Chapter Two
February 26th, age 18
I landed in Hyrule field and continued east. As I passed through the ruins of an outpost, I came across a taller red monster. I learned later that it's called a moblin. Very similar to bokoblins. He was tall enough that when I stood right in front of him, his attacks went over my head and behind me. I used this to my advantage in bringing him down, being mindful to avoid being kicked.
On the other side of the outpost was a large stone bridge. And to the right of this bridge, somewhat hidden from view, was another shrine. I activated it, entered it, completed the wind puzzle, was granted the Spirit Orb by the monk, and made my way back to the surface.
As I crossed the bridge, I saw a man cautiously studying the skeleton of a decayed Guardian from afar. He was muttering to himself about bad omens. I greeted him. "We're doomed!" He sighed. "I mean, don't panic! Sorry, who are you? Have we met?" I shook my head. His uneasiness made me uneasy, but most assuredly for different reasons than his own uneasiness. He spoke quickly, "Well, it doesn't matter who you are, really. I was getting tired of talking to myself, so you've come at the perfect time. By the by, those strange things that popped out of the ground… Did you see them? I'm not talking about mushrooms here! I'm talking about those towers! They seem to have popped up all over the place! And that's not the only strange thing that's happened. Those long-deserted shrines suddenly started glowing! You know what that means, don't you? The end is here!"
I attempted to reassure him so he would calm down and take it easy. He was speaking almost too fast for me to process his words. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have attempted to write them verbatim. But I deemed them important since he had interesting information to share about the Guardians.
"With all the craziness happening, I've been keeping an eye on that… thing," he gestured to the decayed Guardian across the river confluence. "Just to see if it suddenly starts moving, ya know?" I told him that seemed like a good idea. "Yeah, that Guardian is worth watching. It's just like the ones from those old stories. Did you know some of them can move? One of them once chased me down and tried to kill me!"
This one here? I asked.
"No, it was a different one. That one was closer to the castle but before the forest…" he explained. "When they spot you, they shoot blue beams of light at you! Man, I was so sure that was the end for me. I was prepared for the worst. But somehow, I managed to escape into the nearby woods. You think it was my lightning-fast reflexes that saved me?" I could have said, don't flatter yourself, you're only Hylian, but the man had a near-death experience. So instead, I chose to be considerate and say nothing. "Ha, I wish. Truth is, I just got lucky." At least he's realistic. "Anyway, I hear Guardians like that still wander around Hyrule Castle," he warned me. "Be careful." I reassured him I would be, bade him good day, and continued towards the Sheikah Tower.
The tower was on the other side of the river, next to one of the Dueling Peaks. The river itself ran between the peaks and converged at the bridge. At this point, I could not see a way across the water on foot. So, I decided to use one of my runes: cryonis. I was able to make pillars of ice to stand on and jump across like stepping stones across the river. As I made it to the shore, I saw a pinwheel on a stump at the edge of a small forest. I approached it. Some acorns started being tossed over the bows of trees. I think this is meant to be target practice. I decided to humor its creator, took out my bow, and shot the acorns. A Korok popped out of the stump and gifted me a seed.
There was a bokoblin camp between myself and the tower. I saw that they had explosive barrels, so I shot them with my bow and killed them all in a few nocks. The tower was in the middle of the water. I used cryonis again to cross the water, then climbed. Once at the top, I activated the terminal and distilled the map of the region. It's bigger than I thought. I zoomed out and looked at the entire map. Oh… That's a lot of walking to do. I think this quest will take quite some time.
This second tower also provided me with a new feature on my Slate called the Sheikah Sensor. I'm able to locate shrines with it. The more shrines I enter, the more Spirit Orbs I collect, the more vitality will be granted, then in time I will be strong enough to face Calamity Ganon. But it will unfortunately take time.
Gliding downward, I discovered four new shrines; one on the top of each of the peaks, one underneath the peaks, and one on the other side of the peaks in front of an inn-stable. I advanced through the latter two, leaving the ones at the top for a more convenient time, then proceeded to the stable.
As I approached the Dueling Peaks Stable, the sun had started to set and rain had begun to fall – quick and hard. I threw on my doublet, not that it helped much, and sprinted inside. I shoved open one of the two sets of heavy wooden doors to see a welcoming circular common room with several worn-in seats, some rugs made of bear and wolf hide, a small bar on the side connected to a small kitchen, a reception booth accessible from both the inside and outside, and a fireplace in the center with applewood smoldering in it. On either side of the reception booth were the two pairs of double doors, there was a washroom on one side -the stable side, where I came in- and on the opposite side was the bath room next to the bar.
I was informed that during the day in good weather, both pairs of exterior doors were left open to welcome the breeze as well as travelers. There were around half a dozen smaller doors along the rest of the outer wall – between the bar and the doors I just walked through, which encompassed half of the space. I assumed these doors led to private sleeping quarters. There was also a staircase in the back. I'll return to that later.
