one aloud, not knowing it had been meant for Mewtwo and Kalana.

"You who seek to banish the evil from this accursed place, raise these blessed weapons in defiance against the darkness. Hold fast to the oaths you swore and remember these two truths: 'Perseverence and willpower will guide even the most uncertain and vulnerable souls through trials of hardship' and 'True justice is not found in the pursuit of vengeance but in the prevention of further evil.' Cling not to your anger no matter how righteous, and endure though suffering no matter how profound, and the way of the hero shall lead you to triumph."

"Huh. Well I may not see any weapons here but my gut is telling me that this was meant for Mewtwo and Kalana." Indiru said.

"What about the other one?" Ruru asked.

"Not sure, lemme read it." Indiru replied, then cleared her throat and scooted over to read it out loud.

"You who seek to deliver your kin from the grasp of evil, draw your Divine Bow with arrows from this quiver and you shall never be caught wanting in your hour of need. Though your righteous fury may be well justified, remember that evil hides in many guises and delights in deception. Temper your fury with wisdom and a discerning gaze and the way of the hero shall lead you to triumph."

"That one sounds really similar to the first one. They sorta sound like Nariva was giving out blessings to people. The question is who they were? We don't know for certain the first one was for my sister and Mewtwo after all, that's just your guess."

Indiru didn't answer right away, her mind was racing in its attempt to process what she'd read. That phrase, "Divine Bow" sounded familiar and important; she had a feeling it was the key to figuring this out. But despite the nagging familiarity she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Then Indiru was overcome by a strange new sensation that made her furrow her brow in confusion.

"Hey Ruru...we should try putting something of our own onto the altar." Indiru said suddenly.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"I think there might be a blessing or two saved for us here too."

"Ooh! Did you foresee it in a vision?"

"Not exactly. Call it more of a really strong, weird hunch."

"Ok, but what sort of item should I pick? I didn't pack a bunch of stuff with me since you kinda dragged me out of my tent without giving me time to prepare."

Indiru paused and rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she pondered this question. She made a cautious hum, hoping that this weird spark of intuition would clue her in, but nothing came. Instead she just said the first logical thing that she could come up with on her own.

"I don't know. Maybe something important to you that you'll never lose or let go of?"

"Hmmm... Oh! I have a perfect idea! My princess's tiara is ideal for this!"

Ruru then pulled the small bronze tiara off of her forehead and set it down on top of the altar. It was a fairly pretty, if simplistic object that had a small pair of polished rubies set on the front and no embossment or inscription on it of any kind. Indiru wore a similar one of her own, it was meant to be a symbol of status for a younger daughter of a chief after all. Hers had sapphires on it though, reflecting the Vha'an blue theme. Older daughters like Kalana and Ciela were meant to wear silver ones, but Indiru had noticed that Kalana never seemed to wear hers. She decided to follow Ruru's example and place her own tiara on the altar too.

"Well, now what?" Ruru asked.

"Now we-" Indiru began, but a burst of golden light from the altar caused her to stop mid sentence.

"Woah!" They both gasped simultaneously.

The two of them were struck speechless and motionless as they watched their items levitate up off the altar and float up into the hands of the Goddess statue above them. The process played out exactly the same as before, with the two items flashing brightly before floating back down to come to rest on the altar afterward. The divine radiance drained off of them and pooled on the altar's upper surface before rapidly evaporating. Once the glow had faded away entirely Ruru stepped forward to examine their items first, though Indiru followed soon after.

Both tiaras had been quite thoroughly transformed. They had changed shape slightly, now forming complete solid circlets instead of their former C-shaped forms. The bronze they had been made from had been entirely replaced with reflective, polished brass, which made sense since Indiru knew that only a chief's headdress was allowed to be made from gold. The two gems in each circlet had both doubled in size and had become crystalline clear and flawless. Tiny inscriptions in Gerudo text had also appeared on the inside of their bands. Indiru started to read the one on hers but Ruru again interrupted her train of thought with a gasp and loud call.

"Indiru look! A third message appeared on the altar and it's still glowing a little!"

Indiru immediately turned her attention to the altar and just barely caught a glimpse of that divine glow before it too evaporated. It struck her that the other two inscriptions must have been created in the same way. Impulsively she began to read this new text out loud.

"You who seek to prevent the oncoming catastrophe, adorn your brows with these shining diadems and you shall receive divine protection. To the Ruby of the West I give the gift of Mind Warding, which shall grant the wearer protection from all forms of arcane mental manipulation. To the Sapphire of the East I give the gift of Greater Foresight, which shall soothe the pain of the Seer's Sight. Never forsake the youthful courage that inspired you to pursue this quest, but always remember to temper it with the wisdom of your mothers. Guided by such wisdom, your power and courage shall set you on the path of the hero and lead you to triumph."

They stood there in silence for a few moments as the importance of those words sank in. Indiru then gingerly reached down to pick up her circlet, which still felt warm to the touch. She finally read the embossed words on the inside of the band, which said "Clarity through Temperance." Curiously she looked down at Ruru's too and saw that it said the same thing.

Ruru snapped out of her speechless state finally and reached down to pick up her own circlet and examine it.

"Do you think that message is actually from Lady Nariva herself?" Ruru asked with awe.

"I can't think of any other explanation."

Ruru nodded quietly and then reached up to slide her circlet onto her head.

"How does it feel? Was there a rush of magic?" Indiru asked.

"It's a little bit warm, but otherwise no. Nothing."

Feeling encouraged by this, Indiru cautiously put her own circlet on next. It did indeed feel quite warm, but other than that it didn't seem to do anything.

"Same here. I guess we won't feel the magic until it gets activated huh?" She theorized.

"Makes sense. But wooooooooow yours looks really cool on you Indiru! All you need now is a big awesome weapon and you'd look just like a badass Heroine!" Ruru replied with vivid enthusiasm.

"Thanks." Indiru replied softly, blushing slightly. "You look really regal with yours too. It really stands out. So much so that... uh oh."

"Uh oh what? What's wrong?" Ruru asked.

"These stand out so much that there's no way our moms won't notice them!"

"So we'll just hide them until we need them then. We don't need to wear them all the time after all."

"Yeah but our moms will just ask us where our old tiaras went." Indiru retorted.

"Oh. Uhh... yeah I guess that will be a problem huh?" Ruru replied, looking crestfallen. "Maybe you can conjure a vision of what we should do? That might give us a hint."

"Normally I'd say it's not a good idea to abuse my powers for something so trivial, but we can't afford to risk our moms sending us home so I'll do it."

Indiru turned away from the altar as she prepared to call upon her powers yet again. She closed her eyes and quietly whispered a prayer to Nariva inside her mind, hoping that the promise of the circlet's function was true. Almost immediately she felt the difference and knew that it was. When the vision started to come she felt the circlet begin to tingle on her forehead. This time her senses were cloaked in a gentle shroud of soothing darkness instead of a painful, nauseating cloud of brain fog. It felt like the sensory equivalent of a slow, relaxing sunset settling over her mind. Indiru saw nothing in that darkness at first, but then an ethereal figure began to materialize in front of her. Indiru's mind immediately clicked with recognition, it was Nabooru! The spirit stepped toward her and fully materialized into a completely opaque and realistic form, then spoke.

"Hello little Seer."

"Exalted Nabooru! You're talking to me? How? This never happens when I use my powers!"

Nabooru smiled and tapped her own forehead as she replied.

"That fancy new jewelry you got makes it possible. It's expanded your gift quite a bit, making it function like it normally should have if it hadn't come to you so prematurely. Now you can see the past as well as the future, though looking backward will take a lot more training and work for you. It can also occasionally show you things unseen like spirits, though not very often and usually without as much clarity compared to this. It helps that I just happen to have the relevant Sage title that makes it much easier for me." Nabooru said with an amused smile.

"Not very often? How do you mean?" Indiru asked.

"It can vary a little bit, but once every few days if I'm sensing it right."

"Oh no, then I wasted it just to ask how to cover my own stupid mistakes! Now I can't use it if something important happens soon!" Indiru fretted in a tone filled with shame.

"It sure sounded like it was important to me. It sounds like you don't trust your mom to listen to you and believe you." Nabooru said.

"Yeah, because nobody ever does! The times when my powers mess up cause everyone to doubt everything I say! And even if they didn't, I can't risk telling them about some of these visions. Arbiter Kurala and her Doomseers might use them to justify attacking Mewtwo again!" Indiru said, all her emotions and fears suddenly coming to the surface.

"But if all you do is lie about it then the moment your lies get discovered you'll just be proving them right."

Indiru knew she was right, but the prospect of telling everyone about all her dark portents made her feel sick. Tears began to roll down her cheeks and she stammered a little as she tried to reply.

"H-how do I tell them? I'm j-just a kid! I didn't ask for all th-this! I wish I could just be normal!"

Nabooru knelt down next to Indiru and put her hand on her head to gently stroke her hair. It felt solid and real to Indiru, and very gentle and comforting.

"I know. The world is filled with injustice and it asks far too much of far too many kids your age. But I do have one piece of advice for you that could help. Just because you tell someone the truth doesn't mean that you can't put a little bit of a spin on it when you do. Take it from a wily old former thief like me, there's always a way to phrase anything to your advantage if you're clever enough."

Indiru smiled a bit and wiped her eyes. "Did you come into my vision to teach me to tell the truth, just not too much of the truth?"

Nabooru gave a hearty laugh in response and patted Indiru firmly on the back.

"I knew you were a sharp one!" She said, then tousled Indiru's hair. "I came to comfort you and warn you about getting yourself tangled up in a web of lies too complex to navigate and escape. Perhaps you do need to keep some things secret, but you can't get lost in them. You have to find a balance between the painful unvarnished truth and lies so deep that they make you lose yourself. Just like everything else in life the answer lies somewhere between the two extremes. It's up to you to find it."

"What about Mewtwo? My visions keep showing me his failure or betrayal. For my own peace of mind I want to know the truth!"

"To be totally honest I don't have the foggiest clue. I'm not the one here with the fancy Seer powers. But I did witness it firsthand here when the Goddess gave him a blessed weapon, which he used to get rid of a couple of old thorns in my side. If he did plan to betray you then that's an awfully strange way to go about it don't you think?"

Those words went a long way toward soothing the fear that had been festering in the back of Indiru's mind. It may not have addressed the vision of Mewtwo's capture, but it did put the question of his betrayal to rest. She mentally filed it away as a false vision or a concoction of her dreams and then hugged Nabooru tightly. She still felt solid and warm.

"Thank you Lady Nabooru, that does help a lot."

"No problem kiddo. I know the two of you have got this handled. The last time I met a kid with as much gumption as you and Ruru he ended up helping me to slay the King of Evil."

Nabooru ended the hug at this point and then began to turn and walk away from Indiru. Her form began to turn ethereal and suddenly Indiru realized that their time together was about to end. One last question struck her, so she called it out to her before she lost her chance.

"Before you go Lady Nabooru, can you tell me one more thing? Who was it that got that other blessing and inscription on the altar?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that. I'll tell you, just do me one favor. Tell Ruru that her Great Great Great Grandma says hello and loves her, and is very proud of her."

"Of course, I'd be honored to." Indiru replied with a nod.

"Thank you. The one who received that second blessing is none other than your older sister Ciela."

With that the vision ended and Indiru was deposited back in reality. The return trip was just as gentle as the dive too, Indiru didn't feel the usual jarring sensation of being shoved back into reality as though she had fallen from a great height. This time it felt like she had just awoken from a restful slumber without being shaken out of it by her mother. Ruru was sitting there in front of her with a worried, expectant look on her face. Indiru didn't speak to her right away though, she was completely mentally occupied with trying to process the complex flooding mishmash of emotions she was experiencing in the wake of Nabooru's revelation. It was mostly happiness to hear confirmation that Ciela was still alive, but she also felt confusion and perhaps a tinge of resentment over Ciela leaving them in the dark while running around the desert doing Goddess knows what. In the absence of any words from Indiru, Ruru scooted closer and spoke.

"Well? What did you see? Did the circlet work? I saw its sapphires glowing a little bit while you tranced out."

"Give me a second Ruru! I just got overwhelmed with a ton of stuff all at once."

Indiru stood up and began to pace back and forth in front of the altar of Nariva for several seconds. Ruru waited patiently for her to finish, but it was clear from the way her eyes followed Indiru back and forth that she was antsy for an answer.

"We have to try to tell them the truth. Or at least most of it." Indiru finally said.

"What? Didn't you say you couldn't risk it for multiple different reasons, like them sending us home?"

"They won't. I'm going to be selective about what I tell them and only give the most vital bits, like what I told you. I'll also make sure to tell them that I have a genuine intuitive feeling that we shouldn't share it with the public or Kurala and her Doomseers. I just have to phrase it all in the right way." Indiru replied.

"Do you feel confident that you can convince them?" Ruru asked.

"More than before at least. The vision helped a lot, and if I mess it up and they don't believe me, we can show them this." Indiru said, pointing down at the newest inscription. "My mom may be stubborn and overprotective but even she would have a hard time arguing with the will of the Goddess."

"That's actually a really good idea, wow! See, this is just an example of how dang smart you are! If anyone can talk some sense into our moms it's you!"

"Hey, you're smart too. I keep telling you that so you gotta listen to me, ok? You were totally right about coming in here."

"I mean not really, our ghost hunt failed. Even if we got these cool new circlets we never got to see Nabooru." Ruru replied sullenly.

A warm smile played over Indiru's face as she replied. "Well actually... about that..."

A look of confusion crossed Ruru's face, then she knitted her brow.

"She's right behind me, isn't she?" She asked, then spun around as quickly as she could to check.

Indiru giggled softly and shook her head. "No silly! She visited me in my vision. She is the one who told me to tell the truth, but to tell it carefully. She also told me something else too."

Indiru then gently reached out to take Ruru's hand and give it a squeeze, giving her a brief moment to turn around and face her again.

"She said she's been watching over us a little bit, and that she loves you very very much, and is proud of you and your bravery."

Ruru's expression filled with a cascade of emotions and a tiny little set of tears appeared in her eyes. Indiru didn't know it, but those words homed in on a hidden vein of inadequacy that ran deep in Ruru's psyche. After a childhood of comparing herself to her older sister she always felt like nothing she ever did could live up to Kalana's high bar. To hear otherwise from someone as universally exalted as Nabooru herself meant more than she could put into words. So instead of struggling to come up with words Ruru tugged Indiru into a sudden vice-grip hug. Indiru was caught off guard by the sheer steely strength of that embrace, but she happily reciprocated it regardless. In fact, after a few moments she felt her own emotions bubbling up to the surface too. She always used to confide in Ciela about her visions before Ciela was captured. Ciela had known just how to listen to her without taking on her fears about the future like their mother tended to do. After Ciela was gone and Kamilia spiraled into depression and anger, Indiru had been left with nobody she could share her fears and visions with. In that moment, as Ruru buried her face into her shoulder, Indiru finally felt as though she had a sister she could confide in again.

Chapter 27 - Only Death Here

Mewtwo stared quietly at his old Amulet of Speechcraft as he turned it over repeatedly in his hands. The cloudy old ruby had already been cracked before Mewtwo dropped it in the Spirit Temple, but now those cracks had expanded significantly and the stone looked ready to start losing pieces. He supposed that whatever magic was still huddled inside the item would most likely cease functioning entirely if pieces of the gem began to break off. It was fortunate then that the Medallion seemed to have given him the gift of unaided speech right on time. Perhaps the Medallion had forced him to drop and damage the Amulet on purpose at the same time in order to force him to use that gift rather than relying on the Amulet? It was hard to say, and he felt slightly silly for speculatively attributing thought and agency to an inanimate metal disc. He was in a strange mindset after that climactic battle finished and led into several more hours of boring, quiet desert travel back in the Helmasaur. Both he and Kalana were tired and sore from their ordeal in the Spirit Temple and weren't talking much as they drove for the rest of the day, leading to Mewtwo being alone with his thoughts. He still felt a little awkward talking verbally without his amulet, but a part of him suspected that this was mostly caused by his mind focusing on it so heavily. It'd probably become completely natural once he got used to it and focused on other matters.

Other matters soon arrived as their day-long drive through the desert finally culminated in the coming of sunset. Kalana took a little time to search for a proper spot for them to park at and wait out molduga hunting hours, and once she found a small rocky outcropping she parked and unbuckled herself.

"Phew. Dinnertime. I'm almost tempted to call it a night and go to bed here, but I know how important it is for us to get back to our schedule." Kalana said as she got up from her seat and headed back to fish through the storage lockers for their food.

Mewtwo felt the urge to make a joking comment about her being the one responsible for breaking the schedule but quickly thought better of it. The enchantment of their weapons and obtaining the Spirit Medallion made it more than worth the time. Instead he unbuckled himself and stood up to join her in the back. After a little digging around with her, he gathered a small meal and then hit the release switch on the back ramp. Once the ramp lowered, he promptly sat down on it and gestured to Kalana to sit with him.

Mewtwo had to admit it, even though the deserts that covered Hypalia were harsh and played host to countless horrifying beasts, they could be beautiful beyond words too. The hot daytime winds were calming down now, replaced by a chilly breeze that was gently flowing in from the East. Mewtwo quietly bit into one of the strips of dried Lizalfos meat that he and Kalana had prepared and preserved before leaving the Spirit Temple earlier that morning. It was so much better tasting than the Leever jerky that the immense amount of cutting and drying work had been more than worth it. The stress of the day was finally beginning to fade away now as he enjoyed all these wonderful sensations. He felt the cool wind blowing over his body, the delicious food filling his belly, and the golden-orange vista of the desert sunset shining over the sands before him. It seemed like Kalana was sharing in that feeling of serenity, as she finished her food and began to wordlessly sing a slow, drifting song while staring out at the dunes.

It was the first time he'd heard Kalana singing something other than the Song of the Valley to honor the dead. Even though her song lacked lyrics it still carried a potent amount of emotional power in its gradual drifting notes. He could feel a vibrant tone of mysticism, sadness, and uncertainty in the notes as they carried out over the dunes on the wind in gradually building crescendos. Kalana's voice wasn't soft and velvety like Sumati's, nor did she have the same refinement in how she maintained the tones, but that roughness made her voice seem to be tangibly more real. Mewtwo turned to briefly watch her sing as he finished his food and he noticed that there was a sad, wistful look on her face. She was gazing straight West over the dunes and Mewtwo imagined that she must have been thinking of Ven'rakesh and all the people she'd left behind. He wanted to ask her what she was feeling in that moment, but the idea of interrupting the song was unfathomable to him. Instead he turned back to look over the dunes again in order to avoid being caught staring. Her notes gently rose and fell, one after another, as the golden oranges of sunset slowly faded to reds and purples before them. Tiny particles of blowing sand were picked up by the wind caught the light above the dunes in front of them, periodically creating shimmering showers of colorful motes that rapidly scattered and vanished in the distance. Mewtwo found himself captivated entirely by the enchanting beauty of this and completely forgot about their plan to experiment with the Spirit Medallion together after eating. Time got away from them both as they watched the entire sunset together. Mewtwo reached down to place his hand atop Kalana's hand as the light of the sun finally began to truly fade. Even out here so deep in the harsh, inhospitable depths of the desert, her friendship and strength made him feel at home. Kalana turned her fingers up and grasped his hand as her singing grew louder, and just as the notes hit their highest crescendo Mewtwo knew that a thread of Hypalia and its people had woven its way into his heart. Even if he went back to Earth now, there would always be a part of him that would call this world home.

Kalana only let the song come to an end once the last purple light of dusk vanished into darkness of the night sky. She finally let go of his hand and turned to give him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, I think my feelings of homesickness carried me away for awhile there. We probably should have spent the time trying to figure out how to use the Spirit Medallion."

"Don't apologize, I think I needed some catharsis too. Your singing voice is quite beautiful."

"I'm no Sumati, but thank you, I will accept your kind words with all the grace I can." She replied with a smile.

"Do you miss them? Your family that is?" Mewtwo asked, turning his gaze Westward again.

"I do. We've only been gone a few days but it feels like years. I know Ruru will be angry at us for leaving without her, she probably will punch me in the gut when we get back." Kalana said with a little chuckle. "Do you miss anyone from back home on Earth?"

"Yes. I miss Mew, she was the closest thing I ever had to a friend despite the fact that we first met as foes and nearly killed each other. I saw in her eyes the sort of unconditional compassion that you can only find in a being as old and world-weary as her. She has seen untold centuries of our world, complete with all the beauties and cruelties that come with it. It is that sort of long life filled with experiences of sadness and happiness that breeds the special kind of love for all things that I saw in her. She fought me with everything she had on New Island to protect the creatures of the world, but when it was all over she turned the other cheek and gave me kindness and understanding without a second thought."

