Mina leaned out over the railing of the shop ship and grinned as it rounded the promontory into Hateno Bay. The wind whipped and rustled through her hair, and she breathed in the mixed smells it carried: fish and salt accompanied by the undertones of smoke and the constant wet that had accompanied them for the past two days.

Beedle's business had gone well, better than even he had expected it to. Rather than taking the two days he had originally thought, he had managed to conclude his sales and purchases within the afternoon of his first day in Luralin. Mina had seen Erim talking with a few of the villagers earlier that morning and suspected that her surrogate mom had had a hand in wrapping up the merchant's business to get her on the waves.

She took a deep breath again before stepping back and meandering toward the prow, swaying in time with the movement of the vessel. She hadn't known anything about sailing before the trip, but Beedle had walked her through a lot of the terms and things she would be doing. She still wasn't very good at handling the sails, but thankfully they hadn't really needed them. Beedle's ship had some kind of rotor that he used when close to shore. He only really used the sails when he was headed for some of the islands further out.

The constant pitching of the deck didn't really bother her either. She knew back on Earth that a lot of people got seasick because of the constant rolling motions, but they weren't that bad to her. It reminded her of her dances. In another life, she could totally have been a sailor.

Or maybe not. Her grin faltered as she watched the rapidly growing shoreline. If she and her friends couldn't find a way back home, the sailor's life might suddenly become a lot more of an option.

Flap flop flap flop.

Mina glanced back as Beedle crept up behind her. The merchant somehow managed to move almost silently aboard his ship, almost like he was trying not to wake something. She chuckled at the thought. 'I wonder if he has sleeping ghost passengers.'

Aloud, she said, "Hey Beedle, this is Hateno Bay, right? Where's the village?"

Beedle stepped up beside her and pointed. "Up, Miss Ashido. Hateno Town is built up in a vale on the other side of the cliffs. We'll dock at the pier and hike up."

She groaned at the thought of hiking up a mountain again. "Seriously? Isn't there, like, a lift or something? You don't haul all your goods up to the top each time, do you?"

"Not every time," Beedle laughed, "but often enough that the climb doesn't bother Beedle. That said, if you'd rather an easier time of it, we could dock in Lushlo Harbor instead." He turned and pointed off to the left—'Port,' Mina corrected herself—of the ship. "It'll be a longer walk, but not by much. The climb's much gentler, and we may even be able to hire a cart."

"Oooh, yes, can we take a cart, Beedle?" Mina cried.

Beedle laughed again. "Help me bring the ship about and prep us for landing, and we can try."

"Yessir!"

The next few minutes were a blur of activity for Mina. Beedle did most of the steering himself—"This approach is a bit more risky," he said—while Mina secured cargo lines and tied lines as directed.

As she worked, she was able to get a good look at their destination. Several well-maintained piers jutted out into the ocean, and a cluster of buildings were nestled on the beach above them. The buildings themselves were super out of place; each looked like a bunch of wooden blocks stacked together. They looked almost like a precursor to some modern houses in Japan. "What are those doing here?" she muttered.

A call from Beedle shook her from her thoughts, and she mentally filed the question away for later. "What's up?" she called back.

Beedle gestured for her from his spot at the wheel. "Toss out the sounding rope. We should be safe, but I'd rather not risk it."

"Aye aye, sir!"

Mina hurriedly picked up the weighted rope and lowered it into the waves, watching as each knot in the rope slipped under the surface. When the line went slack, she called back over her shoulder, "Ten lengths and rising!"

"Good work! Keep an eye on it; the villagers haven't finished building their lighthouse yet, and with lizalfos in the area, we can't trust the buoys."

"Buoys?" Mina looked up from the sounding rope and noticed several buoys floating in a line toward the docks, and a few more scattered farther out. A moment later, she noticed the tell-tale wakes of lizalfos swimming in the vicinity, and a light bulb flashed in her head. She mentally noted where each of the buoys were and resolved to keep an eye on them, just in case.

Thankfully though, that proved unnecessary. The remaining buoys were relatively in the right place, and Beedle was able to loosely follow them into the docks, where he killed his rotor and allowed their momentum to pull them into an empty pier. Mina hauled the line back up and coiled it back on its spot by the railing. While she did so, she noticed that there were only a few ships in harbor, and none of them seemed to be as sturdy as Beedle's. She doubted any of them would last long out at sea.