The man behind the reception booth closed a pair of wooden shutters on the outside-facing window and latched them. Their horse business was over for the night. "Welcome!" he addressed me warmly, introducing Dueling Peaks Stable as the finest stable to the East of Hyrule Field. Upon looking around the room again, I doubt that any stable could get more cozy without turning into a country club. "Will you be staying with us?" he asked me. I probably looked like a wreck at that moment, but he treated me no differently than if I was a well-kept nobleman. Not that a nobleman would visit a traveler's inn. They would be the ones at a country club.
Yes, I panted. Yes, please.
"What's your name, young man?"
It's Link.
"It's a rather late time of night for you to arrive," He commented as he wrote my name down on a ledger. He looked back up at me, thoughtfully. "Would you like a bath before you head to bed? A bar of soap for the bath is only five rupees. If you already have one, the bath is free to any paying guest." I graciously accepted the offer. Thankfully, I found a small stash of rupees in one of the shrines I ventured through, so I had plenty for the time being. Hopefully I don't need to buy very many things too soon unless I can find a way to make more money. "A regular bed is twenty rupees and private bed is worth forty," he informed me. I'm not one to be self-conscious, and I didn't have any personal company with me, so I decline the option for a private chamber and handed him twenty-five rupees. He wrote that down my purchases and the price next to my name and replied, "Thank you kindly for your patronage. My name is Tasseren. I'm the co-owner and evening shift manager here at Dueling Peaks Stable." I took off my gloves and shook his hand. He grabbed a towel and started to reach for a tin of soap. "Do you have a preferred scent? We have a variety from all over Hyrule; woody scents, floral ones, fruit ones, herbal ones, spiced ones – anything catch your interest?" I expressed no partiality, indifferently shaking my head. He grabbed a teak and sandalwood scent for me (from Lurelin Village he said) and led me to the stairs.
I asked him about the purpose for private rooms when the sleeping quarters were already apart from the common room. "Oh, not everyone is comfortable with sharing a room with a dozen or so strangers. Especially females. And sometimes married couples stay with us who would want a room to themselves. Women who travel often choose a private room for personal security. Sometimes, duos or even trios of women share a room if any of them are short on money or stingy with it. Or it's simply for accountability purposes, whether or not they're traveling together. I understand their motives though," he sighed. "Some men are just plain scoundrels! I wouldn't even trust putting my own daughter in a situation like that with any unknown men around her with no supervision. She's heard terrible stories from many women who have rested here. You seem like a respectable young man thus far… but looks can be deceiving. She's around your age, by the by." He smiled at me with that remark. I blushed.
"I once suggested to my brother," he continued, "that we either expand and add a ladies' sleeping quarters as well and leave the upstairs to the men, or even charge a woman normal price even if she wishes to have a private room, but Rensa wouldn't allow it. We run a business first and foremost, and I had to comply with that. Every stable's layout is slightly different, however. So there are probably better ones than ours on the other side of Hyrule, depending on who you ask, and most assuredly worse." He stopped in his tracks at the bottom of the stairs, turned to me, and lowered his voice, "But just between you and me, young man: I give women a discount anyway. It's the least I can do, considering the differences between ourselves and them, and the challenges that they face that we're fortunate enough to not experience."
I am not as knowledgeable as he is on the matters of females, considering he's a married man with an adolescent daughter, but I do acknowledge at least some of these differences he speaks of. I've never understood why men would treat women the way Tasseren described. But I appreciated his charity on others' behalf. He continued in his normal, casual tone as we ascended to the second floor, "And if we're booked full, I allow guests to sleep on the chairs, sofas, or even the floor for a discounted price." Another good act of charity. I wonder how his brother feels about it. Perhaps it's another secret he keeps.
The upper story also had a fireplace in the center of the room. Around this fireplace, several articles of clothing were hanging on folding drying wracks. I made a note to make use of that, myself. Around the outer wall of the room were around a dozen single-person beds with a nightstand to the side of each, a small window above every other night stand, and a truck at the foot of each bed. Many trunks were open, denoting the beds not being claimed. I chose one, deposited my belongings and put my boots by the fire.
"Do you have a change of clothes, young man?" I told him I did not. I probably should have kept the old shirt and pants as temporary spares for reasons such as this, but I didn't think of it at the time. "Well…" he pondered. "I suppose if you keep your towel on and head back here in a timely manner, there should be no issue. It's past nine, after all, and not many people will be out and about." I agreed and took my chances.