Kalana nodded softly and looked up at the sky. "We'll get to see them again when this is all over, Mewtwo. I'm certain of it. You know I never really counted myself as a Hopeseer or a Doomseer before I met you. I thought of prophecy as just another branch of the same comforting but exaggerated mythology our people have used to hold onto hope over the centuries. Up until this year's Taji Alirha there hadn't been an active Seer around during my lifetime, so I never got to see any proof of the validity of prophecy. But I figured if it brought comfort to people then who was I to judge them for it. I still don't think what we're doing now necessarily fits the prophecy that Mireth left for us, but what we experienced back there in the Spirit Temple has made it clear that Nariva is with us. That's comfort enough for me, and hopefully for you too now."

"I think it is. I still don't know if I believe that Gods are perfectly omniscient and omnipotent beings, since the concept of omnipotence is itself paradoxical, but it's clear to me now that there's more to this reality than I had been willing to admit. There is something or someone out there who empowered our weapons for us, and if she is helping us from the shadows, who am I to be ungrateful for it?"

Kalana laughed and lightly slugged him on the shoulder. "Someone or something? Come on, we've been telling you all along who she is! You're more stubborn even than Ruru about this!"

"Hah, perhaps you are right. If there's anything the Temple has taught me today, it's that I should open my mind and listen to others rather than clinging doggedly to my own beliefs. I'll trust you about this now Kalana, but I can't promise I won't try to ask Nariva just what she truly is if I ever get the chance to speak to her." Mewtwo said with a chuckle.

"Hah, just make sure you bow and show proper reverence if that ever happens. Now come on, molduga hunting hours are over and we should really get moving."

Kalana stood up and walked back inside the Helmasaur, heading for the pilot's seat again. Mewtwo followed her, hitting the switch for the back ramp as he did.

"What about the Medallion?" He asked.

"Well I need to concentrate on driving, but you can try channeling it while you sit in your gunner's seat. I think we might be clear of the territory of Twinrova's Lizalfos clan by now, assuming there are any of them left after what we did. Our path should be relatively clear for now."

"Alright, fair enough. You still have it in your pack though, do you mind handing it to me before we take off?"

"Sure. I'm a little curious to see if it will give you a vision again when you touch it this time." Kalana said, sitting down and digging the Medallion out of her pack.

"I'm of mixed feelings about that to be honest." Mewtwo replied.

He hesitated to reach out and grab the Medallion with his bare hands at first, then took a deep breath and did it. There was a brief series of tingling sensations where the smooth, cold metal touched his skin, but thankfully this time he wasn't overcome with energy and forced out of touch with reality. Kalana watched him curiously while the Helmasaur's engines started up.

"Anything this time?" She asked.

"Nothing, thank Arceus. Sure the information from a vision could be useful, but the experience is hardly pleasant. After the previous one I have a newfound sense of sympathy for Indiru."

"Well, see if you can get any sort of energy out of it at all. It's getting truly dark now so I need to focus on the drive so I don't clip any dunes, but let me know if you make any breakthroughs." Kalana replied with a nod.

"Of course."

A moment later they were once again zooming across the open desert with nothing standing in their way. Mewtwo made one more cursory sweep of their surroundings with the swiveling turret camera just to ensure there were no lurking threats he missed before the Medallion dominated his focus. When he finally ran out of excuses to put it off he sighed balefully and stared down at its polished metallic surface.

"Alright, let's just take this respectfully ok?" He mumbled.

What ensued then was nearly an hour of Mewtwo trying and failing a number of different tricks to tap into the Medallion's power. He tried charging up but not unleashing a number of his Pokemon combat techniques but failed to conjure up a mote of energy. He tried using non-combat psychic abilities like telepathy and telekinesis, but again was stymied. He even tried calling up a precognitive vision, figuring this was his most likely bet after he had had one spontaneously inside of the effects of the Drain Device earlier during his first tower raid with Kalana. Still no dice. He could vaguely sense the aura of energy surrounding the Medallion but his attempts to draw it out felt like trying to suck water out of it with a straw that had a thick blockage cutting off the flow. No matter how hard he pulled, nothing budged. Since they were still actively within the range of a tower's drain device he felt as dry and tapped out as ever. He began to systematically try abilities based on other elemental energies than psychic power next, such as electric, fire, or ice attacks, hoping that maybe one of them could attune to the Medallion better, but still nothing worked. He took periodic breaks between his attempts as he felt progressively more frustrated by his failure. It was easy to recall how effortlessly the ghosts of Twinrova could use the Medallion to just freely shoot streams of flame out of their fingertips back inside the Temple. Why could they do it when he couldn't? Maybe he needed to try a Ghost-type technique, since this was the 'Spirit' Medallion after all.

This time something different happened, he actually felt a spark of energy starting to respond! It was stubborn and difficult to grasp with his mind while he was already dry, but Mewtwo could actually sense that there was a real upwelling of energy to meet his mind's commands. It wasn't enough to actually form a full blown Shadow Ball however, it was barely enough to tingle the back of his mind before the Drain Devices sucked it away again. But the fact that he felt any at all meant that he was right, it was indeed possible for him to channel power out of it as long as he chose the right abilities. He probably just needed to practice different techniques for properly harnessing it.

"Hah, I think I may have finally got it! I felt a small trickle of energy when I attempted to use the Medallion for a Ghost-type technique from my Earth. It didn't give enough power to actually make the technique fully work but I think that's caused by my lack of experience with using the magical energies of this world. I think some simple training with Hypalian magic could be all I need to harness its full potential." Mewtwo said with excitement in his tone.

Kalana didn't look excited like Mewtwo expected though. In fact, she furrowed her brow and frowned for a moment, giving him the distinct impression that something was bothering her. She hid that expression fairly quickly though as she replied. "I guess that's good news, but I'm not really much of a mage myself. I was hoping it would just bless the wielder with its power right away."

"I was harboring a similar hope myself. I'm still puzzled as to why it won't provide me with any other elemental energy aside from Ghost type after it was clear that Twinrova could use it to power streams of fire at will. But at this point I'll take any nugget of hope I can get. Perhaps you can teach me whatever magical knowledge you yourself possess?" Mewtwo replied.

"I suppose, but not right now. Unless you feel confident in trying to take my place driving the Helmasaur." Kalana replied.

Mewtwo shook his head no. "I've never driven any sort of vehicle in my life. I always just used telekinesis to fly wherever I needed to go when I lived back on Earth."

"Alright that's fair. We'll just put a pin in that idea and you'll have to remind me to give you a lesson next time we park for a meal. Until then, mind putting the Medallion away and using the Turret's Spyglass to check ahead again? I think I see something in the distance but the darkness is obscuring it."

"Sure, give me a moment."

Mewtwo carefully stowed the Medallion in a storage compartment under one of the seats in the passenger cabin, then returned to his seat and dialed up the zoom. There was still moonlight glowing off the dunes, but the moon was starting to enter its waning phases and this meant the light wasn't as strong as it had been before. Mewtwo idly noted that the phases of the moon seemed to change faster here on Hypalia than they did on Earth, or maybe he was just losing track of time. Either way he needed a few moments at maximum zoom before he realized that what Kalana had spotted was a massive wall of blowing sand.

"Uh oh. That anomaly you're seeing ahead is a sandstorm. A big one too, by the looks of it." Mewtwo said.

"Goddesses damnit. Can you tell what direction it's heading?"

Mewtwo paused for a bit and tried to use the rangefinder on his reticle and specific dunes to track the storm's movement. He frowned when he realized that it appeared to be heading South with absolutely zero East or Westward movement. He couldn't see any boundaries to it up North, which meant it was effectively a giant wall to their progress.

"It's going straight South, and I can't see an end to it in either direction. This means we either have to plow through or stop and wait it out."

"Well given how much time we ended up spending in the Temple, we may very well have to punch through it with the Rainbow Vision on. I'm not too worried, the dunes here aren't very tall."

"Are you certain that's a good idea? It looks like a big one."

"Hey, you're the one who was worried about wasting all that time earlier. Just trust in my driving skills alright?" Kalana said with a confident smile.

"Well, alright. But at the very least I would suggest slowing down once we enter it."

"Oh yeah, I already planned on it."

Mewtwo frowned deeply as he watched Kalana's screen. Minutes passed and the dark, roaring sandstorm loomed larger and larger in front of them. Kalana flipped on the Infrared mode as they closed in on the boundary of the storm and Mewtwo followed suit. She reduced their speed considerably, to the point where they had to float up and down over the dunes instead of skimming over them. He winced a little when the storm's winds violently lashed the hull as they entered. Kalana gasped and struggled with the controls as these winds did their best to rip them off course. She managed to keep them going straight but it was clear they needed to go even slower in order to avoid drifting heavily South. The howling wind actually made it difficult for either of them to think straight and Mewtwo felt tempted to grab the earplugs he normally used to block the Sulaaq Incantation. This was easily the most intense and loud sandstorm that he had ever experienced during his time on Hypalia, bar none.

"Sa'oten, what's with this storm? I haven't seen one this bad in decades! Keeping us under control and on course feels like a damned sparring match!" Kalana grunted.

"I can see that, the sticks are visibly juddering in your hands. Are you certain you want to keep going? I'm not even worried about the risk of clipping a dune anymore, I'm more concerned about the wind blowing us off course gradually. Even with your corrections there's a good chance we've already started to slightly drift South."

"Good point, will you pass me the compass I brought along with Indiru's map?" Kalana asked.

"Certainly."

Mewtwo opened the compartment and brushed the map aside. When he picked up the palm-sized blue metal compass though, he was immediately confronted with a major problem. The needle was spinning around wildly inside the housing rather than pointing North like it should have. Confusion and dread began to churn up in Mewtwo's stomach and he held it out for Kalana to see.

"Kalana, it seems like we have another problem."

"What in the Goddesses' names?!" She exclaimed. "I've never seen it do that before!"

"I don't know why it's doing that but I assume there must be a magnetic aspect to the storm. Now what do we do?"

"I can overcorrect my steering North a little bit, just to be sure. Though maybe it's a good thing that we veer South by a few miles? Maybe we should intentionally avoid the place that Indiru marked as 'Only Death Here'?" Kalana suggested.

Mewtwo frowned and dug the map out and pointed at the canyon.

"Look, we may not know the true size of the canyon that Indiru drew here due to the lack of a scale on the map, but I can see clearly that she only drew one bridge across it. That bridge is right next to the Death Spot, so unless you want to risk adding potentially several days of additional travel time to go around the entire canyon, we'll just have to deal with it."

Kalana grumbled briefly in acknowledgment and paused a bit before replying. "Well, even if we do unintentionally drift South a little bit despite my best efforts, we'll still run into the canyon eventually. Once we do we can follow it north until we find the bridge."

Mewtwo sighed and nodded in agreement. He was still worried that the wind could gradually turn them enough that they ended up heading straight South and missed the canyon entirely, but ultimately he decided to just trust in Kalana's navigation skills since she'd been doing this far longer than he had. It didn't help his mood that the sandstorm was producing the most chilling banshee wailing that he'd ever heard from a storm like this. He had to wonder why it sounded so starkly different; the hull of the Helmasaur wasn't any different and the dunes looked roughly the same. Mewtwo chalked it up to some weather phenomenon that wasn't readily visible in the storm and sat quietly in his seat watching his turret camera screen for any signs of threats. Unfortunately these conditions were so similar to the day Ruisa died that he began to gradually flash back to that day. His imagination painted a specter of a huge bulge of displaced sand moving across the dunes toward them and he could faintly hear the phantom sound of panicked Gerudo caravan drivers over the radio. He instinctively clutched the control sticks and involuntarily pushed the firing trigger. Since they had stolen a new Helmasaur with an intact turret during their run in with the Sulaaq earlier, it actually opened fire with its signature sharp snapping report. Kalana jolted in her seat from the suddenness of the blast.

"What is it?! What do you see?! A molduga?!" She asked.

"Sorry, false alarm." Mewtwo replied sheepishly, staring out into the distance to make it seem like he hadn't just pulled the trigger by accident.

"That's alright, storms this bad are bound to create some shifting movements in the sand that are easily mistakable for the signs of moldugas."

"Yeah, and the howling of the wind isn't exactly helping my nerves. I've never heard a storm sound quite like this before." Mewtwo added.

It was at this point that Mewtwo spotted something unusual on his IR screen not too far off to his left. He tilted the control sticks to turn his view leftward and then zoomed in. It looked like a blob of ice cold... something standing out against the warmer blowing sand. Even at maximum zoom he couldn't tell what it was, though he could at least tell it was vaguely humanoid shaped.

"What is that?" He said, pointing it out to Kalana.

She squinted at it for a moment with a puzzled look, then reached down and hit the button to turn off IR mode for a moment. Now they could only see the pitch blackness of the night, which was further muffled by the blowing sand. Right in the center of the screen where the thermal anomaly had been they saw a faint, diffuse blue glow.

"I...I can't tell at all. What IS that?" Kalana asked.

"Can you drive us closer for a better look?"

"Good idea, hold on."

Kalana steered them directly toward the anomaly and cautiously took them toward it at a snail's pace. She didn't turn IR mode back on yet out of a desire to see the true nature of whatever this thing was, but it meant they were barely trundling along in order to avoid smashing into an unseen obstacle. They gradually bobbed up and down as they crested each dune along the way, practically holding their breaths the entire time. It almost felt like riding a boat on rough seas. Once they were close enough to see, Mewtwo and Kalana both gasped and then were rendered speechless by what they saw. It was the translucent, flickering figure of a ghost bathed in an eerie diffuse blue glow, and the identity of the spirit was all too familiar. Mewtwo still could see her face freshly in his memories from earlier that day, it was Nabooru. She was standing atop the pinnacle of a huge dune and holding one arm raised pointing Northwest. Once the two of them got a good look at her however, she dissolved into the darkness and was totally gone in less than a second.

"It's Nabooru again! She must be helping guide us through the storm!" Kalana marveled.

"Look, the glow reappeared further out past that dune on the right too." Mewtwo said, pointing at another spot on Kalana's screen.

"You're right, she must be following us to keep guiding us further. I'm going to follow her lead."

Kalana took them toward the next glowing blue light, and just like before they found Nabooru's spectral form pointing the way. Kalana began to whisper a prayer of thanks under her breath as she drove, following Nabooru's pointing each time they encountered her. Mewtwo noticed something off though, it seemed like each time she appeared she was pointing in a different direction. Kalana didn't notice, or if she did she didn't mention it. They ended up tracing a strange zigzagging path through the desert this way, causing Mewtwo to consider speaking up and interrupting Kalana's prayers. But something held him back; his gut instinct was telling him that this really was Nabooru and she was legitimately helping them in some strange way that he couldn't comprehend. They followed her direction at least a dozen times in this manner, and since they had to keep crawling along at the same snail's pace Mewtwo ended up losing track of time. This process of creeping through the dunes was creating a painful, paradoxical blend of nervous tension and quiet tedium that made Mewtwo fidget anxiously while he sat and waited. The first sign that something was changing was the gradual abatement of the sandstorm the further they traveled. Slowly but surely they crept Eastward, until finally they passed an abnormally long valley-shaped gap between the dunes and the storm fell off dramatically. It was almost like that gap was some sort of enchanted boundary hemming the storm in. The sky immediately opened up above them, revealing a beautiful twinkling starscape. Beneath that stellar panoply was the first non-desert landscape Mewtwo had seen since he'd come to Hypalia.

The sands stretching out ahead of them were eerily flat and they seemed to give way to rocky, dusty grey and brown ground. Even in the waning moonlight Mewtwo could see the shape of the land quite clearly. Not too far off in the distance the desert gave way entirely to brown and grey rocky hills that were 30 to 50 feet high.

"Sa'oten! Is this... the end of the Vile Desert?!" Kalana asked in a hushed tone.

As if in direct response to Kalana's question, the spirit of Nabooru appeared before them one final time. She wasn't smiling though, despite the joy in Kalana's voice. She raised her arm again and pointed toward a small cleft in the foothills ahead and gave them a deep, sorrowful frown. She closed her eyes and hung her head morosely, then faded away into the night again. Mewtwo and Kalana exchanged worried glances, uncertain of what to make of it.

"Well it's clear she knows where we need to go, but she didn't exactly seem happy about it." Mewtwo remarked.

"Indeed. I have a terrible sinking feeling about this, but what other choice do we have?"

Quietly Kalana pushed the sticks forward and they rushed across the sandy flats toward the hills. It took just a few minutes to cross the distance and the dark, uneven rocks loomed larger and larger as they approached. It wasn't until they were right up close to the narrow pass's opening that they saw why Nabooru looked so mournful. The pass was framed by a pair of ancient, rusty steel rails that were currently holding up a square wrought iron portcullis. This gate seemed designed to be raised and lowered to block the entirety of the pass, and currently it appeared to have rusted itself in place in the opened position. The terrible part wasn't the structure itself though, but the dozens upon dozens of bleached white human skulls that were bolted to the outside of it. The moonlight glowed menacingly off of the stark white bone, and as they got closer they could see a mixture of swords, spears, shields, and armor also bolted to the structure, all of which were of Gerudo make. It was a clear and obvious warning to any Gerudos foolish enough to try to return to this forsaken part of the world. Beyond the gate more skulls had been embedded in the rock faces on both sides of the pass. Kalana slowed them to a stop in front of the gate and stared at the morbid sight, then gave Mewtwo a dread-filled look.

"I guess there's no question about what Indiru meant now huh? " She said.

"Indeed. I think it goes without saying that I have a really bad feeling about this." Mewtwo replied.

"Think we should risk wasting the potentially huge amount of time needed to circumvent the hills and canyon?" Kalana asked.

"As much as I want to, the area beyond the valley is marked "Do not go North or South here", and given how thoroughly justified Indiru's warnings are looking now I think it's probably best we respect that one too."

"Good point. Alright here we go. Keep your eyes glued to that turret screen while we're in here, I don't have a clue what to expect but I know it can't be anything good."

"Agreed."

Kalana eased the sticks forward again and they began to cautiously enter the pass. Now that they were out of the storm Kalana could turn on the Helmasaur's front-facing headlights to illuminate the path ahead of them without reflecting back off of any blowing sand. The pass was too convoluted with twists and turns for Kalana to go very fast, but there were so many skulls embedded in the walls that Mewtwo still couldn't count them all as they passed. Mewtwo guessed that all of the skulls belonged to Gerudos who had once lived here, but they had similar enough bodily structure to humans that there was a good chance there were a few humans mixed in. As they progressed the amount of skulls gradually reduced and the pass widened slightly. Mewtwo kept the turret swiveling around frequently to check behind them and above them for any ambushes. His instincts were alight with fear now; he knew that the canyon had them effectively bottlenecked and if there were any Sulaaq lying in wait atop the cliffs above them it would be trivially easy for them to use long range weapons to shoot down at them. Fortunately this sort of ambush never materialized. They traversed the entire length of the canyon unperturbed after what felt like a miniature tension-bathed eternity. The skulls ended just short of the end of the pass, which opened up to a huge dusty clearing that was enclosed by cliffs on all sides. The contents of that clearing caused Kalana to slam on the brakes and gasp in amazement.

"By the Goddesses!" She whispered.

The clearing was dominated by the partially-collapsed ruins of an ancient brown cobblestone fortress that had been built up against the northern rock face. A good three quarters of the structure had been violently razed to the ground, leaving huge weathered heaps of broken stones in its wake. Only one portion of the rightmost side was left intact, and the front of it had a gaping open doorway with a sliding metal grating door that was hanging open. They could also see at least a dozen exposed gaping passages in the rock face all along the north and northwest side of the canyons, implying that the fort's inhabitants had dug into the rock to expand its interior into the living rock of the hills themselves. Rusty iron bars and the occasional cow skull protruded from the ruins in a few scattered spots. Their headlights also illuminated the faint glints of ancient, rusty old pieces of Gerudo armor and weaponry scattered in the ruins, as well as more bleached Human and/or Gerudo bones. Even the power of the headlights couldn't illuminate deeply enough into the open doorways though, instead highlighting them as square, inky maws of blackness.

Further examination of the area also revealed horse skulls and bones dotted around the open space outside the ruined fortress and a few ramps to bridge the slight elevation differences in the ground. There were two other clefts in the cliffs aside from the one they had come through too; one on the northern rockface directly to the right of the last standing structure, and one on the southeastern rock face. The eastern pass was essentially directly across from the one they had entered from, and there was even a worn track in the rock connecting them, implying this had been a well-traveled trail between the Eastern and Western regions. The atmosphere of the place was just as unnerving and eerie as the Spirit Temple had been before they exorcised Twinrova, though without the immediate feeling of being watched. There was a mournful sense to the place though; Mewtwo could tell that a lot of people had lived and died here and that gave it a haunting, sorrowful quality. This was compounded by the fact that the wind was still blowing strongly here and creating a low, mournful howling sound as it passed through the canyons.

"What is this place?" Mewtwo asked softly.

"This must have been the fortress our ancestors built during their days living as thieves and bandits on the fringes of the Kingdom of Hyrule! It's a miracle that this much of it is still standing after almost 500 years of exposure to the elements!"