Thunk.

She was shaken from her thoughts as the boat gently clunked against the dock. Mina quickly grabbed one of the mooring ropes—she still couldn't believe how many different types of rope there were—and leapt up onto the dock to tie the boat into place. She saw Beedle doing the same thing behind her, and she hurried to finish first.

When she was done, she leaned back with a satisfied smile. "There we go! That's not going anywhere."

"Good job!"

Mina jumped as Beedle leaned by her and brushed his hand across the knot that she had tied. "A little complex, maybe, but Beedle appreciates the added security."

Her smile widened and she rocked back to her feet. "Thanks! Now what?"

"Now we check in with the port authorities, or what passes for them." Beedle waved for her to follow him as he started to walk toward shore. "Truth be told, the Calamity destroyed Hyrule in more ways than one. Many professions were lost, and the survivors and their descendants have slowly been relearning their lost trades. What few mariners they had were either killed during the Calamity or live in Lurelin now, where they're unlikely to be found. These Hylians are still metaphorically and literally getting their flippers wet."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "How do you fit in, then? You said that the Hylian seamen were killed during the Calamity, and yet here you are, traveling the ocean and making killer profits."

Beedle grinned back at her, but something in his eye gave Mina pause. Where his black eyes were normally filled with glee, she instead saw something that gave her a sudden impression of age, and she shivered. "I've been a merchant for a long time, Miss Ashido; I'm more familiar with the sea and sky than anyone else you'll ever meet, in your land or mine."

'Well that didn't answer my question at all.' Mina pouted as Beedle turned around, but it didn't last long as she took in the small cluster of buildings at the base of the cliff. A road gently sloped up into the hills, disappearing through an arch in the cliff, probably leading to the rest of town. She opened her mouth to ask about it, but another voice called out from ahead of them.

A large, round man dressed in a plain shirt and trousers was peering at them from the doorway of a small shack at the end of the pier. He was at least as tan as some of the Lurelin villagers, and Mina had a momentary flash of jealousy as she once again wished that her pink skin wasn't so sun sensitive.

"Been a while, Merchant," the man said as they approached before nodding his head at Mina. "And who is this fine young lady? Um, you are a lady, right? Never seen someone with pink skin and horns before that wasn't a monster of some kind."

Mina rolled her eyes. Never again would she take for granted living in a world where her appearance was considered normal. "Yes. A lot of people where I'm from have mutations that make us look different, but don't worry; I'm just as human as you are, guy."

The man visibly sagged in relief. "Good, glad to know that th' Merchant's not completely lost his marbles. So, you an apprentice or something? Th' Merchant's always said he didn't need one."

"Not quite, Oza." Beedle stepped forward. "Due to circumstances beyond her control, she was separated from her friends and ended up in Lurelin. Her friends were headed to Hateno, so I offered to give her passage in exchange for assistance with sailing around the coast."

"Must've been some circumstances," the man mumbled. He leaned back into the shack for a moment before emerging with several papers. "Well, let's get down to business. Need you t' declare your wares, Merchant."

"Indeed, Beedle will do so. If you could have a cart and some of the hands follow Miss Ashido back to the ship, she can direct them to the goods that we're bringing into the market while I fill this out."

"Sure thing." Oza leaned back into the shack again and shouted something that Mina couldn't quite hear. Within moments, she heard a low rumbling as three men came around the corner of the shack with a cart in tow. Oza waved at Mina. "Follow her, and she'll show you what needs to be done."

Mina raised her hand and jogged back to the ship, where she directed the unloading. The men were pretty cheerful and quickly got all of the requested goods packed up and secured in the cart. Mina checked over everything before nodding and sending them back. Before she went, however, she needed to grab her own pack.

She slipped below deck to the little corner that Beedle had curtained off for her. All it was was a hammock behind some sheets, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Her pack was stashed by the bulkhead below the hammock, and she quickly rummaged through it to make sure that she had gotten everything. Change of clothes—check. Small purse—check. Fruit—check. Mister Zora—not check. Mina's eyes widened, and she checked through everything again before checking the hammock, where she was relieved to find the little fish-person doll. She gave it a quick hug and tucked it into the top of her bag so that he was peeking out and could 'see' where they were going.

