Link had heard the words, but he could not quite believe them.
He was, or used to be, the Champion of Hyrule. He had tried to fight alongside Princess Zelda to take down Calamity Ganon, but was nearly killed in the process. He had been sent to the Shrine of Resurrection to heal, and had left one hundred years later. The world was on the verge of ruin again, with Princess Zelda barely keeping Calamity Ganon restrained inside Hyrule Castle. A seemingly helpful young woman was actually a follower of Ganon, and would certainly try to kill him if they ever crossed paths again. And all of these facts had been laid before him by the ghostly King of Hyrule, Rhoam, who had vanished into thin air after telling him to go to Kakariko Village.
He shook his head, but he knew that pinching himself for the upteenth time would not make his fervent wish to believe that everything was somehow some fantastic dream come true. So he resolved to spend another hour or so inside the lower rooms of the Temple of Time. He still had the Sheikah Slate to experiment with. He already knew what the "Bomb Rune" could do, but what about the others?
He clicked for the red horseshoe symbol. He fiddled with the Slate, scanning the room for things to try it out on. His eyes fell upon an axe laying against a wooden crate. Holding it out towards the axe, he tapped the symbol. All at once, there was a low humming sound, and the blade of the axe spontaneously began to glow red. Open-mouthed, Link began to move the Slate. To his shock, the axe began to float in the air, matching the direction of the Slate in every angle he tried. Finally, he hit the symbol again. The axe stopped glowing and fell to the floor with a clang.
"Hmmm..."
Link pointed at the crate next, and hit the symbol again. This time, nothing happened. He frowned and went for the next symbol, the yellow lock. Once again he pointed the Sheikah Slate forward, and hit the symbol. This time, the crate flashed yellow. A high-pitched whistle filled the air, reaching an intensity that almost hurt Link's ears. As the whistle reached its peak, the yellow flash suddenly went dead, and the crate returned to it's natural state.
Link shook his head and looked down at the Slate. He would have to learn whether or not he could use this device to its full potential...just one more uncertainty on top of all the others.
Before Link finally left the Temple of Time, he made sure to check the trees nearby. Using one of the woven sacks he had taken from inside, he filled it with apples. Using a different bag, a waterskin, he went to the small pond to the side and took as much as he could. He would boil it later. He knew that it would probably better to do the job presently, as well as make more preparations, but he felt aimless. After slinging the bags across his body, his feet carried him farther from the ruined sanctuary, and closer to the edge of the plateau.
He knew he would have to get down, but he did not feel confident. The physical and logistical aspects of the daunting task occupied his thoughts, and he had no idea how to start.
As it happened, he was in for a stroke of luck.
As Link climbed the hill, he took a glance downward. It looked like...a chill ran down his spine. He began running down the hill and upon the plane of hard-packed earth below.
It was as he thought. There was a Moblin, hatchet in hand, taking wild swings at at a few hapless wanderers. Link gripped his Sheikah Slate and picked up his pace.
Despite the rush through his lungs, Link was still lucid enough to take note for each of the three travelers. There was a man with messy brown hair, and a woman with a large sunhat. Both were dressed in motley rags and the remnants of leather armor. Each carried a sword and a wooden shield. They did their best to fight, but the heavy knapsacks on their backs impeded their movements. The third member of their party...the young Hylian could not make out the features, but whoever was weaving away from the monster's blows was much taller than the other two.
The Moblin swung again, knocking the shield out of the woman's hand. Her male companion rushed forward, trying to swing low towards the legs, but the beast simply gave him a backhanded slap to the face, knocking him to the ground. The Moblin approached the third straggler next, raising its blade, and Link knew he had to act.
"Hey!"
Link held out the Sheikah Slate. He was perhaps twenty paces away from the Moblin, and he had forgotten what rune he had last set it to. He could only pray that this would work...
He hit the slate, and the Moblin flashed yellow, just like the wooden crate in the temple had done. But more than that, the monster stopped in its tracks, unable to swing the hatchet, let alone take a single step. The whistling sound, too, became audible again. The woman looked suprised, but rushed forward with a sudden burst of energy, swinging and hacking at the Moblin with her own sword. As the whistle reached it's peak, the light disappeared, and the Moblin dropped cold to the ground.
"Bravo!" As Link stepped forward, he heard the voice of the third straggler accost him. "Wondrous!"
Link waved the Sheikah Slate. "Oh, no, I'm...I'm just..." He stopped suddenly; he had finally gotten a good look.
The third straggler...was bizarre, to say the least. He had a barrel chest beneath his tight blue shirt, and sprouting out from beneath a pair of poofy white pants were a set of legs that looked too thin to support his massive bulk. The two thick arms were covered in feathers. He had what looked like a pair of drums tied around his body, connected by some sort of yellow material. And none of these were the defining oddity.
He did not have the head of human, but of a bird. The bird head was primarily blue, with a splash of red here and there, and the eyes were a deep amber. The beak was a glossy black, and the edges seemed to curve into a smile as he continued speaking.
"I'm Kass! Nice to make your acquaintance!"
"Thanks for the save..." The woman's words were barely registered by Link.
By this time, the man had recovered and gotten back up on his feet. "We didn't think we'd see anyone else out here..." He smiled wearily. "Where are you headed?"
