Chapter 15: Warning Signs
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Link!" Penn raised a wing in greeting as Link rode into the Woodland Stable, evening beginning to descend. "I wondered if I'd run into you again."
"Good to see you," Link nodded politely, slipping off of Ember's back. His gaze wandered to two colorfully-dressed individuals standing awkwardly around a wagon with a missing wheel. "I know it hasn't been long, but have you made it to Lookout Landing?"
"Just this morning," Penn said, puffing out his chest proudly. "Messages delivered and received. Purah says – her words, not mine – you're nuts, but keep up the good work. General Gralens is sending a squatoon, or a plod, or something like that, out to investigate the Frost Gleeok at Snowfield Stable. He says they do have some Rito with them."
"Good," Link nodded, his shoulders relaxing slightly. It's something, at least. Goddesses be with them. "It's… called a platoon."
"Ah," Penn nodded and scratched his head. "Hey, Purah knows you by name, and you know all this stuff about the monster control unit. So you must be pretty high ranking. Should I be calling you… uh… Captain Link, or something?"
"Just Link is fine," Link chuckled, amused. Funny how common a misconception it was, that captains were high-ranking. He glanced again at the vibrant pair by the broken wagon. "What's… going on with those two? Is that their wagon?"
"I see you've noticed my current sources," Penn said, lowering his voice. "Yeah, it's their wagon. Honestly, what with you being interested in the whole Princess Zelda investigation, you might want to hear them out too. Strange thing happened to 'em – blond haired woman jumped out from nowhere, spooked their horse, and while it was raging around their wagon broke."
Link frowned. "There's plenty of blond-haired women in Hyrule," he pointed out.
"Well… well, yeah, that's true," Penn admitted. "I've got to chase every possible lead, though. You never know which one might actually be the Princess."
Link nodded, biting his lip. Will I have to track down every blond-haired woman in Hyrule? he thought dismally. "I'll go get my horse stabled," he sighed. "Then maybe I'll see if there's something I can do about their wagon. It doesn't look too complicated."
He paid the stable manager and led Ember to the stalls, taking him down the line of horses until he found an empty one. He brought Ember inside and removed his gear, then gave him a quick grooming and a treat before walking away.
A familiar whinny, halfway down the line of stalls, froze him in his tracks.
"No way," he muttered, turning towards the sound.
The face of a familiar dark bay stallion was leaning over the door to his stall, ears perked forward, eyes trained on him. Link's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Fortitude?" he said hesitantly, and the stallion's ears twitched at the sound of his name. Quickly Link rushed over to the stall and let himself inside, scanning the horse for identifiable marks – a white spot on the back of his left foreleg, a scar along his right shoulder. It's undoubtedly him!
He rushed back out, towards the stable manager. "You have my horse," he accused. "My old horse, Fortitude. Lester sent word to all the stables around Lookout Landing – he would've reached out to you. Why didn't you say something?"
The stable manager blinked, looking entirely perplexed. "Wh-what? No, I swear – the only horse of yours we've got here is the one you just stabled."
"Then whose is the dark bay?" Link demanded angrily.
"I – it's theirs, over there," the man stammered, pointing towards the colorful pair by the broken wagon.
Link grit his teeth. Of course. He turned on his heel away from the stable manager's counter, marching towards the broken wagon. As he neared, he could see that one of the individuals seemed to be a young woman, perhaps sixteen years of age. Next to her was a small, round, mustached man, approximately the size of a Korok, wearing a velvety purple coat and an obnoxiously tall hat.
"You have my horse," Link said tightly as he neared. "That dark bay the stable manager says is yours. He's mine."
The round man bobbed in place, turning to face him. "Bay?" he echoed. "No, no, no – you must be mistaken. My horse is clearly brown, not bay."
The girl next to him winced slightly. "Mastro," she whispered. "Bay horses are brown."
Link grit his teeth. Great. So they know nothing about horses. "I want him back," he growled.
The man tutted annoyingly. "Ah, but do you have proof that he is yours?" he asked in a sing-song voice. "We found him in the wilds, and it was my understanding that if one catches a wild horse, one may keep said horse. No questions asked."
"What? Where did you find him? How?" Link asked, surprised. Lester said no one's seen my horse – he must've run off after the Upheaval.
"And why, pray tell, should I do that?" the man harrumphed. "He's my horse."
Link's hands clenched into fists.
The young woman next to the man winced slightly. "We really did just find him on the side of a road," she said consolingly. "He had a halter on, but there was nobody in sight. We figured he'd just been… abandoned, or something." She looked at her boots. "It's my fault, not Mastro's. I just wanted to help."
