The adventurers scavenged everything they thought they could use from the town. Clothes, tools, weapons, rupees, food, firewood, and anything else that seemed like it might come in handy. Somehow the Korok pouch still showed no signs of running out of room for it all.
Ashe had brought up the question of whether they might be cursed for taking the dead villagers' things, but Claude assured him that the villagers would want them to have it and not the Bokoblins.
They had taken horses as well, and were making good time towards Kakariko Village. Marianne seemed to be an expert on horses, and had judged the horses of Gatepost Town to be exceptionally good horses, which seemed to be validated by the speed they were going.
They had been on the road for two days, counting their detour to solve the Dueling Peaks Shrines. It had taken the better part of an hour for them to figure out that the two shrines held the solutions to each other. They had also investigated a third shrine, where Link had found a bandana.
They had camped in one of the shrines for the night. Thankfully, the stalfos ignored the horses.
Around mid-afternoon, the party saw a large structure with a strange… what was that? A horse head?
Yes, it was a building with a horse's head built into its design, and there were people milling about. Live people, not ReDeads. Children were playing with a dog while stable hands brushed horses. A man sat by a cooking pot, presumably making a meal.
The sight brought a smile to Link's face.
As the party approached, though, the people started to give them nervous looks, A few men with swords strapped to their waists approached them.
It made sense, Link supposed. With their large numbers and weapons, he and his friends could be mistaken for bandits.
"That's probably far enough," said one of the armed men as Link approached to within ten feet. "Where are ya from? Haven't seen many new travelers in a while, especially not from beyond the Peaks. Was pretty sure I knew all the merchants that traveled that route, and 'sides, you don't look much like merchants, do ya?"
"I'll handle this," Claude said to Link. Turning to the armed men, he said, "We are from Gatepost Town. There was an attack not long ago that destroyed the town. We were the only survivors." He sold the lie surprisingly well.
"I'm sorry," the armed man said. "There're few enough towns left in Hyrule as it is. Hearin' yours got destroyed is sad news."
"We were thinking about going to Kakariko Village to see if we can find homes there," Claude continued.
"Well, if it's Kakariko ya're trying to head to, ya're headed in the right direction," the armed man informed them. "Not sure if those Sheikah'll welcome ya, though. They're a secretive bunch. I'd try Hateno instead. It's farther away, but the people are friendly."
"We'll try Hateno if Kakariko falls through," Claude said.
"Ya can't get to Kakariko by nightfall with those horses," the man said. "Ya'd need faster ones."
"That's fine," Claude said. "In fact, we were planning on spending the night investigating the shrine there." He pointed out the glowing shrine near the stable. "Perhaps you could board our horses for the night? We can pay you."
The prospect of profit seemed attractive to the man. "Fine. But no funny business, understood?"
"We wouldn't dream of it," Claude assured him.
While Link bought food ingredients from a trader with a donkey and Sylvain tried to flirt with the girl who was apparently making elixirs, not dinner, Linhardt noticed a journal on a rock. It was open to someone named Hino's notes on a phenomenon called "the Blood Moon."
"Hey! That's my research!" A man with a moustache and goatee shouted.
"I'm sorry, it's just...this research is quite interesting," Linhardt said.
"Of course it is," Hino said. I've been doing vigorous research, day and night, to figure out the mystery of that Blood Moon."
"What is the Blood Moon?" Linhardt asked.
"You don't know it? That's inexcusable. Listen up and I'll tell you about it. For 100 years now, every so often when the clock strikes midnight, the sky turns red and a full moon rises. When that happens, monsters become near impossible to kill," Hino explained. "And that is what is known as the Blood Moon!"
"That is fascinating," Linhardt said. "I can assume that Ganon may be linked to the Blood Moon."
"That's my theory too," Hino agreed. "But why do the monsters become so hard to kill? And why only when the sky turns red?"
"Perhaps the Blood Moons are when Ganon manages to exert power outside of Hyrule Castle," Linhardt suggested.
"Maybe," Hino conceded. "If you find out something definitively about the Blood Moon, come back here and tell me."
Ashe had decided to ask the man with the sword, whose name turned out to be Rensa, about the Sheikah. Not having anyone else to hang around, Kronya was listening in.
"It's said that, some time ago, they had advanced techniques that were more powerful than anything anyone had seen," Rensa said. "But that power put them at odds with the king at the time, and they were scattered across the land."
That was interesting, Kronya thought. Maybe these Sheikah had some similarities to her people. While the conversation turned to horse-taming and Ashe beat Rensa's record and won a purple rupee, Kronya contemplated what she might discuss with Impa.