Claude hadn't drawn attention to himself in the Shrine of Resurrection, instead letting Edelgard and Dimitri take the lead and carefully watching their actions. And as a result, he had come to a conclusion. Edelgard knew something he didn't.
She had suspected something in the Shrine. Possibly, she had thought she knew what had happened to them all. And when it turned out that they were no longer in Fódlan, she had been thrown for a loop.
Sure, Claude had been surprised, but being taken somewhere he didn't recognize made as much sense as any explanation. Edelgard, however, had an explanation in mind, and was surprised to see it proven false.
Claude wanted to know what that explanation was. He resolved to find out before the group returned to Garreg Mach. A number of plans half-formed in his mind, but for now he would wait.
Back to the situation at hand, the path had been easy enough to find. It was the only obvious way.
"There are so many apples around here!" Annette exclaimed. "We don't know when we'll find a consistent source of food. We should take as many as we can."
"Do you think these mushrooms are edible?" Dimitri asked, holding up a mushroom.
"Please do not eat the mushrooms," Dedue said humorlessly. Claude considered making a joke, but decided against it.
"There is being someone there!" Petra pointed out an old man in a cloak sitting by a fire.
"Maybe he can tell us where we are," Claude ventured.
As the group approached the old man, Edelgard decided to take the initiative. "Hello! Can you spare a moment of your time?"
"Good afternoon, young lady," the old man replied. "It's no trouble at all. It has been some time since I've had someone to talk to. Though I do find the state of dress you an your friends are in disturbing. Are you all right?"
"Not really, no," Caspar said. "Somehow we got taken from our beds in the middle of the night."
"We would appreciate any aid you can grant us," Edelgard said. "Clothes, weapons, directions to civilization. Anything you can spare."
Ferdinand spoke up. "If you could return us to Garreg Mach Monastery, we could see that you are rewarded for your aid."
"Garreg Mach Monastery? That's a place I haven't heard of. I don't think there's such a place in Hyrule," the old man said, and several students gasped as they realized they were no longer in Fódlan. "Then again, I haven't left this plateau in years.
"I haven't much in terms of clothes or weapons," the old man said. "But while I don't remember where the path to civilization is, I do know how you can find it. If I am not mistaken, that is a Sheikah Slate at your hip, is it not?" He asked, gesturing at Link.
"It is," Link said. "You know what it is?"
"My daughter used to research them," the old man said proudly. "She once told me that certain pedestals could be used to 'load' useful information such as maps onto them. And I happen to know where the pedestal for the map of the Great Plateau is."
"What do you mean by 'load'?" Lysithea asked.
"I only half-understand it myself," the old man admitted, "but my daughter says the process of moving information to and from the Slate is called 'loading.' I don't know why it's called that. It just is."
Claude nudged Link. "Can the Slate provide us with a usable map?"
"It should," Link said. "This icon here? It's supposed to be a map icon. But when I tap it, I just get this blank screen."
"You must not have any of Hyrule's maps loaded onto your Slate," the old man posited. "No wonder you are lost. Do you see that small hill with a cave entrance in the distance? There is a pedestal inside that will load the map for the Great Plateau into your Sheikah Slate. Once you have it, finding your way around these parts will be much easier."
"Now the old man is pointing us in the direction of a dark cave," Claude mumbled to Hilda just within Edelgard's hearing, "Why do I feel that 'Bandit Ambush' is something that is going to happen in our near future?"
"Claude, don't jinx us!" Hilda protested.
"Nonsense," the old man said. "There are blins on this plateau, and they are scavengers, but your group is big enough that they would likely consider you too much trouble to attack. Especially as you have nothing of value on your person."
"While a map would be helpful," Edelgard ventured, "I think we were thinking more in terms of directions to the nearest town."
"Well, that will be a problem," the old man said. "There are no towns on the Great Plateau. There used to be, but they were destroyed in the Great Calamity. No one lives here anymore except the blins. And me."
"So no town, huh? That means no shelter, no food, and no change of clothes, and we might not even be in Fodlan anymore," Hilda sighed dramatically, "I'm not even wearing shoes. Just great."
They decided to check the cave all the same. The old man hadn't had much in terms of weapons, but what he did have he gave them. Edelgard and Dedue were toting lumber axes, Claude had a hunting bow and a dozen arrows, Dimitri, Lorenz, and Ingrid each had been given a fishing harpoon, Petra had a hunting knife that Monica had tried to claim before receiving a glare from Hubert and backing down, and Link wielded the only actual sword the old man had, an old shortsword that looked as if it had seen better days. At the old man's suggestion, they had used old bits of cloth to hide their weapons. "The bokoblins might attack if they see you have weapons, either to try to take them or to drive off potential attackers. Still, better to have them than to be attacked without them."
Monica's eyes scanned the trees. "I think we're being watched."
Cyril, the Archbishop's errand boy, looked at her. "Ya sure?" Claude briefly considered the boy; he seemed loyal to the Archbishop, which considering that the Church's foreign policy was staunchly isolationist and that Cyril was Almyran, was surprising. He had wanted to talk with Cyril for some time now, but hadn't gotten a good opportunity.