"Do you want to stop and check it out?"

"We really shouldn't, we blew too much time on the Spirit Temple as is. But... maybe the numerous sandstorms we passed through along the way might slow mother and the others down?"

"That's assuming they didn't choose to drive through them like we did though." Mewtwo pointed out.

"I guess that's true..." Kalana trailed off quietly.

"Hey, Kalana listen. If you really want to stop for awhile to pay respects to your ancestors I won't complain. I fought it enough when we stopped at the Spirit Temple, and besides, we've never seen even a hint of the telltale dust clouds that a pursuing Helmasaur might kick up since we left Ven'vha. As long as we're not camping out here for several more hours it shouldn't make a difference. We've been driving for many days in a row without any real stops for recreation and that will grind on the nerves of anyone. Your heritage is important to you, so we can certainly set aside a little time to-"

Mewtwo's kind words were unceremoniously interrupted by the sight of something moving on both their screens. They were facing toward the passage in the Eastern cliffside opposite from them and now a pair of bright white headlight beams was appearing in the distance from further down the pass.

"Sa'sheer, looks like we no longer have a choice in the matter!" Kalana growled.

With lightning quick reflexes she shut off their headlights to avoid detection and then gunned the engine. They rocketed across the clearing toward the only other option they had: the pass in the Northern cliff face just to the right of the ruins. Due to the lack of visibility without their headlights Kalana grazed the rock wall on the left side of the pass, causing a loud WHAM and a violent lurch to the left.

"Careful!" Mewtwo exclaimed fearfully.

"Sorry, my nightvision hasn't had a chance to return in the absence of the headlights!"

This pass was short though, it only took them a handful of seconds for it to open up to another large clearing. This one was elongated and oval shaped, with circular shaped areas filled with old wood and stone rubble on the ends to their left and right. Since they entered this clearing facing perpendicular to its length Kalana had to slam on the brakes to avoid colliding headfirst with the sheer rock cliff face on the opposite side. She did manage to stop in time but they were jerked violently forward in their seats and caught by their seat belts. The belt bit viciously into Mewtwo's chest and waist and he felt his neck ache from the whiplash-like effect of the sudden deceleration.

"Sa'sheer, sorry!" Kalana yelped.

"Don't worry about it. Quickly, turn left and hide us around the corner so they don't spot us if they come check up here!" Mewtwo urged.

Kalana immediately took his suggestion and turned sharply to the left. She took them to the circular segment at the end, but it was so full of rubble that they couldn't quite manage to tuck the entire Helmasaur behind the corner. The most they could get was roughly half of it hidden even while pressed directly up against the rock wall. Mewtwo spun his turret around to examine the area briefly for any escape routes but unfortunately he couldn't see a single way out. The only passage out of this place was the one where they had entered. The cliff faces that hemmed them in on all sides were far too vertical and smooth for them to possibly climb even if they stacked all the debris they had on hand. Even if they tried that, they would have to abandon their Helmasaur and they likely wouldn't be able to stack it all in time before their pursuers arrived. There were some ancient ruts that ran a circuit around the path like an old race track, and some shattered bits of wood here and there, but nothing that could be useful in a fight. Then Mewtwo heard Kalana swearing loudly in Gerudo and turned his camera back around to see what was causing it. His blood immediately went cold; the headlights were coming up the pass toward their clearing!

"Stay calm now Kalana, that pass is really narrow and we can use it to our advantage as a choke point. If I can manage to shoot whatever vehicle that arrives while it's still in the entryway it will block any other vehicles behind it." Mewtwo said, trying to reassure himself as much as Kalana.

Fortunately Mewtwo had kept his eyes glued to the screen while he was talking, as the enemy convoy arrived right as he finished. Kalana didn't even have a chance to reply before the nose of a huge Sulaaq tank emerged from the pass. Mewtwo's combat instincts kicked into full gear and the world seemed to slow down around him again as he focused in on the screen in front of him. He got a good look at the emerging tank as he aimed his reticle onto it, searching for a weak point to target. It was the same sort of heavy main battle tank that the Sulaaq had sent after them during their first engagement outside the tower. It was propelled by the same futuristic hover drive technology that all other Sulaaq vehicles possessed and it was built from their signature burnished black steel. The front featured a large, deadly looking plow blade as well as multiple forward-facing razor-sharp spikes. The turret on top had two huge, stubby laser cannon barrels and was covered with finned heat sinks and vents on the back. The entire hull was thickly covered with dense armor plating, a fact which made fear course through Mewtwo's veins. He didn't know if the Helmasaur's comparatively smaller single laser turret would be strong enough to penetrate that armor. Fortunately fate threw them a bone at this point, the tank turned its turret away from them and started scanning the area on the opposite side of the clearing first. This caused the heat vents on the back of the turret to be fully exposed to them, giving Mewtwo a perfect opportunity to hit it in such a soft, vulnerable spot. He lined up his crosshairs on the biggest of the vents and pulled the trigger.

Scorching red light flashed out, illuminating the entire area for a brief fraction of a second. Their beam carved a huge hole through the vent grating and caused the tank's entire turret to erupt into a massive red fireball. The round steel enclosure burst like an over-pressurized melon and sent sizzling bolts of glowing red electrical plasma arcing through the air around the blast. The tank's hover drive instantly gave out and it slammed into the rocky ground where it stood, blocking off the pass just like Mewtwo had hoped. A big grin formed on Mewtwo's face as he watched the plume of smoke and flames billow up into the air above the wreckage.

"Praise the Goddesses, it worked! Mewtwo that was a brilliant shot!" Kalana said, laughing from sheer relief.

"It's not over yet, I see more headlights behind the wreck. I need you to grab a rifle and peer out of the top hatch. If any Sulaaq climb over the wreck on foot I need you to shoot them while my turret is recharging. Those rifles can pop shots off in rapid succession so you'll be the key to keeping them suppressed if they try to jump out of their vehicles and attack us."

"Right, on it!"

Mewtwo continued to focus on the screen while Kalana unbuckled herself and got up to rummage through their supplies for a gun. He was painfully aware of how slowly the recharge progress bar was creeping up the screen as the headlights behind the wreck got closer and brighter. Suddenly the burning husk began to jolt and jerk forward as it was rammed from behind. Of course, the plow blades were there for this exact reason. Terror resumed pumping through Mewtwo's veins as he listened to Kalana pop open the hatch. Soon Mewtwo saw the plow blade of the next tank starting to emerge from the pass as it pushed its way through. The sense of terror intensified when the two laser cannon barrels appeared next; this time they were turning directly toward them. Then he heard a pronounced clicking and hissing sound and saw some tiny blurry object sailing through the air toward the enemy tank, leaving a trail of yellow-orange sparks behind it. It was too dark for Mewtwo to immediately identify it, but the sparks clued Mewtwo in that it must have been a bomb from their stash.

A bright orange fireball erupted directly beneath the next tank, destroying the hover drives on the underside. It too instantly dropped like a boulder and joined its companion as a part of the growing blockade of wreckage. Its upper portions were still intact however, including those cannons that were still pointing directly at them. There weren't any other obvious weak points that Mewtwo could aim for though, so he lined up his reticle on the cannons themselves and pulled the trigger just as the recharge bar finished refilling. His shot lanced directly through both barrels, albeit at an awkward angle that only grazed one of them. Still his plan seemed to work; they must have been gathering a significant charge in preparation to fire. They both exploded simultaneously, releasing another cloud of those same menacing red flames.

"Goddamn fine shot! You're an ace with that thing Mewtwo!" Kalana shouted jubilantly.

"That was a mean throw from you as well!" Mewtwo replied with a relieved smile.

"Heads up though, I don't think they're done yet! I see movement!"

Kalana pointed back at the pass and Mewtwo returned his gaze there promptly. He saw a group of fresh Ravéan thralls popping open the hatch of the second tank and climbing out. Apparently the hull had still been strong enough to protect them despite the multiple explosions. The leader of the group was carrying a Sulaaq pistol and she managed to pop off a shot with surprising speed before Kalana could line up one of her own. The bright red beam burned a nickel-sized hole in the hull of the Helmasaur with a loud SNAP and a crackling hiss, burning out the driver's side screen and scorching a black burn mark onto the grey padding of the driver's seat. It must have expended most of its energy getting through the armor plating and machinery, judging by how the simple foam seat had finally stopped it. Undoubtedly if that had been fired from a full-sized rifle it would have carved in even deeper. Mewtwo felt a mixture of relief for Kalana avoiding that shot and fear that the second one might be aimed at his seat next. He began to train his turret on the thralls still climbing out of the tank despite the fact that it was probably wiser to save it for vehicles, but Kalana beat him to the punch. She released a volley of lancing red beams in rapid succession, scoring hits on all the thralls with minimal misses. Mewtwo let go of the firing trigger as he watched, feeling a brief moment of relief before his mind caught up with what he was seeing. He saw five thralls consigned to a painful scorching death right before his eyes and now the memories of the slaughter he and Kalana had committed a few days ago rose back up in his mind. He spent a few moments trying to hold back that sickening feeling and debating whether he should add these kills toward his X+56 count, but before he could make a decision his attention was again called back to reality. The second tank began to judder and jerk forward as it too was rammed from behind by a third vehicle trying to get through the wreckage.

"These goddess-damned sulir don't know when to quit!" Kalana growled.

She ducked back inside to grab another bomb while Mewtwo adjusted his aim to try and get a jump on the approaching threat. The two ruined husks made a loud metallic grinding sound as they slowly slid over the rocky ground before catching on a sharper rock and halting entirely. Mewtwo watched nervously as the entire traffic jam shuddered and squeaked from the force being applied to it by the third vehicle trying to break through. Kalana managed to find a bomb and poke back out of their top hatch, not yet noticing the destroyed screen on her driver's side, and they both waited quietly to see what would happen next. What felt like several minutes passed before the shaking came to a stop, followed by the sound of an abrupt clang.

"Seems like the two wrecks are too heavy for them to push, you shouldn't have to save your shots for vehicles now." Kalana pointed out.

"We're still not totally out of the woods yet, it wouldn't surprise me if they tried using explosives to clear the wrecks. How many bombs do we have left?"

"Uhh hold on, let me check. Keep an eye on the enemy while I count them."

Mewtwo nodded and kept motionless while Kalana returned to the compartment to sift through their supplies.

"Just five left. I thought I had brought more than enough but I didn't expect to be using them on tanks."

"We should try to preserve at least one or two of them in case there's more molduga-infested desert beyond these rocky hills."

"Agreed. In hindsight we really should have raided the armory of that last tower while we were there." Kalana replied as she returned to the upper hatch.

"True. At least some ammo would have been- Oh, heads up!" Mewtwo said, interrupting himself when he saw more thralls approaching.

Three more Ravéans wearing mind control helms were clambering over the burned wreck of the tank that had blocked the pass. They were even easier to spot than their predecessors since the headlights of the vehicle behind them cast their silhouettes into sharp relief. Kalana set down her bomb and began to pop off another volley of quick, precise shots that picked them off while they were still climbing. With a series of ear-piercing reports she efficiently ended another seven lives. Mewtwo felt the overpowering urge to turn off his screen or hide his eyes as the slaughter progressed but his logical side maintained its grip for now. It became increasingly difficult for him to maintain that grip though; every flash of laser fire from Kalana's rifle illuminated the grisly scene in bloody crimson freeze frames as the Thralls tumbled down to the ground and formed a messy pile of limp bodies. Mewtwo could feel the shakes starting to come on again as he watched. When it finally stopped a total of ten thralls had been killed and an uneasy silence fell over the area. Both he and Kalana practically held their breaths as they waited for any additional signs of life from the enemy position. The headlights of the third vehicle were still shining out of the pass but nobody else emerged or tried to ram the wrecks. This at least gave Mewtwo a few moments to attempt to shove that sickening guilt back down and return to a colder, more calculating survival mindset again. He somehow managed it, but not before mentally tallying up all the thralls he'd let Kalana kill by inaction here in the valley. X+71.

"Think that was all of them?" Kalana asked quietly.

"Seems like it. They might be trying to wait us out though."

"Hmmm you're right. Hold on, I have an idea."

Kalana climbed back down inside and started to sit in the pilot's seat, but she immediately noticed the smoldering hole that had been blown through the screen.

"Sa'oveer! This must have been caused by that one shot they managed to get off. This is dire news Mewtwo, we can't drive in this state!"

"I don't suppose we can reroute the steering controls to the turret station can we? My screen still works."

Kalana shook her head. "I wish. Unless you know how to completely re-wire their technology."

"Unfortunately no. We may have to go the rest of the way on foot."

Kalana slammed one fist on the control panel and began to spout a long string of Gerudo profanity that included several words Mewtwo hadn't heard before. Thankfully it was clear she was directing it at the Sulaaq and not him.

"This means we're going to have to leave a bunch of gear behind Mewtwo. Unless you feel confident carrying more than 100 pounds of weight on your back for what could be hundreds of miles!"

"Before we panic about that let's deal with any Sulaaq remnants here first. We may have to sneak over and peer down the pass to assess our situation."

"Not on foot we're not! If this is a trap they'll open fire on us the moment we peek our heads around the corner."

"Well, we could huddle behind the wrecks and toss a bomb over to destroy whatever is waiting behind them. But what if the third vehicle was a Helmasaur that had been carrying all those troops? We know the Sulaaq send Helmasaurs along with their tanks after seeing it in their last formation. It could be a perfectly intact replacement for this one and I don't want to blow it up too."

This suggestion actually gave Kalana some pause. She furrowed her brow and hummed as she plumbed her brain for ideas for several seconds.

"Hmmm...I do have one idea but you're not gonna like it. Come with me and take my bomb, but try to be quiet."

Kalana passed her bomb to Mewtwo and climbed up out of the top hatch. He scrambled out after her with a worried frown as a sinking feeling washed over him; he didn't exactly want to know what Kalana was planning given the tone in which she'd said it. Icy cold desert night winds whipped over them as they emerged, causing Mewtwo to shiver and clutch his cloak around himself. He followed Kalana closely and mimicked her as she pressed herself up against the rock face. They sidled along the rocks quietly and stopped once they reached the wreckage-choked pass. Kalana then examined the smoldering ruins in closer detail for a few moments. It was much easier to make out everything this close up, which allowed Mewtwo to see that he couldn't poke his head around the corner anyway even if he wanted to. The wreckage of the second tank had jerked to the side hard enough that it was jammed against the corner and was now blocking line of sight entirely. Kalana seemed encouraged by this though, she quietly pumped one fist in the air and knelt down next to the bodies of the thralls they had just killed. She began to whisper a quiet prayer in Gerudo for a few moments and Mewtwo turned away, not wanting to watch as she performed what he assumed to be a funerary rite for them. But then he heard her say something in Common that caused a chill to race down his spine.

"Please forgive me for what I'm about to do."

Mewtwo immediately returned his gaze to Kalana to see what she meant and his eyes boggled in disbelief. She was picking up one of the bodies and hefting it up toward the top of the wreckage!

"Kalana! What in Arceus's name are you doing?!" He whispered angrily.

"Using the last, best method left at our disposal to check for hostiles! Unless you want to risk your own body doing this!"

Kalana's impressive strength allowed her to hoist the thrall high enough to slide out on top of the wrecked tank in full view. No laser fire flashed out, so Kalana grabbed a hunk of shrapnel and hurled it over the wreck at the source of the headlights to try to get their attention. Mewtwo heard it clank against a vehicle's hull, then Kalana grabbed the dead Thrall's arm and raised it to wave limply. Still nothing happened.

"And you scolded me for disrespecting the Spirit Temple!" Mewtwo hissed resentfully.

"Shh!" She hushed him, then listened for a few more moments. "I think it's clear."

With that Kalana poked her head out over the wreck and squinted her eyes as the headlights immediately partially blinded her. A moment later she ducked back down and gave Mewtwo a nod.

"Looks like another Helmasaur, probably abandoned now. The rear ramp is open but facing away from me so I couldn't see inside."

"Last time they sent Helmasaurs after us with thralls inside there was a Chosen hiding in the pilot's seat. We should assume the same thing is going to happen again. He's probably not firing the turret at us as a way to make us think it's empty so he can ambush us when we try to board it. We shouldn't let down our guard." Mewtwo pointed out, shaking off his resentment to focus on the moment.

"Good point. But if your theory about the drain devices affecting the Chosen is correct then all we need to deal with him is this." Kalana replied, patting her Sulaaq rifle.

"Even if my theory is wrong I doubt his defenses can stand up to multiple shots. I know from personal experience it only takes two or three to take down my strongest psychic barrier. Just be ready to fire repeatedly on anything we see in there. Come on."

Mewtwo clambered over the husk of the wreck cautiously, avoiding the thrall's body and the huge steel spikes that were still intact. He tried to train his gaze on the enemy Helmasaur's turret to watch for the telltale red glow of the laser's charging sequence, but the headlights were too overpowering for him to see it. Kalana was right behind him as he jumped down onto the ground on the other side of the wreck and drew his Sulaaq pistol. Before doing anything else they looked behind the Helmasaur for any other vehicles in the formation and thankfully saw nothing. No more tanks, no other Helmasaurs, not even a single ground troop. Feeling a little emboldened by this they quietly sidled along the side of the 'saur and peeked around the corner to look into the interior with guns at the ready.

Nothing. It was totally empty, including the pilot and gunner's seats. Relief flooded through Mewtwo's veins at this point but he didn't allow himself to relax just yet. They may have been alone now but he still could hear something strange coming from the pilot's cabin. With his pistol still raised Mewtwo cautiously crept aboard and made his way up there, checking thoroughly for bombs and booby traps the whole way. Once he got to the pilot's seat he realized that the strange sound he had heard was static crackling and a faint voice over the radio.

"-last chance! Patrol Unit 36 report!"

Kalana, who had hunched over right next to Mewtwo, grabbed the radio handset and did her best monotone, mind-controlled thrall impression.

"This is 36. No hostile activity detected. False alarm."

The voice on the other end didn't exactly sound convinced. "What is your callsign? Why didn't you start with it?"

"I...uhhhh..." Kalana trailed off, caught off guard by the question.

A moment later a beautiful melodic Gerudo voice began to come through the radio. Mewtwo couldn't understand almost all of it, he could just pick out one or two articles or common words like "and". It was pretty though, the voice was soothing and velvety almost like Sumati's. But suddenly Kalana's entire demeanor seemed to change; her arms went limp at her sides and her eyes began to glaze over. Icy horror jolted through Mewtwo's veins as he realized that the voice was the Incantation! He slammed his hand onto the button to shut off the signal and the radio immediately went silent, but he could still hear the sound coming from somewhere behind him. He spun around and spotted an omnidirectional speaker built into the ceiling in the same spot as the ones he'd seen in the last cluster of Helmasaurs. He fired a pistol shot into that speaker, instantly destroying it but inadvertently blowing a hole in the ceiling. The blast sent glowing hot sparks and smoke scattered through the interior, some of which landed in Mewtwo's cloak and began to ignite. The Incantation finally stopped but Mewtwo was forced to desperately stomp out the glowing motes on the cloak before they could spread. Once he finished he spun around to check on Kalana and saw her pointing her rifle directly at his head! Panic caused him to briefly freeze up; he couldn't bring himself to hurt Kalana but he didn't want to die like this. Fortunately the dull glazed look finally faded out of her eyes and she shuddered and lowered her gun.

"Mewtwo? Wh-what just happened?"

"They began broadcasting the Incantation over the radio after you didn't give them a callsign. I had to shut it off and shoot out the overhead speaker to free you." Mewtwo replied, taking a deep breath to calm himself only to get a lungful of nasty smoke from the damaged ceiling.

Mewtwo was overcome by a sudden, nasty coughing fit as the smoke made his lungs fill with a terrible burning sensation. He fell to his knees and gasped in some of the fresher air from below the smoke cloud and Kalana knelt down to join him. She grabbed his cloak and used it to fan the rest of the smoke out of the back door.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"Fine. Just a little sore throat from that smoke. Give me a moment to clear my lungs."

"How did you manage to avoid getting enthralled too? You didn't have any earplugs in either." She asked.

"I don't know for sure, but I think it's because I couldn't understand 95% of the Gerudo words. I picked out one or two but it wasn't enough to derive any meaning."

"Wow. To think that things would be over for us right now if Mother had been more thorough in teaching you our language!" Kalana laughed.

"We don't have time to laugh about it though, undoubtedly the Sulaaq will have more forces on the way here now to investigate this incident. We need to grab our things from the old Helmasaur and get out of here immediately. We may only have minutes if there are other patrols closeby that they can divert to us."

"Right, let's get moving!"