Link could feel some of his anger ebbing. The girl seemed genuine, at least, although Link was certain that Mastro was the most annoying soul he'd ever met.
In a way, I did abandon Fortitude. Zelda and I both… we just left our horses in the ruins of Castle Town. And then the Upheaval happened… makes sense that Fortitude would run off. If anything, it's good he was found by people, instead of bokoblins.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling wearily. "And do you know how to take care of a horse?" he asked.
The girl nodded, then shrugged. "I know the basics," she answered. "And Grover seems really well trained and friendly."
Link choked on a breath. "Grover?" he echoed.
"I told her it was a silly name," Mastro grumbled under his breath, crossing his arms.
The young girl shifted bashfully from one foot to the other. "I think it's cute," she defended. She grimaced slightly. "What was his… real name?"
"And why did you abandon him in the first place, hmmm?" Mastro demanded, jabbing a finger theatrically in Link's direction.
"I didn't abandon him," Link said. My arm got destroyed by the Demon King and I spent a month unconscious on a sky island with a spirit transplanting his arm to replace mine. "I got… stuck, in a very difficult place to get out of, during the Upheaval. It took me a while to get back." He swallowed, his heart sinking a little. "Doesn't really matter what his old name was."
The girl brightened. "You'll let us keep him?"
Link let out a heavy breath, glaring at the smug look in Mastro's eyes. Ember… Ember is the better horse, anyway. "Yeah," he said. He looked the young girl in the eye. "You can keep him. Not so sure about your friend here."
Mastro bristled visibly. "Oh, and what difference does it make?" he protested hotly. "Violynne and I are part of the same traveling band – where I go, she goes! It shouldn't matter whether she owns the horse or I do!"
Link raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it shouldn't," he growled. "So it shouldn't matter that I'm saying she gets the horse."
"Hey, hey, fellow travelers!" came Penn's voice, and Link glanced over his shoulder to see the Rito drawing near with several platters of food. A stable worker helped him set up the meal on some of the tables near the stable. "Got us all some grub."
"Oh, most excellent," Mastro exclaimed, bouncing in place and waddling closer to Penn. "Come along, Violynne!"
The young girl paused a moment, smiling at Link. "I'll take good care of him," she promised eagerly. Link nodded, and she sat down at one of the tables.
"Link, you're invited too," Penn called, but he shrugged.
"I'm going to take a look at the wagon," he said. "Might come later. Thanks, Penn." The meal had distracted Mastro enough to lure him away, and that was plenty good enough.
As Link worked on fixing up the wagon wheels, he couldn't help but pick up bits and pieces from Penn's conversation with them, subtly digging up more information about their accident. Mastro and his troupe had been going to visit a nearby Great Fairy one night, to check on her after she suddenly retreated into her bud. And it was on their way up the rise that the mysterious blond-haired woman appeared, spooking Fortitude and resulting in the damage to the wagon.
Fortitude and Memory are both horses who knew Zelda and shouldn't be frightened of her. But when Memory saw her most recently, she went berserk. And if this is Zelda again here, that means Fortitude had a similar reaction to her.
Not the answers he was hoping for, as the Great Deku Tree had warned. It wasn't even an 'answer' at all – merely an odd observation, an obscure connection. Animals close to Zelda did not recognize her.
And that's if this was Zelda that Mastro and Violynne saw.
"Fixed," he said at last, pushing up off the ground and dusting off his hands. "Should run fine now." He walked to the water pump and set about scrubbing axel grease from his hands.
"Oh, wonderful!" Mastro sang. He snapped his fingers in the direction of one of the stable workers. "You there, fetch my horse and harness him to my wagon! We must set out at once!"
"With night coming?" Penn gaped. "You don't want to… I don't know, wait until morning?"
"Wait?" Mastro gasped dramatically. "One does not keep a Great Fairy waiting – and she has been waiting for far too long already! No, no – we must go at once, and serenade her with our music!"
Link rolled his eyes, glad none of them could see him at the moment. Hylia above, he thought. Could that guy get any more annoying?
"Maybe he has a point," Violynne suggested quietly. "If we waited, maybe the others will show back up. I… I'm not so sure just me all by myself will be enough."
"But we must try, at least!" Mastro said pleadingly. His gaze caught on Fortitude as a stable worker brought him out to the wagon. "It's settled – we'll set out at once!" He hopped from his seat over to the wagon, leaving Violynne looking a little queasy down at the tabletop.
Penn hummed quietly. "Hey, are you sure you're okay with that guy?" he asked uneasily. "He… gives off weird vibes, and doesn't seem all that nice to you."