"All right then, I think we're set," Mina murmured. "Well, Mister Zora, let's go see what this place has in store for us." She clambered back out onto the dock and jogged up to Beedle, who was looking over the cart and mumbling to himself. The men who had helped load it were gone, and in their place a small horse had been hooked up to the front, where it was happily munching on some kind of grain cakes Oza was feeding it.

Some sixth sense must have informed Beedle of her return, because he started speaking without even looking up. "Oh, there you are, Miss Ashido. Excellent work with guiding the workers. It looks like we have everything we need for this stop."

Mina rubbed the back of her head. "It wasn't super hard. You told me earlier what you were selling here; I just showed them."

"Ah, but you would be surprised at the number of assistants Beedle has done that exact same thing with, only for them to mess it up entirely." Beedle nodded his head and heaved himself up onto the cart's bench. "Go ahead and climb in back, and we'll head up to town."

Mina didn't need to be told twice and quickly clambered in the cart, nestling herself between spice boxes. Once she was in, Beedle clucked his tongue and gently shook the reins, sending the pony into a gentle walk. The cart lurched into motion, and Mina watched the port with its small cluster of too-modern buildings slowly slide away as they slipped into the small canyon.

As they rode, Mina felt a thrill of excitement run down her spine. Yes, she was trapped in an unfamiliar world and was in a brand new place, but she had her friends, wherever they were. If Beedle was telling the truth, they should be here in Hateno, or would be soon. And hey, even if he turned out to be lying, at least she had a place she could go back to.

Eventually, the canyon walls started to drift further from the road as they opened up into the area beyond. Mina turned around to get a better look and felt her eyes widen as the cart crested the ridge. Below her stretched a vast valley of plateaus and pits. Off to her left, a strange, glowing tower rose high in the sky atop a nearby peak. She thought she spotted a tree fort of some kind on the road leading to the tower, though she couldn't be sure.

Ahead of her, the road continued through another small cluster of buildings down into a forest that covered the foothills of the mountains. On the other side of the forest was the first settlement that Mina might call a city, though it was a strange one. Even from this distance, she could see the odd mixture of old-fashioned buildings juxtaposed against the same modern-esque colored cubes that she had seen down by the beach. Most of the older buildings seemed to be centrally located along the main road, while the newer buildings surrounded them and extended out along the ridges and plateaus.

"Impressive, isn't it?"

Mina jumped and turned to face Beedle, who was grinning back at her. He nodded back at the city. "You probably noticed the mixture of architecture. Back during the Calamity, most of the kingdom's stone and woodworkers didn't survive, so their building techniques were lost. Rather than attempt imitation, an enterprising young man has started his own company. Bolson, I believe his name was."

"It is something, I'll give you that," Mina said. "I'm not sure that I'm a fan of the mixed styles; they seem too noisy, like they're competing against each other."

"They do," Beedle laughed as they turned down the road to the forest. "There's been talk of either painting the old buildings to resemble the newer ones, or painting the newer ones nearer the center of town to resemble the older ones."

"What did they decide?"

"They haven't; as far as I know, it's one of the main topics of contention in the city council. At least, when there aren't more pressing things for them to discuss."

She frowned. "How haven't they decided yet? That doesn't seem like a super difficult problem."

"Tradition, mostly, and because it isn't very important. Beedle thinks it's more of a running joke now."

Mina shook her head, but let the question drop. She could understand artistic differences, but still thought it was silly to have such a long-standing question. Instead of poking at it further, she leaned back and just watched the forest drift by. After the busy days at sea, the quiet rustling of the breeze-tossed leaves was nice, and she closed her eyes to just enjoy the sounds of the forest.

"Halt!"

The cart's sudden stop jolted Mina back to wakefulness, and she jerked upright and spun around, trying to shake away the leftover sleepiness from her unexpected nap. No longer was she surrounded by a shady green canopy. Now, the sun beat down on her head and radiated off the wall just in front of the cart.