Kalana and Mewtwo got to their feet and ran back to the old Helmasaur to grab loads of food, water, and gear to haul back to the new one. They both loaded themselves down much heavier than they would normally in order to make fewer trips, but it still took several runs to fetch everything. Every time they returned to the new Helmasaur Mewtwo couldn't help but glance further down the pass to check for any new headlights coming in the distance. Luck favored them again however, they managed to transfer all of their belongings uninterrupted with no signs of Sulaaq reinforcements coming to interrupt them. Kalana jumped into the pilot's seat as soon as they finished and Mewtwo took his spot at the gun. It took a second to close the rear ramp and turn them all the way around but soon they were zooming back down the pass toward the ruined fort.

"Oh Goddesses!" Kalana gasped fearfully when they arrived.

Their luck had once again run out. Kalana slammed on the brakes as soon as she spotted the telltale glow of more headlights in both the Eastern and Western passes framing the fortress's clearing. They were trapped in the middle of a pincer attack with nowhere to run! The headlights were faint for now, implying the vehicles were fairly distant, but they still wouldn't have much time given the speed those vehicles were capable of.

"Get up! We have to go hide in the ruins! NOW!" Kalana yelled urgently as the Helmasaur came to a stop.

In a near-panicked state she tossed the top hatch open and abandoned all their supplies except for Scimitar Azria and the rifle strapped to her back. Mewtwo frantically grabbed the Vatorsa Spear and his knapsack, then climbed out after her. He did his best to follow her as she sprinted desperately toward the ruins.

"What about the food?!" Mewtwo called out after her.

"It won't matter if we're caught or shot!"

Mewtwo was already too out of breath from running to argue any further. He didn't dare look back as he sprinted through the jagged rocks, instead fully focusing on watching the ground and safely navigating the uneven terrain. They were very fortunate that there was still some moonlight they could see by. Mewtwo expected Kalana to take them to the intact portion of the ruins but instead she veered off to the left and made for one of the artificial cave entrances carved in the rocky cliff face. Ultimately he didn't care, shelter was shelter, but it did take significantly longer for them to reach. They had to have been cutting it close as they ducked inside but he didn't dare take the time to look backward and check.

Inside it was pitch black and they were forced to slow down to a crawl once they left behind the faint beam of moonlight flowing in through the mouth of the passage. They were reduced to blindly groping along the sandstone walls at a snail's pace to avoid slamming headfirst into something in the choking darkness. The passage turned left almost immediately and Mewtwo felt a measure of relief return as they turned the corner and passed out of direct sight lines to the entrance. He followed Kalana closely as she slid along the wall, cautiously probing for any obstacles in front of her.

"As soon as we get deep enough to conceal the ambient light from it I'll pop a flare." Kalana whispered.

"That might not be a good idea. If they come down here to search for us we won't be able to put it out easily until it naturally exhausts itself."

"If they come down here to search for us we're dead anyway. Nobody remembers the layout of this place, for all we know the Sulaaq or the Hylians razed it all to the ground. We could be walking right into a dead end."

"Then it's all the more important we find a good hiding spot and hope they move on quickly. I know I'm-"

Mewtwo was cut off by Kalana coming to a halt in front of him, causing him to accidentally smack into her back.

"Sa'sheer, be careful!" She snapped.

"Why are you stopping?" Mewtwo growled.

"The wall ended. It's opening up to a large room and I can't see a millimetre in front of my face. Hell with it, I'm striking a flare anyway!"

"No, wait!"

A muffled snap and a bright hiss of sparks filled the air as Kalana snapped the flare's head and ignited it anyway. Mewtwo's eyes were horribly blinded by the brightness of it after having adjusted to the darkness and he raised his hands to shield them.

"Kalana come on, they could be right around the corner behind us!" He growled.

She didn't reply though, so he lowered his hands and tried to only block the flare while checking their surroundings. They had indeed entered an open room that was square shaped and roughly 50 feet wide on each side. The walls were made of the same dull brown and tan cobblestone, but unlike the Spirit Temple it was sloppily constructed and lacked any inscriptions or decorations. Assorted debris was scattered around the room, most in individual pieces but some in piles. Most of the debris looked like dry, rotten wooden shards from crates, but there was also a shattered table and some ruined chairs. There were dozens more dry white bones scattered all over the floor too, including distinctive human skulls like the ones mounted to the gate. Mewtwo felt dread churning in his stomach as he took this all in and he checked the walls for any other exits. There was thankfully one more open hallway to their left that led to some steep stairs going up, which Kalana immediately made a beeline for. Mewtwo felt glad for the fact that they weren't lingering in that room; the numerous skeletons and the mournful howling of the wind in the corridor behind them made it a terrifying place to stay in for long. He climbed the stairs and panted loudly, still feeling weighed down with exhaustion after sprinting across the clearing earlier.

Once the duo summitted the staircase they were greeted with a horrifying sight; the passage had been blocked off by what appeared to be a cave-in! A huge mound of collapsed rock had filled the entire width of the hall nearly all the way up to the ceiling. Kalana's flare allowed them to see that only just a tiny crack of space was visible at the top of the mound, and behind it was empty darkness.

"Sa'oveer! I was hoping we could find at least something to hide behind!" Kalana lamented.

"Wait, we're not ruined just yet. Look at the top of the pile, the ceiling is flat and intact, and there's a gap. This isn't a real cave-in, someone pushed these rocks down here and it looks clear on the other side. Help me dig! If we can get to the other side we can stack the rocks back up to the ceiling and make it look like a real dead end!" Mewtwo exclaimed.

"Right! Remember, push the rocks through to the other side while we widen this so we can reach them when we get to the other side!" Kalana replied.

The duo got to work with all the speed that desperation and terror could give them. They shoved huge armfuls of stones forward and soon there was a loud clattering cacophony as the rocks rolled off and hit the floor on the other side. Mewtwo grunted and panted as he exerted himself more, and he stifled a few coughs as their work kicked up clouds of dust. Fear drove him to periodically glance back down the stairs behind them for any signs of Sulaaq, but fortunately none came. The difficult nature of the work and Mewtwo's raw anxiety made the task feel like it was taking hours, but eventually they cleared a passable gap and Mewtwo decided it was good enough.

"I'm going through!" He said, climbing up to the top of the pile and starting to crawl in.

Mewtwo could feel his tail grinding painfully against the ceiling and his chest getting bruised and cut by the jagged rocks beneath him, but the adrenaline coursing through his body helped him to shrug off the pain. He was forced to stop for a moment when he felt a larger, sharp rock catch against his shoulder and block him in place. He tried scooting to the side of it but the rocks were too narrow on both sides and he couldn't budge more than a centimeter or two. Then he tried pushing on the rock to get it out of the way, but it wouldn't budge an inch. After several seconds of struggle he heard Kalana whispering urgently to him.

"Hurry up! We spent a lot of time digging already and they could arrive at any second!"

"I'm trying!"

Mewtwo gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw, then pushed on anyway. The rock gouged a deep gash in his shoulder and cut a vertical line down his chest as he passed through. He found himself wishing that he had a more human-like anatomy in this moment, as the protruding chest bones of his species made this cut and grinding far more painful and damaging than if he had had a simple flat human chest. At least the cut stopped once he pushed that through, his stomach was flat enough to hardly even graze the rock. He got a second dose of painful slicing when it came time to push his legs and tail through though; it slashed him even deeper there than it did on his upper body due to how wide his lower body was built. He couldn't help but groan in agony as he felt the rock carve through him. Finally he pushed free entirely and tumbled down to land on the rock pile waiting for him on the other side. He scrambled to his feet and rapidly dug through his pack for a potion while Kalana began to climb through the gap after him. He could feel an unnerving hot wetness soaking into his cloak and his fur and knew he was bleeding profusely. If cuts that deep didn't warrant spending another potion he didn't know what would.

"Oh Goddesses, is this your blood?" Kalana asked fearfully.

"Yes, watch for that one really large, sharp rock." He replied as he rifled through his pack in the darkness.

Mewtwo couldn't find it in the gloom, but once Kalana had pulled herself through and brought the flare with him he was able to find the sealed flap holding the potion and unbutton it. The light also illuminated the gashes on his body and Kalana's, he could see she had struggled with that rock too. Wincing, Kalana examined his wounds as he uncorked the potion.

"By Nariva you weren't kidding. Seems we both got cut pretty badly. At least it looks like it's only a flesh wound, we can split the potion evenly between us and it should be enough. Let's pray they don't steal any of the others we left in the Helmasaur."

Mewtwo nodded and gulped down half of the bottle's contents, then passed it to Kalana so she could chug the other half. The ragged, jabbing pain immediately came to a halt and the wounds rapidly stitched themselves back together with the same speed and effectiveness as his psychic healing, though the blood still stained his fur and cloak.

"Pray they don't hear us while we move these rocks too. Come on, no time to waste!" Mewtwo urged, getting back to work to re-stack the stones back to the ceiling.

Once Kalana's wounds were healed too she set aside the empty bottle and the flare and got to work grabbing armfuls of rocks to stuff into the gap. With a clumsy, scrambling desperation they slowly filled it up to the top, though Mewtwo continued to visualize lights appearing in the darkness on the other side for the entire duration of the job. He could also feel an annoying tickling on the back of his throat as he continued to breathe in more dust. More than once they lost progress due to the rocks coming loose and sliding back down the pile, and Mewtwo had to stop and cough once or twice as well. His lungs were still irritated after he had accidentally breathed in those fumes inside the Helmasaur. Fortunately no Sulaaq showed up to catch them in the act and they managed to completely seal the gap. Kalana leaned down to grab the flare and used its light to inspect their work, wanting to make sure it looked convincing.

"There's a gap right there, look." Mewtwo said, pointing out a small hole on the right side.

"I see it. Patching." Kalana replied, grabbing more rocks.

After a minute or two more of fixing they had all the holes filled. It still wasn't entirely convincing as a real collapse since it was stacked against a flat, intact ceiling, but by now enough time had passed that Mewtwo felt they were pushing their luck.

"There, good enough. Let's go, I want to get deeper into this place so they can't hear us if they come up to the rocks and listen." Kalana said, dusting her hands off.

"Right, good idea."

The duo turned and set off down the corridor together at a good running pace to get as much distance as they could. It was deathly still in this corridor too; the only sound they could hear was their own movement. Even as they got away from the clouds of rock dust and dirt the air still felt tepid and musty. Occasionally they spotted a cow skull mounted to the wall as a form of macabre decoration.

"Your ancestors had a very different taste in architecture and decor didn't they?" Mewtwo remarked in an attempt to regain some levity.

"To be fair there's a good reason why our scholars refer to the time when this was built as our greatest dark age. Ancient Gerudos couldn't sustainably forage or farm for food for a long time while they were subjugated by the Hylian monarchy. You can't afford to build or live extravagantly when you're forced to live like that. I suppose looking at all this now gives me a little bit of perspective about life in Ven'rakesh." Kalana replied with a dark little chuckle.

"Perhaps, but even if Ven'rakesh and the other settlements are more luxurious than this place, you are still living under the constant threat of Sulaaq enslavement. Life in a gilded cage is still life in a cage." Mewtwo retorted.

"You raise a very fair point. I'm still going to count my blessings though."

They continued on for a bit longer in quiet contemplation, though soon the light from the flare revealed something that drew immediate attention. They were making decent progress dashing down that hallway when they encountered a huge, six foot tall wooden barricade blocking the path. It wasn't an impediment to their progress however, simply due to the fact that a huge hole had been smashed right through it in the center. It looked as though a gigantic wrecking ball had simply plowed right through the wood with raw brute force, sending hundreds of shards of shredded wood all over the floor. The wood was old, grey, and riddled with dry rot, but they still had to step gingerly over it. Beyond it were two more that were identical to the first, right down to the hole smashed through them. The ceiling was also surprisingly high in here, with multiple old wooden support beams propping it up. Further ahead Mewtwo could see a beam of moonlight shining down through a sharp turn to the left, implying an opening to the outdoors just ahead. Kalana halted in her tracks and carefully leaned down to brush the wood splinters aside to make a clear spot for the flare, then set it down. She then put a finger up to her lips to signal a need for silence and began to quietly creep toward the corner in order to peek around. Mewtwo felt a little worried at first that she might be spotted by their pursuers, but he figured that the stairs had taken them so far upward that the opening was probably dozens of feet above ground level. As long as she was cautious not to show herself it could be a good vantage point to spy on the enemy from. She peered around the corner quietly for a few seconds, then suddenly began to step around it while gesturing to Mewtwo to follow her.

Once Mewtwo caught up to Kalana they found themselves stepping into a large square room that had been carved into the rock. The far side was entirely open to the air and had no wall or guard rail, and moonlight was shining down into it through that open space. The room was about 40 square feet in size and possessed no furniture or items of any kind, though there was a small square hole in the floor. As they entered they were careful not to get too close to the ledge due to the risk of being seen, but they did peek down through the hole in the floor. There was another small square room down there that was equally barren and empty, with its only distinguishing feature being one small window that opened to the outside and allowed some moonlight in. Satisfied they hadn't missed anything important, they slowly laid down on their bellies and scooted up to the ledge so they could peer down into the clearing below.

The view from this high up was perfect; they could see the entire contents of the clearing including the ruins and the two passages heading East and West. The enemy was easy to spot since all their vehicles had their headlights still blaring at full strength. Four more tanks and two more Helmasaurs had showed up, and about fifteen thralls in Ravéan clothing were picking through the ruins with guns at the ready. Mewtwo's blood nearly froze in his veins when he spotted the familiar shape of the Zoroark Chosen standing next to the closest tank and overseeing the search. It was a good thing none of them seemed to be paying attention to the big gap in the cliff face this far up. A sickening mixture of horror and anger began to boil up in Mewtwo's stomach, feeling almost like a briny sea foam of bile and adrenaline in his gut. He ducked back behind the ledge and gripped the Vatorsa Spear tightly.

"He's here. That same fucking monster who killed all those thralls is here." Mewtwo whispered.

"I see him. Looks like he's letting his troops do all the searching work for him, which is good news for us. The Incantation renders thralls dull and robotic with little insight or intellect. They'll probably see the 'cave-in' and not bother with checking whether there's anything behind it. We might just get out of this alive." Kalana replied.

Mewtwo didn't have much else to say in response, he was too distracted by the churning maelstrom of emotion that was chewing through his mind like a blender. If this really was the same Chosen that had been hounding him from the beginning then that meant it had oceans of blood on its hands. Not just the indirect blood from propping up the whole slave-harvesting system, but directly harvested blood from the thralls he'd killed in the first tower raid, all the thralls from the big tank battle in the desert a few days ago, and maybe even Ruisa's blood if he'd been responsible for sending those Moldugas. Red began to tinge Mewtwo's vision and he reached down to grab the Sulaaq pistol he kept holstered at his waist. Acting on almost pure instinct he crawled back up to the ledge to peer down a second time.

"Kalana what's the effective range of these pistols?" Mewtwo asked, raising his and taking aim at the Chosen.

"More than enough to kill him from here, but please don't try it! We don't know if it's strong enough to kill him in one shot and he could easily hop into a tank and blast us!"

"I'm certain one shot will do it as long as I hit him in the head. He's a sitting duck down there Kalana, the headlights have lit him up brightly and he's standing stock still."

"And then what happens after you kill him? If he's a high ranking officer then his death won't go unnoticed. They will flood this whole ruin with soldiers and eventually find us! At least right now we stand a chance of escaping unnoticed if his thralls find nothing and he gets too impatient to check up here. If we can outlast him by hiding up here as long as we need to then he will probably assume we escaped already and leave to comb the desert instead."

While Kalana was speaking the Chosen got up and began to walk. He was heading toward the one intact section of the ruined fortress and his thralls were turning to follow him. Mewtwo tried to track his movement with the barrel of his gun but Kalana reached out to grab it and pull it away.

"Isn't killing their leadership what we came out here to do?" Mewtwo whispered in protest.

"Yes but there has to be a reason why the route Indiru foresaw for us takes us even further East instead of ending here. She must have seen an even more important target for us to kill out there. We need to survive the journey there, not get ourselves killed for just one commander out of what could be many. Besides, we might get another chance to kill him later when we arrive there."

Mewtwo knew she was right but the urgent desire for easy revenge was still overwhelming. He nearly pulled the trigger anyway, but then he remembered the message that Nariva had left for them back in the Spirit Temple. Its meaning had been clear, killing purely for revenge alone wasn't the solution, he needed to follow the path that truly ended the Sulaaq regime once and for all. Still feeling that rage bubbling in his belly, he repeated the second mantra from their weapon engravings quietly in his mind. "Righteousness through Grace." He kept repeating it until the Chosen vanished into the structure below. He took a deep breath and lowered the pistol, then scooted back away from the ledge.

"I hate letting that... thing get away, but you're right Kalana. As always."

"Well maybe not always, but often enough. Come on, let's head back inside and stay out of view. I know this is hard for you, but thank you for trusting and listening to me."

Kalana scooted back away and then climbed to her feet before leading Mewtwo back inside. Once they were safely sheltered again she comforted him with a soft hug. Gratitude soothed the red out of Mewtwo's vision and he wordlessly returned that embrace for several long moments. Once again Kalana proved to be a vital stabilizing force in his life and Mewtwo found himself wondering how he'd ever get by if something happened to her.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that this won't be the last we'll see of that particular Chosen. You'll get your chance for revenge. He damn near killed Ruru along with the other thralls back when we first met him, so I'm just as eager as you are to put a blade through his belly. We just have to find a better time for it than when we're backed into a corner like this." She said, then slowly eased out of the hug.

"Thank you Kalana, you are truly a peerless friend and sister."

"I do my best." She replied with a smile.

Kalana's grin was just barely visible in the edges of the moonlight shining through the doorway. By now their flare had gone out so there were no other sources of light left. Mewtwo took another breath and counted himself blessed to have ever met her.

"So what now? Do we really just sit up here and wait until they leave?" He asked.

"Yup. All night long if we have to. It looked like they were taking their sweet time with their search after all. Come on, let's get a little bit deeper into the hallway so we can avoid the cold night winds blowing in from the desert. We can't light a campfire without giving away our position after all."


A tense, nerve-wracking night was waiting for them. While Kalana's plan seemed reliable they couldn't afford to bet both of their lives on it by risking going to sleep simultaneously. They took turns sleeping in short shifts and occasionally peeked out over the ledge to check and see if the Sulaaq were still there. Unfortunately the Sulaaq lingered all the way until dawn began to peek up over the horizon, and by then Kalana and Mewtwo had each only managed to get a handful of hours of sleep between them. Clouds drifted out of the east and covered the sky as dawn arrived, causing the sun's rays to appear muted and grey. The sound of angry yelling caught the ears of Mewtwo and Kalana, who were all too eager to have an excuse to climb out of their groggy stupor and peek over the ledge.

The Zoroark Chosen from the previous night was re-emerging from the intact portion of the ruins, carrying a flare in one clawed hand and a laser pistol in the other. He was followed by his band of Ravéan thralls, who now notably looked battered, bloody, and beaten. Several were still actively bleeding from ghastly open wounds and three were visibly limping. Mewtwo also noticed that their numbers had been reduced dramatically, at least by half. He tried to count them as they emerged from the structure but he was distracted by the sound of the Chosen yelling. He was being so loud that Mewtwo could easily understand every word even from all the way up on the ledge.

"USELESS!" He bellowed, face bulging with cartoonish rage.

The thralls were totally silent in response. They merely lined up at attention in front of the Chosen with eerily robotic motions. The injured ones didn't even cradle their bleeding wounds, and their helmets made their expressions impossible to see.

"If I had access to even ONE of my old brigade of shock troops we would have found those vermin in less than an hour! And yet despite us outnumbering them ten to one you somehow managed to let them slip away into the night right beneath our noses! And as if that's not humiliating enough, you let some rusty five hundred year old traps built by primitive desert rats decimate your squad! If I wasn't being forced to rely on you I'd feed the entire lot of you to the biomass processor right now!"

Again the thralls were totally silent in response. Their robotic posture didn't even flinch in the face of his tirade. Mewtwo and Kalana exchanged shocked glances and kept listening quietly. Instead of ranting some more though, the Chosen raised his pistol and aimed it at one of the thralls. He gave one simple order as he flipped the safety off.

"All injured units step forward three paces!"

Seven of the thralls stepped forward as instructed, leaving just five healthy ones behind. With a flash of red the Chosen opened fire on the leftmost injured thrall. The crimson beam gouged a smouldering hole in her pelvis and burned a black mark onto the ruins behind her. She crumpled to the ground without a sound while the Chosen aimed at the next injured one in line.

Seething disgust and righteous fury boiled up in Mewtwo's gut as he watched the callous display of violence below. He reflexively grabbed his own pistol and began to aim it at the Chosen again, but Kalana grabbed his hands and restrained him a second time.

"Mewtwo no! Remember what we discussed last night!" She whispered emphatically.