In the bath, there was a large tank of water on one side of the metal basin. The basin looked like a recycled horse trough. But I'm not picky, it was clean, I checked. There was a small pit built into the brick floor underneath the tank of water where charcoal was kept for heating. On the other side of the basin was a small duct slanted towards the outside to be used as a drain. Interesting engineering. I lit the charcoal with the flint and steel supplied to me, heated my bath water, and spun the spicket to fill the tub. Once the fire was extinguished and the charcoal was barely smoking, I undressed and sank down into the hot water with a sigh. I deeply inhaled the calming, earthy scent of the room and let my mind and body rest. I needed this.
I'd been soaking my sore muscles for quite some time when the cucco clock in the common room struck 10pm. I was snapped out of my meditation and reminded where I was. I sat up and opened the soap tin, lathered the bar in my hands, and started with my hair.
Having dried off as best as I can, I wrapped my towel around my waist and picked up my clothes up off the floor to wash them. I wrung them out, loosely folded them and tucked them under one arm. I opened the door to see a young woman reaching for the handle. She gasped in a mild shrill tone and slapped her hand over her mouth in mortification. "I…" she stuttered. "I-I thought you had gone… so I came to clean the room." Her face flushed bright red. I started blushing too. Out of my periphery, I that saw another man had been making his way our direction. He retreated in a huff up the back staircase. Should I be worried…? I apologized for startling her, excused myself, and made my way upstairs. Poor girl.
"Whatchu playin' at, kid?" A gruff voice addressed me from the other side of the dimly-lit room.
I stopped in my tracks in front of the fire. Excuse me?
"I saw ya with the girl downstairs." Ah. So that's the man.
I shrugged. And?
"I've had my eye in her for quite some time now."
What business is that of mine? I turned to hang my clothes on the drying racks.
"I saw the way she was lookin' atcha."
What business is that of yours?
"Don't be smart with me, shrimp!" He snapped at me. I glared at him, very irritated. "Just don't get any ideas, ya hear?"
Loud and clear, I deadpanned.
"Good. 'Cause I don't wanna get in trouble again for teaching another wimp another lesson."
What's there to learn from someone like you?
He strutted out of his hiding place with determination right toward me and shook his fat finger in my face. "Now listen here-" He began. But I didn't let him finish. I grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm around, and dislocated his shoulder. He let out a yelp that sounded like it came from a dog. The other two men in the room woke up.
"What's going on?" One of them asked.
He threatened me, I stated. Not a total lie.
"My arm…" the oaf whimpered.
"Heath, go take a look," the first man said to his companion in the bed next to him. The second man, Heath, stood up and came over to examine the arm. I continued tending to my laundry.
"It's just dislocated," he explained. "Here, I'll fix it for you." The sound the oaf made was even worse than the first.
Quit whining, I stated blankly. You'll live.
"You'll pay for this?" he grumbled.
With what? I asked, still unamused at his attitude.
"That's enough," the first man had joined us now and put himself between the oaf and myself. "It's late. Could you settle this in the morning?"
There's nothing to settle. He started it.
"You were lookin' at my girl!" He spat.
Perhaps, I retorted. And you looked at me. Does that mean I'm a person of interest now? Heath chuckled under his breath. He was shut up by a stare from his companion.
"Sorry, Hawthorn," he apologized. Hawthorn rolled his eyes and turned back to the oaf.
"Just lay off, all right," he cautioned him. "Otherwise, you might get thrown out. Not to mention more injuries could happen than this," he gestured to my act of self-defense.
"Oh, I hope so," the oaf seethed. "Mark my words, shrimp. If you make one move on my girl, I'll give you a wallop."
I'm not worried, I dismiss. He scoffed at me and returned to his corner, hopefully to sleep.
"How are you so calm?" Heath asked me. "That guy could've easily bodied you!"
"I'm more curious about how you didn't lash out," Hawthorn added amusedly.
That's easy, I state. I have bigger problems to worry about. And if he did challenge me, I won't play nice. I thought of the tools and weapons in my Slate. I could play dirty if I wanted to… But honestly, I don't have the time, patience, or energy to spend on a waste of breath like him. I'd rather let him deflate naturally.
Heath chuckled again. "You're an enigma, my friend." He patted me on the back. "What do they call you?"
Link.
"Pleased to meet you, Link. I'm Heathcliff." Heath extended his hand to shake mine. "And this is my brother, Hawthorn."
"A pleasure." Hawthorn shook my hand as well. "Just don't get yourself into too much trouble, all right?"
Oh, I plan to.
Both men laughed. "Come see us at breakfast," Heath invited. "We'll chat more." They bade me good evening and returned to their beds on the other side of the fireplace. I have a corner to myself. Good. I unwrapped my towel, mussed my hair with it, and laid down in bed. What a day. A few days, actually. But it all blended together. So much had happened. And there was still so much more to do, twentyfold. One day at a time, Link, I told myself as I drifted off to sleep to the sound and scent of the applewood fire. One day at a time…