Standing in the entryway were a pair of nearly identical soldiers in dull, sad-looking armor. It didn't look anything like the cool fantasy armor that movies and games always said medieval dudes wore, and Mina couldn't help but feel a bit miffed about that. These guys totally got robbed of their cool armor!

She didn't feel too bad for them though, as the two men were currently pointing halberds that looked as boring as their armor at Beedle. "State your name and business at Hateno, traveler," the one on the left said.

Mina couldn't see Beedle's face, but her internal sass-sense felt him roll his eyes. "Must we do this, Azoh? You know Beedle well enough by now, seeing as he provides the safflina you so dearly covet."

Azoh's face paled, and his companion eyed him askance before shaking his head and raising his halberd. "Now t'be fair, merchant," he said, voice gruff and much older sounding than Azoh's, "we do have to check with folks coming in. Word came in this morning that some folks had been attacked in the pass to Ordon."

"Attacked?" Beedle's voice tightened. "Beedle had not heard of this. What would dare attack travelers in this area?"

"According to th' report, it was 'who' rath'r than 'what.' Some wannabe Sheikah. 'Yidra' or 'Yiga'—something ridiculous. The group what was attacked beat 'em, but we're keeping an eye on things, just t'be safe." The man shrugged. "The poor sods. They outnumbered their would-be victims five to one, according to the report, and were utterly trounced."

'Yiga?' The name reminded Mina of some of the weird bad guys from the cartoons she watched as a kid. 'Does Hyrule have a band of cartoon villains?'

Beedle seemed to have similar thoughts. "Well, if they were beaten so easily, they cannot be too much of a threat. Now, since Beedle is clearly no such fool, may we pass? I have goods to deliver."

"We just need t'search the cart. Specifically," the old guard said, pointing at Mina, "are you aware of th' pink monster in the back?"

Mina rolled her eyes and resolved to ask Beedle about getting a hood or something later. "I'm not a monster, you guys. I'm from a faraway land where a lot of people have different mutations like mine."

"And yes, Calas, Beedle knows that she's in his cart and will vouch for her," the merchant said with a chuckle.

The older guard, Calas, nodded and stepped to the side. After a moment, a still-pale Azoh did as well. "Right then, you're fine to enter. Don't cause any trouble, and welcome to Hateno!"

Beedle nodded his head and shucked the reins. The donkey looked back at him, giving Mina the distinct impression that Beedle had just interrupted it from something important. Beedle clicked his tongue and shucked the reins again, and the animal reluctantly turned and trundled through the gate.

Inside, the town bustled with life. Merchants hawked their wares from colorful market stalls that stood in stark contrast to the simple beige of the more permanent structures. Children ran and played in the street under their mothers' watchful eyes, and the mothers exchanged gossip and swapped stories as they shopped. People occasionally stopped to stare at her, but Mina's attention was drawn to a tapestry-covered building billowing azure smoke, and as Mina watched the smoke slowly changed from azure to an emerald so deep it was almost black.

A flickering light pulled her attention away from the weird smoke and back down to street level, where she noticed that several of the lanterns contained blue fire instead of orange. She blinked and rubbed her eyes before looking again, sure she had seen incorrectly, but the fire remained as bright blue as her first glimpse. 'Gas, maybe? Do the Hylians have gas lights?'

As they trundled past one of the odd lanterns, Mina noticed an old woman dressed all in red fashioning candles from some lumpy yellow-white stuff that Mina hoped was wax. As they passed, the old woman looked up at them, and Mina shivered when the candlemaker's cold, white eyes latched on to her. The cataracts were obvious even from a distance, and Mina was glad when they passed out of sight. The old lady was creepy.

They passed a few more stalls before trundling to a halt in front of an empty lot marked by a giant beetle statue. The paint was peeling from the old wooden carving, but enough remained to convey the blue-yellow patterns that crossed the statue. Beedle hauled himself down from the cart and came around to the back.

"Here we are, Miss Ashido," he said, holding out his hand. Mina took it and allowed him to help her down from the back of the wagon before dusting herself off. "Beedle thanks you for your help. It made an otherwise mundane voyage much more enjoyable."

Mina grinned. "Yeah, it was a lot of fun! I, like, never would have thought that sailing could be so involved. And thank you; without you, I wouldn't have known where to find my friends."