"He's just eccentric," Violynne sighed. "There used to be others in the group, but they all left a while after the Upheaval. I… I feel like maybe it's because I'm not as good as they are. I really miss Eustus, though. He was like my dad."
"Hmmm," Penn said again, and then Mastro was calling urgently from the seat of the wagon. Penn got to his feet. "You coming, Link? I was planning on asking some questions of the Great Fairy herself, seeing why she went into hiding, that sort of thing."
Link closed his eyes briefly, wiping his hands dry on his trousers. Mastro and a Great Fairy, all in the same day? Goddesses save me.
"Sure," he said wearily, walking after the white-feathered Rito.
He remained in the wagon and listened as Violynne played a lilting tune on her fiddle, and the Great Fairy emerged at the sound. The Great Fairy explained that the night she had shut herself away – the same night Mastro had attempted to visit her and Fortitude bolted – Princess Zelda herself had approached her.
So the woman who spooked Fortitude probably was Zelda – the same Zelda that spooked Memory. I'm… not so sure that this is an echo. This… might actually be her.
So then why didn't he feel happy about that?
"She warned me that an awful gloom was spreading over the land, and that the world would soon be lost to monsters," the Great Fairy said, uncharacteristically somber. "I hid myself away. But… now that I'm outside, I see that the world is not at all how Princess Zelda described it to me."
Gloom spreading over the land, eh? Link winced, fairly certain that the Great Fairy had not been to the Depths. His arm prickled.
"And you're certain it was Princess Zelda?" Penn asked, notebook in hand.
"We've spoken before – I know it was her voice," she said. "But it was night, and hard to see, so of course I may be wrong. But I'm fairly sure it was her, although something certainly felt… off, about the encounter."
"So she sounded like Princess Zelda and likely looked like Princess Zelda, but something didn't feel right," Penn murmured, writing hastily. "Hm. Interesting."
In the wagon, Link rubbed the side of his head wearily. Warning a Great Fairy about evil in Hyrule… evil that he knew, for a certainty, existed. He could picture Zelda going to such lengths to warn the Great Fairies to take caution, especially after another spirit, the Deku Tree, had already been harmed.
But… it wouldn't be like her to make it seem so hopeless that a Great Fairy decides to hide away entirely. Zelda has never given up hope.
He continued musing over this new information well into the night, sitting in a shrine near the stable – it was certainly convenient that most significant locations he'd visited so far seemed to have one.
I know that Zelda visited Hyrule's past, and was involved to some extent in battling the Demon King there. The Sage of Wind mentioned that the Demon King was too powerful for them to defeat. Maybe… maybe whatever she experienced there was enough for her to lose hope. Maybe that's why she warned the Great Fairy the way she did.
He sighed deeply, laying back on the soft floor of the shrine, his arms cushioning his head. The thought of Zelda giving up hope caused a deep ache through his soul. What all has she been forced to endure… because I didn't catch her?
Link awakened early the next morning and returned to the stable, where Ember was waiting with an almost accusatory glare.
"I wasn't going to replace you," Link promised him, running a brush across his coat. "Wouldn't do at all to replace the replacement, now would it?"
Ember head-butted him firmly in the side, knocking him back a few steps, and Link chuckled, offering a fresh carrot he'd gotten from the stable's stores. At once the little horse brightened.
"Besides," Link continued fondly. "You've gotten me through some tough stuff. That counts for something."
It seemed, as he led Ember out of his stall some time later, that Ember was carrying his head more proudly.
"Hold up, traveler," one of the older stable hands said, jogging towards him as he mounted up. "If you're also headed to Goron City, do try to watch out for Gorons with strange rocks."
"Come again?" Link frowned, absently patting Ember's shoulder. "'Also?'"
The stable hand grimaced. "Pointed a traveler up this mountain some time ago, but there's been no sigh of 'im coming back," he sighed. "Hard not to imagine he's gotten into trouble, with all the rumors. So just try to give a wide berth to any Gorons you might see with strange rocks."
"What do you mean?" Link asked uneasily, uncomfortable with the dread in the old man's voice. Even knowing some of the rumors from Traysi and Purah, it felt wrong to be fearful of Gorons.
"I met one injured traveler who told me that the mean Gorons in question all carried 'strange rocks,'" the man explained. "But I don't know any more than that. I ain't going up there to see for myself, that's for sure."
"Right," Link exhaled deeply, turning his gaze up towards Death Mountain. The summit wasn't visible from here, but he could remember the sight of the blood red streaks spewing from its maw.
"Be careful, traveler," the stable hand said ominously. "You've been warned."
That I have, Link thought grimly, nudging Ember's sides.