Mewtwo knew she was right and he didn't have any new counter-arguments to the points she'd made before, so he allowed her to pull his gun down without arguing. Just like last night he focused his mind on Nariva's Second Mantra, "Righteousness through Grace." This seemed to work to calm his urge to shoot, but his stomach turned intensely as he laid there and watched the Chosen keep firing. The inaction meant that he had to add these deaths to his kill count too. X+72, X+73, X+74, X+75, X+76, X+77, X+78. Once the Chosen had finished culling all of the injured from his squad he lowered his pistol, tossed the dead flare to the ground, and pointed at their idling tanks.

"The rest of you, each take one vehicle and form up behind me. We're going to sweep the wasteland past the hills again since there's no way they could have snuck past the bridge checkpoint without being detected!"

The thralls wordlessly obeyed and filed into the tanks and Helmasaurs one at a time. In just a few scant minutes they had packed up their whole squad and took off down the Western pass, heading for the desert. They left the dead thralls lying unceremoniously in the open and fortunately didn't bother taking or destroying the abandoned Helmasaur that Mewtwo and Kalana had left their supplies in. Mewtwo watched idly as their formation vanished into the hills and frowned as something began to bother him about what he'd just overheard. Why did the Chosen seem so desperate to find him now? It had only been a few days since their last confrontation back at the tower, and the Chosen had willingly abandoned his pursuit of Mewtwo and Kalana at the end of it. Now he seemed genuinely angry to have lost track of them. What had happened in those intervening days to cause him to change his tune so drastically? He did remember them mentioning during a gaze dream that they were under some sort of time constraint, but he still had no idea what the reasoning behind that was. He chewed this over in his mind as he laid there watching for a handful of minutes. Once the Sulaaq tanks were nothing but a small dust plume on the horizon Kalana stood up and dusted herself off.

"Alright come on, we're burning daylight."

"Kalana... we haven't exactly had much sleep in the last twenty four hours. Why don't we finish out to get at least eight hours total here in the ruins where they won't find us?" Mewtwo grumbled.

"You heard how angry that Chosen sounded Mewtwo, what if he returns with even more thralls and decides to try blasting through our rock pile with explosives? I'd feel much safer finding a new place to hide first, preferably one with more escape routes. I don't like being hemmed in like this, I need a direction to run."

"Alright, but we should proceed with caution. I don't like the sound of what he said about a bridge checkpoint."

It took several minutes for the two of them to carefully dig their way through the rock pile on the way back through the tunnel, but at least this time they could take their time and avoid cutting themselves in the process. Once they emerged into the open sunlight at ground level Kalana took a detour over toward the dead thralls instead of going straight to their Helmasaur.

"Really quick, let's take the ammo reservoirs out of their guns." She explained.

"Ugh, I'm not sure I have the stomach for it."

"That's alright, can you at least do me a favor and start digging some graves by pulling aside the rubble of the old fortress? It's only fitting we give them proper burials here, where they can rest honorably alongside the bones of their ancestors."

Mewtwo nodded and got to work immediately on the morbid task. Once Kalana finished looting the bodies she came over to join him, and in about an hour they managed to bury all seven thralls under makeshift heaps of stone. Once they finished Kalana spoke the same last rites she had given to all the other thralls they'd buried in the past. Mewtwo felt his hands quivering again as he tried to fight back the waves of terrible sadness and guilt that were pounding over his brain all throughout the rite. He had to clench his fists to stop his hands from shaking as Kalana finished speaking and began to sing the Song of the Valley over the graves. Tears rolled freely down his face the entire time but he at least succeeded in controlling the urge to sob loudly. Once she finished Mewtwo turned to her and asked her the question that had been echoing through his mind for awhile now.

"How many more innocent Gerudos are we going to have to bury like this before we're done?"

"I won't lie to you, Mewtwo. I don't know. There will probably be plenty more judging by what the Chosen said. Ven'ravé was the second most populous of our settlements, just behind Ven'vha, so assuming the Sulaaq captured the majority of their population rather than slaughtering them, there could be hundreds more the Sulaaq could throw at us. I wish with all my heart that we didn't have to do this, but it's the price we have to pay to defeat the Sulaaq."

"Is it worth that price though Kalana? Does the end justify the means?"

"You're asking me this as if it's our fault for killing them. I've told you before, the blood truly belongs on the hands of the Sulaaq who enslaved them. You told me this yourself on that first night when I confided with you about how I lost Ruru. Why can't you show yourself the same kindness and understanding that you've shown me and everyone else?"

"I... I don't know..." He trailed off, trying to dredge up an answer.

Deep down Mewtwo had a gut feeling that the answer had something to do with the terrible unprocessed guilt he had for killing Gary Oak. He'd never truly had a chance to really sit down and come to grips with it after flinging himself across the reaches of the multiverse and entangling himself in the fate of Hypalia. It had only been further buried under fresh new layers of trauma that had been heaped on him since his arrival. He hadn't had time to work through any of it up until now and he still didn't have any time for it currently, as they were indeed burning daylight. He used their pressing need to escape as a tool to bury all those emotions again and get down to business. He wiped his face with his cloak and turned to walk away.

"Come on, we can't waste any more time, let's get aboard the Helmasaur and get out of here."

Kalana gave him a genuinely worried look but nodded and followed him. "Alright, let's go."

Relief washed over Mewtwo as he climbed into the waiting vehicle and found all their supplies still present and intact. All their food, water, guns, bombs, and miscellaneous supplies had gone totally untouched. It looked like the Sulaaq hadn't even stepped inside to scope it out.

"Goddesses be praised! I was worried they would take or destroy everything while we were hiding." Kalana exclaimed.

"I too shared that fear. Though something strikes me as odd..." Mewtwo replied, pausing for a second as this sparked a lingering suspicion in his mind. "Come to think of it Kalana, if they wanted to halt our progress so badly, why wouldn't they? This Helmasaur and all its valuable contents were sitting blatantly out in the open all night. There's no way they failed to notice it. Either they're far more stupid and reckless than normal today or they actually wanted us to take it for some reason. In fact, before you turn on the engine let's examine the entire interior for any hidden surprises they might have left for us."

"Damn good idea, I hadn't even thought of that."

The two of them began to thoroughly sweep every single inch of the Helmasaur's interior with painstaking caution. They didn't find anything out of the ordinary inside after several minutes but Mewtwo's gut feeling wouldn't go away. Once they finished searching he gestured to the driver's seat while making another request.

"Ok, go ahead and start it up, but hold it hovering in place so I can check the underside."

"Got it."

Mewtwo hopped out of the back and watched while the Helmasaur lifted itself up off the ground. Once it stabilized he began to sweep the entire exterior, checking the hull for anything out of the ordinary. He found nothing noteworthy on the sides or top. Getting below it would be a pain though, there was just barely enough clearance for him if he laid flat on his back and pushed himself in with his tail and feet. He had to be careful to avoid the downward-facing exhaust jets and hover drives, as they emitted a significant amount of heat and gods knew what else. But as soon as he got under there he spotted a small but blatantly conspicuous little dome-shaped metallic device attached to the underbelly of the craft. It was made of the same shade of black steel, which might have allowed it to blend in seamlessly if it weren't for the tiny little glowing red light on the top of it. Mewtwo tried to pry it off with his bare fingers but the adhesive was surprisingly strong. He struggled with it for several seconds, grunting and growling with exhausted frustration. It only finally came free when he twisted it side-to-side instead of just yanking it straight down.

"Aha! Found it!" He shouted as he climbed out.

Mewtwo headed back inside and showed the palm-sized device to Kalana.

"Good work! What do you think it is?" She asked.

"I'd bet my Rupees that it's some sort of tracking device. Humans on my world already know how to build such things. If we hadn't caught it here and now it would have immediately alerted the Sulaaq about our departure and led them straight to us. Easy pickings."

"Good thing we have your sharp instincts leading us to find it then. Let's smash it!" Kalana said, reaching for her scimitar.

"No, wait! It's probably actively feeding location data to them as we speak. If we cut the signal then there's a good chance the Sulaaq will notice immediately and know we're here messing with the Helmasaur right now. Their vehicles would immediately turn around and come right back here at full speed. Besides, it will be far more useful to us if we leave it here stuck to the ruins. Then it will feed them false data, making them think the Helmasaur is still sitting here abandoned while we make good on our escape."

"Ahh! That's brilliant! You're pretty sharp even when you're sleep deprived Mewtwo!"

"Hah well this is all an assumption after all, I don't actually know much about Sulaaq technology. It could just as easily be a bomb hooked up to a remote controlled detonator of some type." Mewtwo laughed.

A nervous, mortified look came over Kalana's face and her eyes immediately focused in on the device in Mewtwo's hand. Suddenly that glowing red light seemed far more immediately threatening than it did before.

"Uhhhh, well maybe in that case it might be a good idea to get rid of it sooner rather than later!" She exclaimed.

"Oh! Right! Hold on I'll be right back."

Mewtwo swiftly jumped out of the back of the Helmasaur and placed the device in a crevice in the wall of the intact stone ruins. He felt a burst of fresh adrenaline wash through his veins as he realized how badly that could have gone if it really had been a bomb wired to something like a proximity or motion sensing trigger. He chalked his mistake up to a lack of sleep and climbed back aboard while hitting the button to close the rear ramp.

"Alright let's get out of here." He said as he sat down in the gunner's seat.

Kalana turned them around and took them down the Eastern pass. Mewtwo braced himself for the worst now, fully expecting the chokepoint that the Chosen had mentioned to be right around the corner and covered with guns. Kalana kept their speed low in case there really was something like that waiting in store for them. She wanted it to be easy for her to slam the accelerator in reverse and pull back into the pass before they could be attacked. It turned out that Mewtwo had been mostly correct; they turned a corner and the pass opened up to another large clearing. This one was vertically bisected right down the middle by a massive yawning canyon. The clearing also contained a small cluster of Sulaaq buildings made of the same black steel as the towers. One larger structure had been built adjacent to the northern rock face on their side of the canyon; it was three stories tall and topped with an even taller communications tower. Four more small guardhouse buildings were built alongside the cliff edge of the canyon on both sides, two on their side and two on the far side. They were located on either side of a retractable metal bridge that was currently entirely retracted into the cliff faces. These four guardhouses each had a huge two-barreled laser cannon turret on top of them. These turrets were even larger than the ones Mewtwo had seen built into the security emplacements inside the towers, they resembled the weapons mounted to Sulaaq tanks. As soon as they came around the corner he saw the two turrets on their side of the canyon swivel around to point at them.

"Sa'sheer! Sa'sheer!" Kalana yelled, slamming the controls backward to pull them back into cover.

The Helmasaur jerked violently and Mewtwo's seat belt prevented him from faceplanting directly into his screen. He began to aim his own turret's reticle at the enemy emplacements but they vanished behind the cliff face before he could fire. Then he noticed something interesting: new text was blinking along the underside of their screens in bright glowing orange.

"Kalana wait! Look, this text here says "Verifying IFF Hash and Security Code." I think the guns aren't going to fire at us!"

"What makes you so certain? That's gambling literally everything we have on a hunch!" She exclaimed.

"We just stole this Helmasaur last night, it doesn't have any Gerudo finery on it and it probably still has fresh, valid security codes. Just pull forward and drive in a casual manner, maybe the machines operating this checkpoint will let us through."

Kalana gave him a deeply worried, skeptical look. He sighed and said "I'm not sure we have any other solutions here. If we blow one of the four gun turrets up, the other three will immediately destroy us. We don't know where the nearest tower is so there's no way we can take it down and get my powers back up. The bridge looked like the only way across too, so we can't sneak across either."

"Alright, alright. I really hope you're right about this!"

"So do I."

Kalana gently pushed the sticks forward and held her breath as they rounded the corner into view again. This time all the turrets were facing them from the beginning; if they opened fire then Kalana and Mewtwo would have no time to react. Fortunately Mewtwo's plan seemed to be working, as the turrets sat there quietly and did nothing as Kalana slowly took them up toward the bridge. Mewtwo couldn't help but hold his breath too, the tension on the air was torturously thick as they sat there and watched the blinking text on their screens. Miraculously, the console made a soft chirping sound as the orange text vanished, replaced by new green text.

"Code accepted, access granted."

The bridge even fully extended itself automatically in front of them, taking merely a few seconds and making a thudding clang when it finished. Both Mewtwo and Kalana released the breath they were holding, creating long simultaneous sighs of relief.

"Well, I gotta admit it, you're really on a streak today Mewtwo. Thank the Goddesses I have you here with me for this." Kalana said.

"Give yourself credit too, no way I could do any of this without you. We make an incredible team. Now let's get out of here, the automated systems controlling the bridge might already be reporting our little unscheduled crossing to the Sulaaq right now."

"Good point."

Kalana carefully took them out over the black steel bridge at a cautious pace. She wanted to go faster so the turrets wouldn't mark their behavior as suspicious, but the bridge had no guard rails and one tiny deviation would send them into the abyss. Lacking any fear of heights, Mewtwo turned his turret camera to try to look down and see how deep the canyon was. The turret simply didn't have enough vertical range of motion to let him see that far downward, but even just the hint he saw implied it was shockingly deep. It meandered sideways far too much for him to see much further down the canyon's length either. Once they finally passed the bridge they saw that the other side of the clearing was occupied by two more small Sulaaq structures. At the far end it narrowed down sharply to end at one more pass that led further East.

"If I remember my history correctly, this valley is the place that that the Song of the Valley is named for. Our ancestors supposedly even composed it here. It was also the border between Gerudo and Hylian territory and hosted an older wooden bridge and checkpoint before the Sulaaq came here and built their own. It's said that Nabooru herself used to patrol the checkpoint here when she was young. I'm not sure she'd approve of the redecoration the Sulaaq did here though."

Mewtwo gave a dark little chuckle before replying. "Don't worry, once this is all over and your people are safely thriving again, we'll return this place to what it was before."

Chapter 28 - The Old Souls

Waking up from a long midday nap after enduring sleep deprivation proved to be more than a little bit unpleasant for Mewtwo. It took Kalana shaking him awake quite roughly for Mewtwo to return to wakefulness. Even though he hadn't been interrupted by any Gaze Dreams this time, he still felt far worse than he'd felt before the nap. He nearly snapped at Kalana as she finished shaking him. His eyes burned slightly and a dull nausea pulsated in his gut. The brain fog was the worst part though, he felt completely shrouded in the mental equivalent of pea soup fog. When he looked up at the cockpit he saw the beautiful golden orange rays of sunset shining through the Helmasaur's screen.

"Arceus, how long did we sleep?" He mumbled.

"Far too long. We wasted nearly the entire day." Kalana grumbled in dismay.

"We must have needed it. My body certainly seems to want some more."

"Mine too, but we really need to go. The ground may be too hard here for Moldugas but we still need to keep ahead of mother and her convoy. Let's eat a quick breakfast and then get moving."

Kalana opened up another box of supplies and frowned deeply as she assessed their situation.

"We only have two more days of water left Mewtwo. We're still not even to the HQ yet, I don't know how we'll manage to get back home without running out."

"There should be plenty of supplies at the HQ for us to steal. The Sulaaq need to eat and drink just like the rest of us." Mewtwo retorted softly.

"Fair point."

They quickly stuffed some old canned tubers down their gullets without further conversation. Mewtwo turned and looked outside through the screen, noting the strange landscape outside. They hadn't traveled very far after escaping Gerudo Valley and entering a new open plain. They had gone just a little bit North and then parked against the cliffs instead of heading straight East, hoping to confuse and lose their pursuers. They had reasoned that they had been following a very predictable straight path ever since the beginning and the Sulaaq might have extrapolated it, so an unpredictable zag before stopping to sleep seemed prudent. They hadn't gone too far North though out of fear of stumbling into whatever it was that Indiru's map had warned them about. They only went far enough to put themselves fully out of view of the passage to Gerudo Valley. Out here the ground was dry, brown, and dead, though Mewtwo could still see scattered shrubs and grasses dotting the landscape. Off in the distance he could see some strange dark coloration on the ground though. He furrowed his brow as he ate but decided not to mention it yet, figuring they would see it in closer detail soon anyway.

Once Mewtwo and Kalana finished their meager breakfast they returned to their seats and fired up the 'saur's engine once more. As they set off toward the East they could still see fairly well by the orange-reddish light of sunset, but it was beginning to fade faster now once they got up to speed. It only took a few minutes before they approached the dark colored anomaly that Mewtwo had seen. The drab, brown Earth gave way to a black, cratered wasteland covered in scorches and glass. It looked like the same glass that was left behind by Sulaaq laser weapons, but these patches were so much larger it was clear they couldn't have been made by anything handheld or vehicle-mounted. Mewtwo couldn't help but wonder if these had been created by some sort of energy-based artillery weapon, or perhaps something even worse. The thought was utterly chilling, and the worst part was how completely that glass covered the landscape out here. The craters overlapped with each other, leaving almost no flat land left, and no plant life of any sort could survive here.

"What in the Goddess's name happened out here?" Kalana asked quietly.

"It looks like an ancient battlefield. These aren't normal hills, they're massive craters caused by something impacting the land. In fact, look over there."

Mewtwo pointed out the charred, rusty hulk of another Sulaaq tank sitting abandoned in the bottom of a passing crater. It was slightly different from the others they had seen in that it was much smaller and only had one cannon barrel on its turret. It looked like it had been sitting there rusting away for an extremely long time. Kalana saw it but didn't bother wasting any time by slowing down to study it in detail. A moment later they passed another, then another. They even saw more recognizable shapes scattered about such as other Helmasaurs and Terrapins, all of which looked similarly ruined by age. Mewtwo also saw entirely new vehicle shapes, including what looked like ruined artillery pieces with massive beam cannon barrels. As Kalana watched these pass by a look of recognition suddenly flashed over her face.

"Wait, I think I know what this is! If I remember my history lessons correctly, we're actually passing through the remains of the ancient kingdom of Hyrule right now. This must be the site of the battle that was fought between the Sulaaq and the Hylians during the Fall of the Old World."

"The Hylians must have fought incredibly well. Look at all the destroyed vehicles. Did they have much more advanced technology back then than we have now?" Mewtwo asked.

"No, but they did have something else that was just as good: magic. This battle happened before the Sulaaq built their network of towers and the drain devices contained within. On top of that, the Hylians supposedly possessed a number of incredibly powerful archmages at the time, including their Queen, who was known as one of the most powerful sorceresses to have ever lived. Sure, the average Hylian soldier couldn't have stood up to any Sulaaq machine, but the Queen could go toe to toe with a Chosen if I remember the tales correctly."

"Shame she's not around to help us now." Mewtwo commented.

"Goddesses yeah, no kidding." Kalana muttered.

Mewtwo fell silent now and just watched the ruined landscape pass them by. As the minutes rolled by the sun finished its journey below the horizon and the sky faded through the dark spectrum of sunset colors into the darkness of night. Stars flickered in the sky above them and the moon rose to bathe the wastelands in light again, once again waxing bright. Kalana flicked on their headlights and they drove on in silence, wondering just how far these ruined lands could stretch. Thanks to the moonlight Mewtwo could still easily see their surroundings fairly clearly, so he began to idly swivel his turret around and use its camera to look for any landmarks. Nothing but cratered battlefield wastes dominated three of the four cardinal directions, but up North he could make out the dark silhouette of a single huge mountain peak sitting isolated on the horizon. He could see a Sulaaq tower built atop it too, complete with its faint glowing red running lights. There also seemed to be a thin, donut-shaped ring of ethereal cirrus clouds hanging stationary directly above the tower and the mountain's caldera. It was faintly illuminated red by the tower's lights, otherwise it would have been too thin to see in the darkened sky. It struck him as beautiful in a lonely, sorrowful manner that was difficult to put into words. He found himself staring at it for an extended period of time, soon losing track of how much time had passed.

"Hey Mewtwo, what's that strange ridge out there in the distance ahead of us? Can you use your turret's spyglass mode to check?" Kalana asked.

Mewtwo snapped out of his trance and replied nervously. "Oh, uh, sure."

He spun his turret back East and immediately spotted the strange formation that Kalana had mentioned. At first glance it did look like some sort of vague cliff or wall. He hit the zoom button and a mixture of shock and joy flooded his mind when he saw what it really was. Those weren't cliff walls, they were trees! Not just any trees either, but massive old growth temperate trees like oaks or ashes. He hadn't seen trees of this type since he'd left Earth, and the palm trees that dotted the desert and its oases never got even half as big as these majestic giants. He was struck speechless for a few moments as his mind processed what he was seeing.

"I don't think we're going to have to worry about Moldugas anymore Kalana." He said softly.

"I already figured as much due to the glassy surface of the ground here, but why do you say that now? What is it you see?"

"A forest! An honest to Arceus forest! It looks like a cliff because they're lined up in a straight formation."

Kalana turned and gave Mewtwo a disbelieving frown that lasted for a few seconds. When she saw that Mewtwo's joyful smile wasn't going away and he wasn't laughing over some prank or joke however, her disbelief turned to amazement.

"You're serious?"

"Absolutely. It must be the green blob on Indiru's map."

"No way! I have to see it for myself!"