"And find them you will, Miss," Beedle said. "And before you go, I have something for you."

The man led her up to the front of the cart, where he rummaged around in the driver's chest for a moment before emerging with a small bag, which he tossed to her. Mina barely got her hands up in time to catch it—and then fumbled it around for a moment as its weight dragged it earthward. She scrabbled with the drawstring, twisting it open to reveal a small mound of shiny gemstones.

"What's this for?" she asked, eyes wide as she looked up at the man.

Her expression must have been a good one, because Beedle burst out laughing. "Your wages, Miss Ashido! You don't think Beedle wouldn't pay you for working for him?"

"But that was only for a couple of days! I don't know how much is in this, but this totally has to be too much for that."

Beedle's laughter subsided, but his grin remained. "Well, maybe I'm just trying to help you on your way. The currency systems's simple: green rupees are the base units. Blues are worth five greens, yellows are worth ten, and reds are worth twenty. A purple is worth five yellows, and silvers are worth ten yellows. Golds are the most valuable, worth three hundred greens or three silvers."

Mina glanced through the bag's contents and didn't see anything over a red, so she decided to investigate later. Instead, she pulled it closed and quickly tucked it into her bag. "Well, thanks! I don't know what to say."

"Then why don't you go get some food for yourself while you think?" Beedle said, pointing over his shoulder. "Beedle's sure that there's food in the market."

When she opened her mouth to protest, Beedle just made a shooing motion before turning back to his cart and beginning to unload. Mina puffed her cheeks up before exhaling with a smile. "Thanks, Beedle. I'll be back later."

The man just waved at her, and she shook her head before turning and wandering back downhill into the veritable forest of stalls and awnings. She steered clear of the creepy old lady and instead immersed herself in the sounds and wonders of the market. A variety of people and accents assaulted her ears.

"…Saw that odd merchant arrive earlier…"

"…So I told her, you know what I told her? I told her…"

"…Cuckoos! Hens and cocks for only one silver…"

"…Had a passenger…"

"…Clothing for traveling and soldiering! Come in and get fitted…"

That last one caught Mina's attention, and she felt herself being drawn toward the clothing store. A sign beside the door had the shop's name, though she was still struggling with Hylian characters. She wasn't a huge fan of all the styles she had seen in the past couple of weeks, but there were a couple of cutely rustic tops that she had to try. She took a deep breath and slipped through the door.

It took a moment for Mina's eyes to adjust to the dim interior lighting. The shop seemed to double as a house. Several sets of clothing were on display in the main room, including a set of armor in the back, with more folded and stacked on shelves, much like stores back home. Down a hallway to the right, she noticed what looked like an old brick oven behind a table and pair of chairs. A few of the shelves in the main room were lined with books, and she thought she spied a trunk or chest of some kind behind more of the clothing.

Overall, the house-shop gave off a cozy feeling, and Mina immediately felt the tension drain from her shoulders. She wandered in and poked around the different racks of clothing, stopping to try the helmet of the armor on—it turned out to be too big, and it didn't have holes for her horns—before seriously looking around for a hoodie.

It took her a moment, but she found several hooded cloaks in a variety of colors, probably due to the dye place across the street. She fumbled through a few of them before settling on a sort of cerulean blue that complimented the tunic and trousers she'd gotten from Erim. She held the cloak up and frowned, glancing around. 'Do they not have mirrors here? How am I supposed to check it out?'

After a moment, she shrugged and draped it over her arm. "Well, I guess I'll just take it and hope it looks good."

"If you're finished, I can help you over here."

Mina nearly leapt out of her skin. She shrieked and whirled around, looking frantically for the source of the voice. There hadn't been anyone in the shop when she came in, so where would the voice have come from? As a matter of fact, there still wasn't anyone here! So who had spoken?

As her gaze darted across the room, the voice spoke again. "Over here, ma'am."

This time she was able to follow it to its source. Standing in the corner of the room was a girl who didn't look like she was much older than Mina herself. She was dressed in a cute blue-green jacket and skirt that really made her eyes pop. Mina eyed the girl appreciatively as she came out from behind the clothing racks.

"Were you able to find everything?" the girl asked.