The new route to Goron City was a far cry more convenient and easy to travel than the original route. With Death Mountain quiet for now, cooling lava flows had ruined part of the old route, giving YunoboCo its first major endeavor – build a new road. And they had been wildly successful. By Yunobo's eager invitation, Link and Zelda had traveled the new road when it was finished; it was a direct route to Goron City, wound along several hot springs, and was much safer for horses and travelers alike.
Yunobo had joked at the road's grand opening – at least, Link assumed he was joking – that even a Zora could travel to Death Mountain now. Old Boss Bludo welcomed the road's construction as a new age of prosperity for the Gorons, and certainly it had made travel and tourism to the mountain easier than ever, as well as giving merchants and traders easier access to the rare gems found while mining.
As a result, the rock-eating Gorons had even opened a restaurant along the road, Bedrock Bistro, that served food edible for non-Gorons – a wide variety of meats, spiced to perfection. And, reportedly, it also served some of the best rock roasts in Hyrule. Link had tried one once, to make Zelda laugh. It just tasted like rock. The meats, on the other hand, were surprisingly well-prepared. The Goron in charge of the restaurant had explained, when Link asked, that cooking meat was just like smithing, but with meat instead of ore – all about how hard you hit it.
Link and Ember climbed up the road, around a rocky pillar. His nose wrinkled as he caught a whiff of something particularly foul on the wind, a stench that only grew stronger as he rode down towards Bedrock Bistro. It was an oily, chemical smell, something that burned his nostrils and lingered long enough to be distinctly uncomfortable.
There was only one Hylian there, standing under the alcove where the head chef worked and speaking with the Goron there. Link's eyes widened, his gut clenching – from a distance, it looked as if the Goron's eyes were glowing.
He heard a deep, grinding crack and looked towards it, his brows shooting to his hairline as he saw two glowing-eyed Gorons throwing punches at each other, a slightly steaming rock roast on a low table between them. One Goron slammed his fist towards the other and struck the stone table instead with a thundering grumble, leaving behind a deep crater. The other Goron struck his opponent across the head, knocking him flat to the ground. He snatched up the rock roast with a wide grin and at once tucked into it, ignoring the now-unconscious Goron beside him.
Link swallowed, urging Ember a little faster.
There was one other Goron at the restaurant as well, wearing a YunoboCo helmet and overalls, sitting at one of the tables. His eyes were glowing as he chomped eagerly on his own rock roast.
This… this can't be good.
Link dismounted, leading Ember by the reins down towards the Goron at the table. A Goron child stood next to him, looking distraught.
"Can't believe this is the last one," the older Goron scoffed around a mouthful of rock. "What's YunoboCo doing, then? They better get on it and dig up more, pronto!" He swallowed thickly and dug his teeth into the rock roast again. Link realized, grimacing, that the acrid smell was coming from the roast. As he neared, he noticed as well that the rock roast itself was… off. Instead of the usual browned-meat color of rock roasts, it was a dull black, with glowing strands of magenta visible on the inside.
"Diggin' up marbled rock roast is your job!" the tiny Goron beside him protested. "C'mon, cut this out!"
"Neh," the older Goron grunted. "Once I finish this one, I'm headin' to Goron City to buy more. Tule, go get the rupees together!"
The Goron child's shoulders slumped despondently. "Big Bro… you wanted so bad to be part of YunoboCo," he said pleadingly. "And then you finally got in! But… now you're just sittin' here munchin' and stuff…"
Link shivered at the encounter, leading Ember past, towards the Hylian man at the counter who was anxiously speaking with the proprietor.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" the man gulped. "But – but I can't go get another one; that's just plain unreasonable! H-how 'bout this instead?" With shaking hands, he pulled a glowing orb from a satchel over his shoulder, pure white in the center with rings of blue and green around it. It seemed almost to sizzle with otherworldly energy. "S-see? Looks pretty cool, right? These things were only discovered after the Upheaval! I – I know it looks strange, but – it's a hard curio to come by! Very rare!"
The Goron at the counter was also engrossed by a glowing, smelly rock roast, Link observed, his heart plummeting to his toes.
"Marbled rock roast is in short supply and high demand 'round here," the Goron growled, bits of half-chewed rock spilling from his over-full mouth as he spoke. "Everyone wants it – I've barely been keepin' up! Lettin' our hottest commodity go to waste is unforgivable!" He tore another chunk of rock into his mouth. "You can make up for it by bringing me a fresh one from the lava cave down the tracks. Now get that thing outta my sight."
"But – places like that are too dangerous for a Hylian like me!" the man spluttered.
"Not my problem," the Goron shrugged. "But I'm not lettin' you off the hook till ya get me a marbled rock roast."