He also wanted to talk to Monica. Clearly there was bad blood between her and Edelgard. Claude wanted to know what that was about.
"I am agreeing," Petra replied.
"Bandit attack," Claude said in a singsong tone through his teeth.
"Let's walk a bit faster," suggested Flayn. "Perhaps once we leave their territory, they'll leave us be."
Ashe suddenly saw something. "Get down!" he shouted, and tackled Claude out of the way of an arrow.
Lysithea quickly flung a Miasma blast into the trees where the arrow had come from. By some chance, her spell hit its target and the archer fell out of the brush.
"What in the-?" Lysithea's eyes widened in disbelief at the... creature... she had just felled, lying on the ground prone where she had killed it.
It had lanky, yet muscular arms that ended in a three fingered grip that, even in death, still grasped a wooden bow. Stubby legs than ended in hooves supported a grotesque torso that ended in stubby, hoofed legs. The creature's most prominent feature was its' huge bulbous head one that resembled that of a pig. It had a massive snout, toothy mouth and two huge beady eyes, now unseeing as death slowly claimed it. Covered in tough, leathery red skin, whatever this creature was, it clearly was not human.
"Wh-what is that?" Bernadetta, having fallen onto her behind out of fright, stammered out in fear as she shuffled backward away from the creature's corpse, "What is it? WHAT IS IT?!"
Before anyone could react, more of the creatures jumped into the clearing. Some of them had red skin, some a grayish blue color, and one even had black skin. Judging by the fact that this one had an actual sword instead of a club or makeshift spear, this one would seem to be the leader.
"Anyone with weapons or magic! Defend the unarmed!" Dimitri ordered, tearing the cloth from his harpoon and stabbing a red creature.
His orders were followed. Claude shot a blue creature, but it took five or six arrows to take down. One of the mages, Claude wasn't sure which, took one down with a thunder blast, and Petra buried her knife in one's eye.
Edelgard tried to cut down a blue one with her lumber axe. Unfortunately, this creature was a bit tougher than she expected and caught the axe on its crude shield. Using its club, it knocked her to the ground. With a triumphant squeal, it made to finish her off.
And then Link happened.
There was really no other way to describe it. Link didn't fight the creature. Calling it a fight would have implied the creature had a chance to fight back. The creature didn't. Link simply cut it until it fell.
He cut down two others just as quickly before getting to the leader. He got two hits in before his sword broke, and then he picked up a club from a fallen foe and kept hitting the creature in the head. He swung the club so hard it broke, leaving him with just a broken haft. Not caring, he shoved the broken haft into the creature's eye, finally putting it down. He then picked up the creature's sword and killed another creature.
By then, the ambushers seemed to realize they had lost, and were running away.
Link looked at the sword in his hand. "What the hell was that?"
Oh, Claude definitely needed to recruit this guy.
Claude was interrupted by a knock at the door. "It's Link. I brought food."
"Well then, by all means bring it in here!" Edelgard said with enthusiasm.
Seteth unlocked the door, and Link wheeled in a cart loaded with food. He served Zelda first, giving her a tasty-looking fruitcake. He gave Claude a plate of Honey-Glazed Poultry, Edelgard a slice of Apple Pie, and Dimitri a platter of purple curry. "Thanks Captain," Claude said.
"You are too kind," Dimitri concurred.
Flayn received a plate of Seafood Paella, which she thanked Link enthusiastically for. And Kronya got a bowl of Creamy Mushroom Stew. "My favorite!" she exclaimed.
"I wasn't sure what you two wanted, so I brought options," Link said to Rhea and Seteth, offering a selection of delicious-looking meals. Rhea was rendered speechless by the food on display.
Her mother had never mentioned that the Hero of Hyrule was such an excellent cook. This was one bit of new information about him that she was more than pleased to learn.
She selected a tasty-looking Meat and Seafood Fry, while Seteth chose a Fish Pie. And if she thought it looked delicious, the taste was absolutely heavenly.
"Are you going to join us?" She asked Link.
"Sorry, no," Link said. "I still have to get back to the main feast. This is just something I made on the side."
Rhea's head spun. This was just a side project? For a moment she considered retiring and accompanying Link and Zelda back to Hyrule.
"Zelda, everyone, dinner will be at seven. Good day." Link bowed politely and made his exit, leaving the group to continue the discussion and have their afternoon meal in peace.
"Sometimes, Princess, I wonder if the man is your appointed knight, or your appointed chief." Claude reached over and nabbed one of the Wild-berry Crepes.
"W-well. I see we now have some food to go with our discussion," Rhea said while gracefully and deliberately taking a slice of the Apple Pie for herself. "I do have to know something. Kronya, what exactly was it that motivated you to want to abandon the Agarthan cause?"
"Well, that's a long story," Kronya said. "But the first seed was planted when we first saw Calamity Ganon…"