"In a few minutes you will, just keep driving."

Mewtwo kept smiling as he leaned back in his seat and waited. The forest grew closer and closer as they continued to make their way East. Mewtwo knew that this was the last major obstacle on their mission; soon the Sulaaq HQ would be within view. Moreover, now he knew that his hopes of a bright, safe future for the Gerudos were possible. They really could theoretically feed all their people by farming and foraging here, they just needed to survive the upcoming battle and find a way to overthrow the Sulaaq. The fact that they were this close to the battle though was both exciting and terrifying to him; soon they would know whether it had been a mistake or not to come charging out here into this fight on the little information they had.

Another lovely thought then struck Mewtwo as he was mulling over all of this. It was very likely that it would be much easier for them to conceal themselves in these woods and take a good, long, proper rest. The foliage would easily hide them from their Sulaaq and Gerudo pursuers alike, and the flat solid ground would mean they could actually pitch a tent and sleep flat without having to lay on those "beds" inside the Helmasaur. The thought of sleeping a whole day away like that in these cool, sheltering woods was tantalizing. Then, as Mewtwo was still pondering this, he heard Kalana gasping softly as they finally got close enough for her to see the trees clearly without any zoom.

"By the Goddesses!"

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Mewtwo asked.

"I've never seen trees that look like this before. They're so much taller than desert palms! And there are so many branches!"

"It's been a long time for me too. I missed them deeply."

Soon they arrived at the treeline and Kalana slowed them down to a stop. Now they could see why the forest formed such a neat and clean wall shape; the bombardment craters and black glass stopped abruptly here as if the fighting and artillery strikes had strictly drawn a boundary line along the forest's edge. For some reason or another the Sulaaq seemed to have intentionally avoided damaging these woods during their invasion. Unsure of what to think, Kalana unbuckled herself and climbed out of her seat, then opened the top hatch and stood halfway out of it to peer into the forest. Without the screen limiting her field of view she got a much fuller and clearer view of those woods, though the canopy blocked the moonlight and made the interior much harder to see outside of the cones of their headlights. Mewtwo couldn't fit through the narrow hatch at the same time as her so he remained in his seat and continued using his turret camera to look around. The boundary where the black glass ended gave way to rich dark soil covered in temperate green grasses and shrubs. The moonlight and their headlights illuminated the lush greenery and allowed Mewtwo to see a few small red flowers blooming among the branches. Compared to the desert he was used to living in this looked practically idyllic. It only took a moment of watching before Kalana climbed the rest of the way free and sat atop the hull so she could comfortably take in the ambience and atmosphere of the place. Mewtwo immediately took the chance to join her, crawling out and sitting next to her on the hull.

"It smells so...different." Kalana said quietly.

Mewtwo got a nose full of that scent of trees and plants too. It was a rich, earthy green scent that had become foreign to his nose after he had grown so acclimated to the dry, dusty scent of the desert. But it was a good sort of foreign; it evoked his memories of the good times he had living back on Earth. He was compelled to take a long, deep, blissful breath through his nose and hold it in until his lungs began to ache. A cool, gentle breeze poured out of the woods as they sat there, caressing their skin and making their cloaks billow. That wind filled the air with the soft hissing, rustling sound of countless millions of leaves brushing against each other. It wasn't bitingly cold like the desert winds at night, rather it made them both feel refreshed and relaxed despite the potential dangers that could be lurking inside. Mewtwo closed his eyes and tilted his head back as he took it all in. He reminded himself now to never take this sort of natural beauty for granted ever again.

Kalana suddenly got to her feet and jumped down from the Helmasaur. She walked right into the greenery and reached one hand down to caress the blades of grass. A wistful smile crossed her face and she reached down to lift one of those red flowers up and examine it.

"Is this what the forests on your world look like Mewtwo?" She asked.

"Yes. Some aren't as tall and some have different types of trees, but many share this same pastoral tranquility."

Kalana was silent for several seconds as she contemplated the flower in her hand. She couldn't bear to pluck it, so she let go and turned to give Mewtwo a more serious look.

"Earlier I remember you saying that maybe, if we destroyed or shut down all the drain devices in all the towers, more life like this could return to our world. Were you serious about this? Is it actually possible that this forest could grow and push back the desert sands if we succeed?"

"To be truthful Kalana I just don't know. I'm not a climatologist, nor do I know much of anything about your world or its magic. I was speculating blindly when I said that. It was my attempt to grasp at any threads of hope I could find without any data or evidence to back it up. But that doesn't mean we don't have any of those threads to hold onto now. The fact that this forest is still standing here after all these centuries means that the Sulaaq simply can't keep this whole planet barren. This place is the beacon of hope I had hoped it would be when I saw it during my flight with Ruru. It means that our mission is now even more important than ever. We now know that there is indeed a future for your people here, safely protected from famine once the towers fall. We need to succeed so we can lead them here."

"You're right. Come on, let's keep going then. I know we can do this together." Kalana replied with renewed resolve.

The two of them climbed back inside the Helmasaur together as a new sense of hope and purpose filled their minds. It was the most optimistic they had felt since they had left Ven'vha. As they headed to their seats, Kalana paused as a brief thought struck her.

"Mind leaving the top hatch open for awhile? I want to enjoy the forest smell for awhile longer."

"That's a good idea actually. I can just get up and close it if I spot any monsters in the woods while keeping watch." Mewtwo replied.

"Perfect. I'm going to have to go slow in here in order to safely navigate between the tree trunks, so keep swiveling that turret around and watching for anything suspicious. We're operating outside of the scope of my wilderness knowledge out here; I have no idea what sort of potential hostile fauna we could expect to encounter. Last thing we need is something nasty jumping on the hull and climbing in with us while our guard is down."

"I'm on it."

So began their long, drawn out night of navigating the woods. At first the trees were far enough apart from each other that they could glide right through with little trouble. As they went deeper and deeper however, the forest became thicker and denser. Soon Kalana was forced to slow down even more so she could take numerous turns and search for ways around walls of densely packed tree trunks and underbrush. At one point she had to backtrack and pick a different path when the route she had chosen ended in a dead end with trees packed in on all sides.

"Damnit, I'm starting to feel a little bit turned around in here Mewtwo. Can you dig out my compass again and check to see if it's working now?" Kalana asked.

"Good idea."

He opened up the storage compartment and fished out the compass and Indiru's map. Unfortunately the needle still was spinning wildly around inside the housing. In fact it seemed to be spinning even faster than before.

"Hm, unfortunate. It's still malfunctioning." Mewtwo grumbled.

"Ugh. Ok, let me try something else then. Do you have any spare blank parchment left in your notes? I could try to use it to draw a map as I go."

Mewtwo hummed and flipped through his stacks of paper and found a spare sheet, which he offered to her with a pen. "Yes, go ahead."

"Perfect, thank you. I'm going to try to draw the path we took to get here, give me a minute or two." Kalana said, already starting to scribble.

Mewtwo returned to his turret watching duty as he waited. It didn't take long before Kalana finished drawing and got back to driving. She had one hand on the control sticks and one hand on her pen, and she paused at each turn to draw more on her map. This slowed them down even more but Mewtwo didn't mind. He was confident now that if they hadn't been caught by the other Gerudos already after all their other delays then this wouldn't make any difference.

Deeper and deeper they ventured into the woods with nary a sight of a single soul or beast among the trees. Soon a slightly eerie feeling began to replace the solemn beauty of the forest, causing Mewtwo's nerves to set on edge. The echoing sound of the wind blowing through the trees was beginning to sound like furtive whispering voices. Mewtwo's usually sharp sense of direction began to falter at this point as well, he felt grateful to have Kalana making that map. Eventually, after nearly an hour of struggling to navigate, Kalana spoke up again.

"Mewtwo...I think I really am lost now even with the map. Whenever I backtrack away from one area to try a different route behind us, whole regions that I mapped out seem to be different."

"Maybe we should consider stopping and resting for the remainder of the night? I may not be very sleepy yet but if you're starting to lose track of where we've been maybe it's a sign that you need some sleep. We are fairly well concealed in here after all, this is the best opportunity we've had yet to get some extra sleep since we started."

"Hey, I'm not that sleepy yet! It's only been a few hours since we got up at the edge of the battlefield earlier. It's really like the forest is changing shape around us!" Kalana protested, sounding slightly irritated by Mewtwo's implication. But his second point seemed to hit home and her irritation faded. "But you're right about this being a good place to hide. Besides, it might be easier to navigated by daylight, assuming the sun can even penetrate this canopy at all. I'm still going to feel guilty about taking so much extra rest after oversleeping earlier today though."

"I understand that sentiment but we'll fare much better against the Sulaaq if we enter the last stretch of the journey very well rested. Besides, I-"

Suddenly Kalana interrupted him by raising one finger to her lips and shushing him. Rather than giving in to the frustration of being cut off like that Mewtwo clammed up and listened carefully. He could just barely make out the faintest sound of a gritty old male voice coming down through the Helmasaur's open hatch. Mewtwo immediately turned his eyes back to the gunner's screen and spun the turret around to search for the source of the noise. Nothing. They were hemmed in tightly enough with trees though that the source of the sound could easily be hiding behind one of them right nearby and he wouldn't be able to see it. Kalana tapped the button that activated the Helmasaur's external microphones and now they could make out the sound far more clearly over the speakers. It was indeed a man's voice humming a simple tune. It had an aged, gravely texture to it that made it sound like it was coming from a hunched over old grandfather sort. The song was short, merely containing several triads of notes, some of which were ascending in tone and some descending. These were followed by a few four and five note clusters that formed cheery, playful musical phrases not unlike a children's song. The contrast between the peppy youthful tone of the song and the ancient, weathered voice that was singing it created an eerie, uncanny creepy feeling that was further enhanced by the claustrophobia of the woods.

"What in Nariva's name is that?!" Kalana whispered emphatically.

"Either someone followed us into these woods or we're being haunted by another ghost. But I don't sense any of the telltale warning signs of a nearby haunting." Mewtwo replied.

"I think it's coming from the path to our left. Do you think we should go check it out?"

"Yes, but wait one second first." Mewtwo said, then got up and pulled shut the upper hatch. "There, now let's go."

"You know if it actually is a ghost it can just phase right through the hull, right?" Kalana pointed out.

"True, but I'd prefer to keep all our bases covered until we find out."

"Fair point. Now keep your eyes glued to that screen."

Kalana turned them left and carefully inched them down the passage between the trees. It only took them ten feet before they took a sharp right and entered into a small clearing. Mewtwo and Kalana both gawked in disbelief at what they saw in that clearing. It was a giant tree with a massive human face on its trunk! The tree was easily ten times thicker than any of the mundane trees around it and it was three times as tall. Its face was located at ground level and looked just like that of a craggy old man with bushy eyebrows and a moustache made of moss. Its mouth and eyes were closed and it had a large, pronounced nose that was topped with moss. The humming sound seemed to be coming from this tree. Mewtwo nearly jumped out of his seat when he saw one of its mossy eyebrows move on its own, raising as if it was examining them with its closed eyes. Then, to make matters even weirder, a deep rumbling voice came welling up from inside the tree despite the lack of movement from its mouth.

"Hmmmmm...how curious." It said, its voice slow, grinding, and exactly matching the humming they had heard.

"By the Goddesses! What manner of trickery is this?!" Kalana exclaimed.

"Reminds me of a few different species of Pokemon back home on Earth: Trevenant and Shiftry. Both are animate, sapient trees. If this is anything similar then there's no way to tell if it'll be hostile or not. We should be careful." Mewtwo said quietly.

"You two are not like the others, I can sense it. Come out and speak with me and you shall not be harmed." The tree said.

Kalana flipped on the external speakers and used them to reply. "Who or what are you, talking tree?"

"I am the Great Deku Tree, second of my line and guardian of this forest. I mean you no ill will, please show yourselves."

Mewtwo and Kalana exchanged worried looks, then Kalana got up from her seat and reopened the top hatch. She stood halfway out of the opening again, leaving Mewtwo stuck at his screen to witness their discussion.

"Hail, Deku Tree. I am Kalana Quindalo, daughter of Hadara Quindalo, third chief of the Rakeshan Gerudo tribe."

"Hmm! An untamed daughter of the desert. You are a rare sight this far into the blighted East. Who is it that travels with you?" The Deku Tree asked.

Kalana reached one hand down to gesture to Mewtwo follow her, then pulled herself completely out and jumped down to approach the tree. Mewtwo hesitantly followed her, though anxiety and uncertainty churned in his gut the entire time. He trusted Kalana implicitly but there was something very creepy about the way that tree talked without opening its mouth. Yet both its eyebrows raised in surprise when it saw Mewtwo emerge.

"Now this is most curious indeed. You are not one of the outsiders, yet you bear one of the many visages they have worn. And yet, you only carry a tiny fraction of that same shadow that taints their hearts so thoroughly. What is your name, outsider?"

"I am called Mewtwo." He replied, his anxiety keeping him terse.

"Well met then, Outsider Mewtwo and Princess Kalana. I have not had visitors like you in a long...long time. All the others who pass through these woods are the dark-hearted outsiders or their slaves."

"By outsiders you mean the Sulaaq?" Kalana asked.

"That is your name for them, yes. I have a feeling they have their own word for themselves however. They are the ones who abolished the old ways of the world and defied the will of the Gods with impunity. They are dark and terrible, but their spirits carry a different sort of Malice than that which usually blights our world. I can sense that malice within your spirit as well Mewtwo. But it does not define or control your will, whereas the others openly embody it."

"You seem to know much about the Sulaaq, Great Deku Tree. May we humbly request you share this knowledge with us? It may prove vitally important to us since we are currently on a quest to seek out their leader and destroy them."

"Your hearts are filled with courage then, young ones. I will tell you all I can, but I fear it is not much. The outsiders came some five hundred years ago when our land was once again gripped by times of strife. Their arrival was especially devastating due to the lack of warning. Before the coming of the outsiders, the Goddesses chose mortals of special skill and power to become Seers, and these Seers would be protectors who would receive warnings from the Goddesses whenever darkness threatened to rise and consume the world. It was the duty of these Seers to use those divine warnings to help set in motion the events that would thwart the rise of these calamities. But the outsiders came with no such warning, and when they did they brought such overwhelming force that no amount of preparation could have hoped to stop them. The kingdoms of the world fought valiantly but were outnumbered far too greatly and all inevitably fell."

"What happened then?" Kalana asked.

"I'm afraid I do not know. Not long after the Kingdom of Hyrule fell I chose to enter a deep, dreamless sleep. You must understand, I felt hopeless in the face of the tragedy and totally aimless due to a lack of any signs from the Goddesses. I hoped that one day the Goddesses would finally send me a sign, or even choose a new Hero to send and wake me from my slumber."

"Well you're awake now." Mewtwo pointed out.

"Unfortunately it was not a hero chosen by the Goddesses which awoke me from my slumber, but a changing of the spiritual winds of the world. Something sinister has been taking place over the last few days and I cannot precisely tell what. The outsiders have been restless as of late, moving their forces away from this land and leaving it empty. All the while an ominous climate seems to be riding the winds that blow through my woods, moreso than before. I dearly wish I could foresee the nature of the calamity that may be lurking on the horizon, but ever since the outsiders arrived my foresight has entirely failed me."

"Maybe that's because of the drain devices that the Sulaaq have built all over the world? These machines have rendered the world devoid of all magic within their range." Kalana pointed out.

Mewtwo was about to interject here to point out that both his own visions and those of Indiru still seemed to work within the range of the towers, but the Deku Tree spoke first. Mewtwo had the gut feeling that he shouldn't interrupt such an old, powerful being, so he held his tongue.

"No, I do still possess some small measure of forest magic here, primarily thanks to a certain item I've been holding here in my possession. Moreover, my foresight was lost even before their towers were finished, so it must be some greater factor beyond my sight." The Deku Tree replied.

"You still have magic despite the nearby tower? Then that means..." Kalana trailed off for a moment, then her eyes widened as she put two and two together. "That means you must have one of the elemental medallions!"

A deep woody chuckle rumbled up from within the Deku Tree's interior. "Impressive. Your skills of deduction are quite sharp, Daughter of the Desert. I should not be surprised though, I do sense the magical aura of another of the blessed medallions in your possession, so it follows that you would have an inkling as to their nature. I do indeed possess one of the six sacred medallions, specifically the one aligned with forest magic. The endless font of arcane might it provides is the only way I've maintained the life force of these woods against the persistent encroachment of the wastelands. My desire to keep it out of the wrong hands is the other reason why I put myself into slumber for the last five centuries. The Sage of Forest, whose duty was the protection of the medallion, joined the battle against the outsiders and left the medallion in my possession. She and the other sages were lost in the battle soon after. I knew that if I hid the medallion within myself and slumbered peacefully then the outsiders would never find it. Perhaps the fact that the owners of one such medallion have come across me here in these woods could be the sign that I was waiting for. Perhaps your quest to defeat the outsiders is destined to succeed? It may be a gamble, but perhaps I should entrust the Forest medallion to you."

"We would be honored to receive it, but neither Kalana nor I have managed to fully harness the power of the medallion we have already. It may be a bit to ask, but can you teach us how to use them?" Mewtwo asked with all the humility he could muster.

"I can attempt to, but I fear there may be...unforeseen complications. The medallions are already considerably weakened by the fact that no new Sages have been awakened to wield them properly. A Sage and their medallion are meant to be two parts of a greater whole, and that whole exceeds the sum of these parts. You may still be able to use them but do not expect miracles. Moreover, you need at least some knowledge and experience wielding the element of magic that corresponds with the element of that medallion. If you have never used Forest magic before then the medallion I give you may be nigh useless to you. I fear I may not have time to teach you such spells either." The Deku Tree explained.

"At least that explains why I haven't been able to use the Spirit Medallion effectively. But the good news is that I do at least know one specific 'spell' from my home world that could count as forest magic. It's a technique called Solar Beam that allows me to harness sunlight like a plant and weaponize it in a devastating beam of power. I'm not sure if it's directly analogous to your world's Forest magic, but it might be worth a try."

"Very well, then I will entrust the medallion to you. Handle it with the utmost care and respect." The Deku Tree said, then his branches began to rustle and shake much more energetically than the wind could explain.

Mewtwo craned his neck to look up at those branches when he heard the sound above him. He saw a hint of radiant green light starting to peek through the Deku Tree's foliage in the middle of his canopy. It was faint at first but grew brighter as it began to move downward. Brilliant rays of verdant green glow danced through the branches as the movement of the light source passed between them. Then the medallion emerged from the bottom of the canopy and floated slowly through the air toward Mewtwo and Kalana as though it was being carried by telekinesis. It had the same polished, reflective metallic surface as the Spirit medallion, but the symbol on it was different and it was a bright leafy green color instead. The symbol looked like a small whirlpool with four inward pointing lines all curling around in the same direction. Mewtwo reached up over his head with both hands and snatched it out of the air, then immediately felt another strange rushing jolt of energy leap through his hands as it came in contact with his skin. He staggered a little bit despite the fact that this jolt was much milder than the one the Spirit medallion had given him.

Mewtwo's eyesight darkened and blurred again as the medallion tried to give him a vision just like before. Unlike the fully detailed scene that the Spirit medallion had shown him, this one was just a brief flash that was over in an eyeblink. It ended too quickly for him to see much detail, but he did see a little human girl with short green hair and emerald green eyes looking curiously toward him. She was wearing a matching set of clothes consisting of a bright green sweater and a darker green pair of shorts. Then it was over, leaving Mewtwo still feeling a little bit disoriented despite how brief it had been. Still, it was barely even a quarter as unpleasant as his experience with the Spirit medallion, and since he had fully expected it this time he didn't even lose his balance or stumble.

"You ok Mewtwo? You flinched as though it shocked you. Did you get another vision?" Kalana asked.

"I'm fine, and yes I did. I saw a brief glimpse of a strange little girl, but it was over too quickly for me to see anything else. Fortunately it was far less overwhelming than the last time."

He paused for a moment to take some deep breaths and clear his mind. During that time he looked down to curiously examine the medallion in closer detail. It had zero blemishes or scratches on its surface and it felt pleasantly warm and smooth to the touch. As his mind fully calmed down he couldn't help but let his curiosity get the best of him. He began to start the initial charge-up phase of his Solar Beam attack just to see if he could draw the energy for it from the Medallion rather than sunlight or his own psychic reserves. Again almost nothing came to him, yet he could still feel the first tingling hints of the medallion responding to his will. It felt the same as when he tried to use Shadow Ball with the Spirit medallion, almost as though he was on the right track but didn't have every piece of the puzzle. The Deku Tree seemed to sense his attempt and began to speak.

"Ah, you are attempting to pull the energy out of the Medallions by force, like a mosquito draws blood from a vein. This will not yield results while the medallions are in such a weakened state. It might have worked while they were still paired with a Sage, but sadly now it will require something more."