For a minute, Link was as frozen as the Moblin had been.
"I want to go to Kakariko Village..."
Airi sat at the base of a sapling across from her compatriots. None of the three wore common clothing, like she did. Each wore the uniform of the Yiga Clan; a black bodysuit beneath red gloves, red boots, and a red leather breastplate. Each wore a white mask with the familiar upside-down eye etched into it. Two of them wore kodachi, like the one Airi lost in the escape from the Guardian. The last carried a bow of slightly higher quality than her own.
"So, the Hylian Champion is up and on the loose?" One of them said.
"And you failed to take his life?" Airi knew there was a sneer on the face of the archer, despite his mask, and it took more than a little willpower to keep herself composed.
"He had help." She kept tone even. "I expect that he won't stay up here on the plateau much longer. He'll either succeed or fail. We have to be prepared for both possibilities." She turned to one of the swordsmen and pointed a finger. "You will follow me, and we will go to Kakariko Village. That is the closest settlement." She shifted. "As for you two, you will stay up here and comb the plauteau."
The remaining swordsman nodded, but the archer twisted his bow in his gloved hands. "Are you sure, Airi? Are you sure about taking the lead here?" He sniggered. "You sure we shouldn't just report back? You sure we won't have another Hateno disaster on her hands?"
Airi bit her lip. She extended a hand. "Your bow, please." The request was granted, and Airi took the item into both hands. Abruptly, she snapped it in two.
The archer gasped, but Airi glowered at him. "You still have your arrows, right? Grab them and use them close-up against the Hylian Champion, if you've the guts for that." She turned her head. "And for you two, you have your orders. Go about them."
Link followed the crew as they marched ahead and around a series of large, jagged rocks. Introductions had been concluded. The man was Mils, the woman was Mina, and the birdman was Kass. They were treasure hunters, according to Mina. They had just done business with a Zora partner in Hateno Village, Mils had said, and Kass was eager to visit his people, the Rito, once more.
Link was certainly not out of questions.
What was Hateno Village? What were the Zora's? What was a "Rito?"
"Alrighty!"
The quartet stopped in the field behind the rocks, near the edge of the plateau, where they was yet another strange object for Link to gawk at.
It was a great mass of cloth, variously splotched red, yellow, and blue. Actually, rather than one expanse of material, it was made up of many pieces, sewn together and reinforced. He watched Mils and Mina start to tug at the mass from one side, and Kass took another, being careful to not smudge his tunic. Link tried stepping forward to help, but was waved off. Soon, the trio produced something from under the folds of cloth.
It looked to be an oversized basket, with some sort of unlit touch suspended above it by a metal web. Wires were tied to the web, and seemed to feed back into the cloth. He watched Mils, toil and force the basket upright. He tapped on it proudly and gave Link a tired, but wide smile.
"What do you think, Mr. Hero! I present the Skywatcher Mark II! What do you think?" He reached up, giving the torch a twist and removing it deftly. He licked something on it's underside, and Link was shocked to see a plume of blue fire rise from the top of the torch. Mina nodded, clearly embrassed by a performance her brother had no doubt showed multiple strangers.
"It's something we scavenged in one of the old shrines back in Lanayru..."
"I scavenged it." Mina smirked. "You stayed back because you're scared of the dark."
"Hey!"
"Now, now," Kass spoke up, waving his wing-like arms and chuckling. "Let's focus on our guest." He looked to Link. "Taking to the skies is no great feat for me, but the same cannot be said for my companions. This contraption is as good a remedy as any."
"This torch isn't like any other we've seen." Mils touched the torch again, and the blue flame disappeared. "It's...I guess you'd call it inexhaustible. It never goes out unless we want it to, and no rain or wind can put it out." He screwed the object back on the basket. "We turn it on, and the air gets hot and fills up the balloon. After a while, it actually gets big enough to carry the basket, and us with it!"
Link put a finger to his chin, clearly intrigued by the potential of the device. "And it can get us all the way to Kakariko Village?"
"No doubt!" Mils snapped his fingers. "Two years of travel can attest to that! I'm the one who built this thing with my own two hands!"
"After blowing up the first by mistake." Mina quipped.
Mils shook his head sheepishly and stepped to the side, eager to not have the wind taken from his sails again. Link looked from face to face.
"But are you really sure I can fit with you on the platform and not bring you down?"
"Tell you what," Kass spoke. "Like I said, the sky is no challenge to me. I will fly, and you can take my spot. What do you guys think?"
"Sounds good to me!" Mils brightened a little.
"Whatever." Mina waved her hand.
Link beamed. He was so glad things were going his way, and that he might proceed in his quest with worthwhile companions this time.
And off in the distance, unseen by any of the four, an old man allowed himself another chuckle before vanishing.
Introducing Mils and Mina, with a plot device to slim the trip to Kakariko! Kass is accompanying them for his own reasons. I gave his accordion the description I did because for this story, I'm going to assume Link has never seen an accordion before. Also, I know that Link being able to uses Stasis on enemies is a little early, but artistic license is artistic license.
I appreciate all the favorites and follows thus far, and I hope to earn more from you guys in the future!