"Look, genuinely, I – I can't," the man protested, his voice growing more desperate. "I'd – I'd burn up and die before I even made it back here! I don't have elixirs, I don't have th-the right gear – I will die!"
At last the Goron stopped eating, instead looming over the poor man, his glowing eyes narrowed ominously. "So you're telling me," he growled, "that you lost the last marbled rock roast I've got, and you're not gonna go get another one 'cause you're afraid to die? That it?"
The Hylian man gulped, and Link took a step closer, his heart lurching in horror.
The Goron raised his head. "Hey, Barin," he called, to the Goron in a worker's uniform at the table, who was licking the last of his roast from his fingers. "This guy lost the last marbled rock roast! Come give him some what-for!"
Barin surged to his feet, glowing eyes raging. "He did what?" he roared, and his little brother recoiled in fear.
"Big Bro, stop," the little one gasped, sounding suspiciously close to tears – Link hadn't even known that Gorons could cry.
"I'll give him something to chew on," Barin spat, stomping a foot on the ground. "But what'll you give me to make it worth my while?"
"I could share the rest of mine with you," the first Goron said with a crooked grin, holding his half-finished roast aloft. Barin's eyes widened, a wicked glint coming into them. He took a step towards the Hylian, who whimpered in fear, raising his arms as if in defense.
Link's heart lurched, and he lunged between the man and the Goron. "We'll get your rock roast," he said quickly. "Just – just give us some time." He swallowed. "In fact – we'll get you two. One for each of you."
Barin hesitated, dragging his gaze to the other Goron's roast. "But… I kinda want some more now," he mumbled. His eyes hardened. "Outta my way, twig. I'm gonna teach this guy a lesson. I want more marbled rock roast!"
He started forwards again, cracking his knuckles together. Link grabbed the Hylian man's arm and pushed him up Ember's saddle, ignoring his startled yelp. Then he scrambled up to sit behind the saddle himself, and with a squeeze to Ember's sides, the horse was galloping away, further up the path towards Goron City. There came a grinding rumble from behind; Link glanced over his shoulder to find both Gorons rolling after them, but they gave up quickly, turning back towards the restaurant.
He let Ember run a bit longer before slowing down and hopping off. The Hylian man followed, clumsily dismounting.
"Thanks," he said breathlessly. "I'm – I'm Mezer." He held out a hand.
Link shook it. "What happened back there? Didn't you hear the rumors?" Rumors that look to be completely true, by this point.
The man sighed heavily, clapping a hand to his forehead. "Well… so you know the Zonai devices that have been falling everywhere?"
Josha had mentioned them, he remembered. "The hot air balloons," he confirmed.
Mezer winced. "Well, there's more than just balloons," he sighed heavily. "And they really do fall everywhere. I saw a new one that fell at Bedrock Bistro. It was shaped kind of like a fish with its tail cut off. I didn't mean to cause trouble – I tapped it to see what it would do, and the base exploded! It went flying, and… and it hit the last rock roast and knocked it over a cliff."
An… an exploding fish with its tail cut off. Link shook his head slowly, struggling to visualize it. "So… why did you risk coming here in the first place?" he asked. "Are you… part of the Zonai Survey Team?"
Mezer chuckled. "No, really I'm just a collector," he answered. "There are some folks out there that'll pay a lot for Zonai devices." He fished around in his satchel and pulled out two objects – another of the glowing orbs that he'd left back at the restaurant, as well as a tiny glass sphere with something inside. "Here – I want you to have these. You saved my life, stranger – there's no doubt about that."
Link accepted them, peering closely into the glass orb. The thing inside seemed to be a miniature, flattened-out bird. "What… what is it?"
"Well, the first one makes Zonai devices more powerful," Mezer explained. "That's what the research team says, anyways. The second one I just think looks nice because of the bird – it's a neat decoration piece. But if you wanted what's inside, for whatever reason, just chuck it on the ground and apparently it pops out, much bigger and a lot harder to carry around."
Link squinted at the little bird. "Thanks," he said uncertainly, tucking the two items into his wallet. "Can you make it down the mountain alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," Mezer said reluctantly. "There's a way to skirt around the main road, and it involves some relaxing hot springs." He sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his head. "Not a bad deal, after the day I've had."
Link nodded, pulling himself back up into Ember's saddle. "Good luck, then. Safe travels."
The man's eyes widened. "You're – you're not leaving too? Even after what happened? They will kill people!"
Link grit his teeth and nodded. "I've got friends here," he answered. "I need to check on them."
Because if, as the Goron Barin had implied, YunoboCo was truly responsible for this mess, Link had some words for its president.