"What might that be? I need to learn it, it may be the key to us defeating the Sulaaq." Mewtwo replied.

"A bond. You may not be its next chosen Sage, but with time anyone can tap into its power and form a link to it. The chosen heroes of the past did this when they collected the medallions in order to use their power to smite the wicked. To do so, you must learn to call the Medallion into your spirit. It is more than just a physical object after all, it is an embodiment of one of the six arcane elements that make up our world. It can transcend physicality and pass freely into and out of the wielder's soul, and as long as it resides inside you in this way you can tap into its power to the fullest extent."

Mewtwo felt a little intimidated and frustrated by what the Deku tree was describing. The directions weren't clear or precise enough for him to understand, it sounded like the nonsensical spiritual jargon of a snake oil salesman. He wouldn't have believed a word of it if it had been coming from anyone other than a centuries old talking tree spirit like this. Still, he struggled for a few moments to come up with a polite way to ask him to be more specific.

"Great Deku Tree, not to be disrespectful, but is there a... step by step guide for how to build this bond?"

The Deku Tree paused for just a brief moment and then another rumble of ancient bark-shuddering laughter came up from the depths of his trunk. It sounded genuinely amused though, rather than exasperated or derisive.

"My dear friend, if there was such a simple guide I feel we could have chosen a hero for ourselves and sent him to fight the outsiders much longer ago. Sadly this process varies from element to element, I do not know how to achieve it with the other medallion you currently possess. But I can teach you how to do so with the Forest medallion. First, hold it close against your body and close your eyes, then begin to meditate and imagine sitting in a serene forest clearing much like this one. Choose one you have visited before in the past, one that evokes soft and comforting memories and feelings of familiarity. Picture the warm, nourishing golden beams of sun shining in scattered rays through the canopy above you, casting diffuse light all through your verdant surroundings. Feel the breeze washing over you and hear the rustling of the leaves. Keep this whole scene and all the feelings it contains as clear in your mind as possible, then will the medallion respond. If you will it strongly enough, it will become ethereal and meld with your spirit, granting you a boon of Forest magic. The process is similar in reverse, just with willing it to pass out of your spirit and become physical once again."

"That doesn't seem quite as vague and mystical as you made it seem, actually. I think I could easily do it." Mewtwo replied, immediately knowing he would choose Purity Canyon's forested spring back home for his meditative vision setting.

"It may sound simple but it takes far more time and concentration than you think. You cannot simply do it at a whim right in the middle of a battle, and if you don't have any deeply familiar, warm memories from a forest in your past, you could never do it at all. At least, not without a Sage there to help you. A Sage's power could help anyone absorb a Medallion without any of this ceremonial work, but alas..." The Deku Tree trailed off.

Mewtwo still felt highly encouraged by this. He knew there was a good chance he could bond with the Forest Medallion now at the very least, even if he didn't have much hope of doing the same with Spirit. He turned to look expectantly at Kalana, figuring she would be overjoyed at this news. Instead she bore the look of someone trying to push down and bottle up a profound sense of sorrow. She noticed him looking at her and furrowed her brow. He shot her a concerned look, then she took a breath as if bracing herself to do something difficult.

"I apologize for how much time we've spent burying you in questions, Great Deku Tree. If I might ask you just one more?" She asked.

"Of course my friend. We both seek the same goal after all, I am happy to give you all the help I can."

"How does one go about awakening the blood of a Sage within their veins?"

The Deku Tree was silent for a moment, then gave a sorrowful sigh. "That is unfortunately not an answer I could give you. Usually it was the task of the Sage of Light to guide a hero to awakening the other Sages, but he vanished along with all the others during Hyrule's last stand against the outsiders."

Kalana lowered her head sadly and nodded in understanding. "I expected that, but thank you for telling me regardless. You have done so much to help us already and I am infinitely grateful for all of it."

"As am I." Mewtwo added, bowing slightly.

"You are most welcome. Before you go however, there is something else you should know. The medallions become stronger the more of them you wield at once. The six elements of magic exist in delicate balance with each other, subdivided into two circular triads. The more elements you wield the stronger your spells become and the fewer weaknesses you possess. Even if you possess a Medallion you cannot wield directly due to inexperience it will still empower the others that you can. It is always a worthy endeavor to seek more of them, gathering more may very well be the final key you need to overcome the overwhelming power of the foes you face."

"Do you know where the rest of them are located?" Kalana asked.

"Only one of them, and only because it too resides here within my woods. The Shadow medallion lays in the possession of the outsiders in a small encampment they built in the heart of the Lost Woods a few miles Northeast of here. I have tried a few times already to push them out of these woods using my influence since I awakened only to be met with failure. There are only a few of them there but they have figured out how to harness the medallion's power to their own nefarious purposes. Should you decide to attempt to reclaim it from them I would urge you to exercise the utmost caution. The medallion will enable them to fight with far more power and ferocity than ever before."

"I understand. I think it's worth the risk though, it would be the third medallion we'd have at our disposal to use against the Sulaaq. It might very well be enough to swing the tide in our favor, especially if they bring the full force of their numbers against us." Mewtwo said.

"Totally agreed." Kalana added.

"Then go with my blessing. I will ensure the forest no longer obstructs your progress for the rest of your quest here. But do not tarry for long, the climate of evil I mentioned before is still growing stronger with every passing moment. I fear there may not be much time left before we learn directly what sort of evil the outsiders plan to unleash upon us."

Kalana bowed deeply to the ancient tree and Mewtwo followed her example.

"Thank you, oh great guardian of the forest. Your blessings honor us both." She said.

Mewtwo didn't have anything to add to what Kalana had said so he remained silent. One last rumbling chuckle came rolling up from the depths of the Deku Tree though. Mewtwo could hear what sounded like the dry creaking of shifting wood mixed in with that sound.

"You do not need to speak to me with such formality. My father was deeply fond of titles and ceremony and he always spoke with the utmost eloquence, but that was never my way. Ever since I was but a tiny sapling that swayed in the forest breeze I was surrounded by the whimsical spirits of the children of the forest. I grew up immersed in their youthful dalliances and I still prefer their relaxed freedom despite my current venerable age. Ah, how my heart still pines for those days when the children would play games in my meadow and hide amongst my branches. But ah, I am delaying you with my foolish nostalgia. Go forth and delay no further. May the way of the hero lead you to triumph."

With that the Deku Tree went silent and sat motionless once more. Kalana gestured to Mewtwo to follow her and then ran over to jump back into the Helmasaur quietly. Mewtwo carefully slipped the Forest Medallion into his backpack and followed her inside. By the time he had sat back down in the gunner's seat he saw that a new gap had opened up in the woods on the Northeast corner of the clearing. He pointed it out to Kalana on her screen with a furrow on his brow.

"Look! That passage wasn't there just a moment ago!"

"You're right. The Deku Tree must have commanded the woods to move aside. He does have sovereignty over this forest after all. Guardian Spirits wield very deep magic, there's probably a significant number of tricks he could pull on us if he wanted to." Kalana remarked.

"Then let's not wear out our welcome shall we?"

"I'm with you on that one."

Kalana strapped herself into the driver's seat and powered on the engines with renewed haste. She drove them quickly past the ancient tree and took them down the newly formed passage. It only took a few moments for both of them to realize that there were no more twists and turns in the path; it was leading them straight Northeast without even showing them any side routes that they could take.

"I guess the Deku Tree really meant it when he said he would ensure the forest wouldn't obstruct our progress huh?" Kalana said with a smirk.

"Lucky for us. We needed to make up some time, especially after what he said about that 'Ominous climate of evil.' I don't like the implications of it, it makes me think that the Sulaaq might be preparing to fire their towers."

Kalana gave him a look of grim agreement and nodded her head. She didn't need any words to convey the dread they were both feeling.


The first sign that they were approaching the Sulaaq facility was a brief flashing red light that Mewtwo spotted high up in the canopy ahead of them. It blinked on for only a fraction of a second and appeared at regular intervals every few seconds, almost like a radio tower's beacon light. As they got closer to it the trees began to thin out a little, leaving space in all directions for them to move in rather than a narrow path. Mewtwo spotted a dense thicket of underbrush ahead that just barely failed to completely conceal the shadowy silhouette of a structure inside. Mewtwo reached over and put one hand on Kalana's shoulder to get her attention, then pointed it out.

"Hey Kalana, stop for a moment. Look there, I think that's the settlement. We should try to stealthily scope the situation out rather than smashing through the thicket with guns blazing. They might have defensive turrets as big as the ones back at the valley bridge checkpoint. I'd rather not test their effectiveness on our armor with us inside."

"Well the valley bridge did extend for us, maybe we can casually float into the settlement and pretend to be one of them long enough to scope it out? We could then spring out in ambush and blast them while we still have the element of surprise." Kalana suggested.

"We'd be in deep trouble if we tried that and the camp was packed to the rafters with Chosen. Besides, there's a good chance that our Chosen friend from back in the valley has passed back through the ruins and noticed the fact that this Helmasaur has gone missing by now. If he did then he could easily revoke its security codes and mark it as hostile. That'd mean we'd be blasted on sight. I don't like that level of risk." Mewtwo replied.

"Well alright those are fair points, but do you really feel confident in your stealth skills, especially in a thicket that dense?"

"I'm willing to bet they have one or two paths through the foliage; I doubt a Helmasaur could drive in there easily if there was no driveway. Come on, park behind that cluster of trees and grab a gun just in case."

"That inner Kiharé is really coming through tonight huh?" Kalana asked with a smirk.

"The prospect of gathering the medallions has me feeling a lot more optimistic about our chances, to put it lightly." Mewtwo replied.

"Same here actually. I can't wait to bring the fight to those filthy sulir. It's about time we took offensive measures instead of just reacting to their attacks."

Kalana tucked away the Helmasaur behind the trees that Mewtwo had pointed out, giving them plenty of cover and some distance from the settlement. Mewtwo chose to leave his cloak behind in order to avoid it noisily snagging on the foliage, but he still brought a Sulaaq rifle and the Vatorsa spear. Kalana chose a pistol instead and sheathed Scimitar Azria on her hip, then climbed out of the top hatch to avoid the noise that the back ramp would cause. Together they crept silently through the woods and approached the thicket very slowly and cautiously. They poked around the exterior and searched for a pathway through that wouldn't be too noisy. They snuck nearly all the way around to the opposite side of the thicket before finding a path that seemed to have been sliced and hacked clear with blades. Just like Mewtwo had suspected it looked wide enough for a tank or Helmasaur to pass through with plenty of space on both sides, so they were easily able to stand on one side and peer down inside to get a view of the interior.

Most of the thicket had been cleared out to make room for a big black steel Sulaaq building shaped like a curved claw jutting up from the ground. There was a squat, boxy garage attached to its side, and next to that was a gigantic radio tower that reached up through a hole in the canopy to pierce the skies above. That was the source of the blinking red light that Mewtwo had seen, proving his earlier guess correct. There was a bare dirty patch of ground in front of these buildings acting as a sort of filthy, trash-strewn parking lot without any pavement. One Helmasaur was parked idle in the middle of this lot with its hatches shut and its engines off. The garage's door was open and Mewtwo could see another 'saur sitting in there too. There wasn't a trace of a single living soul out there in the open, but Mewtwo figured they were most likely all inside at the moment. He was just about to start moving down the path into the clearing when he heard noises coming from the garage. He gestured to Kalana to wait and they watched silently to see what would happen next.

Their decision to wait eventually proved a wise one. Another Zoroark Chosen strode out of the garage and casually walked over toward the Helmasaur sitting in the center of the lot. Mewtwo could tell this was a different one from the one he'd been fighting repeatedly since he had much more numerous scars all over his body and a much shorter, more scraggly mane. He opened the back ramp of the Helmasaur and stepped inside while mumbling to himself in a clearly frustrated tone. There were a few thumping and clattering sounds, followed by a radio chirp and the sound of the Chosen's voice.

"Yeah this is VB-001, what do you want?! ...Oh, apologies Admiral."

Mewtwo realized by the gaps in the Chosen's conversation that they were hearing his side of a two way radio call. He almost wanted to run back to their own Helmasaur to try to listen in and catch both sides of it, but he reminded himself that it probably wouldn't be easy to discover the specific frequency they were using in time. Best to at least catch half.

"Uhhh yes sir, the Assets are still secure, they're waiting inside the Broadcast Studio for your order to resume. ...Wait, you're serious? I finally get to ditch this shithole?!"

Mewtwo noticed that the voice of the Chosen suddenly sounded gleefully excited here and he didn't seem too concerned about swearing in front of an Admiral.

"Fuck yes, finally! Thank you so much sir! Does this mean I can also ditch this awful fox getup too? ...Alright, alright, sorry sir. ...Yes I understand. ...Right away."

A short click and some rustling later the Chosen re-emerged with a huge wicked grin on his face. He ran back to the garage while humming a cheerful tune, leaving Mewtwo to contend with the implications of what he'd just overheard. There was only one conclusion he could draw from the way the Chosen had said the phrase "Awful fox getup", it meant that the Sulaaq weren't Zoroarks after all. It was all just another ruse. Everything he thought he knew about them began to fall apart again. He was back to the starting line, forced to merely speculate about their nature. If they weren't Zoroarks then what else could they be that had the power to shapeshift or cast illusions? Maybe they were Dittos? Those Pokemon could imitate whatever they saw, even inanimate objects. Unfortunately this was very improbable, when Dittos transformed they underwent a very characteristic liquid-like shifting process, and the Chosen that Mewtwo had seen transform before had done so in a flickering eye blink. That sort of instantaneous flash implied it was an illusion rather than a physical transformation, but this left Mewtwo with even more problems. Almost every single psychic type Pokemon could use their powers to create illusions, with more powerful species able to make them more convincing. This meant that there was such a wide selection of possible species that narrowing it down would be a futile endeavor. The only way they could figure it out now would be to capture or kill a Chosen in battle.

There were of course two other terrifying possibilities that he was trying not to actively think too much about: They could be aliens from another world merely pretending to be Pokemon in order to throw him off, or they could be evil alternate universe versions of him like he had feared earlier. Mewtwo still remembered the Chosen wearing his face for a moment back during their first tower raid after all. The memory sent icy chills racing up and down his spine and he frantically tried to stamp the mental image out of his mind.

After a few minutes of this disturbing rumination Mewtwo's train of thought was halted by the Chosen returning. He strolled out of the garage with a single Gerudo thrall following behind him. This thrall wasn't the typical Ravéan citizen that Mewtwo was used to fighting though; she was significantly shorter and thinner than the average Gerudo and her hair was short, ratted, and deathly white like an old woman's. Yet despite the age implied by her hair she had a youthful, full face that looked to be aged to the human equivalent of the early 30s. She was wearing blue Vha'an clothes rather than Ravéan yellow, and these clothes were extremely ragged and faded, as if they had been worn for decades until the seems began to give out from wear and tear. She didn't wear the same mind control helmet bolted to her head like the Ravéans had, and her eyes were blank white without pupils despite the lack of this helmet or any Incantation. She was shackled at the wrists and led by a rusty iron chain that had been attached to her cuffs. This struck Mewtwo as unnecessarily cruel since she already seemed to have been mind controlled by the Chosen directly. There was no need to use crude restraints like those other than pure, naked sadism.

"Come on Voice Meat, get in the APC. I wonder what Admiral Shadetalon is even going to do with you now that he's going back to traditional mind control methods? Maybe he's going to give you to Commander Flametongue? I've heard he's got a lot of special experience in dealing with vermin like you. Ooh, or maybe he'll turn you over to the research team! Then they'll finally get their chance to do a proper vivisection on you to figure out how that magic voice box of yours works."

Raw disgust and hatred boiled up in Mewtwo's stomach as he heard firsthand proof of the Chosen's open sadism. He felt the overpowering urge again to raise his gun and put a hole in that monster's head, but without knowing how many other Chosen could be waiting inside the main building it was far too risky. Even if he killed this one in one shot it could just be the equivalent of swatting a single hornet right next to a nest full of its brethren. All he could do was watch as the Chosen shoved the slave inside the Helmasaur and bark orders at her.

"There, now stow that power disk under the seat and sit down. Stay put and don't move until I say otherwise." He ordered.

There was a brief sound of rattling chains and some thumping, then the Chosen re-emerged carrying an armful of what appeared to be explosive charges and shut the Helmasaur's ramp behind him. Mewtwo's rage faded to confusion as he watched the Chosen begin planting those charges all over the exterior of the buildings and the radio tower. He continued to hum a jaunty little tune as he worked, even talking out loud to himself a little bit.

"This is going to be so fucking satisfying. Can't wait to ditch this stupid fucking shit-shack and watch it go up in flames. Maybe I'll finally get an active deployment with some real action again."

At this point an opportunity presented itself to Mewtwo that he found near-impossible to resist. The Chosen turned his back to them and knelt down to place one of the explosive charges on the base of the main building in plain view. Mewtwo did a little mental exercise; assuming the charges were roughly equivalent to C4, he figured the Helmasaur containing the medallion and the Vha'an thrall was probably far enough away to survive the blast if the bombs went off now. He raised his rifle and carefully took aim at the bomb that the Chosen was arming. If they were especially lucky it would set off all the others in a chain reaction and kill the Chosen instantly, as well as any of his buddies still lingering inside the building. It meant that Mewtwo wouldn't be able to capture this one in order to see what his true form was, but safely saving the thrall and obtaining the medallion without a fight would make it more than worth it. He was certain to encounter more Chosen in the future that he could try to capture anyway. Bracing himself for the blast, Mewtwo pulled the trigger and let loose one single perfectly-aimed shot.

The thrum and snapping report of the laser occurred nearly simultaneously with the gut-shaking explosion that it caused. Mewtwo's plan had worked perfectly, the bombs all went off at once, including the ones that the Chosen had still been carrying slung under his arm. The huge orange fireball vaporized the Chosen at point blank before he could even react. The shockwave ripped apart the base of the buildings and the radio tower, sending them crumbling to the ground amid clouds of billowing black dust. It also caused the Helmasaur carrying the thrall to rock back and forth, but fortunately Mewtwo's calculations proved correct and it survived intact. There was one downside though, the blast immediately deafened Mewtwo and sent spikes of pain jabbing into his ears. He was left with just the painful ringing of tinnitus, causing him to pull back out of view and dig out his potion. He took a very small sip, hoping that it would be enough to restore his hearing without having to spend too much of the precious liquid. Kalana followed his example and took a small sip of her own. Luckily for both of them, the small doses were enough to bring their hearing back, but some slight ringing still remained.

"What are you doing?! The moment they try to call that Chosen over the radio again they'll know something happened!" Kalana whispered urgently.

"That may be the case but it seemed to me like this demolition was planned, so the leadership might not check in for awhile. I doubt anyone else inside the building survived either, so let's take our chance to grab the medallion and free that thrall. Quickly, before the dust and smoke completely clear!"

With his rifle at the ready Mewtwo carefully forged a path through the smoky clearing and found the Helmasaur. While he fumbled around for the button to open the rear door he could hear the muffled sound of thumping coming from inside. Once the ramp clicked open and swung down to the ground Mewtwo could see the silver-haired thrall lying in the middle of the floor of the passenger compartment, struggling to get up. He knelt down next to her and began to check for any obvious injuries. As he did, Kalana began to open up and rifle through the storage lockers underneath the seats. The thrall looked dazed and totally unaware of her surroundings but was otherwise unharmed. They were very lucky that the Helmasaur had shielded her from the bombs going off.

"Found the medallion!" Kalana said softly. She pulled it out of the storage locker and jammed it into her knapsack quickly before Mewtwo could get a close look at it.

"Excellent, now see if there's any other supplies in there we could use too." Mewtwo replied.

At this point the thrall's eyes fully cleared of the fog that had been induced by the mind control of the late Chosen and she fully snapped into consciousness. A confused look came over her face as she examined Mewtwo a few moments.

"What's with the new look Sarge? Finally found a way to wash all that disgusting filth off of your repugnant Sulaaqan body?"

"Listen, I'm not a Sulaaq officer, my name is Mewtwo and I'm not with them at all. I'm here to break you free of your enslavement. But if we're to make it out of here before their forces come to investigate our attack we need to leave immediately and move quickly. Can you stand?" Mewtwo asked.

"Not a Sulaaq? You damn well look like one, and I've seen a few." She replied as she stumbled to her feet.

"If I was one of them would I have done this?" Mewtwo asked, stepping aside to show her the flaming wreckage of the former base behind him.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time you used illusion spells to give me false hope before yanking it all away again. But whatever I do I always lose, so what does it matter." The thrall grumbled darkly.

Kalana finished looking through the storage lockers at this point and stood up. She put one hand on the freed thrall's shoulder and spoke.

"Does this feel like an illusion to you?"

The thrall's eyes boggled in shock and she turned to give Kalana a look of utter amazement. It seemed like the illusions of the Sulaaq couldn't mimic the physical touch of a Gerudo's hand, since she looked immediately convinced and replied in the affirmative.