"I think so." Mina hefted the cloak. "Just wanted something cute that would also stop people from asking if I'm a monster every time I go somewhere new. And no," she added as the shop girl opened her mouth, "I am not a monster."

The girl swallowed. "I wasn't going to suggest it… though I might have thought it. Anyway, the cloak is sixty rupees."

Mina's heart skipped. Did she even have that many? She scrabbled at her bag and managed to extract the small purse Beedle had given her, which she tugged open to finally examine the contents.

A quick count confirmed that she had more than enough for the cloak, and she happily counted out the rupees and handed over the required amount before tilting her head. "So, why are you hiding in the corner? I thought the shop was empty before you called out."

The girl stared at her for a moment before her eyes went wide. "OH! I'm sorry; I guess I was too far in. I know it's weird, but I just feel more confident in this corner."

"What?" Mina leaned back and shook her head. "Girl, whatever confidence you might get is lost because no one can see you. You've got to be out there in the limelight to show your customers the kind of products you have!"

To demonstrate, Mina twirled her cloak around her neck in what she hoped was how it was supposed to be worn and struck a pose before making a show of stretching it out to show the shopkeeper. She spun around, flaring the cloak like a dress, before settling to a stop again—and promptly burst into giggles at the expression of horror on the girl's face.

"Well, maybe you don't need to be quite so out there," she said, "but who knows? You might find out that you like it."

A small smile crept across the girl's face. "I might. Did you need anything else?"

Mina shook her head. "No, this should be it. Thank you very much!" She waved at the girl and waved at her as she opened the door. She didn't make it far, though, as she crashed into someone in the doorway and was sent sprawling back into the shop, where she smacked her head on one of the stands. Her vision went fuzzy, and she shook her head to try and clear it.

"Oh, are you all right? I should have—Ashido?"

Before she could fully regain a grip on the situation, Mina felt someone grab her and squeeze the breath from her lungs. She choked and shook her head again, trying to clear it. "Ack! A little—cough—a little softer, please? I can't breathe!"

The pressure on her chest weakened, and she drew in a big breath before looking up at whoever it was that had found her. Her fuzzy vision slowly cleared, revealing a tall, pale woman in a makeshift vest and dark hair tied in a spiky… ponytail…

Mina shook her head again to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Yaomomo?"

Her friend grinned at her and nodded, and Mina responded by tackling her friend and returning the hug. She felt tears leaking from her eyes, but she didn't care; she'd found her friend! And if her tears were a little too acidic, well, Yaomomo could always remake her shirt.

They stayed like that for a while. Eventually, Mina pulled herself back and wiped her tears away. "Gods, it's good to see you. I have so many questions! We need to catch up and compare notes."

Yaomomo dabbed at her eyes with a napkin that she had pulled from who-knows-where and nodded. "Agreed. Why don't you come with me? I have some shopping to complete, and then we could sit down for lunch. I know a place that makes some excellent fried chicken and rice."

Mina felt her mouth watering. "Well then, lead the way!"

"So you've been here since you woke up?"

Across from her, Yaomomo nodded. They'd finished her chores, which had involved picking up a child's dress and getting groceries (Mina was glad for her hood; she received far fewer odd or concerned looks), before sitting down for food at what basically amounted to an outdoor pub. There were a few covered benches and tables for the patrons to sit at, and a pair of cooking fires where people could prepare food. The owner, a little old lady with eyes comically magnified by her glasses, would also make her patrons a meal from her family's book of recipes for a small fee. Mina had gotten the chicken Yaomomo had recommended, and it was good. It might be because she'd really only had fish for the past few weeks, but it was tastier than some of the meals she'd had back home.

"Yes. I awoke in a bed in the laboratory at the top of this mountain. The owners, a pair of scientists by the names Symin and Purah, allowed me to stay. They're apparently waiting for someone named 'Link' to wake from some slumber and work on a variety of projects in the meantime. As repayment for putting me up, I've been working as an assistant researcher of sorts." Yaomomo laughed. "It's been nice, but I have missed you all terribly and did not know if I would ever see you again."

"I know how you feel. I woke up on a mountain too, but I didn't have anyone around me and had to hike all day to find a village. Until I got there, I wasn't sure there was anyone else to find. I even had to fight an icky pig monster on the way."