"No it does not! What's going on here?!"

"We'll tell you after we're out of this place. Come on, hurry!" Kalana said.

The three of them then took off at a sprint, passing the flaming wreckage and exiting the single path that led through the thicket. They didn't bother trying to move quietly as they ran through the woods so it only took a minute or two for them to reach Mewtwo and Kalana's Helmasaur. Mewtwo climbed inside at first but the thrall stopped short at the end of the ramp and spoke.

"Ok wait just one Goddess-damned moment. I'm not getting into that thing with you until you answer a few questions. Just who the hell are you?"

"I'm Kalana Quindalo, daughter of Hadara Quindalo, third Chief of the Rakeshan tribe, and this is my close friend and companion Mewtwo."

"Oh Goddesses! How long have I even been out here?! The last Rakeshan Chief I'd heard of was Talooru!" The thrall said, her expression and tone filled with shock and horror.

"That was my grandmother..." Kalana replied quietly.

"We've given you our names, what is yours?" Mewtwo asked, starting to suspect he might already know.

"I am Valisse Lasheera, daughter of Chief Mireth Lasheera. I was the rightful heir of the Vha'an Chiefhood before I was captured by the Sulaaq."

"By the Goddesses, that means you're the Princess from the old legend my sister loves! You must be hundreds of years old now, yet aside from your hair you look as young as I do!" Kalana gasped.

"There's legends about me?!" Valisse asked, looking equally shocked.

"Yes, the Legend of the Princess and the Warlock. What happened to you? The Legend says you eloped with the Warlock and vanished into the Vile Desert never to be seen again!"

"I did! But Vaantu... he wasn't who he said he was. He was a Sulaaq Chosen in disguise. The moment we left Ven'vha together he showed me his true self and and used his sorcerous powers to control my mind. I've been a thrall for them ever since." Valisse replied with a heartbroken look.

"Goddesses, I'm so sorry. How do you even remember all this though? I thought Sulaaq mind control prevented people from remembering their tenure as a thrall?" Kalana asked.

"I don't know the specifics, but I certainly don't remember all of it! The centuries of standing around singing are a blur, but the times in between the singing are clearer. I think the Chosen wanted me to be aware as much as possible in order to maximize my suffering." Valisse replied bitterly.

"Sa'oten, those sulir! I'm infinitely sorry..." Kalana said, looking empathetic and a little guilty for forcing her to talk about it.

Kalana moved to offer Valisse a hug, but the silver-haired princess recoiled and raised one hand to block her.

"Don't touch me! This could still be an elaborate, cruel trick concocted by the Chosen who controls me!"

"How can we prove it's not?" Mewtwo asked.

"The medallion. Give it to me. The Chosen would never ever risk allowing me to touch it while not enthralled to his will. It can fuel the power of my voice even inside their Magic Siphon Field." Valisse replied without a moment of hesitation.

Mewtwo exchanged a worried glance with Kalana. He remembered the legend and its description of the power Valisse possessed. Giving her the medallion was essentially giving her the power to control their minds with no recourse, and the legend had also been clear about the fact that Valisse had the unfortunate tendency to abuse that power. She didn't necessarily have a reason to act hostile with them though, and it seemed like they didn't have any other options to earn her trust. Mewtwo nodded wordlessly to Kalana and she returned the nod and produced the medallion from her bag. She offered it to Valisse, who snatched it up greedily. Without a moment's pause Valisse barked an order at them in a haughty, domineering tone.

"I command you to tell me whether or not you are Sulaaq or agents of the Sulaaq acting under their power!"

Valisse's voice was much louder than normal when she said this. It also seemed to reverberate in Mewtwo's ears, buzzing unpleasantly and shifting upward and downward in tone as it repeated. He could also see the medallion glow with a faint purple-ish black light as she used its power.

"I am not!" Both he and Kalana replied instantaneously.

It was unnerving to Mewtwo how quickly his body responded to the command without his brain's direction. Before he had even parsed the ending of her sentence his mouth, throat, and lungs sprang into action to form his reply without any effort or thought at all. At least Valisse looked visibly relieved for a few moments. But rather than handing the medallion back she issued another order.

"I command you to tell me whether our interactions are part of an illusion or any other form of deception!"

"They're not!" Mewtwo and Kalana replied again.

"Thank the Goddesses!" Valisse said, then leaned against the Helmasaur's outer hull to relax a bit.

"Can you please stop doing that now that you know we're telling the truth?" Kalana asked in exasperation.

"For now yes, but I'm going to hold onto this for assurance for just a little bit longer. What are the two of you doing out here this deep in the East?"

"We're on a quest together. Mewtwo and I are gathering as many of the medallions as we can find along the way to the heart of Sulaaq territory. Once we arrive we mean to find their leadership and put them all to the blade." Kalana explained.

"Really?! Just the two of you by yourselves? What makes you think you have any hope of matching their might?" Valisse asked incredulously.

"This." Kalana replied, drawing Scimitar Azria. "And this." She added, producing the Spirit medallion.

"Also this." Mewtwo chimed in, showing her the Forest medallion.

"Sa'oten! I'd never thought I'd see any of the others! This means that between the three of us we have three of the six holy medallions!"

"The three of us? Does this mean that you intend to come with us?" Mewtwo asked.

"Of course. Now that I'm free I have a score to settle with those sulir. They kept me prisoner in that little forest camp for centuries and used me as a slave to sing into their machines the entire time. They even fed me what they claimed were medicines that delay aging so I could keep singing far beyond my natural mortal lifespan!" Valisse replied angrily.

That was all that Mewtwo needed to confirm his suspicions and put together every piece of the puzzle. Valisse must have been the source of the mind-controlling Incantation that the Sulaaq had been using to keep all their thralls in line. It all fit together, from the anti-aging drugs they used to keep Valisse alive for so long, to the Shadow medallion acting as an infinite battery to power her voice, and to the radio tower attached to the base that must have broadcast her magic-infused words to a relay satellite. The Sulaaq must have built this complex broadcasting scheme in order to keep all their slaves controlled while the drain devices were online and preventing direct psychic control from working. All this convoluted effort just went into maintaining their control and hegemony with minimal Chosen presence. He could barely fathom the scope of the implications that this system hinted at. Then something else clicked into place: if Valisse had really seen several Chosen during her centuries of slavery here then she must know what they look like.

"Valisse, if you're going to come with us then I need you to describe to me what exactly a Chosen looks like. I used to think they were a creature named Zoroark but now I'm not so sure. If you can tell me more about them then I could potentially figure out which of my 'spells' would have the best chance of working against them."

"Uh, they look just like you, almost to a T. The only big difference is their fur color: they match the black and red theme of their buildings. But I've seen them wear plenty of other shapes too, so that's just me guessing based on the one I saw them wear the most overall. They have seemed to grown fond of that dark-furred fox shape lately too." Valisse replied.

Mewtwo felt his heart sink as she described a being just like him. It was yet another undeniable piece of evidence on the growing pile that the Sulaaq could be alternate universe versions of himself. He was still trying to bury the thought under a pile of mental denial but it was becoming impossible to keep it down there. He realized that continued denial was bordering on suicidal sabotage of their quest and he needed to address it.

"Kalana...if the Sulaaq really are the same species as me somehow... well we're in colossal trouble to say the least. Assuming they have the same psychic strength as me then I could only ever really hold my own against a single one of them in a fight. Any more than that and we're doomed."

"But that wouldn't explain how easily we defeated that one before! All it took was a blade through the gut to force him to retreat. If he had the same healing powers as you he could have regenerated like you and killed us easily!"

"But I don't think he wanted to kill us, just scare us away from the tower and inflict emotional damage. Remember what you said about this all potentially being an attempt to break my spirit in order to enslave me?" Mewtwo retorted.

"Well then maybe they won't try to kill us when we walk right into their headquarters too?" Kalana asked.

"I hate to interrupt this little lover's quarrel, but you two just met a Chosen in person too? Did you happen to ask his name?" Valisse interjected.

"No, we didn't exactly have time since we had to perform a surprise ambush to get you out safely. Why do you ask?" Kalana replied.

"Because the very first thing I want to do now that I'm free is to find that gazmé of a liar Vaantu and put a blade through his neck for what he did to me! But I don't have much to go on for his whereabouts other than a brief conversation I overheard."

"Well then it's a good thing we're headed East to find the Sulaaq capital then. Chances are you'll find him there, assuming he's not the one we killed when we made our surprise attack." Kalana replied.

"I know he's not the one you killed here. Maybe we might find him in the East, but I'm doubtful. The conversation I overheard was him talking to an unnamed superior officer who assigned him to an 'excavation mission' in the southwest near a dried up lake bed. I lost track of how long ago this was, but it was long before you came. My gut instinct tells me that if he's not here enjoying my suffering then he must still be out on assignment. He had far too much fun tormenting me for countless years just to quit and forget me after his mission is done." Valisse replied.

"With all due respect Princess, if we can depose the Sulaaq leadership first then finding and killing this specific Chosen ought to become much easier afterward." Kalana said.

"How do you know that? The power vacuum might create abject chaos in their hierarchy! For all we know the Chosen could embroil themselves in a civil war over who takes control, causing me to miss my chance to kill him. My gut is telling me I have a much better chance to find him now before you two stir up their leadership, not after. Besides, do you even know who their leader is?"

"Well, not exactly, but-" Mewtwo tried to say before Valisse cut him off.

"See? You're rudderless. I at least know his name, I've heard them uttering it in conversations I've overheard. I don't know what he is or what he looks like, I just know they call him Lord Darkest." Valisse snapped.

There was a brief, menacing pause as Kalana and Mewtwo took in the name of the one who was responsible for all their suffering. Mewtwo almost cracked a smile from how cheesy and on-the-nose the name was, but he quickly remembered the seriousness of their plight and the urge to laugh vanished.

"Well that is still vitally important to know! It confirms to us that there is one big important figurehead leader that we can kill! A proper decapitation attack will put the Sulaaq into a chaotic mess that we can exploit!" Kalana replied, her tone growing more hopeful.

"And I'm going southwest to that lakebed to find Vaantu before you do! Whether you come with me or not!" Valisse retorted angrily.

"How are you supposed to stand any sort of chance against them alone?" Kalana asked.

Valisse gripped the Shadow medallion a little bit tighter as she replied. "With this! I can use my voice to command them as I please, regardless of their Magic Siphons. As long as I can catch them off guard and command them before they can cast their spells on me then victory is assured."

"Wait, we need that medallion in order to have a chance at our own mission!" Kalana protested.

"Then come with me and help me to kill Vaantu! Once he is dead then I'll go with you and help you in your quest." Valisse retorted.

"We don't have time for such a diversion!" Mewtwo snapped.

"Oh, and why is that?"

Mewtwo suddenly hesitated. What if he told her about the potential angry caravan of Gerudos following them to stop their mission and it only made her even more resolute in her decision to go? She might see it as a threat to her own quest for vengeance. Instead he decided to try telling her about the superweapons in the towers, even if the technology was difficult to explain.

"It's because the Sulaaq towers are-"

At this point Valisse angrily cut him off. "You know what? I don't care! If you're not going to come with me then I have nothing more to say to you! Since I'm a reasonable and understanding vai I will just take this one medallion and be on my way, rather than using my gift to force you to come with me. I'll even make my way back Eastward to help your quest once I've gotten Vaantu's head on a spear."

"You know we can't risk you letting the medallion and your voice fall back into their hands again." Kalana said threateningly. She took a few steps toward Valisse at this point, and in response Valisse got up and backed away from them.

"Don't make me use them!" Valisse replied in a low, deadly tone.

A brief, silent standoff ensued for a few painful moments while Valisse stared Mewtwo and Kalana down. None of them dared to move first, though Mewtwo's tail swayed nervously behind him. The only sound on the air now was the gentle swish of the breeze blowing through the trees and the distant crackling of the fires burning in the destroyed Sulaaq outpost. Rather than trying to attack, Mewtwo instead made one last attempt at diplomacy.

"Valisse listen to me, the-"

"SILENCE!" Valisse boomed.

The medallion glowed again and Mewtwo felt the strange resonance of Valisse's magic in his head once more. Kalana made a desperate lunge in an attempt to snatch the medallion out of her hands, but Valisse was on guard and ready for it.

"HALT!" She bellowed.

Kalana stopped dead in her tracks and Mewtwo felt his whole body go rigid, even his tail. Valisse stepped back from them another few feet and sneered.

"You Rakeshan types think you're soooooooo good at magic! Well how does it feel to finally meet someone who you can't best?" She snapped, walking back around to the Helmasaur's ramp.

Neither Mewtwo nor Kalana could speak a word in response or budge an inch due to the commands binding them. Mewtwo struggled to regain control over his body but it was like his muscles weren't even receiving his mind's directions.

"You know I was going to be nice and just leave before! You did rescue me after all. But I will not tolerate any impudent interference with my goals, even from another Princess! I need to make sure you don't try to interfere with me again. Normally I'd just use my voice to command you not to follow me under any circumstance, but once enough time passes the magic siphons of the Sulaaq will nullify its energy and free you. I need to be absolutely sure you can't catch up to me."

With that Valisse stepped inside their Helmasaur and hit the switch to raise the ramp. Panic surged through Mewtwo as the ramp began to lift itself shut. If she got away with all their supplies they would starve before even reaching the capital. With one last ditch effort Mewtwo called up every ounce of willpower he could summon and attempted to break free of Valisse's spell. His body still refused to move, but somehow he managed to regain the use of his voice.

"Valisse wait! Our food!"

The words managed to slip through the door before it shut, but it shut before Valisse could reply. Mewtwo stared dismally at the impersonal steel hull for several seconds, holding out hope that Valisse would show them at least some small semblance of humanity. A moment later the ramp clicked and slid open again, and Mewtwo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Here. I'm keeping some of it for myself, but I'll leave you the rest. I'm no filthy Qata'ra after all. The capital isn't too much further East, this ought to be more than enough to get you the rest of the way. There should be plenty more food, water, and Helmasaurs there for you to take after you kill Lord Darkest."

Valisse then carried down two big bags of trail rations and waterskins to set down beside them. Since Mewtwo had control over his vocal chords again he tried one more time to reason with her as she set them down.

"Come on Valisse, we're on the same side here! There's no need for this."

"We are on the same side, yes. But you are Rakeshan, I don't answer to you."

"I took the oath of Kinship for the Vha'an tribe too. On top of that, I am the Traveler!" Mewtwo proclaimed, desperately grabbing for any straws he could think of.

Valisse rounded on him with a sudden look of blinding rage on her face. With an open palm she slapped him across the face with enough force to send him sprawling on his back and raise a huge welt on his snout. She screamed another command at him at the top of her lungs as he came to rest.

"SHUT UP! Don't you EVER dare use my mother's prophecies against me like that again! I don't care what oaths you swore Daha'ra, if you disrespect my mother one more time I will personally see to it that you're hauled off to the Vha'an Arbiter's Grounds in chains!"

Valisse then stormed up the ramp back inside the Helmasaur and slammed her hand on the switch to close it. To add one last touch of emphasis to her point she hurled one of their supply crates out of the hatch as it slid closed. It smashed open and spilled its contents all over the ground, sending a few bombs and rifle batteries scattering over the mossy Earth.

"And take your garbage with you!" Valisse shouted before the door clicked shut.

A second or two of uncomfortable silence passed, then the Helmasaur's engines thrummed to life. Unable to sit up due to Valisse's spell, Mewtwo balefully watched out of the corner of his eye as it floated up off the ground, turned Southwest, and took off into the forest.

"Sa'sheer." Mewtwo groaned, a little Gerudo slipping into his speech now.

It took several minutes before Valisse's voice effect began to wear off of them. They sat there boredly waiting and listening until their limbs and voices returned to their control. They heard the distant thudding boom of an explosion as they waited and Mewtwo frowned deeply, uncertain of whether it was caused by Valisse or an approaching Sulaaq force. When control did fully return to them Kalana grumbled bitterly and dusted herself off.

"Goddesses above, I loathe that jumped-up, entitled amalaq." She said, clearly intending the nastier meaning of the word.

"Well the legend did say that she was a spoiled, nasty brat." Mewtwo replied, dusting himself off too.

"Yeah. I'm starting to think most of that legend was true and Kamilia was only trying to suppress it because she's embarrassed by the way Valisse behaves."

"Well at least she left us our ammo supply." Mewtwo mumbled.

"I'm curious though, why did you tell her that you're the Traveler? You've always tried to downplay that and told me you don't put stock in those portents." Kalana asked.

"I was desperate to find basically anything that could make her stop and listen to us. I still don't really believe in it but I couldn't just let her turn and leave us here without trying something."

"Hmmm, understandable. We'll have to remember that Mireth and her gift are a sensitive topic should we encounter Valisse again. Come on, let's pack up all the stuff she left and take a quick inventory of everything we have."

"Good idea."

The two of them spent a few minutes unpacking their bags, counting everything, and re-packing it with all the stuff Valisse had left them.

"Ok, I have Scimitar Azria and its newly adjusted sheath, the Spirit medallion, my mother's dagger, a day and a half of water and jerky rations, my buckler, one bomb, 5/6 of a red potion, flint and steel, my cloak and face veil, and a Sulaaq pistol with five ammunition reservoirs." Kalana said.

"I have the Vatorsa Spear, a day and a half of water and rations, 5/6 of a red potion, one bomb, my cloak, the Forest medallion, a Sulaaq rifle, and five reservoirs for it too." Mewtwo replied.

"It's... not great. I wish she'd given us the rest of our potions too, but at least we have all this ammo that we stole from the thralls."

"I wish she'd given us the salted Lizalfos haunches from the Spirit Temple rather than this awful Leever jerky though." Mewtwo growled.

"Beggars can't be choosers. At least we won't starve."

"I guess, but now what do we do without our Helmasaur?"

"I have an idea actually. Remember that empty one we left back at the Sulaaq outpost? Why don't we go steal that?" Kalana suggested.

"Well it's risking us being there when Sulaaq reinforcements arrive, but I'd rather not go the rest of the way on foot so let's do it."

"Right!"

They set out through the trees at a brisk pace and homed in on the huge plume of smoke rising up from the burning outpost. Feeling the need to brighten their moods in light of all their recent misfortune, Mewtwo cracked a smile and made a playful aside.

"This will be what, our fourth Helmasaur that we've stolen so far? We're going through these things like a joyriding teenager."

"Hey as long as we bring one back to my mother when we're done with all this then it shouldn't matter if it's the same one. Hell, if the one we're about to steal has a brand new power reservoir in it then we could make a case for giving her an upgrade." Kalana laughed.

Their mirth rapidly crashed and burned the moment they arrived back at the destroyed outpost however. The Helmasaur they had left there now had a huge hole blown through it as if it had been blasted by a Sulaaq gun. Its hull had burst like an over-pressurized egg and it was currently spewing a plume of flames just like the rest of the ruins.

"So much for that upgrade I guess." Mewtwo said bitterly.

"Sa'oveer! That must have been the explosion we heard while waiting for the voice to wear off! I bet that amalaq blew it up so we couldn't use it to chase her!" Kalana yelled angrily.

Mewtwo's heart sank as the reality of the situation hit him full force. He stared blankly at the burning husk of the vehicle for several seconds as he tried to think of any possible way they could avoid going on foot. The only idea he could come up with was so outlandish that he decided to voice it anyway, just to cling to any modicum of levity he could.

"Well, I don't suppose we could walk back to the Deku Tree and ask him to use his forest shifting power to block off Valisse's escape could we?"

Kalana laughed bitterly and shook her head no. "She's already long gone by now. By the time we made it back to the Deku Tree's clearing she will have left the forest entirely. Besides, knowing our luck she'd just yell at the trees to stand aside and they'd actually get up and walk out of her path."

This time it was Mewtwo's turn to give a bitter laugh. He watched the dancing flames for a few more moments before turning away.

"Well, as they say on Earth, I guess we're hoofing it then."

"Not like we have any other choice now. Come on, we've tarried here for far too long and I don't want to be around when the Sulaaq come to look for their missing 'Assets'." Kalana replied.

Mewtwo nodded in agreement and led Kalana away from the burning ruins. It only took a minute or two for him to realize that without their maps he had no idea where he was going.

"Kalana, I just realized that we left all of our navigational gear in the Helmasaur. Without them I'm going to be totally lost."

"Don't worry, all we need to do is keep going East, and I have a keen sense of direction. You don't do as many deep desert patrols as I have without developing a sharp, instinctual skill for navigation. Just let me lead the way and we'll get there. These trees are no more samey and confusing than the Vile Desert's endless dunes. Besides, the Deku Tree did promise to keep our path ahead clear, so I don't expect any more twisty passages like the ones that confused me earlier. Valisse also did say that the capital isn't far. If anyone would know that it would be her. Plus, at least the weather is nice too." Kalana replied.

"You're right. I have a feeling we'll miss these woods and their cool breezes soon enough."