"A bokoblin? You fought one?"

Mina swallowed another bite of the rice and nodded. "Yeah. I saved this lame guy who was trying to be an adventurer because he didn't want to be a fisherman, which I think he would probably have been better suited for. You know what the pig things are called though; have you fought any?"

Yaomomo shook her head. "No, I have been fortunate in that regard. I have heard the guards talk about them though. They're dangerous, though perhaps no more so than any of the street thugs that we would encounter in the course of our work."

She thought back to her encounter. In hindsight, it had probably only been as dangerous as it was because she was tired and surprised. The ugly little guy really didn't put up much of a fight. "Yeah, that's about right."

They lapsed into silence while they each ate more of their meal. Yaomomo had, once again, impressed Mina with how much food she could eat. The girl had ordered twice as much as she had and was putting it all away like there was no tomorrow, all while being the proper socialite that she had been raised to be.

Eventually, she paused and looked up again. "So you said that you came with a merchant to Hateno? Why? It sounded like you had found a safe place in Lurelin."

"I did," Mina said, smiling as memories of Erim and her kids filled her head. She shook her head and let her smile widen into a grin. "But I figured that if I was here, you guys had to be somewhere as well. And Beedle—Beedle's the merchant I traveled with—Beedle confirmed it! He said that he'd met Midori and All Might earlier and that he thought they would be headed this way soon."

Yaomomo's eyes widened, and she set her fork down, something Mina realized was a quiet focusing in on the conversation. "Really? Why, that's wonderful! If we are here, then the others from the rescue are probably here, too!"

A dark lightbulb went off in Mina's head as her friend spoke, and she felt her grin slip a little. "That probably also means that the bad guys are here somewhere, too."

Her friend nodded. "That would make logical sense, though where they might be, I have no idea. Maybe there's some significance to where we awakened? We'll have to check with Midoriya and All Might when we find them. Until then," she said, standing, "I have one final task to complete before heading back to the lab. Do you have anything else that you need to do?"

Mina glanced down at her bowl and found it empty, and so shook her head. "No, I'm done eating, and I think Beedle's stall is on the way up the mountain, so I can let him know that I've found you then."

"Good. Then follow me. I need to collect some of the flame from the ancient furnace."

"What?" Mina got up and followed her Yaomomo a little ways up the hill and down a small dirt path leading out to one of the steppes. Unlike some of the others, which had been developed into neighborhoods of sorts, this one was one that was dedicated almost exclusively to farmland. This one seemed to be solely covered in wheat, with the exception of an odd, glowing structure in the center.

It wasn't like anything Mina had ever seen. Surrounded on three sides by rock slabs that created a sheltered lean-to of sorts, the structure looked like the closed bud of a flower, if said flower was full of metallic tumors. It swelled in odd ways and curved inward near the top. Across the surface, small openings of blue light provided most of the glowing effect, though as they got closer, Mina realized that the entire structure had a subtle glow under the surface. Perhaps most curiously, however, was the pedestal at the front, on top of which a little blue flame danced, the same as was present in the village's lanterns.

"So it is a gas light," she murmured.

Yaomomo glanced down at her and shook her head. "No, it is not. I am not quite sure how it is produced, but it is not due to any natural fuel source that I am aware of. It is, however, extremely potent: a small portion will power the tech lab for weeks."

Mina tilted her head and watched as Yaomomo checked her book before Creating a small, empty lantern, which she then scooped over the flame. When she turned around, the lantern was full of dancing azure fire that cast a muted light around it. "That should do it," Yaomomo said with satisfaction. "Come, let us head up, and I can introduce you to Purah and Symin."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Mina grinned. "Lead the way, Yaomomo!"

The two set off back up the path, and Mina couldn't help but feel a giddy contentment. She had found her friend, and her friend was safe. Her other friends were in this country somewhere, and she would find them and get them back safe. Because that's what friends did.

When they got back to the main road, she glanced back toward the gate and caught a glimpse of an unmistakable mop of dark green hair bouncing in the crowd. She squealed and took off, tearing down the hill toward her friends. Behind her, she heard Yaomomo gasp and then the pounding of her feet as she followed. The happy feeling swelled in her chest, and she laughed. Today was turning out to be the best day in a long time.